SHOTS FIRED tackles multiple hot- button issues INTO THE BADLANDS How fatherhood changes + Sunny in Season 2 DANCING WITH THE AMERICANS THE STARS head toward the One past finalist’s finish line insider’s view FOLIO Courtesy of Gracenote March 19 - 25, 2017 What’s C HOT this contents Week! YOURTVLINK STAFF PICK TOP STORIES 12-13 As “Dancing With the Stars” begins its 24th round Monday on ABC, one of last season’s finalists — actress and country-music star Jana Kramer — talks with Jay 3 Bobbin about the experience of being in, and staying in, the Southern-town competition almost to the end. shooting incidents that apparently are 14-15 In Season 2 of the martial arts drama “Into the racially motivated Badlands,” warrior Sunny is incarcerated in a mining prison, propel the limited struggling to survive its brutality and determined to get back to drama series “Shots the Badlands and his family. The actor who plays Sunny, Daniel Fired,” premiering Wu, tells George Dickie of the physical demands the prison Wednesday on Fox. scenes exacted from him. Creators and executive producers Gina Prince- Bythewood and Reggie 17 Season 5 of FX’s “The Americans” continues with an eye Rock Bythewood, toward its end game, since next year will mark the conclusion and stars including of the Tuesday drama series. Stars Keri Russell and Matthew Oscar winners Richard Rhys and executive producer Joel Fields tell Jay Bobbin about Dreyfuss and Helen staying in the present with their work on the show while Hunt, tell Jay Bobbin about the show. thoughts of the impending finale hover. CELEBRITY REALITY 4 Reese Witherspoon supports 16 ‘Home Town’ Mississippi couple actresses’ solidarity in ‘Big Little Lies’ takes pride in their community and its homes 5 Why Dr. Pol is wary of the unsocialized dog SPORTS 18-19 NASCAR heads to the Southwest 6 How Keeley Hawes got through playing the mother of an abductee 8 ‘Empire’ Rumer Willis doesn’t let herself MOVIES get comfortable 20-21 Theatrical Review, and Our top DVD releases 9 All about Calista Flockhart of `Supergirl’ IN EVERY ISSUE FOOD 22-23 Our top suggested programs to watch this week! 7 What’s for dinner? It’s on YouTube 17 CONTRIBUTING STAFF Here’s where you can find us Managing Editor: Michelle Wilson Writers: Jay Bobbin, George Dickie, John Crook, Dan Ladd facebook/yourtvlink https://twitter.com/yourtvlink Visit YourTVLINK.com Magazine Design: Nicolle Burton Quality: Chris Browne Page 2 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote March 19 - 25, 2017 Editor's choice STORY Police, politicians and the public respond to ‘Shots Fired’ in Fox drama series BY JAY BOBBIN Many television programs like to tout themselves as “timely,” but there’s no question that “Shots Fired” truly is. Premiering Wednesday, March 22, the limited-run Fox drama series – created and executive-produced by filmmaking spouses Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Love & Basketball”) and Reggie Rock Bythewood (“Notorious”) – focuses on two murders in a North Carolina town that Pictured: Richard Dreyfuss seem racially motivated, with one victim black and the other white. An investigator and a special prosecutor see. It’s exactly current with the world. It was Reggie (played by Sanaa Lathan and Stephan James) lead supporting the script and talking to me about it that sold a probe for the Department of Justice, eventually me, and then the world followed. As you watch this show, suspecting power brokers including the state’s re-election- you’re going to be reminded very clearly of the most minded governor (Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress and current headlines in your life. This is America.” director Helen Hunt) of a cover-up. Still, Gina Prince-Bythewood maintains, “We knew the Also factoring into the story in major ways: a sheriff (Will story we wanted to tell. We knew what we wanted to Patton); one of his deputies (actor-singer Mack Wilds, deal with. For us, it’s about speaking to the truth, and we who was Tristan Wilds on “The Wire” and “90210”), wanted to know the best way to do that. who committed one of the shootings; the mother (Jill Hennessy) of the teen he killed; another local police “It’s very easy for people to watch the news and see veteran (“True Blood” alum Stephen Moyer); a pastor a piece about a shooting, and if you don’t identify with (Aisha Hinds); and a real-estate tycoon (Richard who’s on the screen, you turn it off ... so we felt the best Dreyfuss, another Oscar owner) who also operates way to address this issue, and to get people who don’t a privatized prison. