Entertainment

Ted Danson Reveals Why He Left Sitcoms for Good After ABC Flop

Published

4 months ago

April 30, 2026

Ted Danson has been a staple of television for decades, but the actor revealed on Wednesday that he nearly left the small screen behind entirely after “Help Me Help You” was canceled on ABC mid-season.

“It was after ‘Cheers’ and ‘Becker’ and I tried another half-hour and I just felt like — it didn’t work out, then it was like, ‘Oh, I’ve stayed at this half-hour party too long,’” Danson said on his podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.” “‘I’m no longer funny. I’m not amusing myself. There are people doing really amazing, funny stuff. I’m gonna stop doing this.’”

Danson was joined by Adam Scott on his podcast, where Woody Harrelson (who co-starred alongside him on “Cheers” starting in Season 4) “sometimes” appears as co-host. During the interview, Danson talked about several diversions in his career, such as when he sought to act in dramatic films (citing “Saving Private Ryan” with Steven Spielberg) and when he got pulled into appearing early on in “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (a show he thought “sucks” after watching the pilot).

It wasn’t until the FX legal thriller “Damages” that Danson really got pulled back into television.

“‘Damages’ gave me the thing. It took the bored out of my butt in that it’s brilliant writing but literally you would be called to the set for a scene and be handed warm pages of the scene that they had just rewritten,” Danson said. “It was like I had carte blanche.”

You can watch the full interview below:

It’s hard to imagine a time with Danson out of the TV spotlight, as each generation has essentially had their own vehicle with him at the center dating back to the 1980s. He was on “Cheers” from 1982 to 1993, “Becker” from 1998 to 2004, “Damages” from 2007 to 2010, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” from 2011 to 2015, “The Good Place” from 2016 to 2020, and now “A Man on the Inside” among a great many other series.

But Danson said “Damages” was the series to pull him out of a brief TV funk. He also noted that it was the first series to get him to hire an acting coach.

“It was brilliant,” Danson responded. “What was weird was the writers, the Kesslers, Glenn and Todd came up to me a week before we started shooting and said, ‘Would you mind going to our acting coach?’ and I was like ‘Oh, f–k man, I guess I’m really miscast and they’re worried.’”

“I was smart enough to go, ‘Yes, of course!’ even though I was dying inside. I went and he was brilliant.”

The acting coach, Danson said, informed him that he’s a “nice actor,” one who audiences can trust to deliver their lines and make it to the end. For a harsh like billionaire Arthur Frobisher in “Damages,” Danson would need to tap into something else.

“You need to have an irreverence to the material,” Danson was told. “You need to have, in your mind, ‘You know what? I’ve said this line and f–k you, I don’t particularly feel like saying the next line.’”

“It was so freeing to me that I all of a sudden started to love acting again.”

movies

‘Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip’ Sees Huge Audience Boost

Published

11 minutes ago

August 27, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th is off to a, well, roaring start on Bravo.

The premiere welcomed 2.5 million total viewers across platforms in its first week, marking a 112% increase over the previous season premiere, per a combination of Nielsen data and internal NBCUniversal streaming numbers.

Per Nielsen, the episode was up 97% on Bravo linear. On Peacock, NBCU says that the premiere was up 110% to achieve a streaming series high for Ultimate Girls Trip franchise. The episode also ranks as Bravo’s No. 6 biggest season premiere in Peacock history after seven days, the media company adds.

The growing audience is also fueling buzz on social. The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th has tallied 97 million impressions to-date, NBCU says.

The Real Housewives franchise appears to be firing on all cylinders, lately. The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 20 debuted to 2.4 million total viewers across platforms, which is a 15% increase season-over-season. Through 13 episodes, The Real Housewives of Atlanta is averaging 2.6 million total viewers across platforms after 35 days. That’s a 5% increase overall, but the show is up 22% on Peacock specifically.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Real Housewives franchise, Season 5 of Ultimate Girls Trip features Teresa Giudice, Luann de Lesseps, Kyle Richards, Vicki Gunvalson, Gizelle Bryant, Porsha Williams, and Lisa Barlow. Throughout the season, the women are traveling to some of the iconic locations from the franchise’s history, starting in Orange County and visiting Beverly Hills, Atlanta, Miami, and New York City.

