Q: Will there be another season of "Homeland?"
A: The Showtime drama starring Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin aired its seventh season in 2018. The eighth season will arrive in June and will be the final season of the series. A top Showtime executive has called it "a richly written character study that is now ready for its natural conclusion."
A magical rivalry?
Q: I read in a book that Elizabeth Montgomery of "Bewitched" and Barbara Eden of "I Dream of Jeannie" didn't get along. But the book wasn't very specific.
A: Eden once told an Australian newspaper that, with both shows being made by the same studio, she and Montgomery saw each other every morning and chatted often. "If there was any perceived rivalry it was the producers' invention," Eden said. But Herbie J. Pilato's biography of Montgomery, "Twitch Upon a Star," says Montgomery was livid about "Jeannie," which aimed to capture some of the "Bewitched" audience with a similar concept. "That doesn't mean I was annoyed with Barbara Eden," Montgomery said; she was irked at the ways "Jeannie" borrowed ideas from "Bewitched" — "to the point where 'Bewitched' writers were told to stay away from 'Jeannie,' " Pilato says.
Looking for Lahti
Q: I enjoyed seeing Christine Lahti in movies like "Open House" and "The Pilot's Wife." But I haven't seen her in anything over the past few years. How come?
A: Lahti — an Emmy-winning actress and Oscar-winning short-film director — has in recent years spent more TV time as a guest star in series, including "The Blacklist," "Hawaii Five-0" and both "The Good Wife" and its successor "The Good Fight." She has also played Gloria Steinem in an off-Broadway production in 2018, and written the book "True Stories From an Unreliable Eyewitness: A Feminist Coming of Age," published last year.
Where'd that guy go?
Q: On "Blue Bloods," Erin Reagan had an assistant, a young black man, who was quite good. He has been replaced by a large white guy who is OK but not as good in my opinion. Can you tell me what happened to the other actor?
A: I think you are referring to James Lesure ("Las Vegas"), who appeared in seven "Blue Bloods" episodes in 2014-15 as Det. Alex McBride. The detective's departure was not explained as far as I can tell. Lesure, though, went to a regular spot on "Uncle Buck," a 2016 TV reboot of the movie and TV series of the same name. Although that did not work out, he has since appeared on "Good Girls" and "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce," among other shows.
That "large white guy," by the way, is Steven R. Schirripa ("The Sopranos," "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"). His character, Anthony Abetemarco, made his "Blue Bloods" debut shortly after Lesure's final episode.
E-mail brenfels@gmail.com.
