Hints dropped about “Friends” reunion
PASADENA, Calif. — The “Friends” reunion will be there for you. Maybe.
“There’s interest all the way around” in bringing the stars of the hit sitcom together again, said HBO Max chief content officer Kevin Reilly. “And yet we can’t seem to quite get that interest sort of all aligned” and push the button on it.
“So today, unfortunately, it’s still a maybe,” Reilly told a TV critics meeting Wednesday.
Last fall, Jennifer Aniston said there were efforts to make something happen — but definitely not a “Friends” reboot. That was followed by reports that the cast and producers were in talks for an HBO Max special.
The show, which aired from 1994 to 2004, was a popular rerun staple on Netflix until HBO Max outbid it to become the new “Friends” streaming home beginning this year. HBO Max launches in May.
Ken Jennings remains greatest of all-time
NEW YORK — Being bold paid off for new “Jeopardy!” mega-champion Ken Jennings, while it didn’t for his opponents.
Jennings won his third match in the “Jeopardy!” “Greatest of all Time” contest televised on Tuesday, an event that’s been a prime-time hit for ABC. He pocketed $1 million by dispatching James Holzhauer, who won one match, and Brad Rutter, who came up empty.
The gamesmanship between the three men considered the most-accomplished and best-known in the show’s modern history proved entertaining while containing all the tension of a major sporting match.
Jennings took a strong lead in the first game of Tuesday’s match by borrowing a strategy popularized by Holzhauer, twice betting all of his points on a Daily Double and winning. He signalled his intention by imitating the gesture of a poker player pushing all of his chips to the centre of the table.
In a “Final Jeopardy” question about Greece, Jennings bet all 32,800 of his points on the clue: “This area of Greece, home to Pan, is synonymous with a rural paradise; it’s a setting for Vergil’s shepherd poems the ‘Ecologues.’ He correctly answered, “What is Arcadia?”
Holzhauer was leading in the second game of the match, where the “Final Jeopardy” question asked the competitors to identify the non-title character in a Shakespearean tragedy with the most speeches.
Jennings correctly answered, “Who is Iago?” But he bet none of his points.
That left an opening for Holzhauer to take the match if he bet all of his points and got it right. He bet all of his points, but answered, “Who is Horatio?”
At the end, Hozhauer and Rutter hoisted Jennings on their shoulders in honour. The losers each took home $250,000.
Juno Awards honour Jann Arden
SASKATOON — Singer-songwriter Jann Arden is being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
The Calgary-born artist will celebrate the honour with a live performance at the Juno Awards in Saskatoon on March 15.
Arden launched her multi-platinum career in the 1990s with hits including “I Would Die For You,” “Could I Be Your Girl” and “Insensitive.”
She’s also written a number of memoirs, and launched the semi-autobiographical sitcom “Jann” on CTV last year.
The National Music Centre in Calgary will launch an exhibition on March 20 featuring artifacts and memorabilia from Arden’s career.
Catherine O’Hara honoured by ACTRA
TORONTO — Comedy veteran Catherine O’Hara is getting a lifetime achievement award from Canada’s national performers’ union.
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists says it will present the “Schitt’s Creek” star and “SCTV” alumna with its national award of excellence April 18 in Los Angeles.
The honour recognizes an ACTRA member’s career achievements and contribution to Canada’s entertainment industry.
O’Hara currently stars as eccentric matriarch Moira Rose on CBC’s “Schitt’s Creek,” but her vast TV credits include “Six Feet Under,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and HBO’s “Temple Grandin.”
Big screen credits include “Beetlejuice,” “Home Alone,” “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind” and “For Your Consideration.”
“Thank you so much, fellow ACTRA members, if I wasn’t a good Canadian, I’d brag about this lovely honour too.”
A-list actors used for new audio books
NEW YORK — Sir Patrick Stewart, Samuel L. Jackson and Lucy Liu will be among the readers for the audio edition of a new anthology edited in part by the American Civil Liberties Union.
“Fight of the Century” is a collaboration between the ACLU and authors Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman. Timed to the ACLU’s centennial, it includes essays by Salman Rushdie, Jesmyn Ward and dozens of other writers on landmark legal cases, from Roe v. Wade to Brown v. Board of Education.
Other audio narrators will include Michael C. Hall, Alison Pill and Judith Light.
The audio, printed and digital editions of “Fight of the Century” will be published next week by divisions of Simon & Schuster.