By Jessica Wedemeyer
6:25am PDT, Aug 31, 2018
Abby Huntsman joining "The View" as co-host
"Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Abby Huntsman is joining the upcoming 22nd season of "The View," which debuts on Sept. 4. She joins moderator Whoopi Goldberg and panelists Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Meghan McCain on the ABC talk show.
RELATED: Talk-show host controversies and feuds
"Mr. Robot" to end with Season 4
"Mr. Robot" will end at the conclusion of its 12-episode fourth season in late 2019. "Since day one, I've been building toward one conclusion — and in breaking the next season of 'Mr. Robot,' I have decided that conclusion is finally here," series creator Sam Esmail told The Hollywood Reporter. "Everyone on the creative team … didn't want to say goodbye, but we ultimately have too much respect for Elliot's journey to extend past its inevitable ending. Therefore, Season 4 will serve as the final chapter of the 'Mr. Robot' story." At the end of Season 3 in December 2017, Esmail told THR that he hadn't figured out yet if there would be one or two more seasons of the USA Network hacker drama, on which Rami Malek and Christian Slater have starred since 2015. "I've always said it's four or five seasons," he said. "It's something the writers' room and I take very seriously. We never want to feel like we're treading water. Hopefully it fits into two more seasons, but we're trying to figure out that number."
RELATED: Pop culture robots
Jackson Odell died of a heroin and cocaine overdose
"The Goldbergs" and "Modern Family" actor Jackson Odell died of an accidental cocaine and heroin overdose, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner revealed on Aug. 27 after toxicology results came in. The 20 year old died at a sober living facility in the Los Angeles area on June 8.
RELATED: Celebrities who died in 2018
John Goodman defends Roseanne Barr, says she's "going through hell"
During an interview with The Sunday Times, John Goodman opened up about ABC's decision to cancel "Roseanne" following backlash to creator and star Roseanne Barr's racist Valerie Jarrett tweet. "I was brokenhearted, but I thought, 'OK, it's just show business, I'm going to let it go,'" he said. "But I went through a period, about a month, where I was very depressed." The actor also went to bat for his disgraced former co-star, who will not appear on the "Roseanne" spinoff "The Conners," saying he knows "for a fact that she's not a racist." Continued John, "She had to sign a paper saying that she relinquished all her rights to the show so that we could go on. … I sent her an email and thanked her for that. I did not hear anything back, but she was going through hell at the time. And she's still going through hell." He also said he was "surprised" by ABC's decision to fire the controversial comedienne, whom he described as a "work friend." A day after John's interview hit the Internet, Roseanne tweeted her appreciation for his support: "I thank John Goodman for speaking truth about me, despite facing certain peril from producers and network," she wrote.
"The Walking Dead" adds "Sons of Anarchy" star as key comic book villain
"Sons of Anarchy" alum Ryan Hurst will star as Beta, the second in command of a group of villains called the Whisperers, on the upcoming ninth season of "The Walking Dead." According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Beta is the strong and silent type, a brute force of nature. What he lacks in expressiveness, he makes up for with intense physicality, as well as intense loyalty — especially to Alpha, the group's leader, played by new series regular Samantha Morton." Hurst starred as Jax Teller's best friend, Opie Winston, on "Sons of Anarchy."
Craig Melvin reportedly being groomed to become new "Today" show weekday anchor
On Aug. 25, Craig Melvin announced that he'll no longer co-anchor the Saturday edition of "Today," though he'll continue contributing to the weekday version of the show and anchoring "MSNBC Live." The announcement prompted rumors that the newsman is being groomed to become a co-anchor on the weekday version of the "Today" show alongside Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb. "He already plays a big role [on 'Today'] Monday to Friday," a source told Page Six. "The network is really high on him right now: He's smart, charming, handsome and, perhaps most importantly, a family man." But according to another Page Six source, Melvin — who has two young children with his wife, former ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor Lindsay Czarniak — is simply moving away from his Saturday gig because he's "been working six days a week for about a year." Said the second insider, "He's going to continue doing the weekday 'Today' show as well as his MSNBC show, and he's not being 'groomed' for anything else."
