Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Wednesday Night TV:
SURVIVOR: WINNERS AT WAR (8p ET, CBS) — New. Contestants have moments with their loved ones.
THE GOLDBERGS (8p ET, ABC) — New. Business rival and nemesis “Formica” Mike (guest star Richard Kind) attempts to make an offer Murray can’t refuse by buying Ottoman Empire. Ana Gasteyer also guest stars.
CHICAGO MED (8p ET, NBC) — New. Dr. Crockett is visited by two New Orleans detectives who have questions about his past.
THE MASKED SINGER (8p ET, FOX) — New. This viewer sing-a-long features season 3 performances.
RIVERDALE (8p ET, CW) — The series returns with a musical episode.
SCHOOLED (8:30p ET, ABC) — New. Coach Mellor deals with jealousy issues after learning Julie is friends with a handsome doctor.
SEAL TEAM (9p ET, CBS) — New. Bravo Team searches for a new terrorist group leader who is orchestrating violent resistance to peace negotiations in Afghanistan.
AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (9p ET, ABC) — New. Katie encourages Anna-Kat to start standing up for herself when dealing with Taylor.
CHICAGO FIRE (9p ET, NBC) — New. One of 51’s own gets injured on a call.
SEASON FINALE: LEGO MASTERS (9p ET, FOX) — New. The two remaining duos go head-to-head as they create their most epic master builds yet.
NANCY DREW (9p ET, CW) — New.
SINGLE PARENTS (9:30p ET, ABC) — New. Regis Philbin guest stars as himself.
CHICAGO P.D. (10p ET, NBC) — New. Atwater goes undercover to take down a gun trafficking ring.
S.W.A.T. (10p ET, CBS) — New. The team searches for an escaped convict who plans to kill Tan and every member of law enforcement who helped put him in prison.
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE (10p ET, ABC) — New. Will Forte and comic Nikki Glaser play for charity.
SEASON PREMIERE: WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (10p ET, FX) — Season 2 begins.
SERIES PREMIERE: MRS. AMERICA (FX on Hulu) — Cate Blanchett stars in this new series as conservative firebrand Phyllis Schlafly. The story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is told through the eyes of the women of the era — both Schlafly and feminists Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman), Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba), Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale), and Jill Ruckelshaus (Elizabeth Banks). The first three episodes premiere today with one new episode each week following.
THE INNOCENCE FILES (Netflix) — This new docuseries follows cases through The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization that exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing.
Showbiz News and Gossip from RogueValleyMagazine.com
ALEX TREBEK IS RELEASING HIS MEMOIR THE DAY BEFORE HIS 80th BIRTHDAY _ Alex Trebek’s memoir will be available on July 21, the day before the Jeopardy! host celebrates his 80th birthday. The title of his memoir is The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life.
AMERICAN IDOL WILL CONTINUE WITH FIRST EVER AT-HOME REMOTE EDITIONS _ For American Idol, the show must go on. After taking time to consider a variety of options as social distancing guidelines went into effect across the country, the show plans to move forward with remote episodes that are filmed at home. These new episodes, which will begin airing on Sunday, April 26, will replace the live shows that were scheduled to follow the other rounds of the competition. Ordinarily these live shows are filmed on stage in front of an audience and a panel of judges. Those shows will replaced by an entirely remote show.
… This new version of the show will feature performances from the remaining 20 contestants, who will be performing from their homes across the country. Judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan will also be filming the show from their homes, as will host Ryan Seacrest.
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN HAS A NEW SHOW COMING TO AMC _ You may know him as the villain who killed some of your all-time favorite characters on The Walking Dead, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan is actually a pretty nice guy in real life. After his role as as Negan on AMC’s hit show, the network has announced that he’s looking to bring smiles and laughter in a brand new series.
… Friday, April 17 will see the launch of Friday Night in with the Morgans, a new half-hour show centered around Morgan and his wife, actress Hilarie Burton Morgan, as they reach out to other celebrities and discuss their lives together. AMC states that the show will be designed around bringing happiness to viewers during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that’s ravaging the world and forcing everyone to stay indoors practicing social distancing.
… The show will be filmed at the Morgan family residence, Mischief Farm, in upstate New York, a spot already made popular by Burton Morgan’s book The Rural Diaries and their famous odd couple pairing of an emu and donkey known as Jack and Diane.
