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Michael Gracey’s wildly inventive musical biopic of superstar British entertainer Robbie Williams rolls the dice on a unique star casting decision to play Williams that separates it from every showbiz biopic that has come before. A CGI monkey (actor Jonno Davies) plays the singer in what is otherwise a recognizable cradle-to-comeback story so familiar to those who rise to the top, only to fall and rise again. This is the equivalent to casting Lassie to play Frank Sinatra.

Ok, maybe not that crazy, but close enough. So guess what? It really works, even if in America the subject of this major studio film (Paramount picked up the independently produced production) is not widely known, but an icon who has sold over 80 million albums across the rest of the globe, and was recently the subject of a four-part Netflix docu series. It had its world premiere this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival.

Robert Weatherwax, a second-generation Hollywood animal trainer and the son of Lassie co-creator Rudd Weatherwax, has died. He was 83.

The late trainer’s son Robert Jr., who has also continued in the family business, announced his father’s death on Friday with a throwback photo of the two of them and one of the rough collie descendants of the original Lassie dog actor Pal.

“It is with great sorry that I announce the passing of my legendary dog training father,” wrote Robert Jr. in the post. “He was born exactly one year after my grandfather’s MGM Lassie – ‘Pal’. I’m proud to be the last representative of the greatest dog training family in history.”

Rudd created Lassie for CBS in 1954 with producer Robert Maxwell. Robert Weatherwax Sr. joined his father on the show in the early ’60s, continuing to carry on the Lassie legacy after Rudd died at 77 in...

Robert Weatherwax, a professional dog trainer for film and TV productions who took on the trade of his father, Rudd, the original owner of Lassie, died Thursday at a Veterans Affairs facility in Scranton, Pa. He was 83 years old.

Weatherwax was born June 4, 1941 in Burbank, Calif. — exactly one year before the birth of Pal, the dog that portrayed Lassie across seven MGM films and the pilot of the “Lassie” TV series. Growing up, Weatherwax and his sister, JoAnne, were tasked with assisting their father with his professional work, including teaching new routines to their pets. Their grandfather, W.S. Weatherwax, was an animal trainer during the silent era.

The Weatherwax family’s furry clientele included such seminal canines of the screen as Skippy a.k.a. Asta, who appeared in Golden Age comedies such as “The Thin Man” and “The Awful Truth”; Terry, who portrayed Toto in “The Wizard of Oz”; and Spike,...

Bob Weatherwax, who trained dogs who played Lassie as a member of the famous family that also taught Hollywood hounds a thing or two in The Thin Man (Asta), The Wizard of Oz (Toto) and Old Yeller (Spike), has died. He was 83.

Weatherwax died Thursday at a Veterans Administration facility in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, his son, Robert Weatherwax, a former animal trainer for films and television shows, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Bob Weatherwax was the son of Rudd Weatherwax, the original owner and trainer of Pal, the collie introduced to moviegoers in the MGM classic Lassie Come Home (1943), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall.

His grandfather, W.S. Weatherwax, was an actor and animal trainer in the silent era, and his cousin, Ken Weatherwax, played Pugsley Addams on The Addams Family.

Bob Weatherwax served as an animal trainer under his dad on the CBS/syndicated Lassie series that aired from 1954-74 and...

The Emmy Awards grew up on March 7, 1955. For the first time, the ceremony was broadcast nationally on NBC. Steve Allen, the star of “The Tonight Show,” was the host of the 7th annual awards honoring the best of 1954 programming which was telecast from the Moulin Rouge nightclub on Sunset Boulevard.

One of the seminal live dramas of the 1950’s, Reginald Rose’s searing “12 Angry Men,” which aired on CBS “Studio One,” earned the most Emmys that evening winning with three. The taut drama about a jury of a dozen men decided the fate of a young man accused of murder starred Robert Cummings, Franchot Tone, Edward Arnold and Walter Abel. For years, only an incomplete kinescope of the show, which was adapted into the Oscar-nominated 1957 film, existed.

Finally, a complete copy of the show was discovered in 2003. Rose told me in a 1997 L.A. Times interview that he came up...

Lassie – A New Adventure marks the return of everyone’s favorite collie detective in another entertaining mystery. Directed by Hanno Olderdissen, this German family film from 2023 finds young Flo and his beloved dog Lassie facing a new case in the picturesque landscapes of South Tyrol.

Though Flo would rather spend his summer with Lassie than vacationing without her, the duo encounters more excitement than planned when dogs start mysteriously vanishing across the countryside. Teaming up with Flo’s aunt and new friends, clever Lassie uses her unmatched tracking skills to help solve the crime and rescue the kidnapped pups.

