What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T22 WHATS UP! May 22 - 28, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert This weekend [April 16-17] we learned that Florida rejected 41% of new math textbooks. At least, they think it's 41%. For some reason they suck at math. Not everyone is being so quick to go full-frontal face, because the MTA in New York City said it would keep its mask mandate in place. So, if you're riding the subway, remember: Masks are mandatory. Pants, still optional. If this [French President Em- manuel Macron's latest photo] works, it'll set a whole new stan- dard for campaigns everywhere. Biden's got to show a little sock garter for the mid-terms, Boris Johnson has to give us a peek un- der the haystack, and Justin Trudeau has to show us his butt. He's not up for re-election; it would just be a treat. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon The Tony Awards are coming up and they just issued a strict no- violence policy to potential tick- et buyers[s]. ... You can always tell that a fight's gonna break out at the Tony's when people start snapping. I read that the CEO of Old Navy is stepping down. Now Old Na- vy's going to try on a dozen new CEOs before finding one that fits and leaving the rest on the floor. Today [April 25] the Tampa Bay Lightning visited President Biden to celebrate their last two Stanley Cup championships. Biden said he's not a big Light- ning fan, but his childhood friend, Ben Franklin, is. The Late Late Show With James Corden Emmanuel Macron has been elected to a second term, be- coming the first French presi- dent to win re-election in 20 years. That's the thing about ma- crons, you always go back for seconds. [Due to] a shortage of pilots ... airlines are now substituting buses for planes. You go to an airport, load onto a bus and drive to another airport. ... American Airlines has already announced bus rides between Philadelphia International Air- port and airports in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Atlantic City, New Jersey. But don't worry, they're still going to send your luggage to Hawaii. Today the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, met with Vla- dimir Putin in Moscow and call- ed for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. ... If the job doesn't get done with the UN secretary-gen - eral, they'll have to send in the UN secretary-specific. Jimmy Kimmel Live! In New York, you know, the fall- out from the Oscars is now spill- ing onto other award shows. The producers of the Tonys today sent a letter to prospective audi- ence members that said, "The Tony Awards has a strict no-vio- lence policy. In the event of an incident, the perpetrator will be removed from the event imme- diately." ... In the event of an at- tack, not only will the perpetra- tor be removed from the theater, they will be banned from the Tony Awards for 525,600 min- utes. Late Night With Seth Meyers Firefighters in Washington State last week rescued a woman after she fell headfirst into an out- house toilet trying to retrieve her cellphone; which is crazy be- cause it was an Android! President Biden said yesterday he tried to congratulate French President Emmanuel Macron on his re-election but was unable to reach him because Macron was "at the Eiffel Tower having a good time." Oof, that's got to hurt! That's not even a good lie. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy led a group of Repub- licans yesterday on a visit to the U.S./Mexico border, but Ted Cruz wasn't with them because he has no interest in only going halfway to Cancun. Officials in New York are report- edly considering allowing pizze- rias and other restaurants to sell cannabis-infused foods. "Uh, they only come here if they're al- ready high," said Papa Johns. LATE LAUGHS BY MICHELLE ROSE TV Media On the case: ABC's planned adaptation of Karin Slaughter's Will Trent book series is one step closer to becoming reality. ABC cautiously handed the project a cast-contingent pilot order in February, suggesting it has faith in the script or concept, but filming couldn't begin until a network-approved actor was cast in the lead role. That contin- gency no longer applies since 20th Television has officially cast its two leads. Ramón Rodríguez ("Iron Fist"), who was previously at- tached to the drama "Olga Dies Dreaming," led by Aubrey Plaza ("Parks and Recreation"), before Hulu passed on the pilot, has been tapped to play the titular role of the Georgia Bureau of In- vestigations special agent. After enduring a traumatic childhood in Atlanta's over- whelmed foster care system, Trent is determined to make sure no one is abandoned as he was. He's a loner within the law- enforcement community, and despite secretly suffering from severe dyslexia, Trent has the highest clearance rate in the GBI. It seems Rodríguez, who will also serve as a producer, had been favored to play Trent all along: According to outlets such as Deadline, the actor had been approached about the role just weeks after its pilot order, and he boarded the project after lengthy negotiations. As for who will play Angie, Trent's on-again, off-again girl- friend, that role will be filled by "Parenthood" star Erika Chris- tensen. Angie is a detective with the Atlanta Police Department — she's seen it all but can still crack jokes about her tough line of work. She's also known Trent since childhood, when they met in a group foster home and helped take care of each other. Angie struggles with addiction, however, and has yet to confront her childhood traumas. With these casting decisions, "Will Trent" now joins several other legal-related pilots (and possible new series) that are currently in development at ABC, including the planned re- vival "L.A. Law." Net' profits: Recent cost-cut- ting measures at Netflix have re- sulted in some high-profile can- cellations — including "Space Force" and "Pearl," the planned animated series from Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle. Despite this, Netflix still needs new and original content. As a result, the streamer has been "buying," "ordering" and even breathing new life into once-canceled projects, one of which is action comedy "Oblit- erated." The series hails from "Cobra Kai" creators Jon Hur- witz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald. "Obliterated" been described as a "high octane," eight-part se- ries about an elite special forces team that has thwarted an evil plot in Las Vegas. But after tak- ing part in a wild, celebratory party, the team's members real- ize the bomb they deactivated was fake. Still intoxicated, they are forced to shake things off and overcome personal issues as they race to find the real bomb and save the world. "Obliterated" had previously scored a series order from TBS in 2019. At some point, the basic cable network passed on it, though it's unclear if this was due to the pandemic shutdown or to a shift in programming strategy. Things also seem to have shifted since the big War- nerMedia-Discovery merger, with TBS now moving away from original scripted program- ming and offering up some of its planned projects, including the recently cancelled "Kill the Or- ange-Faced Bear," which is re- portedly being shopped around. "Obliterated" should enter production sometime this sum- mer. Slater's slate: What's next for actor Christian Slater? After starring in Peacock's legal/medi- cal drama "Dr. Death," the Gold- en Globe-winning actor (for "Mr. Robot") has a few more TV projects coming out in 2022, when he'll be adding to his al- ready-lengthy list of voice-act- ing gigs. Next up are Netflix's "Inside Job" and "Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas," both animated se- ries, and with the third install- ment of the Young Guns film franchise still listed as in "pre- production" on IMDb, an FX limited series may be fans' next opportunity to see Slater in a live-action role. As first reported by Deadline, Slater has joined the cast of FX's "Fleishman Is In Trouble," the limited series based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner's novel about 40-something Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network," 2010), who dives into the world of app-based dating after separating from his wife (Claire Danes, "Homeland"). Fleishman's ex's disappearance wreaks havoc on his new life, however, and he's forced to take a more honest look at what hap- pened to his marriage as he struggles to balance parenthood with dating and a new promo- tion. Slater is slated to recur in three episodes as Archer Sylvan, who in the book is a Tom Wolfe- esque reporter whose article about the dissolution of a mar- riage shares an awful lot of simi- larities with Fleishman's story. Sylvan is the obsession of the book's narrator, Libby Epstein (Lizzy Caplan, "Masters of Sex"), who, along with Seth (Adam Brody, "The O.C."), is a college friend of Fleishman's. Josh Radnor ("How I Met Your Mother") has also boarded the project as Libby's husband, Adam. Ramón Rodríguez to star in "Will Trent" at ABC STARS ON SCREEN