LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 76th annual Emmy Awards were handed out Sunday at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
“Shogun” set a single season record for most wins with 18. “Shogun” won best drama series, and Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai won acting awards for their roles.
“Hacks’’ won the award for best comedy series. ”Baby Reindeer” and “The Bear’’ won four awards apiece.
Early winners included Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Jeremy Allen White and Liza Colón-Zayas, who won awards for their work in the comedy series “The Bear.”
Stars presenting Emmys to their peers included: Billy Crystal, Viola Davis, Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, Maya Rudolph and Martin Sheen.
Several actors and shows, including Rudolph, won last week. Rudolph won her sixth Emmy Award at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys for her voice work on “Big Mouth.” Jamie Lee Curtis also picked up a supporting actress Emmy last weekend for her appearance on “The Bear.”
Here’s a list of winners at Sunday’s Emmys:
Drama series
“Shogun”
Comedy series
“Hacks”
Limited, anthology series, movie
“Baby Reindeer”
Actor in a drama series
Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shogun”
Actress in a drama series
Anna Sawai, “Shogun”
Supporting actor in a drama series
Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”
Supporting actress in a drama series
Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown”
Actor in a comedy series
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
Actress in a comedy series
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Supporting actress in a comedy series
Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”
Supporting actor in a comedy series
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Actor in a limited, anthology series or movie
Richard Gadd, “Baby Reindeer”
Actress in a limited, anthology series or movie
Jodie Foster, “True Detective: Night Country”
Supporting actress limited, anthology series or movie
Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer”
Supporting actor in a limited, anthology series or movie
Lamorne Morris, “Fargo”
Reality competition program
“The Traitors,” Peacock
Scripted variety series
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
Talk series
“The Daily Show”
Writing for a variety special
Alex Edelman, “Just for Us”
Writing for a comedy series
Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, “Hacks”
Eugene Levy and his son Dan are co-hosting the Emmys this year, following on from the tremendous success of their show Schitt’s Creek. The comedy was a family project, created by the father-son duo who starred in it, with Dan’s sister Sarah Levy also appearing as recurring character Twyla throughout.
The American Pie actor is a legend of film and television, who clearly loves working with his kids Sarah and Dan on screen. But one member of the family who tends to shy away from the camera is Eugene’s wife, the mother of Dan and Sarah, Deborah Divine.
Schitt’s Creek sweeps comedy categories at 2020 Emmys
While you may not see the couple professing their love as publicly as others, they have one of the longest lasting relationships in Hollywood, having been together for over 50 years.
Here’s everything we know about Eugene and Deborah’s remarkable relationship.
Actor Eugene Levy and wife Deborah Divine attend the premiere of A Fine Mess on April 19, 1986 at the Comedy Store in Hollywood, California.
Eugene and Deborah have been married for 47 years, since 1977. However, they were together long before that, meeting at some point in the 1970s, meaning they have been together for five decades.
The actor thanked his wife at the Emmy Awards in 2020, thanking his “Darling wife of 43 years, Deb Divine, for all the love, support and sage counsel over the years. I wouldn’t be up here without you, Deb. I love you.”
Eugene Levy, Deborah Divine Levy and Daniel Levy attend the Canadian Screen Awards at Westin Harbour Castle Hotel on March 9, 2016 in Toronto, Canada
Deborah isn’t as happy on a stage as her husband or children, preferring to stick to the writer’s room. She has worked on production for a number of shows, such as the ’90s TV shows Another World, and is credited a writer on the sitcom Maniac Mansion, which her husband had a cameo in.
She may prefer life behind the camera, but Deborah can still put on a show, as it turned out she and Eugene performed a duet at their daughter Sarah’s wedding. The couple performed “Love and Happiness” by Emmylou Harris, which according to Dan certainly upstaged his own speech.
“My parents came on after me and sang a duet — a surprise duet for my sister — and suddenly my speech was just absolute [expletive],” he explained on Jimmy Kimmel, adding: “It just brought the house down. My mom, who doesn’t like the spotlight, absolutely nailed it. It was so nice.”
