HARRY CONNICK JR. HORROR STORY” WHAT FX …bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/poststar.com/content/tncms/... · September 11 - 17, 2016 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page

FOLIO

Courtesy of Gracenote September 11 - 17, 2016

“AMERICAN HORROR STORY”

WHAT FX WON’T TELL YOU

“FLEABAG” BECOMES AN

AMAZON SERIES

“DOCUMENTARY NOW!”

IFC OFFERS A ‘BUNKER’ FULL OF POLITICAL

LAUGHS

HARRY CONNICK JR.Will Connick’s ‘Harry’ succeed where other daytime talk shows haven’t?

+Michael Gambon Kimberly Hebert Gregory Pamela Adlon James Brown Aaron Kaufman Kirk Cousins

Page 2 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote September 11 - 17, 2016

C

contentsYOURTVLINK

What’s HOT this

Week!

20-21 Theatrical Review, and Our top DVD releases

22-23 Our top suggested programs to watch this week!

CELEBRITY

FOOD

MOVIES

IN EVERY ISSUE

SPORTS

7 Don’t call the exterminator

18-19 Redskins beam up “Captain” Kirk Cousins

REALITY16 Tim Gunn says Season 15 is ‘back to our old self’

TOP STORIES

4 Veteran British actor Michael Gambon tries to keep ‘Churchill’s Secret’ on ‘Masterpiece’

5 Kimberly Hebert Gregory does the Charleston

6 Pamela Adlon works out her maternal feelings on ‘Better Things’

8 James Brown stays hungry

9 Getting to know Gas Monkey Garage’s mechanical genius Aaron Kaufman

OUR STAFFWriters: Jay Bobbin, George Dickie, John CrookGraphic Design: Nicolle BurtonQuality Team: Michelle Wilson, Lisa Webster, Chris Browne

Visit YourTVLINK.com for more stories!

THE STORY! 3 Music inevitably will be involved, but Harry Connick Jr. knows the main rules of the game as he becomes weekday television’s newest talk-show host with Monday’s premiere of the syndicated “Harry” (check local listings). He tells Jay Bobbin what he’s learned along the way, and how he intends to apply it.

12-13 Phoebe Waller-Bridge adapts her award-winning one-woman play into a series as the seriocomic “Fleabag” debuts Friday on Amazon. The British actress-writer tells Jay Bobbin how she found translating the piece for another medium creatively liberating.

14-15 The mockumentary “The Bunker” spoofs the 1993 documentary “The War Room” about the Bill Clinton campaign, with Bill Hader as a James Carville-like campaign manager and Fred Armisen as a pseudo George Stephanopoulos adviser to an Ohio gubernatorial candidate. George Dickie speaks with the two actors/producers about how they crafted the film and their characters.

17 “American Horror Story” returns for its sixth season Wednesday with Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett and Matt Bomer joining the cast but few other details available. George Dickie looks back on seasons past and speculates on what could be in store in the coming months.

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September 11 - 17, 2016 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 3

BY JAY BOBBINIf judging “American Idol” seemed an unexpected move for Harry Connick Jr., here comes his next one.

The singer-actor joins the ranks of weekday talk-show hosts as the syndicated “Harry” premieres Monday, Sept. 12 (check local listings). Effectively succeeding Meredith Vieira, who fronted NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution’s previous bid in the genre, Connick says he deems the New York-based program “an opportunity for me to do all of the things that I really love to do sort of under one roof. I get to play music. I get to entertain. I get to meet incredible people, both celebrities and everyday folks who are absolutely amazing. I also get to experience the entertainment business in a new way.

“I’ve always liked to try to do new things,” Connick adds. People asked me the same thing when I signed up to do ‘Will & Grace’ ... ‘What made you want to do that?,’ or ‘What made you want to star on Broadway (in concerts, plus “The Pajama Game” and “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever”)?’ I love performing, and so far out of everything I’ve done, this seems to be the most in line with probably who I am, I think. I’m not playing a character. I get to go out and work with immensely talented people and meet incredibly talented people and share it with the people that I play for when I go out across the country on tour. That just seems like a dream job to me.“

As for others who have had similar jobs, “I’ve been up there with just about everybody,” Connick notes of having been a guest of numerous talk-show hosts, “and there are people that I consider to be the best in the business. I think David Letterman, as a person who would ask questions and interact with a guest, was incredible. (I also like) Michael Parkinson in England. Ellen (DeGeneres) is fantastic. Oprah was fantastic. I definitely have my favorites, but I’ve also learned a lot about what I love about the process as a guest and what I don’t like so much.”

A winner of three Grammys and two Emmys, Connick maintains he wants as much spontaneity as possible on his show. “I tell all the publicists and anybody that’s going to be on the show, ‘Man, if you don’t want to do a pre-interview, it’s my job to know everything there is to know about you ... so don’t worry about that, and we’re just going to have a

conversation.’ And the response I’m getting from a lot of the talent is, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool.’ ”

Given that it revolves around New Orleans native Connick, “Harry” inevitably has a musical component. “There’s nine guys up there,” he confirms. “It’s the band that I tour with, the band that I record with. And I’m beyond excited, because not only are they great musicians, but they’re all amazing personalities as well. Aside from when they play the theme song coming into the show and going out of the show, music’s going to be done in a whole bunch of different ways, in spontaneous ways. Sometimes I’ll sing and play, sometimes it will be a formal performance, sometimes it will be we play because we feel like playing. They’re all improvisers, (so) we can go in a lot of different directions with it.”

