HBO shares first look at Jodie Foster starring in Season 4 of ‘True Detective’

HBO has shared that the fourth season of ‘True Detective’, titled ‘True Detective: Night Country’, will star Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, with Issa Lopez serving as showrunner.

HBO released a teaser of what’s to come in 2023 that showed new footage of their upcoming series like The Last of Us, and gave viewers a first look at Foster in True Detective: Night Country.  HBO tweeted: “So much to look forward to. New originals, returning series, and more coming soon to @hbomax”

HBO also shared a synopsis for Season 4 of True Detective: “When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the six men that operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.”

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Jeff Garlin joins fourth and final season of Netflix’s ‘Never Have I Ever’

Jeff Garlin has joined the cast of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever for its fourth and final season. It marks the first series Garlin has joined since he was let go from ABC’s The Goldbergs a year ago following an HR investigation. Garlin has remained part of the ensemble at HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he’s also an executive producer.

Netflix and co-creators Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher announced in March that the fourth season of Never Have I Ever, which follows an Indian American teenager (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) through her high school years, would be its last. Garlin will play a man named Len, who sparks the interest of Devi’s (Ramakrishnan) grandmother, Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty). The final season is slated to air in 2023.

Garlin starred on The Goldbergs for most of its first nine seasons, leaving the sitcom in December 2021 for alleged behavior on set that made members of the show’s staff uncomfortable. The Goldbergs wrote around Garlin’s absence and occasionally used old footage of him in the final episodes of the ninth season. He was written off at the start of season 10 when his character, patriarch Murray Goldberg, died offscreen.

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Apparent murder-suicide leaves 2 dead at Jehovah’s Witness hall in Colorado

Two adults were found dead at Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Thornton, Colo., after an alleged murder-suicide incident on Christmas morning. Police shared that an unidentified adult male is believed to have shot his wife before killing himself at about 9 a.m.on Sunday, Christmas Day. Police say the two adults were former members of the congregation, which is located in the suburb of Denver.

Thornton Police Department said in its press release posted on Twitter:  “On a day that is historically associated with joy, family and fun, we’re saddened to inform you of the following. The investigation is still active, witnesses being interviewed, scene being examined. Still no known threats to the Thornton community.”

The Thornton Police Department said the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Hazardous Material Unit is investigating a suspicious device found at the scene. Witnesses say that a gun was fired in the parking lot of the hall Sunday morning. The suspect also threw a molotov cocktail, starting a fire inside the building.

Kingdom Hall holds three services on Sundays. An internal message to the congregation said: “Dear friends, today’s meeting will be held on Zoom due to a tragic incident that occurred at the Kingdom Hall this morning. Various reports are in the news however we don’t have all the information at this time. Please be assured that the local Bodies of Elders will be caring for the needs of the affected Congregations.”

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Death toll rises to 37 due to severe winter storm conditions across the U.S.

The death toll from the winter storm sweeping across large parts of the continental United States has risen to at least 37.   Many of those deaths were due to weather-related traffic accidents or from the cold, while some were the result of first responders not being able to treat medical conditions quickly enough because of the hazardous weather conditions. The storm also caused hundreds of thousands to lose power in more than a dozen states and delayed and canceled thousands of flights

Buffalo, N.Y., has been one of the hardest-hit location in the United States, with at least 12 people confirmed dead amid the storm. The National Weather Service said that 43 inches of snow had fallen at Buffalo’s airport as of 7 a.m. Sunday. The storm brought hurricane-force winds and created whiteout conditions as it battered the area. A bomb cyclone, which happens when atmospheric pressure drops sharply in a strong storm, developed over the Great Lakes and sent temperatures well below freezing throughout much of the country.

CNN also reported that eight people died from weather-related car crashes in Ohio, including four who were killed in a 46-car pileup on the Ohio Turnpike on Saturday. Police in Colorado Springs, Colo., reported that two people have died from the cold since Thursday, and three people died in weather-related traffic accidents in Kansas, three died in Kentucky and Missouri, and Tennessee and Wisconsin have each reported one traffic-related death.

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Cincinnati Bengals RT La’el Collins out for season with torn ACL and MCL

Cincinnati Bengals right tackle La’el Collins exited the Bengals’ win over the Patriots due to injury, and now the veteran has been diagnosed with a torn ACL and MCL.

The 29-year-old was feared to have suffered a significant knee injury based on how he left the game. Initial testing suggested the ACL was intact and it was more a shifting of the kneecap, which brought “significant pain” but may not have ended his season. However, an additional MRI showed Collins suffered a torn ACL and MCL; he is expected to need approximately seven months to recover, ending his 2022 campaign.

Collins played 74 games for the Dallas Cowboys from 2015 through 2021, but injuries have plagued him over the years. The right tackle missed the entire 2020 campaign with a hip injury and appeared in just three contests in 2016 because of a toe injury.

