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  • Jon Stewart changed late-night comedy once. Can he have a second act in different times?

    Jon Stewart changed late-night comedy once. Can he have a second act in different times?


    NEW YORK — As host of “The Daily Show” from 1999 to 2015, Jon Stewart changed comedy — and arguably journalism, too — with sharp, satirical takes on politics and current events. He became an essential part of the nation’s conversation.

    Now let’s see if he can turn back time.

    Stewart, who walked away from “The Daily Show” to much fanfare, returns to his old perch Monday night. He’s agreed to host each Monday through the election, and to executive produce the weeknight show for Comedy Central into next year to help it through another transition.

    Comebacks are hard enough in an industry that doesn’t always reward second acts. Catching lightning again will be difficult — particularly at a time when late-night television is greatly diminished as a cultural force and others, some from Stewart’s family tree, are now competitors.

    It can be even tougher when, as Salon critic Melanie McFarland put it, the current Jon Stewart is forced to compete with memories of the old Jon Stewart.

    “The world has changed,” says veteran television executive Doug Herzog, who hired Stewart and his successor, Trevor Noah, for Comedy Central. “The media environment has changed. The business has changed. It’s just so different. I’ll never speak for Jon, but he’s always been about going forward, he’s not about moving backwards. And that’s what I would expect him to do.”

    Let’s pay homage to what Stewart achieved when he hit his stride in the early 2000s.

    Political humor had largely consisted of tame one-liners before Stewart and his team of mock “correspondents” — people you’ve come to know well like Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert — dove into the news of the day. He exposed double-talk, pointed out hypocrisy and could draw laughter with a wide-eyed look of incredulousness or fear.

    Studies found “The Daily Show” was a key news source for many young Americans. Stewart’s comedy targeted journalists, too. CNN cancelled its political debate show “Crossfire” after Stewart skewered a then-bowtied Tucker Carlson. “The Daily Show” may not have pioneered the use of past video to prove a point, but it certainly reminded journalists of its effectiveness.

    “Jon Stewart totally changed the face of late-night,” says Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. And the television executive who lured Stewart back, Chris McCarthy, called him “the voice of our generation.”

    Stewart hasn’t been talking about it publicly, although he did offer a joke — what else? — on social media. “After much reflection I have decided to enter the transfer portal for my last year of eligibility,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

    He ended his previous hosting stint on Aug. 6, 2015, precisely as Trump emerged as a force in presidential politics. Some of Stewart’s fans were sorely disappointed that he was not there to offer his nightly take on the Trump presidency. Perhaps the chance to offer his voice during another Trump campaign proved irresistible.

    Tough political humor didn’t leave with Stewart and has even thrived. Colbert makes Donald Trump a nightly punching bag on CBS. John Oliver, an alumni of “The Daily Show,” has an award-winning, issue-oriented show on HBO. Another “Daily” vet, Samantha Bee, held forth on TBS from 2016 to 2022. Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers are tartly topical, and Greg Gutfeld seeks laughs from a conservative perspective on Fox News Channel.

    So Stewart will return to a crowded field of comics looking to mine much of the same material.

    His appearances on Mondays — the same nights that Rachel Maddow does her once-a-week show on MSNBC — offer liberals a television murderer’s row.

    It’s a more serious Stewart that fans have gotten to know since he left, both through his activism on behalf of rescue workers from Sept. 11, 2001, and his short-lived show on the Apple TV+ streaming service, “The Problem with Jon Stewart.” It’s legitimate to ask whether his comedy will be able to get rolling again after a nine-year absence, on the air just once a week, and if he can assemble a staff of writers as good as he once had.

    In short, can this dedicated Mets fan still throw the fastball?

    Popular culture is littered with stars who tried to come back but could never recapture the magic — Arsenio Hall, Lucille Ball and Roseanne Barr are examples just from comedy. Name a musical act that reformed and substantially added to its legacy.

    Often it had little to do with talent. The moment had simply passed, and Thompson worries that the same might be true now.

    “There’s something so 2010 about Jon Stewart now,” he says.

    Late-night comedy has far less of an imprint on the culture now than it did when Americans turned off the bedroom light after hearing Johnny Carson’s monologue, or even when Stewart went away.

    Rather than stay up late, many Americans now log on to the Internet the next morning to catch late-night highlights, the best jokes. People who do stay up, young people in particular, are as apt to get lost on TikTok, play a video game or choose a show to stream.

    “People don’t talk about late-night anymore,” Herzog said. “Night in and night out, it doesn’t play the same cultural role. We don’t stay up to watch Johnny Carson anymore, Cher on David Letterman, whatever it was. I don’t feel like it’s there anymore. It’s fragmented and gotten smaller, just like everything else.”

    During the 2014-15 season, “The Daily Show,” Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight,” Kimmel and Letterman in his last year at CBS collectively averaged 10.5 million viewers, according to the Nielsen company. The same four shows — Colbert now in place of Letterman — have 4.8 million viewers now. The shows took in $859 million in ad revenue in 2015. Through last November, the 2023 tally was $259 million, the ad intelligence provider Vivvix said.

    Separate out “The Daily Show,” and the decline is much sharper. Stewart had more than 1.3 million viewers in his last season; Trevor Noah was down to 372,000 in 2022 and those numbers surely dropped last year with the botched effort to find a successor. During Stewart’s last full year in 2014, “The Daily Show” earned an estimated $129 million in advertising revenue. Last year it was down to $19 million through November, per Vivvix.

    Dominated for years by white men, the format has grown stale, Salon’s McFarland says.

    “I don’t think the late-night scene is going to go away entirely,” she says. “But it needs to remake itself.”

    Older viewers (at least, those who can stay up) will surely be curious to see if Stewart still has it. The same might not be true for younger people who know Stewart by reputation only. And is the 61-year-old the right person to pinpoint another generation of talent?

    “Jon’s got a way of seizing the moment,” Herzog says. “Everything has changed. We’re not going back in time, but I do have the confidence that Jon will find a way forward. Jon is good that way.”

    We’ll see. No pressure.

    ___

    David Bauder covers media for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder





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  • What to stream this week, Super Bowl edition: Usher, classic commercials and lots of puppies

    What to stream this week, Super Bowl edition: Usher, classic commercials and lots of puppies


    Usher’s first new solo album in eight years and the “Abbott Elementary” debuting its third season on ABC are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Justin Hartley of “This is Us” debuts his new CBS series “Tracker,” Sony’s new multiplayer military shooter Helldivers 2 and Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” an achingly tender film about making peace with the choices that shape our lives.

    — Celine Song’s “Past Lives” is an achingly tender film about making peace with the choices that shape our lives. Song’s directorial debut, which is nominated for best picture and best screenplay at the Academy Awards, is about a woman named Nora (Greta Lee) who, while married and living in New York, reconnects with a childhood friend (Teo Yoo) from Seoul. Though modest in scale, “Past Lives” gently reckons with existential quandaries that stretch across time and continents. In her review, AP’s Jocelyn Noveck called it “a gorgeous, achingly wistful feature debut.” Streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime.

    — The mind of Charlie Kaufman has produced some of the most memorable films (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Synecdoch, New York”) of the last few decades. But even when Kaufman last scripted an animated film, (“Anomalisa”), you wouldn’t call the results child-friendly. But in “Orion and the Dark,” Kaufman adapts Emma Yarlett’s illustrated children’s book about a fifth-grader (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) who’s afraid of the dark, among other things. He’s forced to confront his fears when visited the actual Dark (voiced by Paul Walter Hauser). In his review, AP’s Mark Kennedy said director Sean Charmatz’s film “is about fear and overcoming … but has too much junk clogging up the vision.” Streaming on Netflix.

    — Laura Chinn’s directorial debut “Suncoast,” which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, draws from Chinn’s own experience growing up in Florida and caring for her ill brother. With a cast including Laura Linney and Woody Harrelson, newcomer Nico Parker stars as the high-schooler Doris in this coming-of-age drama. “Suncoast” streams Feb. 9 on Hulu.

    — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

    — It may very well be Usher’s world, and we’re just living in it. From an incredibly successful Las Vegas residency to scoring the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show, the “Confessions” singer is experiencing a well-deserved influx of attention — from a new and curious audience as well as those filled with nostalgia for his smooth ’00s R&B. There’s more great news: on Friday, Feb. 9, just two days before he appears at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for Sin City’s inaugural Super Bowl, Usher will release “Coming Home,” his first new solo album in eight years. He hasn’t missed a beat — “Good Good,” the single with Summer Walker and 21 Savage — is silky summertime R&B with some Atlanta bounce — a winning combination. Elsewhere on the album, Usher joins forces with Burna Boy, Latto, The-Dream, H.E.R., BTS member Jungkook and Pheelz. “Stacked” is the word.

    — Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson will release her fourth studio album, “Venus,” on Feb. 9 — an album full of shimmery synth-pop and Euro dance-pop that burns bright, hot and fast like a Saturday night. “On My Love” with EDM giant David Guetta proves it, but Larsson’s commitment to feel-good club bangers exists throughout: like on the strings of “End of Time,” which she said was inspired by Rihanna and ABBA in equal parts. Now that’s a combination.

    — If you frequent indie music corners of the internet, you might’ve seen the shirts released by Helado Negro, the musical moniker of Roberto Carlos Lange, before you heard his music: “Young and Latin and Proud,” they read, a celebration of the South Florida native born to Ecuadorian immigrants’ identity, but also the identity of many of his listeners. It’s a great framework to consider Helado Negro’s latest album, “Phasor,” a day-dreamy collection of experimental pop (like on “Best For You and Me”), psych rock (“LFO (Lupe Finds Oliveros)”) and alternative rhythms and flutes (“I Just Want To Wake Up With You.”) It is a celebration of an incredible diversity of Latin music, including one that gets lost when listeners focus too closely on geography: atmospheric sounds.

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    — “Abbott Elementary” aired its season two finale last April and there are lingering questions that need answers. Can Janine and Gregory (series creator Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams) remain platonic after almost stepping outside the friend-zone on the field trip to the science museum? Did a summer at Harvard prompt Ava (Janelle James) to finally take her job as principal seriously? And will Mrs. Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph) finally learn that Brian Tyree Henry’s name is not Brian Austin Green? Answers may be revealed Wednesday when school is back in session and “Abbott Elementary” debuts season three on ABC. Episodes also stream on Hulu.

    — Revisit popular Super Bowl ads from years past on “Super Bowl Greatest Commercials XXIII: The Ultimate Countdown,” on Wednesday on CBS. The show presents top commercials from over the years from brands including Budweiser, E-Trade and Coke. Hosts Boomer Esiason, the former NFL quarterback, and actor Danielle Ruah narrow down the competition to two finalists, and viewers can pick a winner by scanning a QR code on screen to vote live. The special will also stream on Paramount+.

    — There’s a four-legged alternative to Super Bowl Sunday: Puppy Bowl XX. This year marks the Bowl’s 20th year and 131 adoptable pups have been drafted from shelters and rescues across the U.S. to compete. Teams Ruff and Fluff square off for the coveted “Lombarky” trophy while also encouraging people to adopt and not shop for pets. Puppy Bowl XX will simulcast on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Discovery+, TBS, TRUTV, and MAX before the big human game on Sunday, Feb. 11.

    — Great American Family also wants in on the call-to-adoption programming. Year two of the Great American Rescue Bowl will feature both dogs and cats — all who have already been adopted — to highlight the kinds of pets you can find at a shelter or rescue instead of a store or breeder. The paw-some game between teams The Adorables and The Cuddlers begin at 12 p.m. also on Sunday, Feb. 11.

    — Justin Hartley of “This is Us” debuts his new CBS series “Tracker” in the prime spot after Super Bowl LVIII. Based on the book “The Never Game” by Jeffery Deaver, Hartley plays Colter Shaw, a guy with a skill for tracking down the missing and all he asks for in return is reward money. In an interview, Hartley says he was itching to roam around outside after years of being in kitchens and living rooms for “This Is Us.”

    — Alicia Rancilio

    — Sony’s new multiplayer military shooter Helldivers 2 invites you to “wage war for peace” and “die for democracy.” If those slogans sound like something out of the 1997 satire “Starship Troopers,” wait until you see the enemy, a species of giant insects called terminids. You can join forces with up to three friends as elite soldiers defending “Super Earth” from the aliens — which, of course, is best accomplished by attacking the monsters on their home planets with a spectacular assortment of high-tech weaponry, from your basic laser rifle to massive bombs. If you find yourself cornered by an alien “bile spewer,” well, that’s your problem. The invasion launches Thursday on PlayStation 5 and PC.

    — Lou Kesten

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.



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  • Why Apple is pushing the term ‘spatial computing’ along with its new Vision Pro headset

    Why Apple is pushing the term ‘spatial computing’ along with its new Vision Pro headset


    SAN FRANCISCO — With Apple’s hotly anticipated Vision Pro headset hitting store shelves Friday, you’re probably going to start to see more people wearing the futuristic googles that are supposed to usher in the age of “spatial computing.”

    It’s an esoteric mode of technology that Apple executives and their marketing gurus are trying to thrust into the mainstream. This while avoiding other more widely used terms such as “augmented reality” and “virtual reality” to describe the transformative powers of a product that’s being touted as potentially monumental as the iPhone that came out in 2007.

    “We can’t wait for people to experience the magic,” Apple CEO Tim Cook gushed Thursday while discussing the Vision Pro with analysts.

    The Vision Pro also will be among Apple’s most expensive products at $3,500 — a price point that has most analysts predicting the company may only sell 1 million or fewer devices during its first year. But Apple only sold about 4 million iPhones during that device’s first year on the market and now sells more than 200 million of them annually, so there is a history of what initially appears to be a niche product turning into something that becomes enmeshed in how people live and work.

    If that happens with the Vision Pro, references to spatial computing could become as ingrained in modern-day vernacular as mobile and personal computing — two previous technological revolutions that Apple played an integral role in creating.

    So what is spatial computing? It’s a way to describe the intersection between the physical world around us and a virtual world fabricated by technology, while enabling humans and machines to harmoniously manipulate objects and spaces. Accomplishing these tasks often incorporates elements of augmented reality, or AR, and artificial intelligence, or AI — two subsets of technology that are helping to make spatial computing happen, said Cathy Hackl, a long-time industry consultant who is now running a startup working on apps for the Vision Pro.

    “This is a pivotal moment,” Hackl said. “Spatial computing will enable devices to understand the world in ways they never have been able to do before. It is going to change human to computer interaction, and eventually every interface — whether it’s a car or a watch — will become spatial computing devices.”

    In a sign of the excitement surrounding the Vision Pro, more than 600 newly designed apps will be available to use on the headset right away, according to Apple. The range of apps will include a wide selection of television networks, video streaming services (although Netflix and Google’s YouTube are notably absent from the list) video games and various educational options. On the work side of things, videoconferencing service Zoom and other companies that provide online meeting tools have built apps for the Vision Pro, too.

    But the Vision Pro could expose yet another disturbing side of technology if its use of spatial computing is so compelling that people start seeing the world differently when they aren’t wearing the headset and start to believe life is far more interesting when seen through the goggles. That scenario could worsen the screen addictions that have become endemic since the iPhone’s debut and deepen the isolation that digital dependence tends to cultivate.

    Apple is far from the only prominent technology company working on spatial computing products. For the past few years, Google has been working on a three-dimensional videoconferencing service called “Project Starline” that draws upon “photorealistic” images and a “magic window” so two people sitting in different cities feel like they are in the same room together. But Starline still hasn’t been widely released. Facebook’s corporate parent, Meta Platforms, also has for years been selling the Quest headset that could be seen as a platform for spatial computing, although that company so far hasn’t positioned the device in that manner.

    Vision Pro, in contrast, is being backed by a company with the marketing prowess and customer allegiance that tend to trigger trends.

    Although it might be heralded as a breakthrough if Apple realizes its vision with Vision Pro, the concept of spatial computing has been around for at least 20 years. In a 132-page research paper on the subject published in 2003 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Simon Greenwold made a case for automatically flushing toilets to be a primitive form of spatial computing. Greenwold supported his reasoning by pointing out the toilet “senses the user’s movement away to trigger a flush” and “the space of the system’s engagement is a real human space.”

    The Vision Pro, of course, is far more sophisticated than a toilet. One of the most compelling features in the Vision Pro are its high-resolution screens that can play back three-dimensional video recordings of events and people to make it seem like the encounters are happening all over again. Apple already laid the groundwork for selling the Vision Pro by including the ability to record what it calls “spatial video” on the premium iPhone 15 models released in September.

    Apple’s headset also reacts to a user’s hand gestures and eye movements in an attempt to make the device seem like another piece of human physiology. While wearing the headset, users will also be able use just their hands to pull up and arrange an array of virtual computer screens, similar to a scene featuring Tom Cruise in the 2002 film “Minority Report.”

    Spatial computing “is a technology that’s starting to adapt to the user instead of requiring the user adapting to the technology,” Hackl said. “It’s all supposed to be very natural.”

    It remains to be seen how natural it may seem if you are sitting down to have dinner with someone else wearing the goggles instead of intermittently gazing at their smartphone.



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  • Jon Stewart will return to 'The Daily Show' as host — just on Mondays

    Jon Stewart will return to 'The Daily Show' as host — just on Mondays

    NEW YORK — Comedian Jon Stewart is rewinding the clock, returning to “The Daily Show” as a weekly host and executive producing through the 2024 U.S. elections cycle.

    Comedy Central on Wednesday said Stewart will host the topical TV show, the perch he ruled for 16 years starting in 1999, every Monday starting Feb. 12. A rotating line-up of show regulars are on tap for the rest of the week.

