real talk
Rev your engines
‘Top Gear’ returns to BBC America
By Kyla Brewer
TV Media
Rev your engines: There’s
nothing like hitting the open road
in the summer, whether you drive
a beat-up pickup or a top-of-the-
line luxury car. An iconic TV series
featuring some of the world’s
most exciting cars is about to
return to the airwaves for Season
27.
New hosts Paddy McGuinness
(“Take Me Out”) and Andrew
“Freddie” Flintoff (“Cannon-
ball”) join automotive journalist
Chris Harris for some high-octane
fun in the season premiere of
“Top Gear,” airing Sunday, July
14, on BBC America. The debut
kicks off the 27th season of the
popular British series, which has
employed an impressive roster of
hosts over the years.
Car enthusiasts and industry
experts give viewers a close-up
look at luxury cars and other ve-
hicles in the long-running series.
Heralded for its visual style and
presentation, the show also in-
cludes motoring-based challeng-
es, races, special celebrity guest
stars and more. It’s been phe-
nomenally successful around
the world, spawning several
international versions, and
was voted the best program
of the decade in a Chan-
nel 4-commissioned
survey.
20 | Screentime
McGuinness and Flintoff
joined the program after it was
announced that hosts Matt LeB-
lanc (“Friends”) and Rory Reid
(“Gadget Geeks”) wouldn’t be
returning to the show for Season
27. A prominent U.K. television
presenter and comedian, Mc-
Guinness has had some similar
experience as the host of “Stars
in Their Cars.” Flintoff rose to
fame as a professional cricket
player before turning to a career
in television, and he’s famous for
once purchasing a Lamborghini
he couldn’t fit into, making him
an interesting choice for “Top
Gear.”
The new trio has been well
received across the pond, where
Season 27 premiered in June.
The season opener finds Har-
ris, Flintoff and McGuinness in
Ethiopia, where they relive their
first car experiences. After being
tasked with buying fine exam-
ples of their own first cars, they
must drive them to the Danakil
Depression — the hottest year-
round place
July 10, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald
on Earth. Also, Chris hits the track
to put the McLaren 600LT and
the Ferrari 488 Pista to the test.
Don’t miss an action-packed
moment of the new season of
“Top Gear,” premiering Sunday,
July 14, on BBC America.
Careful what you wish for:
Aspiring actors and musicians
may dream of hitting the big
time, but stars have shown us
time and time again that being
famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to
be. The glitz and glamour of Hol-
lywood may look tempting, but
fame has a dark side.
Entertainment journalists
reveal that the road to stardom
isn’t always paved with gold as
they profile celebrities in “The
Price of Fame,” which returns
Sunday, July 14, on Reelz. The
show goes behind the scenes to
examine shocking stories of tur-
bulent family drama, substance
abuse, outlandish spending
habits and much more.
In the first of back-to-back
new episodes, “The Price of
Fame” takes a look at the fasci-
nating life of blond bombshell
Heather Locklear, who got her
big break as Sammy Jo Car-
rington in the hit ‘80s prime-
time soap opera “Dynasty.”
She received four consecutive
Golden Globe nominations for
her role as Amanda Woodward
in “Melrose Place,” and is also
known to TV viewers for work
in “T.J. Hooker,” “Spin City”
and “Franklin & Bash.” Her film
credits include “Firestarter”
(1984), “Money Talks” (1997)
and “The Perfect Man” (2005).
However, according to “The
Price of Fame,” she has strug-
gled with depression, anxiety
and substance abuse.
“The Price of Fame”
also takes a look at the
downward spiral of the
child cast of the comedy
“Diff’rent Strokes.” While
the Drummond family may
have been beloved for their
prime-time antics, the stars
of the show ended up falling
from grace in the years that
followed.
Chris Harris hosts “Top
Gear”
Late laughs
The Tonight Show
With Jimmy Fallon
Later this year, Domino’s is
going to start testing self-
driving delivery
cars. Yeah,
self-driving
delivery
cars. If your
pizza doesn’t
crash into your
house in less than 30
minutes, it’s free.
Pillsbury is recalling bags of
flour due to an outbreak of
E. coli. So if you poke the
Doughboy’s stomach, trust
me, it’s not gonna be
laughter that comes out.
O.J. Simpson joined Twitter.
If you thought Trump on
Twitter was scary, wait until
you get a notification that
says, “O.J. Simpson is now
following you.”
A United flight from Italy to
Newark was infested with
ants after a bunch of them
spilled out of a passenger’s
carry-on. The other
passengers were like, “We
had to throw out our
shampoo, but that guy got
to bring ants??”
Facebook is coming out
with its own cryptocurrency
called “Libra.” Yeah, the
company that can’t even
keep your data safe now
wants to keep your money.
It’s like someone dropping
a carton of eggs, then
asking if they can hold your
baby.
Tomorrow is the official
start of summer! I’m very
excited, but my legs are still
so pale. They’re so white,
I’ve nicknamed them
“Utah” and “NPR.”
My legs are so white they
could have their own show
on Fox News.
We are just two days away
from the official start of
summer! Which means kids
are forced to take those
summer jobs nobody else
wants — pool cleaner,
delivery boy, White House
press secretary.
An Iranian general named
Hossein Salami says they’re
ready for war. Trump’s
already got troops in
Turkey ready for action, but
Putin’s warning the White
House against a conflict. So
if you’re keeping track:
we’ve got Salami and
Turkey on white, hold the
Russian.
The White House says
Trump is going to keep
using the slogan “Make
America Great Again,” and
wearing his usual red hat.
It’s like when your kid only
wants to wear that one
superhero outfit to school,
and you’re like, “Whatever
gets you on the bus.”
The Late Late Show
With James Corden
Despite what you may
have heard, I do still feel
like London is my home. I
do. If one more person
tries to tell me
that I’ve gone
Hollywood, I
tell you, I
am gonna
pour my
juice cleanse right over
their head.
I came to the U.K. to get
away from the shallow,
superficial culture of Los
Angeles, and now I find out
that Big Ben is getting a
facelift. It’s like I never left.
Theresa May is the second
prime minister to resign
rather than sort out this
whole Brexit mess. One
more and we all get a free
coffee.
Jimmy Kimmel Live
O.J. Simpson is on Twitter
now … . He’s only
been on Twitter
for like four
days — he’s
already got
almost 700,000
followers. The last
time O.J. had this many
people following him, he
was on the 405 headed to
the Mexican border.
President Trump kicked off
his 2020 comedy tour last
night in Orlando. He had a
campaign rally at the
Amway Center. There were
more red hats and dirty
beards than an
unsanctioned Santa
convention at this thing.
At the White House today,
Trump hosted the prime
minister of Canada, Justin
Trudeau, with whom he’s
had a somewhat
contentious relationship.
You know you have a
hothead president when
you have to defuse tensions
with Canada.