Ej Panaligan Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EJ Panaligan editor A show about a down-on-his-luck college dropout and his rapper cousin navigating the music industry as the latter’s star rises; created by a multi-hyphenate who, at one point, was a full-time rapper himself; set in what many might argue was the rap capital of the United States for most of the past decade… You’d think Donald Glover’s FX series “Atlanta” would be a cakewalk for song placements — license a few Migos, Young Thug and Gucci Mane tracks and call it a day — but music supervisors Jen Malone and Fam Udeorji are anything but paint-by-numbers. While musically, the series pays ample homage to its titular hometown, the pair has worked closely with Glover and the rest of the show’s writers room throughout its four-season run — coming to an end in November — to establish a musical palette that simultaneously reflects Atlanta while also expanding far beyond the city limits.

EJ Panaligan editor The first trailer for director Neil Blomkamp’s “Gran Turismo,” adapted from the popular PlayStation video game racing franchise, has been released. Blomkamp, whose notable directing credits include “District 9” and “Elysium,” departs from his typical science fiction subject matter to take on the sports racing film. Based on a true story, “Gran Turismo” follows a young teenager who’s obsessed with playing the racing video game and gradually takes his controller skills onto a real racetrack with hopes to become a professional race car driver. Archie Madekwe plays the film’s main character, with David Harbour as his racing trainer, Djimon Hounsou as the teenager’s father and Orlando Bloom as a motorsport marketing executive. Darren Barnet plays a respected GT Academy driver who feels threatened by the teenager’s fast-growing success.

EJ Panaligan editor Marvel Studios debuted a new trailer for its upcoming espionage series “Secret Invasion,” starring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Also returning among the cast are Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine andBen Mendelsohn as Talos. “Secret Invasion” also introduces Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman and Kingsley Ben-Adir to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to sources, Ben-Adir is set to play a main villain in the show, which is set to bow June 21 on Disney+. The new footage debuted April 2 during ESPN’s presentation of a “Sunday Night Baseball” game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers.

EJ Panaligan editor The heroes in a half-shell are back. The first trailer for Paramount Pictures’ and Seth Rogen’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” reboot has been released. It’s the latest iteration of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello after several TV shows and film runs, and this is the second fully animated version to hit the big screen. Revealed on Saturday, the voice cast includes Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu and Brady Noon as the roles of Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael, respectively. The A-list cast has Jackie Chan as Master Splinter, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Rogen as Bebop, John Cena as Rocksteady, Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Ice Cube as Superfly, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.

EJ Panaligan editor Hulu has released the official trailer for “Welcome to Chippendales,” starring Kumail Nanjiani as Somen “Steve” Banjeree, an Indian immigrant who became the unlikely founder of the famous male-stripping empire, and quickly learns how unglamorous the live entertainment world can be. Also starring in the series alongside Nanjiani are Murray Bartlett, Annaleigh Ashford, Dan Stevens, Juliette Lewis with Nicola Peltz appearing in a guest starring role. The show comes from creator Robert Siegel, whose previous credits include “The Founder” and “The Wrestler.” Marvel Studios’ “Fantastic Four” director Matt Shakman directs the series. It is inspired by the events portrayed in the book “Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders,” by authors K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca.

EJ Panaligan editor As part of a new initiative, the United States Mint will honor Anna May Wong, star of movies such as “Shanghai Express,” by making her the first Asian American featured on U.S. currency, placing her likeness on quarters with production starting Oct. 18. The printed quarter shows an image of Wong resting on her hand, serving as a tribute to what most consider the first Chinese American movie star. She was born in 1905 in Chinatown, Los Angeles and died in 1961 of a heart attack in her Santa Monica home. Wong started her career in the entertainment business at 14 years old, talking her way into her first movie role. In the following years, she rose to stardom as among the first Asian American stars in Hollywood and appeared in more than 50 films. Though the quarter seeks to pay tribute to her career in the film industry, it also acknowledges the difficulties that came her way trying to land meaningful roles as an Asian American actress during a time where racial discrimination and commonplace practices of putting white actors in “yellowface” to portray Asian characters was prevalent. In addition, Wong’s characters were often killed in the films she acted in, which she once joked about, saying that she had already “died a thousand deaths.”