While Connick is a newcomer to the talk-show ranks, his fellow executive producers (besides his longtime associate Ann Marie Wilkins) aren’t: Jason Kurtz is a veteran of Steve Harvey and Tony Danza’s programs, and brothers Eric and Justin Stangel were the longtime head writers for “Late Show With David Letterman.” Though they have a basis in doing such shows, Connick insists he wants to keep learning as he goes.

“I think people who have never seen me before, and have no idea who I am, will probably see a guy who genuinely looks like he’s discovering things for the first time on the show,” he says. “And people who do know me and who are familiar with me will see the same guy, but it’s going to be day-in and day-out, and there’s going to be all kinds of situations that I’m responding to that I’ve never responded to before.”

Editor's choice STORY

“Harry”

Harry Connick Jr. retunes himself as a talk-show host

premieres Monday

FOLIO

MICHAEL GAMBON

Though “Churchill’s Secret” largely is about a stroke that was kept from the public, Winston Churchill is one of the most famous diplomats in history. How did you go about playing him?Well, I knew about Churchill, of course, and I know what he did during the war and all of that. I’d forgotten all about that until I was offered this part ... and then, I had to jump and read a few books about him, just glancing at them, but mainly stick to the text (of the script). And that’s what happened. And I went into a house, a room, and we went through it and lit the fire inside me that knew what to do at the beginning. It’s rather difficult to explain how all of this happens.

You’ve acted in many Shakespeare plays. Does that help you with a role like Winston Churchill?Well, it just helps you grow (your) acting. You get used to it. I mean, I was at the National Theater years ago, and at the Old Vic. I did loads of Shakespeare, and it became part of my process. I enjoyed it, and I knew I had to do it. And that just continues as you grow older.And as it comes on to this, Winston Churchill is not much different than doing Shakespeare in a way. It’s a very complex dialogue. I don’t really give it much thought. I go from one job to another, and I remember what I did last time and the mistakes I made, and I keep trying to make it better and better and better.

You’ve done much television work lately, from “Luck” to “The Casual Vacancy” to “Fortitude.” Are you happy with the variety of projects you’ve had?Yeah. I love it. I love just going out to work every day or whenever I get offered (roles). I wouldn’t care how many of them – if I get another 20. It’s part of my life.

JAY BOBBIN’S Q&A


of ‘Masterpiece: Churchill’s

Secret’ Sunday on PBS

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KIMBERLYHEBERTGREGORY

What attracted you to the role of Dr. Belinda Brown in HBO’s “Vice Principals”?Well, Danny McBride and Jody Hill and David Gordon Green. I love their work. I find it uncomfortably nuanced. It reflects things that oftentimes we don’t like to see or think we’re seeing. And the character was so well-written and was given so much thought and fully-realized, three-dimensional in their world, and I just could not pass up an opportunity to try my hand at comedy in this world, which is dramatic but isn’t, so it was an easier transition for my theatrical mind to say, “Oh, this is just a scene that ends up being funny.”But the writing was laugh-out-loud to me reading it. It was one of those scripts that when I read it, I kind of was like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it. Is that really happening?” And actually laughing and going, “I shouldn’t be laughing at this. This is horrible but it’s so ridiculous.” So that was a big draw for me.

How did you like filming in Charleston, S.C.?I’ve kind of fallen in love with the city. I was unclear about how I’d feel about it going in. Clearly there were things happening in the world – there was the North Charleston shooting – and I just said, “Oh my gosh! Do I really want to be in this state and work?” And I didn’t know what the community was like but Charleston, the people were lovely.I love how they embrace their history, both good and bad, and really kind of face it to the capacity they can. And the food, it goes without saying, that is hands down some of the best food I think we have to offer in the country. Oh gosh, the food!

GEORGE DICKIE’S Q&A


of ‘Vice Principals’ Sunday

on HBO

CELEBRITY

http://www.hbo.com/

JAY BOBBIN’S Q&A

Why did you decide to make all of your character’s children in “Better Things” female?Well, I have girls, so that’s my wheelhouse. When I was first coming up with the idea for the show, it was really hard for me. I was blocked. And I was talking to Louis (C.K., the show’s co-creator) about it, I could come up with ideas for him (for his shows) all day long, and then when it came to me, I stopped. I was like, “Where’s the dad? Did he disappear like Olivia Newton John’s husband? Yeah. Let’s do that one.” “Do I have a gay brother? He lives in a guesthouse.”I didn’t know, but I always knew that telling a story about girls at three different stages developmentally was very interesting to me. My middle daughter was like, “Who is playing me?” I’m like, “It’s not you. It’s a character. Her name is Frankie, on a television show called ‘Better Things.’ ” And now, my middle daughter and this one (who is playing her surrogate) are best friends. She lives in my house, and they all adore each other. They’re excited for these stories to be told, because it feels like they have a voice.

