By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Ellen DeGeneres, known for keeping her comedy on the nice side, lets her inner meanie out for "Ellen's Game of Games."
NBC's new primetime game show, which begins its regular run at 8 p.m. EST Tuesday after a December sneak peek, subjects its contestants to measured torments that delight host and executive producer DeGeneres.
"It's hilarious to see the panic and fear on their faces if they get the answer wrong," she said, knowing the possible consequences include being drenched with something gooey or launched airborne or dropped through the stage floor.
"But no one can get hurt. It's only public humiliation," she said, drolly. "It builds character, and to win $100,000 it's what we must go through."
That's the top prize for those who conquer a variety of games, including some played on DeGeneres' syndicated daytime talk show — "but on steroids, bigger, higher and more dangerous," she said — and newly devised ones.
Challenges on the hour-long show include Blindfolded Musical Chairs, Dizzy Dash and Scary Go Round. The host's quick patter fills in the gaps, with an assist from "Ellen" DJ and sidekick Stephen "tWitch" Boss.
"Game of Games" is part of a resurgence of popularity for game shows, a trend that makes sense to DeGeneres.
"When you have times that are difficult or stressful in the world …. we need a place to look at something that's mindless but entertaining," she said.
She makes an effort to bring the fun to whatever she's doing. DeGeneres has built a production company and a lifestyle brand, published books and hosted awards shows, for starters. It suits her and her body to stay busy, she said.
"It's best I keep working, because if I take too much time off, I get sick," DeGeneres said, blaming a recent minor bug on a two-week vacation.
She shrugs off the idea she's a workaholic. Her wife, Portia de Rossi, is starting her own company, and DeGeneres says she has friends who put in far more hours than she does. She names one, a fellow TV host.
"Ryan Seacrest, I don't know how he does what he does," she said.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More