EJ Panaligan editor About 20 minutes past Florence + the Machine’s slated start time for their headlining set at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday, most of the venue was still pitch black from a venue-wide power outage. The crowd’s anxiety mounted as many wondered whether the show would still happen — until the stage’s two display screens suddenly rebooted and the Bowl’s lights blared back on. Fans, many wearing flower crowns to match Welch’s mystical aesthetic, roared in thunderous applause at the sight of a Windows login screen — as if Florence herself had stepped onto center stage, and Welch and the group masterfully channeled the chaos into a night to remember.

EJ Panaligan editor To celebrate October being National Book Month, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation released a new promotional video for its reading initiative Storyline Online featuring actors and children’s literacy advocates Nancy Cartwright, Terry Crews, Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Garner, Joel McHale and Seth Meyers. Endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers, the reading initiative also offers free educational activity guides aligned with Common Core Standards. The guides provide supplemental learning resources and support for teachers in classrooms, in addition to parents with school-aged children at home. “All kids need to know is that while you may have best friends out there in the real world, here at Storyline Online, you have book friends,” Garner says in the video.

EJ Panaligan editor Allen Media Group’s African American-focused news, lifestyle, sports and entertainment platform theGrio has announced the inaugural The Grio Awards. The black-tie event will take place at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday, October 22th with co-hosts comedian Sheryl Underwood and Taye Diggs. The award show’s inaugural honorees are slated to attend in-person, including: The event will also feature special musical performances by Yolanda Adams, Tyrese, Fantasia and LaBelle. Greg Phillinganes will serve as musical director, and DJ Kiss will serve as both DJ and announcer. Additional guests slated to attend include Sheryl Lee Ralph, Judge Christine Perez, Dave Winfield, Judge Lauren Lake, Judge Mabelean Efphram, April Ryan, Natasha Alford, Michael Harriot, Panama Jackson, Nikole Hannah Jones, Ben Chavis and Marla Gibbs.

EJ Panaligan editor With their first new album in five years and a long tour now underway, the members of Canadian dreampop outfit Alvvays are living the rock and roll dream. “We’re excited to be in a tin can for the next six weeks together, because that’s how healthy relationships function,” laughs singer Molly Rankin over Zoom from Toronto shortly before the band embarked on their U.S. tour, which began last Friday in Chicago. Prior to that, the group had just returned from a small run of release-week shows in the U.K. in support of their third album “Blue Rev,” which dropped on October 7th on Polyvinyl, and are now underway on their U.S. run which will conclude on November 18th in Boston. “There are many suitcases rolling around,” Rankin noted. “Lots of hasty cuts are being made about what to take and what not to take for the next six weeks.”

EJ Panaligan editor High Octane Pictures’ “Izzy Lyon: The Unspun Truth,” an absurd mockumentary about a famous sign spinner, is set for digital release on November 4th. The film stars comedians David Koechner, Greg Proops, Phil LaMarr, Lang Parker and Kym Whitley. Following the murky life of famed sign spinner Izzy Lyon, the film picks up twenty years since Lyon mysteriously disappeared, and a group of fervent fans seek to reunite in order to uncover the truth behind the celebrity’s disappearance. The group of fans investigate Lyon’s life in detail, from his early 80’s rise to his late 90’s downfall, in the process discovering a portrait of a flawed individual that they’ve worshipped blindly in the past. Anti-Izzy adversaries are said to be working to exclude Lyon from the Spinternational Hall of Fame, which is followers must reckon with throughout the film.

EJ Panaligan editor On the heels of a reunion tour announcement, original Blink-182 lead singer Tom DeLonge took a moment to publicly thank the band’s former singer Matt Skiba for his time as its frontman starting in 2015. Skiba assumed the role for the punk-rock band seven years ago following DeLonge’s second departure from Blink, which occurred due to creative differences and the artist opting to work on other non-music endeavors. “I sent this to Matt personally, but it’s important for the world to know that I honor him,” DeLonge’s caption read, noting that he first sent the kind words directly to Skiba. The post shares admiration for the Alkaline Trio frontman, who initially “filled in” for a handful of club shows and at the Musink festival in March 2015 before officially joining the band later in the year. Skiba performed shows with the band and recorded two studio albums, “California” and “Nine,” during DeLonge’s seven-year absence. DeLonge noted that the band would not still be around today if it wasn’t for Skiba’s ability to “jump in and save the day.”

