Friday, January 17, 2020
At the Movies This Weekend
We think Bad Boys for Life will debut at the top of the box office chart this weekend, likely bringing in over $45 million. 1917 will land in second and Dolittle with Robert Downey Jr will debut in third.
In theaters:
Dolittle (PG)
Bad Boys for Life (R)
The Last Full Measure (R)
BIRTHDAYS
• Betty White is 98
• James Earl Jones is 89
• Maury Povich is 81
• Joanna David (Downton Abbey) is 73
• Steve Harvey is 63
• Jim Carrey is 58
• Kid Rock is 49
• Zooey Deschanel is 40
ON TELEVISION
FRIDAY
LINCOLN RHYME: HUNT FOR THE BONE COLLECTOR (8p ET, NBC) — New. Lincoln and Amelia join forces to find a killer inspired by Greek mythology who is live-streaming murders.
WWE SMACKDOWN (8p ET, FOX) — New.
CHARMED (8p ET, CW) — New.
DYNASTY (9p ET, CW) — New. Blake’s trial continues as Alexis shocks the jury with her testimony.
SERIES PREMIERE: DIARY OF A FUTURE PRESIDENT (Disney+) — This new series follows Elena, a 12-year-old Cuban American girl who dreams of becoming president of the United States. The series explores Elena’s ups and downs in middle school and the moments that ultimately set her on the path to running her presidential campaign. Tess Romero, Charlie Bushnell, and Gina Rodriguez star.
SERIES PREMIERE: LITTLE AMERICA (AppleTV+) — This new anthology series from Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick) revolves around the lives of American immigrants. Each episode tells a different immigrant story, all based on real people featured in articles in Epic magazine.
SEASON PREMIERE: SEX EDUCATION (Netflix) — This coming-of-age comedy returns for Season 2, with Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield.
TROOP ZERO (Amazon Prime) — In this new comedy, a quirky young girl (Mckenna Grace, Captain Marvel) in 1970s Georgia gathers allies in her quest to win a talent competition. Jim Gaffigan, Viola Davis and Allison Janney also star.
TYLER PERRY’S A FALL FROM GRACE (Netflix) — This new romantic thriller/courtroom drama stars Crystal Fox, Phylicia Rashad and Cicely Tyson.
SATURDAY
GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (8p ET, HBO) — Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Brown star in this 2019 sequel.
SEVEN WORLDS, ONE PLANET (9p ET, BBC America, AMC, IFC, SundanceTV) — David Attenborough narrates this new nature series.
SUNDAY
AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (3p ET, CBS) — The Kansas City Chiefs host the Tennessee Titans.
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (6:30p ET, FOX) — The San Francisco 49ers host the Green Bay Packers.
NCIS (8p ET, CBS) — A night of repeats on CBS.
SEASON FINALE: KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS (8p ET, ABC) — New. Tiffany Haddish takes a look back at some of the funniest moments of the season.
BATWOMAN (8p ET, CW) — New.
THE 26TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS (8p ET, TBS and TNT) — The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) will honor the best of film and TV acting at its 26th annual ceremony.
SHARK TANK (9p ET, ABC) — New. Products include a food allergy prevention system for babies, a healthy snack product line that uses an ancient grain, and a unique twist to a typical household item.
ELLEN’S GAME OF GAMES (9p ET, NBC) — Two repeats.
SUPERGIRL (9p ET, CW) — New.
SERIES PREMIERE: 9-1-1: LONE STAR (10p ET, FOX) — This spinoff of 9-1-1 stars Rob Lowe as a former member of New York’s bravest who takes a new job in Texas. Liv Tyler also stars.
SERIES PREMIERE: AVENUE 5 (10p ET, HBO) — This new series (created by Armando Iannucci, VEEP) stars Hugh Laurie. Set nearly 40 years in the future, the show follows the captain (Laurie) and crew of a luxurious space cruise ship as they deal with a massive systems malfunction that knocks them off course. Now it will take years to return to Earth, and there are only enough supplies for a month long cruise. Suzy Nakamura and Josh Gad also star.
SEASON PREMIERE: CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (10:30p ET, HBO) — Larry David returns for a 10th season after a more than three-year gap.
