What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T22 WHATS UP! March 20 - 26, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert This [Putin wanting to "de-Nazi- fy" Ukraine] is obviously a ridic- ulous claim. First of all, Zelen- skyy's not a Nazi. He's from a Jewish background and he's barely even a politician — he's a former TV comedian. This is like if the U.S. invaded Canada to capture war criminal Eugene Levy. What I'm trying to say is: The world is up "Schitt's Creek." Today [Feb. 23], Ukrainian Presi- dent Zelenskyy declared a "30- day state of emergency," calling up all military reservists be- tween the ages of 18 and 60. ... A platoon of 60-year-olds makes no sense! The Russians will hear our knees popping from a mile away. For year's the U.S. women's soc- cer players have been fighting for equal pay, and this morning the U.S. Soccer Federation and women's players agreed to settle their lawsuit. ... It's a wonderful outcome, I just can't believe it took this long to reach this GOOOOAAL! The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Today [Feb. 24] President Biden held a press conference where he announced major new sanc- tions against Russia, saying that every asset they have in America will be frozen. Trump heard and was like, "Oh no, they're gonna freeze me!" In the past few days, Elon Musk's net worth dropped below $200 billion. ... Now when he flies to space he has to connect in Cleveland. The Late Late Show With James Corden Today [Feb. 23] Vladimir Putin released a video and ... talked about "direct and honest dia- logue," which sounds like some- one's been to marriage counsel- ling. A Scottish theater company just set a new Guinness World Re- cord. The company opened a box of mystery scripts and then staged a full musical in just nine hours, 59 minutes and three sec- onds. Listen, we make a TV show from scratch every single day, [that] doesn't mean it's a good idea. Vladimir Putin has declared two areas of Ukraine "independent regions" and has sent troops across the border as "peace- keepers." Just so you know, I'm doing this [air quotes] because they're not actually peacekeep- ers. It's sort of like your wife drinking rosé with friends and calling it a "book club." Jimmy Kimmel Live! We've still got Q Anon waiting for JFK and rooting for the Rus- sians, which — as we know — would be right up JFK's alley. He loved those Russians! The latest batch of crazy from the Q Klux Klan is that they are largely on Team Putin. They've been prais- ing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is confusing. The Russian alphabet doesn't even have a Q in it, but they're all over this. On top of everything else we have to worry about, now we've got alcoholic Mountain Dew. ... They're calling "Hard Mountain Dew." It's also known as "Moun- tain D.U.I." The big news here in Hollywood today is that "Baby Shark" — you know, the YouTube video the devil unleashed on us? — they're making a movie out of it, which is great news because I think the problem most of us had with the "Baby Shark" video was that it wasn't long enough. ... It will be released in 2023, so if you've been thinking about getting a va- sectomy, consider that your heads-up. Late Night With Seth Meyers President Biden said on Friday [Feb. 18] that he is "convinced" that Russian President Vladimir Putin has already made the deci- sion to invade Ukraine. Putin re- portedly made the decision somewhere around his ninth birthday. President Biden spoke yesterday from the East Room about the Ukraine crisis and said, "As Rus- sia contemplates its next move, we have our next move prepared as well." Spoken like a man on the fifth row of Wordle with only two yellow squares. LATE LAUGHS BY MICHELLE ROSE TV Media 'Sherri' coming soon: Sherri Shepherd ("The View") is one of several celebrities who have been guest-hosting "The Wendy Williams Show" since Wendy Williams stepped back to deal with health-related issues, and it looks like she'll be a more per- manent fixture beginning this fall when she launches her own syndicated daytime talk show. "Sherri" will slide into the Fox timeslot currently occupied by "The Wendy Williams Show," which doesn't yet have an end date but will carry on with guest hosts until the current season wraps. After that, the transition should go fairly smoothly be- hind the scenes, since both shows are produced by Lions- gate's Debmar-Mercury and many "Wendy Williams" staffers (including executive producer/ showrunner David Perler) are moving over to Shepherd's show. "I am so excited to have my dream come true and debut my very own talk show, 'Sherri,' in the fall," Shepherd said in a statement. "I can't wait until I re- turn to New York to host the show and merge everything I love … pop culture, talk, enter- tainment and comedy." The future of "The Wendy Williams Show" has been up in the air for some time, and a rep- resentative for Williams previ- ously indicated that she wouldn't be back this season. But even with "Sherri" now moving forward as a possible re- placement, Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein took the time to thank Williams in their state- ment while leaving the door open for a future collaboration. "We all have a great love and affinity for Wendy, who grew into a true icon during her 12 in- credible seasons as the solo host of a live, daily talk show dishing on 'Hot Topics' and interviewing celebrities," the joint statement read. "Since Wendy is still not available to host the show as she continues on her road to recov- ery, we believe it is best for our fans, stations and advertising partners to start making this transition now. We hope to be able to work with Wendy again in the future, and continue to wish her a speedy and full recov- ery." Founding father: Michael Douglas ("The Kominsky Meth- od") as Benjamin Franklin? It's happened before. The Oscar and Emmy winner, who was the voice of Franklin in an episode of the 2003 PBS se- ries "Freedom: A History of US," will soon be playing the Found- ing Father again in an upcoming limited series for Apple TV+. The limited drama doesn't have an official title just yet, but it is based on the book "A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America" by Pu- litzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff. The story would focus on Frank- lin's diplomatic mission to France during the American Revolution, when, at the age of 70 and without any diplomatic training, he convinced the French monarchy to underwrite America's experiment in de- mocracy. "By virtue of his fame, charis- ma and ingenuity, Franklin out- maneuvered British spies, French informers and hostile colleagues, all while engineering the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the final peace treaty with England of 1783," Apple said. "The eight-year French mission stands as Franklin's most vital service to his country, without which America would not have won the Revolutionary War." Emmy winner Kirk Ellis, who wrote and co-produced the 2008 HBO miniseries about another Founding Father, "John Adams," is adapting Schiff's book for tele- vision, while Emmy winner Tim Van Patten ("Boardwalk Em- pire") is set to direct. Before 'Outlander': What would "Outlander" be like with- out the love story of Claire (Caitriona Balfe, "Belfast," 2021) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan, "Doctors")? We may soon find out, because a prequel series is reportedly in development at Starz. According to Variety, show- runner/executive producer Mat- thew B. Roberts ("Hellcats") is taking the lead on writing and producing the prequel, though Starz and Sony Pictures Televi- sion both declined to comment. Plot details are also unknown at this time, but many are looking at the series' source material, the writings of author Diana Gabal- don, for hints. "Outlander's" current season, which debuted earlier this month, is based on "A Breath of Snow and Ashes," the sixth nov- el in Gabaldon's "Outlander" se- ries, and Season 7 will be based on the seventh book, "An Echo in the Bone." That leaves two more novels for future seasons, if Starz extends the series' run. But what about the prequel? In a Feb. 3 Facebook post, Gabal- don teased a prequel novel was in the works and would focus on Jamie's parents, Ellen MacKen- zie and Brian Fraser. Gabaldon did add, however, "I've barely begun working on it," so there's probably not enough to form the basis for a new TV series just yet. Gabaldon's 2013 novella "Vir- gins," which is part of the Dan- gerous Women anthology, may also play a part as it focused on a younger Jamie Fraser and Ian Murray (played in the series by Steven Cree, "A Discovery of Witches") during their days as mercenaries in 1740s France. Sherri Shephard to host own talk show in place of "The Wendy Williams Show" STARS ON SCREEN