EJ Panaligan editor Cuba Gooding Jr. will receive no jail time for his forcible touching case, after it was resolved Thursday in New York City, according to the Associated Press. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of forcible touching in April in a criminal case that placed accusations upon him for violating three different women in Manhattan nightclubs between 2018 and 2019. The actor has complied with the terms of a conditional plea agreement that was reached earlier in the year, with prosecutor Coleen Balbert indicating that Gooding has remained out of trouble and completed six months of alcohol and behavior modification counseling. Fulfilling these terms allowed him to withdraw his misdemeanor plea, and instead plead guilty to a harassment violation. He will not have a criminal record as a result.

EJ Panaligan editor Literary manager Jerry Kalajian, a partner at Intellectual Property Group, died of cancer on Sept. 9 at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, Calif. He was 68. Intellectual Property Group confirmed Kalajian’s death. Throughout his career, Kalajian served as an agent, manager and producer, forming tight bonds with literary agencies across the globe. His career was defined by a love and passion for authors and their books, championing their literary voices whenever he could. He represented numerous prestigious book adaptations for film and television, including “Life of Pi,” “The Book Thief” and “Big Little Lies.” He also represented a long list of producers, directors, literary talents and screenwriters during his tenure.

EJ Panaligan editor An upcoming three-part docuseries from Discovery+ and ID will seek to explore the behind-the-scenes controversies of Fox’s “Glee” series. With access to key cast and crew members, the documentary from Ample Entertainment will have its subjects share first-hand stories of their time on the show, which aired between 2009 and 2015. Topics discussed will unveil the highs and lows of show’s production, and will also include testimonials of close family and friends of the cast and production crew. The series is currently untitled, but aims to discuss the complicated and difficult subjects that the actors experience behind-the-scenes. Such as the loss of actor Cory Monteith, who played Finn, who succumbed to an accidental heroin overdose.

EJ Panaligan editor Prime Video released the official teaser for upcoming series “Riches,” the streamer’s family drama about the privileged Richards family. The high-stakes series is written and created by Abby Ajayi and stars ​​Deborah Ayorinde, Hugh Quarshie, Sarah Niles, Adeyinka Akinrinade, Ola Orebiyi, Nneka Okoye and Emmanuel Imani. Here’s the logline: When Stephen Richards, played by Quarshie, passes suddenly, the family’s world comes crashing down and threatens the viability of the family business. His different sets of children, with conflicting ideals and goals, collide in an attempt for unilateral control of the business.

EJ Panaligan editor In the new trailer for “M3GAN,” an AI, childlike robot doll has a murderous taste for blood. The film comes from the esteemed horror production company Blumhouse, in close collaboration with horror maestro James Wan, who was notably behind the “Saw,” “Insidious” and “Conjuring” franchises. “M3GAN” stars Allison Williams as Gemma, a toy company roboticist who programs the artificial intelligence doll. Gemma tasks the doll with protecting her grieving niece Cady, played by Violet McGraw, who lost both of her parents in a car crash. While Cady and M3GAN hit it off initially, the doll’s brutal side takes over when Cady gets bullied by an insensitive boy. M3GAN seeks to protect her from physical harm. The trailer is soundtracked by Taylor Swift’s “It’s Nice to Have a Friend.”

EJ Panaligan editor 20th Century Studios has announced the ensemble cast of “A Haunting in Venice,” director Kenneth Branagh’s third effort in the Hercule Poirot films based on Agatha Christie novels. The new ensemble behind the supernatural thriller film is headlined by Branagh reprising his role as Poirot, with Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly and Riccardo Scamarico rounding out the cast. Set in post-WWII Venice on All Hallows’ Eve, the film follows another mystery featuring the celebrated sleuth Poirot. Inspired by Christie’s “Hallowe’en Party,” the now retired and living in self-imposed exile Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a haunted palazzo when one of the guests is murdered, and the former detective must once again find out who did it.