Eugene Levy, Sarah Levy, Daniel Levy and Deborah Divine attend the Los Angeles Premiere of Netflix’s “Good Grief” at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on December 19, 2023
When the couple welcomed Dan in 1983, and Sarah in 1986, they were certain to make sure their children knew their actions had consequences.
Eugene told People: “Yes, I would ground him,” in reference to his son. “The thing was for us, if you crossed the line, there was going to be some sort of punishment. It’s the way I was brought up, and it’s the way I brought up my kids.”
Dan has insisted that he was grounded for things as minor as not completing his homework, but his dad pointed out that “it worked” as “honestly we’ve never had a problem with our kids.”
Eugene Levy has long been friends with Martin Short and Tom Hanks
Eugene Levy is a well-connected man, and the couple count the likes of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson as friends. The two couples were spotted out for dinner with Martin Short earlier in 2024. The trio have long been friends, and it seems that Deborah has got close to the actors and their families too, as they spend time together for dinners.
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The first gay couple ever to appear on American television dates back to 1975 — in Norman Lear’s groundbreaking and highly controversial sitcom Hot I Baltimore.
Back then, featuring an LGBTQ+ couple on national TV was considered horrifying, even shameful. Although it’s far more common nowadays to see LGBTQ+ characters represented in film and television, we still have a long way to go.
These days, we’re lucky to have such a diverse array of incredible gay and lesbian couples gracing our screens, both big and small. Let’s take a look at some of the most fabulous same-sex pairings represented in the media over the years.
Jack and Ennis – Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain was one of the first same-sex romance films to make it to the mainstream media. Back when the movie was in production, A-list celebrities turned down the leading roles of Jack and Ennis right and left. Back then, the idea of a gay gay love story was so taboo in Hollywood that actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg were quick to say “no” because they were terrified that the world would think they were gay and their career would be over.
It looks like it was their loss, though, since the 2005 film was an Oscar-winning triumph. The roles were given to Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger, respectively. Gyllenhall and Ledger play Wyoming cowboys caught up in a 20-year-long forbidden romance.
Despite their undying love for each other — Jack famously tells Ennis, “I wish I knew how to quit you!” — they’re held back by spousal duties and the restrictive social norms of the time.
Ronit and Esti – Disobedience
Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz play forbidden lovers in this gut wrenching 2018 film. Esti (McAdams) and Ronit (Weisz) seem to have all the odds stacked against them. Set in an Orthodox Jewish community, the highly religious standards make it just about impossible for the two to express their passions. But gloriously, they find a way.
In private, when no one’s watching, Esti and Ronit are able to act on their years of pent-up emotions.
Grab a box of tissues for this one. Disobedience is a total tear-jerker.
Carol and Therese – Carol
This 2015 film captures the sizzling love affair between Therese (Rooney Mara) and Carol (Cate Blanchette.) While the film is a stunning visual masterpiece, the snowy Manhattan backdrop and lush mid-century decor pale in comparison to Mara and Blanchette’s on-screen chemistry. In the film, our leading ladies Therese and Carol must keep their love affair a secret because Carol has a daughter and is going through a tough divorce. Their forbidden romance is constantly disrupted by Carol’s suspicious husband, a private detective, and … you guessed it … the constricting social norms of the 1950s.
Elio and Oliver – Call Me By Your Name
Call Me By Your Name is an exquisite love story that’s set “Somewhere in Northern Italy.” Based on the novel by Andre Aciman, the 2017 film put Timothee Chalamet on the map and launched him into the stratosphere.
What separates Call Me By Your Name from the other films listed is that there’s no bloodthirsty antagonist determined to tear Elio and Oliver apart. In fact, the only people preventing Elio and Oliver from living happily ever after are… Elio and Oliver.
Since there’s no evil force lurking in the corners, Call Me By Your Name unspools like a sun-dappled fantasy. Their romance is met with nothing but support from friends and family.
Due to the film’s lack of obstacles, a handful of critics have labeled this story unrealistic. It doesn’t have the many hurdles that same-sex love interests usually face, both in real life and in media portrayals.
Yet author Aciman says this is very much intentional. Quoting Aristotle, he said of Call Me By Your Name: “Art is not about what happens, but about what should, and ought to happen.”
