Latest news with #Clipped
Observer
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Observer
Sculpting Trees, and Teaching Patience and Focus
Topiary, the practice of training plants into defined shapes, might evoke fantastical scenes from 'Alice in Wonderland' or the formal gardens of Versailles. Michael P. Gibson believes its lessons extend well beyond the aesthetic. 'Topiary forces you to learn how to be patient, because once you're trimming, you have to wait for that new growth to happen,' he explained from the top of a ladder propped against a 20-foot holly tree. 'I teach people that doing topiary can reduce anxiety. It helps you to stay focused.' In other words, it's healthy for the plant and the human. To that end, Gibson focuses on educating and serving communities (he holds a certificate in therapeutic horticulture). In Columbia, South Carolina, a capital city of about 140,000, he's creating a sensory garden at a neighborhood park. He also spends time traveling to take on new installations and maintain existent sculptures. The prospective clients who approach him — whether they found him through his online presence, word of mouth or his 2021 appearance on the HGTV competition show 'Clipped' — tend to give him creative freedom, since they're aware of his distinctive style. It's built on what he calls 'the Gibson method,' which has five approaches: storytelling; sacred geometry, which brings balance and harmony to his sculptures; the Japanese style of pruning called niwaki, opening up a tree to reduce energy and create structure; illusion; and directional trimming. (Like brushing hair, trimming in one direction allows for a smoother look.) All five need to be present for the design to be a Gibson creation. Gibson, 38, started developing his signature method early in his life, though he didn't know it at the time. His mother is a licensed beautician who taught him to cut hair, and his father is a Navy veteran and artist who showed him the fundamentals of art — geometric shapes, proportional faces, 3D images. He started working in the yard early, emulating his father, who took a pair of shears away from him when he was 6 and told him he was too young to handle them. By the next summer, he had practiced enough to prune the hedges himself. When he moved out around 19, Gibson brought those shears with him. He cut grass and hair to make money, often drawing designs on paper beforehand: 'It got me thinking — what if I sketched out a design and put it in the shrubs? Because the shrubs are just like hair.' Topiary became his side hustle as he worked a variety of sales jobs. Eventually, he found people who saw his vision. Their neighbors would catch on and, soon, the whole block did, too. By 2021, that had transformed into a career. That year, he moved down to South Carolina to become the artist in residence at the award-winning Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden in Bishopville, about an hour from Columbia. 'I'd never seen a Black man doing topiary, especially at this scale,' Gibson said, referring to Fryar, now 85. 'He's the GOAT of topiary.' Seeing Fryar work on his whimsical designs helped unlock his own creativity. When Fryar's health declined and he was no longer able to maintain the garden, Gibson lent a hand to help restore it. Gibson thinks that people need plants in their lives, even if they don't become topiary artists. 'It's a stress reliever,' he said. 'It gives you a sense of accomplishment.' After a plant is trimmed, new growth needs time to fill in: The more you shear, the more dense it becomes. A design can take years before coming into true focus. Depending on the plant variety and the growing zone, a single tree can take five to 10 hours to complete; a larger project for a client might take 20 to 30 hours initially and then need to be maintained two or three times a year in colder climates. At home in South Carolina, he retrims his topiaries every six to eight weeks. 'I don't try to force it to be anything it doesn't want to be,' he added. 'I want to do something that's so natural, but complex, so you look at it and think: Wait, does it grow like that? Is it supposed to look like that?' At Edisto Discovery Park in Columbia, Gibson is in the first phase of building out a therapeutic sensory garden, supported by funding from the IDEA Center for Public Gardens and the U.S. Botanic Garden's Sowing Excellence program. He's redoing the landscaping and just starting to plant, but the vision is already there, rooted in creating a space that feels inviting to the neighborhood. Gibson wants to make a place both children and adults keep returning to, and he hopes to leave them with information about horticulture they can apply to their lives. 'When we're throwing away dead wood and branches we don't need anymore, think of those as bad habits, right?' he said. 'You need to cut off the bad habits so they don't affect your design later down the road. That's a life lesson.' —NYT Topiary artist Michael Gibson in Edisto Discovery Park, where he is in the first phase of building out a therapeutic sensory garden, in Columbia, S.C., April 14, 2025. (Elizabeth Bick/The New York Times)
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Sculpting Trees, and Teaching Patience and Focus