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UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar dies at age 45

Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar, who popularized the sport in the finale fight of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, died on Thursday at the age of 45. The UFC said in a news release that Bonnar died from “presumed heart complications” while at work.

UFC President Dana White said in the news release: “Stephan Bonnar was one of the most important fighters to ever compete in the Octagon. His fight with Forrest Griffin changed the sport forever, and he will never be forgotten. The fans loved him, related to him and he always gave them his best. He will be missed.”

Bonnar’s three-round light heavyweight final match against Forrest Griffin in Las Vegas in 2005 paved the way to the beginning of the popularity of the UFC. The fight is in the company’s Hall of Fame fight wing, which recognizes “the greatest, most memorable and historically important UFC bouts.” Griffin won the match and was awarded a UFC contract, but also gave Bonnar a contract. Bonnar later said: “I knew it was a good fight during the fight. It hit me when everyone started stomping their feet and it felt like the whole place was shaking. And that was in the second round. I was like ‘oooh, this must be good.’ Everything changed. I didn’t think I’d have a UFC career. It was just a little hobby I was doing, so it changed everything. Almost overnight, I became like a celebrity. Everywhere I went, someone would recognize me, even in obscure places.”” Bonnnar, known as “The American Psycho,” went on to fight against Hall of Famers such as Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, Anderson Silva, and Tito Ortiz during his seven-year light heavyweight career.

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Sam Hunt set to headline NHL Breakaway fan experience

Sam Hunt is set to kick-off the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Boston’s Fenway Park on Monday, Jan. 2, by headlining a free show before the game.  Hunt wrote on Twitter: “We’ll be kicking off the @NHL_On_TNT Winter Classic with a free show, open to the public, at the NHL @BR_OpenIce ‘Breakaway’ pregame in Boston on Jan 2nd. See you there”

The NHL on TNT and B/R Open Ice’s first-ever Breakaway fan experience is set for Monday, January 2nd from 10 am until 2 pm at the Brookline Lot, directly across from Fenway Park.  This event is free and open to the public. . The game will begin at 2PM ET and will air on TNT in the U.S. and on Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports in Canada. The fan festival leading up to the game will begin on Friday, Dec. 30 at the NHL Winter Classic Plaza.

Hunt recently earned his 10th career No. 1 with “Wishful Drinking” with Ingrid Andress.  His multi-Platinum-selling sophomore album Southside debuted to critical acclaim and was one of the top country albums of 2020 landing at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and included the No. 1 hits “Kinfolks,” “Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90’s,” “Hard To Forget,” and “Body Like A Back Road.”

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Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley and more to perform at George Jones Tribute concert

Dierks Bentley, Tanya Tucker, and Brad Paisley will perform at the tribute concert for country great George Jones next spring, dubbed ‘Still Playing Possum: Music and Memories of George Jones.’  The tribute concert, which will be filmed for television, will mark the tenth anniversary of Jones’ death and will take place on April 25 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

George’s widow Nancy said: “George Jones died on April 26, 2013, in Nashville, Tennessee. It will be ten years since he left us with just his songs, so to produce this night of music to honor his legacy is perfectly fitting. George made history and influenced artists from all genres and many of them will celebrate with us in April. The night will bring lots of emotion for the fans, our family, and anyone who just loved country music.”

The concert will also include performances by Jamey Johnson, Justin Moore, Lorrie Morgan, Mark Chesnutt, Michael Ray, Sam Moore, Trace Adkins, Tracy Byrd, and Tracy Lawrence, with more artists expected to be added.

Tickets for the event are available now at Ticketmaster.

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‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ tops the holiday weekend box office

Even with severe winter weather affecting most of the country over the holiday weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water remained at the top of the box office for the second weekend in a row. Despite the release of three new movies this weekend, the film – starring Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana – took in an extra $56 million for a two-week total of $253.7 million.

The animated film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, starring the voice of Antonio Banderas in the title role, debuted in second place. The film opened on Wednesday, earning a total of $18.3 million.

In third place was the new movie Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody starring Naomi Ackie as the late Whitney Houston. It earned $5.3 million. Babylon, starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, opened in fourth place, taking in $3.5 million; and rounding out the top five was Violent Night, which dropped two spots from last weekend to earn an additional $3.1 million, giving it a four-week total of $41.6 million.

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Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Taylor Swift nominated for Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards

Grammy-winning musicians Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Taylor Swift are all nominated for songs from movies that have are expected to also earn them Oscar nominations.

Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from Wakanda Forever, and Swift’s “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing are up for the Outstanding Song from a Drama/Documentary award from the Society of Composers & Lyricists. Actor Darren Criss will host the awards which take place at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 15.

The women will be competing against songwriter Diane Warren for her song “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for “You Made It Feel Like (Home)” from the movie Bones and All.

For the full list of nominees, head here.

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