Nicky Nicholls and Lorna Morello – Orange is The New Black
Orange is The New Black made waves — seismic waves — when it premiered on Netflix in 2013. The series is groundbreaking both for its diversity and its depiction of an array of lesbian relationships.
While Piper and Alex are Orange’s primary couple, many fans found themselves gravitating more towards the second-tier couple, Nicky Nicholls and Lorna Morello.
Played by Natasha Lyonne and Yael Stone, respectively, the frisson between these two is enough to set fire to Litchfield Prison. What starts out as a casual friend-with-benefits deal eventually grows into one of the most heartbreaking romances on television.
Blaine and Kurt – Glee
Kurt Hummel went through hell and back during the first handful of seasons on Glee. As the only openly gay kid in his closed-minded Ohio-based high school, he bore the brunt of constant torment from his peers.
Just when he was at his lowest point, Blaine (Darren Criss) waltzed in to flip Kurt’s life upside down once and for all. It was a heartwarming change of pace for Kurt, who had spent his whole life on the outside looking in.
Santana and Brittany – Glee
Initially, Santana and Brittany’s liaison was played off as a joke. But as the series evolved, so did their relationship. The pair went on to become one of the most popular couples on Glee.
Tweek and Craig – South Park
Tweek and Craig, South ParkComedy Central
When we hear the term South Park, the word “progressive” doesn’t immediately spring to mind. After all, the animated series is famous for its shock humor and toilet jokes. This makes it all the more amusing that the Mountain Town series has one of the hottest LGBTQ couples on TV.
The romance between Tweek and Craig was borne out of fan service. Ever since they appeared in a 1998 episode titled “Tweek and Craig,” some starry-eyed fans of the show had been “shipping” these fictional characters.
This did not go unnoticed by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who decided to respond by making Tweek and Craig a “canon” pair.
Cam and Mitchell – Modern Family
It’s safe to say that Modern Family wouldn’t be the same without Cam and Mitchell. Their comedic charm brings so much wit to the ABC sitcom, and many regard the pair as fan favorites. Despite having conflicting personalities, their differences only seem to strengthen their bond.
Patrick and David – Schitt’s Creek
Schitt’s Creek’s David and Patrick have the perfect relationship. From the beginning, it’s been nothing but smooth sailing for these two. Their lack of drama is quite refreshing for LGTBQ+ couples, who are mostly represented in the media through a tragic lens. And while there’s certainly a place for that, it’s nice to see a breezy gay couple getting on with their lives together.
One of the cutest moments in TV history was when Patrick proposed to David. Instead of a typical engagement ring, Patrick proposed with four rings — typical of what David usually wears.
They say, “To love them is to know them.” Based on Patrick’s four-ring proposal, he certainly knows David!
For sports fans, there’s the Super Bowl. For fashion fans, there’s the Met Gala.
Every year on the first Monday in May, Anna Wintour, reigning editor-in-chief and pinnacle of fashion at Vogue, hosts the Met Gala. It’s technically a charity event to raise an egregious amount of money for The Costume Institute…but in reality, it’s an excuse for the biggest celebrities in the world to flaunt looks from the biggest fashion houses in the world.
All we ever get to see from the elusive Gala is the red carpet, but for about three hours the world circulates photos of outfits…judging like they have degrees in fashion and are the next Joan Rivers. But this year’s theme was especially exciting for me.
What was the 2024 Met Gala Theme?
This year’s theme was Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, with the focus being “Garden in Time.” A “sleeping beauty” in fashion refers to a piece that is only worn once before being stored away forever. These pieces are often tarnished after they’re worn once.
But as always, there’s a theme within the theme. “Garden in Time” implied nods to nature, which would explain the floral prints and natural elements like mother of pearl and wood. These themes also opened the door for sustainability: reworking and re-wearing pieces that have already existed. Not creating an entirely new costume from scratch.
Once these pieces go on display, they can’t be touched again or they’re considered ruined. While many celebrities weren’t wearing original “Sleeping Beauty” pieces, there were references to vintage collections from classic designers like Versace, Alexander McQueen, and, of course, Loewe.