EJ Panaligan editor Netflix’s official trailer for upcoming comedy horror series “Wednesday” has been unveiled at New York Comic Con, with comedian Fred Armisen revealed as the bald and extremely pale Uncle Fester. On top of that, the trailer unveiled Christina Ricci’s role in the series, which has been shrouded in secrecy since it was announced in March. Ricci played Wednesday Addams in Barry Sonnenfeld’s two Addams family films, 1991’s “The Addams Family” and 1993’s “Addams Family Values.” In “Wednesday,” Ricci plays a teacher at Nevermore Academy, where Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) has started as a student, and where she will hone her psychic abilities.

EJ Panaligan editor Paramount+ announced a premiere date for their upcoming original series “Wolf Pack,” as well as a new teaser trailer and additional casting for the show, Variety has exclusively learned. Revealing details at New York Comic Con, Paramount+ shared news that “Wolf Pack” would premiere Thursday, January 26, 2023, the same day as “Teen Wolf: The Movie.” Alongside announced cast such as Sarah Michelle Gellar, Armani Jackson, Rodrigo Santoro, Bella Shepard and more, the streamer shared that Bailey Stender, Chase Liefeld, Hollie Bahar, Lanny Joon, Rio Mangini, Stella Smith, Zack Nelson and James Martinez have joined the show in recurring roles. Additional casting includes Amy Pietz, Bria Brimmer, John L. Adams and Sean Philip Glasgow.

EJ Panaligan editor Frederick Schneier, an entertainment industry veteran of more than 45 years, died on Sept. 15 in his Los Angeles home. He was 95. Schneier most prominently served as an executive at Viacom, where he helped to develop Showtime Networks in the 1980s and later became president and CEO of Viacom Pictures. Schneier was born on May 31, 1927 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He served in the U.S. Army and eventually attended New York University to study business with an emphasis on marketing. He met his wife of 67 years, Joyce, shortly after he graduated from NYU and the couple married in 1955.

EJ Panaligan editor The fifth season of “Inside Amy Schumer” has its official trailer, which Paramount+ released today (October 6th). The first two episodes of the season are set to premiere on the service Thursday, Oct. 20, with the remaining three episodes dropping weekly afterward. In addition to Schumer, the new season features Amber Tamblyn, Bridget Everett, Cara Delevinge, Chris Parnell, Ellie Kemper, Jesse Williams, Laura Benanti, Michael Ian Black, Olivia Munn and Tim Meadows, and returning writers Christine Nangle, Tami Sagher, Jon Glaser and Jeremy Beiler. Meadows, Derek Gaines, Jaye McBride and Georgie Aldaco also join the writing staff this season.

EJ Panaligan editor Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on Wednesday that television producer Eric Weinberg has been charged with 18 counts of sexually assaulting five women between the period of 2014 and 2019. The “Scrubs” co-executive producer and writer is out of custody after posting a $5 million bond. The 62-year-old Weinberg was charged with six counts of sexual penetration by use of force, four counts of oral copulation, three counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count each of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, attempted sexual penetration by use of force and false imprisonment by violence.

EJ Panaligan editor Top gaming business leaders converged to talk about the exciting state of the industry at the Variety Gaming & Entertainment Breakfast Presented by Pixel United on Oct. 4 at the Palm in Beverly Hills. Across keynote conversations and panels with representatives from Riot Games, Pixel United, Meta and other companies, executives dished on the immense film and television crossover potential of gaming intellectual properties for mediums like television and film, the financial dominance of the mobile gaming industry and future metaverse opportunities for video games. Read on below for the key takeaways from each of the breakfast’s three conversations.

EJ Panaligan editor Diane Keaton will be receive the Brass Ring Award at the 36th Carousel of Hope Ball on Oct. 8, event chair and host Barbara Davis and co-chair Dana Davis announced. The gala, which is presented by Dexcom, will be held at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles. Howie Mandel will host the event, with Andy Grammer and Deborah Cox slated to perform, joining a talented lineup that includes R&B singer John Legend. “Marvin and I started this event in 1978, and here we are 44 years later still reaching for the brass ring. That ring represents hope, progress, and an eventual cure for type 1 diabetes,” Davis said. “We’ve never wavered, never given up on this pursuit and the Oct. 8 gala will show our determination to succeed as never before with a wonderful honoree and fantastic young talent to support us.”

