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FOODGEORGE DICKIE’S WHAT'S FOR DINNER‘VINNY&MA’take a road trip ofdiscover y on CookingChannelA lot of adult children struggle to get their parents out of the house. VinnyGuadagnino created a TV show that did just that with his mother.Pictured: Vinny and Paola GuadagninoIn his Tuesday Cooking Channel food and travel series “Vinny & Ma Eat America,” the former “Jersey Shore” star and hismom, Paola, traverse the country, stopping in locales such as San Francisco, Colorado, New Orleans and Nashville totry new foods and experiences and have a few laughs along the way.The twist is that while Vinny is game for just about anything, Paola has rarely set foot outside of her adopted homelandof Staten Island since emigrating there from Sicily at the age of 10, and she isn’t all that thrilled about trying new things.So dishes like sushi, worm tacos and Rocky Mountain oysters – aka deep-fried bull testicles – would leave her at looseends. Justifiably so, one might say.“It shows a fun way of getting her out there, getting her to try new things, which she hates,” the younger Guadagninoexplains. “But also each episode, we kind of get her in the kitchen because that’s where she shines and that’s where shethrives. So we go into all these different kitchens across the country and they do like a little lesson and teach us, and mymom actually teaches them a thing or two.”And Mom can cook. Vinny recalls being well-stocked with food and goodies as a child even though his family didn’t havea lot of money. Her lovingly made Italian meals gave him a lifelong love of and appreciation for food.Their relationship is clearly what makes the series go and it’s what viewers responded to when Vinny and Paolaappeared together on an episode of Food Channel’s “The Great Food Truck Race” in September.“I got all these messages from people that were like, ‘Oh my God, thank you. My mom passed away and this reallyreminded me of her and brought back memories,’ ” he says. “And every time, all my tweets and stuff were all like, ‘I feellike this is with my mom,’ ‘I feel like this,’ whatever.“So I had no idea,” he continues. “I didn’t think of that when I was watching the show, that people were going to actuallyfeel like they were in the car with us and having these experiences with their own family. And that makes it extra-coolbecause then it’s just more than about the food.”What bookare youcurrentlyreading?“I’m rereading‘The Powerof Now’ byEckhartTolle.”What did you havefor dinner lastnight?“Yesterday was Sundayso that was my cheatmeal because I usuallyeat healthy during theweek. I had margaritapizza and my mom’sfried chicken cutlets. .It was great.”What is your nextproject?“My next project isthis – ‘Vinny & Ma EatAmerica.’ We hope tosee how the premieredoes. Hopefully wecan go out there andfilm more episodes.But I’m also comingout with my podcastand stand-up comedyand I do improv aswell.”When was your last vacation, where and why?“I don’t really go on many vacations. I feel like I have to beproductive on vacation so I would say this show was kindof like a vacation because we traveled around the wholecountry. One place that we went before we started filmingthis show on ‘The Great Food Truck Race’ was CatalinaIsland off of the coast of California. And I’ll tell you, it wasbeautiful. I’ve heard about it but it felt like you were inGreece or something, like it’s straight out of a postcard.”February 12 - 18, 2017 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 7

CELEBRITYGEORGE DICKIE’S CELEBRITY SCOOPChecking in with Josh McDermittFew series were shrouded insecrecy as much as “The WalkingDead” was when conjecture ranrampant this past summer as towhich unfortunate party (or as itturned out, parties) would meet agrisly demise at the business endof Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) trusty baseballbat Lucille in the Season 7 opener in October.And few were questioned about it more than JoshMcDermitt, who plays Dr. Eugene Porter on theSunday AMC zombie thriller. Be it by family orfriends, in conversations with fans or in interviewswith journalists or bloggers, everyone wanted toknow who dies.And the affable 38-year-old Phoenix native had hisown way of maintaining the actor’s code of omerta.“I’ve gotten really good at dodging questions,”McDermitt, whose performing roots run to standup comedy, says, “or I can kind of tell when I’mtalking to someone on the street, if they’re going tostart digging for info, I can steer the conversationin the right way or just head it off. It’s very rare thatI start saying something and I go, ‘Oh, I shouldn’tbe talking about this.’ ”McDermitt loved to hear the theories and a fewfans even correctly posited that it would be Glennand Abe (Steven Yeun, Michael Cudlitz) to meetuntimely ends. But when the queries became alittle too specific, he’d have to shut them down.“When I go, ‘I can’t say anything about thisseason,’ they’d go, ‘I know but what can you say?’And I go, ‘Nothing. I can’t say anything about thisseason,’ ” he says with a laugh.Page 8 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote February 12 - 18, 2017

