TV Talk: Joe Manganiello visits ‘A.P. Bio;’ Billy Porter’s ‘Cinderella’ and Michael Keaton’s ‘Worth’ debut

Streaming services offer a trifecta of Pittsburgh natives in new entertainment offerings this weekend.

Porter in ‘Cinderella’

Does the world really need another Cinderella movie? Writer/director Kay Cannon, with an assist from Pittsburgh native Billy Porter as the Fab G, delivers a spirited, modern, musical “Cinderella” that proves it has a reason to exist.

Streaming Friday on Amazon’s Prime Video, this new take on the classic story gives multiple characters greater depth and shades, most notably Idina Menzel’s Wicked Stepmother, and provides Cinderella (Camila Cabello) with more agency through an empowerment twist.

The film blends established pop-rock tunes (Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” mashed up with Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be”) with original songs set to energetically choreographed production numbers.

Cannon, formerly a writer on TV’s “30 Rock,” sprinkles in plenty of humor to make this “Cinderella” a delight for the whole family.

Porter said he was sold by Cannon’s pitch and she wrote the Fab G, traditionally the Fairy Godmother role, with Porter in mind.

“So I knew immediately that this would be a different interpretation and one that I would want to be a part of,” Porter said. “Just the act of making Cinderella the CEO of her own life without a man is the point. It’s magical. And for me the thing that sticks out in playing the Fab G is that magic has no gender, period. Magic is love.”

Porter’s scene includes a performance of Earth Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star,” but Porter said in the first script it was the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams.”

“As we got closer (to filming) there was a rewrite,” Porter said. “The new script came in and it was Earth, Wind & Fire. And I said, ‘OK, so they want me to slay.’ I know exactly what y’all want me to do now, just from choosing a different song.”

Porter just finished shooting his directorial feature film debut, “What If?,” in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago.

“It was amazing,” Porter said. “The crew was so welcoming and lovely and inspiring. It was just a magical time not only shooting in Pittsburgh but shooting very often in my old neighborhood, at my alma mater,” Pittsburgh CAPA, though filming was done at its new location Downtown, not where Porter attended. “It was the best way to get my feet wet in the directorial film space.”

Porter’s next announced directorial effort, Amazon’s “To Be Real,” will shoot in New York, but an unannounced future project Porter will direct and may also act in could potentially shoot in Pittsburgh “if it doesn’t rain for nine weeks straight.”

Porter’s No. 1 wish for Pittsburgh: Good soundstages.

“The work is already there,” Porter said. “There would be more work if there were soundstages.”

Keaton in ‘Worth’

Michael Keaton stars in the Netflix movie “Worth,” streaming Friday and inspired by the true story of Ken Feinberg, an attorney/mediator appointed by Congress to administer the Sept. 11th Victim Compensation Fund, allocating financial resources to relatives of the deceased.

More a process piece than a regurgitation of 9/11, “Worth” has moments both heartbreaking (the gay partner of a 9/11 victim who’s ineligible in the pre-marriage equality era) and outrageous (a 9/11 victim with a secret second family).

Keaton is excellent as he digs into playing Feinberg, who went on to offer guidance in the aftermath of the Tree of Life shootings, as a rules-follower (until he’s not) but the real revelation is Amy Ryan, unrecognizable from her stint on “The Office,” playing Feinberg’s empathetic law firm head of operations, Camille.

“Worth” grows somewhat repetitive but it’s a thoughtful, moving, adult drama that’s ultimately worth watching.

Manganiello on ‘A.P. Bio’

Peacock’s “A.P. Bio” returns for its fourth season – all eight episodes are now streaming – and Mt. Lebanon native Joe Manganiello guest stars in the seventh episode as a potential rival to Jack (Glenn Howerton) for the affections of Jack’s girlfriend.

‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’

There are even a few Pittsburgh-via-Carnegie Mellon University connections in executive producer Ryan Murphy’s “Impeachment: American Crime Story” (10 p.m. Tuesday, FX), a re-telling of U.S. President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and the impeachment that followed.

This latest “ACS” is more of a mixed bag than its predecessors, “The People vs. O.J. Simpson” and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.”

While Sarah Paulson disappears into her prosthetic-enhanced role as Linda Tripp (The voice! The perpetual half-sneer! The lumbering walk!) and Beanie Feldstein delivers a passable Monica Lewinsky, writer Sarah Burgess’ take on the affair of Bill Clinton feels extremely drawn out after seven episodes (of the 10-episode limited series).

To be sure, this version of the story is told from the women’s point of view, also including Paula Jones (Annaleigh Ashford), which gives Burgess’ approach relevance in the #MeToo era. (Weirdly, considering the real Lewinsky is an executive producer on this show, “Impeachment” is more Tripp’s story than Lewinsky’s through at least the first five episodes.)

Burgess dredges up some forgotten or even unknown episodes from the scandal, including Vernon Jordan (1988 CMU grad Blair Underwood) inappropriately swatting Lewinsky on the butt.

The tone of the series varies by episode. Many scenes between Lewinsky and Clinton (Clive Owen, who gets the voice right even if the appearance pales) are uncomfortable while Tripp comes off as equal parts detestable, sad and pathetic. As Kathleen Willey (Elizabeth Reaser) tells Tripp, “You love the drama. This is exactly where you want to be: In someone else’s business because in your life there’s absolutely nothing.”

Jones inspires the most empathy especially after her “conservative feminist” lawyer, Susan Carpenter-McMillan (1970 CMU grad Judith Light) confides, “She is sweet. Dumb as a rock though.”

“Impeachment” is not subtle but it can be entertaining. The real-world scandal, driven by gossip and people constitutionally incapable of keeping their mouths shut, was equal parts salacious, delicious, infuriating and just plain sad, which is true of “Impeachment,” too.

The series thankfully allows space to be hilarious. Episode three, in particular, is a hoot from start to finish as it introduces Matt Drudge (an over-the-top Billy Eichner) and gives Ann Coulter (a perfectly voiced Cobie Smulders) the chance to say, “The presidency used to mean something. Even Nixon was capable of shame. But after this, just think what kind of flabby con man will see a path to the White House.”

Channel surfing

“The View” returns for its 25th season Tuesday with rotating conservative guest co-hosts in the seat formerly occupied by Meghan McCain, including Mia Love, Condoleezza Rice and Gretchen Carlson. Past “View” co-hosts will visit on Fridays beginning with Star Jones on Sept. 10. … Elaine Welteroth has exited CBS’s “The Talk.”