Loewe happened to be the belle of the ball this year. The hottest brand of 2024 (by far) secured high-profile celebrities like Taylor Russell, Ariana Grande, Dan Levy, Omar Apollo, and more. And not only was everyone wearing Loewe, the craftsmanship and detail was breathtaking in every way.
As I continued to watch notable figure after notable figure grace the famous Met staircase, I continued to wonder where every Met Gala icon was? Where was Rihanna and A$AP Rocky? Blake Lively? Hailey and Justin Bieber? Selena Gomez, perhaps? THE Bella Hadid? Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce? Harry Styles? Billie Eilish and FINNEAS?
Perhaps a few literally slept through the Met Gala this year…but nonetheless, the celebs showed up. And I’m here to critique them.
Best Dressed
Lana Del Rey
Her first Met in six years and Lana Del Rey shines in custom-made Alexander McQueen. She’s on-theme, the embodiment of Mother Nature.
Mona Patel
Of course, this was a Law Roach style. But Mona Patel had, by far, the best dress of the night. The animated butterflies on her arms were magical.
Tyla
Nothing says “Sleeping Beauty” more than a gown made of sand specifically molded to Tyla’s body. She even had to get carried up the stairs in her custom Balmain.
Zendaya
Law Roach, the stylist you are. Zendaya treated the Met stairs as her runway with multiple show-stopping looks.
Kendall Jenner
I mean, the dress literally was only ever worn on a mannequin and fit Kendall Jenner – with no tailoring. That’s fate.
Mindy Kaling
The dress, titled “Melting Flower of Time”, was designed by Gaurav Gupta. It was walking art, stunned.
Harris Reed
Harris Reed is responsible for some of Harry Styles’ most iconic looks…but tonight, they were the moment.
Taylor Russell
Speaking of Harry Styles…Taylor Russell had one of my favorite Loewe pieces. The wood bodice corset contrasted with the gown.
Worst Dressed
Kylie Jenner
I just think she could’ve done more than a vintage bridal look…
With a name like mine, I’m fully aware of the traumas that come with people not being able to pronounce it. So when Loewe’s latest star-studded campaign came out, I felt their decades-long struggle. No, my name will never be on a keychain, but it’s taught me to learn pronunciations fast.
Loewe, pronounced low-ay-vay, has subtle-y worked its way beyond runways and onto the bodies of our favorite celebrities. Lowkey celebrity power couple, Harry Styles and Taylor Russell, are often seen touting Loewe bags. It makes sense, considering Russell has been the face of multiple Loewe campaigns.
In the Decades of Confusion short film directed by Ally Pankiw, written by Dan Levy, and creative directed by Jonathon Anderson, Levy and Aubrey Plaza face off in a spelling bee. As the moderator, Levy asks Plaza to spell Loewe- to which she stutters and struggles and messes up by the second letter.
Although Plaza is decked out in vintage Loewe from head-to-toe, we fast forward years later to a married Plaza finding out that there’s a “w” in Loewe.
What works: brands being self-aware, knowing that none of us could figure out how to pronounce the name. You see Loewe written across headlines and sewn into labels, you see it all over magazine covers with Hollywood’s hottest stars, but you constantly have to Google how to say it.
Loewe has found a way to make themselves relatable, despite the fact that their pricing isn’t necessarily accessible. The Spanish fashion house known for their minimalist styles and artisanal craftsmanship…but they continue to push boundaries through design innovation and clever campaigns.
If you like surrealist fashion, where clothing is turned into visual representations of art (think Loewe’s puzzle bag), then this is the brand to watch in 2024.
It’s one thing to direct an episode of the sitcom on which you appeared for six seasons. “Schitt’s Creek” star Daniel Levy aced that exercise back in 2020, earning an Emmy for co-helming the series finale. But it’s an entirely different challenge to write and direct a smart, sensitive original feature in which you also play the lead character — a feat Levy deftly achieves with New Year’s tearjerker “Good Grief,” giving those unsatisfied with the rest of Netflix’s fluffy Christmas fare something substantial to kick off 2024.
