Hollywood Q&A
Q: I was very impressed with “A Biltmore Christmas.” Was the movie made at the actual Biltmore estate, or was it filmed on sets made to look like it? – Melissa Harvey, via e-mail
A: The recent Hallmark Channel attraction starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Kristoffer Polaha took place at the actual site in Asheville, N.C., and the timing of the filming was quite clever. It was made last winter, when many of the decorations from the Biltmore’s 2022 Christmas season were still up, thus enabling the production to take advantage of them. It meant filming for a November 2023 debut long before that normally would be done, but that’s where smart planning came in.
Q: I was surprised to see that the season of “Sullivan’s Crossing” ended so early. Will it be back? – Jill Brown, Terre Haute, Ind.
A: All 10 of the first-season episodes that had been aired earlier in 2023 by Canada’s CTV were shown this past fall by The CW. The good news is that both networks have renewed the Nova Scotia-filmed drama that stars Morgan Kohan, Chad Michael Murray and Scott Patterson for a second season … so it will be back whenever those new chapters are ready.
Q: I read that during “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” protesters demonstrated and several were arrested. How was that not shown? – Paul Garrett, via e-mail
A: That was due to the preparation of the New York City Police Department and the NBC special’s production team. Demonstrations at major events, particularly regarding current events in the Middle East, were anticipated during this holiday season, with a similar situation arising during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the cameras also steered around showing that occurrence.
Just from watching the tree-lighting telecast, it was virtually impossible to tell that anything hadn’t gone according to plan, despite later news footage that showed some of the arrests. Q: I recently watched
“Marooned” on Turner Classic Movies, and I’m almost certain that I also saw it as an episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” years ago. Am I right? – Chris Marks, Merced, Calif.
A: You are. For whatever reason, a company that was able to buy movies at very low cost acquired “Marooned” — who won an Oscar for its visual effects — from Columbia Pictures and retitled it “Space Travelers.” That version was purchased by “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” which greeted the film with its traditional wisecracking treatment upon showing it as the fourth-season premiere in 1992.
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