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th is produced by Shed Media with Lisa Shannon, Dan Peirson, Darren Ward, and Barrie Bernstein serving as executive producers. Andy Cohen also serves as executive producer.

movies

‘Law & Order: SVU’ Adds J. Smith Cameron As Recurring For Season 28

Published

17 minutes ago

August 27, 2026

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There will be a new face in the upcoming 28th season of Law & Order: SVU. Succession alumna J. Smith-Cameron has been tapped for a recurring role. She will play jury consultant Gwen Sharpe opposite Mariska Hargitay‘s Olivia Benson.

Smith-Cameron’s character will be introduced in the season 28 premiere on Thursday, Oct 8 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Starring Hargitay and her second-in-command Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), SVU chronicles the lives of the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Unit, an elite squad of detectives who investigate crimes of sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence.  Peter Scanavino, Kelli Giddish, Kevin Kane, Aimé Donna Kelly and Corey Cott also star.

Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer. Michelle Fazekas, Mariska Hargitay, Kenneth Brown, Rebeccca McGill, Anastasia Puglisi and Peter Jankowski executive produce. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Wolf Entertainment.

Smith-Cameron is best known for her role as Gerri Kellman on Succession, which earned her two Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe award and a Critics Choice award, and she shared in two SAG awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Up next, Smith-Cameron will co-star in Seven Sisters, which was recently picked up to series by FX, opposite Elizabeth Olsen and Cristin Milioti. She will also co-star in Jeff Rutherford’s upcoming sophomore feature film, In Our Sweet Way.

Additional TV credits include Hacks, Elsbeth, Murdaugh: A Death in the Family, Rectify and Waco: The Aftermath. She’s repped by Gersh, Principal Entertainment LA and Schreck Rose Dapello.

Entertainment

Inde Navarette Was Never Offered Heat 2 Role

Published

21 minutes ago

August 27, 2026

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For the past few weeks, the internet has been in a tizzy over rumors that “Obsession” breakout Inde Navarrette turned down a plum role in Michael Mann’s feverishly anticipated “Heat 2,” where she would have worked alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale. Instead, the rumors go, she chose to play Jubilee in Marvel Studios’ rebooted “X-Men” franchise starter, to be directed by Jake Schreier.

But TheWrap has exclusively learned that Navarrette was never offered the role in “Heat 2,” and thus did not turn down the sequel to make “X-Men.” She had a single meeting with Mann, but it never went any further.

“It’s simply untrue,” said “Heat 2” executive producer Shane Salerno.

Adam Driver, another “X-Men” cast member, is deep in talks to play one of the chief antagonists, Wardell, in “Heat 2.” If Driver could make both movies work, schedule-wise, couldn’t Navarrette?

So no, she didn’t turn down a role in “Heat 2” for “X-Men,” but she’ll be just fine. In addition to the Marvel reboot, Navarrette, whose “Obsession” character Nikki will soon be stalking guests of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando and Hollywood, has been getting Oscar buzz for her role in the horror blockbuster. The film became a word-of-mouth phenomenon earlier this summer and is now the highest-grossing original movie of the 2020s with over $500 million.

And in other “Heat 2” news, Odessa Young (“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”) and María Cid are in talks for the female leads of the movie, TheWrap has also learned.

Young would play Charlene, who was played by Ashley Judd in the 1995 original, the girlfriend of Val Kilmer’s character. Cid would play Gabi, a new character in the franchise and the daughter of Neil McCauley’s girlfriend.

As TheWrap exclusively reported, Bale will play Vincent Hanna, the dogged LAPD Robbery Homicide detective played by Al Pacino in the original film, while DiCaprio will play Chris Shiherlis, who was played by Val Kilmer.

“Heat 2” serves as both the sequel to Mann’s 1995 crime epic and an adaptation of the bestselling novel that was co-authored by Meg Gardiner. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing the sequel, which marks his first collaboration with Mann since 1981’s “Thief,” alongside United Artists’ Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbitt. Executive producers are Shane Salerno and Eric Roth.

Production on Amazon MGM Studios and United Artists’ “Heat 2” is scheduled to begin in November.

Deadline first reported the news of Young and Cid’s involvement.