The first week of January seems a fitting time to release a film about three friends shedding their skin for the next chapter in their lives. Appropriately enough, Levy’s debut also sees him leveling up as a more serious storyteller than we’d given him credit for. It was easy to pigeonhole Levy as a comedic talent, given father Eugene’s improv chops, whereas he shows a more poignant and personal side here.
Levy plays Marc, a gay artist in his late 30s whose A-list husband, Oliver (Luke Evans), dies unexpectedly after leaving their holiday party. Rest assured: While the trailers tout how a trip to Paris helps Marc to process that loss, “Good Grief” is a good deal better than that reductive summary sounds. Imagine a satisfying ’90s weepie updated with the millennial bite of “Obvious Child.” That initial tragedy is the toughest, since we know it’s coming. Still, Levy handles Oliver’s death in a fresh way (the party guests joke when they first hear the sirens, until Marc realizes what happened), indicating early that he wants us to feel something without resorting to vulgar manipulation.
The budding filmmaker established his hipster bona fides on “Schitt’s Creek,” playing a blisteringly snobby New Yorker forced to adjust to the real world. Marc’s in for a rude awakening as well. Levy has crafted an emotional story strong enough to withstand the zings of an ironic generation, who’ve been conditioned to snipe at sincerity. It takes guts to put genuine feelings on the line, especially after giving sarcastic-minded viewers so much ammunition. “Good Grief” can be very funny at times, but it’s foremost about facing the painful things in life, like death.
Incidentally, this is the second of two new films in which openly gay Evans plays a married gay man, the other being “Our Son” (sort of a queer “Kramer vs. Kramer,” about a divorcing couple’s complicated custody fight). It’s refreshing to have a star of his stature representing, even if he’s only present for the first scene and a tiny handful of flashbacks. Uncommon among first features, such right-fit casting (which extends to Oliver’s agent, impeccably played by Celia Imrie) allows Levy to work as subtly as he does. Less is more as the ensemble explore the nuances of their characters.
In Marc’s memory, Oliver was the ideal husband: handsome, successful and (he eventually reveals, delving into psychoanalysis territory) a welcome distraction from his mother’s death. The couple got together when Marc should have been grieving, he realizes in retrospect, and now that Oliver’s gone, the young widower has to face the void that both his mother and his partner have left in his life. It doesn’t take a fortuneteller to guess that painting, which Marc put aside years earlier, will play a part in his healing — though leave it to Levy to come up with one of the most romantic scenes you’ll find in any gay love story (a private visit to one of Paris’ most famous artworks).
The filmmaker compresses a year of coping into roughly half an hour, as ex-boyfriend-turned-BFF Thomas (Himesh Patel) and self-described “hot mess” Sophie (Ruth Negga) do what they can to cheer Marc up. After stalling for 12 months, Marc finally opens the last Christmas card Oliver gave him and finds a shock. Without spoiling it, suffice to say, this is how the three friends wind up spending a few days in Paris, where Marc is still down enough to forgo a makeover, shuffling about the glamorous city in sweatpants.
Before making that decision, Marc meets a well-connected French art connoisseur named Theo (“BPM” star Arnaud Valois) at a warehouse happening where Emma Corrin makes a fun cameo as a pathetic performance artist. (Kaitlyn Dever also pops up at Oliver’s funeral as the vacuous star of Oliver’s movies.) Levy shades these characters with a mix of positive and negative qualities — though ever-patient Theo comes so close to being an ideal suitor, it’s a relief that “Good Grief” doesn’t take the easy path of letting romance solve Marc’s moving-on problems. If the story of our lives begins at birth and ends at death, it’s uncanny how often the chapters are delineated by those we lose along the way.
With the hardly insignificant exception of AIDS-themed stories, gay films so often focus on the falling-in-love/falling-in-lust stretch of a relationship. By contrast, this relatively grown-up offering deals with later-stage emotions, joining a very short list (topped by Tom Ford’s “A Single Man”) that concentrate on loss. Levy’s funny-sad contemporary drama acknowledges the supportive dynamic that Marc plays in Thomas and Sophie’s lives, even as it centers the gay best friend for a change — not so different from the one he played in “Happiest Season.” All three characters feel well rounded and real, especially in their imperfections.
