Archive for February, 2018

‘American Idol’ is Back! Can the Star-Making Machine Do it Again?

It’s Hollywood Week at ABC’s American Idol, but music isn’t the only thing on the agenda. The infamous portion of the competition—where contestants are pushed out of their comfort zones with solo and group performances—has taken its toll on the aspiring singers, and many of them struggle to remember their song’s words. They are, however, not the ones about to be blindsided.

When an impassioned Lionel Richie stands to speak to a set of hopefuls after a performance, his fellow judges, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, stealthily work together to put a whoopee cushion on his chair. Though the cushion doesn’t make as loud a sound as the duo had hoped, they’re clearly amused with themselves. “I tried to bring some dignity to the show,” Richie, who has an Oscar and two Grammys, jokingly bemoans.

This is American Idol, the reality competition that sets out to find new chart-toppers—and aired what was billed as a series finale two years ago on Fox. But the door was left open when host Ryan Seacrest closed out that April 7, 2016, show, saying goodbye “for now.” Cut to 2017, when a number of networks expressed interest in reviving the series. While Idol was no longer the knockout juggernaut of its early years, it was still a Top 20 show in its final season.

Also in this issue:

• How to Watch TV on Facebook: Everything you need to know about the social media platform’s expanding slate of original video content.
• Instinct: Alan Cumming stars as a gay crime profiler in this adaptation of James Patterson’s bestselling thriller.
• Rise: A group of talented high schoolers, along with two very driven teachers, try to bring Spring Awakening to the stage.
• Plus: What Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix deal means for your favorite shows, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend goes on tour, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. celebrates 100 episodes, Neil Patrick Harris talks Genius Junior and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.

‘The Good Doctor’ and What’s Next for the #1 New Drama

Maybe it should be called The Great Doctor. ABC’s warmhearted drama starring Freddie Highmore as an autistic surgical resident has cemented its spot as the unquestionable smash of the current television season. The series finished 2017 as the fourth-highest-rated scripted show. But this is no fall fluke.

Coming back from its winter hiatus, The Good Doctor continues to earn massive primetime Monday ratings (9.63 million viewers on February 5), making it the alphabet network’s biggest hit on the night in 21 years. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Neither are the awards or accolades the show is getting from the autistic community.

“I’m surprised and heartened by its success,” says executive producer David Shore (House), who adapted the series with the actor Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii Five-0) from a popular South Korean drama. “This is a character networks would have been afraid to put on the air not that long ago. They would have thought that viewers couldn’t empathize with him.”

Shore attributes a lot of the instant-hit status to its diverse cast, led by the 26-year-old Highmore (Bates Motel). “Freddie is fantastic,” he says. “It’s important to us—and to him—that this be an accurate and fair portrayal of someone on the spectrum, and he works very hard to do that. But I’m not taking anything away from him when I say the lead of an ensemble show is only as good as the support he gets from the people around him. And we got ourselves some really talented actors.”

Recently, six of them—Highmore, Nicholas Gonzalez, Hill Harper, Richard Schiff, Antonia Thomas and Tamlyn Tomita—gathered on the Vancouver set (in the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure hospital’s luxe boardroom) for a wide-ranging chat with TV Guide Magazine. They told us why they think the show resonates with viewers, what’s coming up—and why we shouldn’t expect these doctors to hook up in the supply closet any time soon.

Also in this issue:

• Farewell, Fixer Upper: Meet the three designing duos that can help fill the Chip and Joanna Gaines-sized hole in your heart.
• Young Sheldon: A behind the scenes look at the on set antics of this season’s hottest new comedy.
• Good Girls: Mae Whitman, Retta and Christina Hendricks chat about their new NBC series.
• The Walking Dead: Ranking the deaths that we’re still crying over.
• Plus: Columnist David Bianculli celebrates Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood‘s 50th anniversary, intel on the Scandal/How to Get Away With Murder crossover, why we love Netflix’s One Day at a Time, the top Bridezillas moments and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.

The Winter Olympics: Your Complete Guide

The mascot for the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, is a white tiger named Soohorang that symbolizes protection. Given the political unrest on the Korean peninsula this past year, it was a fitting choice. Thankfully, there’s been a recent thaw in relations between South and North Korea, whose delegations are expected to march into the opening ceremony together on February 9.

Also in this issue:

• Kelly Clarkson Exclusive: The Grammy- and Idol-winning pop star on how she plans to conquer The Voice this season.
• Absentia: We met with Castle vet Stana Katic to chat about her return to television in the new Amazon Prime thriller.
• Homeland: There’s a POTUS on the loose! Carrie and Saul have a mess to clean up in Season 7 of the Showtime political drama.
• Trend Alert: Murphy Brown, Party of Five and more old favorites are returning in the latest reboot and revival craze.
• Plus: Columnist David Bianculli examines the networks that have resisted the cry of rebranding, the best episodes of ER to stream, everything you need to know about The Bachelor Winter Games, Wonder Woman hits HBO and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.