#Middlebury
Q: I’m enjoying the new sitcom “American Auto,” but it’s bugging me where I’ve seen the actress who plays the CEO before. She looks a lot like the actress who played Agatha in “WandaVision,” but I’m not convinced it’s her. – L.I.
A: Ana Gasteyer, not Kathryn Hahn, stars in the new Detroit-based comedy series “American Auto.” To me she looks like a cross between Hahn and another talented comedic actress, Jennifer Coolidge (“Legally Blonde”), but I’m willing to bet you’ve seen Gasteyer before. She was a regular on “Saturday Night Live” from 1996 to 2002, and then played helicopter mom Sheila Shay on the sitcom “Suburgatory.” She followed that role with a federal judge on “The Good Wife” and returned to comedy as a drama teacher on “The Goldbergs.”
Ana Gasteyer (Dfree/Shutterstock photo)
“American Auto” is another workplace comedy created by Justin Spitzer, the same person who created the successful NBC comedy “Superstore.” The commercials for the new series keeping touting it as the next “The Office.” Perhaps they can safely make that assumption because Spitzer was a writer and producer on that acclaimed series earlier in his career.
As for Hahn, the character of the delightfully devious Agatha was so well received on “WandaVision” that Disney+ is creating a spin-off series for her character titled “House of Harkness.”
Q: When is “Outlander” coming back? I hope it hasn’t been canceled. It’s been forever since I’ve seen a new episode. — K.I.
A: In June 2021, the Starz network announced that the historical time travel series “Outlander” would return with new episodes in March 2022. That seemed like an eternity for its fans, but with 2021 in the rearview mirror, the season premiere is just around the corner.
“Outlander” is based on a series of novels by Diana Gabaldon, with each new season adapted from a different book. The upcoming sixth season is based on Gabaldon’s “A Breath of Snow and Ashes,” once again featuring Claire (Caitriona Balfe), a time-traveling British nurse, and Jamie (Sam Heughan), a Highland warrior. Shakespearean actor Mark Lewis Jones joins the cast this season as a new settler named Tom, who first met Jamie in prison.
You can catch the first four seasons of “Outlander” on Netflix.
Q: Whatever happened to 1980s heartthrob Aidan Quinn? I remember him in “Desperately Seeking Susan,” but not much else after that. He is still in the industry? – D.C.
A: Yes, he’s accrued quite a list of acting credits since he starred opposite Madonna in “Desperately Seeking Susan,” but it’s mostly been on television. In 2004, he played Lt. Miller on for a season on “Third Watch,” an NBC series about first responders. He followed that with regular roles on the Showtime series “Weeds,” the American version of “Prime Suspect,” and his biggest role yet, an NYPD captain on “Elementary.”
Next up for Quinn is a role in the film “Butterfly in the Typewriter,” about eccentric novelist John Kennedy Toole, who won a Pulitzer posthumously for his book “A Confederacy of Dunces.”
Send me your questions at NewCelebrityExtra@gmail.com, or write me at KFWS, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803.
© 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.
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