Family of famed TV figure and former mayor of Cincinnati announces he died ‘peacefully’ at home in Chicago on Thursday
The talkshow host Jerry Springer, a former mayor of Cincinnati whose work was vastly influential in daytime TV worldwide, has died. He was 79.
Springer’s family said he died “peacefully” on Thursday at home in Chicago.
Continue reading...Tributes have flowed across Australia, with both politicians and entertainers sharing messages praising the late comedian
Tributes have flowed in Australia for Barry Humphries, with politicians and fellow entertainers remembering him as an “icon” who left an “indelible legacy on the history of Australian comedy”.
Humphries – best known for his character Dame Edna Everage – died surrounded by family in an inner-Sydney hospital on Saturday, where he had been receiving treatment for complications after hip surgery he had after a fall earlier this year. The 89-year-old had been living in London, and had travelled to Sydney for Christmas, falling ill during his trip.
Continue reading...World mourns ‘unique wit’ of Australian star and inventor of vivid stage personas, who has died aged 89
Like bouquets of appropriately lurid gladioli, colourful tributes to the memory of Barry Humphries piled up this weekend as his many fans adjusted to a dimmer world without Dame Edna Everage.
Mourning Humphries, who was taken ill in Sydney last week with complications after hip surgery, means saying goodbye to his charismatic, hyper-real fictional personas: not only “the Australian housewife and superstar” Dame Edna, with her radiant, rinsed hairdo, trademark sparkling spectacles and bright gladioli, but also to the revolting Australian cultural attaché, Sir Les Patterson, and the irrepressibly dull Sandy Stone. Over decades, each of these stage characters has mischievously shaped the world’s view of Australians, satirising the stereotypical lack of taste that British “pommies” enjoy looking down on.
Continue reading...Ricky Gervais, Rob Brydon and Matt Lucas among those paying homage to the Dame Edna Everage star who has died aged 89
Comedy stars from around the world have paid tribute to the late Barry Humphries, hailing him a “true great”.
Humphries, best known for his character Dame Edna Everage, died in hospital in Sydney on Saturday aged 89.
Continue reading...Move of London’s live broadcast centre to Doha could involve dozens of job losses
Al Jazeera English plans to close its live broadcast centre that operates from London’s Shard skyscraper and move programming to Qatar, with the possible loss of dozens of UK-based jobs.
In an email to staff, the network’s managing director, Giles Trendle, said Al Jazeera was “looking to undertake a restructure involving the move of AJE live programming to Doha. The move would include the news bulletins between 1900GMT and 2300GMT produced from London, and The Stream programme produced from Washington DC.”
Continue reading...While many Potterheads celebrated reports of HBO Max show, some feel it would be tainted by JK Rowling’s stance on gender
At Platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross station, Harry Potter devotees from around the world gathered to take their picture in front of one of the book’s most celebrated locations.
Fans of all ages were enthused by a particular story that took the internet by storm this week – that a long-rumoured Potter TV series could be in the works after reports that a deal was imminent between HBO Max and JK Rowling.
Continue reading...Theatres such as now-closed Oldham Coliseum vital for northern working-class people, says actor
Christopher Eccleston has said it would be impossible for him to become an actor in today’s world, in an impassioned interview after the closure of Oldham’s Coliseum theatre.
The British actor spoke about how the closure of the historic theatre would affect the acting community and people from working-class backgrounds.
Continue reading...Report says some depictions of violence in pornography should be allowed, with government to first tackle gambling in video games
Australia should ditch its censorship of certain fetishes and some instances of violence in pornography, according to a review that could open the way to everything from wax fetishes to pirate pornography.
On Wednesday the Albanese government released a review of the classification system handed to the Morrison government three years ago, promising to prioritise reforms to tackle in-game gambling.
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Continue reading...Corporation rejects freedom of information request from campaigner who claims show is ‘rigged’
The BBC has been accused of “hiding” the extent of its Oxbridge bias on University Challenge in a deepening row about alleged elitism on the show.
The Guardian revealed that Frank Coffield, a Durham-based emeritus professor of education at University College London, is campaigning for fairer entry rules for the show for what he says is a rigged contest.
Continue reading...British viewers are showing an interest in travelling to Canada after launch of reality show’s third series
Canada’s tourism industry this week expressed hopes for a rise in UK visitors after the third series of BBC’s Race Across the World launched in the UK to rave reviews.
