Good friday night dinner ideas

5 th UPDATE – FINAL: (See McHale and Obama videos here and here ) If last year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner with headliner Conan O’Brien was white bread bland, tonight’s event was just painful. In way way over his head, Joel McHale stumbled and sputtered through a routine that got more moans and groans from the packed Washington Hilton ballroom than laughs. With failed one-liners about runaway production, Robert De Niro ’s career choices, Jessica Simpson ’s historical knowledge, the Kardashians’ sex lives, George Clooney ’s political affiliations, Bill Clinton’s qualifications as a grandfather and a slew of other poorly conceived and badly executed jokes, the Community star left the stage after 30-minutes to weak applause from the 2,600 guests. At least he made President Obama ’s speech and his now standard swipes at cable news look good in comparison. Obama’s sharpest line of the night came courtesy of Netflix when Obama sympathized with … [Read more...] about Obama Rips Cable News & Joel McHale Bombs At White House Correspondents’ Dinner

They’ve had late-night hosts for the past two years, but now the White House Correspondents Association Dinner is going primetime. Straight out of NBC’ s Thursday lineup, Community ’ s Joel McHale will be the headliner at this year’s politicians and Hollywood-heavy event set for May 3. Of course, the real main attraction at the WHCA dinner is President Obama , but, as is the protocol, McHale will be the closing act. “We’re thrilled that Joel will headline the dinner when we celebrate our centennial,” said WHCA president Steven Thomma today via Twitter . “He’s sharp, funny and just the type of comic who can navigate the unique challenge of our dinner, making fun of Democrats, Republicans and especially the news media. Washington can use a little good-natured ribbing,” added the McClatchy Newspapers political editor. McHale, who has also been fronting E!’s weekly satire show The Soup since 2004, follows Conan O’Brien ’s stint in the WHCD gig last year and Jimmy … [Read more...] about ‘Community’s Joel McHale To Host White House Correspondents’ Dinner

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Season 5 premiere of Freeform ’s Good Trouble . Maia Mitchell has returned to The Coterie — but not under happy circumstances. The Season 5 premiere of Good Trouble ends with Mariana ( Cierra Ramirez ) and Callie reuniting in their old shared bedroom at the co-living space after Mariana spent the night at the hospital with her former flame (and boss) Evan Speck. The episode picked up right where Season 4 left off, with Mariana trying to escape from a cult while saving Joaquin’s sister, Jenna. Joaquin (Bryan Craig) was tipped off that Mariana was missing by a concerned Evan (T.J. Linnard), who tags along to rescue the women. In the opening minutes of the episode, someone fires a gun in an attempt to stop the group from escaping, and the bullet hits Evan in the chest. They rush him to the hospital, where Mariana spends the night with him. In the morning, she learns from Evan’s lawyer that he named her his … [Read more...] about ‘Good Trouble’ Boss Talks Maia Mitchell’s Return, Evan’s Fate & More From Season 5 Premiere

Friday afternoon : We’re hearing that New Line’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods is currently on its way to an $11M Friday, inclusive of last night’s $3.4M , for what’s looking like a $30M opening at 4,071 theaters. The pic cost $125M before P&A, $25M more than the first Shazam! While that’s nothing to scream “Shazam!” about in regards to that projected 3-day, note that we have to see how family matinees impact the pic’s ticket sales, given how younger skewing it is. Meaning, Batman fans aren’t making their way to this movie. According to Comscore, this Friday in March boasts the most for the month when it comes to K-12 schools (34% out) and colleges (42%) on break. Social media analytics firm RelishMix measured a social media universe across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok of 385.5M, +4% over Shazam!, but 27% off superhero genre norms. However, the campaign made ground on TikTok with over 80M views for studio-owned materials. Says … [Read more...] about ‘Shazam! Fury Of The Gods’ Seeing $30M Opening – Friday Box Office

EXCLUSIVE : Good Deed Entertainment has acquired North American and UK rights to the indie drama Midday Black Midnight Blue , starring 2x Emmy winner Merritt Wever ( Godless ), slating it for a day-and-date release in June. The first feature from writer-directors Samantha Soule and Daniel Talbott, also starring Chris Stack (AMC’s Interview with the Vampire ) and Soule ( Godless ), follows Ian (Stack) as he grapples with his shifting memories of Liv (Soule), a woman he once loved. For Ian, it’s a chance run-in with Liv’s sister (Wever) that sparks a journey in which he has a chance to reconnect to the light and fight his way back to life. The film, which world premiered at last year’s Seattle Film Festival, is produced by Soule, Talbott and Stack, as well as Lovell Holder and Addie Johnson Talbott. Exec producers are Timothy Farrell, Conner Marx and Will Pullen. GDE’s EVP of Acquisitions Erik Donley negotiated Midday Black ‘s deal for the company, with … [Read more...] about Merritt Wever-Led ‘Midday Black Midnight Blue’ Acquired By Good Deed; Coral Peña, Nicole Byer Board ‘Thelma’; More – Film Briefs

