Entertainment

'Two and a Half Men' still has decent ratings

The longest-running live-action sitcom currently on television is finally coming to a close. CBS has announced a series finale date for Two and a Half Men.

After 12 seasons, Men will conclude with a one-hour closer on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. Upon its completion, 262 episodes of Men will have aired. The series earned 47 Emmy Award nominations, with co-star Jon Cryer winning twice. For five years straight, the Chuck Lorre-produced comedy was the most-watched sitcom on TV (2005-2009). The enormously raunchy show survived multiple time slots and endless critical derision.

Moreover, the show soldiered on after even losing its top star, Charlie Sheen, in one of the most spectacular firings in the history of the medium when he left the series in 2011. Then Men lost saw the exit of longtime co-star Angus T. Jones last year after the actor trashed the show.

All the while, Men has occupied a unique spot in the landscape — a guilty pleasure seen by so many, yet a title that so few publicly admit to watching (if you judged TV series popularity by reading EW’s comment boards, you would think Men was a massive flop that keeps inexplicably getting renewed). You don’t find many long-running shows on a major broadcast network with episode titles like “I Scream When I Pee” and “Hookers, Hookers, Hookers.”

Men still has decent ratings — the season is currently averaging 10.1 million viewers and a 2.5 among adults 18-49. Yet series talent deals tend to get more expensive with each passing year, and Men has managed to stay alive since 2003.

Its finale date will mark the debut of a new comedy, CBS’ Odd Couple reboot starring Matthew Perry. The show potentially could be a successor of sorts to Men— it’s another male roommate sitcom. But it’s probably fair to say whether you openly hatedTwo and a Half Men, or secretly loved it, there probably won’t be another comedy quite like this one for a long time.

This article originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly

The plan is to split 'It' into two films

It looks like Pennywise the Clown will soon be back to make audiences fear clowns for years to come.

Speaking to Vulture on Dec. 4, producer Dan Lin confirmed that True Detective director Cary Fukunaga is on board for a new adaptation of Stephen King’s It.

“The idea is to start official prep in March for a summer shoot,” Lin, a producer on The Lego Movie, told Vulture.

However, Lin said It was too big to keep to one movie, and so the plan is to split It into two films (which, if Lin takes inspiration from Peter Jackson, will turn into a trilogy culminating in It: A Pennywise for Your Thoughts).

Lin only confirmed Fukunaga’s involvement for the first film, but did say he is working to sign on the director for the second one as well.

The two-part film does have some precedent in the case of It, however. The original 1986 novel has only seen one other major adaptation, a two-part miniseries on ABC that aired in 1990. That version is particularly memorable for Tim Curry’s horrifying portrayal of Pennywise the Clown, and should serve as a standard-bearer for clown-based scares as Fukunaga and Lin prep their version.

More so than signing on Fukunaga for both parts, Lin has been most concerned with earning the approval of one man: Stephen King.

“The most important thing is that Stephen King gave us his blessing,” Lin said. “We didn’t want to make this unless he felt it was the right way to go, and when we sent him the script, the response that Cary got back was, ‘Go with God, please! This is the version the studio should make.’ So that was really gratifying.”

This article originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly

What changed from page to screen in the new Reese Witherspoon film

The new Reese Witherspoon movie Wild faced a major challenge as it headed to the big screen. In the popular memoir of the same name, author Cheryl Strayed hikes the Pacific Crest Trail in hopes of finding ways to cope her mother’s death, her experimentation with heroin and her divorce. The then-26-year-old Strayed spends most of the book traversing the trail alone and, though flashback scenes and pit stops on her journey provide some material for action and drama, the book mainly consists of Strayed’s own thoughts—material that’s hard to translate into a screenplay.

Still, the film closely parallels the book, mirroring Strayed’s bleak back story and her uplifting journey. Here’s what was truth, as described by the memoir, and what was changed for the movie.

Warning: spoilers follow for Wild, both the book and the movie.

Cheryl’s last phone call before starting her hike was to her ex-husband, Paul

Ruling: Fiction

In the film, Cheryl calls her newly ex-husband Paul before she sets off on her journey, probably so that audience members will become familiar with Paul (who appears in many flashbacks throughout the movie) early on. In reality, Cheryl resisted the urge to call her ex the night before she began her hike. Cheryl fell into using heroin for a time between her mother’s death and her hike four years later. Paul disapproved from the habit and helped Cheryl quit, but she used again shortly before the hike. She feared that if she called Paul he would somehow divine that she had done drugs just days before.

Cheryl’s only family was her mother and brother

Ruling: Fiction

The movie cuts out a few important people in Cheryl’s real life. In the film, Cheryl has only one sibling, her younger brother Leif. In reality, Cheryl also had an older sister, Karen. The movie also removes their mother’s second husband, Eddie. Eddie is a father figure to Cheryl and her siblings when they are young. (Their biological father was abusive and Cheryl loses touch with him after her mother files for divorce.) Cheryl and Eddie grew particularly close during her mother’s sickness, but after she passed, Eddie remarried and grew distant.

Cheryl and Paul got matching tattoos when they divorced

Ruling: Fact

To honor their connection to each other, the two got tattoos of horses on their arms. Their divorce (as reflected in the film) is largely amicable. Cheryl blames marrying too young and her own infidelity for their failed marriage.

Cheryl threw her boot off a cliff

Ruling: Fact

Cheryl’s boots did plague her throughout her hike, taking six of her toenails because they were too small. In the film, Cheryl finds out that REI will ship her new boots for free at one of her first stops on the trail. In reality, she heard about the satisfaction guaranteed policy much later when the damage was already done to her feet.

