On Screen

July 6 - 12, 2019—3 The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN July 6 - 12, 2019 — 3 2 x 3.5" ad a) greene cnty farmers b) swango's 2 x 4" ad williams electric 2 x 1.5" ad ymca 2 x 1.5" ad doughty stevens By George Dickie The Apollo moon missions were arguably the greatest human achieve- ment of the 20th century, a product of technical innovation, can-do attitude and sheer courage that left the world in awe and created a generation of kids that wanted to fly in space. Sadly, we haven't been back since the last visit in 1972 but that hasn't ended interest in exploring other worlds. And with the 50th anniver - sary of the first moonwalk approach- ing, a National Geographic docu- mentary recounting that landmark era figures to garner even more. "Apollo: Missions to the Moon," a two-hour special premiering Sunday, July 7, uses archival TV footage, NASA film, Mission Control audio, never-before-heard radio broadcasts and home movies to give an immer - sive, behind-the-scenes look at the Apollo program and what happened inside spacecrafts, Mission Control and living rooms across the country as Americans bore witness to these events via TV coverage. Of course, the watershed event was Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon on Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, a transcendent moment in human history that had the world engrossed and emblazoned Armstrong's words "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" on the national consciousness. Conversely, there was the "suc - cessful failure" of 1970's Apollo 13, whose astronauts — Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert — faced mortal danger following an onboard explosion but managed to make it back alive thanks to the uber-heroic efforts of the crews on Earth and in space. Though news reports at the time painted a grim picture of the peril the trio faced, Haise — who ap - pears in the documentary — says he wasn't convinced all was lost. "I really never felt like we hit the edge of a cliff, that we're about to go over," Haise, now 85, told a recent gathering of journalists in Pasadena, Calif. "I had a lot of confidence in the brain trust we had on the ground. I'd worked through two previous missions, Apollo 8 and 11, and I knew how the process and the system worked. And I had figured a lot of people on the ground were probably getting less sleep than I was up there. And so I knew there were a great number of people that were working the problems that were identified that had to get solved to get us back." But he admits, he did have con - cerns about the spacecraft, which had to be shut down to conserve power, resulting in the command and service modules freezing up. Of course, anyone who saw Ron Howard's 1995 drama "Apollo 13" knows what happened: The space - craft powered back up and func- tioned well enough to splash down in the Pacific, which Haise points out almost set a record. "If you looked at one of the ap - pendices and the overall Apollo Pro- gram report for entry performance," he says, "I think Apollo 13 had the second-most-accurate splashdown of the program. I think Apollo 10 did better. So the gear came back to life and obviously performed beauti - fully." Celebrity Scoop Celebrity Scoop NatGeo marks the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing with 'Apollo: Missions to the Moon' Cover Story Cover Story By Jay Bobbin Kenan Thompson will bring a lot of the funny to NBC in the coming months. While he continues as the longest- tenured member of the current cast of "Saturday Night Live," he's also launching two new series: Premier - ing Tuesday, July 9, the comedy contest "Bring the Funny" sees him judge 40 acts competing for a grand prize worth $250,000 and a spot in next year's Just for Laughs Festi - val; and next season, "The Kenan Show" will cast him as a single father dealing with work, his two young daughters and his father-in-law (Andy Garcia). "It's not necessarily a better ver - sion of 'Last Comic Standing,' but a more inclusive version," the agree- able Thompson says of "Bring the Funny," on which Jeff Foxworthy and Chrissy Teigen also are judges (with comedian Amanda Seales as host). "We were trying to figure out Checking in with Kenan Thompson who would be our Simon (Cowell), the antagonist or whatever, but we realized the show has so much heart that it doesn't necessarily need that." "Bring the Funny" features not only traditional stand-up comics, but also those who work such ele - ments as magic and puppetry into their acts. "It seemed like people needed to be missing that format a little bit for it to come back with a strong buzz," reasons Thompson. "(NBC) wanted to try something new, and I'm glad they came to me to help." Also executive-producing Nick - elodeon's revival of his 1990s series "All That," Thompson surely isn't lacking for work. "It's a lot to tack- le," he allows, "but 'Saturday Night Live' is my oasis in a crazy kind of way, since I know where I'll be then. It's kind of a stressful getaway." Birthdate: May 10, 1978 Birthplace: Atlanta Current residences: New York and Florida Marital status: Married to model Christina Evangeline; they have two daughters Other television credits include: "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," "Wonder Pets!" (voice only), "Na- ture Cat" (voice only), "Psych," "The Nick Cannon Show," "Fe- licity," "All That," "Kenan & Kel," "The Steve Harvey Show," "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," "Sister, Sister" Movie credits include: "Won- der Park" (voice only), "The Grinch" (voice only), "Going in Style," "The Opposite Sex," "The Smurfs" (voice only), "The Smurfs 2" (voice only), "The Magic of Belle Isle," "Space Chimps," "Snakes on a Plane," "Fat Al- bert," "Barbershop 2: Back in Business," "Love Don't Cost a Thing," "My Boss's Daughter," "The Master of Disguise," "Big Fat Liar," "Good Burger," "D2: The Mighty Ducks," "D3: The Mighty Ducks," "Heavyweights" 921 W. Main St. Offi ce - 423-638-3652 www.gcfarmersmutual.com We're Here To Help Face Your Challenges • Lowest Rates • Low Deductibles • Home • Mobile Home • Farm • Liability Needs W I L L I A M S E L E C T R I C S U P P L Y 3195 E. Andrew Johnson Hwy. 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