As well as being the star, co-creator and frequent writer, you’re also a director on “Better Things.” Did you envision that?I never really had ambitions to direct. That was just outside of my thing. I would be, like, “Oh, what’s my call time? Let’s just go to work.” There were just these amazing challenges that kept happening on the show, and it felt easy for me.And I feel like the whole process of making this show ... my training is being a single mom of three girls for the past eight years. There’s nothing that is more hardcore than that.


CELEBRITY

Click on icon for more!

PAMELA ADLON OF

‘BETTER THINGS’

THURSDAY ON FX

http://www.fxnetworks.com/network-landing/fx


FOOD F

Cake, pies, donuts and their like are a dieter’s nightmare, full of carbs, fat and sugar with little nutritional value. We all know that. Tasty though they are, you might as well just down a few cups of sugar and get it over with. Let the calories roll.

But in one episode in the second season of “Sugar Showdown,” which begins Wednesday, Sept. 14, on Cooking Channel, protein is introduced into these delectable confections in the form of a mystery ingredient that the competing bakers must incorporate into their creations. And that mystery ingredient would be bugs.

Yes, insects – ants, crickets, tarantulas and even scorpions – all brimming with protein. Dr. Atkins would be proud. But that raises the question: What does scorpion taste like?

“It’s a whole mental block when eating bugs – you’ve got to get over the fact that you’re crunching through an exoskeleton,” says series host Josh Elkin. “Scorpions sort of have this, believe it or not, this maple-y kind of like aftertaste to it.”

But that wasn’t the star of that particular show.

“The coolest thing is ants,” Elkin says. “Ants have this like super-sour aftertaste and instant taste on your tongue. And if you want to hide it and you want to sort of use ants, which when you use them like in a cake, look like poppy seeds. ... You think you’re eating a poppy-seed cake. Very interesting. You know how you see like little black dots moving all through a cake or pastry of some sort? Same type of thing except it’s ants.”

And for the record, Elkin says all the desserts were “incredible.”

Season 2 continues the format of Season 1, as three expert bakers battle it out over two rounds of challenges that test their skill and creativity. Their wares are then sampled by a rotating panel of three guest judges – among them Zane Caplansky, Duff Goldman, Sharone Hakman,

Elise Strachan, Eddie Jackson and Laura Vitale – and the winner is awarded a $10,000 grand prize.

In Wednesday’s season opener, the bakers are challenged to make Italian donuts using basil and a mystery ingredient.

“You think of Italian pastry or Italian dessert and you instantly think of tiramisu or cannolis ...,” Elkin says. “So it was like a donut shaped in a cannoli but without that crispy cannoli dough, and then they were piped with really awesome Italian meringue. So it lent itself really, really well to this episode.”

Also interesting for Elkin was watching the bakers incorporating basil into a dessert.

“I think the bakers we had on set for that episode had never really baked with basil before,” he says, “so we saw some candying of the basil, which was really, really cool. We saw, from what I remember, two different styles of candying, so like an egg-white style and then we saw like an actual simple syrup kind of candying effect going on there. So it was interesting to use those two as contrasts when the judges were deciding who was going to go home. So a very cool episode. It wasn’t just straight up cannolis and Italian meringue. It was a lot more than that.”

Contestants have a pest problem in Season 2

‘SUGAR SHOWDOWN’Which begins Wednesday, Sept. 14, on Cooking Channel!

GEORGE DICKIE’S WHAT'S FOR DINNER

“It’s a whole mental block when eating bugs – you’ve got to get over the fact that you’re crunching through an exoskeleton,” says series host Josh Elkin


http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/

GEORGE DICKIE’S CELEBRITY SCOOP


JAMES BROWN

Not one to rest on his laurels, CBS’ James Brown keeps a busy schedule.

Indeed, the three-time Emmy-winning host of the Sunday pregame show “The NFL Today” wears many hats: as a broadcaster, an owner of a fledgling IT company, a minister at his church and a corporate speaker. And then of course, there are the four grandchildren.

But there was a time when the 65-year-old Washington, D.C., native and Harvard grad did take things for granted – and it was probably the last time.

It was the mid-1970s and the man known to viewers as “J.B.” had just been cut by the Atlanta Hawks after having been drafted in the fourth round. His coach with the Hawks, Cotton Fitzsimmons, told the 6-foot-5-inch shooting guard he absolutely had the game to make it in the NBA – but as it turned out, the commitment wasn’t there.

“I vowed at that point to never, ever allow an opportunity to pass me by for a lack of preparation. And so I’ve been accused of being a workaholic,” Brown says.

“I’m probably just proudest of the fact that I’ve never let an opportunity go by that I wasn’t fully prepared for,” he continues, “which would explain me doing sports like water polo, like the Tour de France, the Tour du Pont, rock climbing, you name it – a lot of nontraditional sports because I did not want to be pigeonholed as just a basketball guy.”

These days, Brown continues to hone his craft and refuses to let himself feel as though he has arrived. The lessons from his youth are well-learned and so he tries to maintain a childlike thirst for knowledge.