    “Jon Stewart is the voice of our generation, and we are honored to have him return to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to help us all make sense of the insanity and division roiling the country as we enter the election season,” Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, said in a statement. “In our age of staggering hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit.”

    Over the years, “The Daily Show” — first hosted by Craig Kilborn, then Stewart and Trevor Noah — has skewered the left and right by making the media a character and playing it absolutely straight, no matter how ridiculous. The show, which won an Emmy Award this month for best talk series, has not had a permanent host since Noah left last year.

    The show’s long-term legacy as a talent incubator is sterling, becoming a launching pad for the likes of Aasif Mandvi, John Oliver, Larry Wilmore, Jordan Klepper and Samantha Bee. Stewart was awarded the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2022.

    Recently, Stewart’s “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” which debuted in 2021, was canceled on the Apple TV+ streaming service.

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  • How to watch and stream the 75th Emmy Awards, including the red carpet

    How to watch and stream the 75th Emmy Awards, including the red carpet

    LOS ANGELES — The Emmys are ready to celebrate a quarter-century of television history — and honor the best in television (in some cases, two seasons ago).

    The strike-delayed 75th Emmy Awards are airing Monday night from Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, with Anthony Anderson hosting the ceremony.

    The “black-ish” star is a seasoned host and has had more time to prepare than Golden Globes host Jo Koy, whose monologue tanked a week ago.

    While the Globes honor both film and television stars, the Emmys have one job: celebrate television. This year they’re planning a series of cast reunions and recreations to honor shows like “The Sopranos,” “Cheers” and “Martin.”

    Here’s what you need to know about Monday’s Emmys, including how to watch and stream the red carpet and show, and who’s nominated.

    The show begins at 8 p.m. Eastern and is being shown live on Fox, which is available with an antenna or through cable and satellite providers.

    The Emmys can be streamed live through live TV streaming services that include Fox in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.

    For those without the service, the Emmys will be streaming Tuesday on Hulu.

    Dozens of Emmy Awards are given out before Sunday’s telecast, and some of those will be included in a special presentation of the Creative Arts Emmys airing Saturday night on FXX. That will be available Sunday on Hulu.

    “The Last of Us” comes in with a big head start on the grand total after winning eight at the Creative Arts Emmys, which are typically held about a week before the main ceremony. The dystopian video-game adaption won best guest actor and guest actress in a drama for memorable one-episode performances from Nick Offerman and Storm Reid. And it dominated in the technical categories, winning best visual effects and best prosthetic makeup for its fungus-faced walking dead.

    The Emmys are watchable in dozens of countries. The Television Academy website has a handy list of broadcasters and in some instances, air times. You can access that at https://www.emmys.com/watch.

    There are several ways to watch the Emmys red carpet.

    E! kicks off its “Live from E!” coverage beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern and also has an after-party show that begins at 11 p.m.

    People and Entertainment Weekly are also hosting a red carpet show that will stream on their websites and YouTube pages.

    As is typical at the Emmys, HBO shows dominated the nominations when they were announced way back in July. The top three nominees — “Succession” with 27, “The Last of Us” with 24, and “The White Lotus” with 23 — were all from the Emmy darling cable channel.

    “The White Lotus” managed to get five nominees in the supporting actress category, including Jennifer Coolidge and Aubrey Plaza.

    “The Bear,” nominated in comedy categories despite being heavy on drama, won four Emmys at the Creative Arts ceremonies and is nominated for 13 overall. “Ted Lasso,” which won two, was tops among comedies, with 21 overall nominations for its final season.

    For a list of nominees, click here.

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    For more on this year’s Emmy Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/emmy-awards

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  • Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams amid cost-cutting drive

    Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams amid cost-cutting drive

    Google has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams as part of cost-cutting measures.

    The cuts come as Google looks towards “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead,” the company said in a statement.

    “Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” it said.

    Google earlier said it was eliminating a few hundred roles, with most of the impact on its augmented reality hardware team.

    The cuts follow pledges by executives of Google and its parent company Alphabet to reduce costs. A year ago, Google said it would lay off 12,000 employees or around 6% of its workforce.

    In a post on X — previously known as Twitter — the Alphabet Workers Union described the job cuts as “another round of needless layoffs.”

    “Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter,” the union wrote. “We won’t stop fighting until our jobs are safe!”

    Google is not the only technology company cutting back. In the past year, Meta — the parent company of Facebook — has slashed more than 20,000 jobs to reassure investors. Meta’s stock price gained about 178% in 2023.

    Spotify said in December that it was axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs in 2023 as it moved to slash costs and improve its profitability.

    Earlier this week, Amazon laid off hundreds of employees in its Prime Video and studios units. It also will lay off about 500 employees who work on its livestreaming platform Twitch.

    Amazon has cut thousands of jobs after a hiring surge during the pandemic. In March, Amazon announced that it planned to lay off 9,000 employees, on top of 18,000 employees it said that it would lay off in January 2023.

    Google is currently locked in a fierce rivalry with Microsoft as both firms strive to lead in the artificial intelligence domain.

    Microsoft has stepped up its artificial intelligence offerings to rival Google’s. In September, Microsoft introduced a Copilot feature that incorporates artificial intelligence into products like search engine Bing, browser Edge as well as Windows for its corporate customers.

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  • What to stream this week: A gaggle of TV sleuths, the foul-mouthed bear 'Ted' and a Kevin Hart heist

    What to stream this week: A gaggle of TV sleuths, the foul-mouthed bear 'Ted' and a Kevin Hart heist

    Seth MacFarlane’s filthy teddy bear character Ted and Martin Scorsese’s true-crime epic “The Killers of the Flower Moon” are some of the new television, music and movies headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are Kevin Hart starring in “Lift” as the leader of a band of criminals enlisted to steal $500 million from a plane in mid-flight and Peacock’s competition series “The Traitors” returning with host Alan Cumming.

    — Martin Scorsese’s true-crime epic “The Killers of the Flower Moon” begins streaming Friday, Jan. 12, on Apple TV+. If the movie’s 3½-hour running time gave you pause to catch it in theaters, you can now watch one of the year’s most acclaimed films at your leisure. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro, adapts David Grann’s nonfiction chronicle of the Osage murders of the 1920s. Scorsese, 81, tells an expansive and disquieting Western story soaked in blood and oil, with chastening reverberations for American history. In her review, AP National Writer Jocelyn Noveck praised the film for “allowing us to watch a master of the craft continue to force himself, unlikely as it seems, to stretch and learn.”

    — One of the year’s best documentaries, “Beyond Utopia” captures the precarious plight of defectors from North Korea. Madeleine Gavin’s film has a gritty intimacy that utilizes footage shot by its subjects and the operatives who aid their flight from the totalitarian regime. Foremost among them is Seungeun Kim, a South Korean pastor whose heroic efforts have helped rescue hundreds over the the last two decades. “Beyond Utopia” airs on PBS on Tuesday while also streaming on Hulu and the PBS app.

    — “Lift” takes the heist movie to the skies. Kevin Hart stars as a the leader of a band of criminals enlisted to steal $500 million in gold from a plane in mid-flight. Directed by F. Gary Gray (“The Fate of the Furious,” “The Italian Job”), “Lift” features an ensemble cast including Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D’Onofrio, Billy Magnussen and Sam Worthington. It debuts Friday, Jan. 12, on Netflix.

    — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

    — Colombian-American musician Kali Uchis finds her power in a kind of fluidity: of culture, of genre, and of language, moving from Spanish to English in her sultry sounds about love, loss, and, like, divination. On “Orquídeas,” (“Orchids” in English), her latest Spanish-language record, Uchis finds inspiration in the “timeless, eerie, mystic, striking, graceful and sensual allure of the orchid,” as she said in a statement. Consider it an interesting new framework to think about her art and her role as an artist and a Latina. Or just another way to appreciate the smooth turns of her Latin-pop meets R&B meets reggaetón meets something more ascendent. It’s a gorgeous ride, marrying mysticism and sexuality courtesy her rasp-y, classic vocal tone — and with some grounding collaborators in Peso Pluma, El Alfa, JT, Rauw Alejandro, and Karol G. Start with “Labios Mordidos.”

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    — Whether your beverage of choice is carbonated, caffeinated or a cold one, a new docuseries on FOX Nation delves into the story behind beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and soda. Hosted by Dan Akroyd, “A History of the World in Six Glasses,” examines how each beverage came to be and its impact on the world. Jim Belushi, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon and George Wendt are also featured. The six-episode series is written and directed by Rob Long, a former executive producer of the sitcom “Cheers.” It premieres Monday.

    — After making her acting debut in the Marvel series “Hawkeye,” Alaqua Cox stars in a spinoff about her character for Disney+ called “Echo.” Cox’s Maya Lopez is a deaf Native American who has left Wilson Fix’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) Tracksuit Mafia and returns home to Oklahoma to reconnect with her heritage and family, with Fisk’s henchmen trailing behind. “Echo” debuts Tuesday on Disney+ and Hulu.

