What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T22 WHATS UP! March 26 - April 1, 2023 The Late Show With Stephen Colbert [Ron] DeSantis is almost cer- tainly going to run for president in 2024, so to pump up the Ron- citement, today [Feb. 28] he re- leased a memoir, "The Courage to Be Free." A title so politically generic that I have already for- gotten it. ... Ron DeSantis's main goal: Make America Florida. No. We already have one. OK, actually, two if you count Arizo- na and parts of Long Island. On Sunday [Feb. 26], we learned that the Department of Energy believes that the COVID pan- demic was the result of a lab leak, a belief they hold with "low confidence." That's not re- assuring. It's like if Arby's changed their slogan to, "We're pretty sure what we have is meats." According to insiders, the for- mer president [Trump] is facing a "soft ban" at Fox. What? What? They're banning the ex- president? That's like the Dis- covery Channel banning sharks. No one wants to watch "Salty Water" week. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon The U.S. Energy Department just released a new report that said the COVID pandemic might have been started by a Chinese lab leak. Hmm. Ameri- cans heard and were like, "Hey, thanks for that three-years-too- late information. Any 'Game of Thrones' spoilers?" Former president Trump criti- cized Fox News [Feb. 27] for promoting Ron DeSantis, "so hard and so much." At this point, Trump watching Fox feels like your friend who can't stop looking at their ex's Insta- gram. Today is March 1, which means it is the start of Women's Histo- ry Month. Yeah, just remember: behind every great woman is a man loudly repeating her ideas. Jimmy Kimmel Live! When you think of all the peo- ple I regularly make fun of, it's a lot of people. The only two who have tried to stop me are Don- ald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who actually called the cops on me. ... I made fun of O.J. a thousand times; he hasn't tried to kill me once. Democrats, Republicans and Independents all agree that [George] Santos should not be a congressman anymore. There's a new survey. It says 66% of New York voters want him to resign. The other 34 are him in a variety of wigs and moustaches. The White House today [March 2] unveiled President Biden's new cybersecurity plan. And while you might think letting Joe Biden spearhead cybersecu- rity makes about as much sense as asking Grandpa to set up your Xbox, he's not kidding around — he's going all in. Late Night With Seth Meyers President Biden made a sur- prise trip last week [Feb. 20] to Ukraine by taking a 10-hour train ride or, as the guy next to him thought, an 80-hour train ride. President Biden reportedly had a difficult time sleeping last week on the overnight train ride ... and read a briefing memo on the history of Kyiv. And that didn't put him to sleep? That would have put the last presi- dent into a multi-year coma. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law yesterday that takes away Disney World's self-governing status. So, if you're at Disney ... I have even more bad news: now you're also in Florida. Dictionary.com yesterday [Feb. 28] unveiled new entries, in- cluding the word "woke." "Still not gonna look it up," said Re- publicans. The Late Late Show With James Corden New intelligence has prompted the Energy Department to con- clude that the coronavirus pan- demic was most likely caused by an accidental lab leak in Chi- na. When reached for com- ment, China was like, "Do you remember that silly balloon? What even was that?" LATE LAUGHS BY MICHELLE ROSE TV Media Mob justice (league): If you've seen 2022's "The Bat- man," you might have caught a reference (or several) to the character of Salvatore Maroni, whose arrest paved the way for Carmine Falcone's (John Turtur- ro, "Severance") rise to power. And if you know a little about the comic book character, you're probably hoping to see the mob boss in the film's planned spinoff show, HBO Max's "The Pen- guin." It seems your wish has been granted. Fresh off his appear- ance in "John Wick: Chapter 4" (2023), Clancy Brown recently boarded "The Penguin," and the always-busy character actor is set to recur as Gotham City's in- famous crime lord. The character of Sal Maroni was previously portrayed by Dennis Paladino in 1995's "Bat- man Forever," Eric Roberts in 2008's "The Dark Knight," and by David Zayas in the Fox series "Gotham." In the DC Comics universe, he's been around since 1942, and he's (in)famously the one who tossed acid at Harvey Dent, horribly disfiguring him and giving rise to Dent's gang- ster alter-ego, Two-Face. Naturally, fans are wondering if this might be a way of bringing Two-Face into the story. Howev- er, the more pressing question is whether Maroni will appear in flashbacks or will next be seen mounting a criminal comeback, seeing as "The Penguin" will take place in the aftermath of the events featured in the film. Produced by Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios, the drama centers on the titular character, Oswald "The Pen- guin" Cobblepot, played once more by Colin Farrell ("The Banshees of Inisherin," 2022). Cristin Milioti ("Palm Springs," 2020) will play Sofia Falcone, the daughter of Carmine Falcone. Other cast members include Rhenzy Feliz ("Marvel's Run- aways"), Michael Kelly ("House of Cards"), Shohreh Aghdashloo ("The Expanse") and Deirdre O'Connell ("The Boy Down- stairs," 2017). As for Brown, this won't be his first portrayal of a DC supervil- lain: he spent years voicing Su- perman's nemesis, Lex Luthor, in various DC Animated Uni- verse shows. He's even crossed over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having portrayed Ray Schooner in "Daredevil" and voiced Surtur in "Thor: Ragn- arok" (2017). An eight-episode limited se- ries, "The Penguin" is expected to arrive on HBO Max sometime next year. Five and done: It may be the longest-running drama on Para- mount+, but "Star Trek: Discov- ery's" reign will soon come to an end, sadly. The streamer recently an- nounced that the sci-fi series will wrap after Season 5, which should arrive on our screens in early 2024. In an official statement, Tanya Giles, chief programming officer at Paramount Streaming, praised the series' storytelling while al- luding to the streamer's plans for giving the series — its first commissioned original series and its first contribution to the ever-expanding Star Trek fran- chise — a proper sendoff. "'Star Trek: Discovery' is a pe- rennial favorite on the service, near and dear to the hearts of le- gions of Star Trek fans as well as all of us here at Paramount+," Giles said. "The series and its in- credible cast and creatives ush- ered in a new era for Star Trek when it debuted over six years ago, embracing the future of streaming with serialized story- telling, bringing to life deep and complex characters that honor Gene Roddenberry's legacy of representing diversity and inclu- sion, and pushing the envelope with award-winning world- building." Giles added: "This final sea- son will see our beloved crew take on a new adventure, and we can't wait to celebrate the series' impact on the franchise leading up to its final season early next year." Filming for the 10-episode season began back in June 2022, and principal photography re- cently wrapped, though Dead- line reported some additional filming might be planned. The fifth/final season will find the crew of the USS Discov- ery — including Captain Burn- ham (Sonequa Martin-Green, "The Walking Dead"), the first Black woman to captain a ship in the Star Trek universe — uncov- ering a mystery that sends them on a cross-galaxy hunt for a se- cret ancient power. With "Star Trek: Picard" and now "Discovery" coming to an end, fans are already speculating about the new offshoot, "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy," which is reportedly in development at CBS Studios, as well as "Discov- ery" spinoff "Section 31," star- ring Michelle Yeoh ("Everything Everywhere All at Once," 2022). And, of course, there are more stories to come from current se- ries "Star Trek: Prodigy," the ani- mated "Star Trek: Lower Decks" and the upcoming second sea- son of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." Clancy Brown has joined the cast of "The Penguin" STARS ON SCREEN