To heal, Marc needs to be honest with himself and those closest to him. Levy’s fans know the multitalent can play bitchy and caustic; “Good Grief” shows he can be vulnerable and wise as well.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie is overflowing with Ken-ergy, thanks in large part to its star-studded cast, which includes Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, and Kingsley Ben-Adir as various Kens. For a handful of actors, though, the dream of portraying Barbie’s “long-term, long-distance, low-commitment, casual” boyfriend on screen was just out of reach: in an interview with Vanity Fair on July 20, casting director Allison Jones revealed the names of three actors who, unfortunately, had to turn down supporting roles as Ken in the film.
Due to COVID-19 restraints, the cast and crew were required to spend three months in London, where a large part of the film was shot. Ultimately, the logistics of the filming process resulted in scheduling conflicts that pushed Bowen Yang, Dan Levy, and Ben Platt out of the running to play Ken. “They were, I’m not kidding, really bummed they couldn’t do it,” Jones said.
Even the role of Allan, who many have deemed the unsung hero of “Barbie,” was originally intended to go to another actor: Jonathan Groff. “Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m typing this, but I can’t do Allan,” Jones said, also citing scheduling conflicts. Though it would have been fun to see the Broadway veteran add his own spin to the previously forgotten doll, the internet seems to agree that Michael Cera did the character justice. “Allan is easily the best character in the Barbie movie,” one Twitter user wrote.
Nicola Coughlan, who plays Diplomat Barbie, also previously revealed that she nearly had to miss out on the Barbieland experience due to her busy work schedule. With some encouragement from Gerwig, though, Coughlan managed to secure a smaller — but still memorable — role in the movie. “When I was asked if I wanted to pop into Barbieland even briefly my answer was an immediate, and very emphatic yes,” she wrote on Instagram.
At this point, we may need a “Barbie” sequel to make up for all the celebrities whose schedules conflicted with filming. In the meantime, you can catch us singing along to the “Barbie” soundtrack all summer long.
Last week, social media erupted when the Writers Guild of America went on strike. Didn’t hear about it? Well, you will soon.
If you don’t think the WGA Strike will affect you, consider this: what will happen when none of your favorite TV shows and movies are released when you expected they would be? What will happen when you tune in for a mindless episode of late-night comedy and there’s … nothing? What will happen when shows like Abbott Elementary are forced to shoot fewer episodes for the next season? Riots.
So, I have your attention now? Good. I’m sure you have questions…and I’m here to answer them.
Why Are The Writers On Strike?
This isn’t our first writers’ strike. From November 2007 to February 2008, American TV writers went on strike for the first time this century. This resulted in a $1.5 billion impact on the Los Angeles economy and cost the U.S. entertainment industry $500 million…And someone’s telling us we don’t need writers?
Essentially, the writers need to be paid more. The East and West branches of the WGA represent the writers of 11,500 movies and television series. And the WGA negotiates writer contracts with Hollywood studios roughly every three years. This year, things didn’t go so well.
While the studios believe they made a fair appraisal of the compensation increase, the writers believe they are being undervalued. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, studios are mulling over whether or not writers are truly essential anymore.
The studios state that this is not the best time for the writers to see a major change in compensation. Meanwhile, the writers argue that streaming platforms have increased episode counts from the standard 8-10 run to close to 20 episodes a season and this severely cuts into their work lives.
But Why Not Use AI?
Look, I get it. AI helped you write that essay you procrastinated until the very last possible moment to write (don’t worry, I won’t tell). It generated that photo of you in 1800’s garb. It can make almost anything look real (it terrifies me to no end).
But what AI can’t do is capture true human emotion in the ways that a writer can. While Chat GPT may get you 800 words, it surely won’t tell the truth about a certain brand or product. AI isn’t funny, doesn’t have a sense of humor…in other words, breaking news: robots can’t relate to us as well as humans can.
I don’t know how we got to the point of such laziness and greed that we actually entertain the notion that writers are no longer critical in the wake of Artificial Intelligence. It’s insipid. But I do know that Artificial Intelligence can’t tell you about the time they flew cross-country only to crash a rental car in Los Angeles and almost got banned from the state after a Harry Styles concert.
