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John Gabriel is still performing. He starred as Seneca Beaulac
for years on ABC daytime soap opera Ryan's Hope. |
84-year-old Ryan's Hope star John Gabriel makes his Los Angeles concert debut
Ryan's Hope alum John Gabriel (Seneca Beaulac) recently made his Los Angeles concert debut in "An Evening with John Gabriel."
"They just don't make John Gabriel's anymore!," said Michael Sterling. That sentiment couldn't have been more clearly understood than by the full house at
Sterling's on July 6th when the 84 year young star rapturously treated the full house to a string of classic American music. "Perfection personified," declared Sterling. "A true crooner... a wonderful actor and a great gentleman.... oozing with style that just can't be taught. He's the type of performer that young singers should aspire to be." Gabriel regaled his fans and friends with favorites like 'When Sunny Gets Blue', 'That's Life', a medley of 'Nice Work if You Can Get It' and 'Hooray for Love', and sentimental, ballads like 'Good Morning Heartache', and 'Nature Boy'. "
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Warner Bros. bids for control of Korean soap opera site DramaFever
Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. studio is among bidders for a majority stake in the online video company DramaFever, according to people familiar with the matter, less than a year after Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. bought it for $100 million.
Founded in 2009, DramaFever is best known as the place where young people – especially teenaged girls – go to get their dose of subtitled Korean soap operas and other TV shows and movies from around the world. The Hulu-like model includes both a free, ad-supported tier and premium subscription service. In the year leading up to its 2014 sale, it turned heads in the industry with its explosive growth, more than doubling its traffic to 2 million unique visitors per month.
Primetime Emmy nominations set record with 64% gain for African-American actors
The Primetime Emmys showed substantial progress this year in recognizing African-American thesps, who received 18 nominations across all acting categories — easily eclipsing last year’s record high of 11 noms. The best actress, drama category set a first-time record with two African-American nominees: Viola Davis from ABC's
How To Get Away With Murder and Taraji P. Henson from FOX's
Empire.
Hulu explores adding ad-free option to its service
The
Wall Street Journal reports that, starting this fall, Hulu may charge $12 to $14 a month to users who prefer no ads.
Empire's Lee Daniels Now Says F-Bomb To TV Academy Was Joke: “I Love The Emmys”
The executive producer went back online Thursday to apparently clarify his remarks in a much calmer fashion. Daniels says he “loves the Emmys” and has nothing but good wishes for the nominations that his show received and others.
Josh Hopkins joins Quantico as series regular
Hopkins will play Special Agent Liam O’Connor, taking over the role played by Dougray Scott in the pilot.
Natalie Alyn Lind joins Gotham as Silver St. Cloud
Silver St. Cloud is described as an ethereal beauty with the pristine manners of a Gotham debutante. Add in the fact that she lost her parents at a young age, and it’s understandable why she and Bruce end up drawn to each other.
And as Bruce’s friend — and love interest — Silver introduces Bruce to her uncle Theo Galavan, who just so happens to be a billionaire philanthropist who’s running for Mayor. Needless to say, Bruce finds a father figure in Theo, but as for Silver, well, she’s described as having a heart beating with dark intent. In other words, she’s probably not someone Bruce wants to fall for.
Echo Kellum joins Arrow as Mr. Terrific
The
Ben and Kate alum will play Curtis Holt, aka Mr. Terrific. Holt is a technological savant and inventor who works at Palmer Technologies under the supervision of Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards).
Friday Night Lights producer apologizes for anti-Caitlyn Jenner post
Peter Berg shared a meme posted on Facebook by a “news personality” using the name Main Stream Media Sponsor Boycotts, Entertainment Weekly reports. It had a photo of Army veteran and double amputee Gregory D. Gadson alongside one of Jenner, with the caption “One man traded 2 legs for the freedom of the other to trade 2 balls for 2 boobs. Guess which man made the cover of
Vanity Fair, was praised for his courage by President Obama and is to be honored with the ‘Arthur Ashe Courage Award’ by ESPN?”
Thursday evening, however, Berg posted this statement: “I have the utmost respect for Caitlyn Jenner and I am a strong supporter of equality and the rights of trans people everywhere. I also believe that we don’t give enough attention to our courageous returning war veterans, many of whom have sacrificed their bodies and mental health for our country and our principals — principals that include the freedom to live the life you want to live without persecution or abuse.”