    — Several mystery series with starry talent roll out in January so pick your sleuth. Cush Jumbo and Peter Capaldi portray dueling police officers investigating a case of a missing woman in the new thriller program “Criminal Record,” premiering Wednesday on Apple TV+. Jodie Foster leads the fourth season of “True Detective” called “True Detective: Night Country,” premiering Sunday, Jan. 14 on HBO and Max. And Clive Owen stars in “Monsieur Spade” as Sam Spade, a former detective pulled out of retirement to investigate the murder of a group of nuns. The premiere will be simulcast Sunday, Jan. 14 on AMC, AMC+ and Acorn TV.

    — On a lighter note, Seth MacFarlane revives Ted, his filthy teddy bear character with a Boston accent, in a new series for Peacock. “Ted” the show, is a prequel to the films starring Mark Wahlberg with Max Burkholder (“Parenthood”) as a teenage John Bennett in high school, with his best friend Ted by his side. The comedy drops Thursday.

    — Peacock’s competition series “The Traitors” returns Friday, Jan. 12. Hosted by Alan Cumming and his sidekick, pet dog Lala, various reality TV stars, athletes and competition show veterans are sent to an ancient castle in the Scottish Highlands to play psychological warfare inspired by the party game “Mafia.” This crop of contestants includes Tamra Judge from ’The Real Housewives of Orange County,” Maksim Chmerkovskiy from “Dancing with the Stars,” Marcus Jordan, son of basketball great Michael Jordan and Chris ‘C.T.’ Tamburello of MTV’s “The Challenge.”

    — Alicia Rancilio

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

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  • How to watch the Golden Globes, including the red carpet and backstage interviews

    How to watch the Golden Globes, including the red carpet and backstage interviews

    BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Hollywood is ready to party as the Golden Globes return for its annual boozy celebration of film and television’s biggest names.

    Here’s what you need to know about the 81st annual Globes, including how to watch, stream and follow along live on Sunday.

    The show begins at 8 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 7 and will air live on both coasts on CBS, which is available with an antenna or through cable and satellite providers. It’s the first time the network is airing the show since the early 1980s.

    Sorry, “60 Minutes” fans — the show is pre-empting the news show, but it’ll return Jan. 14.

    You can stream the Globes, though watching it live requires a specific subscription. Paramount+ users with the Showtime add-on can stream the Globes live. Without that, Paramount+ will offer the show to subscribers the next day.

    They can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.

    The trade site Variety and “Entertainment Tonight” are teaming up for the official red carpet pre-show, which will stream on the outlets’ websites and www.goldenglobes.com. Their show begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.

    E! fashion coverage fans — the network is not planning a red carpet show from the Globes, instead airing “The Proposal” and “Sweet Home Alabama” films.

    “Barbie” is the top nominee this year, followed closely by “Oppenheimer,” reflecting the way the Globes split top film winners into two groups.

    Films nominated for best motion picture drama include “Oppenheimer,” Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.”

    In the best motion picture musical or comedy category, “Barbie” was joined by Ben Affleck’s “Air,” Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction,” Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things.”

    “Succession” was the top-nominated television program, with nine nods including for series stars Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin, followed by Hulu’s “The Bear.”

    For the full list of nominees, click here.

    The Associated Press will livestream Globe winners speaking to reporters backstage at the show, beginning at 8:15 p.m. Eastern.

    The media room gives winners a chance to expand on their on-stage comments — sometimes clarifying what they meant or adding folks they forgot to thank — and answer questions about their win or project.

    Michelle Yeoh, Quinta Brunson, Steven Spielberg and Austin Butler (who was asked about his lingering “Elvis” voice) were among the winners who spoke backstage last year.

    ___

    For more coverage of this year’s Golden Globe Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards

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  • Resurrected Golden Globes will restart the party with 'Barbie,' 'Oppenheimer' and Swift

    Resurrected Golden Globes will restart the party with 'Barbie,' 'Oppenheimer' and Swift

    The Golden Globes are back from the dead, and ready to party.

    The long-running award show will again have the champagne flowing Sunday night when the 81st Globes begin at 8 p.m. EST. Much will look the same as always when well-attired celebrities gather at the Beverly Hilton International Ballroom in Los Angeles.

    But the Globes are returning sans the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which was disbanded after years of diversity and ethical scandals. The Globes also lost its longtime network home. This year’s show is being broadcast on CBS in a one-year deal.

    Can the revamped Globes recapture the bubbly, irreverent spirit of all those shows hosted by Ricky Gervais or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler? Those broadcasts helped turn the Globes into the third biggest award show of the year, after the Oscars and the Grammys. The Globes’ glitzy good time enabled many to overlook the impropriates of an award show that often doubled as a punchline.

    Regardless of the behind-the-scenes drama, most viewers tune in for the dresses, the speeches and the stars — of which there is a bountiful array this year. Among expected attendees is Taylor Swift, whose “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is nominated in the newly launched “cinematic and box-office achievement” award. Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, will be playing with the Kansas City Chiefs at nearby SoFi Stadium earlier in the day.

    Swift, along with the stars of likely winners “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” are some of the main attractions in Sunday’s ceremony, hosted by Jo Koy. The comedian, who isn’t expected to strike as caustic a tone as previous hosts, will be tasked with leading the Globes into a new era. Even the menu ( Nobu is catering ) has been flipped.

    CBS will air the ceremony live after an afternoon of NFL broadcasts. The show will also be streamed live via the Showtime plan on Paramount+. The Globes can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.

    Red carpet coverage will be online. The official pre-show will be hosted by “Entertainment Tonight” and Variety beginning 6:30 Eastern. The red-carpet will stream on the Golden Globes site, ETOnline.com, Variety’s website and social platforms and other Penske Media publications.

    Announced presenters include Oprah Winfrey, Will Ferrell, Ben Affleck, America Ferrara, Michelle Yeoh, Issa Rae, Florence Pugh, Angela Bassett, Natalie Portman and Amanda Seyfried.

    You won’t see two awards usually handed out at the Globes: the Cecil B. DeMille Award or the Carol Burnett Award. Both of those tribute honors aren’t being given this year, though two new categories are: the blockbuster award and one for stand-up comedy special. Also new: Most categories include six, not five, nominees.

    Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” the biggest movie of the year with more than $1.4 billion in ticket sales, comes in the lead-nominee with nine nods, including best comedy or musical, best director for Gerwig, best actress for Margot Robbie, best supporting actor for Ryan Gosling, and three original song nominations.

    Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is close behind with eight nominations, including for best drama, best director for Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy and supporting nods for Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt.

    “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are expected to clean up, but look for possible wins from front-runners including Lily Gladstone for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Emma Stone for “Poor Things” and “Da’Vine Joy Randolph for “The Holdovers.”

    On the TV side, HBO’s “Succession” leads with nine nominations. “The Bear” and “Only Murders in the Building” follow with five apiece.

    A few years ago, the Golden Globes were on the cusp of collapse. After The Los Angeles Times reported that the HFPA had no Black members, Hollywood boycotted the organization. The 2022 Globes were all but canceled and taken off TV. After reforms, the Globes returned to NBC last year in a one-year deal, but the show was booted to Tuesday evening. With Jerrod Carmichael hosting, the telecast attracted 6.3 million viewers, a new low on NBC and a far cry from the 20 million that once tuned in.

    The Golden Globes were acquired by Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, which Penske Media owns, and turned into a for-profit venture. The HFPA (which typically numbered around 90 voters) was dissolved and a new group of some 300 entertainment journalists from around the world now vote for the awards.

    Questions still remain about the Globes’ long-term future, but their value to Hollywood studios remains providing a marketing boost to awards contenders. (The Oscars won’t be held until March 10.) This year, because of the actors and writers strikes, the Globes are airing ahead of the Emmys, which were postponed to Jan. 15.

    With movie ticket sales still 20% off the pre-pandemic pace and the industry facing a potentially rocky 2024 at the box office, Hollywood needs the Golden Globes as much as it ever has.

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  • What to stream this week: 'Society of the Snow,' 'Night Court,' 'Good Grief'

    What to stream this week: 'Society of the Snow,' 'Night Court,' 'Good Grief'

    “Night Court” and “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” are some of the new television and movies headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are some new game shows on Fox and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” stomping onto Amazon Prime.

    — Director J.A. Bayona knows his way around an agonizing survival story. In 2012, he gave audiences a harrowing look at a family’s experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and now he’s back with “Society of the Snow,” about the Uruguayan Air Force Flight that crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. The disaster has been recounted and studied in many books and movies over the years, including Frank Marshall’s 1993 film “Alive.” But Bayona was inspired to take another look after reading Pablo Vierci’s “Society of the Snow.” Bayona has said that he wanted to tell the stories not only of the survivors but of those who didn’t, in a “documentary style.” The Spanish-language film was selected to represent Spain in the Oscars and has been shortlisted for best international film. “Society of the Snow” begins streaming on Netflix on Jan. 4.

