PAGE 26 • TV
THE BULLETIN • APRIL 8 - 14, 2021
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“Staged”
“Movie: Spontaneous”
The British comedy/drama that stars
Michael Sheen and David Tennant as two
actors pushed by their director to continue
rehearsals online when their West End play
is put in shutdown due to the pandemic
returns for its sophomore round. Georgia
Tennant, Anna Lundberg and Lucy Eaton
are also in the cast, with cameos by Samuel
L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg and Jim
Parsons. (ORIGINAL)
Screenwriter Brian Duffield also makes his
directorial debut in this 2020 sci-fi black
comedy set at a high school where students
have started to explode inexplicably. Living
in such a world unsurprisingly fosters a
strong “seize the day” attitude within the
student body, so it’s not surprising when
an unexpected romance blossoms between
classmates Mara and Dylan (Katherine
Langford, Charlie Plummer).
Checking in with
ELIZABETH VARGAS
BY JAY BOBBIN
“Movie: Fly Like a Girl”
Katie McEntire Wiatt made her feature-
film directorial debut with this 2019
documentary — a winner of multiple
awards on the film fest circuit — that
chronicles the efforts of girls and women
to pursue their passion for aviation, a
field currently dominated by men. Former
NASA astronaut Nicole Stott is among the
interviewees.
Elizabeth Vargas is glad to be wanted by “America’s Most
Wanted.”
The NBC and ABC news veteran, who also has done A&E
Network documentaries, has succeeded 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 viewers 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 career, it’s really nice to be challenged by
something new, because I spent a lot of years doing what I did.”
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
particularly suited to the current times: “We know that a lot of
“Movie: Modern Persuasion”
Jane Austen’s 1817 novel “Persuasion”
served as the inspiration for this 2020
romancer that stars Alicia Witt (“I Care
a Lot”) as a driven career woman forced
to come to grips with a failed relationship
when her ex-boyfriend hires her company.
Bebe Neuwirth, Liza Lapira and Mark
Moses also star.
people are watching a lot of television, and somebody has seen
something or knows somebody who has seen something. That’s
what we’re hoping to tap into. We have the capacity 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 includes: “The Untold
Story,” “Graves,” “Designated Survivor,” “Scandal,”
“20/20,” “ABC World News Tonight,” “Good Morning
America,” “Primetime Monday,” “Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire,” “NBC Nightly News,” “Dateline 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 working
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.”