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TV Media Weekly | May 26 - June 1, 2018 By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Is it true they over- dubbed Bob Hoskins' voice in "The Long Good Friday"? It sounds like his voice to me. A: It's not true, actually, but it almost was. This may seem incredible, since it's now revered as a gang- ster film classic, but the produc- ers of "The Long Good Friday" (1980) were pretty sure it would be a failure and were trying to cut their losses before it was even released. They were afraid that star Bob Hoskins' thick, London accent would be unintelligible to other audiences, so they planned to bring in an actor with a slightly more proper accent to overdub his parts. Hoskins was furious and sued the company to stop it. He drummed up support from some famous acting friends to back his case: Alec Guinness, Richard Bur- ton and Warren Beatty all went on record insisting on the actor's right to keep his voice in the film. Ironically, this legal fight might have been the thing that got the film released. Even before the suit, the production company, ITC, had doubts about the film. Hoskins' suit brought the attention of an- other company, Handmade Films (co-owned by former Beatle George Harrison), which bought the rights from ITC and released the film, with Hoskins' voice intact. Q: Did Robin Williams do the singing parts for the genie in "Aladdin"? It sounds like him, but Disney usually has differ- ent people doing the speaking and singing voices, especially when "Aladdin" came out. A: Robin Williams did most of the singing parts for the genie in "Aladdin" (1992), but not all. The musical numbers that fea- ture the genie — "Arabian Nights," "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali" — are also comedic bits, and we all know that when it comes to comedy, no one can imi- tate Robin Williams. Well, no one except Bruce Adler, apparently. Williams' shortcomings as a singer showed when it came time to record "Arabian Nights." He was unable to hit some of the high notes, so the producers hired Adler (who had previously done some singing in 1991's "Beauty and the Beast") to fill in. "He was able to imitate Williams' voice so well that it is difficult to tell where the comic stops and Adler starts," Thomas S. Hischak, author of "Disney Voice Actors: A Biograph- ical Dictionary, said." 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 Andrew Warren TV Media T here's no shortage of cooking competitions on television, but there aren't any others that are quite like "MasterChef." It's been a summertime staple on Fox for eight years now, and all the Mystery Boxes, Pressure Tests and wow-worthy dishes return for a ninth season on Wednesday, May 30. This season finds another change in the judges lineup, al- beit one that's bringing back a familiar face. Chef Christina Tosi took over as the competition's third judge in season 6, follow- ing the departure of restaura- teur Joe Bastianich, and after three seasons of witnessing both inspired culinary genius and spectacular kitchen disas- ters, she's bowed out herself. Tosi's replacement is none other than Bastianich himself, returning to the job that made him famous. He joins returning judge chef Aarón Sánchez, who first joined as a permanent judge last season, and chef Gor- don Ramsay, who's been the se- ries' face-man since the very beginning. "MasterChef" is an amateur cooking competition like no oth- er. Every year, thousands of tal- ented home cooks try out for the chance to impress Ramsay and the other judges, but only the best cooks (and the best for TV — this is reality television, after all) get invited to actually com- pete. Unlike in, say, "Hell's Kitchen," another series with Ramsay at the helm, in "Mas- terChef," the notoriously foul- mouthed culinary icon is far more toned down and quite a bit more helpful. It makes sense; the challeng- es here are grueling, and the competitors aren't culinary pro- fessionals by any stretch of the imagination. They're everyday people with a zest for cooking and dreams of turning that pas- sion into a career. Ramsay and the other judges definitely ride them hard and expect superb, restaurant-quality dishes, but at the end of the day, it isn't surprising when the contes- tants struggle to run a restau- rant kitchen for a busy dinner service — after all, none of them have ever done this sort of thing before. But that right there is a big part of what makes "Mas- terChef" so special: it's just ordi- nary people with extraordinary cooking skills being given their first taste of life in the culinary world. 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