The Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott

For Mayan Lopez, who stars, co-created and produces NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez alongside her father, George Lopez, she tells Newsweek that we need more sitcoms, now more than ever. “You don’t gotta reinvent the wheel of sitcom, but we do the wheel well.” On Lopez vs. Lopez, Mayan and George play fictionalized versions of themselves, with many of the storylines blurring the line between fact and fiction. “My dad and I, we weren't really speaking very much before the first season started. I was actually nervous, like myself, but my character wasn't. So playing her gave me the confidence to be more direct with my dad and not be afraid that he was going to leave my life, as that's part of our previous history of just not talking. And as the show has gone on it, she's helped me grow into myself.”

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For John David Washington, bringing Netflix’s The Piano Lesson (November 22) from stage to screen was a family affair. His father, Denzel, produces while his brother, Malcolm, directs the film adaptation of August Wilson’s play about the Charles family in 1936 Pittsburgh as they wrestle with selling a family heirloom, a piano descended from ancestors who were slaves. “I don’t think you have to be a Black American to relate to this story.” But it wasn’t just working with his family that meant something to him. “I’m thinking about Sam [Samuel L.] Jackson, who originated the role in 1987. Michael Potts. LaTanya [Richardson] Jackson. I’m thinking about Stephen [McKinley] Henderson. I’m a part of that now. That gives me so much power and encouragement.” And while “the whale of truth that we’re floating along here is the underbelly of the antebellum South, the Jim Crow era,” Washington says the universal messages runs deeper. “If you understand that, we also talk about something else. It’s what’s so brilliant about August Wilson’s work.”

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For Skye P. Marshall, getting the part of Olympia on CBS’ Matlock is the culmination of a lot of hard work. “Every decision I've made in my career has led me to this moment. I'm a winner.” On Matlock, Marshall’s Olympia is a successful attorney at a prestigious New York City law firm who suddenly must contend with Madeline “Matty” Matlock (played by Kathy Bates), who has reentered the work force later in life. “At the beginning, we're not friends, but we're not just colleagues. And then over time, you'll start to see that that really is the love story.” While on the surface the two women are very different, they soon realize that the things about them that others use against them–Olympia’s race, Matty’s age–are actually things they can use to their advantage. “We both use it to our advantage because our need of doing good and defending the victims who cannot afford to fight for themselves.” When Marshall got the part, she says, “I screamed and cried a lot. The call felt like hitting the lottery. The call felt like what I would imagine LeBron James received in 2003 when he was the number one draft pick.” But after wrapping this season, with another season already greenlit by CBS, Marshall says one of the biggest takeaways from working with Bates so closely is how real Bates is. “Kathy has never forgotten where she's come from. Genuinely, she does not believe that she's better than the PA or the cater waiters. She doesn't.” 

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Aldis Hodge’s career has been busy since his debut as a child actor in the 1995 film Die Hard with a Vengeance, but he says all that work has culminated in Prime Video’s Cross (November 14). “It just feels like the work that I’ve done in the past 35 years of my career has led up to this.” Hodge plays Alex Cross, a detective who uses forensic psychology to capture serial killers. The character was made famous in the popular James Patterson novels and film adaptations starring Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry. “If I wasn’t on this show, I’d be watching it, because it’s the kind of show I’ve been waiting for for a long time.” And Hodge is going to have that chance, because before the first episode even aired, Prime Video announced that they were renewing it for a second season. “That’s a huge leap of faith for them to step out for us, but it also validates the work that our entire crew, our cast, our producers and writers [are doing]. And it is very rare that it happens, but it just lets us know how special this project actually is, and how lucky we are to be a part of it.”

