Kyra Sedgwick will return, but later than planned
Q: I’m happy to hear that Kyra Sedgwick will have a new series next season, What’s it about? – Kayla Thorne, Providence, R.I.
A: Though it initially was planned as a fall starter for ABC, the network has decided to delay its premiere until later in the season. Instead, “black-ish” – which was going to return later – will go into that Wednesday slot for fall, whenever “fall” turns out to be for broadcast television this time. Based on statements from ABC executives, the switch largely has to do with wanting to get new “black-ish” episodes on the air as soon as possible, given the current social climate that those will be virtually certain to address. Sedgwick’s new sitcom, “Call Your Mother,” casts her as a woman who doesn’t adjust well to being on her own now that her children are grown and leading their own lives far away from her. She decides she still needs to have a big role with them, so we’ll see how the show handles the inevitable travel scenes, given current times.
Q: Was Teri Hatcher still on “Desperate Housewives” when she made the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies”? – Peter Sanders, via e-mail
A: Actually, she was several years away from starting that series, but she had just finished another one. She had just wrapped up a four-season run as Lois Lane on “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” in 1997 when she took on the role of Agent 007’s (Pierce Brosnan) ex-flame Paris Carver – married to his then-latest enemy, a media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) bent on starting World War III to stoke readership and viewership of his properties, in that year’s Bond caper. There are several interesting notes about Hatcher’s casting in “Tomorrow Never Dies.” She was three months pregnant when she made the movie; two-time Emmy winner Sela Ward tested for the role and reportedly was told she was wanted for it, but 10 years younger; and another actress who tried out for the part was Monica Bellucci, who eventually would get her Bond shot almost 30 years later opposite Daniel Craig in “Spectre.”