Louis C.K.'s club return divides comedy world
On Aug. 26, Louis C.K. returned to stand-up comedy for the first time since fessing up to long-standing rumors of sexual misconduct in late 2017. His back-to-back performances of his new 15-minute set in different parts of New York City drew mixed reviews from audiences — and criticism from the comedy world for failing to address his admitted misconduct. "You've done nothing that merits forgiveness, and this bs insults truth in comedy," tweeted comedian Elayne Boosler. Kathy Griffin, meanwhile, griped that "Louis just gets to glide back in on his own terms" while female and non-white comics struggle to book gigs. "Gosh, does it pay off to be in the boys club…the white boys club," she tweeted. Michael Ian Black was a rare voice of support, tweeting, "People have to be allowed to serve their time and move on with their lives. I don't know if it's been long enough, or his career will recover, or if people will have him back, but I'm happy to see him try." Andy Richter, Michael Che and Paul F. Tompkins also chimed in on the controversy.
Fired "Lethal Weapon" actor Clayne Crawford says "blatant" lies were told about his on-set outbursts
During an appearance on the "Drinkin' Bros" podcast, Clayne Crawford told his version of the events that led to him being fired from "Lethal Weapon" nearly four months ago. The disgraced actor called the fallout from one incident (he was caught on camera yelling at an assistant director for failing to control the noise level while shooting an episode of the FOX series near a public pool) "humiliating." Said Crawford, "I had to pay half of my salary for that episode, I had to spend six weeks in anger management every day on my lunch break, and I had to be escorted to and from set by a security guard." He also called the report that he was yelling at children at the pool a "blatant f—— lie." He went on to explain that he was "belligerent" because they'd "been shooting a three-page scene for eight hours" and "were so behind." Said Crawford, "We stopped production over seven times. I called my agent, we were writing emails, we were phoning everyone we could to try and help us resolve the situation. No one would come in, no one would help us. … So I shot all of my coverage in between the sounds." As for the recording in which Crawford and co-star Damon Wayans can be heard using profane language while arguing, Crawford explains that the argument took place when he was directing an episode of "Lethal Weapon" and Wayans called in sick. When he returned to set the following day, Crawford saw his co-star "shooting hoops" and asked if he was feeling better, to which Wayans fired back, "Come on, bro. Everybody needed a day off.'" Another actor who's worked with Crawford in the past told TV Line that the rumor that he's "difficult" is just not true: "He demands that everyone bring their A-game, but that's a good thing," said the actor. "Damon is used to sitcom work and Clayne is used to cable drama. Damon likes sitcom hours, while Clayne wanted the show to be Emmy material. It was oil and water."
HBO reveals first glimpse of Season 8 of "Game of Thrones"
HBO gave a sneak peek at the eighth and final season of "Game of Thrones" in an Aug. 26 promo for their upcoming programming. Buried among old footage from Season 7 (as well as clips from several other new and returning shows) was a brief shot of Kit Harington's Jon Snow and Sophie Turner's Sansa Stark embracing at Winterfell. The six-episode final season of the fantasy drama will debut in the first half of 2019.
Kirstie Alley threatening to quit "Celebrity Big Brother" over "dirty" living conditions
It's been just two weeks since Kirstie Alley made her debut on the British version of "Celebrity Big Brother," but the actress is already threatening to leave the show. "Kirstie has been in the diary room so many times saying she wants to walk and that she's on the edge," a source told The Sun Online. "She's not coping well with the house's lack of cleanliness — specifically the shower being full of hair and everything stinking and being dirty. She's been shouting about it and getting close to tears about everything. … So far she's sticking it out but it could only be a matter of time until she walks." On an earlier episode of the reality show, the "Cheers" alum, who tried to implement cleaning rules for the "CBB" housemates, explained why she removed her shower gel from the shower: "I don't want to expose my shower gel to the pubic hairs. My shower gel gets really upset," she said. Some of her co-stars have also complained about the lack of cleanliness on set.