    Netflix also has Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” coming on Jan. 5. Levy, who also wrote, co-stars alongside Luke Evans, Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel as a widower who has recently lost his husband and takes his friends to Paris for some soul-searching.

    — The Criterion Channel has several treats for January, including a series on cat movies (from “That Darn Cat” to “Inside Llewyn Davis”), an ode to Ava Gardner (including “The Barefoot Contessa” and “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”) but perhaps the most January of all the collections is James Gray’s New York. The films include his 1994 debut “Little Odessa,” in which Tim Roth plays a hit man who has come back to Brighton Beach and the intoxicating romance “Two Lovers,” with Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow as the beguiling Michelle. And if that wasn’t enough Joaquin for you, they’ll have “The Yards,” “We Own the Night” and “The Immigrant” as well.

    — And over on Prime Video are two movies that didn’t get the best reviews, but if you’re intrigued and have an Amazon Prime account they’re there for the sampling. First there is the globetrotting action pic “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which centers on the charismatic stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback who travel from Brooklyn to Peru. Directed by Steven Caple Jr., it is technically a sequel to “Bumblebee.” There’s also Garth Davis’ “Foe,” a sci-fi psychological thriller with Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. Both start streaming on Jan. 5.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    Fox is adding some new game shows to its roster in the new year. Rob Lowe executive produces and hosts a new trivia show called “The Floor” beginning Jan. 2 while Anthony Anderson and his mother Doris Bowman co-host the musical “We Are Family” beginning Jan. 3. The latter was originally intended to star Jamie Foxx and his daughter Corinne but the Oscar winner, who experienced an undisclosed medical condition in 2023, will now executive produce. Both shows will also stream on Hulu.

    — The acclaimed Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” comes to broadcast television in early 2024. The comedy whodunit stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as neighbors in a posh New York apartment building who start their own true crime podcast after another resident is murdered. The first three episodes of season one begin airing on ABC on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

    — Season one of NBC’s rebooted “Night Court” ended on a cliffhanger, with the return of original series regular Marsha Warfield in an unexpected spot. Season two, which launches Tuesday and arrives the next day on Peacock, picks up where last season left off. The rebooted show stars series original John Larroquette and Melissa Rauch as the new night court judge.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

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  • What to stream this week: 'Society of the Snow,' 'Night Court,' 'Good Grief'

    What to stream this week: 'Society of the Snow,' 'Night Court,' 'Good Grief'

    “Night Court” and “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” are some of the new television and movies headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are some new game shows on Fox and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” stomping onto Amazon Prime.

    — Director J.A. Bayona knows his way around an agonizing survival story. In 2012, he gave audiences a harrowing look at a family’s experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and now he’s back with “Society of the Snow,” about the Uruguayan Air Force Flight that crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. The disaster has been recounted and studied in many books and movies over the years, including Frank Marshall’s 1993 film “Alive.” But Bayona was inspired to take another look after reading Pablo Vierci’s “Society of the Snow.” Bayona has said that he wanted to tell the stories not only of the survivors but of those who didn’t, in a “documentary style.” The Spanish-language film was selected to represent Spain in the Oscars and has been shortlisted for best international film. “Society of the Snow” begins streaming on Netflix on Jan. 4.

    Netflix also has Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” coming on Jan. 5. Levy, who also wrote, co-stars alongside Luke Evans, Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel as a widower who has recently lost his husband and takes his friends to Paris for some soul-searching.

    — The Criterion Channel has several treats for January, including a series on cat movies (from “That Darn Cat” to “Inside Llewyn Davis”), an ode to Ava Gardner (including “The Barefoot Contessa” and “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”) but perhaps the most January of all the collections is James Gray’s New York. The films include his 1994 debut “Little Odessa,” in which Tim Roth plays a hit man who has come back to Brighton Beach and the intoxicating romance “Two Lovers,” with Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow as the beguiling Michelle. And if that wasn’t enough Joaquin for you, they’ll have “The Yards,” “We Own the Night” and “The Immigrant” as well.

    — And over on Prime Video are two movies that didn’t get the best reviews, but if you’re intrigued and have an Amazon Prime account they’re there for the sampling. First there is the globetrotting action pic “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which centers on the charismatic stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback who travel from Brooklyn to Peru. Directed by Steven Caple Jr., it is technically a sequel to “Bumblebee.” There’s also Garth Davis’ “Foe,” a sci-fi psychological thriller with Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. Both start streaming on Jan. 5.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    Fox is adding some new game shows to its roster in the new year. Rob Lowe executive produces and hosts a new trivia show called “The Floor” beginning Jan. 2 while Anthony Anderson and his mother Doris Bowman co-host the musical “We Are Family” beginning Jan. 3. The latter was originally intended to star Jamie Foxx and his daughter Corinne but the Oscar winner, who experienced an undisclosed medical condition in 2023, will now executive produce. Both shows will also stream on Hulu.

    — The acclaimed Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” comes to broadcast television in early 2024. The comedy whodunit stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as neighbors in a posh New York apartment building who start their own true crime podcast after another resident is murdered. The first three episodes of season one begin airing on ABC on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

    — Season one of NBC’s rebooted “Night Court” ended on a cliffhanger, with the return of original series regular Marsha Warfield in an unexpected spot. Season two, which launches Tuesday and arrives the next day on Peacock, picks up where last season left off. The rebooted show stars series original John Larroquette and Melissa Rauch as the new night court judge.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

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  • What to stream this week: 'America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League,' Barbenheimer and 'Night Court'

    What to stream this week: 'America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League,' Barbenheimer and 'Night Court'

    The return of “Night Court” and new music from the K-pop act TVXQ are some of the new television, movies and music headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are a true crime story on Max, a new version of “America’s Got Talent” and a streaming guide to the year’s best films.

    — As the year winds down, most of the movie action is in cinemas. But if you’re not heading out to see “The Color Purple,” “Poor Things” or “Ferrari,” there’s no better time to catch up on some of the year’s best movies. Many of the films that made the top 10 lists of myself and AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr are available in various places to stream.

    If you haven’t caught up to “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer” yet, you can digitally rent Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, while Greta Gerwig’s pink-hued phenomenon is streaming on Max. Alexander Payne’s masterfully melancholic “The Holdovers,” starring Paul Giamatti, can be digitally rented also, as can Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla Presley drama “Priscilla.”

    On Netflix, there’s Todd Haynes’ appealingly arch “May December” and the dazzling animated sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse.” On Prime Video, you can catch up to a pair of standouts from earlier in the year: A.V. Rockwell’s sprawling New York tale “A Thousand and One” and Wes Anderson’s elaborately layered “Asteroid City.” And if you’re looking for something further afield, seek out “The Eight Mountains,” a majestic epic of friendship, streaming on the Criterion Channel.

    — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

    — Twenty years ago, SM Entertainment boy band TVXQ helped usher in K-pop’s second generation. (To put that into context: K-pop is currently in its fifth generation, and BTS arrived in the third.) By the end of first generation, lead by bubble gum pop like H.O.T.’s “Candy,” TVXQ emerged with a new kind of charisma, producing soulful harmonies with global resonance and performances alongside Britney Spears. Two decades later, the group is now a duo — made up of original members U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin — preparing to release their ninth studio album, “20&2,” on Tuesday, five years since their last full-length, 2018’s “New Chapter #2: The Truth of Love.” Across 10-tracks, the veteran act offers listeners a modern take on their familiar melodic talents. Begin with the rocking, tense falsetto pop of lead-single “Dark.”

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    — 2024 kicks off in a big way with “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” hosted by Terry Crews. In this competition, Mel B returns to judge alongside Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel and Heidi Klum, where they each selects from a talent pool of past winners, finalists, fan favorites and other standout contestants from the global “Got Talent” franchise to form their own team of 10 acts. The judges will then guide their acts through the competition where the audience determines who advances to the semi-finals and finals. The extravaganza begins Tuesday, Jan. 1 on NBC and streams on Peacock.

    — True crime fans were hooked by Max’s “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,” about an Indiana couple who in 2010 adopted a 6-year-old girl with dwarfism from Ukraine named Natalia Grace. Within two years they began to question Natalia’s identity and believed she was in her early 20s, a fraud and dangerous. While that docuseries focused on the adopted parents’ story, Grace shares her version in “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalie Speaks.” The six-part series airs over three consecutive nights beginning Tuesday, Jan. 1 on ID.

