TheSunNews.com: TV - Wire

Costner & Paxton talk about 'Hatfields & McCoys'

Sun, 27 May 2012 03:05 EDT

MINNEAPOLIS - Next time you think about storming over to your neighbors' house to complain about their loud music, take a break - a six-hour break - to watch History Channel's "Hatfields & McCoys," an exhaustive re-creation of one of the most famous feuds in American history.

The battle, which began in the aftermath of the Civil War in West Virginia and Kentucky, has been referenced in everything from Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" to Waylon Jennings' "Luckenbach, Texas," but it's largely been dismissed as a squabble over a stolen pig between two clans of hillbillies.

Executive producer Kevin Costner, who plays Devil Anse Hatfield, believed there was so much more to the story, he insisted on a three-night miniseries and even recorded an album of songs inspired by the film. He was determined to take a deeper look at a tale that shows us it can take decades, if not a century, for a country to recover from fighting with itself.

Around the remote: Television picks for the week of May 27-June 2

Sun, 27 May 2012 03:05 EDT

DON'T MISS:

"HATFIELDS & MCCOYS" - Over the years, most of us have heard of the famous 19th century clash of backwoods clans. But few of us actually know what got the rumble rolling, or that it very nearly launched a war between Kentucky and West Virginia. This six-hour miniseries, airing over three nights, provides all the details and then some. It's bolstered by vivid performances from Kevin Costner as Devil Anse Hatfield (yes, that's his real name), and Bill Paxton as Randall McCoy. Also featured in the standout cast: Tom Berenger, Powers Boothe and Mare Winningham. 9 p.m. Monday, History Channel.

OTHER BETS:

'Hatfields' is a grim history lesson

Sun, 27 May 2012 03:05 EDT

Because it's set near the border of West Virginia and Kentucky, the three-night miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys" isn't technically a Western, but it sure feels like one, with its saloon fights, pistol duels, ratty facial hair and genre star Kevin Costner riding tall in the saddle.

Like most great Westerns, it features men who put honor above all else - and pay the price for their vengeful ways. As the deaths rack up and become more and more meaningless, I kept hearing Clint Eastwood's immortal words from "Unforgiven": "We've all got it coming."

Costner, who looks like he was born to smoke a corn pipe, sets aside his good-ol'-boy charm to play Devil Anse Hatfield, one of the grimmest and most unlikable characters in his long career.

After winning 'Dancing With the Stars,' Packers' Driver comes home

Sat, 26 May 2012 03:09 EDT

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver has always been a fan favorite in Wisconsin.

But after his win on "Dancing With the Stars" with his dance partner, Peta Murgatroyd, Driver's national profile has increased markedly.

That's the word from Brian Lammi, who runs Lammi Sports Management. Lammi has been working with Driver for 10 years to develop his marketing career and recently inked a new 25-year deal to work with the Packers star.

Kidman returns to TV for HBO mini-series 'Hemingway & Gellhorn'

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:40 EDT

Nicole Kidman hasn't worked in TV since the 1989 mini-series "Bankock Hilton." Since then, she's been busy as a movie star.

That's why it took a project like the HBO film "Hemingway & Gellhorn" to get the Aussie actress to return to the small screen.

Kidman plays Martha Gellhorn, one of the most significant war correspondents of the 20th century, who also was the third wife of Ernest Hemingway from 1940 to 1945. Their relationship was born in the heat of war and fanned by the passion they had for writing and each other.

Before he boarded the 'Love Boat,' Bernie Kopell gave voice to a chimp

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:08 EDT

Actor Bernie Kopell spent more than a decade sailing the sexy seas on "Love Boat" as Dr. Adam Bricker, but he is also known for doing some interesting voice work.

He was the voice of Baron von Butcher on the 1970 Saturday-morning series "Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp," where the good guys of the Agency to Prevent Evil (APE) battled the villains of the Criminal Headquarters for Underworld Master Plan (CHUMP). Assisting the Baron was a band of bad apes, including Creto, Wang Fu, the Duchess, Dragon Lady, Ali Assa Seen and Dr. Strangemind.

The entire cast - from the heroic Lancelot to the evil Butcher - was made up of chimps who were filmed. Human actors dubbed in the dialogue.

Dave on Demand: The television week in review

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:45 EDT

The fun never stops, folks.

During the broadcast of "American Idol's" season finale, Ryan Seacrest announced the cities and dates for next season's auditions.

And the very next morning, Fox's other singing competition, "The X Factor" began taping its second season in Austin, Texas, with new judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato.

Britney Spears debuts on 'X Factor' show

Fri, 25 May 2012 21:22 EDT

Britney Spears has been on the job just two days and she's already proving to be a popular judge on "The X Factor."

The pop queen is also growing into her role as critic on the Fox singing contest show.

"The X Factor" staged its first auditions for the upcoming season Thursday and Friday in Austin, Texas, and judging by the boisterous cheers and the "I love you Britney!" calls from the crowd, the Grammy-winning singer is already a hit in her new role.

Commentary: 'Idol' plays to type, and that no longer is a good thing

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:08 EDT

The winner has been declared. A nation has decided, and we went to bed on Wednesday finally knowing that American Idol No. 11 is, in the words of dozens of Twitter commenters, another "white guy with guitar" (WGWG). Rest easy, America.

Phillip Phillips, a 21-year-old would-be troubadour with husk in his voice, a twinkle in his eye and a smile tailor-made for winning over the world's grandmas, got the majority of the 132 million votes cast for the long-running Fox music competition.

He bested 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez, who can sustain a note for miles and who on the show's finale performed a stunning duet of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" with Jennifer Holliday. This memorable moment, though, was too little, too late. With enough Southern grace to charm a nation of "Idol" watchers whose preferences have trended toward WGWG, the unflappable Phillips becomes the fifth of a kind in a row, following Scotty McCreery, Lee DeWyze, Kris Allen and David Cook.

