*By Conor White*
"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner's new anthology series for Amazon, "The Romanoffs," is about far more than Russia's last royal family, according to one of its stars.
"As I said to Matthew when I was doing this, I have to bone up on the Romanoffs," actor Aaron Eckhart said in an interview on Cheddar.
"And he said, 'Well, not really, because it really has nothing to do with the Romanoffs.'"
The family consisted of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, and five children. After Russia's February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas II abdicated the throne and was later executed with the rest of his house. Within the last 30 years, all the bodies have been discovered and identified through DNA testing. Despite that evidence, whispers remain that one of his children, most likely Anastasia, escaped the killings. (The tsar's youngest daughter inspired the popular animated film, "Anastasia," which was recently turned into a musical.)
The Amazon ($AMZN) series features a different cast in each of its eight episodes, which are all linked by some sort of connection to the famous family ー be it real or fabricated.
Eckhart said it's the relationships between the show's characters ー whether directly linked to the royals or not ー that makes the show special.
"The magical part of the show is that it has thematics, and it has through lines with the Romanoffs," the Golden Globe nominee said. "But it's all these different scenarios with different people all over the world."
The series is creator Weiner's return to television after his seven-season run with "Mad Men" ー the highly-acclaimed show garnered two Golden Globes for "Best Drama Series" and eight Primetime Emmy awards.
It was Eckhart's first time working with Weiner, and he said the experience was "educational, interesting," and "fascinating,"
"It's very surprising and striking and bold. It takes a real genius to figure this all out," Eckhart added.
In the age of binge-watching, Amazon has made the choice to release one episode per week after releasing the first two episodes simultaneously on Oct. 12.
Eckhart is a fan of the move and called it "more traditional." But he admitted he has binged his way through at least one classic series.
"I did binge-watch 'Friends'," he said.
"'Friends' is a very good show."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/meet-the-romanoffs).
The 61st annual GRAMMYs awards show is just weeks away, carrying the new slogan "Let's Hear It." Evan Greene, CMO of the GRAMMYs and the Recording Academy, explains what the motto means ahead of the big night.
R.L. Stine, best-selling author of the iconic Goosebumps and Fear Street series, may have built an empire spooking young readers, but he takes his inspiration from an unexpected source ー comedy. "Being scary was never my idea," he told Cheddar Thursday. "I was always funny." Goosebumps 2" is out now on Digital and coming to 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 15.
He's one of the must successful authors of all-time, selling more then 400 million books. But the success of 'Goosebumps' goes far beyond the bookshelf, that now includes films, TV shows, merchandise and even an amusement park ride. Cheddar sat down with the series' creator, R.L. Stein, who shared how the terrifying series came to be. Goosebumps 2 is out now on Digital and coming to 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 15.
Dustee Jenkins, global head of communications for Spotify, came to CES to "put a stake in the ground" for podcasting. She told Cheddar that Spotify still sees upside in new forms of audio storytelling, and its "discover" algorithm can help users find podcasts that will appeal to them, much in the way millions of people use the feature to find new bands.
What happens when the world's richest couple gets a divorce? The announcement from Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos that he and his wife, MacKenzie, are divorcing amicably after 25 years of marriage and a trial separation, is unprecedented, given Bezos' net worth and his control over and stake in one of the world's most valuable companies, as well his personal ownership of one of the country's biggest newspapers.
New Year's resolution season is in full swing. Enter mind-body wellness expert Erin Stutland, who helps people conquer their goals through body mindfulness with her new book, "Mantras in Motion: Manifesting What You Want through Mindful Movement."
These are the headlines you Need to Know for Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019.
The electric vehicle industry got a jolt this week as Harley-Davidson introduced its new LiveWire electric motorcycle at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show. "We're the leader in the category, so we're going to lead the electrification of the sport," Heather Malenshek, senior vice president of marketing and brand at Harley-Davidson, told Cheddar at CES.
This year, CES marked a new partnership between gaming hardware maker Alienware and "League of Legends" developer Riot Games, a union that was a year in the making, according to the general manager at Dell's gaming arm, Alienware. "It actually started here a year ago," Azor told Cheddar at the Las Vegas conference on Wednesday. "That's where we first met."
Television psychologist Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, praised his "best friend" and colleague in entertainment Oprah Winfrey in an almost-endorsement for a presidential run on Wednesday when he joined Cheddar to discuss his new podcast, "Phil in the Blanks."