Child actor Nico Marischka is well-suited as the brave but compassionate hero Flo, eager to do right by his furry friend. Lassie herself continues to captivate viewers old and new, charming audiences with her dedication to protecting others through charm instead of words. Their close bond anchors this adventure’s...

A terrier poodle mix was the star of the Los Angeles premiere of Twisters. The dog — which doesn’t actually appear in the film at all — arrived in the arms of the film’s actual star, Glen Powell, playing the role of leading man’s best friend. Brisket posed for photos with the actor and fellow cast members Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos.

On Sunday, Powell shared a carousel of pictures on Instagram from the film’s U.S. premiere. Brisket was featured in three of the images, but has...

Those of us who love TV often take the standard plot devices known as TV tropes for granted, especially tropes that have been around for a while.

Yet, some TV tropes can disappear or nearly disappear, and new ones can emerge with the changing times.

Technological changes are often to blame for changes in the TV trope landscape.

Entire Shows Can Become Obsolete Due to Technological Advancements

Growing up in the 1980s, I developed an affinity for watching reruns on Nick at Nite, a programming block devoted to older television programs.

After Nickelodeon launched Nick at Nite, an entire generation of us grew up loving shows with first runs that ended well before we were born.

Related: The Best Shows for Kids That Had No Disney or Nickelodeon Ties

Among those programs were series like Gilligan's Island and Lassie, the former about getting stranded on an island and the latter...

“RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” continued its 9th season on Friday, May 24 with the third episode featuring returning queens from seasons past. Making their way back into the Werk Room for the second time are Angeria Paris VanMichaels (season 14), Gottmik (season 13), Jorgeous (season 14), Nina West (season 11), and Plastique Tiara (season 11). Three queens are returning for the third time: Roxxxy Andrews (season 5 and All Stars 2), Shannel (season 1 and All Stars 1), and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (seasons 10 and 11).

In addition to their chance at the coveted crown, this season the queens are competing to have a $200,000 contribution, provided by The Palette Fund, to a charity of their choice. Series judges RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage will be joined on the dais by friends and series regulars Carson Kressley, Ts Madison, and Ross Mathews as well as a rotating cast of guest judges to help determine episodic winners and their choice for “next drag superstar.

Barbra Fuller, who starred as the daughter Claudia on the long-running radio soap opera One Man’s Family, all while appearing in films for Republic Pictures and such TV shows as Adventures of Superman, has died. She was 102.

Fuller, who lived in the Los Angeles area, died Wednesday, her godson J.P. Sloane announced.

On the San Francisco-set One Man’s Family, created by Carlton E. Morse, Fuller played one of the Barbour family’s five kids from 1945 until the NBC Radio drama completed its 27-year run in 1959. Her character, a twin with kids of her own, was gone from the program for a couple of years before she came aboard.

“It was a fun part. Claudia was a good girl with interesting qualities,” she said in Michael G. Fitzgerald and Boyd Magers’ 2006 book, Ladies of the Western.

In 1949, Fuller signed with Republic and was under contract with the B-picture studio for a year,...

There have been countless books written about the immortal star Elizabeth Taylor, even some credited to her as both memoir or autobiography including 1989’s Elizabeth On Elizabeth. But a book released on January 1, 1965, probably comes closest to a pure autobiography, and the cover simply says, Elizabeth Taylor by Elizabeth Taylor. It is a by-the-numbers account of her life through her own words up until that point, but it actually was written by Richard Meryman, a journalist credited with among other things the last interview with Marilyn Monroe.

Meryman got Taylor to sit for some tape-recorded sessions in 1964, so he would be able to write the book as if Taylor did it herself. Sixty years later, those presumed “lost” recordings have been found and cleared for release by Taylor’s and Meryman’s estates. They have been in Meryman’s wife’s possession all these years,...

Eponymous hero tackles a pooch-pinching operation by getting captured in this old-fashioned production

In some ways, the Lassie films are like the canine answer to the James Bond series. Both have literary antecedents, both have been big screen successes for MGM, and the basic formula remains essentially the same: a hero saves the day. The equivalent of Sean Connery is probably Pal, the rough collie dog who portrayed Lassie in seven feature films in the 1940s and 1950s. In Lassie: A New Adventure, Lassie is played by Bandit, who brings what is needed to the role, in a slick, handsome, functional way that suggests the Lassie franchise is perhaps in its Pierce Brosnan era, though unfortunately more Die Another Day doldrums than GoldenEye high point.

