Amazon Starts Production on Being the Ricardos, An I Love Lucy Movie; NBC Schedules Lil Rel Game Show

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Amazon Starts Production on Being the Ricardos, An I Love Lucy Movie; NBC Schedules Lil Rel Game Show

Amazon Studios started principal photography on writer-director Aaron Sorkin's drama Being the Ricardos this week in Los Angeles. Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem star as real-life couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the stars behind the groundbreaking and classic 1950s television sitcom I Love Lucy, that focused on a happily married though seemingly mismatched couple - a flame-haired, accident-prone American housewife, and her sensible Cuban-American bandleader husband - that became the top-rated and most beloved show of the era. The film is set during one production week of I Love Lucy - Monday table read through Friday audience filming - when Lucy and Desi face a crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage.

Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman (The Undoing) is the eponymous redheaded star of I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball, and fellow Oscar winner Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls, No Country for Old Men) is her husband, Desi Arnaz, the Cuban-American actor, musician, and president of their television production company, Desilu Productions. On I Love Lucy, Ball and Arnaz portrayed America's most famous TV couple, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. But in real life their relationship was infamously more complex and tumultuous than the hilarious fictional characters they portray. The film co-stars Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, Palm Springs) and Nina Arianda (Stan & Ollie, Florence Foster Jenkins) as Lucy and Desi's I Love Lucy co-stars William Frawley and Vivian Vance. Frawley played the Ricardo's neighbor Fred Mertz on the iconic sitcom and Vance was Fred's wife and Lucy's best friend, Ethel Mertz.

Joining the ensemble in co-starring roles are two-time Emmy winner Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development) as I Love Lucy executive producer and head writer Jess Oppenheimer, along with Alia Shawkat (Search Party, Arrested Development) and Jake Lacy (Fosse/Verdon, The Office) as the show's longtime writing partners, Madelyn Pugh & Bob Carroll Jr. Rounding out the cast are Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Nelson Franklin (Veep), John Rubinstein (Family), Linda Lavin (Alice, The Good Wife), Robert Pine (CHiPs) and Christopher Denham (Billions).

Small Fortune

Small Fortune, NBC's newest team competition game show hosted by Lil Rel Howery, premieres on Monday, May 31 at 10 p.m. ET/PT and will air thru July 19, right before the Olympics. The series is a British import based on Youngest Media's popular U.K. format and is unlike any team competition ever seen on U.S. television. In each heart-pounding episode, teams of three from various backgrounds, including first responders and Olympians from around the country, work together to earn a shot at competing for the $250,000 cash prize in the "Big Little Heist" finale game. To get there, each team must prove their skills on miniature playing fields from a shrunken sushi conveyor belt with tiny chopsticks ("Teeny Sashimi") to a mini Ellis Island ("Statue of Liberteeny"). Challenges will require considerable dexterity and intense focus because with games this small, there's no room for error as the slightest miscalculation or tremble may result in losing tens of thousands of dollars. In the eight-episode series, Howery raises the stakes by mixing encouragement with his brand of laughs to keep the players on their toes and audiences equally as anxious and entertained.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, December 26

Happy's Place - "Promises, Promises" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Emmett continues his nightly check-ins with Bobbie to ensure her safety, Isabella pays the price as she's kept up by their loud late-night chats, prompting her to tell Bobbie to advance their relationship or at least take it out of the house.

Stumble - "Media Day" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Courteney decides to use media day as a way to recruit new cheerleaders and to push her team to get right back on that mat; DiMarcus proves that not all Buttons are meant to be pushed.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 22)

Friday, December 26

Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Watch Mila on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zooey Deschanel (Physical/New Girl) - Zooey appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jamie Kaler (My Boys) - Jamie is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show/The New Dick Van Dyke Show/The Van Dyke Show) - Dick discusses his new book with ABC News' Chris Connelly on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti cooks on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Lacey Chabert (Still the King/Baby Daddy/Family Guy) - Lacey talks about Loist in Paradise on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) - Ryan appears on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Sarah Paulson (Leap of Faith) - Sarah is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Phil Rosenthal (Creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) - Phil appears on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Mo'Nique (The Parkers) - Tamron Hall (repeat) has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE with Mo'Nique about her weight-loss journey and the launch of her new fitness brand, Mo'Niques Movement, as well as the emotional moment with her husband that changed it all, so check your local listings.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Star Raving Mad/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - NBC's Today has Cocktails and Mocktails with Neil and David Burtka on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Mario tells Sherri about his new holiday film The Christmas Spark on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers), Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb), Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me) and Ariana Greenblatt (Stuck in the Middle) - The Now You See Me: Now You Don't cast including Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher Jesse Eisenberg, Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith and Dominic Sessa join Drew to dish all about the third installment of the hit franchise on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.