George Clooney chalks up another major honor
Q: I read that George Clooney is receiving The Kennedy Center Honors this year. When will that be on television? – Casey Ford, via email
A: Though CBS hadn’t set an exact air date yet when this column was written, it’s likely to get its traditional December telecast, barring unforeseen circumstances (as happened in 2020). The event is scheduled to be recorded at the start of that month, and though it aired a week earlier than usual last year, the broadcast normally comes shortly afterward during the holiday season. Clooney is the sole acting name in this year’s lineup of recipients that includes a bounty of music stars – U2, Gladys Knight and Amy Grant – as well as composer-conductor Tania Leon. Since the honorees usually are saluted by people significant in their lives and/or careers, we’ll put our figurative bets now on Julia Roberts and Julianna Margulies showing up on behalf of Clooney.
Q: Why was “Chad” canceled just as its second season was supposed to begin? – Doug Collins, via email
A: The general consensus is that it got caught in a corporate merger, that being the combining of WarnerMedia – the owner of TBS – and Discovery Networks. It didn’t take long for some revised decisions to be made, one of which involved pulling the Nasim Pedrad-starring sitcom “Chad” from the TBS schedule just hours before the second-season premiere was to be shown, despite good ratings for the show’s freshman round. That was part of an apparent plan to move TBS away from original scripted content.
As of this writing, there are efforts to find a new home for the fully filmed Season 2 of “Chad.” The show originally had been developed for Fox, which passed on it before TBS stepped forward. “Saturday Night Live” alum Pedrad said on social media that however things ultimately go with the program’s distribution, she’s proud of the work she did on it.
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