What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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October 4 - 10, 2020 WHATS UP! T5 BY MICHELLE ROSE TV Media Talking politics: The ABC sitcom "Black-ish" has never been one to shy away from tack- ling politically "heavy" topics head-on, so why not address next month's presidential elec- tions? Indeed, that's the topic that will be explored in a new one-hour, stand-alone election special set to air this week. It's not the Season 7 premiere — production just resumed about a month ago — but this special should please both new and existing fans. Technically, the one-hour event consists of two back-to-back, half-hour epi- sodes, and each one features a very different format: Oscar winner Matthew A. Cherry ("Hair Love," 2019) directed the first installment, "Election Spe- cial Pt. 1," while "Election Spe- cial Pt. 2" is entirely animated. Both episodes are currently scheduled to air on Sunday, Oct. 4, so long as the NBA Finals don't impact ABC's program- ming schedule. The live-action "Black-ish" episode focuses on Junior's (Marcus Scribner, "Confession- al," 2019) experience as a first- time voter. His initial excitement fades after discovering he's been purged from the voter list, and as a result, Junior embarks on a deep dive into the voter registra- tion system. In the animated epi- sode, Dre (Anthony Anderson, "Kangaroo Jack," 2003) gets pulled into politics when his col- league Mr. Stevens (Peter Mack- enzie, "Hart of Dixie") runs for Congress. Dre decides to cam- paign against him but quickly gets caught up in fundraising ef- forts and private interest groups. Casting Mrs. Walker: Once production begins on CW's "Walker, Texas Ranger" reboot, lead actor Jared Padalecki ("Su- pernatural") shouldn't have much trouble connecting with his on-screen wife — after all, she's his off-screen wife, too. Genevieve Padalecki ("Wild- fire") has been cast in the recur- ring role of Emily Walker and will star opposite her husband, who plays widower Cordell Walker. And "widower" is key here, because strong, capable and kind-hearted Emily will mostly appear in flashbacks. In this reimagining of the 1990s CBS series, Cordell Walk- er is a father of two who returns to his home in Austin after work- ing undercover for the previous two years. But his homecoming isn't an easy one. He'll have to reconnect with his kids, navigate clashes with his family and find common ground with new part- ner Micki (Lindsey Morgan, "The 100"), all while growing suspicious about the circum- stances surrounding his wife's death. Genevieve Padalecki (née Cortese) previously starred in the ABC Family series, "Wild- fire," which ran from 2005 to 2008. She had a recurring role in "Supernatural" and met Jared on the set in 2008. The two were married in 2010 and, since 2011, Genevieve has been large- ly focused on raising their three kids. All Access Rebranding: CBS All Access, home of such series as "Picard" and "The Good Fight," just got a new look, and it will soon have a new name, too. It all stems from the New Year's Eve (2019) merger of CBS's streaming service with other Viacom assets, including Pluto TV, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, The Smithsonian Channel and Paramount Pic- tures. Instead of introducing a brand new streaming service, ViacomCBS opted to build off the success of CBS All Access by expanding in a big way: about 30,000 additional TV episodes, and many Paramount movie ti- tles (including the "Mission: Im- possible" franchise), are gradu- ally being added to the content library. The user interface was also overhauled during the sum- mer to provide a more personal- ized, easy-to-browse experi- ence. But there are even bigger changes coming in early 2021 — that's when CBS All Access will be relaunched as Paramount+. A name change has been teased for a while now, but the official announcement provided Via- comCBS with an opportunity to generate more buzz by pulling back the curtain on some new original programming. Among the titles heading to Paramount+ is "The Offer," a 10-episode limited series about the making of the 1972 Para- mount movie "The Godfather." The scripted drama is from writ- er-producer Michael Tolkin ("Escape at Dannemora") and it tells the story from the perspec- tive of the film's Oscar-winning producer, Al Ruddy. Given the production's clash- es with the studio, the Italian- American community and even the Mob, it's not hard to see how this story could make for good TV. To top it all off, direc- tor Francis Ford Coppola's new cut of "The Godfather III," now titled "Mario Puzo's The Godfa- ther, Coda: The Death of Mi- chael Corleone," should also boost interest in "The Offer" af- ter the film completes its limit- ed run in theaters this Decem- ber. AIR PLANT ALOE ANTHUR- IUM BEGONIA BIRD OF PARADISE BROMELIAD CROTON CROWN OF THORNS DRACAENA DRAGON TREE DUMB CANE ENGLISH IVY FICUS JADE PLANT MONEY TREE MOTH ORCHID POINSETTIA SCARLETT STAR SUCCU- LENTS TRAILING JADE URN PLANT YUCCA ZZ PLANT Houseplants! Anthony Anderson stars in "Black-ish" WORD SEARCH STARS ON SCREEN Solution on page T23