TV Anchors Face-Off; O'Reilly Divides Murdochs; How 'Sex and the City' Began; Mika and Joe Dating?

What's news: Bill O'Reilly is taking a long vacation amid a scandal, but will he return as planned April 24? Plus: The first THR TV Anchor Roundtable arrives, Fast 8 speeds toward a big debut and are Morning Joe's Mika and Joe dating? Their pets think so. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman. [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( April 12, 2017 What's news: Bill O'Reilly is taking a long vacation amid a scandal, but will he return as planned April 24? Plus: The first THR TV Anchor Roundtable arrives, Fast 8 speeds toward a big debut and are Morning Joe's Mika and Joe dating? Their pets think so. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman. IS BILL O'REILLY OFF THE AIR FOR GOOD? As the anchor says he's headed to vacation amid an advertiser boycott, Michael Wolff reveals the divide among the Murdoch family over the future of Fox News and its biggest star. [Wolff's new column:]( The Murdoch interests have, however, now been joined — with Rupert Murdoch arguing it's his sons' own damned fault — to the flashpoint issue of sexual harassment. And while they could rationalize losing Roger Ailes because Fox News, even without him, remains powerful, it would be harder to rationalize a loss of O'Reilly, who, at 8 p.m., is the most-watched host on cable and supports the entire evening schedule. The liberal hope is that media pressure will continue to force advertisers to reject O’Reilly. But, in fact, so far advertisers have merely moved to other Fox shows, which depend on the O'Reilly spillover audience. If O'Reilly, who is on a pre-planned vacation, returns in April and the ratings remain strong, those advertisers likely will be back on his show. Murdoch Senior has remained largely remote from this dispute, but he reportedly has been paying attention again. He is said to be worried that his sons are moving toward a radical break — "re-imagining Fox," is what James is said to call it — and hastening the end of an era that, in television terms, so far has been more popular and unyielding than any cozier new one. WHAT O'REILLY ACTUALLY SAID “I grab some vacation, because it's spring and Easter time," he stated last night, adding that he had booked this trip "last fall." He even has a contest on his site called "Guess Where Bill's Going." He added: “[We all need R&R.](" The TV Anchor Roundtable They're here: Savannah Guthrie, Jake Tapper, George Stephanopoulos, Bret Baier and Gayle King sit down with Marisa Guthrie for THR's First TV Anchor Roundtable about the changing media landscape and why news matters even more now. [An excerpt:]( Q: Donald Trump has been known to call reporters. Has he ever called any of you? BAIER He used to call about polls at the beginning of the race when he was kind of low in the polls. He'd [say], "Where's this poll?" And, "You're putting out the wrong poll." STEPHANOPOULOS Polls and ratings. He would call after the Sunday show and say, "How did you do," or "Did I put you over the top?" GUTHRIE In 2011, when he was flirting with the run, Chuck [Todd, NBC's political director] and I used to have [an MSNBC] show, so we'd sometimes mention him, and he would call us and be kind of irritated if he didn't feel like we were taking it seriously. And I don't think it was Trump, but somebody from the Trump Organization forwarded us some Apprentice ratings as proof, I guess, of his political viability. KING He is very ferocious about his children. I got a call from [someone in] his office; "Mr. Trump wants to get in touch with you. What's the best address?" And he ended up sending me a picture and a note about an interview I'd done with Ivanka, just to say how much he enjoyed that. [Full TV Anchor Roundtable]( I [Anchors weigh in on election mistakes](. Elsewhere in TV... ↱ [Did Morning Joe's co-hosts just admit they're dating?]( "We have a crackling on-air chemistry, and a crackling off-air chemistry, too," says Scarborough in a chat with THR. When asked to elaborate, Brzezinski pauses and says, "That's good." Scarborough adds, "I think that pretty much says it, doesn't it?" The New York-based co-hosts are even discussing how their pets are co-mingling. ↲ And more TV... ► USA Network firms up summer schedule. The cabler has handed out a [series order]( to celebrity game show Big Star Little Star with So You Think You Can Dance Emmy winner Cat Deeley set to host the series, from ITV Entertainment. ► Amazon orders Indian World War II series. The streaming giant is [planning]( The Forgotten Army, which revolves around historical Indian figure Subhash Chandra Boseis. It will be directed by Bollywood helmer Kabir Khan. ↱ [Fargo season 3, reviewed](. The FX gem returns for a third delicious season under the masterful hand of Noah Hawley and starring Ewan McGregor and Carrie Coon, writes chief TV critic Tim Goodman. ↲ ► MTV revives Fear Factor with Ludacris as host. The Viacom network has [ordered 12 episodes]( of the reboot to be hosted by Ludacris. The new incarnation will be more playful with fewer "gross-out" moments. ► Big Little Lies author prepping season 2. Liane Moriarty has heard the requests for more of the HBO limited series, and is busy [readying ideas]( for a potential sophomore season that would focus on Zoe Kravitz and her abusive father. ► Corden's 'Carpool Karaoke' sets another special. The popular Late Late Show segment will be the subject of a second primetime special [set to air May 22](, featuring new segments and some of Corden's favorite clips. ► R.I.P., Dorothy Mengering. David Letterman's mom, a masterful pie-maker from a small town in Indiana who “covered” three Winter Olympics for her son, has died at 95. [Full obit.]