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Freeform’s highly anticipated limited series Love in the Time of Corona will premiere as a special two-night limited event, beginning SATURDAY, AUG. 22, at 8 p.m. EST/PST and continuing SUNDAY, AUG. 23, at 8 p.m. EST/PST, the network announced today in the first teaser trailer for the series. The episodes will also be available on Hulu the following day.

Filmed using remote technologies and shot in the cast’s actual homes, this four-part, limited series follows four interwoven stories about the hopeful search for love and connection during this time of quarantine, from the early days of the stay-at-home order through the events that ignited the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests.

James and Sade, a married couple who have been living somewhat separate lives, are forced back under the same roof after the pandemic puts James’ work travel to a halt. With headlines mounting, they begin to reevaluate their family’s priorities. Roommates Oscar and Elle’s mostly platonic friendship becomes increasingly complicated with the uncertainty of the pandemic as they wonder if they can find love under one roof. Paul and Sarah put up a “happy couple” facade for their daughter Sophie’s sake when the pandemic sends her home from college, although unbeknownst to her, they have separated. Nanda, a headstrong woman whose husband is unable to return home from his rehab facility, is determined to celebrate her fiftieth wedding anniversary.

Love in the Time of Corona stars Tony^® and GRAMMY^® Award winner Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton) as James, Nicolette Robinson (The Affair) as Sade, Tommy Dorfman (13 Reasons Why) as Oscar, Rainey Qualley (Mad Men) as Elle, Gil Bellows (Patriot) as Paul, Rya Kihlstedt (One Mississippi) as Sarah, Ava Bellows (This Too Shall Pass) as Sophie and L. Scott Caldwell (Lost) as Nanda. The series is executive produced by Joanna Johnson, Chris Sacani, Robyn Meisinger, Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson.

The limited series will feature in-show integrations from sponsor Benjamin Moore.

The network also released episodic loglines, which can be found below.

August 22 – Episode #1001 – “The Course of Love”

Married couple James and Sade adjust to being together 24/7 in quarantine now that James’ business travel has come to a halt. Nanda spends time, virtually, with her husband, who is in a nursing home. Roommates Oscar and Elle decide to break out of their codependence and try online dating. Meanwhile, Sophie returns home from her freshman year of college to spend quarantine with her parents, who unbeknownst to her have decided to separate.

August 22 – Episode #1002 – “#RelationshipGoals”

James reacts to the video of the Ahmaud Arbery shooting. Nanda reconnects with her estranged son, who has returned home to live in her guest house after losing his job. When Elle decides she can’t take a backseat to Oscar’s budding romance, she finally tells Oscar how she truly feels. Paul and Sarah try to cheer up Sophie after a breakup.

August 23 – Episode #1003 – “Seriously Now”

Oscar feels a fracture in his friendship with Elle as she gets to know their downstairs neighbor Adam. Sarah and Sophie both find out a secret Paul has been keeping. Nanda attempts to repair her son’s relationship with his father. Tensions continue to run high as James and Sade struggle to get on the same page about their family’s future.

August 23 – Episode #1004 – “Love and Protest”

James and Sade reflect on raising a Black child in the current climate in America. Paul recruits Sophie to help him throw a romantic evening. Elle and Oscar navigate their new relationship.

You know, sometimes there are absolutely fantastic movies that, for whatever reason, just don’t receive the love they deserve. Maybe the studio didn’t believe in it so it wasn’t advertised well, or the audience at the time just wasn’t feeling it but then it becomes a cult hit later on. One of my favorite animated movies as a kid, and even to this day, unfortunately suffered from this circumstance. But it was, and still is, such a great movie that I stan it ’til this day. As a fellow BNP contributor once put it, “What happened to all those animal actors that DIDN’T get hired for Fantasia?” Let’s hop in the way-back machine for this retro review of 1997’s animated classic, Cat’s Don’t Dance.

