*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).
Cheddar went to Montréal to get an up close look at the cannabis legalization effort, which begins Wednesday across Canada.
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and venture capital firm Initialized Capital, has partnered with 1850 Brand Coffee for the "Bold Pioneer" content where people pitch their ideas to win $18,500 to jump-start their business plan. Ohanian said he's looking for entrepreneurs who are thinking outside the box and making investors "a little uncomfortable."
Jill Soloway, the creator of the show "Transparent" and author of "She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy," spoke with Cheddar about her journey after her parent came out as transgender and how that impacted her own identity.
When personal-care company Schmidt's Naturals decided to expand its efforts to protect animals and the environment, it tapped a major ally of the cause: environmentalist Jane Goodall. Co-founder and CEO Michael Cammarata told Cheddar on Tuesday about his company's partnership with the renowned chimpanzee expert to create a special edition deodorant benefiting the Jane Goodall Institute.
Washington, D.C., delayed the final vote on a bill that would severely limit operations for home-sharing companies like Airbnb and VRBO in the nation's capital in a surprise move by the D.C. Council Tuesday afternoon. The proposed regulations would ban short-term rentals of secondary properties in D.C. and put a 90-day cap on Washingtonians renting out rooms in their primary residences.
Chip Wilson, who founded Lululemon and practically invented the concept of 'athleisure,' is looking back at his often-controversial tenure in his new book "Little Black Stretchy Pants: The Unauthorized Story of Lululemon."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates and went on to become one of the country's most prolific philanthropists and technologists, died Monday at 65.
Prominent business leaders have announced that they will not attend a high-profile conference in Saudi Arabia due to the current controversy surrounding the disappearance of a Washington Post journalist. Dan Primack, business editor at Axios, said while it's partly a PR move, if companies decide to pull out of business deals with Saudi Arabia it could be a huge detriment to the kingdom's economy.
Nicholas Sparks, the author known for best-sellers like "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember," spoke with Cheddar about his new book which comes out on Tuesday.