Who Is Affected By The Writers’ Strike?
If this madness continues, the entire planet will be affected in some way or another. And this insanity looks like it’s going to go on for a while. Late-night talk shows have all stopped shooting – which means no one’s getting paid unless the hosts are paying out of pocket, and many are. Late-night programming is the most immediate effect of the strike.
Meanwhile, films can halt production, but since movies take over a year to produce, release dates will just be pushed back. However, daily running shows like soap operas – a dying industry in itself – will run out of episodes to release within a month.
With no one writing at all right now, there are no new seasons in the works. Netflix shows like Big Mouth, Stranger Things, and Unstable have shuttered their writers’ rooms. And on May 2, Abbott Elementary scribes weren’t allowed to start working on the next. Yellowjackets and Billions among other popular shows have also paused writing due to the strike.
As you can see, we are about to face some major consequences. Celebs and the rich and famous are picketing with the writers, where you can see faces like Quinta Brunson, Dan Levy, Rob Lowe, and more boasting signs for the WGA. Late-night hosts like Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel are paying their staff out-of-pocket for the time being.
What Now?
Writers are an essential part of storytelling, so we stand with the WGA and hope they get their bag ASAP. Plus, I will never forgive the Hollywood studios if I don’t see Quinta Brunson on my screen for endless-endless episodes. Get the deal done, Hollywood.
So the answer is no, AI can’t write like a real writer does. AI can’t create your favorite show the way humans can. And without our brilliant writers, there would be no shows.
As far as “instant classic” Christmas movies go, the only one to really make a mark in recent years has been Clea DuVall’s Happiest Season (not, as Lindsay Lohan would like to believe, Falling For Christmas). Released in Our Year of the Pandemic, the movie was a rare bright spot in a 2020 pop culture sea of shit. For DuVall, who co-wrote the script with Mary Holland, brought audiences the so-called “first lesbian Christmas movie.” Even if DuVall might have received flak for not only casting non-lesbians as such, but also triggering lesbian audiences with her portrayal of Harper Caldwell (Mackenzie Davis). She being the closeted girlfriend of Abby Holland (Kristen Stewart). A closeted existence that adds salt in the wound of many real-life coming out stories, particularly when the whistle is blown on Harper’s sexuality against her will. Specifically, by her competitive sister, Sloane (Alison Brie).
Along for the family drama ride is Abby, who accepts Harper’s foolish invitation to Christmas with the Caldwell brood under the false impression that Harper is actually out. Even worse, she gave up her multiple pet-sitting gigs to be at this nightmare. One that doesn’t help her overcome her general disdain for Christmas, a holiday she’s grown to hate after losing her parents to a car accident. Unfortunately for her self-esteem, the only thing Harper’s family members seem to want to bring up is how she’s an “orphan”—especially Harper’s mother, Tipper (Mary Steenburgen, always obliged to play a mom role). Abby finally has to point out that she was never an orphan, as her parents died after she turned eighteen. The awkwardness quotient of spending her holiday with a different version of Harper among the conservative Caldwells is ramped up by her “daffy” (read: weird) middle sister, Jane (played by the movie’s co-writer, Holland).
But Abby would probably take Jane’s cringe-inducement over the one that arrives when Sloane does with her own family: her husband, Eric (Burl Moseley), and their twins, Matilda (Asiyih N’Dobe) and Magnus (Anis N’Dobe). Despite being a full-time mom who makes gift baskets now (or rather, “curated experiences”), Sloane still has plenty of fuel in her tank to be competitive with Harper as both patently vie for their father Ted’s (Victor Garber) approval. Becoming increasingly invisible among these long-standing dynamics, Abby is made to question her relationship entirely, as well as endlessly regretting having agreed to come at all after Harper blindsided her with the ruse they would have to put on while already driving there.