One of her boots did tumble down a cliff, allowing her to chuck the other one after it, screaming profanities as she did. She walked in taped-together sandals to her next rest stop, where her boots were to be delivered. However, her problems did not end there: The boots were not shipped as quickly as she expected, and she was forced to hike on sandals to yet another stop before finally getting her new shoes.

She was interviewed for the Hobo Times

Ruling: Fact

A reporter really did stop Cheryl and talk to her for a piece in the Hobo Times. (Though the book never mentions whether the story was actually published and picked up by Harper’s, as the journalist suggested it would be.) The interview forces Cheryl to question whether she is, technically speaking, homeless, since she is traveling alone and doesn’t have a house to call her own. The hobo care-package she receives is also real and did indeed include a beer.

Cheryl got pregnant while experimenting with heroin

Ruling: Mostly Fact

Another character cut out from the movie is Joe, Cheryl’s boyfriend who gets her hooked on heroin. Cheryl begins experimenting with the drug while she and Paul are separated but not yet divorced. As shown in the movie, Paul does drive across the country to find Cheryl when a mutual friend tells him that his wife has been using drugs. Cheryl consents to leave with him only after she is threatened by a man with a knife.

In the movie, Cheryl says she does not know who got her pregnant. In the book, it was certainly Joe. After getting an abortion and setting out on her hike, Cheryl receives several letters from Joe on the trail promising to get better and expressing a desire to be her boyfriend. Cheryl does not find out whether Joe actually goes to rehab.

MORE: Reese Witherspoon Isn’t Nice or Wholesome in Wild, and That’s What Makes It Great

She walked out of her therapy sessions

Ruling: Fiction

Much of Cheryl’s internal monologue during her therapy sessions is made into dialogue with her therapist in the movie. In fact, Cheryl saw a therapist consistently, not just for one session.

Cheryl missed her mother’s death while finding her brother

Ruling: Fact

In real life, Leif disappeared while his mother was in the hospital. Cheryl spent the night before her mother died trying to track him down. When she finally found him and the two visited the hospital the next morning, their mother had already been dead for an hour. A nurse, thinking they had already been informed, approached them and told them they put ice on their mother’s eyes so she could donate her corneas.

Cheryl and Leif shot their mother’s horse

Ruling: Fact

One of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the book is when Cheryl and Leif are forced to put down their mother’s sick horse. The horse grew weak after Eddie neglected it following the death of Cheryl’s mother. Cheryl asks Eddie to mercy-kill the horse, but he doesn’t. Cheryl then says Leif must shoot the animal. The horse does not die from the first shot, but to Cheryl’s dismay must be shot multiple times and dies slowly. In the book, Cheryl often dreams of her mother begging to Cheryl kill her and of her mother’s horse offering a bouquet of flowers to Cheryl, forgiving her for shooting him.

Vince Gilligan's Battle Creek will air in March

CBS has locked down midseason premiere dates for two key crime dramas: Battle Creek and CSI: Cyber.

Battle Creek is from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and House creator David Shore and stars Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters as two mismatched law enforcement officers in rural Michigan. The show will air at 10 p.m. on Sunday nights starting March 1.

CSI: Cyber stars Patricia Arquette as the head of the Cyber Crime Division of the FBI. The CSI spin-off is going into Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. starting March 4.

The shows will replace two others cop dramas: The ultra-veteran CSI on Sundays and the freshman thriller Stalker on Wednesdays. CSI will have aired 18 episodes and have wrapped its season at that point. Stalker will eventually have 17 episodes this season and will return to CBS’ schedule at some point to air its remaining hours. Both are to be considered complete seasons by the network, even though they are shy of CBS’ usual 22-episode orders for dramas. Here’s the schedule:

CBS Wednesday, Effective March 1

7:00-8:00 PM 60 MINUTES

8:00-9:00 PM MADAM SECRETARY

9:00-10:00 PM THE GOOD WIFE

10:00-11:00 PM BATTLE CREEK (P)

CBS Wednesday, Effective March 4

8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR

9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS

10:00-11:00 PM CSI: CYBER (P)

This article originally appeared on Entertainment Weekly

'Tis the season to be Harry

On the first day of Christmas, J.K. Rowling will give to you: new Harry Potter material. On the second day of Christmas, she’ll give you some more. And so on, through the 12 days leading up to Christmas Eve.

The author announced the new stories in a newsletter to Pottermore members, explaining that each new installment would be posted at 1 pm GMT (8am ET) every day beginning Dec. 12. The email promises “wonderful writing by J.K. Rowling in Moments from Half-Blood Prince, shiny gold Galleons and even a new potion or two.”

MORE: The Top 10 YA Books of 2014

One story will reportedly center on Draco Malfoy, Harry’s nemesis. In the spirit of the holiday season, maybe he’ll get a little redemption, Ebenezer Scrooge-style.

[Daily Telegraph]

Read next: J.K. Rowling Reveals Her Dream Job If She Weren’t A Writer

Filming is slated to start next year on Southside With You

As President Obama enters the back half of his second term, it’s time to start thinking about a biopic. No, not the kind where he makes major decisions about world events. The kind where he goes on a first date with a pretty lawyer.

Shooting will allegedly begin next year on Southside With You, a film depicting Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson’s first date, Deadline Hollywood reports. The future president famously took Michelle to see Do the Right Thing in Chicago on a summer afternoon in 1989. They also visited a Baskin Robbins and shared their first kiss on the curb outside, where a plaque now celebrates that fateful smooch.

Tika Sumpter, who appeared in the James Brown biopic Get on Up, will play Michelle, while the role of Barack has not yet been cast. The movie has been described as a romantic drama, so expect it to be more Before Sunrise and less My Date With the President’s Daughter.

[Deadline Hollywood]