It bears mentioning at this point that the film is more properly titled Lassie – Ein Neues Abenteuer; this is a German production which has...

Ali Suliman as Chik, Mark Wahlberg as Michael, Nathalie Emmanuel as Olivia and Simu Liu as Leo in Arthur The King. Photo Credit: Carlos Rodriguez

Geez, the movies have really gone to the dogs. Sure, lots of folks constantly use that as an insult to modern cinema, but with this weekend’s big release it’s a bit true (so pardon the “groaner dad-joke” of a pun). With lots of kiddies enjoying either the end or the beginning of “Spring break”, there’s got to be more for them in the multiplex other than the further adventures of that Kung Fu Panda. And so, it’s the canine stars to the rescue, with this new “good boy” joining the ranks of Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, and even Beethoven. Plus he’s got a bit of an advantage since his tail is a true one (or at least “inspired by true...

To celebrate the release of Dogman starring Caleb Landry Jones – out 11th March on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital – we have a Blu-ray up for grabs!

The latest film from Luc Besson – the visionary filmmaker The Fifth Element, La Femme Nikita and the Transporter series – Dogman won the Graffetta d’Oro for Best Film at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. It’s extraordinary, intense and heartfelt – everything you’d expect from the unique and uncompromising mind of Besson.

Caleb Landry Jones (Cannes winner for Best Actor for Nitram) stars as Doug, a troubled man who finds salvation through his canine friends. The cast also includes Jojo T Gibbs (Fresh), Christopher Denham (Billions), Clemens Schick (Das Boot), and Marisa Berenson (Barry Lyndon). Featuring an emotive score by Besson’s longtime collaborator Éric Serra (Léon), and exquisitely filmed by Colin Wandersman (Pandemonium), Dogman features production design by César award winner Hugues Tissandier (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec...

Let me state right out that I am a sucker for dog movies. I still can’t get over My Dog Skip. I learned valuable lifelong lessons from Old Yeller. I consider Lassie a personal friend. I took selfies at the Oscar nominees luncheon with Messi, the French border collie I was pushing for Best Supporting Actor from Anatomy of a Fall. So yes, I am probably the right audience for the latest in the genre, Arthur the King, and its title star.

However, for about the first 55 minutes or so, Arthur the King is hardly about the dog at all, but rather the extreme physical competition of adventure racing, most particularly the 2018 World Championship taking place in the Dominican Republic. The focus is on frustrated competitor Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg), who never never won the big prize and is determined not to give up. This time he has put...

To celebrate the release of Dogman starring Caleb Landry Jones – out 11th March on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital – we have a Blu-Ray up for grabs!

he latest film from Luc Besson – the visionary filmmaker The Fifth Element, La Femme Nikita and the Transporter series – Dogman won the Graffetta d’Oro for Best Film at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. It’s extraordinary, intense and heartfelt – everything you’d expect from the unique and uncompromising mind of Besson.

Caleb Landry Jones (Cannes winner for Best Actor for Nitram) stars as Doug, a troubled man who finds salvation through his canine friends. The cast also includes Jojo T Gibbs (Fresh), Christopher Denham (Billions), Clemens Schick (Das Boot), and Marisa Berenson (Barry Lyndon).

Featuring an emotive score by Besson’s longtime collaborator Éric Serra (Léon), and exquisitely filmed by Colin Wandersman (Pandemonium), Dogman features production design by César award winner Hugues Tissandier (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec...

From possessed children to homicidal animatronic mascots, horror has a long history of taking seemingly innocent concepts and turning them into bona fide nightmare fuel. And when looking for wholesome imagery to corrupt, what better place to start than the adorable bond between a boy and his dog?

This is likely what Will Carsola and Dave Stewart had in mind when they began the brainstorming session that led to one of Adult Swim’s most disturbing cartoons, Mr. Pickles. An unabashedly nasty show that wasn’t afraid to blend low-brow comedy with deeply unsettling violence, this surprisingly popular experiment stood out even among its hyper-violent contemporaries. And with the show celebrating its 10th anniversary, I think that this is the perfect time to look back on this touching story about a small town under siege by an incredibly satanic dog.

Carsola and Stewart had previously collaborated on HBO’s Funny or Die Presents,...

In November of 1993, writer/director John Lafia (Child’s Play 2) unleashed Cujo Cocaine Bear (great punk band name) upon the world with Man’s Best Friend. In the movie, a Tibetan Mastiff named Max 3000 is released from a genetic research facility by a reporter named Lori (Breakfast Club’s Ally Sheedy) while trying to expose a company for their cruel experiments on animals. We eventually learn that while Max might look like the best boy ever, he has a lot more in common with Wesley Snipes’ Simon Phoenix character from Demolition Man than he does Lassie.

