That's Entertainment! (TV, Films, and Pop Culture) Community Group
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Here's everything that's been happening in the world of Pop Culture this past week... in case you missed it! Feel free to comment on any of the stories and info shared here, add any news bits that you caught going on that may have been missed, or at least show us some love if you read the post but have nothing to comment on by clicking on that little heart icon at the bottom of the post...
GENERAL POP CULTURE NEWS:
- Disneyland welcomed its 1 billionth guest through its gates last Friday, less than 71 years after the now-iconic theme park opened in Anaheim, California. The park’s 1 billionth guest was an Arizona boy who came to the park with his parents to celebrate his eighth birthday.
- Competitive eater JOEY CHESTNUT won the annual July 4th Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island, New York once again; it was his 18th time winning the mustard belt. Chestnut consumed a total of 66 hot dogs and buns, 15 more than his closest competitor but 10 shy of his all-time best set in 2021. Competitive eater MIKI SUDO topped the women’s division of the contest, consuming a total of 38.75 hot dogs and buns to win her 12th total and fifth consecutive mustard belt.
- Prince HARRY, the Duke of Sussex lost a high-profile press-intrusion lawsuit brought against UK newspaper The Daily Mail. The prince, along with other claimants including model/actress LIZ HURLEY and musician ELTON JOHN, had accused the periodical’s publisher of unlawful information gathering including “abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy,” but a High Court judge ruled that the aggrieved parties failed to prove their allegations, stating, “The Court rejected the attempt to prove the claims by broad inference where there remained a legitimate and realistic possible lawful source pathway, or where the article-specific evidence did not prove that the relevant information must have been obtained unlawfully.” Prince Harry responded to the ruling, calling it a “whitewash”.
- The 18,600-foot Pasadena mansion used for exterior shots for the 1960’s “Batman” tv series’ Wayne Manor is on the market, but it won’t come cheap. The 1928 Jacobean Tudor Revival style house - which boasts seven bedrooms, three full baths, four three-quarter baths, four half baths, a resort-caliber pool, pickleball court, private theater, marble and hardwood floors, and manicured gardens on a five-acre lot – is going for a cool $32 million.
- NAMES, HASHTAGS, MEMES, AND TRENDS FROM THIS PAST WEEK –
TAYLOR SWIFT/TRAVIS KELCE wedding; FIFA Team USA Red Card fiasco
AWARDS UPDATE -
- The Primetime Emmy Awards: Actress MARISKA HARGITAY has been tapped to host the 78th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards set to air live coast-to-coast on NBC and stream live on Peacock on September 14th. It will be her first time hosting.
- The Primetime Emmy Awards: Nominations for the 78th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced this week, with last year’s top drama series “The Pitt” leading all nominees with 25, followed by the final season of comedy series “Hacks” with 24 (a record for nominations in a single season for a comedy series). Freshman comedy “Widow’s Bay” racked up 19 noms, freshman drama “Pluribus” scored 18, and anthology series “Beef” nabbed 16. Over twenty individuals received multiple nominations with actor/director/producer JASON BATEMAN topping that list, earning 4 nominations total for his work on limited series “Black Rabbit” and “DTF St. Louis”. For a complete list of 2026 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, check out the following link: https://deadline.com/lists/emmy-nominations-full-list-nominees-scorecard/
ON BROADWAY/ THE WEST END -
- “Dolly: A True Original Musical”, the upcoming stage production featuring new music and classic hits from country icon DOLLY PARTON, will begin previews at Broadway’s St. James Theatre on December 7th, with an official opening set for January 19, 2027, Parton’s 81st birthday. Parton not only contributed the music for the production, she also co-wrote the musical’s book.
MOVIE NEWS:
- StudioCanal, Fathom Entertainment, and Rialto Pictures announced that JAMES CAMERON’s action sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” will be re-released to theaters in the US on August 28th to celebrate the film’s 35th anniversary. The film will also have a number of global re-release dates through late August and early September.
- MOVIE CASTING UPDATE -
- Actors CHRISTIAN BALE and LEONARDO DICAPRIO will star in MICHAEL MANN’s “Heat 2”. Bale will play LAPD Robbery Homicide detective Vincent Hanna, played in the first film by AL PACINO, while DiCaprio will play Chris Shiherlis, who was played by the late VAL KILMER in the first film.
- Actor JOHN GOODMAN will join actress BRIE LARSON in the horror thriller “Skeletons” from Sony Pictures. Actors KYLE GALLNER, WILLA FITZGERALD, and IONE SKYE are also on board.
