Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
STARS ON SCREEN
‘World on Fire’: Earlier this month, a commemorative ceremony was held in Warsaw to mark the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland.
The event looms large in world history because it triggered World War II, an unprecedented and devastating conflict that resulted in the loss of 70 to 85 million lives. And as years go by, it becomes easier to hold onto numbers and dates but forget the day-to-day experiences of those who lived through the war — on the battlefront, in occupied regions and on the home front.
These human stories of war served as the inspiration for the new BBC period drama “World on Fire,” coming soon to PBS under its “Masterpiece” banner.
Starring Oscar-winner Helen Hunt (“As Good As It Gets,” 1997) and Sean Bean (“Game of Thrones”), the series is billed as a gripping drama “that follows the intertwining fates of ordinary people in five countries as they grapple with the effects of the war on their everyday lives.”
It’s about ordinary people living in extraordinary times, and it’s about remembering the very real impact of the war on a generation that is, sadly, slipping away.
The seven-hour series is set in Britain, France, Germany, Poland and the United States. It begins with a look at the events of 1939, and instead of offering a historical overview of the nearly six-year conflict, it weaves together human stories while focusing on the events of the first year of the war, from the invasion of Poland to the Battle of Britain.
Production began last fall in locations such as Prague, Berlin, London, Manchester and Paris, which will likely take center stage after the Battle of Dunkirk (the beach evacuation was recreated in Lancashire, U.K.).
Jonah Hauer-King (“Little Women”) and Julia Brown (“Shetland”) play key roles as Harry Chase and Lois Bennett. Harry is a young English translator who gets caught up in negotiations in Warsaw and tries to smuggle his Polish lover (Zofia Wichlacz, “1983”) out of the country; Lois is the girl who is waiting for him at home.
Going host-free: The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony airs this Sunday, Sept. 22, on Fox, and this year it’s a hostless event.
Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier explained the decision during this year’s TCA executive session: “What’s interesting about this year is how many amazing shows we’re saying goodbye to: ‘Game of Thrones, ‘Veep,’ ‘The Big Bang Theory’ ... You have to look at tradeoffs. If you have a host and an opening, that’s 15 minutes you can’t have to salute the shows.”
Besides, Fox already set a precedent for it with the last host-less Emmys in 2003. Collier added: “We’ve had a lot of [host] names on the board. But the conclusion we’ve reached is that in this year, when we’re highlighting so many shows that are going away, it would be a really strategic use of the Emmys to not have a host.”
Speaking of shows going away, the “Game of Thrones” swan song earned it an impressive 32 nominations, the most for any series in a single year. Other big multi-nominees to watch: last year’s Comedy Series winner, Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” earned 20 nods; HBO’s “Chernobyl” has 19; NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has 18; HBO’s “Barry” and FX’s “Fosse/Verdon” both have 17 nominations; and Netflix’s “When They See Us” earned 16 nominations.
This is also a big year for TV milestones, such as the 30th anniversary of “Seinfeld” and the 25th anniversary of both “ER” and “Friends.” Who knows? Maybe that extra time will allow for a few surprise reunions on stage.
Exit Jones: “Saturday Night Live” returns for a 45th season on Saturday, Sept. 28. But one well-known cast member won’t be returning: Leslie Jones.
A fixture on the show for five seasons, Jones is leaving “SNL” to pursue feature film and TV projects, including a planned reboot of the classic TV game show “Supermarket Sweep.”
Jones has been nominated for an Emmy for her work on “SNL” three years in a row, this year for co-writing the lyrics to “Upper East Side” (a.k.a.. “The U.E.S.”), which was featured as an “SNL Short.”
The comedian joined the latenight sketch show back in 2014 when, at the age of 47, she became the oldest “new” cast member in the show’s history. She got her start there as a writer and made a number of buzzworthy appearances on “Weekend Update” before cementing her spot as a regular cast member.
Skip ahead to 2019, and the star of “Ghostbusters” (2016) is coming off a busy August. First came news of a new hour-long standup special that’s set for release on Netflix in 2020, plus a role in the planned sequel to “Coming to America” (1988).