You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: On “The Big Bang Theory,” as the credits roll there is always an epilogue of sorts. The Nov. 1 show said, “Love like there’s no tomorrow, vote like there is.” How timely is that? Has a book been assembled with the epilogues?
A: You have been noticing the so-called “vanity cards” displaying logos of production companies at the end of shows. While some became famous for their images (the MTM cat, for example), writer-producer Chuck Lorre has used them for observations, thank-yous, social commentary, tidbits about making his shows and other items. One sample, from a 2014 “Big Bang” card: Howard’s starting to throw a baseball was “an outright steal from classic scenes performed by Gleason and Carney (who probably stole it from Laurel and Hardy, who probably stole it from Euripides).” Lorre has done the cards for more than 20 years on “The Big Bang Theory,” “Young Sheldon,” “Mom,” “Mike & Molly,” “Dharma & Greg” and “Two and a Half Men.”
Many of the comments were collected in a limited-edition book, “What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Bitter,” in 2012. Copies of the book can carry a triple-digit price tag now, but you can find the images of all the cards up to the present day, including several censored ones, online in “The Official Vanity Card Archives” on chucklorre.com. Just understand that once you start looking at the cards, it’s hard to stop.
Q: Could you tell me why Paul (Doug Davidson) and Ashley (Eileen Davidson) have apparently left “The Young and the Restless”? And are they related?
A: Doug Davidson said earlier this year that the daytime soap did not renew his contract, ending a 40-year run with the series. According to several reports, he indicated the series was going in a different direction. Eileen Davidson (no relation, by the way) decided to leave the series after 36 years. She told Michael Fairman in a YouTube interview that there were many reasons for her decision, among them the long workdays, the hours commuting and missing her family while working.
Q: Will the HBO series starring Tim Robbins as a philosophy professor be returning?
A: The show, called “Here and Now,” was dropped after a single season. While it boasted a cast including Robbins and Holly Hunter, it did not draw much of an audience, and most critics were unenthusiastic. (Rotten Tomatoes gauged the reviews it collected as just 26 percent positive.)
Q: Would you please let me know if my favourite show, “Jane the Virgin,” will be back in the near future?
A: The CW series starring Gina Rodriguez will be back for a fifth and final season. The network has it marked as a midseason arrival, but has not announced a specific air date.
Q: Is Jude Law going to do the pope again on HBO?
A: Maybe. HBO has announced plans for “The New Pope,” a limited-run series from the maker of the Law-starring “The Young Pope,” with Law in the “New” cast. But, without getting into spoilers, “The Young Pope”’s finale seemed to finish the story of Law’s character, Pope Pius XIII. And the announcement of “The New Pope” lacked specifics about plot as well as which characters Law and co-star John Malkovich will play. Some have guessed Malkovich will be the “new pope,” not Law. In any case, production is supposed to start this month. Maybe we’ll get more news soon.