CELEBRITY

“Ted Shaker, the executive producer at CBS back in the day when I came on board as an analyst, said, ‘James, if you are expecting any kind of longevity in this business, you’re going to have to become well-rounded, where you can be a studio host, a reporter, a correspondent. You make certain that you are well-rounded so that you can be called on to do anything.’ And I took that to heart and did just that. So that’s what I’m probably proudest of.”


http://www.cbs.com/


WHERE HE WAS FROM, HOW HE BEGAN, THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

CELEBRITY PROFILE CCELEBRITY

AARON KAUFMAN- Born Jan. 26, 1982, he grew up in Crowley, Texas.

- He is a self-taught mechanic, fabricator and all-around hot rodder.

- The first vehicle he ever drove was a 1968 short-bed Ford F100, in his grandparents’ pasture.

- He was only 16 when he began working on his friends’ cars to hone his skills. He says he’s always understood that education has a price and sometimes that cost is just logging time and practice.

- He got a job at Pep Boys near the end of high school and worked there for a couple years after.

- His high aptitude for mechanics and passion for cars led him to the hot rod world.

- He worked on a car for entrepreneur Richard Rawlings and made such an impression that Rawlings remembered him and recruited him for his own company, Gas Monkey Garage, a few years later.

- After a documentary aired about Rawlings and Kaufman at the garage, Rawlings pursued making a TV show for years, wanting Kaufman involved. Eventually Discovery picked up the concept and “Fast N’ Loud” came to be.

- Each week, the show captures the blustery antics at Gas Monkey Garage as Kaufman and Rawlings buy, modify and resell everything from old Fords to radically shortened VW buses and late-model Ferraris.

- In 2014, after Kaufman and his team finished work on a 1963 Ford Falcon, he decided to keep the car for himself and race it at Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb. A 12.42 mile road, with 156 hairpin turns and 4,720 feet altitude climb. He has competed with the vehicle for the past three years.

- As for his favorite car of all time, while a ‘32 roadster ranks as one of his top picks, his all-time favorite is an AC Cobra. “They’re a driver’s car and it’s just an absolute beast.”

Aaron Kaufman is a mechanic, racer and TV personality who can currently be seen

on Discovery’s “Fast N’ Loud.”


http://www.discovery.ca/


“I didn’t want people to catch the vibe of, ‘Oh, this will be like “Empire,” where I know this thing,” because ‘Empire’ is doing a very specific thing. I feel like it’s very easy for people to be to connect them because there are similar themes in them, so I wanted to make sure that (this) was a little different.” – Donald Glover of “Atlanta” on FX, about both shows involving the recording industry

“We have to come together as a nation, we’re so polarized and so divided … and cancer affects everyone, no matter what they do politically, no matter where they live or what they do. It’s a tragic unifier. This is one thing we can all agree on, that we want to eradicate cancer sooner rather than later.” – Katie Couric, seen recently on “Stand Up to Cancer” on multiple networks

“It’s just a way of kind of getting out of the format

that’s existing and then telling

a story, like making it seem

documentary-style or like an

independent film. Everything

doesn’t have to be such

a calculated format.” –

Pamela Adlon of “Better

Things” on FX, about the show’s visual

style and its mix of humor

and drama

CELEBRITY


Haylie Duff of “Haylie’s

America” on Cooking

Channel“I record ...

‘Empire’ when it’s on. I watch

‘Mistresses.’ My girlfriend Alana

(Masterson) is doing like a

little part on there, so I’ve

been watching that. I’ve been watching that show ‘Power.’

... I’m strangely addicted to that

show. ... So that’s what I’m into right now.

And ‘Game of Thrones.’ I

watch ‘Game of Thrones.’ ”

James Brown of “The NFL Today” on CBS“I’m pretty much a consistent guy. As I look in my mind’s eye at the programs, I have some favorite teachers on TV that I watch including Bishop T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Andrew Wommack, and two last ones because these are the steady ones that I have a pretty steady diet with, Joseph Prince and Joel Osteen. Those are some of my favorite ones, for sure.”

Logan Marshall-Green of “Quarry” on Cinemax“Mostly kids shows for my kids. But for myself, ‘Impractical Jokers,’ I never miss an episode. I think it’s the best show on TV. Nowadays, I’ve kind of been purchasing a la carte, so of course I watch all of my HBO shows. I’m down Sunday every week. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say ‘Stranger Things’ on Netflix was the last thing I binged and loved.”

ON DVRs

“

CELEBRITY

Martin Freeman of “StartUp” on Crackle

I record some politics shows. I record documentaries. ... If there are films that I don’t have on DVD, I’ll record those or the odd comedy. ... I’ll always record ‘Alan Partridge,’ who’s a character played by Steve Coogan here. There’s a show called ‘Doll & Em,’ which was like a British and American production I recorded. That was quite nice. The truth is, I watch so much stuff now online – you know, I watch a lot of political stuff and documentary things on YouTube and Netflix now. It’s so convenient and I’m away a lot so that’s often the way I absorb things now.

”

BY JAY BOBBIN When you’ve played every part in a play you wrote, having other actors with you in a television version only can make the performing easier.