( ► R.I.P., Peter Hansen. The actor, who appeared as the steady Lee {NAME} on the ABC soap opera General Hospital in parts over five decades, died Sunday. He was 95. [Full obit.]( In THR, Esq: NBCUniversal sued by Brooklyn Nine-Nine extra. Kwon Kang says a caterer refused to serve him an omelet on-set and taunted him because he's Asian, according to a complaint filed Tuesday. He's seeking [$500,000 in punitive damages.]( Box Office: 'Fast 8' Eyes Massive Debut Fate of the Furious, the eighth outing in Universal's male-fueled action franchise, is fated to do huge business domestically and overseas, where it begins rolling out Wednesday, Pamela McClintock forecasts: When it hits theaters, Fate of the Furious [may earn $110M or more]( in its debut and north of $350M globally. It could easily outperform pre-release tracking and has a shot at matching Furious 7's global debut, thanks to China, where it opens this weekend. Furious 7 launched to a record-shattering $147.2M domestically and $397M globally in April 2015. The new movie currently boasts an 80 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a franchise best after Furious 7 (79 percent). The film certainly spooked the competition — there is no other movie opening nationwide this weekend. Elsewhere in film... [^First look: N.Y.'s Quad Cinema debuts Hollywood makeover.]( The downtown art house gets a multimillion-dollar renovation from owner Charles Cohen, distributor of Oscar winner The Salesman, who promises no gourmet gimmicks at the theater. Trailer watch... ► Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok trailer breaks a few records. The teaser unleashed Monday became not only the most-viewed Marvel trailer ever, but also Disney’s [most-viewed trailer ever]( across all its brands (which includes Pixar and Star Wars too). ► Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit debuts first look. John Boyega, John Krasinski, Anthony Mackie, Will Poulter and Jacob Latimore are among the cast of the Annapurna drama, which tells the story of the civil unrest that rocked the city in the summer of 1967. [Watch here.]( ► Charlize Theron's Atomic Blonde trailer arrives. The actress stars opposite Sofia Boutella, James McAvoy, John Goodman and Toby Jones in the film from director David Leicht. And if the action in the film looks intense, that's because it was. [Watch here.]( What to expect at Star Wars celebration. Heat Vision writers Aaron Couch and Graeme McMillan chat: The Last Jedi trailer is a no-brainer for when the festivities kick off Thursday, but what about third spin-off movie details [or a Han Solo title?]( How 'Sex and the City' Began Candace Bushnell, the former New York Observer writer, pens a new remembrance recounting the "good old days" when people faxed her column to Hollywood and she was the paper's "secret weapon": I got my start at the New York Observer in 1993 when an editor I had met, Peter Stevenson, went to work there — this is back when Susan Morrison was the editor — and he said, "Come in for a meeting, maybe you can write for us." Of course I had to pitch some story ideas, and I pitched one that was about "the Manhattan transfers," and it was about all of these kids from the '80s who'd ended up in rehab in the '90s, but every time they came back to New York they relapsed, so they all had to go and live in Minneapolis. They wanted it. [Full column.]( And: Observer alum [Foster Kamer writes about the time]( his old boss, Jared Kushner, asked staffers to target a real estate rival. Bonus: For New York media-types, THR asked more than a few power players about what's next for the salmon-colored weekly paper as Kushner moves on to the White House. [Who should buy the Observer? The answers:]( — Jeff Zucker, President, CNN Worldwide: "Michael Bloomberg" — Dean Baquet, Executive editor, The New York Times: "Someone who wants it to survive. It's a great voice on the cultural history of New York." — David Remnick, Editor, The New Yorker: "Someone, anyone, who is willing to follow the Jeff Bezos model in D.C. He seems to have the right idea with The Washington Post: spend on editorial talent and trust that good things will happen." — Adam Moss, Editor-in-Chief, New York magazine: "Jeff Bezos would be ideal, though I think he's got his hands full. He's the definition of a model modern media mogul." — Ben Smith, Editor-in-chief, BuzzFeed: "Charlie Kushner, obviously." — Jesse Angelo, CEO/publisher; Editor-in-chief, New York Post: "Jimmy 'The Rent is Too Damn High' McMillan." Today's Birthdays: Saoirse Ronan, 23, Brooklyn Decker, 30, Ilana Glazer, 30, Claire Danes, 38, Andy Garcia, 61, Jon Krakauer, 63, David Letterman, 70. Follow The News Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2017 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( April 12, 2017