Mcelhenney and Reynolds return to Wales for a new A.F.C. season
By Caroline Collacutt
Football frenzy: The boys are back in town — and this time, they might even know what they’re doing. Season 2 of “Welcome to Wrexham” premieres Tuesday, Sept. 12, on FX, and will be available to stream the following day on Hulu.
When actors Rob Mcelhenney (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) and Ryan Reynolds (“Deadpool,” 2016) announced their intentions to buy the Wrexham football club — a Welsh professional association club located in Wrexham, North East Wales, operating as the third-oldest club in the world — in 2020, the North American duo was met with many curious glances from football fans across the U.K. and soccer fans back home.
At the time, Wrexham AFC was operating in the National League (the fifth tier of English football, ranked below the Premier League and all three tiers of the English football system), previously described as a mismanaged team barreling towards the brink of collapse. Mcelhenney and Reynolds, however, saw nothing but opportunity. With no prior experience, the duo packed their bags and, joined by a crew of cameras, made off to help the team succeed.
A description from FX shares: “’Welcome to Wrexham’ is a docuseries tracking the dreams and worries of Wrexham, a working-class town in North Wales, U.K., as two Hollywood stars take ownership of the town’s historic yet struggling football club.
“From Hollywood to Wales, from the pitch to the locker room, the front office to the pub, ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ will track Rob and Ryan’s crash course in football club ownership and the inextricably connected fates of a team and a town counting on two actors to bring some serious hope and change to a community that could use it.”
Throughout the course of the first season, viewers watched as Mcelhenney and Reynolds took over the team (the Red Dragons), first attempting to qualify for the playoffs before playing towards promotion and eventually taking on Wembley Stadium.the team — and the duo’s knowledge of the game — improved throughout the year, eventually landing them in second place. Despite a successful season, the Red Dragons failed to advance to the fourth tier of the EFL League Two after being knocked out in the semifinals of the promotion playoffs.
Details have been kept tight-lipped, but it is assumed that Season 2 will feature the club’s eventual promotion to League Two, with pressure mounting as the club gains notoriety and attention – even from royalty. No matter who’s watching, the Red Dragons and their Hollywood helpers continue chasing their promotion dream in Season 2 of “Welcome to Wrexham,” premiering Tuesday, Sept. 12, on FX, and streaming Wednesday, Sept. 13, on Hulu.
Video stars: The 39th annual MTV Video Music Awards show is set to broadcast live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, celebrating music from all genres and videos from some of the most talented players in the industry when it airs Tuesday, Sept. 12, on MTV.
The event began in 1984 with a show held at the Radio City Music Hall. Since then, many categories have been added, changing the industry and making history along the way. This year, for example, all nominees for Artist of the Year are women – this will be the first time any one gender has dominated the category since it was first introduced in 2017.
This year’s nominees were announced on Aug. 8, 2023, seeing Taylor Swift (“Midnights,” 2022) in the lead with eight total nominations, followed by SZA (“SOS,” 2022) at six and Doja Cat (“Scarlet,” 2023), Kim Petras (“Feed the Beast,” 2023), Miley Cyrus (“Endless Summer Vacation,” 2023), Nicki Minaj (“Pink Friday 2,” 2023), Olivia Rodrigo (“GUTS,” 2023) and Sam Smith (“Gloria,” 2023) all following with five.
Unlike some award shows, the “VMAS” allows viewers to vote for their favorite artists and videos from the comfort of their own homes, putting power in the hands of fans.while a full list of nominees (and further voting procedures) can be found on MTV’S website, nominations for a few top categories have been listed below.
Video of the Year: Doja Cat for “Attention”; Miley Cyrus for “Flowers”; Nicki Minaj for “Super Freaky Girl”; Olivia Rodrigo for “Vampire”; Sam Smith and Kim Petras for “Unholy”; SZA for “Kill Bill” and Taylor Swift for “Anti-hero.”
Song of the Year: Miley Cyrus (“Flowers”); Olivia Rodrigo (“Vampire”); Rema and Selena Gomez (“Calm Down”); Sam Smith and Kim Petras (“Unholy”); Steve Lacy (“Bad Habit”); SZA (“Kill Bill”) and Taylor Swift (“Anti-hero”).
Best New Artist: Glorilla (“Anyways, Life’s Great,” 2022); Ice Spice (“Like…?,” 2023); Kaliii (“Toxic Chocolate,” 2022); Peso Pluma (“Génesis,” 2023); Pinkpantheress (“Take me home,” 2022) and Reneé Rapp (“Snow Angel,” 2023).
Finally, the ladies dominating the Artist of the Year category are Beyoncé (“Renaissance,” 2022), Karol G (“Mañana Será Bonito,” 2023), Shakira (“El Dorado,” 2017), Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift.
More categories, including Best Collaboration, Best Pop, Best Hip Hop, Best K-pop, Best Visual Effects, Editing, Direction, and Video for Good can be seen as the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards show plays on, broadcast live from New Jersey, Tuesday, Sept. 12, on MTV.