TV/STREAMING . . .

Ed Sheeran Has the Best Reactions to His Game of Thrones Character's Fate. You weren't the only one excited about the Game of Thrones season eight premiere. After HBO debuted its new episode on Sunday, Ed Sheeran took to Instagram to weigh in on the show. However, he didn't comment on Jon Snow (Kit Harington) learning the truth about his ties to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) or Sam (John Bradley) discovering the fate of his brother and father. No, the "Shape of You" star was much more concerned about the outcome for his character. As fans will recall, Sheeran made a guest appearance on season seven. His character shared a scene with Maisie Williams' character Arya Stark. In the scene, the four-time Grammy winner sang a little tune while sitting around a fire with a group of Lannister soldiers. When Williams' character said she didn't recognize it, Sheeran informed her "it's a new one." The celebrity cameo was reportedly done for Williams, who is a fan of Sheeran. While Sheeran's scene was brief, it made a lasting impression. Fans had a field day on social media after the clip aired. In fact, some fans suspected the reaction was the reason Sheeran temporarily deleted his Twitter account, although, the singer made it clear this wasn't the case. So, Sunday night was a full-circle moment for the "Perfect" crooner. During the episode, Bronn, played by Jerome Flynn, was seen having sexual relations with three women. After the topic of the Lannister soldiers came up, one of the women mentioned a fighter named "Eddie." It's soon revealed that the "ginger" soldier had his face burned off during a battle and now doesn't have any eyelids. "Thanks @gameofthrones, I knew I was a survivor," Sheeran wrote on Instagram. Sheeran isn't the only celebrity to have made a quick cameo. Sigur Rs, Coldplay's Will Champion and Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody have, as well. In fact, Rob McElhenney from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia appeared in the season eight premiere. (Eonline)

Game of Thrones Had Secret Celebrity Cameos in the Season 8 Premiere. Not even Game of Thrones is immune the celebrity cameo. There was Ed Sheeran, Sigur Rs, Coldplay's Will Champion, Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody and Of Monsters and Men in earlier episodes, and now... Rob McElhenney. Yep, that Rob McElhenney, the creator and star of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Warning, spoilers follow. McElhenney appears on Euron Greyjoy's (Pilou Asbk) ship and is killed while Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) rescued Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan). McElhenney got an arrow through the eye. But he wasn't the only cameo in the episode. Freaks and Geeks, Party Down and Silicon Valley star Martin Starr also appears. The actor posted about his cameo, and gruesome death, on Instagram simply saying, "Don't blink." McElhenney is a vocal fan of Games of Thrones and let Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss write an episode of the series, the season nine episode "Flowers for Charlie." He posted proof of it on Twitter. Game of Thrones has just five episodes left before it all comes to an end. Following the five episodes, a two-hour documentary, Game of Thrones" The Last Watch, will air on May 26. The film is a behind-the-scenes look at production on the grueling eighth and final season. The movie is described as "much more than a 'making of documentary, this is a funny, heartbreaking story, told with wit and intimacy, about the bittersweet pleasures of what it means to create a world and then have to say goodbye to it." HBO said in a press release. The new season airs Sundays 9 p.m. on HBO. (Eonline)

'When Calls the Heart' renewed at Hallmark Channel after Lori Loughlin firing. Lori Loughlin isn't necessary for "When Calls the Heart" to go on. The show was renewed for a seventh season just days after it was revealed Loughlin, 54, would be edited out of future episodes of the Hallmark Channel series following her allegations in the college admissions scandal. "When Calls the Heart" star Erin Krakow announced the news via Instagram. "You've already heard 'When Calls the Heart' will returning with a special two-night event Sunday, May 5 and Monday, May 6,. I'm also thrilled to announce When Calls the Heart season 7 coming next year! We can't wait to get back to Hope Valley," Krakow said. The Hallmark Channel cut ties with Loughlin following her March arrest, saying in a statement, "We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations. We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin, including 'Garage Sale Mysteries,' an independent third-party production." Loughlin and fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli are accused of paying college admissions scam mastermind William "Rick" Singer $500,000 to get each of their daughters, 20-year-old Isabella and 19-year-old vlogger Olivia Jade, into the University of Southern California by faking their way onto the crew team. Isabella and Olivia's statuses at USC are on hold pending investigations into their individual cases. Loughlin and Giannulli rejected the plea agreement that former "Desperate Housewives" actress Felicity Huffman accepted last week. They were subsequently indicted on charges of fraud and money laundering and may face up to 40 years in prison. (PageSix)