However, the creative concerns can be different ... as Phoebe Waller-Bridge has found in bringing the seriocomic “Fleabag” to the home screen. Her six-episode adaptation of her award-winning show makes its Amazon debut Friday, Sept. 16, as she retains the title role of a grief-stricken, very contemporary London woman who paradoxically resists the overtures of those she might want to be close to.

“It was three years ago I started writing the play,” Waller-Bridge says, “and I was kind of raging at the time. I was in my mid-20s, and I felt sort of quite angry and ragey, and not sure why. I think it had something to do with how confused I was about feminism, about how to be a kind of good feminist, and also how I was allowed to express

myself (on such matters as) how much sex women should or shouldn’t be having.

“All those sorts of questions were happening, being asked by my contemporaries. And then I was asked to do this kind of stand-up storytelling night where I was allowed to talk about anything I wanted to talk about. And this character, this very naughty, dark-hearted character came out very quickly, which I think was sort of the shadow of how I was feeling at the time.”

The technique of addressing the audience directly has been kept by Waller-Bridge in “Fleabag’s” TV incarnation. “I really wanted to play with the idea of complicity with the audience and make them feel like they’re actually connected to Fleabag,” she explains, “so she can look at you and say, ”You know what I mean?“ And even if you don’t, you’re kind of involuntarily complicit in her story. That was a lot to do with the kind of control I wanted her to have over the audience’s experience.”


Life is funny for ‘Fleabag’ in new Amazon import

STORY

Continued on next page

“FLEABAG”

Pictured: Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Premiering Friday on Amazon


Additional cast members to whom Waller-Bridge has given some of her other “Fleabag” stage roles include Sian Clifford as Fleabag’s sister Claire, veteran actor Bill Paterson (“Comfort and Joy,” “Outlander”) as the siblings’ father, Brett Gelman as Claire’s husband Martin, Hugh Skinner as Fleabag’s sometimes-beau Harry, and Jenny Rainsford as Fleabag’s best friend Boo.

“Letting go of some of those performances was a relief,” Waller-Bridge allows, “as well as a kind of umbilical cord being struck from me. Every writer says that the moment you write something and an actor suddenly breathes life into it, they become this completely different creature. And I knew a lot of the actors when I was (determining) who were going to play the parts. That freedom of having the characters with their own lives and their own stories played by such fantastic actors, much of it came quite easily once I knew who was in it.”

A BBC offering in her native England, “Fleabag” has enabled Waller-Bridge to call most of the major shots after having worked for others in such projects as the movies “The Iron Lady” and “Albert Nobbs,” the plays “Hay Fever” and “Tribes,” and television’s “Broadchurch.” The co-artistic director of the DryWrite Theatre Company and graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts also wrote all the first-season episodes of “Crashing,” another British series in which she appears, and she hopes the British sensibility of “Fleabag” translates as other U.S. imports have.

“I’ve always been of the camp that if something is funny, it’s funny,” Waller-Bridge reasons. “And there are those comedies that appeal all over the world. I think a lot of the time they can be very sort of sweet, gentle, lighthearted comedies about people’s emotional lives sort of delicately unraveling, which feels kind of small-town. And that feels very British.”

STORY

Continued from previous page

Jenny Rainsford (left) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge


STORY

BY GEORGE DICKIE

Anyone who remembers “The War Room,” the Oscar-nominated 1993 documentary about the ‘92 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, will get a few smiles and maybe even a guffaw or two from a mockumentary airing this week on IFC.

“The Bunker,” which opens the second season of the cablenet’s satirical “Documentary Now!” series on Wednesday, Sept. 14, follows the fictional 1992 Ohio gubernatorial campaign of Ben Herndon, a simple, modest man with good reason to be modest, who spouts banalities like “I run as a kindness to the voters,” and “You can’t say ‘Ohio’ without saying ‘Oh, hi.’ ”

Heading the Herndon campaign are Teddy Redbones (Bill Hader, “Saturday Night Live,” “Trainwreck”), a James Carville-like political operative who specializes in dirty tricks, and Alvin Panagoulious (Fred Armisen, “Portlandia,” “Saturday Night Live”), a boyish George Stephanopoulos clone complete with bowl haircut. Together, they have a track record of success.

Hader, Armisen spoof political campaigns

“The Bunker”kicking off the second season of IFC’s “Documentary Now!”

Continued on next page

Pictured: Fred Armisen (left) and Bill Hader


But in this campaign, their tactics are ruthless and sometimes downright moronic, such as the TV ad wishing their opponent, incumbent Tom Lester, a happy birthday and hoping it’s his last (“in office,” Panagoulious clarifies) and the placing of lawn jockeys next to Lester campaign signs.

Hader and Armisen, who created, wrote and executive produced the half-hour film with Seth Meyers, were both fans of “The War Room” and wanted to create something with characters they could sink their teeth into.

“It just came from the idea of like these guys just wanted their candidate to win,” Hader explains. “They don’t even know his name, they don’t know his politics. They don’t know anything, just whatever we can do to get him to win and make the other guy look bad. And that seemed funny.”

