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On newsstands October 20, 2016

Madam Secretary Puts a Dramatic Spin on the Presidential Election

Some shows are ripped from the headlines, but Madam Secretary prefers to rip its stories from the future. The hit Beltway drama kicked off its third season this month with President Conrad Dalton (Keith Carradine) angering his biggest fat-cat donor by acknowledging climate change and the danger it’s posing to America’s naval bases. The fallout was swift and it was deadly: Dalton got a middle-finger salute from his own party members and failed to win the nomination to run for a second term—an embarrassing fate suffered by only one elected president in U.S. history (that would be Franklin Pierce in 1856). Now what? The only possible way Dalton can remain in the White House—according to his highly trusted secretary of state, Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni)—is to make a ballsy move and run as an independent. It’s impractical. It’s extremely chancy. It’s probably insane, even in the progressive and aspirational world of Madam Secretary.

“It’s looking more and more likely that our country will one day move beyond a two-party system, so we’re putting it out there now,” Leoni says. “We’ve been adamant since Episode 1 to never label any character as a Republican or Democrat—and that includes everyone in the Dalton administration—so we don’t take this new direction lightly. In fact, when the idea of an election story first came up, we all thought, ‘How can we possibly do this without discussing political parties?’”

The election results will be revealed on air in December, and Dalton simply must come out on top. Otherwise, Elizabeth is out of a job and then there’s no show, right? “I don’t think Dalton necessarily has to win reelection, though that might feel like a built-in conclusion,” executive producer Barbara Hall says. “We’re taking the most interesting and surprising path possible with this election story, loading it with twists and turns, as well as rules and laws [our viewers] might not know about.”

Also in this issue:

• Halloween Preview: Your guide to the season’s spookiest programming, including black-ish, Scorpion, Superstore, The Middle and more.

• Supergirl: Lynda Carter, aka the original Wonder Woman, guest stars in a presidential role.

• The CMA Awards: The genre’s biggest stars, including Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis and Reba McEntire, look back at 50 years of country’s big night.

• Plus: Jane Pauley takes over CBS Sunday Morning, How to Get Away With Murder, Rectify, This is Us, Insecure, MacGyver, Bull, Salem, The Young and the Restless and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.

 

On newsstands October 6, 2016

Michael Weatherly is Bull-ish on His New Hit Series

Just five months after exiting NCIS, Michael Weatherly already has a new hit on his hands. After a 13-year stint playing fan fave Tony DiNozzo, he’s seamlessly transitioned to his own CBS drama. Bull is the brainchild of psychologist Phil McGraw (yep, that Dr. Phil) and his son Jay, who based the series on the former’s early career as a trial consultant. Like McGraw, Dr. Bull has a team of experts—lawyer Benny (Six Feet Under’s Freddy Rodriguez), ex-cop Danny (Jaime Lee Kirchner), stylist Chunk (Christopher Jackson), hacker Cable (Annabelle Attanasio) and neurolinguistics expert Marissa (Geneva Carr)—with whom he travels the country helping defendants plead their cases more effectively using high-tech research, behavioral cues, jury analysis and the occasional makeover. But Weatherly says the similarities between Bull and McGraw stop at their chosen career.

“The biggest mistake everyone makes is that I’m playing Dr. Phil,” he points out. “Others have called the series ‘inspired by’ Dr. Phil, which I also don’t get.” McGraw, he says, is more of a tech adviser. And to Weatherly, this is a very important distinction, because it manages expectations. “I’ve heard people go, ‘I watch it thinking of Dr. Phil,’” he says. “Well, if I gave you a glass of orange juice but told you it was milk, it would taste funny to you, right? I don’t want audiences to have preconceived notions.” Especially since Bull is hardly a straight shooter. The clue is in the name. “It’s not called Mr. Earnest, you know? There’s an element of a snake-oil salesman to him,” he says. “Even I’m not sure when he’s bluffing.”

Also in this issue:

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Our report from the set of Fox’s time-warped reboot of the 1975 cult classic movie.

• Killing Reagan: National Geographic Channel adapts the bestselling book about the 1981 Presidential assassination attempt.

• The Simpsons: TV’s first family of animation celebrates their 600th episode just in time for the annual “Treehouse of Horror.”

• Plus: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown turns 50, NCIS, Scorpion, Blindspot, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supernatural and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.

