The Brainerd Dispatch - Today's Entertainment Magazine
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Brainerd Dispatch • April 11 - 17, 2021 •19 By Dana Simpson TV Media WHAT'S NEW ON PARAMOUNT+ "Younger" Season 7 It's official: the seventh and final season of the romantic-comedy series "Younger" is premiering Thursday, April 15, on Paramount+. The series follows 40-something single mother Liza Miller (Sutton Foster, "Bunheads"), who decides to kickstart her love and social life again after becoming convinced that she looks far younger than her age following a chance encounter with a much younger man in a bar. Thanks to her newfound con- fidence (and a killer makeover by her friend Maggie played by Debi Mazar from "Entourage"), Liza lands a job working for none other than Diana Trout (Miriam Shor, "The Americans"), head of market- ing at Empirical Press publishing house. Pretending to be in her 20s and ever determined to make her new job the best experience ever, Liza goes on to befriend co-worker Kelsey Peters (Hilary Duff, "The Perfect Man," 2005). Now, six years later, Liza is still attempting to sort out the details of her personal life, Kelsey has found a new creative outlet that is making her question her decision to stay at Empirical Press, and Maggie "gets canceled" (per the news release). With the first four episodes of Season 7 dropping on the streamer April 15, the re- maining eight episodes in the series will be released every Thursday over the weeks that follow. Created by "Sex and the City" writer Darren Star, the series also features recur- ring appearances by Nico Tortorella ("Scream 4," 2011), Peter Hermann ("Philomena," 2013) and Molly Bernard ("Chicago Med"). WHAT'S NEW ON DISNEY+ "Big Shot" When hot-tempered college bas- ketball coach Marvyn Korn (John Stamos, "Full House") is fired from his job, he begrudgingly takes a job teaching and coaching at an elite all-girls private secondary school in order to replace his lost salary in the new comedy series "Big Shot," premiering Friday, April 16, on Disney+. Under the watchful eye of the school's no-nonsense dean, Sherilyn Thomas (Yvette Nicole Brown, "Community"), and with help from the level-headedness and down-to-earth nature of his as- sistant coach, Holly (Jessalyn Gilsig, "Glee"), Marvyn learns how to forge a trusting bond with his new students and players while leaving his man's-world sports bravado at the door. Based on an original idea by "Everybody Loves Raymond" actor Brad Garrett (who also serves as one of the show's executive producers), "Big Shot" is directed by Bill D'Elia ("How to Get Away with Murder") and Viet Nguyen ("iZombie"). Tisha Custodio ("About Last Summer ...," 2017), Monique A. Green ("Black-ish"), Sophia Mitri Schloss ("The Kicks"), Cricket Wampler ("About a Boy"), Darcy Rose Byrnes ("Desperate Housewives") and Tiana Le ("In- secure") star as some of the girls under Marvyn's tutelage. "The Kid Who Would Be King" (2019) Bear witness to history as old magic meets the new world in "The Kid Who Would Be King," coming to Disney+ on Friday, April 16. When Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," 2012), a seemingly average young boy with good intentions and a knack for getting into trouble with the bullies at his school, comes across a shocking discovery one day, his entire life changes forever. While running from a group of ag- gressive kids who take pleasure in picking on him, Alex slips under the barrier leading to a construction site and finds an old sword sticking out of a piece of concrete. Pulling the sword from the slab and tak- ing it home, the young boy and his friend, Bedders (new actor Dean Chaumoo), come to realize — with the help of Google translate for the inscription on the helm — that the sword is, in fact, Excalibur, and that Alex is next in line for greatness, as dictated by Arthurian legend. With the help of Bedders, Lance (Tom Taylor, "The Dark Tower," 2017), Kaye (Rhianna Dorris, "Secret Life of Boys") and the legendary wizard Merlin (played by both Angus Imrie from "Pennyworth'' and Sir Patrick Stewart from "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), Alex creates a plan to take down the evil enchantress, Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson, "Doctor Sleep," 2019), before she destroys the world. Written and directed by Joe Cornish ("Ant- Man," 2015), "The Kid Who Would Be King'' features music by Electric Wave Bureau ("Lucy," 2014). "Treasure Buddies" (2012) Join in on a fun-filled Egyptian adventure with a litter of golden re- triever puppies with the Disney film "Treasure Buddies," which joins the Disney+ lineup on Friday, April 16. A 2012 addition to the Air Bud franchise's Disney Buddies spinoff, this adventure flick follows the five fan-favorite