While in the lab’s care, Max has been experimented on and genetically enhanced with the DNA of a slew of dangerous animals. For example, if threatened he can camouflage himself with the colors of your garage and hide there like a chameleon before deciding to pop out and bite your dick off. He has super strength,...

From Lassie and Rin Tin Tin to 101 Dalmatians, Old Yeller, My Dog Skip, Homeward Bound, A Dog’s Purpose and on and on, the canine genre has been a staple of Hollywood movies for decades. I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone got the idea to make a balls-out, foul-mouthed, R-rated subversion of it all, and finally its time has come with the irresistible Strays, a film definitely not designed as a family movie or for kids — though I would bet, despite the language and nonstop dick jokes, they would love it anyway.

Credit Universal Pictures for not only seeing the potential in a Cocaine Bear this year, but now also with the four-pack of lovable down and dirty dogs who hump everything in sight and use four-letter words in just about every conversation. Strays is as raunchy as Ted or anything Seth Rogen ever thought of,...

NBCUniversal is diving back into the free TV realm. Months after the company discontinued its free streaming tier of Peacock, Variety reports that NBCU is launching a bundle of free ad-supported streaming TV (Fast) channels in July, spanning multiple genres and with content from most of NBCU’s channels.

The new Fast channels will initially be available on Amazon’s free streaming platform Freevee, as well as Xumo Play, the joint venture that NBCU’s parent company Comcast is building with fellow cable provider Charter Communications. No specific date was provided for the launch of the channels, but they are slated to be available sometime next month.

Watch Now $0 / month amazonfreevee.com

It’s not yet clear if the new channels will be added to other NBCU streaming platforms, such as Peacock or its new live TV service Now TV. It would certainly make sense, as Now TV already carries...

NBCUniversal is cracking open its TV and movie archives to launch around four dozen free, ad-supported streaming TV (Fast) channels — significantly expanding its footprint in the free streaming space.

In July, the company said, it will launch the new portfolio of Fast linear channels, with content from across the NBCU Television & Streaming and the NBCUniversal Global Distribution library, on Amazon Freevee and Xumo Play (the streaming platform operated as a joint venture between Comcast and Charter).

The lineup includes dedicated free streaming channels for “Saturday Night Live,” “The Real Housewives” franchises, “Top Chef” and “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” along with Spanish-language entertainment and news from Telemundo including “Historias de Amor,” “Lo Mejor de Telemundo” and “Telemundo al Día.” NBCU’s Fast channels also include those for older TV series “Little House on the Prairie,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Saved by the Bell” and “The Lone Ranger,” plus genre-based channels for sitcoms,...

Global Screen has closed further presales for “Lassie — A New Adventure,” the sequel featuring the most famous dog in the history of cinema.

The film, directed by Hanno Olderdissen, has sold to A Contracorriente for Spain; Ads Service for Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Moldavia; Turkey’s Bir Film; Gpi for the Baltic states; Bulgaria’s Pro Films; Karantanija for ex-Yugoslavia; and Greece’s Zinos Panagiotidis. Poland and Benelux are in negotiation.

Sales were previously concluded with Lucky Red (Italy), Ab Svensk Filmindustri (Scandinavia) and Film House (Israel).

The prequel “Lassie Come Home,” which was also directed by Olderdissen, was sold to every territory around the world.

“Lassie — A New Adventure” tells a heartwarming story about the friendship between a boy and his dog. The family entertainment film will be released in German cinemas in July by Leonine, which also served as a co-producer on the film.

Inspired...

Gunsmoke set a record as the longest-running scripted television show on primetime with 20 seasons under its belt between 1955 and 1975. It went down in history as one of the greatest Western dramas ever to hit the screen, but some fans would argue that the awards season didn’t give it the attention that it deserved. Gunsmoke won five Emmy Awards over its 20 seasons, although none of them went to lead actor James Arness.

‘Gunsmoke’ had a terrific ensemble cast L-R: Amanda Blake as Kitty Russell, James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon, Dennis Weaver as Chester Goode, and Milburn Stone as Dr. Galen ‘Doc’ Adams | CBS via Getty Images

Gunsmoke initially started as a radio show in 1952 before it made its way to television. Diehard fans of the radio show were upset to hear that the voice cast wouldn’t return to play the iconic characters on television. Nevertheless, Gunsmoke...

“Avatar: The Way of Water” is finally coming home.

