From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
Perfection
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Laverne Cox Pays Dust To Her “Rocky Horror” Critics
Cox said the movie changed her life in college, so in return, she gave the remake "250 percent."
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Laverne Cox has faced criticism for her decision to play the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show remake headed to Fox later this fall, but that doesn’t mean she’s letting it drag her down.
Diehard fans of the original film have given Cox grief on social media for accepting the role, which is traditionally played by a cross-dressing man. She’s also caught flack from some LGBT advocates for obvious reasons — they think playing the role of a self-described “sweet transvestite” would send the wrong message to people who recognize Cox for her outstanding advocacy work.
“People can be very… challenging and critical, but I put everything I had into this,” Cox told ET on the magenta carpet at the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night. “I gave 250 percent, and I hope people like what we came up with.”
“Rocky Horror is sacred to people,” Cox added, explaining how it’s almost to be expected that fans of a cult classic will push back at new iterations.
“It’s the longest-running movie in theater history, in movie history. For 41 years, people have been going to midnight showings and dressing up, and there’s been shadow casts all over the world. It means so much to so many people.”
The 31-year-old Emmy-nominated actress also said she “had the time of [her] life” on set.
“What’s so exciting about being in this music show, is that the music, the soundtrack for Rocky Horror Picture Show is so incredible and so timeless, and I just have new respect for recording artists,” she said.
Earlier this year, actor Tim Curry, the original and most famous Frank-N-Furter, gave Laverne’s casting a huge stamp of approval.
“He wants me to do my own thing with it and it’s really been that kind of thing. We sort of talked about what he was thinking when he did it, and we talked about his intentions with certain moments,” Cox told ET in February. “For me, that movie when I saw it in college, changed my life. To get to do this and to not only do it but do it with the person who created the role that I’m playing, I’m a really really blessed girl!”
Check out a trailer for the new Rocky Horror Picture Show below.
Favorite Sports Guy of The Day: May 24, 2008
Antonio Cassano
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
Antonio Cassano is an Italian footballer who is not always known for his team spirit....his antics get more attention often than his actual playing. One thing we can be thankful he is known for is stripping down to his skivvies during games.
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
Fall TV Preview: This Is Us is one of the few new shows I'll be watching
From: Deep Dish
The five major networks revealed their 2016-17 schedules last week, and it looks like I'm going to have a lot of free time this fall since almost all of the preview trailers make me want to turn off my TV. And in order to give us all these horrible new shows, the networks had to cancel many old ones, including CSI: Cyber (CBS), Telenovela (NBC), The Mysteries of Laura (NBC) - which at least allows Debra Messing to move on to something much better - Castle (ABC), The Family (ABC), Galavant (ABC), Marvel's Agent Carter (ABC), The Muppets (ABC) and one of my favorites, Nashville (ABC), which airs its final episode on Wednesday (but producer Lionsgate TV is shopping the show to other networks so there is a slim chance that #BringBackNashville might happen).
And here are three interesting network pilots that did not get picked up:
Cruel Intentions, a soapy sequel to the 1999 film with Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising her role as Kathryn Merteuil (NBC has said this show still might see the light of day - perhaps as a summer series)
Me & Mean Margaret, an NBC comedy starring Stockard Channing as a candid and often offensive legendary actress and Gavin Stenhouse as an ambitious 27-year-old lawyer who is forced to babysit her (I would have at least watched the first episode because I adore Ms. Channing).
Pearl, an ABC comedy starring Candice Bergen as a larger-than-life family matriarch (apparently this show will be redeveloped - hopefully still with Ms. Bergen).
Now on to this fall's underwhelming slate of shows that delusional network executives think we want to see. Below you can check out the trailers of three new series that I will be tuning in - for at least their pilot episodes - as well as 15 trailers for shows that I will NOT be watching (all times are Central Standard). You can see a complete fall schedule at tvline.com:
Monday
I will, of course, continue to watch Jane the Virgin (8-9 PM on The CW), which was renewed for a third season. And since the networks think we need more father-centric "comedies" like Last Man Standing and According to Jim, here are two more:
Kevin Can Wait (7-7:30 PM on CBS)
I'm just not a Kevin James fan.
