What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T4 WHATS UP! May 14 - 20, 2023 REAL TV BY CAROLINE COLLACUTT TV Media International expertise: When online dating and scour- ing the apps proves not enough and there seem to be no more fish in the sea, sometimes you just have to check another sea. "Match Me Abroad" pre- mieres Sunday, May 14, on TLC, taking the dating game international. This new series follows sev- en American singles with less than favorable dating records — and some with no dating re- cord at all — as they take their search for "The One" world- wide, enlisting the help of three globally renowned matchmakers to find their per- fect person. The inaugural season in- cludes professionals Katarina Memcova of Prague, who boasts an 80% success rate; Juan Nino, a Colombian match- maker who prides himself on his ability to blend cultures; and Nina Kharoufeh, who hails from New Jersey but spends the season trying to uphold her perfect record with her newest clients, all the way in Morocco. Memcova will be joined by clients Harold and Michelle. Harold, 41, a self-proclaimed starving artist with an admira- ble rock collection, is looking for a woman who will appreci- ate both his personality and his hobbies. Michelle, 34, has dubbed herself a "feminist princess" and is looking for a relationship free of gender roles. In Colombia, Nino works with Susan, Nathaly and Chad. Susan, 52, is a "dog mom" with a laundry list of must-haves. Nathaly (the season's youngest single, only 25 years old) is leaving behind her conserva- tive Sri Lankan mother in hopes of finding love. Chad, 38, has three failed engagements to his name, but he still be- lieves he'll find the right one to live out a "happily ever after" while living with his mother. Finally, in Morocco, Kha- roufeh – who specializes in making Arab-American match- es – has her hands full with two clients of her own. Stanika, 32, has zero prior dating experi- ence and is hoping to be led in the right direction; and Mark, 44, wants one thing and one thing only: a Moroccan wom- an. Watch how their quests un- fold when "Match Me Abroad" premieres Sunday, May 14, on TLC. Reframing fame: Called an "unflinching and humanizing examination of the life, death and secrets" of Anna Nicole Smith (per Netflix news re- lease), a new documentary fol- lows the star from her birth in Houston to her untimely death in 2007 at only 39 years old. "Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me" premieres Tuesday, May 16, on Netflix. The documentary looks at the influence of fame and suc- cess, with director Urusla Mac- farlane saying: "Her story is also a cautionary tale about how the desire for the Ameri- can dream can swallow you up and spit you out, blurring your self-image and making you lose sight of your authentic self." Smith, who first graced the pages of Playboy in 1992 then later starred in films like 1994's "The Hudsucker Proxy," the television show "The Naked Truth," and later in 2007, "Ille- gal Aliens," made a name for herself in the film industry. But "Anna Nicole," as she came to be known, would always and forever be Vickie Lynn Hogan. With never-before-seen footage, home movies and in- terviews, "You Don't Know Me" brushes past the glitz and the glamor of Hollywood, at- tempting to reveal the heart of who Smith really was through contributions from family and old friends. Having made a career off aesthetics and stereotypes, Smith was known behind the scenes to have an unstoppable wit and ceaseless generosity, and was a far more complex a person than most ever got to know. As Macfarlane says: "So- ciety's perspective has shifted on women in the media spot- light who pursue fame — and we need to lift up female and female-identifying survivors, instead of condemning them." Megachurch megascandal: An all-new four-part documen- tary series from Oscar- and Em- my-winning Scout Productions and Vanity Fair studios, "The Secrets of Hillsong" unravels the troubling truth of the mega- church when its first two epi- sodes air Friday, May 19, on FX, while the remaining chapters follow on Friday, May 26. Epi- sodes will also be available to stream the next day on Hulu. Based on the explosive re- ports from Vanity Fair journal- ists Alex French and Dan Adler, the documentary examines the megachurch's multiple scan- dals, featuring the first-ever in- terviews with former pastors Carl and Laura Lentz. Hillsong, which once boasted actors, athletes, musicians and celebrities among its flock, con- tinues to face intense scrutiny as the megachurch sees more alle- gations of past conduct, from Carl Lentz's admitted extramar- ital affair to Vanity Fair's reports of alleged assault, bullying and rampant racism and homopho- bia within the institution. Per FX, "The Secrets of Hill- song" goes far beyond "the sen- sational headlines and behind the velvet rope to examine the church's long pattern of cover- ing up misconduct to protect it- self," featuring "poignant con- versations with many of the congregants navigating the still- unfolding global reckoning as the church faces a rash of fresh revelations." Together, journalists, ana- lysts, historians and policymak- ers report on the megachurch's impact, speaking, often for the first time, alongside former members and others involved with Hillsong. Executive producer and head of documentary at Scout Pro- ductions, Joel Chiodi applaud- ed the joint effort, quoted as saying: "With the depth and clarity of this project owed to the excellent reporting of Vani- ty Fair, and the perspectives of those speaking out for the very first time, we have been com- mitted to telling a well-rounded and definitive story of Hill- song." Katarina Memcova is a matchmaker in "Match Me Abroad"