- TV CASTING UPDATE –
- YouTube star JIMMY DONALDSON (aka MrBeast), actor/tv series creator MINDY KALING, NFL defensive lineman JJ WATT, tv producers/entrepreneurs ERIN and SARA FOSTER, and “The Diary of a CEO” podcast host/investor STEVEN BARTLETT will appear as guest Sharks on ABC investment series “Shark Tank”. Additionally, KENDRA SCOTT and RASHAUN WILLIAMS have been elevated to permanent Sharks, joining BARBARA CORCORAN, ROBERT HERJAVEC, LORI GREINER, DAYMOND JOHN, DANIEL LUBETZKY, and KEVIN O’LEARY.
- Actors RYAN PAEVEY and ANDREW HAWKES have exited ABC daytime drama series “General Hospital”. Paevey’s last scene as Cassius Faison, the twin of Paevey’s previous “GH” character Nathan West, aired Monday, while Hawkes’ last air date was last Thursday when his character, double agent WSB Director Ross Cullum died in a shootout.
- Actors TRACEY ULLMAN, SAM SPRUELL, and JEROME FLYNN will join the season 2 cast of FX sci-fi drama series “Alien: Earth”.
- Actress JULIANNE NICHOLSON will join the season 2 cast of HBO detective drama series “Task”. Nicholson will play Lori Ross, her role from former HBO limited series “Mare of Easttown” (both shows hail from the same creator and showrunner and take place in Philadelphia’s working-class suburbs but were previously unrelated).
- TV CANCELLATIONS* AND TRIMMED/NOT-EXTENDED SEASONS** -
* “It’s Not Like That”, Amazon Prime Video, cancelled after one season
- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 SINGLES AROUND THE WORLD –
+Australia: “Choosin’ Texas” by ELLA LANGLEY
+Japan: “Missing” by BE:FIRST
- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 ALBUMS AROUND THE WORLD –
UK: “The Wow! Signal” by MUSE
US: “Golden Hour: Part 5” by ATEEZ
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Hey All...I hope that you have a lovely, peaceful beginning of your weekI have a bunch of chores that need doing but may put them off til tomorrow and just hang out with my landlord/roomie todayWhat about you?...Anything special going on?Have a great day and take good care of you!!..Xo
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Once again I've had a fever today. I'm not going to the hospital because that's a huge waste of time but I did schedule a dr appointment for Wednesday afternoon.
Really shocked there's been no official picture of Taylor Swift in her wedding gown or anything sent to the press or anything... not even a mention of a People exclusive or anything. You'd think given how much she likes to control the narrative around her that she'd want to put something out to get ahead of the trolls making crap up (there were AI photos out almost immediately and I know some people did fall for them being legit... my mom being one of those people). I mean, they could've gotten a mint for pics and donated it all to charity (or used it to reimburse the NYPD for the extra security needed, and maybe put some also to the MTA since they required streets to be blocked off, that would've been nice, and then they could've controlled the situation instead of letting others make crap up or having their guests start leaking info out throughout the week... you'd think since she loves her fans so much she'd want to let them feel they were a part of this big moment of her life in some way. You're so public about your engagement and other things about your relationship and all but this you are super private about? Just for you and 1,000 of your closest friends and family only eh?
Mariska Hargitay hosting the Emmys? Have we run out of comedians and tv hosts?
Sad to see Ryan Paevey leave "GH" again, I actually really enjoyed Cassius as a character and hope that someday down the road he's willing to come back as Cassius again since they left it open for him to return. And as much as I hated Ross Cullum and was happy to see him taken out, I really enjoyed Andrew Hawkes' performance and also his online videos while he's been on the show so it's kind of sad to see him go too. That storyline took a while to wrap up but man the payoff was great. Also the John Oliver guest arc was top notch; hope they find a way to bring him back sometime too if he's willing.
That is impressive...lol
I saw photos of T Swift's gown really stunning but not an official photo
66 hot dogs is impressive - and yet not even his best, which is even more impressive!
Bill, It's always a bit weird to think of how old some films or songs or tv shows are when they feel like they just came out a few years ago but in actuality some 30 years have gone by... it's like "oldies" radio stations playing songs from the early '00s... it doesn't seem like that stuff should be considered old yet but when you realize they consider anything over 25 years old an "oldie" and the year 2000 was 26years ago, it can make you do a double take for sure. The '80s feel like they were just a decade or two ago but no... it's more like 36-46 years ago now....