Q: I watch "The Honeymooners" all the time. One of the episodes is "Mama Loves Mambo." It's about a mambo instructor who moves into the building. Can you tell me the actor's name?
A: Charles Korvin played Carlos the mambo instructor. He was an actor who "made a career playing gentleman thieves and philandering husbands," the New York Times said after Korvin died in 1998 at the age of 90. Born in Hungary, and educated in France, he was also a documentary maker and had a steady movie-acting career from 1945 until about 1951, costarring with Merle Oberon in three movies, before he was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist. He then worked in TV, including on "The Honeymooners" and on "Zorro," returning to the big screen in 1965.
Q: What happened to the Australian actor who played Jack the Mountie on "When Calls the Heart"?
A: Daniel Lissing left the series when his contract ended, with Jack killed off on the series. (That may sound familiar to "Blue Bloods" fans, who were shocked when Linda Reagan died off-camera, between seasons, following Amy Carlson's departure from the series after her contract ended.)
Lissing said after the Jack's death episode aired that the decision to leave was "for reasons that are very personal to me," _ but did not elaborate, as ETonline.com noted. He remains friendly with the cast, telling ET in November he still talks almost daily with costar Erin Krakow. But he has been taking on other projects, such as the recent Hallmark movie "Christmas in Love," where he co-starred with Brooke D'Orsay.
Q: Is "Orange is the New Black" coming back with a new season? There are plenty of loose ends that could be tied up.
A: The Netflix series will be back in summer 2019 for a seventh season, which will also be its last. The end of the sixth season saw central character Piper Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling) getting early release from prison and the seventh will include a look at her life on the outside. Executive producer Tara Herrman told the Hollywood Reporter her release will be in contrast to what nonwhite, less privileged inmates on the series will experience.
Q: It's not fair that OWN cancelled "Love Is _" because of the executive producer. His wife is the producer! Please explain. It's not fair to the actors.
A: As you know, executive producer Salim Akil has been accused of assaulting actress Amber Dixon Brenner along with the claim they had a long affair; Akil is married to Mara Brock Akil, producer on "Love Is." Salim Akil reportedly called Brenner's accusations "totally untrue" while acknowledging a past relationship with Brenner. Still, OWN decided not to go ahead with a previous plan for a second season of the show. The announcement of the cancellation noted that the series was "inspired by the real-life love story" of the Akils, which made some observers believe that the off-camera events tainted how people would view the characters on the show. As for the actors, Ebony.com noted that "cast and producers will still be paid for Season 2 due to contractual obligations established during the show's initial renewal."
Finally, a little Christmas flashback, to solve a holiday mystery.
Q: Freeform aired "The Santa Clause" and "The Santa Clause 3," but not "The Santa Clause 2." Was the movie banned for some reason? I can't recall seeing "Santa Clause 2" on any channel this season.
A: This is a question that has popped up from time to time for years, both about Freeform and its earlier incarnation, ABC Family. The short answer is the channel does not have the rights to the second film, and it has aired instead on other channels. This year, for instance, it was on AMC.
