Q: I was terribly saddened to learn of the death of Larry Hagman. Did he do other series besides “Dallas" and “I Dream of Jeannie"?
— Joan Parker, Bend
A: Yes, though those clearly were the best-known. After “Jeannie" and before “Dallas," Hagman starred with Donna Mills (whose own star would be boosted by the “Dallas" spinoff “Knots Landing") in “The Good Life" as a couple posing as servants to a rich businessman. Then came “Here We Go Again," about newlyweds living near their ex-spouses.
After “Dallas," Hagman had a short run in “Orleans" as the judge patriarch of a law-enforcement family ... and though he wasn’t a regular cast member of either series, he also had multiple-episode stays on both “Desperate Housewives" and “Nip/Tuck."
Q: Will “The Newsroom" be back?
— Steve Mitchell, Buffalo, N.Y.
A: Definitely. HBO is planning on a June start for the Aaron Sorkin-guided show’s second season, and certain details have become known, one being that at least part of the season will deal with the recent Obama-Romney race for the U.S. presidency.
Among those being added to the cast are Rosemarie DeWitt (“Rachel Getting Married") as an attorney representing the news network, Patton Oswalt (“The King of Queens," “Young Adult") as the network’s new human-resources chief, and Grace Gummer — middle daughter of Meryl Streep, and younger sister of “Emily Owens, M.D." star Mamie Gummer — as a reporter.
Q: Why did ABC show “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" twice, on consecutive nights, recently?
— Rebecca Cramer, Glen Burnie, Md.
A: Admittedly, it was unusual for a broadcast network to do that, while it’s a more common practice for cable outlets. That special has a limited shelf life each year, since Thanksgiving specials aren’t shown as early as Christmas attractions start rolling out again ... so if ABC did want to run it twice this year, knowing the program has the popularity to sustain that, Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving night were the most logical times.
Q: Can you tell me how many James Bond movies Dame Judi Dench has been in?
— Melody Olson, Phelps, Wis.
A: Seven. The Oscar winner (for “Shakespeare in Love") was introduced as the new M when Pierce Brosnan made his debut as Agent 007 in 1995’s “GoldenEye," then continued the part opposite him in his subsequent three Bond adventures.
Daniel Craig’s introduction as Bond in the 2006 “Casino Royale" played a little loose with the screen history of M, though Dench still played her. If one goes by the Brosnan movies, Bond long would have had his license to kill — which Craig’s Bond was just acquiring — by the time she arrived on the scene. (In “GoldenEye," Robbie Coltrane’s Zukovsky even comments, “I hear the new M is a lady.") In any event, Dench continued in Craig’s other two Bond films to date, including the current “Skyfall."
Q: In the Wendy’s television ads, is the redhead either Dave Thomas’ daughter or granddaughter?
— Tim Anderson, Plantation, Fla.
A: In many of those commercials, she refers to “my dad, Dave Thomas."
Q: How many hit songs did the Partridge Family have during the run of the same-named show?
— Tom Shea, Columbus, Ohio
A: “Hit" can be a subjective term, depending on which criteria one uses, so we’ll make our barometer the Hot 100 list of the magazine Billboard.
These are the Partridge songs that landed spots on that chart while the show aired on ABC from 1970 to 1974: “I Think I Love You," “Doesn’t Somebody Want to Be Wanted," “I’ll Meet You Halfway," “I Woke Up in Love This Morning," “It’s One of Those Nights (Yes Love)," “Am I Losing You," “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" — a cover of the classic originally recorded (and co-written) by Neil Sedaka — “Looking Through the Eyes of Love" and “A Friend and a Lover."