Hader brings forth his best James Carville in inhabiting the skin of Redbones, the “Mississippi Machiavelli” who likes to point out that he’s undefeated.

“I did him on (‘Saturday Night Live’) a little bit but this is a different thing,” Hader says of Redbones. “In the actual documentary, it’s just playing it more subtle or whatever but it’s another guy. You’re doing James Carville but you’re playing this other guy, Teddy Redbones, who’s actually like kind of a monster. But I don’t think James Carville is a monster. I think he’s actually a pretty great guy.”

As for Armisen, he let his appearance do most of the work as the bowl-cutted Panagoulious, “the boy hunk of the Beltway.”

“He’s so right down the middle of no accent or anything that I didn’t have to do anything,” he says. “You know, it’s the hair that does all the acting. Even the way he is on broadcast television is just like right down the middle. I hear no accent when I hear him. I mean that in a respectful way.”

STORY

Continued from previous page

Pictured: Fred Armisen (left) and Bill Hader


http://www.ifc.com/

BY JOHN CROOKIf you found Season 14 of “Project Runway” to be one big snooze, Tim Gunn wants you to know: He felt your pain.

That’s not the case, he promises, with the show’s milestone 15th season, which premieres Thursday, Sept. 15, on Lifetime.

“I feel that we’re back to our old self,” says Gunn, the designer mentor who publicly complained that most of last season’s contestants just didn’t seem to have much passion. “We have extremely talented individuals this time who do have the fire. We have a lot of personalities, but they’re creative people, who by definition tend to have big personalities.”

Gunn admits he was so unhappy last season – when he got so frustrated with one designer that he had an on-camera, profanity-laced meltdown – that he found himself wondering whether “Project Runway” had simply reached the end of its natural life.

“I worried that maybe we had just burned ourselves out,” he says. “I always trust that there are up-and-coming talented people out there in the world, so it’s a matter of whether we’re attracting them or not. We certainly got them this season.”

This season’s crop of 16 designers ranges in age from 22 to 55, all of them newcomers to the show. Gunn also promises that the season premiere is very straightforward, with none of those sadistic gimmicks where the designers arrive only to find a surprise elimination awaiting some of them even before the main competition gets under way.

“I very much prefer it this way,” Gunn says. “I just feel sick for the people who are eliminated before they even have a chance to start. It’s awful. And everybody is brand spanking new. I prefer that, too.”

Without indulging in spoilers, Gunn suggests that “Runway” fans may want to keep an eye on four designers in particular: the youngest contestant, Jenni Ricetti of San Francisco; Dexter Simmons, 32, of Oakland, Calif.; Erin

Robertson, 29, of Cambridge, Mass.; and Cornelius Ortiz, 24, of Boston.

If fans last season saw Gunn clashing with some of the designers, they may see him doing the same thing in Season 15 with returning judges Heidi Klum, Zac Posen and Nina Garcia. Then again, maybe they won’t.

“I spend most of this season being grumpy with the judges, to the extent that I suspect post-production may edit most of it out,” Gunn reveals. “I would just look at them and say, ‘What are you seeing that I am just not seeing? My role in the workroom is important and I’d like to think that I represent your point of view, and I clearly do not. So help me understand.’ And they didn’t.”

Gunn says he’s aware that some viewers steadfastly believe that the powers that be behind the scenes do everything they can to pump up the personal drama among the designers, but he firmly insists that’s not the case on “Project Runway.”

“I assure you, whenever we sense that the interpersonal drama is starting to overwhelm the work, the producers and I do everything we can do extinguish that,” he says. “When that happens, it affects the outcome of the work in a very negative way. What we are most interested in, obviously, is having great work walk that runway.”

Finally, Gunn offers a cryptic piece of advice to anyone tuning into Season 15.

“Make no assumptions for the first couple of episodes.”


STORY

‘Project Runway’ back on track for Season 15, says Gunn


http://www.mylifetime.com/shows

BY GEORGE DICKIEFrom the teaser of a spider crawling out of a dead woman’s mouth to a poster of what appears to be the devil, FX has done an excellent job of whetting fan appetites for Season 6 of “American Horror Story” without providing any actual details.

And that’s for good reason: It doesn’t want them to have any.

Series creator/executive producer Ryan Murphy and the cablenet have been notoriously tight-lipped about the new season, save for the fact that all but one of the promos are red herrings. Journalists haven’t been given access to any of the cast (at least to discuss their characters) and press materials – well, what little there have been haven’t been helpful.

But here is what is known – at least as of late August: The new season debuts Wednesday, Sept. 14 – the first time the series has premiered outside of October – with an untitled order of presumably 10 episodes (going by the series’ history). In the cast this go-round are Lady Gaga (a Golden Globe winner for her performance in Season 5), Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denis O’Hare, Finn Wittrock, Cheyenne Jackson, Leslie Jordan, Evan Peters, Wes Bentley and Matt Bomer. No word on their characters.


In published reports, Murphy has said that the new season will revolve around children and be “more rogue” and “dark” compared to Season 5’s “Hotel,” and have “operatic themes.” FX Networks President John Landgraf has stated that it will be set in the present with a dual timeline in the past.

