And the Tony nominees are...
And the Tony nominees are...
Plus, Fred Savage fired
What to know
A Strange Loop tops the Tony nominations… Broadway really is back! The very meta Pulitzer Prize-winning Strange Loop will look to add Best Musical to its mantle as it faces Girl From the North Country, MJ, Mr. Saturday Night, Six, and Paradise Square. For those keeping track, that’s two jukebox musicals, one movie adaptation, and THREE original musicals. In modern Broadway, that’s almost unheard of. Hugh Jackman, Billy Crystal, and Ruth Negga scored noms, but don’t look for Beanie Feldstein, she and Funny Girl got snubbed. Ariana DeBose hosts what’s sure to be a great show June 12. 🎭
Fred Savage fired as EP/director on the new Wonder Years over misconduct… Deadline reports Savage was let go after an investigation into alleged “verbal outbursts and inappropriate behavior.” This is a disappointing as Savage puts out a gentle persona to the world, but good that ABC and Disney acted quickly and did what had to be done. 😔
Ncuti Gatwa is your new Doctor Who… The 29-year-old Scottish-Rwandan actor, last seen in Sex Education, will replace Jodie Whitaker in the long-running sci-fi series. Whitaker, the first woman to play the role, brought a lot of fresh energy in her early episodes but the writing, in my opinion, has fallen off since. I’m looking forward to jumping back in as former Who showrunner Russell T. Davies is returning the series with Gatwa. 🇬🇧
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens to $185 million… That’s the best of the year so far and the #11 opening weekend of all time. Here’s my quick review of the movie: Messy plot, second half (everything from the Illuminati on) is much more fun. It had some funny-scary moments (but didn’t deserve an R rating as some are suggesting). The way it handled its big cameos was wonderfully satisfying and winking. 💰
U.S. podcast ad revenue to top $2 billion in 2022… Podcasting, so hot right now. If you’re wondering, “how can I get in on this action? Maybe I should start a podcast?” Don’t. 🎧
Dave Filoni appears to be directing the first episode of Ahsoka… As he should. With this news, we’re very Allstate (in good hands.) ✨
Mike Myers reprises Shrek in bizarre Pentaverate scene… Somebody once told me, Netflix really let Myers do whatever he wanted. 👀
I Think You Should Leave gets season 3 at Netflix… More like I don’t think you should leave. 🍿
What’s new
Hacks s2 — May 12 | HBO Max comedy series | 🍅 100%
The Time Traveller’s Wife — May 15 | HBO drama series | 🍅
What to watch
Trailer: Avatar: The Way of Water — Dec 16 in theaters
Directed by James Cameron, written by Josh Friedman, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Kate Winslet.
Upon seeing this trailer on the big screen Saturday night, my first thought was, “Damn, that CG looks good.” Some of the shots, especially of the actors’ faces look absolutely incredible in the big format. So much so that it made the early CGI in Doctor Strange 2 look horrible in comparison. If the mission of this trailer is to remind audiences about how mind-blowing Avatar was visually, mission accomplished. If it was trying to reforge a connection to the characters and the universe of Pandora? Eh, not so much. This is a teaser trailer mostly devoid of storyline so I’ll cut it some slack, but the spot is leaning heavily into “look how beautiful this is going to be,” and less into “come hang with your friends, the Na’vi, again.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I think Cameron and Disney know the number one reason people are going to buy 3D tickets for this — and they appear to be delivering.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!