Showbiz News and Gossip…
LAW & ORDERS WILL STREAM ON PEACOCK
The original Law & Order is finally make its streaming debut later this year on NBC’s Peacock service. The deal between producer Dick Wolf and NBC calls for six Wolf Entertainment series to be made available on Peacock. The pact covers more than 1,000 episodes of Law & Order plus spinoffs Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as well as Wolf’s trilogy of Chicago-set dramas for NBC: Chicago: Fire, Chicago: P.D. and Chicago: Med.
… The mothership Law & Order series, which aired on NBC from 1990 to 2010, will not offer all 456 episodes at the outset, probably because rights are tied up in pre-existing deals. But Peacock will be the first to offer the three core Law & Order series in one place.
… SVU, the only Law & Order series still in active production for NBC, has been available for streaming for some time on Hulu.
PEACOCK WILL LAUNCH EARLY FOR COMCAST SUBSCRIBERS
The streaming service Peacock will fly a little bit earlier for Comcast subscribers. NBCUniversal announced that its upcoming streaming service will launch on April 15 for Comcast Xfinity X1 and Flex subscribers. It will become available nationwide on July 15, a little more than a week before the start of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Peacock will also have two separate tiers of service, both of which will be free to Comcast and Cox’s 24 million subscribers. By the end of 2024, the company expects to have between 30-35 million subscribers.
WE’RE SPENDING A BUNCH ON HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Americans spent $25.2 billion on home entertainment in 2019, a record level that rose 8.4 percent compared to the previous year. Streaming subscriptions accounted for the largest slice of that pie, encompassing $15.9 billion of that spending for a total of 63 percent of the entire market.
… Digital movie sales were up 5 percent, and digital movie rentals were up 9 percent.
… Disc sales — Blu-rays, DVDs, etc. — are in a serious slide, down 18.2 percent. Video rental stores made just $250 million in 2019, down 21.1 percent from 2018.
CHIP AND JOANNA GAINES’ MAGNOLIA CHANNEL TO LAUNCH THIS FALL
Chip and Joanna’s Gaines’ new TV channel will go live on October 4. Magnolia will take over the DIY Network.
DEMI LOVATO WILL PERFORM THE SUPER BOWL NATIONAL ANTHEM
The NFL announced on Thursday that pop singer Demi Lovato will perform the national anthem before Super Bowl 54. Gladys Knight was last year’s singer at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
NETFLIX, BEN & JERRY’S SCOOP UP NEW ICE CREAM FLAVOR
The expression “Netflix and Chill,” a term that’s become a cover phrase for getting romantic with a companion, is a couple of years old. But on this week Ben & Jerry’s announced that it’s partnered with the streaming service to introduce a related ice cream flavor, Netflix & Chill’d.
… The new flavor features peanut butter ice cream dotted with pretzel pieces and bits of fudge brownies, so it blends salty and sweet. It’s now available globally in pints and in Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops.
MC HAMMER IN SUPER BOWL AD
MC Hammer will star in a Super Bowl commercial for Cheetos. The orange snack company dropped a teaser on the internet Thursday.
WORST SUPER BOWL PARTY PEOPLE
• The crazy fan. This is the guy who screams at anyone who talks during the game. He acts as if he is in his living room alone and can’t imagine while there are 25 other people here acting like they are at a party. He sits so close to the television that he can make out individual pixels and spends halftime pacing like some sort of jungle cat.
• Sir Quest A Lot. Why did the quarterback do that? What was that call? What does it mean when they get the chains out? Sir Quest A Lot is good at one thing: questions. He will not stop. He will beat you down.
• The guy who should have been an NFL coach. We get it — you know more than anyone on the field. But instead you chose to sell life insurance. Oh well, maybe in your next life.
• The aggressive dieter who judges you. Yay for you! You’re on a new diet. Hooray, but please don’t tell me that fairytale that kale chips taste just like regular chips. They don’t. They taste like pages of a burnt novel. Quit judging the rest of us because we’re eating Fritos.
• The person who thinks this year’s halftime show was lame. It was. So was last year’s and the year before that. It’s impossible to have a great halftime show.
• The person who says the game is too long. It’s not. The game is the same length — it’s just jammed with more entertainment. We are about to enter a sports wasteland, so what’s your rush to get there? No baseball, no college football and no pro football.
• The person who thinks both teams suck. You know this guy: neither team deserves to be in Super Bowl. I mean, come on, there was that blown call in game one; the lucky catch in game two; the loose astro-turf in game three…