    — The acclaimed Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” comes to broadcast television in early 2024. The comedy whodunit stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as neighbors in a posh New York apartment building who start their own true crime podcast after another resident is murdered. The first three episodes of season one begin airing on ABC on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

    — NBC’s revival of the legal comedy “Night Court” premieres its second season on Tuesday, Jan. 2. The show stars Melissa Rauch as Judge Abby Stone, daughter of the late Harry Stone, who has assumed her father’s position as magistrate presiding over a night court in New York. The comedy also streams on Peacock. The show also stars original cast member John Larroquette.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

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  • What to stream this week: Bradley Cooper conducts, Lidia Bastianich cooks and Percy Jackson quests

    What to stream this week: Bradley Cooper conducts, Lidia Bastianich cooks and Percy Jackson quests

    A new Percy Jackson series and a PBS special hosted by cookbook author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich are some of the new television, movies and music headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are a heartwarming CBS holiday special about adoption, a thriller starring John David Washington about artificial intelligence and the return of Marvel’s mind-bending “What If…” series.

    — “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper’s follow-up to “A Star Is Born” takes a loving look at the life of Leonard Bernstein and wife Felicia Montealegre. Cooper co-writes, directs and stars opposite Carey Mulligan in a portrait of the public and private side of the legendary composer and conductor. AP Film Writer Jake Coyle called it a “high wire act of a biopic” in his review, favoring the experimental black-and-white beginning over the later years, which focuses more on the increasingly complex family dynamics. The first hour, he wrote, is “like a dream of 1950s New York modernism.” The film, streaming on Netflix on Wednesday, is expected to be a big contender through awards season, especially for Mulligan’s lived-in, decades-spanning portrayal of an artist living in the shadow of a genius and a wife grappling with the compromises she’s made to support him.

    — Artificial intelligence is at the heart of “The Creator,” Gareth Edwards’ visually dazzling sci-fi epic which begins streaming on Hulu on Wednesday. John David Washington plays a retired special forces operative enlisted to help find the creator of advanced AIs after a nuclear bomb destroys downtown Los Angeles. In my review, I wrote that “even if it is a somewhat convoluted and silly mishmash of familiar tropes and sci-fi cliches, it still evokes the feeling of something fresh, something novel, something exciting to experience and behold — which is so much more than you can say about the vast majority of big budget movies these days.”

    — If “The Creator” didn’t have enough “Star Wars” vibes for you, Netflix has another ode to that ever-influential film from Zack Snyder with his long-in-the-works “Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire.” Sofia Boutella leads a starry cast (including Djimon Hounsou, Charlie Hunnam and the voice of Anthony Hopkins) in this space opera about a small colony that must rise up against a tyrannical threat to the galaxy. It begins streaming on Friday, Dec. 22 and the second part will follow in April.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    — Prepare the tissues. On Friday, Dec. 22, CBS will air its annual “A Home for the Holidays” musical special, drawing attention to families and life-affirming stories of adoption through the foster care system. Now in its 25th year, the special — presented in partnership with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the Children’s Action Network — boasts of a tear-jerking lineup: Lauren Daigle, Gavin DeGraw, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Pentatonix and CeCe Winans will take on holiday classics. McPhee will also host the event, airing live on CBS and on demand for Paramount+ and Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers.

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    — PBS is celebrating its 25-year partnership with James Beard-winning chef, cookbook author and restaurateur, Lidia Bastianich, with “25 Years with Lidia: A Culinary Jubilee.” Premiering Monday on PBS (check local listings), Lidia is joined by family and friends to reflect on her more than two decades in public television, and some of the dishes she’s made along the way. The special will also stream on PBS.org and the PBS app.

    — The animated anthology series “What If…?” is a mind-blowing, meta experience for Marvel fans where MCU characters are placed in different timelines and situations to play out an alternate story. Jeffrey Wright narrates as The Watcher, observing from afar. The first season’s storylines explored possibilities including “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?” and “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” Season two’s premiere, debuting Dec. 22 on Disney+, asks “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

    — Alicia Rancilio

    — Percy Jackson finds out that Greek myths aren’t just a history lesson in a new Disney+ series, based on the bestselling books by Rick Riordan. Walker Scobell (“The Adam Project”) takes the lead as the 12-year-old who goes from dealing with school bullies to battling monsters, while finding out his paternity means he’s a demigod with special abilities. Jackson sets out on a quest to clear his name. The first two episodes of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” drop Wednesday on Disney+.

    — Hilary Fox

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

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  • What to stream this week: Bradley Cooper conducts, Lidia Bastianich cooks and Percy Jackson quests

    What to stream this week: Bradley Cooper conducts, Lidia Bastianich cooks and Percy Jackson quests

    A new Percy Jackson series and a PBS special hosted by cookbook author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich are some of the new television, movies and music headed to a device near you.

    Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are a heartwarming CBS holiday special about adoption, a thriller starring John David Washington about artificial intelligence and the return of Marvel’s mind-bending “What If…” series.

    — “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper’s follow-up to “A Star Is Born” takes a loving look at the life of Leonard Bernstein and wife Felicia Montealegre. Cooper co-writes, directs and stars opposite Carey Mulligan in a portrait of the public and private side of the legendary composer and conductor. AP Film Writer Jake Coyle called it a “high wire act of a biopic” in his review, favoring the experimental black-and-white beginning over the later years, which focuses more on the increasingly complex family dynamics. The first hour, he wrote, is “like a dream of 1950s New York modernism.” The film, streaming on Netflix on Wednesday, is expected to be a big contender through awards season, especially for Mulligan’s lived-in, decades-spanning portrayal of an artist living in the shadow of a genius and a wife grappling with the compromises she’s made to support him.

    — Artificial intelligence is at the heart of “The Creator,” Gareth Edwards’ visually dazzling sci-fi epic which begins streaming on Hulu on Wednesday. John David Washington plays a retired special forces operative enlisted to help find the creator of advanced AIs after a nuclear bomb destroys downtown Los Angeles. In my review, I wrote that “even if it is a somewhat convoluted and silly mishmash of familiar tropes and sci-fi cliches, it still evokes the feeling of something fresh, something novel, something exciting to experience and behold — which is so much more than you can say about the vast majority of big budget movies these days.”

    — If “The Creator” didn’t have enough “Star Wars” vibes for you, Netflix has another ode to that ever-influential film from Zack Snyder with his long-in-the-works “Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire.” Sofia Boutella leads a starry cast (including Djimon Hounsou, Charlie Hunnam and the voice of Anthony Hopkins) in this space opera about a small colony that must rise up against a tyrannical threat to the galaxy. It begins streaming on Friday, Dec. 22 and the second part will follow in April.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    — Prepare the tissues. On Friday, Dec. 22, CBS will air its annual “A Home for the Holidays” musical special, drawing attention to families and life-affirming stories of adoption through the foster care system. Now in its 25th year, the special — presented in partnership with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the Children’s Action Network — boasts of a tear-jerking lineup: Lauren Daigle, Gavin DeGraw, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Pentatonix and CeCe Winans will take on holiday classics. McPhee will also host the event, airing live on CBS and on demand for Paramount+ and Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers.

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    — PBS is celebrating its 25-year partnership with James Beard-winning chef, cookbook author and restaurateur, Lidia Bastianich, with “25 Years with Lidia: A Culinary Jubilee.” Premiering Monday on PBS (check local listings), Lidia is joined by family and friends to reflect on her more than two decades in public television, and some of the dishes she’s made along the way. The special will also stream on PBS.org and the PBS app.

    — The animated anthology series “What If…?” is a mind-blowing, meta experience for Marvel fans where MCU characters are placed in different timelines and situations to play out an alternate story. Jeffrey Wright narrates as The Watcher, observing from afar. The first season’s storylines explored possibilities including “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?” and “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” Season two’s premiere, debuting Dec. 22 on Disney+, asks “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

    — Alicia Rancilio

    — Percy Jackson finds out that Greek myths aren’t just a history lesson in a new Disney+ series, based on the bestselling books by Rick Riordan. Walker Scobell (“The Adam Project”) takes the lead as the 12-year-old who goes from dealing with school bullies to battling monsters, while finding out his paternity means he’s a demigod with special abilities. Jackson sets out on a quest to clear his name. The first two episodes of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” drop Wednesday on Disney+.

    — Hilary Fox

    ___

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

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  • Former Fox host Tucker Carlson is launching his own streaming network with interviews and commentary

    Former Fox host Tucker Carlson is launching his own streaming network with interviews and commentary

    NEW YORK — Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson is starting his own streaming service, promising to “tell the unadorned truth” to fans for $72 a year, he announced Monday.

    Commentary, interviews, Carlson-flavored news reports and documentaries, even an advice show will be offered on the Tucker Carlson Network, which is essentially staffed by the people who used to work for him at Fox.

    The new venture comes more than seven months after Fox abruptly fired Carlson, its most popular host. Fox never publicly explained the firing, and Carlson said on Monday that “it really is one of those mysteries that I’ll probably never get to the bottom of.”

    “I want to wake up and say to myself, ‘You can say whatever you want,’” Carlson said, announcing his streaming service on The Megyn Kelly Show, a podcast and radio show hosted by fellow Fox News refugee Kelly, who has remade her career as an independent commentator.