Imagine if Bugs Bunny was hired to make a Disney movie in the 90s and that’s this movie in a nut shell. Taking place in 1939, Cat’s Don’t Dance is about small town tabby cat Danny (Scott Bakula) with dreams of making it in Hollywood. He ultimately crosses paths with the child star powerhouse, Darla Dimple (Ashley Peldon). Out to get his big break, Danny meets a colorful cast of animals including the sarcastic and disenchanted white cat Sawyer (Jasmine Guy), plucky penguin Pudge (Matthew Herried), the chipper Tiny Hippopotamus (Kathy Najimy), the wise piano playing elephant Woolie the Mammoth (John Rhys-Davies), sassy rude fish Fances Albacore (Betty Lou Gerson), the always grumpy and elderly Cranston Goat (Hal Holbrook) and the timid T.W. Turtle (Don Knotts).

I took the time to name all of the main cast because this is a weird hodgepodge of, at the time, old-school heavy hitters and newer actors in their prime which works exceedingly well in this style of film. The actors really capture the zany antics and caring, quiet moments of the characters. The Tex Avery style always keeps something fun on screen, from big set pieces to character gags to the running joke of the ever changing size and speed of the impossibly gargantuan Max, Darla Dimple’s bodyguard/butler. The song and dance numbers are great. They honestly hold up today, with music by Randy Newman and choreography by Gene Kelly. And who knew Scott Bakula, Mr. Quantum Leap himself, had them pipes!? For Sawyer, they brought in Natalie Cole to provide her singing voice and it slides in effortlessly. I love the two songs she’s featured in.

What I like about this movie is that it can be seen as an allegory for people of color trying to break into old Hollywood. The animals are stuck in their roles, never given anything outside of scrap roles no matter what their actual talent. The struggle of not being treated fairly and not wanting to give up on their dreams is well balanced with still being a heartwarming fun kids movie. If there was one thing I could point to as a detractor it would be that, taking place in 1939, there are a lot of references to old Hollywood that will go over the heads of most, if not all, kids and younger adults. Hell, when this movie came out I only knew some of the references from old Looney Toons cartoons. But that’s not even a detractor, just a part of the cartoon styles of the 90s. Seeing as that’s all I can point to, says something about how enjoyable this movie is.

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The post You Slept on This Movie – Cats Don’t Dance Retro Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

This episode of Southern Fried Asian was recorded in February before the coronavirus shut down everything. While Disney may have taken Mulan off its release schedule, we’re filling the void by releasing Keith’s conversation with one of the film’s stars, Chen Tang! https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/southernfriedasian/SFA_Chen.mp3 Chen talks about immigrating to Memphis as a small child and growing […]

I have some interesting updates about the MLB schedule. They have released the MLB schedule prior to the covid-19 cases in Florida. The schedule says that the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies will be playing on Monday, and the Miami Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play on Tuesday. They also noted that the Phillies players may have false positive tests which is definitely a good sign for Philly fans and the Cardinals and the Brewers game has been postponed to Saturday’s game (Today).

In other news… The MLB and the MLBPA have agreed to 7-inning doubleheaders starting in August (Today). They will last for the rest of the 2020 season when games are rained out. The doubleheaders will feature two seven-inning games. Even a few days without games for one team can drastically impact the schedule in a division in a division race since teams are playing 40 of their 60 games against division opponents. The union asked its players to consider a handful of rule changes in an effort to make it through the season as healthy as possible, including hosting seven-inning games during doubleheaders. The Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies, who represent 40 percent of the National League East, as well as the New York Yankees, who already saw their schedules altered because of a Covid-19 outbreak among Marlins players.

There was a rumor that the MLB season could shut down as Rob Manfred told MLBPA the season may end if the league doesn’t do a better job of managing Covid-19. The issue is that the covid-19 pandemic is still spreading rapidly in the United Stated, with 65,406 cases confirmed Friday alone (Yesterday). The vast majority of MLB teams haven’t had players test positive for Covid-19 through one week, but as the past few days have shown, one team’s outbreak can have a ripple effect on other teams. Games are postponed, schedules are altered, and previous opponents have to be on high alert for positive tests. In the matter of fact, there have been 29 positive tests through Thursday. This includes 21 Marlins and the other eight include two players, one player at an alternate site and five staff members. All of this information came from the MLB Bleacher Report.

Stay tuned for MLB updates.

The post MLB Schedule Updates appeared first on The Nerd Element.