Q and A: Week of Feb. 2

Q: I keep hearing great things about the FX series “Fargo,” but I don’t have cable. Is it out on DVD, or is there another way I can watch it? — Frannie D., Springfield, Ill.

A: Season one of this wonderful FX drama/suspense series — starring Billy Bob Thornton, Colin Hanks, Allison Tolman and Martin Freeman — is now available on DVD. And Hulu recently announced that it has acquired the streaming rights for the series. No exact date has been announced, only that we should be on the lookout for it ahead of the series’ season two premiere this fall on FX.

Q: Can you tell me when “Game of Thrones” will be back for a new season? — Bobby T., via email

A: The phenomenal drama/historical-fantasy series will be back for its fifth season on April 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. HBO also revealed that “Silicon Valley” would be begin its second season at 10 p.m., following the “GoT” premiere, and season four of “Veep” will follow that at 10:30 p.m. All three series will have 10-episode seasons.

In the meantime, you can relive some of season four on the big screen in IMAX format before that. In limited release (about 150 IMAX theaters), the last two episodes of season four’s “Game of Thrones” will be shown the way lots of fans think it should be aired all the time: in movie theaters. Those who do attend these limited showings will also be treated to an exclusive trailer for season five. Check your local listings to see if it is on the big screen in your town. According to “Entertainment Weekly,” there have also been reports of a season-five preview special to air on HBO, perhaps as soon as February. Fingers crossed for that too!

Q: My husband recently introduced me to the “Evil Dead” movies. He heard they are making it into a TV series. Is that true? — Nancy P. in Indiana

A: Your husband heard correctly. Starz is bringing the series to the small screen via an original series called “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” which takes place after the action of the movie series. The series’ star and the director of “Evil Dead” — Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi, respectively — are set to return to the production, which will consist of 10 half-hour episodes. The story begins three decades later, where Ash (Campbell) is forced to face his demons and fight the Evil Dead yet again when a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all mankind.

Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt in Jurassic World

Q: I know the project is all hush-hush, but is there anything you can tell me about “Jurassic World”? — George F., Montgomery, Ala.

A: Recently I spoke with James DuMont, who just finished another wonderfully disturbing season of “American Horror Story,” and who also plays a role in the sure-to-be summer blockbuster, which opens June 12. However, things are so hush-hush that he can’t even tell me what role he plays. This is what he could tell me: “I can’t tell you anything about story, plot, my character. I’ve signed all these very heavy-duty nondisclosure agreements up and down the street. But the good news to tell you is that it’s amazing. The cast is amazing. There are so many cool things about this movie. They got it right. Steven Spielberg’s on board. The director, Colin Trevorrow, is amazing. I think it’s going to be a really, really good movie. I’m just excited to be a part of a big movie like this.” Stop by tomorrow to read my entire interview with James.

Q: All last year I read rumors about a “Wet Hot American Summer” sequel, even on your Twitter feed, but I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of it anywhere. Is this really going to happen? — Megan M., via Facebook

A: I have good news for you, and for lovers of this outrageous and brilliant comedy everywhere. There will indeed be a sequel, but not in feature-film form. Netflix, which is quickly becoming my favorite outlet for original programming, has picked it up for an eight-episode limited series. And pretty much all of the film’s original stars will return: Elizabeth Banks, H. Jon Benjamin, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, Judah Friedlander, Janeane Garofalo, Nina Hellman, Ken Marino, Zak Orth, David Hyde Pierce, Joe LoTruglio, Christopher Meloni, A.D. Miles, Marguerite Moreau, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Marisa Ryan, Molly Shannon, Michael Showalter and Kevin Sussman. To say that I am excited about this doesn’t nearly cover the emotions I am feeling about this series. I’m thinking you’re feeling the same way right about now.

Q: I loved your interview with CCH Pounder about “NCIS: New Orleans” a few months back, and I love the show. Will it be back for another season? — Janice T., via email

A: “NCIS: New Orleans,” which is the No. 1 new TV series on broadcast television, has indeed received a second season pickup from CBS. “Madam Secretary,” which is the No. 2 most watched new series, and “Scorpion,” which is No. 3, have both also received a second season.

Q and A: Week of Jan. 19

A scene from the season-three premiere of Vikings

Q: Can you tell me when “Vikings” will be back? It seems like it’s been gone forever! — Jeremy T., via email

A: You don’t have much longer to wait. The History channel’s hit historical-fiction drama will be back Thursday, Feb. 19 at 10 p.m. ET. The new 10-episode third season begins with Ragnar (played by Travis Fimmel) as king, and follows the great responsibility that now rests on the shoulders of the former farmer.