THE WITCHER ACTOR REVEALS HE’S FULLY RECOVERED FROM COVID-19 _ Game of Thrones alum Kristopher Hivju had recently joined the cast of The Witcher to play a role in the second season of the fantasy show, but unfortunately he and his wife both tested positive for the COVID-19 and quarantined themselves at home to fight the virus.
… Hivju is known for portraying Jon Snow’s biggest brother-in-arms, Tormund Giantsbane. But the actor recently found a new fantasy home in the upcoming chapter of Netflix’s The Witcher. Hivju was one of the major celebrities to contract the disease in the early days of the outbreak in Europe and North America. Shortly after, Netflix did what every other studio and distributor had done by shutting down production on the second season.
… On Instagram Hivju wrote: “Hi! We are fully recovered and in good health after I was infected by the Coronavirus, and most likely my wife…”
GOD FRIENDED ME CANCELED AFTER TWO SEASONS ON CBS _ CBS is pruning its friends list. The network has canceled God Friended Me after two seasons. The drama has lower ratings this season and isn’t being watched by DVR and on-demand users all that much.
… The two-hour series finale is scheduled for Sunday, April 26.
GORDON RAMSAY IS FIRST CONFIRMED GUEST FOR THE MASKED SINGER: AFTER THE MASK _ Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay will be among the first guests on the premiere of Fox’s The Masked Singer: After the Mask, which launches on April 22. That’s because Ramsay will also be seen earlier that evening as a guest panelist on that night’s edition of The Masked Singer, joining regular panelists Nicole Scherzinger, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong. As part of his appearance, each of the disguised celebrity singers will bring out a signature dish to present to Ramsay and the show’s other panelists — which will also serve as a clue to their real identity.
BILLIE EILISH ADOPTS PUPPY SHE WAS FOSTERING _ Billie Eilish has a new furry friend — permanently. The singer adopted a puppy she had been fostering during the pandemic.
JON BON JOVI’S HOUSE IS FOR SALE FOR $20 MILLION _ Jon Bon Jovi’s six-bedroom, seven-bathroom estate in Middletown, New Jersey, is on the market for $20 million. It’s the kind of place you could social distance with the family for many months: the mansion sits on 15 acres and touches 450 feet of the Navesink River. It comes with a grand marble fireplace and a heated swimming pool.
TIGER KING GETS THE COMIC BOOK TREATMENT _ Tiger King, the compelling true crime series set in the world of private zoos and their eccentric owners, is getting the comic book treatment. Tidalwave Productions said on Tuesday it has added the story to its Infamous series of pop culture comic books after the Netflix television series became a worldwide phenomenon.
… Tiger King was watched by around 34 million viewers in the first 10 days after it was released on Netflix on March 20.
NETFLIX ANNOUNCES NEW ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SHOW SET IN SOUTH KOREA _ Netflix is adapting a popular Korean zombie apocalypse webtoon into an original series. The show, tentatively titled All Of Us Are Dead, will follow a band of teenagers trapped inside their high school facility while a zombie-like disease begins to spread rapidly among the student body.
PEACOCK WILL PROCEED WITH ITS SOFT LAUNCH TODAY _ Comcast will launch an “early preview” of its new Peacock streaming service today (Wednesday). The service will launch with 15,000 hours of movies and TV shows, from Parks & Recreation to Two and a Half Men. Peacock’s national rollout is set for July 15.
BIRTHDAYS for Wednesday, April 15, 2020
• Emma Thompson is 61
• Danny Pino (Cold Case) is 46
• Seth Rogen is 38
• Emma Watson is 30
• Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) is 23
IT HAPPENED TODAY
• 1865: Abraham Lincoln died after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson became the 17th President of the United States.
• 1912: After hitting an iceberg the previous day (just 2½ hours earlier) the British passenger liner, RMS Titanic, sank in the North Atlantic.
• 1924: Rand McNally published its first road atlas.
• 1955: Ray Kroc opened his first franchise of McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
• 1983: Flashdance, starring Jennifer Beals, opened in movie theaters throughout the U.S.
• 2013: Two bombs exploded near the finish line at the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and injuring 264 others.
SPECIAL EVENTS
• Income Tax Pay Day — DATE EXTENDED TO JULY DUE TO COVID-19.