CELEBRITYWhat’sONLena Dunhamof “girls” onhBOEver wonder what the Celebs DVR?Richard harmon of“The 100” onThe Cw“I love TV. I watch so muchTV. Right now, I’m watching‘Aftermath’ with LeahRemini and I’m reallyinto it. I just love her asa host. . And then Iwas really happy that‘Atlanta’ won at theGlobes. I love ‘Atlanta.’I love ‘Better Things.’ Ilove ‘Silicon Valley.’ Ilove ‘Veep.’ I love ‘TheUnbreakable KimmySchmidt.’ I mean, Iwatch a lot of halfhour comedies that Iadore, and then nowmy boyfriend and Ijust started watching‘Star,’ which we reallylike. I’ll go where Latifahgoes.”“I actually just recently gotback into ‘Daredevil’Season 2. .Every year, I try torewatch ‘FridayNight Lights.’ Ithink that’sone ofthe bestshows ofall time.”Gordon Ramsayof “MasterChefJunior” on Fox“I’m a big fan of ‘NinjaWarrior,’ because I justlove that physicality of,A, keeping fit, and B, thatlevel of competitiveness. So‘Ninja Warrior’ andBear Grylls.”Justin Kirkof “APB”on Fox“At the moment, I’menjoying “Crazy ExGirlfriend.” I’ve seen acouple of episodes thatI liked – I’ll shill for mycurrent boss – called“The Mick,” I thought thatwas good. This show“Better Things” withPamela Adlon on FX Ilike a lot. I usually watchprime time on MSNBCbut most of the timeChris Hayes and RachelMaddow and LoDo asthey call it. SamanthaBee is bringing it prettyhard these days.”TheBUZZ“I’m really excited for peopleto realize how hard I’vebeen working for the pastfive years. They just took itat face value – ‘She’s deaf’– but when I startto get more workoutside the deafculture, I thinkpeople will go,‘Wait a minute.What?’ I’m kindof excited for thatreaction.” – Katie LeClercof “Switched at Birth” onFreeform, about her careerhopes beyond that series’current, inal season“When I’m writing out acharacter for myself, I liketo work on the details thatno one will ever askabout or think of,but they helpme create theperson: Wheredoes she wantto go to college?What does shewant to do when she growsup? What’s her relationshipwith her dad? It’s the stuffyou create for yourself thathelps you go in with anactual person and bring herto life.” – Lili Reinhart of“Riverdale” on The Cw“I’d always found history quitedry. I hadn’t really seen it ona personal leveluntil the show, soit’s really givenme quite a giftthere whereI’m actually farmore interested inhistory than I usedto be. Living as a historicalcharacter for four years willdefinitely do that for you.”– Adelaide Kane of “Reign”on The CwFebruary 12 - 18, 2017 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 9

CELEBRITYJAY BOBBIN’S Q&ALILIREINHARTof ‘Riverdale’ Thursday on The CWBetty Cooper of the“Archie” comics is such aniconic character, how didyour audition process for“Riverdale” go?Oh, my gosh . I feel like everyone auditionedfor this. It was not a very easy process. I actuallyauditioned in November 2015, when I was at homein North Carolina. I made a tape with my mom, andwe sent it in and it wasn’t received really well. Thecasting director was like, “I just don’t think she’s thegirl,” and we were like, “OK. Moving on.”I moved to L.A. that January, and three days later,my manager called and said, “They’re still lookingfor this girl. Since you’re in L.A now, they can seeyou in person if you want to go in.” I was like, “Sure,let’s give it a go,” so I went in . and obviously,something was different and clicked. I got a callback, then I did a studio test and a network test,and I finally got it on Feb. 9. I remember the day!Did you already have a concept of Betty fromthe comic books?I knew she was the very pushover-y girl next door, kind of hopeless,and she didn’t really seem super-intelligent if she was willing to let herlife revolve around a guy. I knew from reading the pilot that (the Betty of“Riverdale”) was not that girl, which I was really happy about.She is the girl next door – she literally lives next to Archie – and she’sincredibly kind and sweet, and very forgiving, but there’s a lot more thanmeets the eye. That’s the same with all of these characters. They may seemstereotypical, like Archie’s kind of a playboy and Veronica’s the rich “newgirl,” but it’s a lot deeper than that.Page 10 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote February 12 - 18, 2017

