George Clooney

Yes, it's true: All the visits to Middletown by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard were to scope out locations for his Hillbilly Elegy movie based on J.D. Vance's memoir of growing up among working-class "hillbillies" in the Butler County steel town.

But only a fraction of the film will be shot in Ohio, unless things change, says Ami Vitori, a Middletown City Council member and a Middletown Visitors Bureau board member.

Twenty five years after ER made George Clooney a star, the Kentucky native returns to TV on May 17 in the war satire Catch-22 on Hulu.

Lots of old favorite shows and faces – many not necessarily holiday or Christmas related – fill the TV and radio airwaves Thanksgiving week.

Here's my first Holiday Programming list of the season, for Thanksgiving week. My huge annual Holiday Program Guide for shows Nov. 25 through Christmas posts Sunday, Nov. 25.

George Clooney and business partner Grant Heslov have signed a two-year "first look" deal with Paramount TV for all of their "television, digital and episodic projects," Deadline reports.

George Clooney the crazy prankster, the Oscar-winning actor, the social activist, the generous coworker and the loving father and husband are celebrated when the American Film Institute presents its 46th Life Achievement Award broadcast Thursday June 21 (10-11:30 p.m., TNT).

On this date in history, Rosemary Clooney – arguably the most popular female vocalist from this area (although Doris Day fans may quibble) –  was born 90 years ago in Maysville, KY, on May 23, 1928.

How did George Clooney meet his future wife, Amal Alamuddin? She came to his house in Italy. That's revealed in the new Netflix teaser for David Letterman's Clooney interview available Feb. 9.

Good news for George Clooney fans: You'll see him a lot on TV this year in a new "Catch-22" TV miniseries, his interview with David Letterman and the streaming of "ER" reruns. 

Former President Barak Obama will be David Letterman's guest on the premiere of Dave's comeback interview show premiering Friday Jan. 12 on Netflix.

A memorial service for Grace Hill, former WCET-TV program director, will be 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, at St Ignatius Loyola Church in Monfort Heights.

Visitation begins at 11 a.m. at the church, 5222 N. Bend Road, next to the Interstate 74 interchange. She will be buried in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Catching up to lots of movie news today…

GEORGE CLOONEY: George Clooney's next screen adventure, "Suburbicon," premieres Oct. 27. Clooney directed the dark comedy starring Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Karimah Westbrook as suburban residents in 1959.

Film Cincinnati celebrates its 30th anniversary with a cool video montage of 30 years of movie scenes shot here, from "Rain Main" and "Airborne"  to "Carol," "Miles Ahead" and "Goat."

Film Cincinnati will celebrate its 30th anniversary by creating a movie "backlot" with directors setting up shots, extras moving from scene to scene, make-up artists and lots of props.

Nick Clooney stopped pacing the hallway in his Augusta home on Tuesday, after he and wife Nina saw their newborn grandchildren, Ella and Alexander Clooney, via Skype.

"They Skyped two hours after the babies were born -- George and Amal with the babies. We got to see them," said Nick Clooney, 83, by phone from Augusta.

Congratulations to George and Amal Clooney!

"This morning Amal and George welcomed Ella and Alexander Clooney into their lives. Ella, Alexander and Amal are all healthy, happy and doing fine.  George is sedated and should recover in a few days," said the couple in a statement Tuesday, according to People magazine.

The late Miguel Ferrer's final appearance as Assistant Director Owen Granger airs on CBS' "NCIS: Los Angeles" 9 p.m. Sunday Feb. 19 (Channel 12).

Ferrer, son of singer Rosemary Clooney and cousin of actor George Clooney, died of throat cancer on Jan. 19. He was 61.

To celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, nonprofit Film Cincinnati (formerly the film commission) is seeking 30 donors willing to give $30,000 each.

"Most people think that we get paid to produce films here. (Not true!) Film Cincinnati is completely reliant on generous donations from our sponsors and people like you to sustain economic development and job creation in Greater Cincinnati," says a post on the FilmCincinnati website.

Amal and George Clooney are expecting twins, according to European news reports about the Oscar-winning actor-producer from Northern Kentucky and the human rights lawyer.

"He was not an old man, and he never was," said George Clooney about his cousin Miguel Ferrer at a memorial ceremony at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles Saturday.

George Clooney praised his cousin Miggy's perpetually youthful outlook on life, saying that "he came in like a comet, he rocketed through life and he got out," according to the Hollywood Reporter.