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s normally go through this issue to understand, was to Imagine Entertainment also is a production entity on the give them a way to understand. In flipping the narrative, weekly 10-hour saga. it allows folks who don’t normally identify with characters to empathize with them. And through empathy, you can Though Reggie Rock Bythewood allows that events in change.” Ferguson, Mo., were touchstones for “Shots Fired” as he and his wife mapped out the drama, he says, “We looked Hunt’s own experiences and awareness informed her at various sorts of small Southern towns, and for many desire to be a part of the “Shots Fired” cast. She reflects, reasons, North Carolina just seemed to work well. It really “While many politicians I have kept at arm’s length I hold rocked us in many ways when all the protests and all responsible for the criminal-justice system and the way the sort of things that happened in Charlotte (occurred), watching it on TV and seeing some of the places where it is, some of the politicians I voted for were complicit as we shot, where a lot of the protests and various troubles well, so we sort of got interested in turning this governor were going on.” into somebody who would be somebody I might vote for – and yet, she’s behaving in ways that if we look more closely, we might feel uncomfortable with. And Co-star Dreyfuss adds, “We didn’t have to look into ‘uncomfortable’ is really good when you’re trying to make a crystal ball and know that something was going to drama.” happen in that town. It’s happening. It’s happening all over. We shot probably the most current show you’ll ever March 19 - 25, 2017 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote Page 3 Pictured: CELEBRITY JAY BOBBIN’’S Q&A REESEWITHERSPOON of ‘Big Little Lies’ Sunday on HBO What was your aim in producing, as well as starring in, “Big Little Lies”? The constant sort of question for me is, how am I discovering something about a woman on film that I’ve never seen before? And how am I creating something that hasn’t been done before? With this piece, I feel like it was such a unique opportunity to have women of every age, every color talking about motherhood ... and that is sort of a common denominator. Parenthood is a great equalizer. And socioeconomically, it sort of brings these five disparate women together in a way that they clash, but they also understand and discover each other as similar spirits by the end of the series. I think that’s what I’m always looking for, something new and something challenging. You’re reunited on You get to work with “Big Little Lies” with many female co- your “Wild” director, stars in “Big Little Jean-Marc Vallee. Lies,” a relative How was that for rarity for you. What you? was that experience It’s hard for him like? to talk about how It’s so refreshing to incredibly genius get to spend time with and amazing he women, and there is, but I’ve never would be times where worked with (another) I couldn’t break my director who felt the character. I would performances, who call Nicole (Kidman) will sit and cry with and go, “What do you you about what your think I should do with character is feeling this scene? I can’t and is there with you. play this.” Or I would He is not separate. sit with Laura Dern in He is not watching a car and go, “I just you. He is part of can’t say those words. the performance, What would you say if and he doesn’t see you had to say this?” race, he doesn’t see Honestly, we just gender. He’s just the nurtured each other’s most compassionate performances. human who also loves the visual beauty and the music, which is extraordinary, and pushes the narrative forward with its sort of mystery. FOLIO Page 4 YOUR TV LINK Courtesy of Gracenote March 19 - 25, 2017 CELEBRITY GEORGE DICKIE’S Q&A DR. JAN Pol of ‘The Incredible Dr. Pol,’ which airs its 100th episode and 10th season finale Saturday on NatGeo Wild What is the most difficult animal for you to treat? What is the hardest is the unsocialized pet – people who have a dog tied up in the backyard. I remember one German shepherd here, the lady was afraid of it. And I’ll tell you, the minute you walked in the room the teeth and the fangs were flying all over the place and, oh yeah, then you have to clip its nails. Yeah, right. These dogs I take away from the owner and suddenly their whole demeanor changes and then they get the reversible tranquilizer and we do whatever we want to.