December 8 - 14, 2024
Lucy Worsley uncovers “the parallel lives of Doyle and Holmes in the historical context of their times” in “Lucy Worsley’s Holmes vs. Doyle,” premiering Sunday, Dec. 8, on PBS. Lucy Worsley of “Lucy Worsley’s Holmes vs. Doyle”
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BY JAY BOBBIN
Jill Wagner OF LIONESS ON PARAMOUNT+ Q: Is the Jill Wagner who’s on the series “Lioness” the same Jill Wagner who used to be a co-host of “Wipeout”? A: She is. Jill Wagner also co-created (with “Yellowstone’s” Taylor Sheridan) and is an executive producer of “Lioness,” the military-espionage drama that’s wrapping up its second season on Paramount+. She has given herself a distinctive acting role in the show as well as Bobby, the tough-talking leader of a unit within the terrorism-fighting Lioness program — and Wagner likely used her father, a U.S. Marines veteran, at least partially as a model for the character. At the time Wagner landed her “Wipeout” job on the original ABC incarnation of the game show, as a field reporter who interacted directly with contestants on the series’ obstacle course, she was launching an acting career that included roles in Spike TV’s “Blade; The Series” and Fox’s “Bones.” She stayed with “Wipeout” for four seasons (2008-11) before deciding to leave and focus on acting exclusively again, which she did in part by joining MTV’s “Teen Wolf.” But, a year later, she returned to “Wipeout” (where she had been succeeded by Vanessa Minnillo, later known as Vanessa Lachey of CBS and Paramount+’s “NCIS: Hawai’i”) and stayed until “Wipeout’s” ABC tenure ended in 2014. Otherwise, Wagner’s main calling card has been as an actress, and she did a considerable amount of work for Hallmark (including the Mystery 101 series of movies that ran on the then-named Hallmark Movies & Mysteries). While many of her films are repeated on the Hallmark channels frequently, she has moved over to Great American Family; her latest movie there is this holiday season’s “Christmas Under the Northern Lights.” She also has a special on that channel, “Christmas on the Farm With Jill Wagner & Family,” slated for Dec. 23.