    “I’m going to do it without interference, period,” Carlson said. “I’m going to tell the unadorned truth — I hope gently and in the least offensive way as I possibly can. But I’m going to tell the truth until the day I die.”

    Before being bounced, less than a week after Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to settle a lawsuit over coverage of the 2020 election, Carlson hosted what The New York Times said may be the most racist show in cable TV history, but by some measures the most successful.

    He averaged 3.2 million viewers a night for the first three months of 2023, according to the Nielsen company. Fox’s ratings plunged immediately following his exit. Replacement Jesse Watters built the audience to 2.6 million in November in Carlson’s old time slot, and Fox said Watters has gained advertisers who didn’t want their commercials with Carlson.

    Now Carlson enters the world of subscription services with a variety of products on his own network.

    “The Tucker Carlson Encounter” will be a long-form conversation show, with singer Kid Rock and golfer John Daly among the first guests. “The Tucker Carlson Interview” will be a more formal question-and-answer session, like one he conducted recently with former President Donald Trump.

    Both of those programs will be offered free on his website, at least at first, while material of his observations on “After The Tucker Carlson Interview” will be behind a paywall.

    “Tucker Carlson Uncensored” will be similar to the opening monologue he aired on his Fox show, while “Tucker Carlson Films” will produce documentaries like he made for the Fox Nation online service — including a controversial one that cast doubt on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

    The show “Ask Tucker Carlson” will feature the host answering questions from subscribers and giving advice.

    Carlson told Kelly that while he’s “psyched to vote for Trump” in the 2024 election, he didn’t see himself as a potential vice presidential candidate, as some published reports have speculated.

    “It’s just so unimaginable,” he said. “I haven’t led a life that prepares people for politics.”

    But despite Kelly’s prodding, Carlson didn’t rule the idea out.

    Carlson had partnered with X, formerly known as Twitter, for content after leaving Fox. He’ll still post material there, branded under his network, but said he determined X didn’t have the capacity to help him build out the service he needed.

    Fox had no immediate comment on Carlson’s venture, or whether it would violate a contract with the host that reportedly ran through next year’s election.

    Neil Patel, Carlson’s former college roommate who launched The Daily Caller website with him in 2010, will be CEO of the new network, running business operations. Justin Wells, Carlson’s former executive producer who was fired from Fox with him in April, will oversee content.

    “I feel happy,” Carlson told Kelly. “I feel liberated.”

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  • Actors vote to approve deal that ended strike, bringing relief to union leaders and Hollywood

    Actors vote to approve deal that ended strike, bringing relief to union leaders and Hollywood

    LOS ANGELES — Hollywood’s actors have voted to ratify the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months, leaders announced Tuesday.

    The approval of the three-year contract from the members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists was no certainty, with some prominent members voicing dissent on the deal for which the union leaders bargained.

    The 78% yes result in voting that began Nov. 13 and ended Tuesday was a far cry from the near-unanimous approval and widespread enthusiasm members of the writers guild gave to the deal that ended their strike in September.

    But the outcome is a major relief for SAG-AFTRA leaders and an entertainment industry that is attempting to return to normal after months of labor strife. And it brings a final, official end to Hollywood labor’s most tumultuous year in half a century, with two historic strikes that shook the industry.

    “This contract is an enormous victory for working performers, and it marks the dawning of a new era for the industry,” the union said in a tweet announcing the results Tuesday evening.

    Just over 38% of members cast votes, SAG-AFTRA said.

    “More yes votes than I expected and very happy to see because despite loud voices of complaint on social media, it shows the membership is still strong and united,” actor “Can’t Hardly Wait” actor Ethan Embry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Back to work.”

    A rejection of the agreement would have meant a return to the bargaining table and, with that, the possibility of the actors going back on strike if leaders called for it.

    Those leaders had freed actors to return to work, declaring the strike over as soon as the tentative deal was struck Nov. 8 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies in union negotiations. Two days later, it was approved by the guild’s board with an 86% vote.

    “The AMPTP member companies congratulate SAG-AFTRA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents historic gains and protections for performers,” the AMPTP said in a statement Tuesday night. “With this vote, the industry and the jobs it supports will be able to return in full force.”

    Control over the use of artificial intelligence was the most hard-fought issue in the long, methodical negotiations.

    SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher told The Associated Press shortly after the resolution was reached that making sure AI reproductions of actors could only be used with their informed consent and compensation was a “deal breaker” in the talks.

    But they did not fight hard enough for some prominent members, including actors Justine Bateman and Matthew Modine, who cited the issue as a reason to vote “no,” and stoked fears many voters would follow their lead.

    “I cannot endorse a contract that compromises the independence and financial futures of the performers,” Modine, who ran against Drescher for union president in 2021 and was also among the board members to reject the deal, said in a statement. “It is purposefully vague and demands union members to release their autonomy…. Consent is surrender.”

    But many other prominent actors voiced strong support for the agreement, including Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain and Colman Domingo, who is getting major Oscars buzz this year for his performance in “ Rustin.”

    “I believe that we have an incredible deal, I believe it’s thoughtful and it’s about moving the needle forward,” Domingo told the AP last week. “I’m very happy with it. I voted yes.”

    The contract calls for a 7% general pay increase with further hikes coming in the second and third years of the deal.

    The deal also includes a hard-won provision that temporarily derailed talks: the creation of a fund to pay performers for future viewings of their work on streaming services, in addition to traditional residuals paid for the showing of movies or series.

    The provision is an attempt to bring payment systems in line with an industry now dominated by streaming, a reality that is almost certain to fuel more labor fights — and possibly more strikes — in the coming years.

    ___

    Associated Press journalist John Carucci contributed from New York.

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  • Spotify axes 17% of workforce in third round of layoffs this year

    Spotify axes 17% of workforce in third round of layoffs this year

    Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce in the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year

    ByThe Associated Press

    December 4, 2023, 5:48 AM

    FILE – A trading post sports the Spotify logo on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Spotify said Monday, Dec. 4, 2023 it’s axing 17% of its global workforce, in the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year as it tries to slash costs while focusing on profitabilty. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

    The Associated Press

    LONDON — Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year as it moves to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable.

    In a message to employees posted on the company’s blog Monday, CEO Daniel Ek said the jobs were being cut as part of a “strategic reorientation.” The post didn’t specify how many employees would lose their jobs, but a spokesperson confirmed that it amounts to about 1,500 people.

    Spotify had used cheap financing to expand the business and “invested significantly” in employees, content and marketing in 2020 and 2021, the blog post said.

    But Ek indicated that the company was caught out as central banks started hiking interest rates last year, which can slow economic growth. Both are posing a challenge, he said.

    “We now find ourselves in a very different environment. And despite our efforts to reduce costs this past year, our cost structure for where we need to be is still too big,” he said.

    Ek said the “leaner structure” of the company will ensure “Spotify’s continued profitability.”

    Stockholm-based Spotify posted a net loss of 462 million euros (about $500 million) for the nine months to September.

    The company announced in January that it was axing 6% of total staff. In June, it cut staff by another 2%, or about 200 workers, mainly in its podcast division.

    Tech companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta and IBM have announced hundreds of thousands of job cuts this year.

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  • Spotify axes 17% of workforce in third round of layoffs this year

    Spotify axes 17% of workforce in third round of layoffs this year

    Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce in the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year

    ByThe Associated Press

    December 4, 2023, 5:48 AM

    LONDON — Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year as it moves to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable.

    In a message to employees posted on the company’s blog Monday, CEO Daniel Ek said the jobs were being cut as part of a “strategic reorientation.” The post didn’t specify how many employees would lose their jobs, but a spokesperson confirmed that it amounts to about 1,500 people.

    Spotify had used cheap financing to expand the business and “invested significantly” in employees, content and marketing in 2020 and 2021, the blog post said. But Ek indicated that the company was caught out as central banks started hiking interest rates last year.

    “We now find ourselves in a very different environment. And despite our efforts to reduce costs this past year, our cost structure for where we need to be is still too big,” he said.

    Ek said the “leaner structure” of the company will ensure “Spotify’s continued profitability.”

    Stockholm-based Spotify posted a net loss of 462 million euros (about $500 million) for the nine months to September.

    The company announced in January that it was axing 6% of total staff. In June, it cut staff by another 2%, or about 200 workers, mainly in its podcast division.

    Tech companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta and IBM have announced hundreds of thousands of job cuts this year.

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  • What you need to know about Emmett Shear, OpenAI’s new interim CEO

    What you need to know about Emmett Shear, OpenAI’s new interim CEO

    OpenAI is bringing in the former head of Twitch as interim CEO just days after the company pushed out its well-known leader Sam Altman, sparking upheaval in the AI world.

    Emmett Shear announced his new role Monday morning in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, while also acknowledging “the process and communications” around Altman’s firing on Friday was “handled very badly” and damaged trust in the artificial intelligence company.

