Today's Entertainment

May 31 - June 6, 2021 Page 3 ACROSS 1. __ Murphy; "So You Think You Can Dance" judge 5. __ Van Patten 9. "__ Dabba Doo!" 10. __ alcohol; antiseptic 12. Suffix for advent or text 13. Crocheter's purchase 16. Wrath 17. Initials for Hot Lips Houlihan's portrayer 18. Field & Struthers 20. "__ the Movies" (1986- 2010) 21. "__ Time, Next Year"; Alan Alda movie 23. Go by 25. Suffix for part or tutor 26. "__ Age"; 2002 animated film 27. Bovary or Butterfly: abbr. 28. "The Karate __"; film for Ralph Macchio 29. Actor Scott 30. "__ of Tomorrow"; 2014 Tom Cruise movie 32. "__. Quinn, Medicine Woman" 33. Oakley and Potts 38. V's followers 39. Letter from Greece 41. Surrounded by 42. Slapstick projectile 43. "__ Club"; 1999 film for Brad Pitt 45. Sevareid & Stonestreet 47. Feature for Rudolph & Durante 48. Least-popular piece of chicken DOWN 1. Actress on "black-ish" (2) 2. __ Vigoda 3. Initials for Perry Mason's portrayer 4. DaCosta of "Chicago Med" 5. Declare untrue 6. "Whose Line Is __ Anyway?" 7. Actor McBride 8. Actress on "Call Your Mother" (2) 9. Brynner's namesakes 11. "__ Make a Deal" 14. Mr. Roker 15. Lansing's initials 18. "Queen of Tejano Music" 19. Actor/director Lee & others 22. "Baby __"; 2008 Tina Fey movie 24. Cause of GERD 29. File drawer, perhaps 31. Alimony recipients 34. Actor __ Corddry 35. Santa Fe's state: abbr. 36. "Star Wars: Episode __ - Attack of the Clones"; 2002 sequel 37. Sher of "The Middle" 40. Not long __; recently 42. Photo, for short 44. Initials for Bart's dad 46. Prefix for place or print Solution is on page 2. CoverStory By Jay Bobbin Even a cartoon poodle has to have friends, as Lisa Kudrow realizes. With one of television's most enduringly popu- lar sitcoms to her credit — "Friends," of course — along with "The Come- back" and "Web Therapy," the actress-producer tries something different in re- turning to weekly humor. She speaks for the central character in the animated Fox series "HouseBroken," premiering Monday, May 31. Kudrow's Honey leads group therapy sessions for neighborhood pets and strays, most of whom reflect traits also likely to be recognized in hu - mans. While counseling such peers as a com- mitment-phobic tortoise (voiced by Will Forte) and an OCD-afflicted terrier ("Veep" Emmy winner Tony Hale), Honey has her own troubles via her arranged marriage to a St. Bernard (Nat Faxon). Sha - ron Horgan ("Catastrophe") and Clea DuVall, who voice other characters, are among the show's execu- tive producers. "I just saw the cast and said, 'Yeah! I want to be in that group,' " the pleasant, lively Kudrow explains. "It was just such a funny idea, pets getting together to have therapy. Honey isn't qualified to be a therapist, but her human is one." Noting her "Web Therapy" past, Kudrow muses, "I'm going to be typecast." As for "HouseBroken" animals mirroring re- al-world situations, Kudrow cites one whose "humans are separating, so he's go- ing back and forth between them, and he's anxious." Kudrow was a bit anxious herself in determining how Honey should sound, and she allows she made what she terms "the wrong choice" initially. "I had to go back and re-record," she says, "be- cause I thought, 'Oh, that would be really funny.' And then, it wasn't. She sound- ed a little too superior; maybe I was bumping into what I did in 'Web Thera- py.' The thought was that she's a poodle and thinks she's a little better than ev- erybody else, but it didn't work at all. I had to adjust." Kudrow agrees "House- Broken" is an ideal job in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. "We got to do table reads over Zoom," she reports, though she laments that in mostly recording by herself, "You don't get to chat or exchange moments while getting coffee. Nat Faxon and I got to record together ... and good luck to whoever is putting that together, because I just laughed every time he spoke! Clea also came to some sessions and read with me." Lisa Kudrow gets 'HouseBroken' as an animated poodle The identity of the featured celebrity is found within the answers in the puzzle. In order to take the TV Challenge, unscramble the letters noted with asterisks within the puzzle.

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