Latest news with #NCIS
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Foul-mouthed Irish parrot has incredible two-word response for anyone vaping
A foul-mouthed Irish parrot who hates e-cigarettes tells guests who are vaping to 'p*ss off'. Lucky Angel shouts 'no vaping' and swears at anyone he sees performing the habit. Owner Marie Mcaleavey first noticed the African Grey's hatred for e-cigarettes when she had an unsuspecting friend over. The bird's feathers stood on end and he flew around the room frantically when the guest pulled a vape out of her pocket. Marie, 51, was shocked when the eight-year-old bird yelled 'no vape' and told the visitor to 'p*ss off'. 'He hates vaping,' Marie, from Warrenpoint, Co Down, said. 'If a vape comes into the room I almost have to wash his mouth out. Parrots are very intelligent and very sensitive to smell. He hates anyone smoking vapes around him. 'A friend came over and I went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. She'd gone to have some of her vape and he went ballistic, flying around the house and up the walls. 'He told her to p*ss off and said 'no vape, no vape'. His feathers were stood up like he was going to go mad at her. She thought he was an innocent little bird. It's unbelievable. He must have picked up the smell. He's very smart.' Retired interior designer Marie describes herself an 'anti-vaper'. She said: 'I've never even smoked in my house. 'Lucky Angel's reaction goes to show how dangerous vaping is. Whatever is coming out of the vape must be really bad. I took a photo of a lung damaged by vaping and he wasn't impressed at all. He nearly tore it down and yelled 'no vape'.' Marie bought Lucky Angel in 2016 'on a whim' after spotting an advert for him online. She added: 'I wanted an animal that lives longer than a cat or dog and thought it would be fun to hear him talking. He's so clever and picks up on everything, especially four letter words which are naughty. He's so witty. 'It's fascinating how intelligent they are and you have to keep them stimulated. He likes walnuts, 80 percent dark chocolate and watching NCIS. Lucky Angel has a whole room to himself and I spray him in coconut oil to make his feathers glisten.' Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
The $8-billion Skydance-Paramount Global deal is finally closing. Now what?
After finally getting approval from the Federal Communications Commission, Skydance Media is just weeks away from completing its $8-billion merger with Paramount Global, leading to sweeping changes for some of the most iconic media brands. CBS, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures are all bracing for upheaval when Larry Ellison and his son, David, take the keys from Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone. The long-running ownership saga has played out while the rules of the media industry have been upended by streaming and, more recently, a White House unafraid to use its muscle to silence critics. Skydance and its backer, RedBird Capital Partners, have promised investors that it will find $2 billion in cost savings, which means further belt-tightening and layoffs. 'This will be the most dramatic change to the organization since its inception,' said one longtime CBS insider who was not authorized to comment publicly. Here is what Wall Street and the media industry will be watching for once the deal closes on Aug. 7: Last year, Paramount+ added 10 million new subscribers to reach 77.5 million. Its subscriber count is now 79 million, thanks also to NFL programming, CBS shows such as 'NCIS' and original hits including '1923,' 'Landman,' 'Lioness' and 'Tulsa King.' Paramount has projected full-year U.S. profitability for Paramount+ this year, making it one of the fastest subscription services to get there. But its relatively scant resources and thinner slate has made it difficult to truly compete with Netflix and the other biggest players. One potential solution: partnering with a rival streamer to increase its reach. 'Questions around the long-term scalability of Parmamount+ continue to loom large,' analyst firm MoffettNathanson noted in a report Friday. 'Will the new management team pursue external partnerships as a viable path forward?' Ellison and his team have suggested that they will bring a tech-focused sensibility to Paramount. Technological prowess would help Paramount+ improve its user interface and recommendation process, which insiders acknowledge is currently underwhelming. As expected, the architect of Paramount+ original series strategy, Paramount Global co-CEO Chris McCarthy, will leave when the deal closes. Analysts also want to see Skydance will increase investment in film and TV franchises to revive assets that have been constrained by Paramount's debt. While Skydance will get a robust library of films and TV shows, it will also be faced with the slow-melting iceberg that is broadcast and cable TV, which continues to lose viewers. Streaming has surpassed broadcast and cable as the leading source of video consumption just as Skydance takes over CBS and Paramount Global's array of channels that include MTV, BET and Comedy Central. Doug Creutz, an analyst for TD Cowen, believes the merged company should consider spinning off traditional TV businesses, similar to what Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast are doing with their cable channels. Whether that will happen remains to be seen. 'There is a clear opportunity to improve Paramount's growth profile by letting those assets go,' Creutz wrote Friday. 