Topiary, the practice of training plants into defined shapes, might evoke fantastical scenes from 'Alice in Wonderland' or the formal gardens of Versailles. Michael P. Gibson believes its lessons extend well beyond the aesthetic. 'Topiary forces you to learn how to be patient, because once you're trimming, you have to wait for that new growth to happen,' he explained from the top of a ladder propped against a 20-foot holly tree. 'I teach people that doing topiary can reduce anxiety. It helps you to stay focused.' In other words, it's healthy for the plant and the human. To that end, Gibson focuses on educating and serving communities (he holds a certificate in therapeutic horticulture). In Columbia, S.C., a capital city of about 140,000, he's creating a sensory garden at a neighborhood park. He also spends time traveling to take on new installations and maintain existent sculptures. The prospective clients who approach him — whether they found him through his online presence, word of mouth or his 2021 appearance on the HGTV competition show 'Clipped' — tend to give him creative freedom, since they're aware of his distinctive style. It's built on what he calls 'the Gibson method,' which has five approaches: storytelling; sacred geometry, which brings balance and harmony to his sculptures; the Japanese style of pruning called niwaki, opening up a tree to reduce energy and create structure; illusion; and directional trimming. (Like brushing hair, trimming in one direction allows for a smoother look.) All five need to be present for the design to be a Gibson creation. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Time Magazine
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
30 for 30
Credit - SportsFor sports fans who prefer thoughtful analysis to hot takes: the award-winning 30 for 30 Podcasts, the audio-only extension of the critically acclaimed ESPN documentary series of the same name. Across 65 episodes, the podcast, which launched in 2017, has taken a closer look at the stories that captivate the sports world and beyond, the kinds of compelling narratives that need more time than SportsCenter could ever offer. In its first two seasons, 30 for 30 covered the 1997 all-woman trek to the North Pole, the birth of UFC, and how football coach and analyst John Madden built a video game empire. Since then, the podcast has dedicated entire seasons to the legacy of rapper and NBA favorite Nipsey Hussle, the dark side of Bikram yoga, the search for forgotten hockey legend Hobey Baker, and the downfall of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, which inspired the FX docudrama Clipped. In the end, these immersive audio documentaries feel more akin to This American Life than First Take.(See: Girl v. Horse.) With curiosity and enthusiasm, 30 for 30 offers a deeply reported look at the joy, the pain, and the agony that comes with loving us at letters@
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Casting News: Alison Brie's FX Pilot, One Tree Hill Vet Joins Emily in Paris and More
Alison Brie (Community, GLOW) is set to star in FX's as-yet-untitled witness protection pilot, Deadline reports. In the potential drama, 'a violent confrontation drives a high-end D.C. madam (played by Brie) to turn on her partner and enter witness protection in seaside Maine with her adolescent daughter,' according to the official logline. More from TVLine Every New Scripted Show Confirmed to Premiere in 2025 — Save the Dates! What to Watch in July: Your Guide to 170+ Premieres Across Broadcast, Cable and Streaming Abigail Spencer to Star Opposite Josh Charles in Fox's Doc Martin Adaptation The series is based on a previously unproduced script by Sopranos mastermind David Chase. Hannah Fidell and Gina Welch (Clipped) will co-write the contemporary take, while Fidell is also set to direct. In other recent casting news… * Bryan Greenberg (One Tree Hill, Suits LA) has boarded Emily in Paris Season 5 as a recurring guest star. Per Deadline, he'll play Jake, an American living in Paris. French actress Michèle Laroque (Better Days) will also recur on the Netflix comedy as Yvette, an old friend of Sylvie's. * Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) will star opposite Patrick Dempsey in Fox's Memory of a Killer. He'll play Dutch, 'an accomplished Italian chef who owns a restaurant in the Bronx, a stalwart establishment that is also a front for Dutch's less sociable activities — such as running a criminal enterprise,' according to the official character breakdown. 'As ruthless and mercurial as he is affable, Dutch is Angelo's (Dempsey) oldest friend, as well as his employer — he gives Angelo the targets for his hits. In a business as dangerous as theirs, Angelo must trust Dutch. But being trustworthy isn't one of Dutch's more dependable qualities.' * Peacock's The Five-Star Weekend adaptation has added recurring guest stars Judy Greer (Stick) as Electra, West Duchovny (Saint X) as Aubrey, and Tory Devon Smith (The Get Down) as John Mark, per Variety. They join an ensemble that includes Jennifer Garner, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Gemma Chan, D'Arcy Carden, Harlow Jane, Timothy Olyphant, David Denman, Josh Hamilton and Rob Huebel. Hit the comments with your thoughts on the castings above! What to Watch in July View List Best of TVLine Stars Who Almost Played Other TV Roles — on Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, Lost, Gilmore Girls, Friends and Other Shows TV Stars Almost Cast in Other Roles Fall TV Preview: Who's In? Who's Out? Your Guide to Every Casting Move!
