Will ‘Younger’ be returning for another season?
You have questions. I have some answers. Q: Can you tell me if the TV show “Younger,” starring Sutton Foster, will return for a seventh season?
A: It will, but in a new location at first. Paramount+, the revamped version of streaming service CBS All Access, will have the seventh and final season of the series at a date to be announced. Later this year, after the Paramount+ premiere, the seventh season will also be shown on TV Land, the home of the show’s first six seasons. (Those six seasons are also on CBS All Access, which evolves into Paramount+ on March 4.)
Q: Can you tell me why everyone calls actresses “actors” now? There seems to be no differentiating between males and females.
A: The change is an attempt to be more gender-neutral than the actor/actress distinction is. An actor, says my beloved Oxford English Dictionary, is simply “a person who acts a part on stage or (in later use also) in a film, on television, etc.” No gender assigned there.
But the change is not as common as you seem to think when you look at awards. The Golden Globes still go to actors and actresses, as do Emmys, Oscars and Tonys, but there have been calls to eliminate gender-based categories.
The Screen Actors Guild uses the word “actor” for men and women in its award categories, although it still gender-separates into “male actor” and “female actor.” Even that attempt overlooks actors who are nonbinary, who are neither exclusively male nor female. A best approach may be the one taken by my old friends in the Television Critics Association, who award “individual achievement” in performance, a label that can embrace everyone.
Q: Why is the actress Ebonee Noel, who played Kristen Chazal on “FBI,” not on the show?
A: “FBI,” like all the shows from producer Dick Wolf, is more than willing to make cast changes for creative reasons. (Think of the comings and goings on Wolf series bearing the “Law & Order” and “Chicago” brands.) It appears Noel’s departure was one of those changes — but because Chazal was simply reassigned to
Dallas on the show, there’s a chance Noel could show up again on “FBI” or another Wolf show.
Q: I was wondering if Chuck Connors of “The Rifleman” is still around. That is one of my favorite shows of all time.
A: Connors died in 1992 at the age of 71. According to The Washington Post, he was found to have lung cancer after entering the hospital to treat lingering pneumonia; he died a few days later. A former Major League Baseball player, Connors’ acting career also included movies and the TV series “Arrest and Trial”; “Branded”; the original version of “Roots”; and “Werewolf.”
Q: A while back someone wrote in and inquired about a couple of scuba shows: “Sea Hunt” and “Assignment
Underwater.” I believe there was a third show called “The Aquanauts.” What can you tell me about it?
A: Ivan Tors, the producer behind “Sea Hunt,” also brought “The Aquanauts” to TV in September 1960. According to “The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable Shows,” “The Aquanauts” starred Keith Larsen and Jeremy Slate as professional salvage divers when the show began; in January 1961, Larsen departed and Ron Ely (later famous as a TV Tarzan) joined the show. That February, the title was changed to “Malibu Run” and the format revamped. Considering all those changes, you will not be surprised to learn the show did not last past this single season.
Q: I recently watched “The
Reunion,” an old episode of “Wiseguy” starring Ken Wahl. He connects with an old flame played by Cathy Moriarty, but she is not listed in the credits. Can you explain why?
A: While actors will sometimes take uncredited roles, this is not one of those cases. You may have been watching an edited version of that episode; the “Reunion” episode I checked has “Raging Bull” co-star Moriarty listed first among the guest stars.
Do you have a question or comment about entertainment past, present and future? Write to Rich Heldenfels, P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or brenfels@gmail.com. Letters may be edited. Individual replies are not guaranteed.