With the promise of new land from the English, Ragnar leads his people to an uncertain fate on the shores of Wessex. King Ecbert (Linus Roache) has made many promises, and it remains to be seen if he will keep them. But ever the restless wanderer, Ragnar is searching for something more — and he finds it in the mythical city of Paris. Rumored to be impenetrable to outside forces, Ragnar and his band of Norsemen must come together to break down its walls and cement the Vikings legend in history.

The gripping family saga of Ragnar, Rollo (Clive Standen), Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), and Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) continues as alliances and loyal friendships are questioned, faith is catechized, and relationships are strained. “Vikings” tells the extraordinary tales of the lives and epic adventures of these warriors, and portrays life in the Dark Ages — a world ruled by raiders and explorers — through the eyes of Viking society.

Q: I remember a while back you reported that David Letterman was going to retire and Stephen Colbert was to take his place. Do you know when this will happen? — Patty T., via email

A: CBS has announced that David Letterman’s final show as host of “The Late Show” will be May 20. Letterman has been a prominent fixture in late-night television for decades, and upon his retirement in May, he’ll hold the record as the longest-tenured host in late-night talk-show history.

Q: Was “The Blacklist” canceled? I haven’t seen it in a while. — Trudy F., Cincinnati, Ohio

A: The James Spader-starring NBC drama was not canceled; it merely went on winter hiatus. The addictive series will be back with all-new episodes beginning on Super Bowl Sunday, which is Feb. 1.

Q: Do you know yet if “Legends” got picked up for another season? It’s my favorite new show of the year. — Michael J., Brunswick, Ga.

A: The TNT series based on the award-winning book by Robert Latell will be back for a second season coming this summer. So you’ll get 10 more episodes of action-hero Sean Bean kicking butt and taking names. 

Q and A: Week of Jan. 12

READERS: It’s time for a CONTEST. Supernatural-mystery writer Victoria Laurie — who just so happens to be my favorite author of this particular genre — has been kind enough to autograph TWO copies of her latest book, “When,” for TWO of my lucky readers. Laurie is the author of the Psychic Eye series, as well as the Ghoul Hunter series, and she has just written an entirely new book (which I hope becomes a series) for her young-adult audience. But young adult doesn’t mean it’s a kiddie book.

“When” is told from the point of view of Maddie, a high school student who, when she looks at someone, sees a series of digits floating just above his or her brow, with the digits representing the date that person will die. She and her mom, struggling to make ends meet, use her talent to make extra money. Things get scary when a woman comes to ask about her sick daughter. While Maddie has good news about her daughter — she’ll get better and live a long life — the woman’s middle son is a another story. His deathdate is within days, he soon goes missing, and the FBI thinks Maddie is involved.

To enter to win an autographed copy of this book — which hits store shelves tomorrow, Jan. 13 — just answer this question: If Maddie could tell you your deathdate, would you want to know? There are four ways to enter (and you can do all four): Send a letter to Cindy Elavsky, KFWS, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475; email letters@cindyelavsky.com; follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/Celebrity_Extra) and tweet your reply to me; and follow my FB fan page and post your answer there.

Q: I thought I had read a while back that a movie about the life of Whitney Houston was going to be made. Is that still happening? — Freesia L., via email

A: It is indeed, and Lifetime is the station that will bring the story of the life of the critically acclaimed songstress whose life was tragically cut short in February 2012. Angela Bassett makes her directorial debut with the Lifetime Original Movie “Whitney,” featuring Yaya DaCosta (“Lee Daniels’ The Butler”) in the lead role, with Arlen Escarpeta (“Final Destination 5”) alongside her as Bobby Brown. The much-anticipated world premiere will be on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. “Whitney” chronicles the headline-making relationship between the iconic singer, actress, producer, and model Whitney Houston and singer and songwriter Bobby Brown, from the time they first met at the very height of their celebrity to their courtship and tumultuous marriage. Throughout it all, difficulties followed the superstar couple while they dealt with the overwhelming rewards and consequences of the fame and fortune created by Houston’s meteoric rise, which would soon overshadow them both.

Q: Is it true the J.K. Rowling’s latest book series is going to be turned into a movie? — Hal R., Albany, NY

A: Not a movie, Hal, but a series. BBC announced last month that they are going to adapt Rowling’s Cormoran Strike novels into a series, beginning with the first book, “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” Rowling will collaborate on the project in conjunction with BBC and Brontë Film and TV. Brontë Film and TV is also producing Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy” adaptation, a three-part series that will air on BBC One in this February. There’s no word yet when either series will be available in the U.S., but I’m hoping they’ve worked out some sort of deal with PBS (or another station), where we get to see it here across the Pond a few months later that the Brits.

