‘Late Show’s’ bandleader is a busy man
Question: What can you tell me about Jon Batiste, the bandleader on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”?
Answer: Part of a renowned Louisiana musical family, 31-year-old Batiste is a Juilliard-educated pianist, composer and bandleader (with the group Stay Human). According to CBS, he has played with Stevie Wonder and Lenny Kravitz, among others, and “paid homage to his unique musical philosophy with his debut album, ‘Social Music.’ ” Batiste also has acted in Spike Lee’s “Red Hook Summer.” He’s also headlining Summerfest’s Johnson Controls World Stage with the Dap-Kings at 10 p.m. July 7.
Q: I was wondering why the Freeform channel doesn’t show the “Harry Potter” films anymore. They used to have a “Harry Potter” weekend at least once a month.
A: Freeform no longer has the rights to those movies. Later this year, NBC reportedly will begin offering the movies on its channels, including Syfy and USA.
Q: I’ve always wondered whether, when you DVR a show, it is actually counted as being watched live in the networks rating system.
A: It is. As the ways we watch television expand and change, the people making television have sought new ways to figure out who is watching. Ratings service the Nielsen Company says in homes with its meters it tracks “the watching of recorded programming up to seven days after an original broadcast.” Nielsen has also been studying other ways people watch TV, inside and outside the home, on an array of devices, as part of its plan “to measure viewing everywhere that viewers enjoy content.”
Q: Please tell me if “Rookie Blue” will ever come up with a new season.
A: That series ended in 2015. You can find its star, Missy Peregrym, on CBS this fall in the new drama “FBI.”
Q: I have seen Season 1 of “London Spy” on Netflix. Is there any word on when or if there will be a Season 2 of this well done, gripping show?
A: It appears unlikely that the drama starring Ben Whishaw will continue. Tom Rob Smith, who called the series “a relationship drama refracted through the prism of the spy genre,” told The Guardian in 2015 that “the BBC have asked (for more) and my instinct is that it probably shouldn’t continue.”