James Cameron’s supersized sequel, which grossed a whopping $2.3 billion worldwide (enough to make it the third-highest-grossing movie ever), is making its way to digital on March 28 – pretty impressive, especially in our quick-fix era, for a movie that opened before Christmas.

In the sequel, Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) are forced to retreat from their home after the evil corporation Rda returns to Pandora. They flee with their extended family, take refuge with the reef people and realize that, no matter where they are, the Rda will find them.

It’s a thrilling, emotional follow-up and one that clearly resonated with audiences. And it’ll be nice to be able to watch the movie anytime you want, especially since the release is festooned with new special features (get a glimpse of one of them above).

We visited Lightstorm to...

Hollywood based Epic Pictures Group has acquired North American distribution rights, plus international sales rights for Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Scandinavia, Middle East, Africa, India and Saarc for sci-fi epic Colonials directed by Andrew Balek and Joe Bland.

Plans for the release are limited theatrical on April 7 followed by Digital on April 11. Check out the Colonials trailer below, which looks like a hybrid video game/movie adventure.

In the upcoming movie, “On his mission from Mars, a space colonist’s ship is attacked by a Moon-based civilization and crash lands on Earth. Having lost his memory, he joins forces with the Resistance to save the galaxy from human extinction.”

The science-fiction action film, which features a staggering 2000 VFX shots, directed by Joe Bland and Andrew Balek was written by Joe Bland with Cyrus Cheek for Bland Productions. The film stars Greg Kriek (The Serengeti Rules), Sean Kanan (The Bold And...

James Douglass West, who worked as a child actor alongside Roddy McDowall and Natalie Wood and spent a decade as a writer on Lassie, has died. He was 93.

West died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Studio City, his son, Daniel West, told The Hollywood Reporter.

For the big screen, West penned the original screenplay for the musical Hey Boy! Hey Girl! (1959), starring married couple Keely Smith and Louis Prima, and wrote California (1963), a Western starring Jock Mahoney.

West served for about a year as a story editor for writer-producer Charles Marquis Warren on NBC’s The Virginian, then joined the writing staff of CBS’ Lassie in 1963.

He was on the job during the 1964-65 season when the collie’s family (played by June Lockhart, Hugh Reilly and Jon Provost) move to Australia and Lassie gets paired with a Forest Service Ranger portrayed by Robert Bray.

Campbell Soup,...

Ricou Browning, the underwater stuntman who portrayed the Gill-man in the 1954 horror classic Creature trom the Black Lagoon and its sequels and went on to co-produce the dolphin tale Flipper for both the big screen and television, died quietly Sunday of natural causes at his home in Southwest Ranches, Fl. He was 93.

His son Ricou Browning Jr, who works as a marine coordinator for film and TV productions, confirmed his father’s death to Deadline.

Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Brett Radin Dies: Talent Manager With Knitting Factory Management Was 53 Related Story Gordon Pinsent Dies: Iconic Canadian Actor In Film And Television Was 92

Considered to be the last surviving original actor to portray any of the Universal Classic Monsters, Florida native Browning studied physical education at Florida State University before landing a job in the 1940s at Wakulla Springs, a scenic park that...

Tilda Swinton’s favorite co-star to date? Her dog, Louis.

Swinton starred opposite her Springer Spaniel for Joanna Hogg’s “The Eternal Daughter,” and even considered hiring a dog psychologist to understand Louis’ innate performance.

“He’s the best actor. Let’s be honest about this,” Swinton told RogerEbert.com. “He’s quite extraordinary. He will do anything I asked him to do. And so that’s my hot tip, if you’re going to work with a dog, make sure that there’s a real bond between the animals in front of the camera.”

Swinton continued while in conversation with writer-director Hogg, “There’s a transition, let’s say, which is not a real transition. It’s an image in my mind. But if you remember that moment, he responded, and all I was doing was thinking that that was happening. It’s very interesting. I would like to...

Kim Kardashian and her ex, Kanye West, still critique one another’s looks despite no longer being together. On Thursday’s episode of “The Kardashians”, Kim is in Milan, Italy, ahead of the Prada show, rocking a variety of leather getups.

She’s stepping out in the bold styles despite the fact that the father of her four children, who used to have more control over what she wore, disapproves.

In one scene, as Kim is getting dressed, she receives a text from the Yeezy designer, and proceeds to show it to her pal, Tracy Romulus.

“No white glasses. Make security wear black gloves. The orange look made me so mad, would have went to jail before I went out in that,” Kim reads, laughing. “I’ll be home for North’s game.”

In Kanye’s defense, Kim’s supermodel sister, Kendall Jenner, also comments on the same look earlier in the episode,...