Bullets fly relentlessly in History channel's atmospheric miniseries 'Hatfields & McCoys'

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:10 EDT

Revenge is served cold. Sometimes it's served piping hot. And it's served again and again, until the gunmen retreat into the foggy woods.

Over six hours that span 25 years, "Hatfields & McCoys" chronicles America's most famous family feud, a bloody conflict that ravaged two Appalachian clans in the decades after the Civil War.

The History channel production has an impressive pedigree: As the fathers of the warring families, Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton lead a cast that includes Tom Berenger, Mare Winningham and Powers Boothe.

TV director-producer Robert Finkel dies at 94

Fri, 25 May 2012 20:41 EDT

Emmy Award-winning TV director and producer Robert Finkel has died. He was 94.

Publicist Dale Olson said Friday that Finkel died April 30 of age-related complications at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif.

In his long career, Finkel produced TV series with Andy Williams, Jerry Lewis, Phyllis Diller and other stars. Finkel won a Peabody Award for a show with Julie Andrews and directed sitcoms including "Barney Miller" and "The Bob Newhart Show."

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

Sat, 26 May 2012 03:24 EDT

Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:

ABC's "This Week" - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

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TNA claims WWE tried to poach its wrestlers

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:45 EDT

Two giants in the wrestling world are getting ready to rumble - in a courtroom.

Nashville-based Total Nonstop Action Wrestling has sued World Wrestling Entertainment, accusing WWE of obtaining secret contract information in an attempt to poach TNA's wrestlers.

TNA's top wrestling talent includes veteran wrestler and actor Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. The company says in the lawsuit that WWE appears to have already tried to lure Flair and is pursuing TNA's other wrestlers.

Al Gordon, Jack Benny comedy-writer, dies at 89

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:18 EDT

An Emmy Award-winning comedy writer who spent much of his career working for legendary comic Jack Benny has died in Los Angeles. Al Gordon was 89.

His son, Neil, tells Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/JXFWte) that Gordon died Wednesday of age-related causes at a Los Angeles hospital.

Gordon began his comedy-writing career after World War II and teamed with Hal Goldman. They shared two Emmys with fellow Benny writers and a third with Sheldon Keller for a Carol Channing special.

Phillip Phillips is the new 'American Idol'

Thu, 24 May 2012 05:01 EDT

Phillip Phillips, a bluesy Georgia guitar man, was crowned the new "American Idol" on Wednesday after defeating teenager Jessica Sanchez in record viewer voting. He was the fifth male "Idol" winner in a row.

Phillips, 21, a pawn shop worker from Leesburg, Ga., looked stunned when host Ryan Seacrest announced his name, then wordlessly accepted a hug from Sanchez and congratulations from his fellow finalists.

He dissolved into tears as he sang "Home," the song that may be his first single.

Decades of feuding, six hours of TV

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:51 EDT

The 19th-century conflict between the Hatfield and McCoy families became the definitive feud of American history. To this day it provides a shorthand way of describing a hate-laced, unbending, seemingly endless battle between two groups. But what in fact happened between the Hatfields and McCoys?

The History channel offers a very long answer with the three-part miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys," starring Kevin Costner as "Devil Anse" Hatfield and Bill Paxton as Randall McCoy, the patriarchs of the feuding clans. It premieres from 9 to 11:06 p.m. Monday, 9 to 11:05 p.m. Tuesday and 9 to 11 p.m. Wednesday. History has also tied other programs to the Hatfields/ McCoys theme, including back-to-back episodes of "Pawn Stars" airing at 8 p.m. Monday.

Costner, who is also a producer of the series, has demonstrated a need to take lots of time to tell a story, and "Hatfields & McCoys" follows that pattern. At times, it seems as if the program is going to last as long as the decades consumed by the real-life feud.

Nearly 22M viewers for 'Idol' finale a new low

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:51 EDT

Nearly 22 million TV viewers seems like a lot - but for an "American Idol" season-ender, it's a new low.

The crowd that tuned in Wednesday night when bluesy guitar man Phillip Phillips won the "Idol" crown constituted the smallest for an "Idol" finale in its history, according to final Nielsen Co. figures.

The audience of 21.5 million was down by nearly one-third from the 29.3 million viewers who saw country singer Scotty McCreery's victory a year ago, an audience total that had rebounded by 20 percent from the finale in 2010.

Q&A: Phillips talks winning 'Idol,' making music

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:37 EDT

Everyone expected Phillip Phillips to win "American Idol" - except Phillips himself.

Shortly after cleaning the confetti out of his hair, the folksy guitar-strumming crooner who bested vocal powerhouse Jessica Sanchez on Wednesday still seemed surprised that he'd actually won the whole shebang.

"I can't really feel anything," Phillips said sitting on a couch in his backstage dressing room with his legs casually crossed.

Elton John falls sick, cancels 3 Las Vegas shows

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:13 EDT

Elton John is canceling three Las Vegas performances on doctors' orders after being hospitalized with a respiratory infection.

Officials with Caesars Entertainment say the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday performances of "The Million Dollar Piano" are being cancelled.

Show officials say Elton John came down with the infection last weekend and was admitted Wednesday to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was later released.

Daytime Emmy Awards find cable home at HLN

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:13 EDT

The Daytime Emmy Awards have found a new home at cable news channel HLN.

The channel said Thursday it will air the 39th annual awards ceremony live from Beverly Hills on June 23.

The awards, which aired on CBS for the past two years, will move from broadcast to cable for the first time. The ceremony struggled to find a network home as soap operas, once daytime's big draw, slipped in popularity and their numbers dwindled.