On newsstands September 29, 2016

Sarah Jessica Parker Carries On in HBO’s Divorce

After a 12-year hiatus, Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker is back on TV full-time, portraying a woman going through another stage of life and love in HBO’s Divorce. Parker portrays Frances, a corporate headhunter who put her dreams of owning an art gallery on hold to move out of Manhattan and support her ex-stockbroker husband, Robert (Thomas Haden Church), when he began a career as a house flipper in Westchester County. Then the real estate market tanked. Years of being the sole breadwinner, mortgage payer, insurance supplier and grocery buyer for their two adolescent children have wearied Frances. In the opening scene, she gives Robert the finger behind his back after he complains about her bathroom use. That night, the pair witness a fight between their married friends Diane (Molly Shannon) and Nick (Tracy Letts) that ends in gunfire. (Did we mention this was a dark comedy?) Robert feels reborn. Frances realizes she needs a divorce. As she sadly states, “I need to save my life while I still care about it.”

The idea for Divorce came to Parker, also an executive producer on the series, four years ago. “I started thinking about how many different versions of marriage there are,” she recalls. “I saw my friends at various points in their own marriages—getting divorced, thinking about getting divorced, contemplating affairs, having survived affairs, having not survived them. I wanted to tell the truth about what divorce can look like, what an attempt at divorce can look like and what marriage at this point can feel like if you’re in it and you want out. I’m not a writer. I couldn’t tell the story. I could just talk about what was interesting to me.”

Also in this issue:

• Fall Streaming Preview: A look at what’s coming up this season, including Gilmore Girls, Marvel’s Luke Cage, The Man in the High Castle, Chance and more.

• Tom Bergeron. The unflappable Dancing With the Stars host talks about the recent Ryan Lochte incident and how he keeps his cool on live TV.

• Designated Survivor. Kal Penn returns to TV, putting his White House experience to good use in ABC’s Designated Survivor.

• Shameless. Emmy Rossum previews big changes ahead in Season 7 of the Showtime dramedy.

• Scorpion. A behind-the-scenes tour of the CBS hit’s new season.

• Ash vs. Evil Dead. Starz’s horror romp gets more outrageous (and more personal) in Season 2, including the arrival of Lee Majors as Ash’s dad.

• Plus: Hawaii Five-0, Arrow, Superstore, General Hospital and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.

On newsstands September 22, 2016

Returning Favorites: Meet the New Agents of NCIS

You wanna tussle? Say the word “replace” on the Santa Clarita, California, set of NCIS. You’ll get the cast and crew worked up and ready to rumble.

They’ve been hearing it (and all its variants) a lot since January, when longtime star Michael Weatherly announced he was leaving the drama—and taking movie-quoting, lady-killing, bighearted manboy Tony DiNozzo, whom he portrayed for 13 years on four different series, with him. Everyone wanted to know: Who will replace Weatherly? Who can replace Weatherly? And what will this do to the world’s most watched drama series?

The answers were pretty simple: no one, no one and kick it up a notch. The Season 14 premiere introduced NCIS’s first two new recruits: That ’70s Show’s Wilmer Valderrama as Nick Torres and Blue Bloods’ Jennifer Esposito as Alex Quinn. He’s a former undercover agent who just resurfaced after going MIA in Argentina. She’s an old associate of Gibbs (Mark Harmon) who left active duty to teach probies at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. Both have…dah-dah-dum-dum-dum…dark pasts.

Viewers have already met the drama’s third addition, cocky MI6 agent Clayton Reeves (Duane Henry). He helped nab the guy who killed fan fave Ziva (Cote de Pablo) in May’s season finale and comes back into the fold next month when the international arms dealers he’s pursuing are tied to the team’s latest murder case. Then he sticks around on loan from British Intelligence.

“All three characters have this fish-out-of-water quality,” executive producer Gary Glasberg says. “Torres has always worked alone and is suddenly put in an office environment. Quinn knows her stuff inside and out but hasn’t been in the field for years. And Reeves is used to a different government with different rules.” The trio also has little in common with boarding-school-bred ex–police detective Tony.

Also in this issue:

• Returning Favorites: All the scoop on dozens of shows, including Chicago Fire, Supergirl, Empire, Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon a Time, The Flash and more.

• Seth Meyers: The Late Night host picks 10 fall shows he can’t wait for—some real and some he made up!

• Presidential Debates: What to watch for when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump finally face off.

• Plus: Younger, Shameless, Survivor, Shark Tank and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.