On Screen

The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN April 10 - 16, 2021 — 3 2 x 3.5" ad a) swango's b) greene cnty farmers 2 x 4" ad williams electric 2 x 1.5" ad ymca 2 x 1.5" ad doughty stevens 2 x 1.5" ad midway const. By George Dickie A driven college basketball coach gets a lesson in humanity when he's forced to head up a girls high-school team in a comedy/drama series upcoming on Disney+. In "Big Shot," premiering Friday, April 16, John Stamos ("Fuller House," "ER") is cast in the role of Marvyn Korn, whose quick temper got him ousted as coach of Wisconsin's men's hoops team after he threw a chair at a referee. To salvage his career and profes - sional reputation, he takes a job at The Westbrook School for Girls, an elite private institution and a far cry from his days in the Big 10. But the gig also offers him the opportunity to step out of his comfort zone, re-examine his priorities and make changes for the bet - ter as he learns to work with a different kind of athlete — and they with him. Created by David E. Kelley ("Big Little Lies," "The Undoing"), Dean Lo - rey ("iZombie," "Harley Quinn") and Brad Garrett, the series also stars Jes- salyn Gilsig ("Glee") as assistant coach Holly Barrett and Yvette Nicole Brown ("Community) as school headmaster Sherilyn Thomas. For Stamos, "Big Shot" entailed a major learning curve as he readily ad - mits his lack of basketball knowledge coming in was almost comical. "I sort of panicked when I heard it was about basketball," he explains, "but I dug into that part of it as much as I could. I went to a rehearsal with (Los Angeles Lakers great) Jerry West. I guess they call it a practice, but I called it a rehearsal, and ... that was the first mo - ment he gave me a dirty look. And then I thought that his team ... (was) the Clippers. I thought they were a college team, and that didn't go over well. "But I really took it as a challenge, honestly," he continues, "because it was just such a character that I've never played and it was the first character that I've been offered that everybody is talking about him like how unlikable he is and what a crab he is and he's not a nice person. So I dug into that." As it evolves, the relationship between Marvyn and his new players becomes symbiotic — he learns to treat them as more than X's and O's and they get a lesson in professionalism and taking themselves seriously. For Lorey, this is a fish-out-of-water story about second chances. "Even though it's a basketball-themed show, we wanted to make it very character-driven," Lorey explains," and we wanted to make sure that we never showed a basketball game that wasn't advancing some sort of major character story or something like that ... . So we've tried to make it really character- driven, and we try to find a nice bal - ance between drama and comedy on the show as well. My background is primarily comedy, and so between David and I, I think we've found a nice balance." Celebrity Scoop Celebrity Scoop A 'Big Shot' gets a little attitude adjustment in Disney+ dramedy Cover Story Cover Story By Jay Bobbin Elizabeth Vargas is glad to be wanted by "America's Most Wanted." The NBC and ABC news vet- eran, who also has done A&E Network documentaries, has suc- ceeded John Walsh in hosting Fox's current Monday incarnation of the reality series that seeks the public's help in catching felons. The show's new high-tech sheen acknowledges up-to-date forms of surveillance ... which even can include personal smartphones, devices that weren't as commonly available to view - ers during much of the program's original run. "It's so cool what we can do with technology today," the pleasant Vargas confirms, "and that's brand- new on this show because these are all advances that weren't around back then. At this point in my ca - reer, it's really nice to be challenged by something new, because I spent a lot of years doing what I did." Checking in with Elizabeth Vargas Though she acknowledges "America's Most Wanted" is a largely pandemic-safe show because she alone is the central cast, Vargas notes the FBI and Secret Service agents and federal marshals who come in as experts. "We also have some of the victims of the crimes on the set," she adds, "and we're all going through the rigorous safety procedures that are set up for any and every show going on the air now." Still, Vargas believes a revival of "America's Most Wanted" is partic - ularly suited to the current times: "We know that a lot of people are watching a lot of television, and somebody has seen something or knows somebody who has seen something. That's what we're hop - ing to tap into. We have the capac- ity not to just put a great television show on the air, but also to do some good." Birthdate: Sept. 6, 1962 Birthplace: Paterson, N.J. Current residence: New York Marital status: Divorced; has two children Other television work in- cludes: "The Untold Story," "Graves," "Designated Sur- vivor," "Scandal," "20/20," "ABC World News Tonight," "Good Morning America," "Primetime Monday," "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," "NBC Nightly News," "Date- line NBC," "Now With Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric," WBBM-TV (Chicago), KTVK-TV (Phoenix), KTVN-TV (Reno, Nev.) On "America's Most Wanted" being a homecoming of sorts: "Many of the people work- ing on this new iteration, I've worked with in the past at different networks. We have an enormously talented crew, and to be honest, it's nice to be working with not completely new faces but a mix. Having some people that I know and trust and love to work with is really great." One Y. One Community. 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