There has also been speculation that it will incorporate the infamous disappearance of the Roanoke Colony in 1590s North Carolina in its storyline. Presumably for this, a set has been built in an undisclosed California forest with a fully functional pioneer cabin. Photos of this have appeared online.

Murphy has stated that Season 6 will “lay a lot of pipe, and you’ll see it explode in Seasons 7 and 8.” He envisions “AHS” to be like “The Twilight Zone,” and could run for “multiple, multiple seasons and have its own inner mythology.” For that, he has a road map in mind and will keep doing the show for “as long as we have ideas and the momentum.” He loves doing “AHS.”

For fans, that no doubt comes as heartening news. They’d just love to know what a few of those ideas are.

STORY

“American Horror Story”returning for its sixth season Wednesday on FX!

Fittingly, Season 6 shrouded in mystery


http://www.fxnetworks.com/network-landing/fx


SPORTS

FULL NAME: Kirk Daniel Cousins

BORN: Aug. 19, 1988

BIRTHPLACE: Barrington, Ill.

HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-foot, 3-inches/210-pounds

TEAM: Washington Redskins

POSITION: Quarterback

NO.: 8

COLLEGE: Michigan State

DRAFT: 2012 Round 4

HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS: Pro Football Writers Association Most Improved Player award, 2015; Big 10 co-champion, 2010

Redskins call on ‘Captain Kirk’ Cousins

Story on next page


Week 1 of the 2016 NFL season wraps up with ESPN’s traditional Monday Night Football double-header, Sept. 12, where quarterback Kirk Cousins lines up under center for the Washington Redskins who host the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first game. The newly located Los Angeles Rams begin the season on the road and visit the San Francisco 49ers in the late game.

Cousins, often referred to as “Captain Kirk,” was a college standout at Michigan State where he was a starter for three seasons and shared in a Big 10 championship. A fourth round pick in the 2012 NFL draft, he has paid his dues in Washington. In his rookie season he held the clipboard while Robert Griffin III, who was taken as the second overall pick in the same draft, was named the starter. Griffin would suffer his share of injuries during his tenure with the Redskins giving Cousins opportunities to thrive.

The young back-up was rewarded for his improvements and was named the starter just before the 2015 regular season. Cousins confidence grew as the season progressed as he turned in one respectable performance after another; including a mid-season perfect passer rating performance against the New Orleans Saints. He played in all 16 games and finished the season with the best home game completion percentage (74 percent) in NFL history. The Redskins won the NFC East and bowed to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

The challenge this season will be competing in an improved NFC East division.

BY DAN LADD

KIRKCOUSINS

SPORTS


There’s pretty much nothing that Meryl Streep isn’t good, or frankly great, at ... and that includes being bad.

She has to be that, vocally, in the title role of “Florence Foster Jenkins” – the true tale of a woman who couldn’t sing, yet went on to become a major singing star at Carnegie Hall. Expert director Stephen Frears (“The Queen”) clearly knows just how improbable this story of success is, and he infuses the movie with that spirit, and without ever looking down on its subject.

He surely gets help from his central star: Leave it to Streep to carry herself in just the manner required, as an avid arts supporter convinced of the thought, “Hey, I could do that, too.” Not everyone who believes they can do something actually can, though, and Jenkins’ money speaks louder than her vocal abilities as she sets out to secure a place for herself on the stage.

It’s always fun to watch Streep in tandem with other well-known performers, and though she’s naturally pivotal to the film, she’s not the only one who makes her mark here.

Hugh Grant is just terrific in deploying his familiar image to play Jenkins’ husband, a would-be actor who guides his wife’s career and lives vicariously through her stardom. You’re never quite sure whether he has actual affection for her or whether he’s with her for other purposes – a notion underscored by his having a mistress (“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’s” Rebecca Ferguson) – and that owes to the craftiness of Grant’s acting and

Nicholas Martin’s script.

The biggest and most welcome surprise, though? “The Big Bang Theory’s” Simon Helberg also refits his popular traits as Jenkins’ piano player who tries to turn a deaf ear to what he hears. The character is crucial as a surrogate for viewers, and Helberg does a fabulous job with it.

“Florence Foster Jenkins” occasionally tries to dig deep into the psychology of its figures, but it works best when it sticks to the basics of how anybody can be a star. And yet again here, Meryl Streep defines what a true star is, with very laudable help from those around her.

JAY BOBBIN'S THEATRICAL MOVIE REVIEW

MERYL STREEP is right in tune – or not – as ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’

MOVIES

Our Take

Pictured:

“FREE STATE OF JONES” (Sept. 20): A fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) from the Confederate Army returns to Mississippi and forms his own force in a secession bid. (R: AS, V)

“NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING” (Sept. 20): The comedy sequel finds a couple (Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne) facing the same problems they had with a next-door fraternity from a sorority. (R: AS, N, P)

“TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS” (Sept. 20): The heroes on the half-shell battle Shredder as well as a new foe, Krang. (PG-13: P, V)

“MIAMI VICE: THE COMPLETE SERIES” (Oct. 4): Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas star as detective partners Crockett and Tubbs in the Blu-ray debut of the trend-setting drama. (Not rated: AS, P, V)

“X-MEN: APOCALYPSE” (Oct. 4): The younger incarnations of the Marvel heroes try to save mankind from a more malevolent mutant; Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy star. (PG-13: AS, P, V)

“ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS” (Oct. 18): Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to Wonderland to help the depressed Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). (PG: P, V)

UPCOMING DVD RELEASES

Coming Soon on DVD...

