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TV Media Weekly | June 29 - July 5, 2019 By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: I recently watched the first Austin Powers movie on Netflix for the first time in years. Throughout those years I kept a steady watch of "Sein- feld" reruns. While watching the Austin Powers movie, I no- ticed several actors who played small roles on "Seinfeld" (the Soup Nazi, the Wig Master, and one or two others). Is there any connection between the two? A: There seems to be no direct link between "Austin Powers: In- ternational Man of Mystery" (1997) and "Seinfeld," other than a shared need for a huge number of funny people for small roles, and the budget to get good ones. That and the North American comedy community, which is sometimes smaller than you think. By all reports, star Mike Myers was directly involved in many of the casting decisions for "Austin Powers," the smash-hit film that he starred in, wrote and co-pro- duced. For example, Larry Thomas, who played the Soup Nazi in a 1995 epi- sode of "Seinfeld," said that Myers approached him directly for the role of a casino dealer in "Austin Powers," after having seen his "Seinfeld" bit. Brian George, who played Babu in "Seinfeld" and the Secretary General of the United Nations in "Austin Powers," has shared no such story of being approached by Myers, but they share a different, geographic link: Both of them came up in the Toronto comedy scene, specifically in the famed Second City comedy troupe there. Q: Were the Rambo movies based on books? I just saw an ebook copy of the second one, but I thought they were just movies. A: Yes and no. The first one was based on a novel, the others were not. However, you weren't halluci- nating that ebook of the sequel. Author David Morrell wrote the novel "First Blood" in 1972, and 10 years later it was turned into the movie that introduced John Ram- bo to the movie-going world. The film was a huge success, and star Sylvester Stallone imme- diately started working on a se- quel. He wrote the screenplay him- self, with help from fellow Holly- wood hitmaker James Cameron. However, he called Morrell in to write a novelization of his script — a book based on a movie, instead of the other way around. Morrell repeated the trick for "Rambo III," which was released (film and book) in 1988. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Per- sonal replies will not be provided. Hollywood Q&A By Michelle Rose TV Media A fter last week's "Wed- ding Cake Champion- ship" finale, Food Net- work has decided to leave its timeslot on a "bake" set- ting for a few more weeks. Premiering Monday, July 1, "Cupcake Championship" is the newest fast-paced food battle that challenges competitors to think big but bake small. How big? I'm talking 3D big: cupcakes that form edible snow globes; great mystical beings and oversized pet designs; even a whole planet made of little else than frosting and palm-sized cakes. These over-the-top displays are some of the challenges we'll see in the coming weeks. Everything needs to look perfect; there are no wayward thumbprints here. Each masterpiece also needs to be pro- level delicious to impress the judges, who will be doing all the sampling. And while the competi- tors are some of the best in the business, it has to be tough to work with building material that needs to be moist and light-as-air fluffy. "Cupcake Championship" fol- lows the tried-and-tested format of featuring four competitors, three judges and two rounds per episode, plus a $10,000 prize that is awarded each week. Each episode begins with the Designer Challenge in which contestants must highlight a spe- cific event or theme (spoiler alert: this week's challenge features a botanical theme). After a first- round elimination, the remaining artists move to the Imagination Challenge, and are tasked with creating a flavorful 3D display based on a specific theme (an- other spoiler alert: the botanical theme extends to this round, too). Host Kardea Brown is no stranger to these kinds of compe- titions, having previously hosted contests such as "Family Food Showdown" and "Chopped Ju- nior." As for the judges, you'll probably recognize former "Brady Bunch" star Maureen Mc- Cormick. Different guest judges will be joining McCormick each week, including Nacho Aguirre and Lerome Campbell (both con- testants on previous Food Net- work competitions), Amirah Kas- sem, Stella Parks, Joshua John Russell and Gesine Prado. It all amounts to some creative and competitive cupcake fun this month. But with just five episodes, this summertime series has a shorter run. So be sure to tune in to Food Network on Monday, July 1, to catch the very first "Cupcake Championship." Piece of (cup)cake: New championship series begins this week 10 | Cooking this week Moore's Home Health 2 x 2" Family Health Clinic 2 x 1.5" White Lilies N Paradise 2 x 1.5" Kardea Brown hosts "Cupcake Championship

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