Daily Record
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Cheers cast then and now after George Wendt dies aged 76
The popular US sitcom propelled several actors, including Woody Harrelson, Ted Danson and Kelsey Grammer, to fame It became one of the most popular sitcoms of all time based on the antics of the regulars of a Boston bar. Cheers, which ran from 1983 to 1993, propelled stars such as Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammar and Woody Harrelson to fame. Now, with the news that one of the shows biggest stars - George Wendt - has died aged 76, we take a look at where the cast is now and what has happened to them since the show ended 32 years ago. The cause of death of the TV icon has not yet been made public. The actor's family released in a statement: 'George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. "He will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during this time.' George Wendt as Norm Peterson Wendt played the beloved Norm on the hit NBC show and earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for the role. The uncle of Ted Lasso actor Jason Sudeikis appeared in every episode and would enter the bar to regulars calling out his character's first name. The actor, from Chicago, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, which coincided with the 32nd anniversary of the Cheers series finale. After finishing the series, he went on to work on The George Wendt Show, SNL, Modern Men, Clipped and some TV voice work, and films including The Independents, Forever Young and even Spice World. He also appeared on Broadway, with roles in Art, Hairspray, Elf and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Wendt competed on The Masked Singer in 2023 and reunited with his Cheers co-stars at the 2023 Emmys to present the award for outstanding directing for a comedy series. Ted Danson as Sam Malone Danson played a former baseball star and the not too bright owner of the Cheers bar. He went on to star alongside Tom Selleck and Steve Gutenberg in the film Three Men and a Baby and its sequel Three Men and a Little Lady. He also starred in a variety of TV series including Ink, Becker, Bored to Death, CSI, A Good Place, Curb Your Enthusiasm and most recently in the Netflix series A Man on the Inside. He is married to actress Mary Steenburgen and has two daughters, Kate and Alexis, from his previous marriage to Casey Coates. Shelley Long as Diane Chambers Long's graduate student character Diane Chambers stumbled into Cheers after a breakup and took a job as a waitress, soon becoming a love interest for Danson's Sam. She earned five Emmy nominations and one win for Cheers, and went on to series including Good Advice and Modern Family, as well as stepping into the role of Carol Brady in the updated Brady Bunch movies. Married twice; she has one daughter, actress Juliana, with ex Bruce Tyson. Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd Harrelson's character joined Cheers in season four as a not-so-bright bartender. The Texan earned six Emmy nominations and a win for the role. Harrelson has since had dozens of film roles starring in The People vs. Larry Flynt, Anger Management, The Messenger, No Country for Old Men, The Hunger Games, Triangle of Sadness and Natural Born Killers. He also excelled in the first season of True Detective in 2014 opposite Matthew McConaughey. He has been married to Laura Louie since 2008, with whom he has three daughters, Deni, Zoe and Makani. Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane Psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane arrived at Cheers in 1984, initially as a love interest to Long's Diane. He earned two Emmy nominations for the role as the pompous shrink, before he moved on to the popular spinoff series Frasier, for which he scored 10 Emmy nominations and four wins. The Virgin Islands native has starred in TV series including Back to You, Hank, Boss and even The Simpsons for which he also won an Emmy as the voice of Sideshow Bob. He is back on TV in a new series of Frasier, which is a bit clunky. Married four times, he has seven children. Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli Rhea's tough as nails character became Sam's cocktail waitress sidekick. The New York-born actress went on to enjoy roles in TV series such Pearl, Ally McBeal and Hung as well as having a role in the 2023 film Barbie. Prior to Cheers she starred on Taxi, where she met husband Danny DeVito. They wed on a lunch break in 1982 and together they have three children, Lucy, Grace and Jake. Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe Alley got her big break in 1987 as Rebecca Howe on Cheers, joining in season 6 following Long's exit. In 1991, she took home the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy for her role. She later found success in both movies and TV including 1989's Look Who's Talking and 1999 cult classic Drop Dead Gorgeous. Alley also competed on the 2011 season of Dancing with the Stars. With her husband she welcomed two children through adoption. She and Stevenson split in 1997. Alley died of colon cancer in 2022, aged 71. Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin Bebe's big TV break was as Frasier's deadpan wife Dr. Lilith Sternin on Cheers. Before that, she was a classically trained dancer who had made it big on Broadway and won a Tony award for Sweet Charity. She won back-to-back Emmys for the role of Lilith, and followed on-screen husband Grammer to Frasier and appearing in the Paramount+ revival. Since Cheers she has appeared in Deadline and Madam Secretary, and in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. She also returned to the stage in Damn Yankees, Fosse, Funny Girl, The Addams Family and Chicago. She has been married twice, marrying director Chris Calkins in 2009. John Ratzenberger as Cliff Calvin Know it all postie, Cliff Calvin was a bar regular, spewing trivia whether the other patrons wanted to hear it or not. He was busy in movies prior to Cheers, with roles in Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back, Ragtime and Gandhi. He earned two Emmy nominations for the role. Aside from Cheers, he is perhaps best known for having voiced a character in every single Pixar movie. He also appeared on other TV series, including 8 Simple Rules and Legit. Ratzenberger has been married to Julie Blichfeldt since 2012 and has two children from his first marriage to Georgia Stiny.