Q: When will “The Walking Dead” return from winter hiatus? I am going through serious withdrawals here! — Larry E., Orlando, Fla.

A: You’ll have to wait just a little bit longer, Larry. Season five continues on Feb. 8 on AMC. Series star Andrew Lincoln told “TV Guide” that this half of the season contains two episodes that are probably his favorite since the pilot episode. Sounds great to me!

Chris Pratt as Johnny Karate
Q: Can you tell me when “Parks and Recreation” will be back? I thought it had one more season. — Daniel G., via email

A: “Parks and Rec” will be back for a 13-episode seventh (and final) season tomorrow, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. ET. The season begins in the year 2017, with the town of Pawnee not quite the same as when we left it in 2014. Chris Pratt’s fun-loving and dim-witted character of Andy stars in a Johnny Karate TV show (see pic on left); Leslie and Ben have toddler triplets; and Tom is a mogul of some sort. Jon Hamm, Rashida Jones, Rob Lowe, Megan Mullally and Natalie Morales will all pop up during the show’s final season.

Q: I keep hearing great things about the FX series “Fargo,” but I don’t have cable. Is it out on DVD, or is there another way I can watch it? — Frannie D., Springfield, Ill.

A: Season one of this wonderful FX drama/suspense series — which just won the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television — stars Billy Bob Thornton (who also won for Best Actor), Colin Hanks, Allison Tolman and Martin Freeman, and is now available on DVD. And Hulu recently announced that it has acquired the streaming rights for the series. No exact date has been announced, only that we should be on the lookout for it ahead of the series’ season two premiere this fall on FX.

Charlie Weber: From 90210 to Murder

Charlie Weber (photo by Ben Miller)
ABC’s newest nighttime drama, “How to Get Away with Murder,” is the most talked about and watched new series since “Scandal.” Which is no surprise, considering both series have executive producer Shonda Rhimes — a woman who knows how to write gripping and addictive drama — at the helm. And that cliffhanger winter hiatus (where viewers discovered that Annalise — played by Academy Award-nominated Viola Davis — does indeed know that Wes killed her cheating and abusive husband, Sam, with the rest of the group helping to cover it up) had and still has everyone talking. “Murder” returns to ABC on Jan. 29 at 10/9c with six more new shows to round out season one, and I’m sure there will be lots more to talk about once that happens. I spoke with series star Charlie Weber (who has also co-starred in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Everwood” and “90210,” and starred in the feature film “Vampires Suck”), who plays Annalise’s right-hand man Frank Delfino, and he can’t wait for fans to see what Shonda and Co. have in store for fans in the coming episodes.

Celebrity Extra: “How to Get Away with Murder” is by far the best new show of the 2014-15 television series.

Charlie Weber: I agree. I’ve been on a lot of TV shows, and this is the best one. I mean, it’s so good. They screened the pilot for a few of us. I watched it with Tom Verica and Liza Weil and Karla Souza. And right when it started, I was like, “Oh my God, this is good.” I knew we were shooting a good show, but you never know how it’s going to look or how it’s going to feel. And I couldn’t have been more impressed.

CE: I was impressed that it didn’t lose steam after that brilliant pilot episode.

CW: Right. They give you that shock value to get you in, but it stayed good. The writing is incredible. It’s something that challenges people on every part of our show. Everybody’s so talented. Linda Lowy is truly the master of ensemble casting. And everybody’s so great. We all get along. We are all just good friends, and everyone’s cool. We all love our jobs and love going to work, and it makes the whole thing a lot of fun.

CE: Tell me the cast’s reaction to the winter hiatus cliffhanger, where we find out that Annalise was sitting there in the dark when Wes came back to retrieve the trophy, thus showing that all of her actions after her fight with Sam were orchestrated.

CW: That was a cliff I did not know anything about. We didn’t know that until we all read it at the table read. Prior to that, we all had our theories, but honestly, none of us knew that Wes killed Sam until the table read. Everybody had his own theory. And that’s one of the coolest things about the show, is it could have been any of us. We are all pretty bad people. With the exception of maybe Asher, Matt McGorry’s character, we’re all certainly capable, Frank especially. He made his deal with the devil a long time ago. But now these kids are really in it and having to deal with the moral complications of covering this up and having done it in the first place. They’re all in on it now.

CE: I read that show runner Peter Nowalk wants to veer away from using the flashback storytelling device now that we have caught up in time with the murder.

CW: Yes, we have now caught up to murder night, and now we go forward. There are a couple here and there, mostly to explain a certain situation, but there are going to be only a few. We’ll pop around a little bit, but it’s going to be different; it’s going to be more of a linear, forward-moving way of storytelling from here on out.

