Entertainment NOW

Entertainment Now | February 22 - 28, 2020 By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Why did they kill off Diane on "NCIS"? She, Gibbs and For- nell have been my favorites. A: There are always real-world and story-related reasons for these sorts of decisions, and we can nev- er know for sure which was really the deciding factor. But in this case, it seems more likely Diane died for the story. When a character is written off, the real-world reasons are always harder to get at — as with roman- tic breakups, everyone will say it was their idea. Melinda McGraw, who played Diane Sterling in six episodes across five seasons of "NCIS," has had a number of larger roles since her character was killed off in 2015. That suggests she was at least all right with the idea of leav- ing — she had her eyes on bigger things, including leading roles on Cinemax's "Outcast," ABC's "The Crossing," and, most recently, the CBS All Access crime series "Inter- rogation." However, she appeared pretty infrequently on "NCIS," so it's not like her show obligations would have gotten in the way of those other plans anyway. That suggests the writers wanted her death to further the plot. It certainly did that — she was killed at the midpoint of Season 12, and it raised the stakes for both Gibbs (Mark Harmon, "Chicago Hope") and Fornell ("Joe Spano, "NYPD Blue") — both of whom were Diane's exes — in their hunt for the mad international merce- nary, Sergei Mishnev (Alex Veadov, "Svetlana"). Q: Was "Kojak" based on anything? A: "Kojak" was based on a cou- ple of things, actually. Most directly, it was a continua- tion of the popular and award- winning telefilm "The Marcus-Nel- son Murders," which aired in 1973 on CBS. That film introduced audi- ences to Detective Theo Kojak, an honest cop who suspects some of his fellow detectives of framing a young black man for murder. The film, in particular the character, was a hit, and so later that year CBS premiered the "Kojak" series. However, before either the show or the movie was the book, though it had a different title and a complete absence of Kojak. "Justice in the Back Room" was a non-fiction book by Selwyn Raab that alleged police brutality and the forcing of false confessions by the New York Police Department. The telefilm tackles the same is- sues, but hands the crusading work to a hero cop instead of a te- nacious journalist. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Hollywood Q&A By Michelle Rose TV Media F ood challenges and eating competitions are nothing new: Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest has been going strong for more than 100 years, and so has the Crown Candy Kitchen challenge in St. Louis, Missouri (you have 30 minutes to down five 24-ounce malts). But a more recent phenome- non is the number of restaurants worldwide that are offering food challenges. That's often credited to the food destination/competi- tive eating series "Man v. Food," which is back this Tuesday, Feb. 25, on Cooking Channel. "Man v. Food" originally end- ed in 2012 — that's when host Adam Richman signed off after three seasons of "Man v. Food" and one season of "Man v. Food Nation," which had Richman coaching locals instead of taking on the challenges himself. Travel Channel then canceled the pop- ular series, though you probably wouldn't know it with all the re- peat airings on Travel and Cook- ing Channel. These days, a slimmed-down Richman is still involved in the cu- linary world as a critic, author and occasional host. But his popularity endures, as evidenced by a collec- tive online meltdown in 2017 when fans heard that Travel was rebooting "Man v. Food" with a new host. Luckily, former-bartender- turned-professional-eater Casey Webb has been able to win over fans in his four seasons as host of "Man v. Food." The New Jersey native takes the challenges seri- ously and has shown he's up for almost anything (but not live shrimp). Spice levels can make things especially tough, regard- less of quantity. Still, there's something to be said for watching Webb attempt to eat 12 fully loaded hot dogs in just 30 min- utes. For participants, these types of challenges are a question of pride and a fun test of endur- ance and determination (and stomach muscle control). But for the eateries, it's a marketing op- portunity. According to National Restau- rant Association stats, there are more than a million restaurants in the U.S., and, of course, each one would love to fill every seat in the house. Food challenges are a fun way to set an establishment apart and keep customers coming in the door, whether they're willing to try the challenge or simply watch and cheer on someone else. Sure, "Man v. Food" and the phenomenon of food challeng- es have drawn a fair amount of criticism (Alton Brown con- demned the show as a glutton- ous display). But many are still fascinated by stomach-stretch- ing feats. And that's why view- ers will keep tuning in to "Man v. Food" episodes past and present, including the one air- ing Tuesday, on Cooking Chan- nel. Challenge accepted: 'Man v. Food' still going strong 10 | Cooking this week Crab House 2 x 2" Family Health Clinic 2 x 1.5" White Lilies N Paradise 2 x 1.5" Casey Webb hosts "Man v. Food"

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