CELEBRITYGEORGE DICKIE’S Q&ARICHARD BACONof ‘Explorer’ Sunday onNational Geographic You seem like a natural in getting upin front of a studio audience and beinghumorous. have you ever done comedy?For a long time I hosted a news, currentaffairs and interview show on the BBC.It’s a daily radio show and I covered bothof Obama’s elections and royal weddingsand British general elections but I’ve alsohad long interviews in it. And very oftenthey were comedians – people like RickyGervais is a regular – and so that showhad humor in it. And I also in my unusual,unfocused career, I’ve also bounced aroundgame shows and entertainment shows andchildren’s shows and music shows. And soI’ve never been a stand-up but . the dailynews show that I hosted for the BBC hada kind of casual nature to it, so therefore Iwould use humor.Sometimes if you’re turning quite a seriousstory, if you can find places to use humor,it makes it all palatable. You can sometimesemphasize a point by using humor. . Usinghumor on (television) is always somethingyou have to think about a lot becausesometimes when you say a comedianactually hosts the show, you’re like, “Oh,you’re now trying too hard to find the joke.”It’s always an interesting balance, I think,and finding that sweet spot is something youhave to think about. Do you enjoy working in front of a liveaudience?Yeah, I do like that, I really enjoy that. .For me, standing in front of – let’s callthem just regular people who aren’t in theindustry, who aren’t experts or academicsor celebrities – but actually standing upfront and interacting with and talking tojust regular folks is something I’m reallycomfortable with and I really enjoy andalways want to do and I’m very comfortablein their company. So I like that.February 12 - 18, 2017 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 11

STORY‘DouBT’Katherine Heigl returns to series work,premiering Wednesday on CBSBY JAY BOBBINThere’s no doubt that several stars of past series can go on to make a new show together.A new example that premieres Wednesday, Feb. 15, the CBS drama “Doubt” casts “Grey’s Anatomy” and “State ofAffairs” alum Katherine Heigl as a New York defense attorney who becomes personally involved in her latest case. and with her client, at risk to her well-being. Played by Steven Pasquale (“The Good Wife,” “Rescue Me”), he’s aplastic surgeon turned sudden murder suspect in the death of his girlfriend, who was killed many years earlier.Elliott Gould (“Ray Donovan,” “E/R”) also stars as the chief of the law firm that employs Sadie Ellis (Heigl), withLaverne Cox (“Orange Is the New Black”), Dule Hill (“The West Wing,” “Psych”), Dreama Walker (“Gossip Girl”)and Kobi Libii (“Transparent,” “Madam Secretary”) playing lawyers as well. Executive producers and creators TonyPhelan and Joan Rater previously worked with Heigl on “Grey’s Anatomy,” and the actress – who began “Doubt”while pregnant for the first time (she has two adopted daughters with singer husband Josh Kelley) – says thechance to play “a real idealist” drew her back to series work.Continued on next pagePage 12 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote February 12 - 18, 2017

STORYContinued from previous page“Really, her first instinct is to believe the best inpeople. She is obviously clouded a bit by her notterribly professional feelings for this man, but she’s sodetermined to save him and so determined to provehis innocence that she’s trying to separate herselfemotionally, but struggling with it. I feel like that strugglecan go one of two ways: ‘Oh, come on, this isn’t realisticat all,’ or it can feel very human. And that’s what I thinkwe’re trying to do, keep it feeling very relatable andhuman.”Creator-producer Rater adds, “There’s a speech in thepilot that we call ‘the Isaiah (Gould’s character) speech,’where he talks about standing by your fellow man in hisdarkest hour. That is what these lawyers do, and we thinkthey’re heroes. At the same time, we were interested inthe idea of telling a story about an attorney who believesin her client’s innocence and ends up spending all thistime with her client and developing feelings for him,and what would happen if that client was as hunky andhandsome as Steven Pasquale? We get to explore thisreally complicated, interesting personal relationship in thepilot, and we’re excited to do that for the show.”A notable aspect of “Doubt” is the presence of Cox, sinceit marks the first time a transgender character has beenplayed by a transgender actress in a broadcast-networkseries.“That piece is really wonderful,” Cox reflects, “that folkscan have a character like (Cox’s) Cameron who is IvyLeague-educated. I think the attorneys at (the show’s)Roth & Associates are freedom fighters. Once you’redealing with the legal system, it is not a system thatis designed to benefit you, and we are there to makesure that justice is done. It’s wonderful to get to play acharacter like that and to be a black transgender womanin that position on CBS. It feels really, really special. Andshe wears really cool stuff, too.”“Doubt” originally was aimed for the 2015-16 televisionseason, but revamping and recasting with Heigl andPasquale resulted in its debut during the currentmidseason. “We’re so grateful,” Rater maintains of gettinga second shot at the project, “because we got to seethe parts of the story that weren’t working and we got tocorrect them. You never get this opportunity, and we did,so we got to learn.”Pictured: Laverne CoxFebruary 12 - 18, 2017 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 13