Man With A Plan (7:30-8 PM on CBS)
Matt LeBlanc was great on Showtime's Episodes, but now he's signed up for this predictable and unfunny sitcom. At least Jenna Fischer (The Office) - who plays his wife in the pilot - has left the series (she deserves better).
Tuesday
Here is some TV news that did make me happy - ABC renewed The Real O'Neals (8:30-9 PM) for a second season. It's my favorite new sitcom of the year - and the fabulous Martha Plimpton steals the show as the Catholic mother of a gay son. Fox has also renewed the disappointing Scream Queens (8-9 PM) for a second season (the first season was kind of a drag, but I did enjoy the performances of Jamie Lee Curtis and the hilarious Niecy Nash as Officer Denise Hemphill).
Best New Show: This Is Us (8-9 pm on NBC)
Over 43 million people on Facebook have watched the trailer for this dramedy about six people who share the same birthday. It looks like it could be a good series - especially if Milo Ventimiglia's bare ass and a shirtless Justin Hartley continue to be prominently featured. We'll have to wait and see if this turns out to be a big hit for NBC.
Here are two shows that just don't do it for me:
American Housewife (7:30-8 PM on ABC)
This sitcom was originally called The Second Fattest Housewife in Westport, but even with its new generic title, it's still not funny.
No Tomorrow (8-9 PM on The CW)
I predict that this weird show about a cute but crazy guy (Galavant's Joshua Sasse) who believes the apocalypse is coming isn't going to last long against stiff competition in its time slot.
Wednesday
Even without Nashville, Wednesday still features some of my favorite shows - The Goldbergs (7-7:30 PM on ABC), Modern Family (8-8:30 PM on ABC) and Empire (8-9 PM on Fox). But I think I've reached my limit of sitcoms with amusingly overbearing mothers, so I won't be watching Speechless (7:30-8 PM on ABC), a new sitcom starring Minnie Driver as a mother whose son has cerebral palsy.
Thursday
Scandal won't be returning until midseason due to Kerry Washington's pregnancy, but How to Get Away with Murder (9-10 PM on ABC) will be back for a third season in the fall. Below are three new series that I will not be watching:
Worst New Show: The Great Indoors (7:30-8 PM on CBS)
I really hate the trailer for this new Joel McHale comedy because of its awful laugh track. This sitcom is so not funny - but in its post-Big Bang Theory time slot, I'm sure it will attract a large audience.
Good Place (7:30-8 PM on NBC)
Here is another dismal sitcom, which wastes the talents of Kristen Bell and Ted Danson.
Pitch (8-9 PM on Fox)
This new series about the first woman to play Major League Baseball looks like it might have enough dull drama for a two-hour TV movie - but not for an ongoing series.
Friday
The last Friday night series I regularly watched was NBC's Friday Night Lights, but now I will be tuning in (or DVRing) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (8-9 PM), which The CW renewed for a second season. It's up against FOX's new version of The Exorcist, which looks really bad and stars the Academy Award-winning Geena Davis.
Sunday
Since the fall of 2002, there has been at least one Sunday night network show that I've watched - but not this coming fall. Below you can check out Son of Zorn (7:30-8 PM on Fox), a new sitcom airing after The Simpsons that I'm sure will amuse some folks.
Midseason TV
Network television looks like it could be - hopefully - much better in 2017. Here are six series that I plan to watch at least their first episode:
Great News (NBC) starring Andrea Martin as an overly involved New Jersey mom who gets an internship at her daughter's workplace, a cable news network.
Midnight, Texas (NBC), a supernatural drama based on a series of books by Charlaine Harris (whose Sookie Stackhouse books were adapted for HBO's True Blood).
