Celebrity Extra: Lester Holt
By Dana Jackson
Q: I'm sorry to see my favorite network newscaster, Lester Holt, leave NBC. Who is the guy replacing him? -- C.S.
A: Lester Holt, who replaced Brian Williams as the anchor of the NBC Nightly News broadcast in 2015, told Variety that he was returning to his reporting roots, which includes being the lead presenter of "Dateline," among other projects. His placement is 45-year-old Tom Llamas, who often subbed for Holt and also hosted the Emmy-nominated "Top Story with Tom Llamas," which streams on NBC News Now.
Former NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt. Photo Credit: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal
Llamas is the fourth journalist to host the Nightly News in the past four decades -- the first being Tom Brokaw, who helmed the desk from 1982-2004.
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Q: I'm excited for the new episodes of "King of the Hill" coming up. Will the same actors be voicing the characters as before? -- L.W.
A: A 10-episode "King of the Hill" reboot is coming to Hulu beginning Aug. 4 and will take place 14 years since the last episode aired. Bobby is all grown up, and his parents, Hank and Peggy Hill, return to the fictional town of Arlen, Texas, to retire. Bobby is nearby in the big city of Dallas working as a chef, living his best life with his friends from childhood.
The show's co-creator Mike Judge returns to voice Hank, Kathy Najimy returns as Peggy, and Pamela Adlon as Bobby. Sadly, Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Dale Gribble, passed away after recording just a few episodes, so Toby Huss will take over the voice acting for the role for the remainder of the season.
Brittany Murphy, who passed away far too young in 2009, memorably voiced the role of Luanne, and the late Tom Petty voiced Luanne's hubby, Lucky. Showrunner Saladin K. Patterson did explain at the recent ATX Television Festival that the show has found a way to honor them but didn't give any spoilers.
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Q: Is it true that Pauly Shore is going to be in a movie with Denzel Washington? The last I heard, Shore was going to play Richard Simmons in a movie. Is this the same one? -- L.L.
A: While he's active on social media, actor/comedian Pauly Shore hasn't really had a hit film since the 1990s. He recently made a short film portraying the late exercise guru Richard Simmons, but it hasn't been released yet. He's no doubt wanting to stage a career comeback like his "Encino Man" co-star Brendan Fraser did when he won an Oscar in 2023 for "The Whale."
Shore recently posted on his Instagram that he's set to star in a new thriller with Denzel Washington and Kevin Bacon, titled "Get Out of Our Way." The post had a screenshot of a Deadline article about the project, but it appears to be fake, as no such article exists on Deadline.com.
He also recently posted a similar story from the Hollywood Reporter about him and Denzel having lunch in Beverly Hills, but the photo was obviously made using AI.
Hopefully Shore will get his comeback someday, but in the meantime, he's having a lot of fun pranking us.
Send me your questions at NewCelebrityExtra@gmail.com.