Coffee Table News
Chess Boards Are Sold Out and You Can Thank Netflix’s ‘The Queen’s Gambit’
Queen’s Gambit is taking the chess world by storm.
In a case of art influences life, sales of chess boards have skyrocketed thanks to the Netflix limited series.
The series, set in the 1950s, trails the rise of a young orphan, Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), who finds chess to be an outlet, leading her to become a female prodigy.
Spin Master, a Toronto-based toy merchant, said that chess sales have increased by “triple digits” since the show’s premiere on October 23.
Goliath Games has also noted a surge of more than 1,000 percent, NPR notes.
“Our October sales for chess were up 178% over the same period last year,” Mary Higbe, director of marketing at Goliath Games, said. “That’s a big increase. But something else unexpected happened at the end of the month. Now, she says, “our chess sales are up 1,048%.”
EBay has made similar findings, reporting a 215 percent spike in sales of chess sets.
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The New York Times found that wooden sets have trumped plastic sets.
Even before the series debuted, interest in chess sets was spiking due to COVID.
Will this make finding a Christmas present harder?
Toy analyst Gerrick Johnnson told NPR: “Good luck finding a chess set this holiday!”
The popularity also extends to groups such as the US Chess Federation, which revealed that membership also jumped for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.
Everwood’s John Beasley has passed away.
The actor was best known for his role as Irv Harper on the WB drama that aired from 2002 through 2006. He also served as the show’s narrator.
He was 79.
His son confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter noting that his father died in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
He was reportedly undergoing tests on his liver, though it’s unclear if that’s related to his death. A cause of death was not immediately announced.
His acting credits include Early Edition, Millennium, Judging Amy, The Soul Man, and appearances on hits like The Resident, NCIS, and Your Honor.
As for films, those include The Mighty Ducks, Rudy, The Sum of All Fears, Walking Tall and The Purge: Anarchy, with his final role in 2022’s Firestarter.
Everwood starred Emily van Camp, Gregory Smith, Chris Pratt, Tom Amandes, Debra Mooney, and Treat Williams. You can stream episodes of the hit by renting or purchasing the series on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, and Vudu
RIP John.
Are you ready for Flight 828 to make its final descent?
On April 7, Netflix revealed the release date for the second half of the plane drama, along with a new teaser trailer to hold fans over.
Manifest Season 4 Part 2—all 10 episodes—will land on the streamer on Friday, June 2, 2023. For those that are keeping score, it’s a year ahead of the June 2, 2024 Death Date (so does this mean they find a way to beat it?!).
Netflix typically releases new episodes at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time, which means it will drop at 3:00 am Eastern and 2:00 am CT.
And according to the teaser trailer, things are just as ominous as we expected when we saw the final shot of Season 4 Part 1 of Angelina bringing forth destruction via volcanic fissures.
“The world is ending and we know when,” Josh Dallas’ Ben Stone remarks in the trailer as everyone emphasizes June 2 numerous times.
Here’s the full synopsis for the forthcoming final set of episodes.
“A mysterious accident delivers ominous warnings on a biblical scale that will further jeopardize the livelihood of all the passengers,” the synopsis reads. “As Michaela [Melissa Roxburgh] grieves the loss of her beloved husband Zeke [Matt Long], she must team up with her old flame Jared [J.R. Ramirez] to find new methods to investigate Callings.”
The end may be near, but there’s still plenty of story left to tell—and we hope that they do right by the ending, giving a satisfactory conclusion to longtime fans who have rallied behind the series from day 1 when it was still on NBC.
Catch up on all of our Manifest reviews leading up to the final season right here.
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It’s official—we have a premiere date for Sweet Magnolias Season 3!
Joanne Garcia Swisher, who plays Maddie Townsend on the Netflix drama, announced the premiere date on her Instagram page. And we don’t even have to wait that long.
The return to Serenity will happen on July 20, 2023!
“Hope to see you all there! 🌸 ,” she captioned the photo alongside her co-stars, Brooke Elliott (Dana Sue Sullivan) and Heather Headley (Helen Decatur).
View this post on Instagram
Per TVLine, the season will consist of another 10 episodes!
For those who need a bit of a refresher, there’s plenty of drama that we’re going to dive right into. At the end of season 2, it was revealed that Bill is Isaac’s father (a bombshell revelation if I’m being honest), Noreen gave birth to her daughter and decided to stay in Serenity, Dana Sue decided to give Ronnie another shot, Helen suffered a miscarriage before cozying up to Erik and getting proposed to by true love Ryan, and finally, a bump in the road for Maddie and Cal’s relationship following his angry outburst.
Sweet Magnolias. (L to R) Brooke Elliott as Dana Sue Sullivan, Heather Headly as Helen Decatur in episode 310 of Sweet Magnolias. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2023
All in all, there’s plenty to address in this small yet quaint and charming town, so get ready to pour it out!
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