Today's Entertainment

March 21 - 27, 2022 Page 3 ACROSS 1. Series for Annaleigh Ashford (2) 8. Coca-__ 9. Sher of "The Middle" 10. __ __ Jr.; actor on "S.W.A.T." 14. Actor Florek 15. Series for Zeeko Zaki 16. Black-and-white bird 17. Neighbor of Calif. 18. Maggie, to Bart 19. "Cold __" 20. Ms. Winningham 24. Video store rental 27. Singer Redding 28. "Old MacDonald had a farm, __ ..." 29. Berry, for one 32. "My Three __" (1960- 72) 33. "The __ __"; series for Elisha Williams 36. One not to be trusted 37. "Miami __" (1984-89) 38. "20/20" cohost (2) DOWN 1. Daniel & Pat 2. Take the __; marry, e.g. 3. Jethro Bodine, for one 4. Actress Hatcher 5. Tyrant Amin 6. "CSI: __" 7. Boredom 8. Aunt __; role on "Be- witched" 11. CD followers 12. Initials for actor Burton 13. Approves, for short 14. One of the Seven Dwarfs 20. Artwork made of tiles 21. Carry __ __ for; contin- ue to love 22. Dishwasher cycle 23. Suffix for giant or gov- ern 24. Drops in the morning 25. Actress Davis 26. Jeans fabric 29. Actress Deborah 30. Most-watched series of the 1998-1999 season 31. "CSI: __" 34. "90 __ Fianc"'e" 35. Per"'on or Gabor Solution is on page 2. CoverStory By George Dickie Almost a decade in de- velopment, a sci-fi action series that's based on an iconic videogame finally arrives amid much antici- pation on Paramount+. In "HALO," an adap- tation of the Microsoft videogame franchise first introduced in 2001 that premieres Thursday, March 24, an epic 26th century battle of good versus evil plays out in a conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. At the center of it is Master Chief John-117 (Pablo Schreiber, "Amer- ican Gods"), a super- soldier fighting for the United Nations Space Command, who through a series of events winds up reconnecting with his humanity and questioning his existence as a walking weapon. That leads to him going rogue and taking up the protection of Kwan Ha (newcomer Yerin Ha), a shrewd, audacious 16-year-old from the Outer Colonies who he meets when her outpost on the planet Madrigal is decimated by a Covenant attack. Her goal is to liber - ate her world from UNSC control, and their part- nership puts him in direct conflict with his superiors in the UNSC military. The series, which was originally developed for Showtime by 343 Indus- tries and Steven Spiel- berg's Amblin Entertain- ment, also stars Natascha McElhone ("Californica- tion"), Jen Taylor ("Halo: The Fall of Reach"), Bo- keem Woodbine ("Fargo"), Shabana Azmi ("Fire"), Natasha Culzac ("The Witcher"), Charlie Murphy ("Peaky Blinders") and Danny Sapani ("Penny Dreadful"). As one would expect of a videogame adaptation, the series is loaded with breathtaking special ef- fects and action sequenc- es. The latter was the easy part for Schreiber, a muscular 6-foot-5-inch actor who had extensive military training when he filmed "Den of Thieves" in 2018. But taking on the videogame was another matter. "I grew up without tele- vision or videogames," the Canadian-born actor explains, "and so I'm on a new journey of learning about 'HALO' that started when I was approached with this. ... I've had all this military training, so I know how to carry guns, use guns. I've shot every gun you can imagine. But as soon as I get into the 'Halo' universe, I get killed by all the beginning stages, and all the grunts can kill me continuously. So, it's been humbling, but I'm getting better as I practice." Paramount+ brings an iconic videogame to television with 'HALO' 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. InFocus "The Outlaws: Season 1" (Prime Video — series premiere, April 1) Stephen Merchant ("The Office") and Elgin James ("Mayans M.C.") are the creative team behind this six-episode original thriller that follows seven strangers from different walks of life who are forced together to complete a Community Payback sentence in Bristol, England. Christopher Walken stars alongside Merchant, Rhianne Barreto, Gamba Cole and Darren Boyd.

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