You have questions. I try to have answers.
What happened to the show “Intelligence” about the guy with the chip in his brain?
The action drama starring Josh Holloway ran on CBS for the 13 episodes the network ordered earlier this year. Then, ratings having been a disappointment, CBS said no more. Holloway, best known for his work on “Lost,” is now attached to another series, USA Network’s “Colony.” That show, due at a later date, “takes place in Los Angeles, which exists in a state of occupation by a force of outside intruders,” the network says. It reunites Holloway with “Lost” producer Carlton Cuse.
Why is the new CBS show called “Madam Secretary”? Shouldn’t that be “Madame”?
To be sure, my Webster’s dictionary says that madame “is used in English as a title of respect for a distinguished woman.” But according to several sites, including that of the etiquette-minded Emily Post Institute, madam is the correct term for U.S. government officials, whether we are referring to Madam Secretary or, someday, Madam President.
Last spring I began watching “Spartacus” on Syfy on Thursday night. Saw it again for the new season a couple of weeks ago. The Spartacus from last year had been replaced and I was wondering what happened to him?
First of all, you are a bit behind on the series. Even if Syfy is touting “new episodes” of Spartacus, they are actually telecasts that originally ran on premium channel Starz.
Andy Whitfield was the show’s Spartacus in its first season (also known as “Spartacus: Blood and Sand”). In 2010, he was diagnosed with cancer. Spartacus did a brief prequel subtitled “Gods of the Arena” to give Whitfield time to recover. Unfortunately, he proved too ill to continue and Liam McIntyre took on the role for the following seasons, also called “Spartacus: Vengeance” and “Spartacus: War of the Damned,” with the latter wrapping up the series in 2013. Whitfield died in 2011.
Kathy Bates (from “American Horror Story”) starred in a movie with Cher in the ’70s or early ’80s about a reunion of southern women in a cafe. I’m not sure of the name of it. I remember seeing it a couple of times on movie channels a long time ago. Do you know if it’s running on TV anywhere or on DVD?
The movie is “Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,” a 1982 movie based on a Broadway play and directed by Robert Altman. Set during a reunion of members of a James Dean fan club in Texas, it included not only Cher and Bates but Karen Black and Sandy Dennis. It has had some cable showings and made it to VHS, but has not been released on DVD, reportedly because of music-rights problems. Things have apparently been worked out, since Blu-ray and DVD releases are coming Nov. 18.
There was a PBS series on religion that was hosted by Joseph Campbell. Is it available on DVD?
You are thinking of “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,” a collaboration between Campbell and Bill Moyers, which originally aired in 1988, not long after Campbell’s death at the age of 83. It has been released on DVD, including in a 25th-anniversary edition in 2013. If your local retailer cannot get it, I have seen it for sale online at Amazon.com.