Riverdale (The CW), a teen drama based on the Archie comics and starring Luke Perry as Archie Andrews' father.
Star (8-9 pm on Wednesdays on Fox), a musical drama created by Empire's Lee Daniels and starring Queen Latifah as Miss Carlotta, the owner of an Atlanta beauty salon who becomes a surrogate mother to three girls with musical dreams (the Dreamgirls-esque trailer doesn't look very original, but I'm willing to give the show a chance).
Still Star-Crossed (ABC), a period drama from Shonda Rhimes that picks up where William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet left off.
Trial & Error (NBC), a spoof of crime documentaries about a high profile murder trial in a small southern town (the cast includes John Lithgow, Krysta Rodriguez, Sherri Shepherd and Jayma Mays).
And here are six new midseason shows that I will not be watching:
Downward Dog (ABC)
This sitcom told from the point of view of a lonely and philosophical dog seems like it should be set in 1993 and star John Travolta and Kirstie Alley.
Imaginary Mary (ABC)
Jenna Elfman hasn't had a hit sitcom since Dharma & Greg went off the air in 2002 - and I doubt that this series will change that.
The Mick (7:30-8 PM on Tuesdays on Fox)
A brash, two-bit hustler from Rhode Island must assume guardianship of her sister’s three children - haven't we already seen this familiar premise before (Family Affair/Uncle Buck/The Bernie Mac Show)?
Shots Fired (7-8 pm on Wednesdays on Fox)
This dark drama reminds me of ABC's American Crime with Helen Hunt starring as Felicity Huffman.
Time After Time (8-9 pm on Sundays on ABC)
This Jack the Ripper drama is based on the 1979 film of the same name starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner and Mary Steenburgen - and you can watch that in less than two hours.
And there are still many more new network shows that don't excite me, and they include APB (Fox), The Blacklist: Redemption (NBC), Bull (CBS), Chicago Justice (NBC), Conviction (ABC), Designated Survivor (ABC), Doubt (CBS), Emerald City (NBC), Frequency (The CW), Kicking & Screaming (Fox), Lethal Weapon (Fox), MacGyver (CBS), Making History (Fox), Marion (NBC), Notorious (ABC), Powerless (NBC), Prison Break (Fox), Pure Genius (CBS), Taken (NBC), Timeless (NBC), Training Day (CBS) and 24: Legacy (Fox).
But I'm going to end this post on a positive note by mentioning four television projects for next season that do sound promising:
Big Little Lies (HBO), a limited series based on Liane Moriarty's 2014 novel (which I enjoyed reading) about three women whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder. The cast includes Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Adam Scott, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgård.
Feud (FX), Ryan Murphy's new anthology series that will center around the backstage battle between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) during the making of their 1962 film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Judy Davis also stars as Hedda Hopper).
I'm Dying Up Here (Showtime), a dramedy created by Jim Carrey that is set in the famous Hollywood comedy clubs of the 1970s. The cast includes Melissa Leo, Sebastian Stan and Cathy Moriarty.
When We Rise (ABC), an eight-hour miniseries written by Dustin Lance Black that tells the history of the gay rights movement, starting with the Stonewall Riots in 1969. The cast includes Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths, Carrie Preston, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Denis O'Hare and David Hyde Pierce.
Favorite Pic of The Day for May 24, 2008
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
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| Love this pic by photographer Troy Phillips from his Night Vision series. |
Favorite Birthday Boy for May 24th
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
I first met Eric Close when he joined the daytime show Santa Barbara. I have followed him through many TV shows. I did not watch Without A Trace much, but I do keep an eye on one of the cutest guys on the tube, also a great actor. Eric turns 49 today.
Bright Light Bright Light Teams Up With Elton John On “All In The Name”
Earworm warning!
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Electro-pop singer, Bright Light Bright Light-aka Rod Thomas-has just released his latest single, “All In The Name” from the upcoming album, Choreography, and he brought some special guests with him.