Joy Bryant and Chris Diamantopoulos join Amazon pilot Good Girls Revolt
Written and executive produced by Dana Calvo, the project is set in 1969 at the beginning of the women’s rights movement when a group of young women at the hottest magazine in the world ask to be treated fairly, setting off a convulsive chain of events. Bryant will play civil rights activist Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Diamantopoulos is Oz.
Jason Dohring to recur on The Originals
Dohring — who most famously appeared as Logan Echolls on UPN/The CW's
Veronica Mars, and reprised the role in Rob Thomas' 2014 film — will make his Originals debut in the third season premiere. He'll play Detective Will Kinney, who is described as smart and confident with a very clear sense of right and wrong, who is out to bring the forces of evil to justice.
American Crime Season 2 storyline and characters revealed
The second season will take place in the Midwest, where the main crimes being tackled involve sexual identity and the disparity in the school systems, creator John Ridley and and exec producer Michael McDonald tell Variety. Timothy Hutton and Felicity Huffman both play members of the staff of an elite private school. Hutton will be playing the basketball coach at the school, while Huffman plays the headmistress.
Has Pretty Little Liars become "too big for its britches and has lost its way"?
"With Season 7 already green-lit, it’s time for executive producer Marlene King to go back to the basics: Keep the plot within Rosewood’s borders and toss all add-on characters aside — sorry, Caleb (Tyler Blackburn)."
Sierra Leone ebola radio soap opera renewed for a third season
The soap opera, titled Us Kayn Tin Dis in the native Krio language, focuses around the themes of how Ebola is spread and what to do once someone in the family or neighborhood has been confirmed to carry the virus. At the end of each episode, the radio stations airing the project broadcast a quiz about Ebola dangers. Themes covered on the show include “prevention, transmission, treatment, safe burial practices, dispelling the myths, eliminating stigma and promoting unity,” local media report. Listeners can win a number of prizes, including essential food items. Winners are announced weekly.
‘Look at their dignity!’ This Jew-flattering Egyptian soap opera is a surprise hit with Palestinians
A dozen Palestinian Muslim men gathered after midnight at an isolated farm house this week to indulge in a new delight. They were going to watch a soap opera about Jews. The steamy Egyptian soap, Haret al-Yahud (or The Jewish Quarter), tells a Romeo and Juliet tale of a beautiful daughter of a well-to-do Jewish merchant and dashing Muslim army commander falling in and out and in love again in old Cairo during the earth-shaking 1948 Arab-Israeli war and its aftermath.
Lathering up for TV3's new soap, decision coming next week on New Zealand project
New Zealand On Air will decide on Wednesday whether to fund a new 5.30 p.m. soap opera for TV3. The new soap, aimed at delivering viewers to 3News, is a major push for TV3's new programming strategy, so details are being kept under wraps. But MediaWorks decided long ago the show would be made by Warner Bros New Zealand, which has roots back to Touchdown, the production firm founded by Julie Christie.
Indications are that the show would run four days a week and require funding of more than $10 million. A request for proposal was set out in October, seeking a compelling family-centric show suitable for a G certificate timeslot "with appealing, accessible characters and a rich, dramatic narrative."
Tory plans for BBC shakeup could lead to ‘much diminished service’
Diane Coyle, a former deputy chair of the BBC Trust, said the government was in danger of “dismantling the BBC’s civic value and destroying its economic value, which makes it even more important to involve the British public, especially as they haven’t had a chance before” to become involved.
She added: “People do care about programs. If Whittingdale is going to have a narrowly focused BBC is it no to
EastEnders and soaps but [BBC1 Peter Moffat drama]
The Village is OK? And who is going to choose?”
Chuck Pratt will not return for the previously announced Season 2 of the music drama, Star, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting. 
FOX has ordered a new pilot, Star, from Lee Daniels, co-creator and executive producer of the hit primetime soap Empire. The pilot, from 20th Century Fox Television, will be written, directed and executive-produced by Daniels.
On the heels of greenlighting the Batman origin series Gotham, Fox has ordered both Lee Daniels' hip-hop drama Empire and the Octavia Spencer-starring Red Band Society to series for the 2014-15 season.