Latest news with #LaurieMetcalf
New York Times
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Laurie Metcalf to Star in ‘Little Bear Ridge Road' on Broadway
'Little Bear Ridge Road,' Samuel D. Hunter's acclaimed small-cast play about loneliness, compassion and a search for connection between an aunt and her nephew in rural Idaho, will come to Broadway this fall in a production starring Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock. The production, directed by Joe Mantello ('Wicked'), will mark the return to Broadway of the producer Scott Rudin, who in 2021 paused his producing activities and resigned from the Broadway League amid reports of bullying behavior toward assistants and others. Rudin is producing the show with Barry Diller, the billionaire media mogul who has frequently backed his shows. The play is scheduled to begin previews Oct. 7 and to open Oct. 30 at the Booth Theater for an 18-week limited run. Hunter, the playwright, is best known for 'The Whale,' which was adapted into a 2022 film. He was raised in Idaho and many of his plays are set there and feature socially isolated working-class characters. This will be Hunter's first play staged on Broadway. 'My initial impulse for writing the play — which I told to Joe and Laurie, and I credit them that they still had faith in me after I said this — is that I wanted to write a play about people watching television,' Hunter said in a telephone interview. 'That was the platform for the play, but the play became this story of this aunt and this nephew who have almost no relationship, and a lot of painful history between them, hunkering down together during the pandemic, and both of them trying to figure out a path forward in a deeply complicated reality.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Netflix announces new "wild ride" crime series with "truly chaotic family story"
A "wild ride" crime series from Schitt's Creek star Dan Levy is coming to Netflix. The comedy series, which is as-yet-untitled, will also star The Four Seasons' Taylor Ortega and Lady Bird and Hacks star Laurie Metcalf. It is set to tell the story of "two deeply incapable siblings who are blackmailed into the world of organized crime". Following his feature directorial debut with Good Grief, Levy will act as showrunner and executive producer on the project alongside Bottoms' Rachel Sennott. Speaking to Tudum, Levy said: "I'm so excited to be bringing this truly chaotic family story to life with Netflix. I'm thrilled with the team we're building both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Related: "Taylor Ortega is going to become a household name, and it's been my life's mission to get to call Laurie Metcalf 'mother'. Looking forward to getting to share this with everyone." Sharing the news on Instagram, he added: "This show has taken me on a truly wild ride and I am so f**king excited to finally share it with youuuuu. Follow through, pals. You'll be glad you did." Ortega has recently appeared in Netflix comedy series The Four Seasons as well as Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively's Another Simple Favour. The Four Seasons was recently renewed for a second season, alongside the likes of Bridgerton, Love on the Spectrum, and The Diplomat. Related: Metcalf is set to star in the third season of Ryan Murphy's Netflix series Monster, which will focus on the crimes of Ed Gein. The Roseanne actor will appear as the mother of Ed Gein, Augusta, alongside Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock and Olivia Williams as Alma Reville. Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam is set to star as Gein, a suspected serial killer and body snatcher whose crimes gained worldwide notoriety when it was discovered he had exhumed corpses and fashioned items out of their skin and bones. Digital Spy's first print magazine is here! Buy British Comedy Legends in newsagents or online, now priced at just £3.99. at £328.00 at at EE at £49.99 at at at Audible£18.99 at at Amazon at EE£54.98 at at at at at at at at at at Amazon£29.98 at at at Game at Sky Mobile at EE at at at Pandora at at at at at at at at Three at at Game at Pandora at at at at at at at £1199.00 at AO at £199.99 at Fitbit$15.00 at at at at at at at at at at at at at John Lewis at at at at at at at £90.00 at at at at at at John Lewis at at John Lewis & Partners at at at Amazon£6.62 at at Amazon at Fitbit£119.99 at at Amazon£184.00 at John Lewis & Partners at Three at at at at at at at at at at at at Apple£699.00 at at Amazon£293.81 at at at at Three at at at at John Lewis at at at at at at EE at at Audible at at at at at at at at EE at £449.00 at John Lewis£32.99 at Amazon at at at at at Apple at at Microsoft at at Samsung at at at Apple at Three£229.00 at John Lewis at at John Lewis at at at at Samsung at crunchyroll£1199.00 at AO at at Amazon at at at at John Lewis & Partners£299.00 at Microsoft at at Microsoft£92.98 at at at at Amazon£269.99 at at John Lewis at at at at at John Lewis & PartnersShop now at at at Microsoft at at at at at at John Lewis at at at at £6.65 at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at You Might Also Like PS5 consoles for sale – PlayStation 5 stock and restocks: Where to buy PS5 today? IS MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 THE BEST IN THE SERIES? OUR REVIEW AEW game is a modern mix of No Mercy and SmackDown
