You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: Do you know if Netflix has any plans for new “Virgin River” episodes this year?
A: Yes. The fourth season of the drama based on Robyn Carr’s novels will arrive on July 20. (A fifth season has also been ordered.) Expect plenty of emotional complications.
Q: I watched the Hulu presentation of “Candy.” The acting was superb. Wasn’t there a movie about this earlier with Barbara Hershey?
A: There was. The Hulu series is a dramatization of the twist-laden case of Candy Montgomery (played by Jessica Biel), who was accused of the 1980 murder of Betty Gore (Melanie Lynskey). The same case inspired the 1990 TV movie “A Killing in a Small Town,” with Hershey as the fictionalized Candy Morrison and Lee Garlington as murder victim Peggy Blankenship. That film received several Emmy nominations, and Hershey won for lead actress in a miniseries or special.
Q: Can you tell me if Melissa Claire Egan, who plays Chelsea on “The Young and the Restless,” is related to the movie star Richard Egan, who starred in the movie “The Long Hot Summer” (I think)?
A: I have not found any mention of their being related. Nor have I found Richard Egan in the credits for “The Long Hot Summer.” He did have a string of other film credits including “The Kid from Left Field,” “Love Me Tender,” “Pollyanna” and “Seven Cities of Gold,” along with a lot of TV work. Melissa Claire Egan, by the way, is known not only for “Y&R” but an earlier run on “All My Children.”
Q: Is “Billions” on Showtime canceled?
A: No. While the sixth season finished airing in April, a seventh season was ordered. Look for that in 2023.
Q: Several years ago, the Joan Crawford classic “Mildred Pierce” was remade as a TV movie. It was an excellent remake and I assume it was very expensive to produce. But never again has it been seen anywhere. Why?
A: Originally a novel by James M. Cain, “Mildred Pierce” has had a distinguished screen history. Joan Crawford won her best actress Oscar for the film. The 2011 miniseries version on HBO won five Emmys, including for Kate Winslet as lead actress in a miniseries or special. (By the way, I’ll be answering some reader letters about Emmy decisions in a later column.) And while some shows do disappear, in other cases the challenge is knowing where to look for them. With the 2011 “Mildred,” available locations include HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, DVD and Blu-ray.
Q: Can you find an old Eve Arden movie when she sing-songs “put the keys in, take the rings out”? I think it was war related, but a comedy.
A: That was a 1944 film called “The Doughgirls.” The cast included Ann Sheridan, Alexis Smith and Jane Wyman, as well as Arden playing a Russian sniper.
UPDATE: A couple of weeks back, I mentioned that a new season of "Westworld" would be coming soon to HBO. Since then the network has announced that the eight-episode fourth season will arrive on June 26.
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