EJ Panaligan editor Apple announced the premiere date and shared a first look (pictured above) of “Echo 3,” the 10-episode action-thriller from Mark Boal and starring Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman, alongside Jessica Ann Collins. The show will premiere with the first three episodes on Wednesday, November 23, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday through January 13, 2023. The action series, filmed in Colombia with English and Spanish dialogue, follows Amber Chesborough (Collins), a young scientist who is the emotional heart of a small American family. When she goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother, Bambi (Evans), and her husband, Prince (Huisman) – two men with deep military experience and complicated pasts – struggle to find her against the backdrop of a secret war.

EJ Panaligan editor Warner Bros. Discovery has announced the finalists for its Warner Bros. Discovery Access Music Supervisor program, which gives creative voices from historically underrepresented communities the training and tools to gain experience in television and film music supervision. The six selected participants, Mjeema Pickett, Tiffany Gouché, A.D. Johnson, Matthew Wang, Nikki Marshall and Willy Rodriguez, will participate in a curriculum developed by an advisory board of music supervisors Paul Broucek, President of Music, Warner Bros. Pictures; Bronwyn Savasta, SVP, Music, Warner Bros. Television; and Evyen Klean, Founder, Neophonic. The cohort will learn about production, IP management, publishing, soundtracks, deal negotiation in addition to music masters, record labels, research, clearance and licensing. The program will also allow participants to gain hands-on training in an experience that will assist in their future career goals in entertainment. After completing a string of Masterclasses, the cohort will be able to shadow a WBD music supervisor on a show or feature, through a partnership with HBO, HBO Max, WBTV and Warner Bros. Pictures.

EJ Panaligan editor When Scott Mescudi, better known as musician Kid Cudi to most of the world, released his debut studio record “Man on the Moon: The End of Day” in 2009, the latter half of the album included a groovy love anthem called “Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part I).” And though a sequel to the song never came out, Mescudi figured out an innovative way to dive back into the track’s affection-drenched world 13 years later. “Entergalactic” is both a new animated Netflix program — the streamer is calling it an “event” — as well as the title of his 10th studio album. They’re both being released on Sept. 30. “It’s exciting, like, never in my wildest dreams did I feel like I would revisit that song in any type of way,” Mescudi tells Variety over Zoom alongside co-star Jessica Williams. “It was something that I recorded years ago — sort of as a simple love song — but it was nice to expand upon its ideas and take it to other places, adding in characters and other storylines to see where it could go.”

EJ Panaligan editor Paramount Network shared the official trailer for the fifth season of “Yellowstone,” which returns on Sunday, November 13 with two episodes. The new trailer opens with Kevin Costner’s John Dutton being sworn in as Governor of Montana, and previews the chaos that immediately follows. “Yellowstone” comes from “Wind River” director Taylor Sheridan, and the show’s cast alongside Costner includes Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Brecken Merrill, Forrie Smith, Denim Richards, Ian Bohen, Finn Little, Ryan Bingham and Gil Birmingham. Mo Brings Plenty, Wendy Moniz, Jen Landon and Kathryn Kelly have been upped to series regulars. The upcoming season will also feature the return of Josh Lucas as young John Dutton alongside Jacki Weaver, Kylie Rogers and Kyle Red Silverstein with Kai Caster, Lainey Wilson, Lilli Kay and Dawn Olivieri joining the cast.

EJ Panaligan editor “Yellowjackets” emerged as a sleeper hit for Showtime last year. On Thursday, the network’s chairman and CEO David Nevins, who also serves as Paramount+’s chief content officer of scripted originals, broke down the reasons for the genre show’s sizzle with multigenerational audiences during his keynote address at the NATPE Streaming conference in Hollywood. Nevins, who spoke with Variety‘s co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton, also discussed how the globalization of the content marketplace is changing the way Hollywood works. And he was pressed by Littleton on the potential for a “Desus & Mero” reunion in the wake of the Showtime late-night pair’s decision to call it quits earlier this year.