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After 10 years of playing Beverly Goldberg on The Goldbergs, Wendi McLendon-Covey was not eager for a break. “I need to go do a job where I can just throw everything at it and then come home totally exhausted.” Luckily for her, NBC’s St. Denis Medical was waiting. “I loved the premise of the show and I love this character.” McLendon-Covey plays Joyce, a colorful hospital administrator surrounded by stressed-out doctors and nurses at a quirky medical facility in Oregon. “When you’re in a hospital, you don’t think anything’s funny, but, I’m sorry, hospitals are hysterical. They’re not supposed to be, but there’s always something you can look at and say, ‘I’m glad that’s not happening to me.’” Joyce is another hysterical character in a long list of funny people McLendon-Covey has played. One in particular she can’t seem to shake: Deputy Clementine Johnson on Reno 911! The Comedy Central series has had many incarnations since it debuted in 2003. “Listen, crime will never go away. So we’ll always have a reason to get back together.”

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Sharon Horgan has a resume packed with award-winning comedy, but when it came to crafting Bad Sisters (Apple TV+, November 13) she had to find the right balance. That’s because “a very difficult subject matter,” about Irish sisters who plot to murder the abusive husband of one of the women, had to “sit alongside quite a farce.” Adapted from a Belgian series, Horgan took “some of the murders out, and I put more of the sisters in, and more of the effects watching your family member go through this.” “I think you can take chances in the script with where you choose to have a laugh or to release the pressure, or just have something really sort of out-and-out stupid.” Now in its second season, even though that husband is out of the way, after the Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated first season, that doesn’t mean things have gotten easier for the sisters. “Life just doesn’t become hunky-dory, you’ve got this poison you’re still carrying it around.” For Horgan, she’s particularly proud that she was able to find that delicate balance of tone.

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We have a new president. (Well, not new, but you know what I mean.) Former President Donald Trump pulled off one of the greatest political comebacks in political history. For some, it’s a victory, and for others, it’s a dark day. How did he do it? And where did Kamala Harris wrong? To break it down and attempt to make sense of it all, H. Alan Scott is joined by Newsweek’s Jason Lemon and Jenni Fink.

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With election day just days away, we’re looking at what could be one of the closest elections in U.S. history. The question is: Will people show up to vote or is the apathy just so strong that people can’t make a decision between over the typical “lesser of two evils” stance? While Vice President Kamala Harris makes a case against former President Donald Trump and a case for unity, Trump is pulling out all the stops (and stunts) to get those middle-class Americans to vote Trump once again. To break it down and attempt to make sense of it all, H. Alan Scott is joined today by Newsweek’s Jason Lemon and Jenni Fink.

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A late-night comedy show on CNN? Yes, and it's a game show, too. Have I Got News for You, hosted by Roy Wood Jr. with Michael Ian Black and Amber Ruffin serving as team captains, tests players' knowledge of the news. "On regular late-night shows, you have to teach the audience what the news story is and then you can talk about it," Ruffin says. "But here [on CNN] there's way less learning. You're all people who love knowing what's going on in the world, so it is a lot faster moving." For Ruffin, coming up with material on a news cycle is the exciting part. "You are just you, and however it hits your ear, and it makes you say whatever comes out of your mouth." Considering the show is all about reacting to the news, what's Ruffin's reaction to the presidential race? "I suppose Vice President Harris is going to win by a lot and Trump is going to pivot to even crazier old coot, and we'll all live happily ever after.... But it has to be said that I am a severe optimist, and the night Hillary Clinton lost, I was shooting a big, beautiful video about her winning." [laughs] 

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For Oscar-winner Kathy Bates, “it’s all about the work.” lately, she’s been working a lot. In the reimagining of CBS’ Matlock, Bates plays Madeline Matlock, a woman rejoining the workforce at a prestigious law firm in her senior years. The first season of the show, which “has caught fire with 10 million people,” says Bates, is such a success that CBS has already renewed it for a second season. “I feel grateful to play the role. I feel grateful to have this opportunity. I’m just thrilled with the numbers.” Those numbers represent a portion of society who might feel unseen. “The boomer generation has been pushed to the side. But in fact, we are a powerful force to be reckoned with.” While Bates says she was “absolutely terrified” to see her face on a billboard, she’s aware this moment in her career is rare. “To have this happen is just absolutely unreal.” “From the very beginning, I knew that the work speaks for itself. I made a choice that I was going to become the best I could be, and I was going to make it impossible for them to say no, because of what I could do as an actor.”

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