JAY BOBBIN'S DVD DIGEST

Top PickDVD

Pictured: Matthew McConaughey

Pictured: Robert Downey Jr.

“CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR”After their activities draw concern and a regulation effort from the United Nations, Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) are divided on whether to comply – forcing the other Marvel superheroes to side with one or the other – in this entertaining chapter of the franchise, back in the hands of directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier”). The Avengers are well-represented again, with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye all present ... and the screen’s newest Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, also makes an appearance. Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are in the powerful ranks as well. ››› (PG-13: P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)


Family Viewing Ratings

AS Adult situations P Profanity V Violence N Nudity GV Graphic Violence

MOVIES

SUNDAY 8 p.m. on FOX

Son of ZornThe Disney studio didn’t shy away from merging animation and live-action in many of its movies ... and while this new sitcom follows that formula, it definitely isn’t Disney territory. In this “preview” airing — titled “Return to Orange County” — “Saturday Night Live” alum Jason Sudeikis voices a cartoon warrior who decides he wants to reunite with his flesh-and-blood ex-wife and son (Cheryl Hines, Johnny Pemberton), though she now has a fiance. New

MONDAY 8 p.m. on ABC

Dancing With the Stars

After an intense spring competition that justifiably could have given the win to any of the three finalists, the ballroom opens again for Season 23 of the contest. Hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews welcome another group of celebrities eager to compete for the mirrorball trophy, with considerable help from their professional dance partners. Len Goodman, Julianne Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli return as the judges. Season Premiere New

TUESDAY 10 p.m. on NBC

Better Late Than NeverSince it only has aired for four weeks, maybe the trek through Asia has seemed short for viewers, but probably not so for the celebrities who actually have taken it. In this finale, Terry Bradshaw marks a birthday in Phuket, Thailand — and does so by getting a tattoo. William Shatner and Henry Winkler get massages that aren’t entirely relaxing, then George Foreman leads an excursion to a Thai boxing match ... and ends up in the ring himself. Season Finale New

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FAVORITE SHOWS

Tom Bergeron co-hosts “Dancing With the Stars”

William Shatner is among the four celebrity icons featured in“Better Late Than Never”

Jaimie Alexander stars in “Blindspot”

“Son of Zorn”

Courtney Barnett is featured in “Saturday Night Live”

WEDNESDAY 10 p.m. on NBC

BlindspotThe suspense drama’s second season begins by promising to reveal much more of Jane’s (Jaimie Alexander) background, as she becomes a triple agent within her former organization. A new character will be involved in that process — played by a face familiar to fans of “The Good Wife,” Emmy winner Archie Panjabi, now a series regular here. While the show starts its new round in this slot, it will lead off NBC’s Wednesday-night lineup beginning next week. Season Premiere New

THURSDAY 10 p.m. on NBC

Chicago MedIn “Timing,” Dr. Rhodes (Colin Donnell) plays medic to his mentor, Dr. Downey (guest star Gregg Henry). A rowdy patient gives April (Yaya DaCosta) a literally painful revelation. Dr. Manning (Torrey DeVitto) gets a problematic reminder of her past. On the verge of graduating, Sarah (Rachel DiPillo) remains unsure about her future. Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) advises Dr. Choi (Brian Tee). S. Epatha Merkerson also stars.

10 p.m. on FXBetter Things“Seinfeld” famously earned plenty of laughs despite the fact that it was about nothing — at least, nothing apart from the commonplace events and issues of daily life. Much the same sensibility prevails in this new episode that finds Sam (Pamela Adlon) dealing with some personal female matters. In case that’s still too opaque, the title of this half-hour is “Period.” Adlon also directed this episode, which was written by her buddy and co-creator Louis C.K. New


FAVORITE SHOWS

Oliver Platt stars in “Chicago Med”

FRIDAY 8 p.m. on SYFY

Z NationSeason 3 begins with a special two-hour episode called “No Mercy,” but in terms of the show’s timeline, the action takes place during the events of Season 2. In any case, this new episode finds our band of heroes protecting their town against a new enemy. Russell Hodgkinson, Kellita Smith and Nat Zang star. Season Premiere New

SATURDAY 11:29 p.m. on NBC

Saturday Night LiveYou can go home again, as former cast member Fred Armisen (lately Seth Meyers’ late-night bandleader) proved by hosting this finale of the show’s 2015-16 season. His monologue recalls the day he originally was hired for the show — and we won’t spoil it with specifics here, but he’s not the only “SNL” alum who shows up in the course of the 90 minutes. Also worth noting: a takeoff on “Dead Poets Society.” Courtney Barnett is the musical guest.

“Z Nation”

Documents

HARRY CONNICK JR. HORROR STORY” WHAT FX …bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/poststar.com/content/tncms/... · September 11 - 17, 2016 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page