Did You Hear ...? Mariah Carey set to ring in 2018; John Oliver shares his sadness
A diva landed a do-over, a TV host got the feels, a pageant organization melted down, a singer made an admission and a couple of producers received positive news. Here are some highlights from the week in entertainment.
Mariah Carey will ring in the new year — again
Redemption may come quickly for Carey. “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” has invited her back despite — or perhaps because of? — the lip-sync and essentially spoken-word debacle that imploded on last year’s show. Mimi joins a roster that will include Britney Spears, another singer who could use a high-profile chance to come back from a less-than-perfect performance on television.
Turn that frown upside down, John Oliver ...
Oliver, host of “Last Week Tonight,” said his contentious chat with Dustin Hoffman earlier this month left him feeling sad. Meanwhile, those who accused the two-time Oscar winner of sexual misconduct seemed the opposite. “While the questions you asked may not have led to the constructive conversation you hoped for, the fact that you asked them at all is what matters most,” seven women wrote in an open letter to Oliver.
Farewell to ‘the first women’s libber on television’
Rose Marie, who played glib, man-hunting comedy writer Sally Rogers on the ’60s sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and essentially stayed in character afterward as a regular on “The Hollywood Squares,” died Thursday at 94. “Baby Rose Marie” started her entertainment career as a singer in the 1920s when she won a New York talent show at age 3. “I worked with the guys, I made the same money,” she said in 2004. “I was the first women’s libber on television.” Take a bow, Rose Marie.
Stormy weather lingers for the Miss America pageant
“They thought they could weather the storm. I am the storm. You’re not weathering it.” That’s what happens when you mess with Miss America Mallory Hagan, who along with other “formers” Gretchen Carlson and Kate Shindle is pushing a petition to get the entire Miss America Organization board to resign after that email scandal. An announcement from the board on Wednesday night saying it would replace three disgraced executives using a board-selected committee set off Hagan’s gif-worthy fury.
Solange Knowles backs out of concert, discloses she’s been sick
In pulling out of South Africa’s inaugural Afropunk celebration set for New Year’s Eve, Knowles decided to open up about the autonomic disorder she’s been quietly dealing with for five months. “Sometimes I feel cool,” she said, “and other times not so cool at all.”
With ‘Pose’ and ‘Mad About You,’ TV goes back in time
With nothing new on television this time of year, there was still a bit of TV news. Perhaps inspired by a revived “Will & Grace,” or energized by rumors that “The Office” might come back, Sony was said to be in talks to reboot ’90s sitcom “Mad About You.” No network yet on that one, but FX did strike a deal for Ryan Murphy’s “Pose,” a dance musical drama set in the ’80s that will feature the biggest LGBTQ cast the small screen has ever seen.
Did You Hear …? runs Saturday in Entertainment at latimes.com.
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