'On the other hand, we suspect the Ellisons did not purchase Paramount in order to break it up for parts.' A test of Skydance's commitment to broadcast may come if the FCC relaxes TV station ownership rules, which would likely lead to consolidation. CBS News' '60 Minutes' received a vote of confidence with the naming of Tanya Simon, a respected veteran insider to take over as executive producer. She was the choice of the program's strong-willed correspondents. Simon's appointment is expected to provide stability following the departure of longtime showrunner Bill Owens, who was forced out amid the push for a $16-million settlement over President Trump's lawsuit claiming the program deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris to make her look better to voters. '60 Minutes' remained tough in its White House coverage as negotiations went on. The question is whether that approach will continue with new owners. Larry Ellison has a friendly relationship with the president, and the new owners agreed to appoint an ombudsman to oversee news coverage. Getting it right matters from a business perspective too, as '60 Minutes' remains the most profitable program on CBS. With Simon in place, new management is expected to address other areas of the news division that can use improvement. The network's revamp of the 'CBS Evening News' has been a disappointment in the ratings and will likely see some changes. In the longer term, there has been chatter that Skydance may set its sights on acquiring CNN from Warner Bros. Discovery and combining it with the broadcast news operation, an idea that has been considered numerous times over the last few decades. CBS canceled 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,' upsetting his fans, progressive Democratic legislators and other late-night hosts who make their living lampooning President Trump. The network said it was strictly a business decision, as the younger viewers who made late-night TV monstrously lucrative for decades are no longer showing up. The timing of the move made the company look as if it were capitulating to Trump, who long had the host on his enemies list. But Colbert will remain on the air through May. The show has already been sold to advertisers for next season. The host has remained unrelenting in his mockery of Trump. The season premiere of 'South Park' only upped the ante. The animated series made references to the '60 Minutes' deal, showed Trump in bed with the devil and aired its own version of a Trump-mandated PSA, showing a naked president with talking genitalia. There is no question both shows will test the patience of the new owners. Pulling Colbert off or censoring the 'South Park' creators, who just received a $1.5-billion deal to continue their show and move its library to Paramount+, would lead to a far greater backlash than what has been seen so far. Any attempt to curtail their voices will send a negative message to creative types who consider working with the company's movie and TV operations going forward. Over the last few years, Paramount Pictures — home of franchises such as 'Transformers' and 'Mission: Impossible' — has ranked either fifth or fourth at the domestic box office. So far this year, the lone major movie studio still located in Hollywood proper has accounted for about 7% of ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada, according to box office website the Numbers. Since the pandemic, the company has enjoyed a number of major hits, including 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3.' It has also had some solid singles and doubles, including 'Bob Marley: One Love.' But overall, the more-than-century-old studio has struggled from underinvestment in its intellectual property and movie brands. The latest 'Mission: Impossible' starring Tom Cruise — the eighth and purportedly last in the series — grossed $589 million globally but cost $300 million to $400 million to make, not including marketing costs. Paramount's latest effort, an animated 'Smurfs' reboot, sputtered at the box office. Next up: a reboot of 'The Naked Gun.' The unit's leader, Brian Robbins (also head of Nickelodeon at Paramount Global), is expected to leave the studio, though he has not officially announced his plans. David Ellison is a movie fan and is expected to take a particular interest in the operation, with plans to put Skydance's chief creative officer, Dana Goldberg, in charge of film at Paramount. Skydance has worked with Paramount on movies before, producing 'Maverick' and the 'Missions: Impossible' films A transfer of ownership means the NFL can reopen its long-term deal with CBS, which has a Sunday package of games, the AFC Championship Game and two Super Bowls. The NFL is the lifeblood of broadcast television, providing a vast majority of the year's most-watched programs. Without the NFL, CBS would face tremendous challenges in getting fees from pay TV operators who carry its stations. Revenue from affiliates who pay the network for its programming would also dramatically decline. Although the NFL is known for taking a pound of flesh at every opportunity, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has signaled he will give careful consideration before making any changes. 'We've had a long relationship with CBS for decades and we also have a relationship outside of that with Skydance,' Goodell told CNBC earlier this month. 'We have a two-year period to make that decision. I don't see that happening, but we have the option and it's something we're going to look at.' The NFL could wait until 2029 when it has the option to open up the contract with all of its media partners. The new media deal for the NBA — $76 billion over 11 years — has the NFL believing its pact is underpriced. Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'NCIS: Tony & Ziva' stars Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo reveal their secret tribute to 'NCIS' O.G. Mark Harmon