If there’s one genre that’s suffered criticism over the past couple of decades – and rightly so – it’s horror. So many movies have failed to be… well, scary, but here’s one that shows us (and hopefully a few filmmakers) how it’s done. Shepherd is crooked for all the right reasons.

It’s a major feather in the cap for writer-director Russell Owen, and this was borne out by the movie making an Official Selection at last year’s BFI London Film Festival.

The spectacular Scottish Highlands form the backdrop for the first part of this creepy tale, which incidentally was the setting for another modern British success story, 2002s Dog Soldiers. Here we find Eric Black (Tom Hughes), who’s recently been widowed by the mysterious death of his wife Rachel (Gaia Weiss) and has more than a few demons to contend with. After seeing a...

Art imitating life, in the case of Psych crime solver Carlton Lassiter, has profoundly moved series vet Timothy Omundson.

Omundson suffered a major stroke in April 2017, just as production on the original Psych: The Movie was getting underway; as such, Lassiter only appears via a brief FaceTime call with Juliet. In 2020, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, as its title suggested, brought Omundson back to a greater degree, pinning the central mystery on the shooting of Lassiter, who then also suffered a stroke from which he started to recover throughout the TV-movie.

More from TVLinePsych 3 Trio Tease Ladies' Night, Protective Juliet,...

Yes, Shawn and Gus, there is such a thing as a Peacock streaming service. And, as with the previous movie, it will be the home for Psych 3 in November.

In was announced at New York Comic Con that Psych 3: This Is Gus will premiere on Peacock Thursday, Nov. 18. A trailer for “the sequel to the sequel” was also released, and it lays out the boys’ latest mystery to solve, reveals a spiffy new Lassie and of course trots out some silly pseudonyms for the BFFs.

More from TVLineOne of Us Is Lying Team Talks Changes From Book to TV,...

If crises continue to mount and late-summer box office fails to catch a second wind, Hollywood might have to revisit one of its few remaining sure things: a good dog movie.

Sure, Netflix and Amazon always have vintage canine classics on the shelf to stream, from Benji to Lassie, but a new weepie is also needed in the plexes — one to ease public tensions.

Further, those of us who’ve adopted a best friend to cope with the pandemic now are going back to work or to school. Or simply facing the fact that a best friend is more than we can handle, and so are the vet bills.

Given all this, exhibitors might wonder whether the cast of The Suicide Squad shouldn’t have featured canine stars like Hachi, Marley or even Scooby-Doo rather than live actors cast as Bloodsport, Ratcatcher or Sylvester Stallone’s King Shark.

The pooches...

It Happened Tomorrow

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1944 / 1.33:1 / 85 min.

Starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie

Cinematography by Archie Stout, Eugen Schüfftan

Directed by René Clair

René Clair takes a trip through The Twilight Zone in It Happened Tomorrow, the story of a reporter’s perilous adventure with a different kind of time machine. Like Clair’s I Married a Witch and The Ghost Goes West, this 1944 fantasy is lighter than air but its feet are planted firmly on the ground. Dick Powell plays Larry Stevens, a struggling journalist with a literal dead end job—he writes obituaries for The Evening News. Linda Darnell is Sylvia Smith, a stage performer who predicts fortunes with the help of Oscar Cigolini, né Smith, her showboating uncle played by Jack Oakie. Sylvia isn’t the only one with insight into the future, Larry gets in on the act when he’s handed a...

The Psych gang will return for a third movie set to premiere on Peacock.

The NBCU streaming platform unveiled on Thursday a green light for Psych 3: This Is Gus, with production set to begin this summer in Vancouver. Following Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, the three-quel is named after Dulé Hill’s Burton “Gus” Guster.

In preparation for a shotgun wedding before the birth of Baby Guster, Shawn (James Roday Rodriguez) and Groomzilla Gus (Dulé Hill) go rogue in an attempt to track down Selene’s (Jazmyn Simon) estranged husband, as Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) grapples with the future of his career. Also set to reprise their roles from the series and films are Maggie Lawson as Juliet O’Hara, Timothy Omundson as Carlton Lassiter, Kirsten Nelson as Karen Vick and Corbin Bernsen as Henry Spencer.

The Psych movie franchise is a continuation of the original series, which aired on...

I’m one of those people who believes that a home is not complete without a pet (I have four cats myself), and love it when a favorite TV character or family has a loyal companion who can add to the adventure or the comedic antics of a show. Some of these adorable animals have become as famous, if not more so, than the human actors of a series.