Monica is clamming up when it comes to questions about her divorce with ex-NBA baller Shannon Brown ... and it's pissing off producers on T.I.'s reality show. Sources close to production on "T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle" tell TMZ ... Monica is refusing to talk about calling it quits on her marriage, and she won't even mention her ex-husband's name. We're told Monica's decision to stay mum is frustrating the people tasked with crafting an interesting storyline for the singer ... and she's just not cooperating with producers begging for her to open up about her relationship with Shannon. The trailer for the reality show's upcoming season makes it seem like Monica's an open book when it comes to her divorce ... but we're told that couldn't be further from the truth. In the trailer, she says she never imagined being a single mother in her 30s -- but that's all you're gonna get outta her. We broke the story ... Monica filed for divorce from the former pro athlete back in March, after 8 years of marriage. Monica's letting the divorce papers speak for themselves. (TMZ)

Lena Waithe cast in the third season of 'Westworld.' Lena Waithe is riding into "Westworld." Variety has learned that Waithe has signed on for a role in the upcoming third season of the HBO drama series. The exact nature of Waithe's role is being kept under wraps. Waithe previously starred in and wrote for the Netflix series "Master of None." She won the Emmy for best comedy writing for the episode "Thanksgiving," with the episode based on Waithe's own experience of coming out to herself and her family. She is currently the showrunner on the BET series adaptation of "Boomerang." The second season of her Showtime series "The Chi," which Waithe created and executive produces, premiered earlier this month. Waithe's other acting credits include the film "Ready Player One" as well as the shows "This Is Us," "Transparent," and "Dear White People." She is repped by WME, The Mission Entertainment, and Del, Shaw, Moonves. Waithe joins previously announced "Westworld" Season 3 cast member Aaron Paul. Production recently began on Season 3 and the show is not expected to air again until at least 2020. The series, based on the Michael Crichton film of the same name, was created for television and executive produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. J.J. Abrams and Ben Stephenson of Bad Robot Productions also executive produce along with Richard J. Lewis and Athena Wickham. Nolan and Joy's Kilter Films and Bad Robot produce in association with Warner Bros. Television. It was recently announced that Nolan and Joy would exit their overall deal with WBTV for a deal at Amazon said to be worth nine figures. Under the new deal, Nolan and Joy will remain as writers and executive producers on "Westworld." (PageSix)

European Union Member States Pass Controversial Copyright Law. The European Union's overhaul of online copyright legislation cleared its final hurdle on Monday, with the European Commission approving a radical change in how copyright law will be enforced online. The European Union's move to overhaul copyright law and update it for the online age got the final seal of approval from European governments on Monday. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, approved the new legislation, passed by the European Parliament last month, that will make online platforms liable for copyright infringement on their sites and force Google, Facebook and their ilk to pay publishers for news snippets they post online. Nineteen countries representing a majority of the European Union population, including France and Germany, endorsed the overhaul, but several, including Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden voted against the legislation. The new copyright law has been a battleground for two years, with internet rights activists and tech giants opposing the legislation and groups representing artists and large publishers broadly in favor. Under the new rules, Google and other online platforms will have to sign licensing agreements with musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists to use their work online. While the legislation does not explicitly state so, it is widely assumed that to conform with the law, online platforms will have to install filters to prevent users from uploading copyrighted material. Opponents say this is technically impossible and will lead to widespread censorship. The new Copyright Directive now goes to European countries' individual parliaments, which have two years to write it into their national laws. (Hollywood Reporter)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fall Book Discussion and Movie Series

Book discussion group to meet

City Page Survey