Celebrity Extra: Ted Danson
By Dana Jackson
Q: When is Ted Danson's "A Man on the Inside" returning? Will it have the same cast as the first season? -- Y.B.
A: Netflix quickly renewed "A Man on the Inside" after its debut season but with a few changes to its supporting cast. Ted Danson, of course, will return, as will Mary Elizabeth Ellis as his daughter, Emily. According to TVLine, Danson's character goes undercover this time as a professor when the college's president (played by Max Greenfield of "The Neighborhood") is blackmailed.
Ted Danson in "A Man on the Inside". Photo Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Gary Cole ("Veep") has also joined the cast as a billionaire, and Mary Steenburgen ("The Last Man on Earth"), who is married to Danson in real life, will play a free-spirited music teacher. Other new additions include Jason Mantzoukas ("The Good Place"), Constance Marie ("George Lopez"), and David Strathairn ("Billions").
All eight episodes of season two of "A Man on the Inside" will be available to binge on Netflix beginning on Nov. 20.
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Q: What is this new series (I'm assuming a drama) about the NFL that Hulu is developing? Didn't the NFL make ESPN cancel a similar series about 20 years ago because they didn't like how the NFL was portrayed? -- A.K.
A: Back in 2004, ESPN canceled its hit drama series "Playmakers" after just one season reportedly for the reason you stated. NFL executives didn't care for how the league and its fictional players were portrayed. Even though the show never mentioned the letters N, F or L in the script, the subject matter (drugs, sex and concussions) wasn't well-received by the NFL commissioner at the time, Paul Tagliabue.
Now, 20 years later, Dan Fogelman, the creative mind behind the hit series "This Is Us" and "Paradise," is in the midst of casting a new drama set in the world of pro football. The cast looks impressive with several Emmy Award winners and nominees in the mix. William H. Macy ("Shameless") will play owner/patriarch Hank Durkin, opposite Chris Meloni's ("Law & Order: Organized Crime") head coach. Mandy Moore from "This Is Us" has also recently been cast.
Perhaps the as-yet-untitled Hulu series will find room for some of the cast of "Playmakers," who prematurely and unfairly lost their jobs -- like Tony Denison ("Major Crimes"), who played Coach George, and Omar Gooding ("Deadwood"), who played a star running back in what is considered his breakout role.
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Q: Is Kelly Clarkson's daytime talk show coming back soon? I hope it wasn't canceled. -- M.M.
A: Yes, "The Kelly Clarkson Show" will return sometime this September with tapings before an audience beginning on Sept 10. However, the show isn't live. Clarkson returns after the loss of her children's father, Brandon Blackstock, to cancer in August. She stepped away from her residency in Las Vegas to care for her kids during this difficult time.
She's also set to return to "The Voice" alongside fellow judges John Legend and Adam Levine. It premieres its new season on Sept. 22 on NBC.
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