Author: Liz Isenberg

April 18, 2015 10:25am PT by Liz Isenberg

“It feels great to be at the forefront,” Anderson told THR about television’s move towards more diverse content.

The cast and creator of the ABC comedy Black-ish gathered Friday night at a “For Your Consideration” event to celebrate the show’s freshman season. The night’s festivities included a panel moderated by Larry Wilmore (who helped develop and write the first half of the season before moving over to The Nightly Show), a screening of the upcoming season finale, and a meet-and-greet with the cast, including leads Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross. 

At the beginning of the panel, Wilmore asked creator and executive producer Kenya Barris about the inspiration behind the show’s unique title. “I looked at my kids and they were not the idea of what I thought ‘black’ was growing up. They’re a little bit filtered—they’re ‘black-ish’,” said Barris. “They skateboard and surf! They didn’t exactly follow my journey of what being ‘black’ was. All their friends are Asian, Jewish and Latino and they’re a little bit more black, so they’re also a version of ‘black-ish’. It’s an additive and a subtractive. That’s what our country is right now. We’re ‘Asian-ish’ and ‘Latino-ish’. We’re all in a melting pot.”

Read more Broadcast TV’s Returning Shows 2015-16          

Ross—who had known Barris before joining Black-ish—talked about her reaction to the pilot. “The thing that was so compelling about this material was that it was the first time I really felt Kenya totally use his voice,” she said. “It was just him and it jumped off the page. It was so bold, but didn’t feel irreverent. It felt truthful.”

On the red carpet, Anderson and Barris talked about TV’s movement towards more diverse shows after the success of programs like Black-ish. “It feels great to be at the forefront,” Anderson told The Hollywood Reporter. “There were other shows ahead of ours that opened up the door for us and for us to be here right now breaking down more barriers and opening up the doors for more minorities and more diverse characters to be on television is something special to be a part of.”

Barris was cautiously optimistic. He told THR, “What I don’t want to be is a fad, because I think that we’ve all worked too hard. ABC has given us a great platform to create an amazing show that happens to have black characters and is absolutely about a black family. Sometimes you just have to kick the door open and you need one thing to start another thing, so I’m happy that we could be a part of that movement.”

Before the panel, Wilmore also spoke with THR about the recent Twitter controversy surrounding Jon Stewart’s successor, Trevor Noah. “I haven’t even met Trevor Noah yet, but I think he’s going to be fine,” Wilmore told THR. “All that is going to blow over. And like Jon said, people are either going to embrace him or they won’t. That’s how television works. He can really go out and prove himself even more now because it’s hard to follow Jon Stewart.”

Catch Black-ish on Wednesdays at 9:30 on ABC. 

April 16, 2015 2:45pm PT by Liz Isenberg

 Steve Wilkie/BBC AMERICA

Look back on where the series left off and the new season’s big mysteries.

Orphan Black’s complicated world grows even bigger in season three when a new set of male clones (played by Ari Millen) join the action. Before the new season premieres on Saturday, get caught up on what the clones have been up to and the biggest burning questions going into season three.

Sarah

In the season finale, Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) turned herself over to Dyad where Rachel was holding her daughter, Kira (Skyler Wexler) captive. Dyad wanted access to Sarah because of her unusual ability to procreate and they tried to take one of her ovaries. While escaping with Kira, Sarah met Marian (Michelle Forbes), who was from Dyad’s mother company, Topside. When Sarah visited Marian’s house the next day, Marian revealed another child clone named Charlotte and an entirely new group of male clones. Sarah also had a new and seemingly permanent man in her life — Kira’s father, Cal (Michiel Huisman). 

Cosima

Cosima’s body continued to degenerate and in a fit of rage, Rachel destroyed the vials of Kira’s bone marrow which might have saved her. Kira showed Cosima a book given to her by the clone’s creator, Duncan (Andrew Gillies), which could hold the key to their genetic sequence. 

Alison

After ruining the community play and going to rehab, Alison reconnected with Donnie (Kristian Bruun). She also helped him get rid of the body of Dr. Leekie (Matt Frewer), whom Donnie accidentally killed.

Helena

Helena spent much of season two held captive at the Proletheans’ creepy farm, where she was artificially inseminated by Henrik (Peter Outerbridge). She escaped but in true Helena fashion, returned later to burn the place to the ground. After finally meeting all of her sisters — and doing some enthusiastic dancing at the clone dance party — Helena was abducted by the military and put on a place as Mrs. S (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and Paul (Dylan Bruce) watched. 

Rachel

Rachel tried to get the clones’ genetic sequence out of her adoptive father, Duncan, who committed suicide rather than give her the information. She then demanded the sequence from Sarah and Sarah responded by shooting a pencil into Rachel’s eye, the side effect of an escape plan put into action by Cosima and Scott (Josh Vokey). 

Here are the biggest burning questions for season three:

• Helena and Gracie (Zoé De Grand Maison) have both been inseminated with Helena’s eggs and Henrik’s sperm. Will there will be clone babies?

• Who is Marian and how does Mrs. S know her? So far, everyone from Dyad has turned out to be… not great. Could Marian be the exception?

• What do Paul and the military want with Helena? Also, how will Sarah react when she finds out that her former monitor abducted her sister?

• Will Cosima find a cure for her disease? Does Duncan’s book hold the solution to her recovery? Orphan Black wouldn’t get rid of Cosima, would they?

• How much of a role will the male clones play in this season? Does Prolethean Mark, who is now married to Gracie, even know he’s a clone?

What are your burning questions heading into the season premiere? Share your questions and theories in the comments section below. Orphan Black returns for season three on Saturday at 9 p.m. on BBC America. Check out an extended look, below.

April 16, 2015 3:19pm PT by Liz Isenberg

The network also acquired the rights to box office toppers ‘Home,’ ‘The Longest Ride,’ ‘Taken 3’ and ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service.’

Furious 7 is zipping over to FX. 

The cable network has nabbed the exclusive commercial television rights to Universal’s latest blockbuster, which has earned almost $260 million domestically and could pass $1 billion worldwide this weekend, making it the first Universal title to do so in its original run.

The children’s animated film Home and the Nicholas Sparks’ romance The Longest Ride have also been nabbed by FX, as were Taken 3 and surprise blockbuster Kingsman: The Secret Service.

FX continues its track record as an aggressive purchaser of major box office hits with wide audience appeal. In 2014, FX Networks licensed 64 percent of all the year’s films that grossed more than $100 million.

Previous movie rights acquired by FX include Iron Man 3, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Avengers, Captain America and X-Men: First Class.

The features will be broadcast worldwide exclusively across FX’s networks—FX, FXX and FXM. 

FX Network