Hollywood Q&A

Q: Was the guy who played the Chinese gangster in “The Gentlemen” the same guy who was in that comedy “A Simple Favor”?

A: The 2019 British crime film, “The Gentlemen,” was indeed a bit of a departure for Henry Golding, but it’s now seeming like just the first step towards a more diverse film career.

Having burst onto the American film scene just a year earlier in the surprise hit romantic comedy, “Crazy Rich Asians,” it suddenly seemed everyone wanted to be in the Henry Golding business.

Two more similar roles followed in quick succession that threatened to pigeonhole him as a romantic lead — mystery comedy “A Simple Favor” (2018) and the holiday romance “Last Christmas” (2019).

Later in 2019, he played the villainous gangster Dry Eye in “The Gentlemen,” the Guy Ritchie crime picture. It was a smaller role than the previous three but a much more prestigious one — the film was writer-director Ritchie’s long-awaited return to form and also starred such screen luminaries as Matthew McConaughey and Hugh Grant (two other guys trying to distance themselves from their rom-com pasts).

If that seemed like a big step away from romantic comedy, get a load of Golding’s next gig: he recently completed filming the upcoming action flick “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins,” in which he plays the title character, a member of the G.I. Joe commando unit who is also a ninja (these are based on kids toys, remember).

Q: I loved “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Is there anywhere to watch all the episodes?

A: After decades of challenges with making the show available, there are, thankfully, now multiple ways to watch “WKRP in Cincinnati.”

It depends where you are, of course. In the U.S., you can get it digitally from services including Amazon Prime, iTunes and Vudu. In Canada, your only digital option is iTunes.

There’s also the DVD option. Individual seasons and a completeseries box set with (most of ) the original music are now available for sale from most DVD retailers.

The original-music question was a big sticking point in this show’s drawn-out journey from broadcast to home video. A workplace comedy that happened to be set at a pop music station, it aired from 1978 to 1982, a long time before home video was a consideration for producers.

That meant, unfortunately, the deals they made to use actual, cutting-edge pop music on the soundtrack didn’t include video rights.

That fact led to 32 years of legal wrangling, during which attempts were made to release heavily edited episodes with different music in the background. For long periods, it just wasn’t available at all.

But in 2014, Shout Factory released DVDs with most of the music restored. The show’s struggles had become big news in the entertainment business, and so this release was greeted with a fair bit of glee.

Entertainment Weekly was particularly excited about the release, saying, “Somewhere in sitcom heaven Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap are exchanging cool ‘70shipster handshakes.”

Q: Why did Chip and Joanna Gaines leave HGTV for a new network?

A: To be fair, they’re not just leaving for a new network. They’re leaving for their own network. The network formerly known as DIY Network is being rebranded as Magnolia Network, a joint venture between the Gaineses and Discovery. Discovery is the parent company of DIY and of HGTV, the Gaineses former TV home. Once you know all that, the reason is pretty self-explanatory. They’ve done well for themselves on HGTV but they only have creative control of (and financial benefit from) the shows they appear on. With Magnolia Network, they have creative control over every minute of programming and they reap the benefits from all of it. It also gives them to chance to expand themselves a little and be more than just renovators/style experts.