Stallone underwent 7 back surgeries, has metal plate in neck, after stunt injuries

NEW YORK >> Sylvester Stallone recently revealed he underwent more than half a dozen back surgeries after a stunt on the set of the first “Expendables” film left him with injuries from which he “never recovered.”

In the newly released second season of his Paramount+ reality series, “The Family Stallone,” the 77-yearold “Rocky” star says he was forced to go under the knife seven different times after filming a fight scene that involved getting body-slammed by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

“I did stupid stuff,” Stallone recalled in the show, which premiered on Wednesday. “I was directing ‘Expendables’ and, like an idiot, I’m doing take 10, take whatever, and I remember one slam and I could actually feel one bang. Steve knew.”

HBO is renewing ‘True Detective’ for a fifth season

LOS ANGELES >> Original “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto’s social media feed might get pretty active again soon: HBO has announced it is renewing “True Detective” for a fifth season, with Issa López as showrunner.

The renewal arrives days after its fourth season, “True Crime: Night Country,” concluded its six-episode run, the crime drama’s most-watched season — and the first not to have Pizzolatto at the helm. Set in fictional Ennis, Alaska, the season starred Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as detectives trying to solve the case of eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station, who are later found frozen in a “corpsicle.” Sunday’s finale brought in the season’s largest first-night audience, with 3.2 million cross-platform viewers. But its success wasn’t without some controversy. Pizzolato, who remains an executive producer on the series, made headlines for his vocal distaste for the new season, reposting criticisms of the finale to his Instagram stories.