SEE40 best TV mothers; greatest moms ranked

Animals tend to make a television program more family-friendly, and TV executives have used them to draw in this demographic, despite the fact that working with a non-human actor can be challenging. In the very early days of the medium, American families gathered around their sets to follow the adventures of such noble creatures as “Lassie” and “Flipper,” or to laugh at the ridiculousness of a talking horse in “Mister Ed” or the antics...

I’m one of those people who believes that a home is not complete without a pet (I have four cats myself), and love it when a favorite TV character or family has a loyal companion who can add to the adventure or the comedic antics of a show. Some of these adorable animals have become as famous, if not more so, than the human actors of a series.

Animals tend to make a television program more family-friendly, and TV executives have used them to draw in this demographic, despite the fact that working with a non-human actor can be challenging. In the very early days of the medium, American families gathered around their sets to follow the adventures of such noble creatures as “Lassie” and “Flipper,” or to laugh at the ridiculousness of a talking horse in “Mister Ed” or the antics of the “human” pig Arnold on “Green Acres.

Early on in the Psych pilot, Shawn Spencer’s (James Roday Rodriguez) ludicrous plot to impersonate a psychic in order to solve crime suddenly takes on grave stakes: Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) informs him that if he’s lying, he’ll be prosecuted for hindering a police investigation. Just like that, he’s locked into his lie, and has no choice but to let it snowball—into a private eye business with his best friend Burton Guster (Dulé Hill), but also into a lucrative consultancy gig for the Santa Barbara Police Department that, psychic antics be damned, legitimately saves lives.

But while it’s the Chief who put the fear of God into Shawn, the true threat to his secret was always one Carlton Jebediah Lassiter (Timothy Omundson). In the early seasons, Lassiter was the perfect foil: a by-the-book detective obsessed with proper procedure and with hypermasculinity, who had patience...

The following contains spoilers for Psych 2: Lassie Come Home.

As fun as 2017’s Psych: The Movie was, its 2020 sequel Psych 2: Lassie Come Home will likely supplant it in Psych-Os’ hearts, because it’s got 500% more Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson). But how does it stack up to its predecessor in terms of Psych callbacks and pop culture homages? Using our Spencer powers of observation, we’ve tried to catch every recurring inside joke between Shawn (James Roday Rodriguez) and Gus (Dulé Hill), plus all the episodic-specific bits. It’s a feature-length Hitchcock homage, but it’s also the toughest Easter egg hunt of your life. C’mon, son!

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Easter Eggs and References

The title is a reference to Lassie Come Home, the 1943 Lassie movie about the beloved dog making her way home from Scotland. A German-language remake came out early in 2020.

It’s always...

Friendly warning, Psychos: We’re about to spoil the plot of Psych 2. Haven’t watched? Flock to Peacock!

With the arrival of Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, Shawn and Gus are once again up to their pineapples in mysteries — some of which they actually manage to solve!

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Am I the only one who gets a goofy grin on his face during the opening credits of Psych?

Shawn, Gus, and friends returned to Santa Barbara to help one of their own, Police Chief Carlton Lassiter, in Psych 2 Season 1 Episode 1.

What an ingenious way to make a second Psych movie happen!

Timothy Omundson, a key part of the long-running USA Network series playing Lassiter, suffered a stroke in 2017, from which he continues to recover. 

The Tptb came up with a solution for Lassie Come Home: Have Lassiter get shot six times in an ambush then suffer a stroke during the surgery to save his life.

But Lassie was able to remain an active part of the mystery because he was seeing strange sights in the nights at the center where he's recovering.

Staff members told him it was just the drugs he was on talking. But Carlton, desperate to be told he wasn't crazy,...

As NBC’s new streaming platform Peacock Peacock Opens Wide: Here’s What’s Streaming On Its Free And Premium Tiers, the star of its Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, James Roday, is beginning a new journey of his own.

In an interview with TVLine, the actor describes his decision to switch his stage name to his birth surname, becoming James Roday Rodriguez. His given middle name is David, which he has replaced with Roday, given 20-plus years working under that moniker.

Rodriguez says the idea began with conversations he had with his father about their family heritage and what his parents and grandparents went through growing up in Texas.

“It’s a deeply personal decision that I am doing for me,” said Rodriguez. “And I just hope it’s something that can be amplified. I hope we are all having these conversations in our lives. I hope we are all reflecting.

The wait is almost over, “Psych” fans. Among the many offerings that will be available when NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, Peacock, launches nationwide Wednesday is “Psych 2: Lassie Come Home,” the long-awaited sequel to “Psych: The Movie.”