The only source of comfort among this den of wolves in sheep’s clothing is Riley Johnson (Aubrey Plaza). The fellow lesbian who just so happens to be Harper’s high school ex. Her real high school ex… unlike the puppet ex-boyfriend, Connor (Jake McDorman), who shows up to dinner at a restaurant the first night Harper and Abby are in town. Although Harper had no idea her mother would be so calculating as to invite him, Abby still feels miffed by the entire situation—rounded out by Riley also showing up to the same restaurant with her family. So that it becomes one big “Harper’s ex party” as opposed to a pleasant evening out. The mood is further dampened when Ted and Tipper are also alerted to Riley’s presence. “Her parents must be proud. And relieved,” Ted notes of Riley pursuing a career as a doctor. Tipper adds, “I know. That lifestyle choice.” “Mm, such a shame,” Ted concludes. As though Riley would be just perfect were it not for her being a lesbian.
In the meantime, John (Dan Levy), Abby’s best friend and the person she’s ill-advisedly entrusted to take over her pet-sitting duties, counsels her throughout this ordeal from afar. And when she tries to play off the unwanted charade as, “It’s kind of fun having a secret,” John ripostes, “Yeah, I mean there’s nothing more erotic than concealing your authentic selves.” Obviously, he is not Team Hide Who You Are For The Sake of Your Callow Girlfriend. Nor should anyone watching the scene unfold be.
While, yes, we’re supposed to have empathy for Harper’s intense phobia about being who she really is, in the end, all we really want is to see Abby with someone who doesn’t quite suck so much as she’s treated like a dirty little secret. And, because of all the charged moments we eventually get to see between Abby and Riley as the latter keeps encountering her in a state of distress, there was that faint glimmer of hope that Abby would actually pivot away from Harper and go for the girl that she also stabbed in the back long ago. That would be sweet poetic justice (and a full-circle scenario) indeed. But no, Harper must be cut some slack because of how she was raised—with the fear of “failure” (including being “other”) instilled within her by her own imperfect parents. And of course, Harper’s repressed situation is a foil for DuVall’s, as she spent much of her career in the closet (even despite appearing in the sapphic 1999 movie But I’m A Cheerleader), not coming out until 2016 (a somewhat ironic choice considering who took the presidency that year).
As for Stewart, who identifies as bisexual, she commented of any potential backlash, “I would never want to tell a story that really should be told by somebody who’s lived that experience. Having said that, it’s a slippery slope conversation because that means I could never play another straight character if I’m going to hold everyone to the letter of this particular law. I think it’s such a gray area [not to be confused with a gay area].” Just as it is to be stuck in the purgatory of being out in “the real world” and closeted among your nuclear family. Perhaps this is why DuVall is sure to include a speech from John, of all people, pleading for more understanding from Abby as he assures, “Harper not coming out to her parents has nothing to do with you.” This said as they take their “breather” walk after Harper’s true identity is harshly unveiled by Sloane in a very public way. By the end of the “outing,” Harper declaring her love for Abby is deemed by the latter as too little, too late.
But John wants Abby to understand that not everyone gets to have the same pleasant coming out experience that she did, giving her as a “for example,” “My dad kicked me out of the house and didn’t talk to me for thirteen years after I told him. Everybody’s story is different. There’s your version and my version and everything in between. But the one thing that all of those stories have in common is that moment right before you say those words, when your heart is racing, and you don’t know what’s coming next. That moment’s really terrifying. And then once you say those words, you can’t unsay them. A chapter has ended, and a new one’s begun and you have to be ready for that… Just because Harper isn’t ready, it doesn’t mean she never will be, and it doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you.” Ostensibly, John’s heart-rending speech doesn’t affect what Abby has decided is her bottom line: “I want to be with someone who is ready.” Hello! Riley. That spark between them being so obvious.
What’s more, Slate’s Christina Cauterucci also described “the film’s biggest shortcoming” as being how “the central relationship doesn’t seem all that great. Aside from an illustrated opening credits slideshow of moments from Abby and Harper’s history—a romantic picnic, pumpkin carving, moving in together—we barely see them interacting outside the confines of the closet… making it difficult to understand why Abby sticks around.” Especially when someone as fly as Riley makes her presence known. But with the general (though not official) confirmation of a sequel in the works, perhaps there’s a chance yet for Abby and Riley to come together more sexually for another happiest (i.e., gayest) season.
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