Q: In "Rocky Balboa," the TV people did all this complicated stuff to compare the young boxer with Rocky back when he was in his prime, as a hypothetical exercise. Do people really do that or was that made up for the movie?
There seems to be no end to what sports broadcasters will do to fill time, especially in the era of the 24-hour sports network. And while the computer modeling they did in "Rocky Balboa" (2006) is a bit more elaborate than you usually see on TV, even that had a real-world inspiration.
The computer simulation in "Rocky Balboa," which pitted the contemporary young champ against a prime version of Rocky, was actually based on a documentary film called "The Super Fight," released way back in 1970.
Healing despite hardships: Season 4 of 'The Good Doctor' continues
Freddie Highmore stars in "The Good Doctor"
As is the case with just about everything it seems, the novel coronavirus has made its way to ABC's hit drama "The Good Doctor." The cast of characters is returning to battle this deadly virus from the front lines and we're already hooked. The latest episode of Season 4 is set to air Monday, Feb. 8, on the alphabet network.
Young Sheldon, on CBS
Iain Armitage returns as Sheldon Cooper in this series' fourth season. Follow the "Big Bang Theory" character through his childhood and get a greater perspective on the endearing folks who helped shape Sheldon into the man audiences fell in love with.
Zero Dark Thirty, on AMC
This somewhat controversial, critically acclaimed film chronicles the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (played by Ricky Sekhon) after the events of 9/11. Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, James Gandolfini and Joel Edgerton star.
Q: Will the "Twin Peaks" revival be getting another season? I was so excited to have it back, and then it was gone again.
It's an understatement to say that "Twin Peaks" has never been straightforward. The show, whose plot was revealed through a long series of nearly inscrutable hints, is taking the same approach to its renewal status.
Since the end of the revival season, which aired on Showtime in 2017, people involved with the show (and some who aren't) have dropped little suggestions here and there that it could return again, but nothing more than that.
Prodigal Son, on Fox
Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne) is a former FBI profiler who now works for the NYPD under his surrogate father, Lt. Gil Arroyo (Lou Diamond Phillips). Bright's serial-killer biological father (Michael Sheen) gave him unique insight into the minds of murderers.
Q: I know there has been talk of "Man With a Plan" returning to TV. Will we ever get new shows?
Let's get this out of the way: Matt LeBlanc is probably never going to match his "Friends" success again (and maybe no one ever will). With that in mind, "Man With a Plan" was a pretty solid success story, though, to answer your question, not solid enough to earn a fifth season.
But that right there is the success: it got four full seasons; most shows don't.
A Little Late With Lilly Singh, on NBC
Young, South Asian-Canadian female and member of the LGBTQ community Lilly Singh gets quirky as she hosts Season 2 from home. Her unique perspective and no-news approach make for something truly unique in the realm of late-night talk shows.
New Releases for the week of January 31 - February 6
Tesla
Nikola Tesla (Hawke) is a frustrated genius, imagining a future no one seems interested in believing. Professionally and personally demeaned by his boss and intellectual rival, the high-powered Thomas Edison (MacLachlan), Tesla is ostracized by his peers and unable to find funding or support for his enormous, revolutionary ideas. From the alternating-current motor to the Tesla coil, the lonely engineer struggles to justify his very real, tangible inventions with his dismissed, unmoored day-to-day reality. However, with the help of occasional allies such as heiress Anne Morgan (Hewson), Tesla's desire to gift the unthinkable to future generations proves unwavering as he chooses to walk an uneven, devastatingly difficult road for the rest of his scientific life.
Director: Michael Almereyda. Stars: Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Eve Hewson, Jim Gaffigan, Hannah Gross, Josh Hamilton, Lucy Walters. 2020. 102 mins. Drama.
Wild Mountain Thyme
Rosemary Muldoon (Blunt) and Anthony Reilly (Dornan) have been tending their families' farmlands together for their entire lives and have been quietly in love with each other for just as long. Despite being understood as soulmates by everyone around them, the two struggle to make their feelings known. Right as they're beginning to find a way into their star-crossed story, Anthony's father Tony (Walken) makes a revelation that derails their lives completely. Due to what he believes is his and his son's cold relationship, Tony announces that he's planning to hand over their family farm to his American nephew, Adam (Hamm). Outraged and hurt, Anthony feels far away from everyone and everything, including Rosemary — a fact made more destructive by Adam's visit to the farm and Rosemary's clear romantic feelings towards him.
Director: John Patrick Shanley. Stars: Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Jon Hamm, Christopher Walken, Abigail Coburn, Darragh O'Kane. 2020. 102 mins. Drama.
Archenemy
A teenager named Hamster (Brooks) meets Max Fist (Manganiello) in an alleyway. Drunk and disheveled, Max tells Hamster the tale of his life: how he came from a completely different dimension and lost the incredible superpowers that world granted him when he arrived in this reality. Although unsure of his claims, Hamster ends up teaming up with the supposed hero when local crime boss "The Manager" (Howerton) and his crew set out to settle the debts he and his sister, Indigo (Griggs), owe him.
Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer. Stars: Joe Manganiello, Skylan Brooks, Glenn Howerton, Zolee Griggs, Paul Scheer, Jessica Allain, Kieran Gallagher. 2020. 90 mins. Action.
Late Laughs for the week of January 31 - February 6, 2021
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
[Trump's Georgia] call is like if Watergate and the Ukraine scandal had a baby that they made on the "Access Hollywood" bus.
The Devil moved back to Savannah so he could vote for Biden. I mean, he's the Prince of Darkness, but he's very concerned about global warming. If Earth is already on fire, Hell's not going to be that impressive.
The vice-president can't arbitrarily decide who's the next president! Otherwise, in 2001 I'm going to guess Al Gore would have picked Al Gore.
