Marcia Gay Harden ‘makes angry funny’ in CBS dramedy ‘So Help Me Todd’

A starry group of global talent has been set to join Paolo Sorrentino on the main jury for the 19th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival which runs from November 11-19 in the Moroccan city. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The Marrakech International Film Festival will make a big comeback this year with a star-studded jury, including Oscar Isaac (“Scenes from a Marriage”), Vanessa Kirby (“The Son”), French actor Tahar Rahim (“The Serpent”), Australian director Justin Kurzel (“Nitram”) and Danish director Susanne Bier (“The Undoing”). Lebanese director and actor Nadine Labaki (“Caparnum”), German actor Diane Kruger (“Inglorious Basterds”) and Moroccan director Laïla Marrakchi (“Marock”) complete the high-profile jury. As previously announced, Paolo Sorrentino, the Oscar-winning director of “The Great Beauty” and “The Hand of God,” will preside over the jury, which spans 10 countries from four continents.

EXCLUSIVE: Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) has been tapped to star alongside Madelaine Petsch, Froy Gutierrez and Gabriel Basso in Lionsgate’s remake of the 2008 horror The Strangers, which is currently in production in Slovakia.

Oregon’s COVID vaccine mandate is exacerbating the teacher shortage within the state. Parents have protested Bend-La Pine School District’s decision to fire Ensworth Elementary School teacher Kelly Lundy, La Pine Middle School teacher Zachary Webb, and Mountain View High teacher Mark Schulz for refusing to get vaccinated or fill out religious exemption forms.  Another outlet reported that nearly 40 people were holding signs and showing support for the educators during an emergency public hearing.

WUSF Public Media.The law, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis after being passed by Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature, prohibits instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and requires that such instructions be “age-appropriate” or “developmentally appropriate” in older grades. But opponents of the law claim the law is rife with opportunities for teachers and administrators to discriminate against LGBTQ students and children of same-sex parents in order to avoid offending conservative parents, who are empowered to sue for alleged violations of the law.In the lawsuit, first filed in March and amended in May, the plaintiffs claimed that the law violates their First Amendment and due process rights.

Morrissey has performed his new song ‘Kerouac’s Crack’ for the first time in Blackpool. Watch a clip of the performance below.He debuted the track, which comes from his upcoming album, ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’, last night (September 28).

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large CBS is screening the Season 2 premiere of “Ghosts” in theaters across the country — and you’re not invited. Well, unless you’re dead. In a marketing stunt tied to this Thursday’s return of the hit Eye comedy, the season opener of “Ghosts” is being showcased in the middle of the night at venues in Los Angeles, Savannah, Ga., and Portland, Ore., but to empty seats. Instead, CBS is inviting actual ghosts to view the show — mortals be damned. “We are using social media and we’ve got some mediums and some other folks that we’re using to put the word out to people who are not amongst the living, to stop by any of these theaters and attend the screenings,” says CBS chief marketing officer Mike Benson.

Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin star in CBS' new drama, which follows razor-sharp attorney Margaret Wright, who hires her talented but aimless son, Todd, as her law firm's in-house investigator. ET was first on the Vancouver set in August, where Harden and Astin previewed their series, which premieres Thursday.«Dynamic duo, that’s us,» Astin told ET's Lauren Zima on the set in August while they were filming episode 3. «I love working with Marcia. I love sparring with Marcia in the scenes.

A difficult time. Ime Udoka‘s year-long suspension from the Boston Celtics is taking a toll on the entire team, according to Marcus Smart.

Maryam Touzani’s exploration of suppressed homosexuality The Blue Caftan has been submitted as Morocco’s official entry to the best international film category.

Victoria has not seen a new Monkeypox infection in the past few weeks. While it is too early to celebrate, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton thanked gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men for the turnaround. Sutton’s comments came even as Australia’s health minister Mark Butler said that the growth of monkeypox infection in the country appear to be stabilising. “It does appear that new infection numbers are stabilising significantly in the area of monkeypox.

Caroline Framke Chief TV Critic On its surface, “So Help Me Todd” is fairly straightforward. Based on creator Scott Prendergast’s own experiences, the new dramedy tells the story of high-powered lawyer Joan (Marcia Gay Harden) and her private investigator son (Skylar Astin) forging an unlikely partnership. Each episode follows a different case before the odd couple team inevitably catch the culprit and teach each other a valuable lesson. So far, so fitting for a CBS procedural. And yet there’s something deeply uncanny about “So Help Me Todd,” which pairs an aggressive perkiness with moments of drama that feel more forced than moving. Todd and Joan spend the first few episodes sniping at each other in between finding clues. Once Todd proves that he’s a good enough private investigator to overcome his spotty past, he joins Joan’s office, where he locks horns with an uptight coworker Lyle (Tristen J. Winger) and ex-girlfriend Susan (Inga Schlingmann), neither of whom get much to do outside giving Todd other people to talk to besides his mother. At home, Todd’s sister Allison (Madeline Wise) occasionally gives the show a much needed dose of dry skepticism, though she also is only here to support her brother and mother’s leading stories.