    When it abruptly fired Altman, OpenAI said an internal review found the 38-year-old was “not consistently candid in his communications” with the board of directors. The company did not provide more details, leaving industry analysts and tech watchers reading tea leaves in an effort to figure out what happened.

    Meanwhile, Microsoft, which has invested billions in the AI company, said Monday it’s bringing in Altman and former OpenAI President Greg Brockman – who quit in protest following Altman’s ouster – to lead the tech giant’s new advanced AI research team.

    At OpenAI, Shear has promised to shed some light into Altman’s departure. In his X post, he pledged to hire an independent investigator to look into what led up to Altman’s ouster and write a report within 30 days.

    Shear, 40, is the co-founder of the Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch, a social media site that’s mostly known for gaming.

    Twitch was originally part of the streaming video site Justin.tv, which was founded by Shear and three other tech entrepreneurs in 2006. The focus shifted toward gaming in 2011, a move that turned the platform into a growing phenomenon and birthed a plethora of well-known streamers. Three years later, Amazon purchased the company for approximately $970 million in cash.

    Twitch doesn’t garner as much media attention as other social media companies, but it’s been the subject of scrutiny during two instances in the past few years when mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Germany were livestreamed on its platform.

    Shear left the company in March. He said that was due to the birth of his now 9-month-old son.

    After leaving Twitch, Shear became a visiting partner at Y Combinator, a startup incubator that launched Airbnb, DoorDash and Dropbox. Both Altman and Shear know each other as the original batchmates at Y Combinator, where Altman previously served as president.

    In his LinkedIn profile, Shear says he’s been “starting, growing, and running companies since college” and doesn’t “plan to turn back any time soon.” He graduated from Yale University in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

    OpenAI had initially named its chief technology officer, Mira Murati, as interim CEO on Friday. But she appeared to be one of the signatories on a letter that began circulating early Monday – and signed by hundreds of other OpenAI employees – calling for the board’s resignation and Altman’s return.

    The AP was not able to independently confirm that all of the signatures were from OpenAI employees. A spokesperson at OpenAI confirmed that the board has received the letter, which also said the board had replaced Murati against the best interest of the company.

    In his post on X, Shear wrote he received a call offering him a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to become interim CEO at OpenAI. He said the company’s board “shared the situation” with him and asked him to the role. He quickly agreed.

    “I took this job because I believe that OpenAI is one of the most important companies currently in existence,” he wrote.

    Shear said he spent most of Sunday “drinking from the firehose as much as possible,” speaking to the board, employees and a small number of OpenAI’s partners.

    Investors, for their part, are trying to stabilize the situation. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella weighed in a post on X early Monday morning, saying he was looking “forward to getting to know” the new management team at OpenAI and was “extremely excited” to bring on Altman and Brockman.

    In his post on X, Shear said he checked the reasoning behind the changes at OpenAI before he took the job.

    “The board did (asterisk)not(asterisk) remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from that,” he wrote.

    “I’m not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models,” he said, referring to the company’s popular AI tools like ChatGPT and the image generator DALL-E.

    “I have nothing but respect for what Sam and the entire OpenAI team have built,” he said. “It’s not just an incredible research project and software product, but an incredible company. I’m here because I know that, and I want to do everything in my power to protect it and grow it further.”

    Shear said he wants to accomplish three things within the next 30 days.

    In addition to hiring an independent investigator who will “generate a full report” about what happened, Shear said he wants to continue talking to stakeholders and reform the company’s management and leadership teams in light of recent departures.

    After that, he said he “will drive changes in the organization — up to and including pushing strongly for significant governance changes if necessary.”

    ″OpenAI’s stability and success are too important to allow turmoil to disrupt them like this,” he said.

    On a podcast in June, Shear said he’s generally optimistic about technology but has serious concerns about the path of artificial intelligence toward building something “a lot smarter than us” that sets itself on a goal that endangers humans. As an engineer, he said his approach would be to build AI systems at a small and gradual scale.

    “If there is a world where we survive … where we build an AI that’s smarter than humans and survive it, it’s going to be because we built smaller AIs than that, and we actually had as many smart people as we can working on that, and taking the problem seriously,” Shear said in June.

    Asked by an X user on Monday what his stance was on AI safety, Shear replied: “It’s important.”

    __

    AP reporter Matt O’Brien contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island.

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  • Hollywood’s labor stoppage is over, but a painful industry-wide transition isn’t

    Hollywood’s labor stoppage is over, but a painful industry-wide transition isn’t

    NEW YORK — Hollywood’s months of labor unrest are coming to an end, but the post-strike landscape that awaits actors and writers may be far from happy-ever-after.

    The film and television industry could rightly celebrate the conclusion Wednesday of a bruising, protracted work stoppage that began in May when the Writers Guild hit the picket lines and gathered more force when Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists members walked out in mid-July.

    The strikes were historic in their length and cost, causing an estimated $6 billion in economic loss and leaving hundreds of thousands out of work. As Hollywood on Thursday began rushing back to production and stars again hit red carpets, many were surely still nursing wounds from a bitter feud with the studios, even after a deal that won actors a hefty boost to minimum pay and protections over the use of artificial intelligence.

    SAG-AFTRA’s board was to vote on approving the contract Friday afternoon.

    But as actors swap their picket signs for audition sides and calls sheets, they’ll be returning to an industry still in the midst of painful transformation and streaming upheaval.

    The strikes were prompted largely by the streaming wars, a digital land-rush to populate platforms like Disney+ and HBO Max (now just “Max”) with enough content to rival Netflix. That helter-skelter transition threw much of the economics of entertainment out of whack. One of the most contentious issues of SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations with the studios was the union’s attempt to win a percentage – 1 or 2% — of streaming revenue, to replace lost residuals. In the end, the actors accepted a bonus tied to viewership.

    But even before the strike, every studio was reexamining its streaming strategy. After several years of rampant green lights, most are pulling back, looking to make fewer series and movies, cutting staff and desperately seeking a path toward profitability. Wall Street, no longer enamored of subscriber numbers, wants to see profit, too.

    The aftermath of the strike may look less like a party and more like a streaming hangover.

    “The streaming business is completely screwed up. There’s too much content and nobody seems to be able to make any profit from it,” says Jonathan Taplin, director emeritus of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and author of “The End of Reality: How Four Billionaires are Selling a Fantasy Future of the Metaverse, Mars, and Crypto.”

    Both strikes, Taplin says, were successful because the guilds gained bulwarks against potential decimation by artificial intelligence. But the road ahead, during which he expects linear television to collapse and some streaming services to go out of business, will be strained.

    “The whole business is in a complete uproar,” says Taplin. “It will sort itself out in the next three to five years, but it’s going to be painful.”

    This is the world that awaits actors as they rush back to sets: Better pay but fewer jobs and intense competition. Puck’s Matt Belloni wrote: “What should be a time of relief and celebration in Hollywood is more akin to what soldiers experience in countless war movies — the horrors of battle give way to the equally grim reality of the new world for which they fought.”

    Still, the strikes recalibrated power in Hollywood, winning gains for actors and writers and rallying union support throughout the industry. More battles loom. The contract for International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which represents crew members, expires at the end of July.

    Meanwhile, for months studios have signaled they’re downsizing. Earlier this week, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger in an earnings call where he touted the financial benefits of more than 8,000 job cuts, said the company is focused on consolidating: “Make less, focus more on quality.”

    “At the time the pandemic hit, we were leaning into a huge increase in how much we were making,” Iger said. “And I’ve always felt that quantity can be actually a negative when it comes to quality. And I think that’s exactly what happened. We lost some focus.”

    Netflix, which earlier set its sights on a new original movie every week, has said it’s now aiming for about half that. Hulu, which Disney plans to bundle with Disney+ after acquiring Comcast’s stake, is slimming down. Peacock lost $2.8 billion this year, Comcast has said; it announced layoffs to its marketing department Thursday.

    Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav has taken drastic steps to get Max in order while the studio post-merger carries $43 billion in debt.

    “This is a generational disruption we’re going through,” Zaslav said Wednesday. “Going through that with a streaming service that’s losing billions of dollars is really, really difficult to go on offense.”

    Cancellations have grown more commonplace as streamers get more selective. Due in part to the strikes, series production will dip for the first time in years in 2023 after reaching an all-time high last year, when 599 original series were made. Peak TV, some say , is over.

    But there are still huge amounts of money being thrown around. Apple Studios, for one, is behind two of the fall’s biggest budget films in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon.”

    Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s lead negotiator, remains optimistic about what’s ahead.

    “I recognize that during a strike, sometimes rhetoric gets heated. People sometimes say things with the intention of sort of generating a reaction,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said Wednesday. “And so I think really we will see over the coming days, weeks and months what the industry’s real intentions are. But my expectation is that they do really want to get people back to work and that they’ll do so.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Krysta Fauria contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

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