Weatherly and de Pablo joined forces with "Tony & Ziva" showrunner John McNamara at Comic-Con 2025 to preview the new, action-packed "NCIS" spinoff. NCIS may be on its sixth spinoff, but all roads still lead back to Mark Harmon's Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo, and John McNamara, the stars and creator/showrunner of NCIS: Tony & Ziva, were joined by their old NCIS colleague Brian Dietzen at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 on Thursday to preview the new spinoff series. Shortly after screening the first ten minutes of September's pilot episode, Weatherly and de Pablo offered each other a surreptitious, private hand signal that cracked a smile on both of their faces — arms raised, fists balled and swiveling on their hinges as if knocking on a door with quizzical "I got this" expressions on their faces. "What was that?" Dietzen asked. In a perfect showcase of their 20-years-and-counting chemistry, the pair responded in unison, "Mark Harmon." "This is his sign language thing from an episode," Weatherly said, harkening back to the 13 seasons he spent costarring alongside Harmon on NCIS. De Pablo called it "such a great moment," warm memories rising back into her eyes. McNamara added, "I remember seeing the dailies when you guys did that, and I was cracking up for days." But McNamara, who's only joining the NCIS-verse with Tony & Ziva, was in the dark as much as the rest of the Comic-Con audience at the Indigo Ballroom. Thankfully, de Pablo jumped in with the backstory. "It was a tribute to Gibbs. I think we were in a school, right?" she asked Weatherly, who nodded and added they were also "on a bus." De Pablo continued: "There was a camera, and he was sort of communicating with us. He felt no one was watching him. So since that moment, every time Michael and I — we could be anywhere in the world — and I'll just go," she said, performing the hand gesture, "and we know." Paramount+ announced NCIS: Tony & Ziva in February, a decade after Weatherly's last episode as an NCIS series regular and 12 years after de Pablo's. Both actors worked closely with Harmon, around whom the NCIS-verse still turns. The franchise announced its fifth spinoff, NCIS: Origins, in early 2024. The series delves into the background of Harmon's legendary investigative commander Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and Harmon even made a cameo appearance in the pilot Weatherly, de Pablo, and McNamara hinted that fans could definitely look forward to some NCIS name-drops on Tony & Ziva — and even look forward to potential future crossover appearances — Harmon doesn't appear slated for a Tony & Ziva season 1 cameo. But Weatherly joked that the Comic-Con audience would now at least take a little piece of Leroy Jethro Gibbs lore with them into the world. "Now that we've told everyone in this room, [de Pablo] and I are going to be in a public bathroom somewhere in Detroit, and someone's gonna be like," he joked, making the secret signal. The first three episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva premiere Sept. 4 on Paramount+, with new episodes to follow weekly until the Oct. 23 season finale. Check out more of . Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'NCIS' stars Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly on 'emotional' 'Tony & Ziva' reunion
SAN DIEGO - "Tiva" is forever. At least that's what the hat says. NCIS special agent Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and former Mossad operative Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) continue their on-again, off-again fan-favorite romance in the Paramount+ spinoff 'NCIS: Tony & Ziva' (streaming weekly on beginning Sept. 4.) The stars and executive producer John McNamara debuted a new trailer as well as the first 10 minutes of the action show during a panel at Comic-Con. And to remind everyone that the tension-filled, slow-burn relationship that spawned that 'Tiva' nickname is still very much a thing, they handed out 'Tiva Forever' caps to everyone in attendance. 'We manifested this,' de Pablo, 45, said of the spinoff. 'We talked about it for a very long time until a lot of people who made this happen actually came together and destiny played its part. And it happened.' The new series catches up with Tony and Ziva in Paris, living separate lives as they parent their daughter Tali (Isla Gie). When Tony's security firm is framed for a cyberattack, they make sure Tali's in good hands and go on a globe-trotting adventure to clear their names while on the run from Interpol. McNamara was an 'instant yes' to work on the show, but then he found out that they'd be going 'through every single country in Europe. Who would be dumb enough to pay for that?' Weatherly jumped in: 'Paramount+!' Sneak peek: 'Tony & Ziva' first photos: See 'NCIS' couple in Europe with their daughter Tali During their 'NCIS' years together, 'we all played. We were allowed to be child-like. But we found a sense of fun that was wonderful,' de Pablo said. "What we got to do again in Europe was a chance to play. It was very emotional, to be fair. You're going back to play with someone you've got that chemistry with.' And they've always had it. When de Pablo joined 'NCIS' for Season 3 in 2005, 'it was a thing right from the jump. You were very special,' Weatherly said. 