Amber Dowling Amazon Studios wants to beef up its content library in Canada. And the quickest way to do that, according to Brent Haynes, the studio’s head of originals in Canada, is with half-hour formats. “With the exception of ‘Three Pines,’ we are doing half-hours and that’s because they help quickly build our library. But, that is also one of the gaps in our programming,” Haynes said recently during a Content Canada session in Toronto. “A lot of our other territories are doing one-hours and crime dramas, so we don’t need to repeat that,” he continued. “We are aware of what’s coming out around the world and we try to each make something that would help our other territories.”

Qatar, which has laws that criminalise homosexuality, will host the football World Cup later this year. But, English Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham claims he has been told Qatar police will not arrest LGBTQI fans for holding hands or kissing in public at the World Cup. The country has faced questions about its human rights records, treatment of migrant workers and homophobic laws ahead of the World Cup. Homosexuality in Qatar  is illegal.

Fifteen years after 20-year-old Matthew Leveson walked out of Sydney gay nightclub ARQ and disappeared, never to be seen again alive, his parents have shared an emotional tribute. “Matty, it is fifteen years today that you were murdered and our lives changed forever.  A part of our hearts went with you to heaven,” Faye & Mark Leveson, Mathew’s parents, posted on .Matthew Leveson (right) was last seen on September 23, 2007, leaving ARQ nightclub in Sydney with his then boyfriend Michael Atkins (left).Matthew had walked out of ARQ in Darlinghurst, Sydney, in the early hours of September 23, 2007. CCTV footage showed him leaving the club with his boyfriend Michael Atkins (then 45 years old). On September 25, 2007, Matthew’s parents reported him missing and two days later on September 27, his car was found abandoned at Waratah Park Reserve in Sutherland. Matthew’s parents Faye & Mark Leveson.Matthew’s parents continued their search for their son’s body and in 2015 a coronial inquest into the death was resumed.

Hilary Duff just re-created her anti-gay bullying PSA on TikTok and it instantly transported us back to the 2000s. In the video, shared to Duff's page, Pentatonix singer, Scott Hoying's page, Hoying and his fiancé, Mark Manio, play the part of the two teens trying on tops in a clothing store, while Duff, plays herself, of course.«Do you like this top?» Hoying asks Manio as he adjusts what looks like a tube top over the tank top he's wearing.

The NSW Teachers Federation’s and transgender service provider The Gender Centre’s applications to march in the 2023 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) Parade has been rejected.In an open letter to members, NSW Teachers Federation General Secretary Maxine Sharkey revealed “with great disappointment” that their application to march in the 2023 SGLMG Parade was rejected, despite having marched in the last several parades. Sharkey acknowledged the Union’s support for Mardi Gras in the past, “including providing spaces in our conference centre and encouraging members to volunteer as marshals or float participants in Mardi Gras parades. Sharkey stressed, however, that even though the Union would not be marching in the Parade, “we will contribute to the Sydney WorldPride Amplify program.”The Gender Centre health and communications manager Eloise Brook said “We provide over 90 per cent of trans-specific services to the community in NSW,” According to an interview in the Sydney Morning Herald, SGLMG received so many applications “far exceeding our total capacity.”This year’s Mardi Gras Parade is part of Sydney WorldPride 2023.Sydney WorldPride 2023 takes place from February 17 to March 5, 2023 with nearly 1 million people expected to take part in the 17-day celebration.© Star Observer 2022 | For the latest in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, be sure to visit

Marc Graboff is leaving Warner Bros. Discovery after almost eight years at the company and its predecessor, Discovery. Inc.  Graboff, a respected veteran television business executive, just notified the company staff of his decision. A key member of the senior executive team of David Zaslav, CEO of Discovery — and now WBD —  Graboff made the transition to the combined company following the merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia. Most recently reporting to Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer, US Networks Group, Graboff will leave in December after assisting with the transition.

Mariah Carey is bringing the drama! Twenty-five years after the songstress dropped the theatrical music video for her song, «Honey,» she enlisted some special guests to recreate an iconic scene for TikTok.In a video shared over the weekend, Carey sits in a makeup chair pretending to be held captive by kidnappers. The star lip-syncs her character's infamous pleas in Spanish as star Millie Bobby Brown and her boyfriend, Jake Bongiovi, play the part of the buffoonish mobsters that try to interrogate her. Carey's boyfriend, Bryan Tanaka, and her 11-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe — whom she shares with ex-husband Nick Cannon — also play villains in the video."'Go eat a buffet,'" Carey captioned the TikTok post, quoting a famous line from the music video.«Honey» was the lead single off Carey's sixth studio album, , which was released on Sept.