The uplifting slice of bubblegum pop features Alan Cumming, Jake Shears, Ana Matronic, Del Marquis and Elton John.
In the colorful video for the song co-directed by Thomas and Santiago Felipe, Thomas dances around in various outfits with cute backup dancers, and if that wasn’t enough there are also talking watermelon puppets and retro musical instruments.
Thomas also made his U.K. television debut this past weekend on The Graham Norton Show, where he was accompanied by John onstage:
John was a fan of Thomas after hearing his first album, Make Me Believe in Hope in 2012. The two became friends, and Thomas eventually asked John to contribute vocals to “I Wish We Were Leaving” from Thomas’ second album, Life is Easy.
“I said, ’You write the song and put the track down and if it fits my voice, I’ll do it.’ It fit perfectly; I love singing miserable songs if they’re done well,” John told The Independent about their first collaboration together. John then asked Thomas to open for him on John’s 2014 tour.
John guests on three songs on Choreography. Check out the full track list below:
All In The Name (feat. Elton John, Alan Cumming, Jake Shears, Ana Matronic, Del Marquis & Mykal Kilgore)
Symmetry Of Two Hearts (feat. Elton John)
How Does It Feel
Running Back To You (feat. Elton John)
Kiss For Kiss (feat. Jake Shears)
I Only Want to Please You (feat. Ana Matronic)
Into The Night
Home (feat. Alan Cumming)
Little Bit
Careful Whisper
Won’t Do (feat. Mykal Kilgore)
Where Is The Heartache
Choreography is out July 15.
Bianca Del Rio Launches New Comedy Tour “Not Today Satan”
"Bob the Drag Queen goes 'purse first' because usually the purse is STOLEN!"From: NewNowNext
Drag Race’s own queen of mean, Bianca Del Rio, is hitting the road again with a new comedy tour. The Season 6 winner has announced the North American leg of her new “Not Today Satan” tour, which promises more acerbic humor and enough shade to blot out the sun.
Bianca’s last stand up show, “Rolodex of Hate,” toured the world with sold-out shows for over a year, and was aired on Logo this spring.
“’Not Today Satan’ picks up right where she left off,” teases a press release, “chronicling her adventures since winning a certain well-known drag-focused reality show, becoming ’gay famous,’ moving to Los Angeles and the inherent challenges of dating and making a living as a man in a dress.”
For Bianca, it’s a labor of love for her fans.
“When I’m not busy volunteering at the soup kitchen or knitting socks for orphans, one of my favorite pastimes is gathering the cold, huddled masses into a nice warm room, giving them shelter if only for an hour, and sharing valuable life advice from a hate guru!”
Um, sure.
Tickets for dates in Australia and North America are on sale now online, with more international shows to follow.
