May 2015 Archives - StayTuned Magazine

The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe: Lifetime mini reveals the broken heart behind the bombshell

May 13, 2015 Lori Acken

The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe premieres in two parts Saturday, May 30, and Sunday, May 31 at 8/7CT on Lifetime. Everybody knows “Marilyn Monroe” — she of the frothy halo of platinum hair, baby-doll voice and va-va-voom figure, splendidly showcased in her most memorable films. But few people know the real Marilyn Monroe, a.k.a. Norma Jeane Mortenson, a lonely foster child who used her kittenish charm, lush good looks — and, yes, her considerable intellect — to escape a nightmarish youth at the hands of her neglectful mother, Gladys. Now Lifetime’s ready to reveal the woman behind the […]

Fade to black: 8 monumental TV series finales revisted

May 1, 2015 Ryan Berenz

Few TV shows go out on their own terms. Fewer go out well. And even fewer go out and become cultural touchstones. We look in on the legacies of the most watched, the most hyped and the most memorable TV series finales history. Newhart “The Last Newhart,” CBS (May 21, 1990) Viewers: 29.5 million How It Ended: “Honey, wake up. You won’t believe the dream I just had,” Bob Newhart tells Suzanne Pleshette, his TV wife from The Bob Newhart Show, revealing that Larry, Darryl and Darryl were just indigestion. How It Holds Up: Still brilliant, if not the best […]

Queen Latifah impresses as the Empress of the Blues in HBO’s gorgeous “Bessie”

April 30, 2015 Lori Acken

You don’t have to be a fan of blues legend Bessie Smith — or the musical genre in general — to fall in love with HBO’s Bessie. But oh, the experience that awaits you if you are. Twenty-two years in the making, the project was first brought to a young Queen Latifah — then a successful singer and burgeoning actress — by the prolific producing team Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck, who had tapped To Kill a Mockingbird screenwriter Horton Foote to pen the script. Progress on the film ebbed and flowed until it landed in the hands of writer/director […]

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Too much, too late?

April 30, 2015 Ryan Berenz

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao are putting the “prize” back in prizefighting. The world’s two best pound-for-pound boxers, who have sparred in the media and through litigation for close to six years, will finally meet in the squared circle on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will unify the WBC, WBA and WBO welterweight titles, but more importantly, the winner will be regarded as the best fighter of his era. Considering all the obstacles over the years, it’s miraculous Mayweather-Pacquiao is happening at all. But the parties involved — including Mayweather Promotions, […]

Billy Crystal and Josh Gad buddy up for FX’s “deliciously uncomfortable” series “The Comedians”

March 31, 2015 Ryan Berenz

FX’s new comedy The Comedians (premiering April 9 at 10pm ET/PT) is a show about a show starring the guys behind the guys. Comedy legend Billy Crystal partners with (relative) newcomer Josh Gad (Frozen, The Wedding Ringer) in this mockumentary-style, behind-the-scenes look at their new comedy/variety show. Reluctantly paired up for The Billy & Josh Show, Crystal and Gad power through network execs’ demands, underperforming assistants, a skittish producer and their own conflicting comedic philosophies. “It’s a complicated show,” Crystal says of The Comedians. “We have a live show within the show, you have the sketches that fold into the […]