You have questions. I have some answers.
I was disappointed to see that neither Kono or Chin will be back on “Hawaii Five-0.” They were such an integral part of the show and this will change the whole dynamics. I know they wanted more money, but who was the biggest holdout: the actors or the show?
According to reports of the negotiations with Daniel Dae Kim (Chin) and Grace Park (Kono), the actors were seeking parity with two other “Five-0” stars, Alex O’Loughlin (Steve) and Scott Caan (Danno). Considering how often Chin and Kono were central to storylines, and that Caan skipped episodes each season, the request by Kim and Park strikes me as more than reasonable. But according to Variety, CBS’s final offer to the actors, though called “extremely generous” by one of the show’s producers, was 10 to 15 percent lower than what Caan and O’Loughlin make.
Many critics questioned whether there was bias at work, especially considering what Variety called “criticism that CBS has a dearth of actors of color and female leads in its primetime lineup.” (“Five-0” showrunner Peter Lenkov said the show’s cast members form “one of the most diverse casts on TV.”) Still, on Facebook, Kim said, “Though transitions can be difficult, I encourage us all to look beyond the disappointment of this moment to the bigger picture. The path to equality is rarely easy.”
“Five-0,” meanwhile, has announced three new cast members: Ian Anthony Dale, who has previously recurred on the show as Adam Noshimuri; Meaghan Rath as a tough ex-police academy recruit and Beulah Koale as a former Navy SEAL. The series begins its eighth season Sept. 29.
I recently saw “Silver Linings Playbook” and wondered if it was adapted from a book. Also, did Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence do some dancing on their own?
The 2012 film, written and directed by David O. Russell, was based on Matthew Quick’s novel “The Silver Linings Playbook.” Neither Cooper nor Lawrence was a trained dancer before making the film but both worked hard to perform onscreen.
In fact, choreographer Mandy Moore said the stars had to scale back their skills when shooting scenes late in their training, but early in the film’s chronology: “We had to make it seem like they were just starting while getting better and better with each day and getting new moves.” (By the way, that’s not the Mandy Moore from “This Is Us.” It’s the Mandy Moore known for “So You Think You Can Dance” and “La La Land.”)
This one has been driving me crazy ever since I became a regular reader of your Q&A. This show must have been around early- to mid-60s, and I don’t remember that it lasted very long. All I remember is that it had to do with a family of some sort — possibly several brothers — living on a houseboat (the one thing I am sure about). At the time, it intrigued me, but I have no other memories of it — I don’t remember it as a sitcom, but neither do I remember it as a serious drama.
That was “It’s a Man’s World.” It aired on NBC in 1962-63 and involved four young men living together in a houseboat in a fictional college town on the Ohio River; the stars were Glenn Corbett, Ted Bessell, Michael Burns and Randy Boone. Though nominally a comedy, it often dealt with dramatic issues. In a 2001 piece for the New York Times, Kerry Pechter said that, compared to then-current dramas like “Dawson’s Creek,” “it was more honest, compassionate and accurate in depicting the angst of young adults than any of the glib contrivances that pass for teen realism today.”
