In brief: 'NCIS' shows renewed, Eddie Murphy to play George Clinton and more

CBS has renewed all of three of its NCIS dramas for the 2022-2023 broadcast season, the network announced on Thursday. With the pickups, NCIS will return for its 20th season, while spinoffs NCIS: Hawaii and NCIS: Los Angeles will return for their second and 14th seasons, respectively. "NCIS, one of the most popular and enduring series in the world, and fan favorite NCIS: Los Angeles have been hugely successful on the CBS schedule for years,” Kelly Kahl, president of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. “With the strong new addition of NCIS: Hawaii, we are able to expand the strength of this formidable franchise across our schedule. We couldn’t be more excited to have all three talented casts and creative teams back to bring more compelling NCIS stories to viewers in the U.S. and around the globe”...

Eddie Murphy is in early talks to star in and produce an upcoming biopic about Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton, according to Deadline. Clinton is widely known as a funk music pioneer, along with James Brown and Sly Stone. The film will chronicle Clinton's rise from humble beginnings in North Carolina in the 1940s to the formation of his groundbreaking bands Parliament and Funkadelic and major influence on artists of the hip-hop generation, including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Outkast and Wu-Tang Clan, among many others. Clinton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, alongside 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and those members were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards...

Sunday's CODA's history-making Oscar best picture win has given Apple TV+ a big boost, according to Variety. The streaming service's viewership increased by 25% and raised the film's viewership from the week before. CODA won in all three categories in which it was nominated, including best supporting actor for Troy Kotsur, and best adapted screenplay for director Siân Heder -- making it the first film on a streaming service win the top Oscar prize...

Friday, April 1, 2022 at 9:12AM by George Costantino Permalink