The reality show, in which five couples travel 10,000 miles (16,000km) from one side of Canada to another on a shoestring and without flying, could be a boon to the country’s recovering tourism sector. Arrivals were down 40% in 2022 from their high in 2019, but there are hopes for an increase with UK viewers inspired by the epic scenery and charmed by helpful Canadians.
Continue reading...Roiland says he ‘never had any doubt that this day would come’ after authorities say there was ‘insufficient evidence’
Felony domestic violence charges against Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland have been dismissed, two months after he was dropped from the show.
Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the Orange County district attorney’s office, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday, saying: “We dismissed the charges today as a result of having insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Continue reading...‘I’m really, really sorry,’ the actor said, a year after she was suspended from show for saying the Holocaust ‘isn’t about race’
Whoopi Goldberg has issued an apology following her use of a racial slur during an episode of ABC’s The View.
On Wednesday, Goldberg used a derogatory term associated with Romani people while discussing former president Donald Trump, saying that his supporters are “people who still believe that he got gypped somehow in the election”.
Continue reading...Decision taken after corporation takes its highest-paid presenter off air and his fellow broadcasters refuse to appear in solidarity
Match of the Day will be broadcast without any presenters or pundits this weekend, after the main host, Gary Lineker, was suspended from the BBC for breaching impartiality guidelines over his criticism of the government’s asylum policies.
In a dramatic and unexpected escalation of a crisis that has been brewing all week, the corporation took the decision to take its highest-paid presenter off its flagship football show after he was criticised by Tory MPs and the rightwing media.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Decision to make episode about natural destruction available only on iPlayer angers programme-makers
The BBC has decided not to broadcast an episode of Sir David Attenborough’s flagship new series on British wildlife because of fears its themes of the destruction of nature would risk a backlash from Tory politicians and the rightwing press, the Guardian has been told.
The decision has angered the programme-makers and some insiders at the BBC, who fear the corporation has bowed to pressure from lobbying groups with “dinosaurian ways”.
Continue reading...The multiverse adventure picked up four major categories, while The White Lotus and Abbott Elementary won big for television
Everything Everywhere All at Once reigned supreme at this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards, winning four major awards and breaking the record for most wins for a single film.
The multiverse fantasy film picked up the night’s biggest award for ensemble in a motion picture, female actor for Michelle Yeoh and both supporting actor awards, for Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan.
Continue reading...The Story of Flanders, spanning 38,000 years of the region’s history, is funded by the nationalist government and is accused of stretching the truth
It is blockbuster TV, with Romans and Vikings, knights and Neanderthals, trains and the trenches of the first world war – and a hefty dose of political controversy.
The Story of Flanders, a 10-part history series airing in Belgium’s northern region until March, has been a cultural landmark. But the apparently lavish funding from the region’s government, run by the separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, which seeks to make Flanders independent from Belgium, has led to accusations of propaganda.
Continue reading...Standup comedian played police role in Homicide: Life on the Streets, Law & Order: SVU and other series
Richard Belzer, a stand-up comedian who became one of TV’s most indelible detectives as John Munch in Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU, has died. He was 78.
Belzer died on Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southern France, his longtime friend Bill Scheft told the Hollywood Reporter.
Continue reading...Exclusive: head of Aardman studio blames Brexit as UK falls behind on skills and tax relief
The head of Aardman, the Oscar-winning British studio behind Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, has warned that the nation’s animation productions for children’s television will have to be made overseas because acute challenges are taking their toll on the UK sector.
Sean Clarke, Aardman’s managing director, said the company is struggling with everything from serious competition from other countries on tax relief to a dire skills shortage.
Continue reading...Insiders say departure of popular BBC News presenters – with Martine Croxall also going – could prompt ageism row
Some of the BBC News channel’s most famous faces, including Jane Hill, Ben Brown and Martine Croxall, have been axed before the launch this spring of a channel that combines international and domestic news.
The trio have become familiar to UK viewers during times of political and economic turmoil and their departure could prompt a row about ageism, according to BBC insiders.
Continue reading...Actor appeared in two series of the thriller as well as Star Trek: Picard, and was reportedly diagnosed with cancer in 2020
The actor Annie Wersching, best known for playing FBI agent Renee Walker in the TV series 24, has died at the age of 45.
Wersching died on Sunday morning in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer, her publicist told the Associated Press. The type of cancer was not specified.
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