*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).
After criticism from the French tennis federation that her much-loved "catsuit" was disrespectful to the sport, Serena Williams took the court at the U.S. Open in a tutu -- and blew open a conversation long-asked in offices everywhere: just what is "work appropriate attire"? Vanessa Friedman, fashion critic for the New York Times, said it's about time.
Enrique Fernández-Toledo, Director of the Puerto Rico Initiative at the Center for American Progress, explained why an accurate death toll from Hurricane Maria took so long to be announced.
Louis C.K. performed in public this week for the first time since allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced over nine months ago. Dana Schwartz, a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly, broke down the public's response to his resurfacing.
Anand Giridharadas, author of "Winners Take All" and a former reporter for the New York Times, believes that the United States' encouragement and support of charitable giving has disenfranchised the working class.
Katie Fox, assistant director for the National Preparedness Directorate at FEMA, joined Cheddar to offer specific ways Americans should prepare for disasters, even if they don't live in hurricane zones.
Natural disasters affected 15 percent of the U.S. population in 2017, often in places unaccustomed to dealing with nature's fury.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Tesla's chief people officer is on an unexplained, extended leave of absence, just when the company needs to project an image of stability, says Brian Deagon of Investor's Business Daily. What the electric car maker really needs, Deagon says, is for CEO Elon Musk to get some rest.
The Endowment for Clean Oceans is holding a contest for anyone with an idea that could remove some of the plastic choking our oceans. Founder Daniel Perrin said there's emerging technology that could help the process, and he wants to jumpstart it.
We break down what primary election results in Flordia and Arizona mean for the upcoming midterm elections. President Trump steps up his criticism of Google and other big tech companies. Amazon is reportedly planning to a launch a free, ad-supported video streaming app. And we sit down with Ash Cash to get his take on why Kanye West might actually have some worthwhile career advice.
Brady Farmer, a chef on Netflix's "Cooking on High," and host Josh Leyva explained the concept of their new show: a classic food competition with an added twist ー the chefs must use cannabis in all of their dishes.
