Today's Entertainment

June 26 - July 2, 2023 Page 3 By Jay Bobbin Jack Ryan has had several screen lives, via a variety of actors, and his latest one is about to be- gin its final round. John Krasinski returns as the CIA analyst who typically finds himself in the thick of action as the fourth and final season of the Prime Video adventure-drama "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" pre- mieres Friday, June 30. Arriving six months after Season 3 began – an unusually short span between seasons for a streaming series – the program will debut two of its six new episodes each Friday, and the concluding story tests Ryan in terms of enemies both foreign and domestic. Now the acting deputy direc- tor of the Central Intelligence Agency, Ryan is concerned with the behavior of his own operatives as he starts a probe of possible corruption. Before long, though, he discovers several black ops sit- uations that might make America vulnerable to plots from overseas … with the union of a drug cartel and a terrorist group potentially spelling very bad things for the United States, and challenging Ryan's strongly held beliefs in right, wrong and justice. Krasinski also is among the executive producers of "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan," on which novelist Clancy is given the same credit posthumously. Other returning cast members include Wendell Pierce – a Tony Award nominee this year for "Death of a Salesman" – as Ryan's former su- pervisor James Greer, and Abbie Cornish in a reprise of her Season 1 role as Ryan's girlfriend (and, per the Clancy books, eventual wife) Dr. Cathy Mueller. The new season also features Michael Pena as Domingo Chavez, the protago- nist of an intended spinoff series. As mentioned, "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" is the latest iteration of a franchise that dates back to 1987 in print ("Patriot Games" was the first novel) and to 1990 on film. "The Hunt for Red October" was the initial Ryan movie, and though he certainly was a major character as played by Alec Baldwin, top billing went to the star who played the charac- ter Ryan was investigating: Sean Connery as Soviet submarine commander Marko Ramius. The film was an enormous hit for its time, making more than $200 million worldwide, and one only can speculate whether the result would have been the same if the originally intended casting (Kevin Costner as Ryan, Klaus Maria Brandauer as Ramius) had stuck. The outcome virtually demanded a follow-up, and that arrived in 1992 with the screen version of "Patriot Games," but with a significant change in the actor playing Ryan. Stories differ as to why Baldwin didn't return, mostly related to the timing of his commitment to a Broadway revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire," but Harrison Ford got the part next … and not just for one film, but for two. Har- rison Ford, who had built a repu- tation for brainy action tales, was enlisted to assume the part; that turned out to be a good move, since the picture grossed slightly under $180 million internationally in its original theatrical run. ACROSS 1 Matures 5 To and ___ 8 "The Suicide Squad" (2021) star Idris 12 Cereal holder 13 "___ Abner" 14 Bank negotiation 15 Pulitzer winning author James 16 Coolers, for short 17 "Put __ ___ on it!" 18 Former sitcom about a trio of roommates 21 Historical drama about legendary Scandinavians 22 TV police procedural plot devices 25 Airplane reservations 29 Half of an African fly 30 Pi follower 31 Video game pioneer 34 "The Defiant Ones" (1958) and "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" (1966) star Theodore 36 Quip starter 40 Short-lived 2018 sitcom about a young pop star 46 Oscar winner Jannings 47 Flight board abbr. 48 Emmy-winning "Veep" star Tony 49 lion's pride 50 Suffix with serpent 51 late actor Rickman 52 Deep black 53 Court cry 54 Heavy reading DOWN 1 Blind as ___ ___ 2 2018 Willem Dafoe role: Vincent van ___ 3 Decorative pitcher 4 Shirt part 5 Drink holder 6 "yellowjackets" star Christina 7 "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star Kaitlin 8 Go by, as time 9 Bugs Bunny's girlfriend 10 Cinnamon Carter portrayer in "Mission: Impossible": Barbara ___ 11 Conan's late-night sidekick 19 Autobahn hazard 20 Classic British sports cars 22 Windy City rail inits. 23 Halifax clock setting: Abbr. 24 "The little Mermaid" (2023) setting 26 "Raiders of the lost ___" (1981 adventure flick) 27 not just any 28 Our sun 32 Sigourney Weaver role in the Alien franchise 33 Creeping vine 34 "Full Frontal with Samantha ___" 35 Because 37 Dot-commerce 38 Carried by the wind 39 White heron 40 Prefix with sphere 41 Make ___ ___ of 42 "The ___ Panther" (1963 comedy) 43 Paramount+ series based on a popular video game franchise 44 Cowboy actor Jack 45 "Ransom" (1996) and "nightcrawl- er" (2014) star Russo CoverStory 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 'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan' starts his last Prime Video mission "WHAM!" (Netflix - Documentary Premiere, July 5) In 1982, best-of-friends teenagers George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley set out to conquer the world as Wham! — and by June 1986, they played their very last gig at Wembley Stadium, having done exactly that. The amazing story of how they dominated the charts around the world with timeless and classic pop songs in just four years is told for the very first time and in their own words,. The film includes unprec- edented access to both George and Andrew's personal archives, including never-before-seen footage alongside rare, candid and previously unheard interviews, as the documentary charts their incredible journey from school friends to superstars. Solution is on page 2. Michael Peña in "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan"

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