EJ Panaligan editor Janelle Monáe is set to be honored with the Trailblazer Award at the 2022 Outfest Legacy Awards. The special salute will be presented at Outfrest’s annual gala, held at Paramount Studios on Sat., Oct. 22, which marks the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization’s 40th anniversary. The Trailblazer Award, presented by IMDb, recognizes Monáe’s role as an artist who has consistently shown her support for the LGBTQ+ community at large through her Grammy-nominated music and critically acclaimed acting. Monáe’s latest starring role will be seen in Netflix’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” set for release in December.

EJ Panaligan editor Focus Features has shared the trailer for upcoming biographical drama “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies” from director Michael Showalter. The film stars Jim Parsons as Michael Ausiello, a real-life entertainment journalist who experiences the death of his partner, Kit Cowan (played by Ben Aldridge) over a prolonged 11-month period due to terminal cancer. The film’s story, which was penned by screenwriters David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage, is based on Ausiello’s 2017 book of the same name. In the book, Ausiello chronicled the last year of his partner’s life and their 13-year relationship before Cowan died of a rare form of neuroendocrine cancer in February 2015.

EJ Panaligan editor A24 has released the official trailer for its upcoming Claire Denis-helmed romantic thriller “Stars at Noon,” starring Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn. The film first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The two-hour film follows a young American journalist (Qualley), who falls for a mysterious Englishman (Alwyn) while stranded in Nicaragua. Though at first he seems like her best bet at getting out of the country, it is slowly revealed that her affiliation with the Englishman has put both of them in immense danger. Also appearing in the film in supporting roles are Danny Ramirez, John C. Reilly and Benny Safdie. Ramirez plays a Costa Rican policeman, Reilly plays an American boss and Safdie plays a CIA agent. They all take interest in the Englishman’s ominous dealings in Nicaragua.

EJ Panaligan editor The core message of the immensely popular “Barney and Friends” kids show was to spread love and kindness to one another, but the trailer for a new Peacock docuseries highlights the idea that America was not so eager to accept that message. In the trailer for the upcoming two-part docuseries “I Love You, You Hate Me,” multiple talking heads, from Bill Nye the Science Guy to NBC’s Al Roker, share stories of how quickly the world turned against the friendly dinosaur, rejecting its values of inclusion and respect. Bob West, a Barney performer who stepped into costume for the happy purple dinosaur, shared that death threats were made against his entire family. “They were violent and explicit, death and dismemberment of my family,” he says in the trailer. “They were gonna come and find me, and they were going to kill me.”

EJ Panaligan editor In her first major gig since TBS canceled “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” comedian Samantha Bee will host the New York Public Radio’s annual gala later this fall. The event, which takes place Wednesday, November 9 at The Plaza Hotel, will honor WNYC’s “On the Media” host and managing editor Brooke Gladstone. The evening will also include a musical performance from Kronos Quartet. NYPR’s annual gala is its largest fundraising event of the year, celebrating the vital work produced across New York Public Radio. Also in today’s television news: Adult Swim animated series “YOLO: Silver Destiny” has set a premiere date of Sunday, January 15 at midnight ET on the network, with streaming availability following the next day on HBO Max. The new season is set to have a two-episode premiere, with new episodes premiering weekly after.

EJ Panaligan editor Actress and singer Patti LaBelle is set the guest star in ABC’s “The Wonder Years” for its upcoming season in a two-episode arc. The new season is set to premiere midseason, but a premiere date has not been announced. LaBelle will play the mother of Bill Williams (Dulé Hill), Shirley Williams, who serves as the local church’s choir director. In the show, she also goes by “Mother Williams,” and is described as “sweet as can be, but there is another side to her that comes out when her choir members can’t hit the right notes.” The longtime singer and actress has appeared in films and television shows like “A Soldier’s Story,” “A Different World,” “American Horror Story” and more. She has also put up notable performances on competition shows such as “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Masked Singer.” LaBelle launched a record label in 2017 called GPE Records, and released her first jazz album, “Bel Hommage,” under her own banner.