CE: Tell me about Frank and how you prepared for the role.

CW: I hung around with lawyers. One is a lawyer who does PI work, and I was really fascinated by that. That’s kind of the avenue it started going down. And I started talking with (show runner) Pete Nowalk about it, and he had this idea that we would find out in episode three that Frank’s not a barred attorney. He’s not a practicing lawyer, despite his intelligence, and I thought that adds to the mystery of who Frank is and what he really does. Because what he really does is plant evidence and whatever it is that needs to be done. I thought it was a brilliant choice. And the PI stuff is fascinating. I love Frank, you know, meeting with Annalise in the shadows and going to do the dirty work.

CE: Frank seemed like a nice guy, but then we find out he has a secret girlfriend while he’s romancing Laurel. What’s up with that?

CW: He’s very complicated and has the ability to justify a lot of things. He doesn’t think that was that big of a deal, because she had a boyfriend too. But she’s like, “But you knew about that.” But that’s not how Frank sees things. He doesn’t understand why that was a big deal. He, as a matter of fact, has genuine feelings for her. That’s why he ended the other relationship. But then again, he’s busy doing so many other things. He is a mystery because he really can’t afford not to be because of what he does for Annalise. He has no choice but to be vague and carry himself with a sense of mystery, because he’s committing felonies at almost every turn at the behest of his boss.

CE: Coming into the rest of the season, will you continue with the case-of-the-week format, aside from trying to solve Lila’s and Sam’s murders?

CW: Yeah, that has held up. We discussed that. It’s not as much of a focal point, but the interesting thing about continuing with the case of the week is that we’ve got bigger things to worry about than our client. And so everybody’s mind is sort of wandering everywhere as we’re trying to do these cases. And yes, the murders of Sam and Lila Stangard are going to be a little bit more front and center, along with the case-of-the-week stuff.

CE: Because of all that happened, I think that Annalise will need Frank a lot more.

CW: Yes, what he does is going to become an even bigger asset. This is when Frank shines. This is when he does what he does best.

CE: What can we expect as season one comes to a close?

CW: Well, we have six more episodes. As you can imagine, the whole thing busts wide open. Information will be coming out about both murders, and there’s going to be a lot of scrambling to deal with it by everyone. And not that the show isn’t already crazy and exciting already, but it gets more so. There are plenty of twists and turns coming, I can assure you of that.

Q and A: Week of Jan. 5

Q: I was so surprised that Daniel was killed in the winter finale of “Revenge.” Is he really dead? And when will the show return? I can’t wait! — Pamela F., via email

A: I was as shocked as you were by the death of the good-boy-turned-bad-turned-good-again Daniel Grayson. “Revenge” returned last night to ABC for all new episodes. [SPOILER] And if you watched, then you know he really is dead, and we got to see the reactions to Daniels death of our favorite folks in the Hamptons, including Daniel’s mom, Victoria (played by Madeleine Stowe) and his newly pregnant girlfriend, Margaux LaMarshal (Karine Vanasse). The word “revenge” is definitely going to be taken to all new heights. And although the character is indeed dead, Joshua Bowman reprised his role last night for flashback scenes. (I also was thrilled to see Henry Czerny reprise his role of Conrad Grayson in those flashback scenes during the winter finale, weren’t you?)

Q: I know that “Parenthood” ends after this season, but I didn’t know it was so soon. I haven’t seen a new episode since November. It can’t be over already, can it? — Jeremy T., via email

A: It’s almost over, but not quite. The show went on winter hiatus — that’s the new fad these days, don’t you know? — but it will return on Jan. 8 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC for its final four episodes.

Q: I was really into the ABC show called “Selfie,” but I think it was canceled. Is there any chance to see the remaining episodes? — Gina R., via email

A: ABC and Hulu have partnered to air the remaining six episodes of the low-rated comedy starring Karen Gillan and John Cho. By the time you read this, they all should be available for viewing at hulu.com and abc.go.com.

Q: I am in serious “House of Cards” withdrawal! When will it be back? — Tillie F., Atlanta, Ga.

A: The critically acclaimed original Netflix political drama — starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright — will be return for its third season on Feb. 27. At that time, all 13 episodes will be available for streaming.

Love Your Natural Model

Katy Perry shows off curves for the new Miller Mobley Photoshoot 2015

Katy Perry shows off curves for the new Miller Mobley Photoshoot 2015

Music artist Katy Perry is enlisted for a new photoshoot for photographer Miller Mobley. The dark-haired singer shows off her ample curves in a bodycon dress for the New York based photographer. Katy wears a red halter dress with cutouts and styles it with a statement ruby necklace and drop earrings. She wears her hair in a slick ponytail and looks glamorous.

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