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the season finale of Apple TV+ ’s Dear Edward . Grief isn’t linear, and it doesn’t have a time limit either. While Season 1 of the Apple TV+ series Dear Edward — which tells the story of a grief group that brings together the loved ones of the passengers of a fatal plane crash — has come to an end, creator Jason Katims tells Deadline that he’s only scratched the surface of the stories that he wants to tell with these characters. The series has not officially been renewed for a second season, though Katims is waiting patiently for the call. “There’s 15 or 16 main characters in the show, but there are 180 people on that flight. And aside from those 180, there are all the people whose lives have been touched by that,” he said, adding: “There’s lots of stories left to tell here.” Katims is also the creator of Friday Night Lights and Parenthood , both of which are known for their large ensemble casts. So, it should … [Read more...] about ‘Dear Edward’ Creator Jason Katims Talks Finale Episode & Plans For Potential Season 2

CBS has renewed Blue Bloods for the 2023-24 season, which will be the cop drama stalwart’s 14th on the network. The cast of the series, including core original stars Tom Selleck , Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan and Will Estes, are set to return, along with its top producing team led by showrunner Kevin Wade. As Deadline reported after Blue Bloods was conspicuously missing from CBS’ list of drama series renewals last month, a pickup for the long-running hit was tied up in difficult negotiations, with CBS pushing for significant budget cuts, including 25% for above-the-line talent, including actors. RELATED: CBS Renewal Status Report: ‘S.W.A.T.’, ‘East New York’ & ‘True Lies’ We reported on Friday that the cast and producers had agreed to salary reductions in order to keep the show going and keep hundreds of crew and other support personnel whose livelihood depends on it employed. That paved the way for a Season 14 renewal. Selleck, Wahlberg, Moynahan, … [Read more...] about ‘Blue Bloods’ Renewed For Season 14 By CBS, Cast Led By Tom Selleck Set To Return

Sunday AM Update/writethru: Following Saturday 7:28AM post, with final : Warner Bros./Legendary’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu is coming in ahead of its $50M-$55M domestic tracking with a $58M No. 2 opening being called by the studio. They excelled with the first Pokemon movie back in 1999 with a $31M launch, and they’ve done even better with this updated live-action hybrid comedy close to 20 years later. It’s a great comeback for Legendary on the Burbank lot after its five-year deal at Universal. When Detective Pikachu jumped to Warner Bros. last July , it was a sign that Legendary, which was behind such Warner Bros. successes as the Dark Knight and Godzilla franchises, was coming back. Smart dating here on behalf of Warner Bros.: They waited for Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame to calm down, going two weekends after the summer juggernaut, which, as of this morning, continued to top the box office with its third No. 1 in a row, an estimated $63.1M . … [Read more...] about ‘Pokemon Detective Pikachu’ Grabs $58M In ‘Endgame’ Dominated Universe; Marvel Pic 3rd Highest Domestic With $723M+ – Sunday Update

TMZ.com Kanye West says he's done a 180 on his views about Jewish people and is no longer an antisemite -- thanks to actor Jonah Hill . The rapper took to Instagram Friday night to announce that he was watching the 2012 film, "21 Jump Street," starring Hill and Channing Tatum , when he had his epiphany about the Jewish race. Kanye said, "Watching Jonah Hill in 21 jump street made me like Jewish people again. No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people." He continued, "No Christian can be labeled antisemite knowing Jesus is Jew. Thank you Jonah Hill. I love you." Kanye's statements are hard to swallow, given his recent professed love for Hitler. He went on a prolonged, scorched earth campaign against Jews as he alluded to issues he had with some execs in the music biz. InfoWars And it was all very ugly. Kanye went on "Infowars" hosted by … [Read more...] about Kanye West Claims He’s Pro-Jewish Again, Thanks to Jonah Hill

Oscar winner and Academy member Roger Ross Williams is saying publicly what many in the documentary community have stewed over privately – that the sums of money being spent on Oscar documentary campaigns has “gotten insane.” And Williams, a former Academy Governor representing the Doc Branch, says something may be done about it. “We in the Academy, in the Doc Branch, have a campaign finance reform committee… to sort of try to work through that and figure out solutions to that. It’s gotten insane. It’s gazillions of dollars to get seen and heard,” he said, “and that’s so troubling because it should be on the merit of the films.” His remarks, less than two weeks after the Academy Awards, came in a discussion with documentary programmer and Pure Nonfiction podcaster Thom Powers at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. Powers asked the filmmaker about “the escalating attention that awards season sucks up in our industry,” and Williams didn’t hold back. “We know it’s awards, it’s the … [Read more...] about Oscar Winner Roger Ross Williams: Spending On Oscar Doc Campaigns Has “Gotten Insane” — CPH:DOX