By Jessica Wedemeyer
8:06am PST, Jan 18, 2019
Dog the Bounty Hunter and wife Beth set return to TV
Dog the Bounty Hunter (Duane Chapman) and his wife, Beth Chapman, are returning to TV with a new unscripted WGN America series, "Dog's Most Wanted," the network announced on Jan. 14. The 10-episode series will chronicle the duo as they team up with an elite team of professionals called The Dirty Dozen to hunt down some of the FBI's most wanted fugitives — Dog's "bucket list" of criminals, including individuals wanted by the U.S. Marshals and state law enforcement agencies. The show, which will begin production in early 2019, will be WGN America's first unscripted series in more than five years.
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"The Bachelor" alum Cristy Caserta's cause of death released
Bachelor Nation now has some closure: According to an autopsy report obtained by TMZ on Jan. 14, Cristy Caserta — who competed for Brad Womack's heart on Season 15 of "The Bachelor" in 2011 — died from an enlarged heart and an overactive thyroid. The attorney passed away suddenly after suffering an apparent seizure while taking a class at a school in Sunrise, Florida, on Oct. 4, 2018.
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Meghan McCain clashes with "The View" co-hosts over GOP and race
Meghan McCain clashed with her co-hosts while discussing charges of racism against Republican Rep. Steve King — and his subsequent fallout with other Republicans — on the Jan. 15 episode of "The View." The trouble started during a discussion of the perception that "there's a lot of racism in the Republican party," as Sunny Hostin put it. Though Meghan fiercely condemned King, calling for him to step down and acknowledging that he's very harmful to the Republican party, things took a turn when Sunny accused Donald Trump of being racist for his insistence on building the wall and wondered if Republicans will now hold him accountable for his perceived racism — as they have King. "The government is still shut down, and I think it's all about 'Let's not let all these brown people in,'" she said. Abby Huntsman then pointed out that 42 percent of Americans reportedly support the wall and asked if that means that 42 percent of Americans are racist. "I think this is the problem with identity politics in the country," Meghan chimed in. "When you broad-stroke everyone — all black people think one thing, all Hispanic people think one thing, all Republicans think one thing — that's how we got ourselves into this mess. … So please don't paint me — just because I'm for border security — that I somehow am racist in some way or another — because I don't think that's fair." She then tried to steer the conversation back to King before the panel devolved into loudly arguing over one another, prompting Whoopi Goldberg to interrupt to silence everyone. Joy Behar, a staunch Trump critic, tried to take over the conversation, but not before Meghan interrupted. "You did just call 42 percent of the country — there was an implication that they could be racist, which is something that obviously when you're talking about Republicans in general, that is obviously something that is going to make Abby and I uncomfortable," she said. When Joy tried to make another argument, Meghan yelled, "I am John McCain's daughter! I am not someone who sits here and is OK with racism!" Whoopi then sent the show to a commercial break.
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Julia Roberts won't return for "Homecoming" Season 2
The Hollywood Reporter reported on Jan. 16 that Julia Roberts will not appear on the upcoming second season of "Homecoming." She starred as caseworker Heidi Bergman on Season 1 of the Amazon drama — her first series regular role. She will, however, remain onboard as an executive producer. The second season of the show is expected to deviate dramatically from the podcast on which it's based.
Kit Harington "not happy, but very satisfied" with "Game of Thrones" ending
Kit Harington dished on saying goodbye to "Game of Thrones" during a Jan. 15 appearance on "The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show," saying he's "maybe not happy, but very satisfied" with how the hit HBO series ends. "It's like when you finish a book, you're not happy it's over, are you? You don't finish a good book and say, 'I'm happy I finished that,'" he said. "But you have this grief that it's over, and it's the exact same with nine years doing this show. No matter how it ended, or how it does end, there's always this bit of you that's like, 'Oh.' There's this loss around it." Continued Kit, who's starred as Jon Snow since 2011, "I'm so excited for people to see it. I think it's going to be extraordinary. Hopefully it'll change TV again — like it did originally — and break boundaries. … I think it might." He wrapped his part on the eighth and final season of "GoT" — which debuts in April — back in mid-2018. "It's weird walking around, I think, for all of us, walking around with this big secret where we know how it all wraps up, and how it ends," he said.
NBC says it may consider pulling "The Office" off Netflix
NBCUniversal announced on Jan. 14 that it plans to launch its own ad-supported streaming service in 2020. The new service — which would include NBC TV shows, Universal films, original content and other acquired programs — would be free to users who already have access to NBC through a traditional TV service provider, The Wall Street Journal reported, while users who don't already have access to NBC could subscribe for somewhere around $10 per month. NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke told the Journal that the company may consider moving "The Office" from Netflix to the new streamer once their current licensing deal ends in 2021. According to Business Insider, "The Office" is currently the most watched series on Netflix, with NBC's "Parks and Recreation" ranking third, behind "Friends" in the No. 2 spot.
Bradley Bolke, Chumley the walrus on "Tennessee Tuxedo" cartoons, dies at 93
"Tennessee Tuxedo" actor Bradley Bolke, who voiced Chumley the walrus on the '60s cartoon, died at age 93 in Dobbs Ferry, New York, on Jan. 15. Rankin/Bass Productions historian and biographer Rick Goldschmidt confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ellen Pompeo may not exit "Grey's Anatomy" next year after all
Ellen Pompeo is walking back previous comments that she's thinking about leaving "Grey's Anatomy" when her current contract expires at the end of Season 16 in May 2020. "I'm contracted through Season 16, and beyond that … I don't really know. I take it day by day," she told TVLine as part of an interview that hit the Internet on Jan. 16. "I keep saying, 'I'm ready to move on and I want to stop the show before the ratings go down,' but the ratings never go down! … They go down a little bit, but the fact that we are able to hold our [title as ABC's No. 1 series] is kind of [incredible]. It's very cool to have these kind of ratings and be on a hit network show in this [peak TV] landscape." Continued the actress, "It's a pretty nice place to work. … I like my situation here. As much as the idea of something new appeals to me … the truth is I have three kids. I don't really want to travel and leave [them]. I don't want to be a circus traveler and live in hotels. And the network and studio continue to incentivize me and just make me offers that I can't refuse." The Golden Globe nominee also has her co-workers — who would find themselves without jobs if she leaves "Grey's" and the show ends — to think of: "I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about how many people have stable jobs [on the show]," she said. "In this town you don't get a lot of 24-episodes-a-season shows. So the fact that this crew gets to film 24 episodes — that's 10 months of work — and they get to stay in L.A. [is remarkable]."