AUSTRALIA
May 6, 2016 – Melbourne, VIC – Playhouse
May 18, 2016 – Perth, WA – Astor Theatre
May 20, 2016 – Adelaide, SA – Thebarton Theatre
May 21, 2016 – Sydney, NSW – Theatre Royal
May 24, 2016 – Canaberra, ACT
May 26, 2016 – Brisbane, QLD – QPAC
NORTH AMERICA
Sep 28, 2016 – Seattle – Showbox SODO
Sep 29, 2016 – Portland – Newmark Theater
Sep 30, 2016 – San Francisco – The Warfield
Oct. 1, 2016 – Los Angeles – The NOVO
Oct. 5, 2016 – Boulder – Boulder Theater
Oct. 6, 2016 – Kansas City – The Folly Theater
Oct. 7, 2016 – Milwaukee – The Pabst Theater
Oct. 8, 2016 – Minneapolis – Pantages Theatre
Oct. 9, 2016 – Chicago – The Vic
Oct. 12, 2016 – Royal Oak – Royal Oak Music Theater
Oct. 13, 2016 – Toronto – The Danforth Music Hall
Oct. 14, 2016 – Cleveland – Ohio Theatre
Oct. 15, 2016 – Columbus – Capitol Theater
Oct. 16, 2016 – Munhall – Carnegie Music Hall
Oct. 18, 2016 – Boston – The Royale
Oct. 19, 2016 – Philadelphia – Keswick Theatre
Oct. 20, 2016 – NYC – PlayStation Theater
Oct. 21, 2016 – Richmond – The National
Oct. 22, 2016 – Washington DC – Lincoln
Oct. 25, 2016 – Atlanta – Variety Playhouse
Oct. 26, 2016 – Durham – Carolina Theatre
Oct. 28, 2016 – Austin – Paramount Theatre
Oct. 29, 2016 – Dallas – South Side Music Hall
Nov. 1, 2016 – Orlando – The Plaza Live
Nov. 2, 2016 – Ft Lauderdale – Parker Playhouse
Nov. 4, 2016 – New Orleans – Mahalia Jackson Theater
Anti-Trans Group Launches Insaneballs Music Video Attacking Target’s Inclusive Bathroom Policy
Faith2Action has declared June 4 as "Don't Target Our Daughters Day"
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Opponents of LGBT equality always go on about being “forced” to follow laws that contradict their values, but they’re fine with attacking Target for its trans-friendly bathroom policy, even though they’re under no obligation to shop there.
The latest salvo from the bathroom Nazis comes from Faith2Action, a group describing itself as a “pro-active launching pad for the pro-family movement.” (In other words, they run around telling everyone how to live their lives.)
The group has launched a truly bizarre (and terrible) music video promoting its planned demonstration against Target on June 4, four days before the company’s shareholders meeting. In it, we see people cutting up their Target cards and a little girl being attacked in a bathroom stall.
They’ve dubbed the event “Don’t Target Our Daughters Day,” and plan to warn shoppers about the retailer’s policy of allowing trans customers and employees to use the facilities that match their gender identity.
While anti-trans demonstrators have barged into Targets shouting hateful slurs, Faith2Action says its protests will take place outside stores nationwide.
Janet Porter, Faith2Action’s president and founder, said it was time to take their activism “to another level,” after the American Family Association’s boycott has netted negligible results.
The song, above, reframes the bathroom issue as a war between the forces of light and darkness, telling listeners “shine your light for Jesus… Don’t bow down to anyone but him.”
Worst of all, it rhymes “right” with “right.”
“No matter how loud it’s shouted, sin is not a civil right,” sings an insipid female voice. “Calling evil good will never make it right.”
Sure, Beyonce can rhyme “left” with “left.” Ignorant transphobes, however, may not.
Americans Are Split Over Which Bathrooms Trans People Should Use
Surprised?
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
The so-called Bathroom Bill has been making headlines this year when North Carolina passed the HB2 bill, which would make it illegal for transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.
New survey results from YouGov show that Americans who are in favor of the bill, which require transgender people to use the bathroom of their birth gender, barely beat out those who oppose the bill: 39% to 34%. Leaving over a quarter of people surveyed not taking a stance on the bill either way.
When it comes to political party affiliations 55% of Republicans and 40% of independents support the bill banning transgender from using their current gender’s bathroom, but only 27% of Democrats agree with the bill. Almost half of Democrats surveyed, 46%, think that transgender people should be able to use the bathroom of the gender they currently identify with.
When Americans were asked which bathroom they thought transgender people should use, the results were even with 37% saying they should use their birth gender and 37% saying their current gender. YouGov explains that the split results are mostly due to those living in the South. “The South is the only region where people are more likely to say that transgender people should use their birth gender’s bathrooms (41%) rather than their current gender’s (30%).”
North Carolina isn’t the only state with this type of anti-LGBT bill in process. Lawmakers in Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee and Wisconsin are looking to pass the same type of bill in their own state.