BEVERLY HILLS, California - The first day of the Television Critics Association 2018 summer press tour got off to a busy start, with TV executives, stars and creators taking the stage at the Beverly Hilton hotel to talk about their schedules and shows, and answer questions from TV reporters and critics.

But even with all the info and conversations about "Game of Thrones," a "Deadwood" movie and more, one issue had to be addressed. Namely, will Russell Crowe's jockstrap end up on display at the Blockbuster Video store in Bend?

A bit of background: John Oliver was on hand here to discuss his Emmy-winning HBO show, "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver."

If you watch the show, you may already know that, as part of Crowe's fundraising "divorce auction," a leather jockstrap Crowe wore in the movie "Cinderella Man" was among the items put up for auction.

Oliver's show bought the jockstrap for a reported $7,000 (among other Crowe memorabilia), and in a generous gesture, said it would be donated to the last remaining Blockbuster Video store in Alaska.

Now that the Anchorage Blockbuster store where the jockstrap was on display is kaput, a Blockbuster Video store in Bend is the last remaining Blockbuster in the country.

Obviously, Crowe's jockstrap should go to Bend, right?

"That is a legitimate question," an amused Oliver said early in his TCA session. "And that is one I definitely know more about than I probably should. In fact, the fact that that premise, the premise of that question makes sense to me is either a compliment or a heartbreaking reflection of myself. Now what's going to happen to it? That's kind of, we're in the process of working that out."

Elaborating on the jockstrap's future location, Oliver said, "It's technically the property of, I mean it used to be the property of Russell Crowe, but that's very much no more the case. So, yeah, they're selling some things from that store and I don't know exactly what has happened to the jockstrap in question."

Fingers crossed, Oregon. Fingers crossed.

Stay tuned for more news and notes from the TCA 2018 summer press tour.

-- Kristi Turnquist



kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@Kristiturnquist