Take the money and run
Woody Allen says he's "regretted every second" since he agreed to produce a six-episode series for Amazon. "It's been so hard for me," he said. "I had the cocky confidence, 'Well, I'll do it like I do a movie. … It'll be a movie in six parts.' Turns out, it's not." The director, who says he never watches television, much less streaming services, says Amazon courted him for more than a year before he gave in. "I only hope that when I finally do it — I have until the end of 2016 — they're not crushed with disappointment, because they're nice people, and I don't want to disappoint them," Allen said.
The real thing
AMC and Coca-Cola report that no money changed hands for the network's use of the iconic 1971 "Hilltop" Coke commercial at the end of the May 17 "Mad Men." The episode, unsurprisingly, was the most-watched finale of the series. … Alfonso Ribeiro (aka Carlton on "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Dancing With the Stars" champion) will take over as host of "America's Funniest Home Videos." … Netflix will release Season 2 of its animated series "BoJack Horseman" on July 17. … Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak are writing a book about their "weird as hell" relationship.
Plus three more
Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and Peter Sarsgaard have signed on for a remake of "The Magnificent Seven." … Colin Firth will set sail as an amateur British yachtsman in a true-life story. Rachel Weisz will play his wife in the film, directed by James Marsh ("The Theory of Everything").
Rough 'Game'
A rape scene in the May 17 episode of "Game of Thrones" is causing renewed outrage about sexual violence in the show. One fan — Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. — tweeted, "OK, I'm done with Game of Thrones. Gratuitous rape scene disgusting and unacceptable." Deadspin declared that the show "is out of ideas." The scene and several others that have drawn criticism in the past are depicted much more graphically than in the novels. Author George R.R. Martin said of the differences, "Two roads diverging in the dark of the woods, I suppose … but all of us are still intending that at the end we will arrive at the same place."
CYNTHIA DICKISON
