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, 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
Thursday, May 22
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Diet Crap" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tensions rise when Georgie intrudes on Mandy’s new sales gig. Meanwhile, Audrey’s conflicted when Jim makes it a point not to coddle Connor.
Ghosts - "Sad Farnsby" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Sam accidentally creates a rift between Sam and Jay’s neighbors, the Farnsbys, Henry Farnsby moves into Woodstone B&B. Also, Isaac and Nigel battle over a belated wedding present.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 19)
Thursday, May 22
- Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) - Catch Miley on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Chloe Fineman (Big Mouth/Search Party) - Chloe appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm. Featured host Vlad Duthiers sits down with Ronny on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Elizabeth Banks (30 Rock/Scrubs) and Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Elizabeth and Amanda are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10:15pm on Bravo.
- Cynthia Nixon (And Just Like That.../Sex and the City) - Cynthia talks about ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Hugh Jackman (Human Resources) - Hugh chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Bill Bellamy (Mr. Box Office/Men, Women & Dogs/Cousin Skeeter) - Bill brings the laughs to the third annual cookout on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Finola Hughes (Blossom) - Finola dishes on General Hospital on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Jason Schwartzman (Blunt Talk/Mozart in the Jungle/Bored to Death) - Jason talks about Mountainhead on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Sterling K. Brown (Starved) - Sterling is telling Drew all about playing a secret service agent in the thrilling new show Paradise on a repaet of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Midori Francis (The Sex Lives of College Girls) - Midori is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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