STORYBY GEORGE DICKIEor Lena Dunham, thecharacter of New YorkCity 20-somethingHannah Horvath onHBO’s “Girls” served asan outlet for the actress’most immature andantisocial impulses.FFor instance, if she felt like screamingin someone’s face on the street, Lenacouldn’t do that but Hannah certainlycould. And chances are that would windup in the show.So as the Emmy-winning dramedy aboutfour young women trying to figure outadulthood in Manhattan opens its sixthand final season on Sunday, Feb, 12, itscreator and star can’t help but feel a littlewistful that that facility is no longer.Friendshipsare put to thetest as HBO’s‘Girls’ entersits sixth andfinal season“The fact is now I’m like, ‘Where do I putall of my sort of naughtiest instincts?’ ”Continued on next pagePictured: Lena DunhamPage 14 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote February 12 - 18, 2017

STORYContinued from previous pageDunham says, “and they’renot going into her and Ireally miss it. It was sofun to play. I mean, there’snothing more fun to playthan someone who kind ofalways, instead of walkingaway, screams a thing insomebody’s face or saysthe inappropriate thing orsort of says the thing thateverybody’s thinking but istoo scared to express.”As the new season begins,the four friends try to drawever closer to being thewomen they want to be.Hannah (Dunham) hasfound success as a writerafter her participation in theMoth’s open-mic competitionand gets an assignmentthat could change her life.Marnie (Allison Williams),now divorced, tries tomaintain her independencebut her self-absorption couldundermine her buddingrelationship with Ray (AlexPictured: Lena DunhamKarpovsky). A creativeproject could be a source ofcontention for new coupleJessa and Adam (Jemima Kirke, Adam Driver), andShoshanna (Zosia Mamet) wonders if she should ditch herfriends in the interest of further professional success.“This season is really them figuring out that all of theirmost immature tactics were not working for them,” Dunhamexplains. “And so all of the characters are kind of having tofigure out everything from the logistical – how are we goingto make money? – to the emotional – how am I going tomake my friends not hate me? And that’s sort of wherewe go this season and that question of: Should these girlsreally be friends? Are these realistic relationships? That allreally comes to a head this season. All the friendships arein question and they’re tested.”While Hannah has inched her way toward adulthood,Dunham leapt there. “Girls” afforded the 30-year-old NewYork native the opportunity to be the star and showrunnerof a successful series for six seasons, a time duringwhich she moved out of her parents’ house, entered intoa serious relationship and figured out who she is. Asmuch as it was hard work and very long hours, it was anexperience in self-discovery that she wouldn’t trade foranything.“Something that I realized, which was kind of cool, is thatI’m actually very comfortable in that role,” she says of beingthe boss. “I’ve always sort of felt like an old lady and so tokind of be professionally obligated to act like one workedgreat for me.”February 12 - 18, 2017 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 15

STORY‘Tower’ re-creates shootingtragedy, partly throughanimation, on ‘IndependentLens’BY JAY BOBBINRarely is animation used to tell a tragic and true story.By combining that with archival footage – some of itnever seen before – director Keith Maitland achievesan unsettling but compelling result with “Tower,” hisdocumentary about the 1966 mass shootings by a sniperwho was ensconced on the observation deck atop thetower at the University of Austin, Texas. Recounting how16 victims died at the time (including shooter CharlesWhitman’s mother and wife, whom he killed elsewhere)and nearly three dozen others were wounded, the filmmakes its television debut as a PBS “Independent Lens”presentation Tuesday, Feb. 14 (check local listings).(Maitland) did by keying in on the survivors, the peoplethat were witnesses, and the people that have to live withthese memories was outstanding. And let’s forget aboutthe sniper. He’s dead. He’s gone, and thank goodness.”Maitland allows that he worried about the initial reactionsof those he approached to participate in “Tower”: “Whenyou make the decision that you are going to call somebodyup out of the blue and say, ‘Hey, I want to talk aboutMaitland intends “Tower” as a tribute to those who survived the worst thing that ever happened to you 50 yearsthe incident, some of whom performed heroic acts to save ago, you don’t know who I am, and I’m going to turn itothers, so he’s clear about his reasons for putting muchinto a cartoon,’ you are bound to ruffle some feathersof the retelling in cartoon form. He started the processor turn people off or potentially open a can of wormsby talking to some of the people directly affected on thatthat somebody isn’t prepared to deal with so I wasAugust day more than 50 years ago, and he notes thatextremely anxious and extremely sensitive about that.“every word in the screenplay came from their interviews,from their experience. And then we cast actors to portray“What I was shocked to find over and over again,” Maitlandthese folks, then we shot these scenes in live action andadds, “is I didn’t receive a single piece of pushback onedited them, and then turned them over for animation.”any questions about the animation or about the approachfrom anyone that I can recall. What the animation did giveBefore those scenes were re-created, Maitland explains,us was an opportunity not just to focus on the big picture,“I had the actors record all of a ‘scratch’ version of thewhich I think is what most people care about in a story likevoiceover, basically, so we could lay out

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