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dan Levy's new comedy series news just might heal the 'Schitt's Creek' shaped hole in your heart
Holy Schitt, Dan Levy just announced a new family comedy series, and it sounds like the next best thing to a Schitt's Creek revival. During Netflix's 2025 upfront presentation today, the streamer announced that Levy had created a yet-untitled comedy series in which he will star, showrun, and co-executive produce (alongside Rachel Sennott). Starring along with Levy are beloved comedic actress Laurie Metcalf (The Conners) and Taylor Ortega who just starred in the Netflix series The Four Seasons. While details remain largely under wraps Netflix did share the official logline, "Two deeply incapable siblings are blackmailed into the world of organized crime." Presumably the trio of actors will be playing mother and siblings and the set up sounds rife for the kind of comedy that Levy excels at. Honestly we're just delighted to have him heading back to our screens. And we're not the only ones thrilled by the news. "I'm so excited to be bringing this truly chaotic family story to life with Netflix," Levy said in a statement. "Thrilled with the team we're building both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Taylor Ortega is going to become a household name and it's been my life's mission to get to call Laurie Metcalf 'mother.' Looking forward to getting to share this with everyone." As for when we will get to see the 8-episode limited series, that's still a bit of ways off. Production begins later this year. Gives us plenty of time to rewatch Schitt's Creek from top to bottom… again.
Toronto Sun
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Surprising to the end, ‘The Conners' found a nice life after Roseanne
Published Apr 24, 2025 • 6 minute read From left to right: Laurie Metcalf, Nat Faxon, Sean Astin, Lecy Goranson, John Goodman, Katey Sagal, Sara Gilbert, Jay R. Ferguson, Stony Blyden and Emma Kenney on 'The Conners.' Photo by Christopher Willard / Disney Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. This story contains plot details of Wednesday's series finale of 'The Conners.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account – – – Nothing about the 'Roseanne' reboot played out as expected. When ABC revived Roseanne Barr's hit Midwestern working-class family sitcom in 2018, hoping to appeal to the 'forgotten' voters who had elected Donald Trump as president, no one anticipated that its return would be a ratings sensation two decades after the original groundbreaking series ended, with about 25 million viewers tuning in to reunite with Roseanne Conner. Although network executives were certainly aware of Barr's controversial past (on the show and in real life) and vitriolic social media posts, they didn't know she would fire off a racist tweet two months later that was so offensive they had to immediately cancel the show. With Barr no longer financially or creatively involved, the network ordered a spinoff, 'The Conners.' To everyone's surprise, including the producers, the show lasted seven seasons, wrapping up for good on Wednesday night with – true to form – a storyline throughout the final six episodes that no one saw coming. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The pilot in October 2018 opened on the Conners mourning the loss of Roseanne, whom the producers decided to kill off via an opioid overdose. She spent the 'Roseanne' reboot with severe knee pain and in the penultimate episode, her husband, Dan (John Goodman), found pill bottles all over the house. Roseanne confessed she was taking so much Vicodin because she assumed she could never afford surgery with a $3,000 deductible, and Dan responded with some bleak foreshadowing that if it was between her overdosing and him coming up with the money, he would find the money. Roseanne got the surgery, and the first episode of 'The Conners' revealed she remained hooked on the pills that eventually caused her to stop breathing. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In a video interview with The Washington Post this week, executive producers Bruce Helford, Bruce Rasmussen and Dave Caplan said they never discussed whether Roseanne's pill addiction would have continued had Barr stayed on the reboot, but the topic probably would have come up again – the show addressed the struggles of low-income families, including health care. They were inspired to dive back into the subject last summer after the Supreme Court blocked a Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan and ruled that the owners, the Sackler family, would not be immune from opioid lawsuits. So when Roseanne's sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) announced in the Season 7 premiere in March that the family could sue a drug manufacturer for Roseanne's death from opioids, it kicked off an arc leading to the show's conclusion. Roseanne's daughters (Sara Gilbert as Darlene, Lecy Goranson as Becky) were all for seeking retribution, especially if it could help with money – they were constantly one financial tragedy away from disaster. ('We could be, like, a two-tragedy family!' Darlene said with excitement.) At first, Dan had no desire to relive his grief over his wife's death, and he assumed the company's fancy lawyers would prevent any chance at compensation. After a lot of arguments, Dan agreed that Roseanne would have wanted him to try, and they hired a lawyer (Jane Lynch) who worked on contingency to sue the company. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It gave us a great storyline to not just cry out for justice for their matriarch, but also for all those people who never got a chance to just yell at somebody about this damn thing,' Helford said. 'Because working-class people, so many of them lost their family members to this.' Rasmussen took on much of the research and did a deep dive into real-life opioid lawsuits, and he was fascinated by the idea of putting a dollar amount on a person's life. He said that Helford came up with the idea to have the lawsuit plot recur through the season, which allowed Dan and the family to deal with their emotions surrounding Roseanne – a natural way to pay tribute to the character. (Shortly after the pilot of 'The Conners,' Barr released a statement that expressed regret that the show killed off her character, adding, 'That it was done through an opioid overdose lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show.') This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It felt like a poignant thing because John, you know, in a weird way is like the old gunslinger who hung up his six-shooter and doesn't want to take it down again. He put the Roseanne thing behind him,' Caplan said. 'And then to have to make that decision to open the wound back up and go through it all again just felt like wonderful drama for John Goodman to play.' 'And in wonderful drama, there is wonderful comedy, always,' Helford added. 'I mean, also, when you have someone like John Goodman to play that, you're not afraid of taking that on. But most sitcoms would not take on that stuff.' Decades after 'Roseanne' confronted such hot-button topics such as race, abortion, teen sex, sexual orientation and more, 'The Conners' also did not hold back, bringing a comic touch even in moments of despair. (Though Roseanne's clash with her family over her support of Trump was part of the reboot, 'The Conners' final season did not tackle his return to the White House.) When Dan signed off on the lawsuit, his daughters drew him a cartoon to help him remember the timeline of Roseanne's addiction – and included a drawing of her falling when she injured her knee, an incident where everyone was laughing so hard they didn't even realize she was in pain. Rasmussen said one of the biggest laughs of the series was in the pilot of 'The Conners,' when Dan stormed off with Roseanne's secret stash of pills that Becky found, and Becky said regretfully, 'That's the only thing from Mom's closet that I wanted.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Instead of looking for a funny idea and then writing a show around it, we find some dramatic reality and then we make a leap of faith that we're going to be able to find the funny in it, and we usually do,' Caplan said. 'We're very dark people,' Rasmussen said. 'So it's not hard for us to find it.' In Wednesday's finale, Dan's fears about taking legal action came true during his deposition. The drug company's lawyer smugly informed him that Roseanne was clearly responsible for her own death because she knew she was doing something potentially deadly by taking so many pills, and then the lawyer blamed Dan for not stopping his wife from abusing opioids. But Dan found peace when he was able to tell the lawyer to his face how he felt – that it was the company's fault because they didn't warn that taking the pills would turn her into an addict. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Even if I took every penny you had, it wouldn't be enough because you took the love of my life and you killed her. The same as you put a gun to her head, the only difference is you handed her the gun and told her it wasn't loaded,' Dan said. Dan was later stunned to learn that he would be receiving a check from the company, and the family gathered at Roseanne's grave to open it together. They found out that for all his courage, and all the pain, he was awarded a grand total of … $700. All he could do was burst out laughing. 'Well, we always wondered how much a Conner's life is worth, and now we know,' he said. They used the money to order pizza and drink beer back at the house, where they gathered around Roseanne and Dan's living room couch one final time before heading off to their respective homes. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The actors started crying during that scene as they said goodbye, and Goodman looked right at the camera and said goodnight. The reboot was another attempt at a better ending to 'Roseanne,' because the creators were not satisfied with how the original show ended. In a way, it was always the job of 'The Conners' to come along and fix the show's legacy after the reboot imploded. The producers hope this brings satisfying closure to a show that had a truly unpredictable journey. As Dan told his family in the final scene, as long as they have each other, they can handle anything life throws at them. Rasmussen worried the line was too sappy, but it also seems fitting. 'The theme of the show is the working class – which I believe is the nobility and the people who make the most sacrifice in this country – survive based on their humor and their ability to bond together and get everybody in the family to the finish line,' Helford said. 'And that's what the show has always been about.' Toronto & GTA Toronto Raptors World Toronto Maple Leafs Editorials
New York Post
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
'The Conners' series finale ending was John Goodman's idea
The lights are finally off for Conner family, after 37 years on TV. 'Roseanne' spinoff show 'The Conners' aired its series finale Wednesday night on ABC (8 p.m. and streaming on Hulu). The show ended with the family – including Dan Conner (John Goodman), Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), Darlene (Sara Gilbert), and Becky (Lecy Goranson) – tearfully saying 'goodnight' to each other, before Dan was left alone in the family living room. Goodman then looked right at the camera, smiling with tears in his eyes, and said 'Goodnight' directly to the audience. 8 John Goodman in 'The Conners.' Disney via Getty Images 8 Sara Gilbert, John Goodman, Lecy Goranson, and Laurie Metcalf in 'The Conners.' Disney via Getty Images Executive producer Bruce Rasmussen told The Post that the tearful 'goodbyes' weren't scripted. 'I don't think I've ever seen it before on TV, where the characters actually break the fourth wall, and you see the actual emotion of what [the actors are] going through,' he said. He added that they felt it fit 'this particular show, 37 years on the air, this family being together. That was them saying goodbye to each other, for real.' 8 Emma Kenney as Harris Conner, Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris, Lecy Goranson as Becky Conner, Ames McNamara as Mark Conner, Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner, Jay R. Ferguson as Ben, and John Goodman as Dan Conner. ABC via Getty Images 8 Roseanne Barr and John Goodman on 'Roseanne.' Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Executive producer and showrunner Bruce Helford knew that Goodman would look into the camera and address the audience, 'because he had pitched that; it was his idea.' When other cast members such as Metcalf, Gilbert, and Goranson teared up as they said goodnight, he explained: 'The whole thing just felt so real emotionally, that it would have been too hard to cut it out.' Executive producer Dave Caplan chimed in, 'They earned that moment…we've always tried to be really honest with our audience. It was just such an honest moment that it was irresistible to put it on.' Starring Goodman, Metcalf, Gilbert, and Goranson, 'The Conners' aired for seven seasons from 2018 to 2025 – succeeding the original show 'Roseanne,' which aired from 1988 to 1997. It briefly returned for a revival in 2018, until Roseanne Barr's controversial tweets got it axed, she got fired, and her fictional counterpart got killed off. 8 John Goodman in 'The Conners.' Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images 8 Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, John Goodman, Emma Kenney, and Lecy Goranson in 'The Conners.' ABC via Getty Images In the original 'The Conners' ending, Dan was supposed to say goodnight only to his family. But, that changed into him addressing the audience. 'I think [Goodman] just felt that was the right way to say goodbye, and acknowledge the bond, because the audience is part of that show,' Caplan told the Post. 'We are so much connected to the audience; we're not just an entertainment. It's been a family for 37 years.' Helford added: 'He felt the bond of all those years with the audience. And I think just as a decent guy, his instinct was to say 'thank you.' How do you argue with that?' 8 Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman in 'The Conners.' ABC via Getty Images 8 Sara Gilbert, Jane Lynch, Laurie Metcalf, Emma Kenney, and John Goodman in 'The Conners.' Disney via Getty Images For now, another spinoff isn't on the table. 'There's no discussion of it,' Rasmussen revealed. 'We really want this moment to be a genuine celebration of the scope of 37 years of keeping this family alive, and just honoring that legacy right now.' But, he added, they 'never' say the show is dead. 'We literally brought people back from the dead to do the show,' referring to how Dan was killed off on 'Roseanne' Season 9. 'Right now, it is just about this end, and this moment.' Caplan said they wanted the series finale to feel like the ending of the series, 'but that the lives of these characters go on.' 'There wasn't some artificial stop where the Conners disappear from the universe,' he explained. 'They're out there somewhere, living their lives, doing relatively well, for them.'