talking pups as they travel to Egypt to find hidden trea- sure buried deep within the ancient ruins. Unfortunately, when a sinister Sphinx cat named Ubasti (Elaine Hendrix, "The Parent Trap," 1998) tries in interfere with their plans, the Buddies and their new friends, Babi the monkey (Aidan Gemme, "Dora the Explorer") and Cammy the camel (Kaitlyn Maher, "Pup Star," 2016), must thwart a series of booby traps, solve mysterious riddles and explore an eerie tomb before making their way back out to safety. Directed by Robert Vince ("MVP: Most Valuable Primate," 2000), the Buddies are voiced by Skyler Gisondo ("Santa Clarita Diet"), Ty Panitz ("Your, Mine & Ours," 2005), G Hannelius ("Dog with a Blog"), Tucker Albrizzi ("Mr. Iglesias") and Charles Henry Wyson ("Journeyman"). WHAT'S NEW ON NETFLIX "Dad Stop Embarrassing Me" Calling all fans of family sitcoms! There's a new multi-camera come- dy coming to Netflix, and it's loosely based on the real life of a big-time celebrity. "Dad Stop Embarrassing Me," a co-production between famous father-daughter duo Jamie Foxx ("Ray," 2004) and Corinne Foxx ("47 Meters Down: Uncaged," 2019), premieres Wednesday, April 14, on Netflix. When cosmetics brand owner and single father Brian Dixon's (Jamie Foxx) daugh- ter, Sasha (Kyla-Drew, "Prisoners," 2013), suddenly moves in with him, seemingly out of nowhere he becomes a full-time father. Over the course of the eight-episode first season, Brian tries desperately to understand his teenage daughter, often to a fault. Channeling popular sitcoms from days past such as "Full House," "The Cosby Show" and the teenage Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen-led series "Two of a Kind," "Dad Stop Embarrassing Me" is a relatable half-hour com- edy for any father-daughter pair. With the Foxxes acting as executive producers alongside associate producer Jenna Hensel ("School of Rock") and her team, the series' di- rection is headed up by "Parks and Recreation's" Ken Whittingham. Porscha Coleman ("Good Girls"), Heather Hemmens ("If Loving You Is Wrong") and David Alan Grier ("In Living Color") also star. "Ride or Die" (2021) Find your "Ride or Die" with this new Japanese psychological thriller film coming to Netflix on Thursday, April 15. Directed by Ryuichi Hiroki ("Tokyo Trash Baby," 2000) and based on the Ching Nakamura manga series "Gunjō," "Ride or Die" follows Rei (Kiko Mizuhara, "Norwegian Wood," 2010) a young woman who has been in love with her former classmate, Nanae (Hon- ami Satô, "The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese," 2020), for years. When Rei learns that Nanae's husband is abusive towards her, the dedicated woman-in-love decides to permanently resolve the situa- tion by whatever means possible. Through confused emotions, rash decisions and damaging — po- tentially lethal — consequences to their actions, the two women work to figure out if love can truly conquer all things. Coming in just shy of two and a half hours long, this Japanese-language, live-action drama is also titled "Kanojo" (or, "Her") in its original language. "Arlo the Alligator Boy" (2021) Get ready to find a new home with the adorable animated children's film "Arlo the Alligator Boy," joining the Netflix roster on Friday, April 16. When a young humanoid alligator named Arlo (Season 16 "American Idol" contestant Michael J. Wood- ard) learns he has an estranged father who lives in New York City, he becomes infatuated with the idea of traveling to the Big Apple to meet him. Optimistic about his future and hopeful to uncover a piece of his past that he feels has been missing, Arlo sets off from his Southern bayou swamp home and makes the trip northeast to meet his (new) old family. Meeting a fun-loving, quirky cast of characters along the way, Arlo and his new friends — Bertie (singer Mary Lambert, "Faking It"), Alia (Haley Tju, "Bella and the Bulldogs"), Furlecia (Jonathan Van Ness, "Gay of Thrones"), Marcellus (Brett Gel- man, "Fleabag") and Teeny Tiny Tony (Tony Hale, "Arrested Develop- ment") — sing plenty of songs and learn that being different from oth- ers isn't always such a bad thing. Written by Clay Senechal ("Puss in Boots") and directed by "Sanjay and Craig's" Ryan Crego, fans of the movie can also expect to see a new series joining Netflix soon after the film's debut. "I [Heart] Arlo," the animated series follow- ing the young gator's adventures in New York City, will be launching 20 11-minute episodes as its first season at an undisclosed date this year. The series is expected to star the same voice cast as the film. WHAT'S NEW ON HULU "Songbird" (2020) Of all the films released during the The cast of "Younger" John Stamos and Jessalyn Gilsig as seen in "Big Shot" Kyla-Drew and Jamie Foxx in "Dad Stop Embarrassing Me"