'The instant we met, we gelled,' de Pablo added, 'but it wasn't out of 'On my God, I love this person.' Then it was tension all the time and I love you for it?' 'I love you but I hate you but I love you but I hate you,' Weatherly, 57, said both actors say. 'As characters. But in real life,' I love you.'' 'I love you, too,' de Pablo replied, smiling. The actors talked a lot during the pandemic about life and potentially working together again on a spinoff, and Weatherly wondered if they'd have the same chemistry. 'The characters have gone through life and it's made them more complex," he said. 'The first scene (of the spinoff), we finished and both took a step toward each other. We locked eyes and I went, 'Yeah, we're back.'' 'NCIS' continues to be an A-list TV brand, whether it's people binging the original 'mothership' CBS show (returning for Season 23 Oct. 14) for the first time or watching its spinoffs. 'It was always about family,' dePablo explained of its popularity. Plus, 'it's multigenerational,' Weatherly added. 'Whole sorority houses would watch it while eating funny brownies.' 'Tony & Ziva,' though, is 'an epic love story that's not yet been resolved,' de Pablo said. And, says Weatherly, 'It's not a 'will they or won't they.' It's a 'when they.' '
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'NCIS: Tony & Ziva' star Michael Weatherly had to relive 'angry moment' in flashback episode: 'That was scary'''
Weatherly and Cote de Pablo joined EW at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, where their characters' big reunion in the "NCIS" spinoff. Michael Weatherly is traveling back to the past for the upcoming NCIS spinoff series, NCIS: Tony & Ziva. But not every memory is a happy one. Weatherly and his trusty television partner in crime (and, sometimes, love), Cote de Pablo, stopped by the EW Studio at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 to discuss the series, which premieres on Paramount+ in September. De Pablo, who starred on NCIS as Ziva David from season 3-11 (with a handful of subsequent appearances in seasons 11, 16, and 17), recalled a powerful moment she witnessed Weatherly have while filming the final episode of Tony & Ziva. "It was this flashback where we had to sort of relive this very kind of angry moment, and there was a take that Michael had where he really kind of connected with something," she recalls. "I went up to him afterwards and I said, 'Oh my God, Michael, that was scary!' And he said, 'I don't like going to that place,'" de Pablo says. "It was really funny because now I'm talking to my friend... he was like, 'God it takes so much out of me, I'm sort of older and wiser and I just don't like going to that place,' and I was like, 'Oh boy, I can relate.'" Weatherly appeared on NCIS for a longer stint than de Pablo, from seasons 1-15 (2003-2015). His Tony DiNozzo fell in and out of an always ambiguous, but highly charged relationship with Ziva until her character was seemingly killed off screen. The character survived, however, and returned in subsequent seasons to reveal she'd had their baby, Tali (Isla Gie on Tony & Ziva). While there were plenty of tender, touching, powerful, and romantic scenes between the characters, they had their fair share of breakups and crash-outs too. Weatherly explains that while the moment he revisited was indeed "angry," he's better at controlling his emotions these days. "In life, as we all understand through our therapy, you can choose your state. Your emotional state can be a choice," he shares. "When you're young you kind of think, 'I'm having this emotion, and it must determine everything I do.' And its like, 'Slow your horses.'" Weatherly says he's learned over the course of his three and a half decades in show business that, "You can actually make choices about the kind of life you want to live. When you're acting, a big part of that happens, and that's the great thing about 20 years later, because we are acting together, but it's a deeper, richer, more nuanced bond." "Exactly, and it's a real testament to our friendship," de Pablo agrees. Paramount+ announced Tony & Ziva in February, nine years after Weatherly's departure, over a decade since de Pablo's, and five since the actors' last shared episode of NCIS, the season 17 episode "In the Wind." May's first trailer for NCIS: Tony & Ziva picks up on the characters in Paris, where they're co-parenting Tali in a state of enduringly ambiguous almost-romance. Then, Tony's security company is hacked, leading to a thrilling espionage caper in which the couple must enlist the help of new friends to clear their names and secure their happy ending once more. John McNamara, the showrunner behind Syfy's The Magicians, will helm NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Joining de Pablo and Weatherly in the cast are Amita Suman, Maximilian Osinski, Julian Ovenden, Nassima Benchicou, Lara Rossi, Isla Gie, Terence Maynard, and James D'Arcy. The first three episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva premiere Sept. 4 on Paramount+, with new episodes to follow weekly. Watch de Pablo and Weatherly in the livestream above and check out more of EW's coverage from San Diego Comic-Con 2025. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly Solve the daily Crossword
