News

First Cow, Kelly Reichardt’s latest foray into the northwest past, is a period piece set in 1820s Oregon Territory, where a couple of outcasts (John Magaro’s Cookie and Orion Lee’s King-Lu) embark on a picaresque financial venture involving a cow, stolen milk, and delicious pastries. Co-written with Jonathan Raymond and based on his novel The Half Life, it’s a zero-sum struggle between haves and have-nots that harkens back to what A.A. Dowd at the A.V. Club sees as “a national creation myth”—a film that’s concerned with tracing “the roots of our ballyhooed entrepreneurial spirit, and the harsh reality of how it often collides with established wealth.” Such roots, Karen Han contends at Polygon, draw from the American Dream itself, of which Reichardt’s film offers a small-scale rendition:The conversations the two men have about what they’re doing — the balance between risk and reward,...

“Empire” might have come to a premature conclusion this spring, but at least one of the Lyons could be reigning over Fox again soon, as Taraji P. Henson has a Cookie-led spinoff in the works at the broadcast network.

All we know for now is the project, which is backed by “Empire” co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, “follows what’s next for Cookie.” Should it be ordered to pilot, Henson is set to star in and executive produce the potential series, which hails from “Empire” studio 20th Century Fox Television.

Strong, Stacy A. Littlejohn and Yolonda Lawrence are writing the script with Sanaa Hamri set to direct. Executive producers include Daniels, Strong, Littlejohn, Lawrence, Hamri, and Henson, along with Brian Grazer and Samie Falvey for Imagine Entertainment.

Also Read: 'Empire' Showrunner on What He Left Out of Pandemic-Forced Series Finale

Henson starred alongside Terrence Howard on all...

The end of Empire may be just have been a stepping stone to a whole lot of Cookie.

Development of a spinoff of the Danny Strong and Lee Daniels created series’ iconic matriarch is the first order of business in a new first look deal that Taraji P. Henson has signed with 20th Century Fox TV.

To that end, the Golden Globe winning and Emmy and Academy Award nominated Henson has teamed up with Working Title alum Christine Conley to have the latter run her newly formed Tph Entertainment.

Coming out the gate, the long rumored Cookie series will be penned and EP’d by Strong, Stacy A. Littlejohn and Yolonda Lawrence. With Empire vet Sanaa Hamri set to direct, the trio will serve as co-showrunners on the spinoff if the Henson, Daniels, Hamri, Brian Grazer and Samie Falvey EP’d LA-set project goes to pilot. Strong re-upped his own...

In today’s TV news roundup, “Dispatches From Elsewhere” starring Jason Segel has been scheduled for a two-night premiere date and Netflix released a teaser for Season 2 of “You.”

Castings

Briana Cuoco has been cast in HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant” in the recurring role of Cecilia. The series details the chilling story of a flight attendant (Kaley Cuoco) who wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man — and no idea what happened. The dark comedic thriller is based on the novel of the same name by New York Times best-selling author Chris Bohjalian. Greg Berlanti, Cuoco, Sarah Schechter, Steve Yockey, Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin are executive producers of the series with Suzanne McCormack of Yes, Norman Productions and Susanna Fogel, who also directs the first two episodes.

Dates

AMC‘s “Dispatches From Elsewhere” has been scheduled for a two-night premiere taking...

We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about shows including Hawaii Five-0, God Friended Me, The Walking Dead and Arrow!

1 | How was Hawaii Five-0‘s McGarrett away for eight weeks in Mexico, yet that storyline aired between the show’s Halloween and Thanksgiving episodes?

More from TVLineQuotes of the Week: The Walking Dead, Arrow, The Conners, Titans and MoreHawaii Five-0 Boss Addresses That Big Problem With the Magnum CrossoverRatings: Resident Eyes New Low, NCIS and Conners Tie Voice for Tuesday Win

2 | On Saturday Night Live,...

Fox’s The Resident this Tuesday drew 3.5 million total viewers and a 0.6 demo rating, slipping to its second smallest audience to date and a new low in the demo. Leading out of that, Empire (2.5 mil/0.6) similarly ticked down to match and hit series lows.

Elsewhere on the night….

More from TVLineIs Arrow Hero a Quick-Change Artist? How Did Today Flub This Is Us Q&a? Was H50 Timey-Wimey? And More Qs!The Resident Ep on How That Episode 4 Dream Will Affect Mina and AJEmpire Recap: So That's How Cookie Ultimately Crumbles?

NBC | The Voice (7.8 mil/1.1, read recap) slipped two tenths...

It finally happened: L to the O-g finally met the C to Ookie. The Cookie Monster, that is.

The meeting between two of the fictional business world’s biggest moguls — Brian Cox’s Logan Roy (or at least a Logan Roy-type businessman version of Cox) and the CEO (Cookie Eating Officer) of Big Cookie, Cookie Monster — took place in a video from Mashable. In the video — which celebrates the 50th anniversary of “Sesame Street” — businessman Cox approaches Cookie Monster in hopes of a merger of sorts.

Cookie Monster is the type of executive who goes to “big fancy people meeting in the woods” and had to learn the hard way during the cookie market crash of the ‘80s that “you can no eat profits.” So Cox obviously has his work cut out for him when trying to iron out a “strategic relationship” between their two companies.

“Yes, like a cookie sandwich,...

Join our newsletter to get more stories like this Last week, The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition premiered on ABC and got right down to business, with contestants clamoring to present judges Paul Hollywood and Sherry Yard their best cakes and pastries. In the end, though, two contestants went home, leaving eight hopefuls vying to take home the title of America’s Best Amateur Baker. This week, the bakers tackle more tasty treats in Cookie and Bread Week. Cookie Week The episode kicked off with Cookie Week, because what’s the holidays without cookies? First up is the signature challenge. The […]

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