Now, seeing as it’s been a while since the first “Psych” film debuted on USA Network in December 2017 — and even longer since the detective dramedy series ended its eight season run in 2014 — we’re willing to bet that even the most die-hard fans don’t remember exactly where we left things with Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dulé Hill). Well, don’t worry, because we’re here to recap it all for you so that you’re fully prepared for the premiere of “Psych 2: Lassie Come Home” tomorrow.

Ok, so “Psych: The Movie” takes place three years after the series finale, with Shawn, Gus and Juliet (Maggie Lawson) still living in San Francisco,...

The streaming service field is becoming more fractured, as more and more media companies break from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu in favor of creating their own streaming services. NBCUniversal—the Comcast Corp. division that owns NBC, MSNBC, USA, and the Universal Pictures movie studio—is next up with new streaming service Peacock.

Peacock will feature content from NBC, Bravo, USA Network, Syfy, Oxygen, E!, CNBC, MSNBC, Nbcsn, Golf Channel, Universal Kids, A&e, ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, History, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Universal Pictures, DreamWorks, Focus Features, Illumination, ViacomCBS, Paramount, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., and Blumhouse.

Here’s what we know:

Peacock Release Date

Peacock was made available to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 platform subscribers on April 15, 2020. The service will officially roll out to the rest of the country on July 15, 2020. NBCUniversal has plans for an international release of the service but no timeframe has been announced yet.

Peacock Price

What is Peacock going to cost?...

Psych-Os, our long wait is finally over. The Psych movie sequel hits Peacock on Wednesday, July 15, so get ready to return to Santa Barbara once more in Psych 2: Lassie Come Home. 

Coming six years after Psych ended its eight-season run on USA and three years after Psych: The Movie debuted, Lassie

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Other Links From TVGuide.com PsychJames RodayDulé HillTimothy OmundsonMaggie LawsonKirsten NelsonCorbin Bernsen...

It may not have the coolest name, but Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service, will definitely be worth checking out when it debuts on July 15. The streamer, which comes in both free, ad-supported and ad-free paid subscription plans, will be the future on-demand home of The Office and several

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This week marks the official launch of what may be the silliest named streaming service of them all... Peacock! The streamer from Comcast and NBCUniversal will be the streaming home for many NBC classics, Universal films, and other licensed shows and movies. It's also a

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Other Links From TVGuide.com P-ValleyPsychPsych 2: Lassie Come HomeKiller Camp30 RockShowbiz Kids...

Psych is back, and Lassie's coming home.  We're less than a week away from the launch of Peacock and the premiere of Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, the latest movie version of everybody's favorite (fake) psychic detective series. This time, Carlton Lassiter (Tim Omundson) is in trouble, and Shawn (James Roday), Gus (Dule Hill), Juliet (Maggie Lawson), and Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) all do their best to help him, even if it means getting themselves into some serious trouble.  The movie is not only about Lassiter, but it also serves as the show's sort of "welcome back" to Timothy Omundson, who suffered a stroke right before filming on the first movie began, meaning the entire first movie...

Psych: The Movie, when it was released in 2017, was clearly a love letter for the avid Psych-Os missing fake psychic Shawn Spencer (James Roday), his platonic life partner Burton Guster (Dulé Hill), and the rest of the Santa Barbara Police Department after the series wrapped in 2014. From a David Bowie-loving villain to a #TeamGrimmie T-shirt, it was the best kind of fan service. Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, then, is undoubtedly a love letter from the cast and crew of Psych to one of their own: actor Timothy Omundson and his grouchy yet heroic alter ego, detective Carlton Lassiter, both undergoing recovery for a stroke. Psych 2, which premieres July 15 on Peacock, is a surprisingly poignant example of art imitating life while still ushering a crew of beloved characters through personal and professional life changes.

Because of the timing of Omundson’s stroke prior to shooting the first movie,...

The final moments of 2017’s Psych: The Movie are literally explosive: Professional fake psychic Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and partner-in-crime-solving Burton Guster (Dulé Hill) watch their newly-christened San Francisco-based practice go up in laser-sniper-fire from whoever’s hot on the trail of Shawn’s brother-in-law Ewan O’Hara (John Cena). It might have seemed an obvious setup for an eventual second Psych movie, with the titular duo following in the wake of Ewan’s ex-Black-Ops adventures, but instead creator Steve Franks and Roday (who shares a co-writing credit on both movies) went for a quieter and more emotionally resonant angle in their followup.

It’s all in the title, which will tug at many a Psych-O’s heartstrings: Psych 2: Lassie Come Home. Mere weeks before shooting began on Psych: The Movie, cast member Timothy Omundson suffered a stroke that left him unable to reprise his role from the USA series,...