Lauren Fitz February 28th, 2017 - 3:18 PM
The tributes for Bill Paxton, who died from complications from heart surgery this past weekend, keep pouring in. The latest tribute planned will take place on Thursday as Training Day, the remake of the 2001 movie, will air a tribute to Paxton at the beginning of the episode, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Paxton stars as Detective Frank Rourke, a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department who doesn’t exactly play by the rules when it comes to investigations and has attracted a lot of attention because of it.
Deadline reported that production on Training Day wrapped in December, meaning that Paxton’s death won’t impact the first season of the show in any way. At this point, the future of the show is up in the air. If the show does get renewed, there’s no word from CBS on whether they’ll recast the role.
Training Day premiered to 4.86 million viewers and a 0.9 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic. Each subsequent episode has had less viewers. The fourth episode, which aired this past week, was viewed by 3.7 million people and only got a 0.7 rating.
After Paxton’s death was announced Sunday morning, CBS and Warner Bros. Television released a statement, saying “We are shocked and deeply saddened this morning by the news of Bill Paxton’s passing. Bill was, of course, a gifted and popular actor with so many memorable roles on film and television. His colleagues at CBS and Warner Bros. Television will also remember a guy who lit up every room with infectious charm, energy and warmth, and as a great storyteller who loved to share entertaining anecdotes and stories about his work. All of us here offer our deepest sympathy to his wife, Louise, and his two children.”
Executive producers Barry Schindel and Will Beall also released a statement, saying “Like anyone who had the chance to work with Bill, you emerge from the experience much richer for it, with an even greater appreciation for his talent, humor and overall goodness as a human being. At Training Day, not only were we lucky enough to have the chance to witness Bill’s commitment to his performance on a daily basis, but also to learn from it and appreciate his incredible generosity to everyone connected to the production. We already miss him incredibly so, and send our love and thoughts to his family.”
Some of Paxton’s Training Day took to Twitter to remember him, including Julie Benz, Justin Cornwell, the Training Day Twitter page and Jerry Bruckheimer.
We were just two guys on top of the world. Rest easy my friend pic.twitter.com/R0ZwB0zv5q
— Justin Cornwell (@justin_cornwell) February 26, 2017
Training Day airs Thursday nights at 10 p.m. on CBS.
