Natalie Portman starring in her first TV series in “Lady in the Lake” for Apple TV+ and Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die” are some of the new television, films, 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: Kerry Washington’s comedy “UnPrisoned” returns for a second season, Daisy Ridley stars as the trailblazing deep sea swimmer Trudy Ederle in ”Young Woman and the Sea” and Donald Glover releases his last album under his Childish Gambino moniker.
— If you loved the adrenaline rush of watching Alex Honnold scale El Capitan in “Free Solo,” Netflix has a treat for you. This time the heights are manmade but no less harrowing. In “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist takes viewers into the dangerous world of rooftoppers – the daredevils who scale the world’s tallest buildings. The subjects in “Skywalkers,” streaming on Netflix starting Friday, July 19, are Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus who are not only talented rooftoppers but also in a relationship (hence the “love story” in the title) with own ups and downs. Part heist movie, part dazzling spectacle thanks to incredible Go-Pro footage, part relationship drama, it is a no-brainer of a click.
— Daisy Ridley stars as the trailblazing deep sea swimmer Trudy Ederle in ”Young Woman and the Sea,” a very well made and inspiring sports drama that harkens back to the live-action movies Disney used to make in the early ’90s like “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.” Accessible for the whole family, the movie follows Ederle from her childhood to the Olympics and finally on her quest to become the first woman to swim the English Channel, in 1926. It had a somewhat quiet theatrical release after producer Jerry Bruckheimer found it got the best test scores of his career. But now it’ll be available for all, on Disney+, on Friday July 19.
— MAX has a few good new offerings, too, with the streaming premiere of “ Love Lies Bleeding ” (one of the AP’s favorites of the year so far) on Friday, July 19 and “The Commandant’s Shadow” on Thursday. The former is the sophomore feature of filmmaker Rose Glass, who directs Kristen Stewart in a wildly compelling performance as a gym manager who has fallen for a bodybuilder (Katy O’Brien) drifter. Associated Press Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote in his review that it “gives Stewart a vivid noir sandbox where all of her talent for obsession, desire and rage finds its gnarliest expression yet.” The latter is a documentary in which the son of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss (also the subject of the Oscar-winning “The Zone of Interest” ) reckons with his family’s past.
— And finally Prime Video has the sequel “My Spy: The Eternal City,” in which Dave Bautista’s CIA agent JJ accompanies Sophie (Chloe Coleman) on a school trip to Italy where they get caught up in a terrorist plot. Kristen Schaal, Ken Jeong, Anna Faris and Craig Robinson co-star in the Pete Segal pic which is available starting Thursday.
— In October, the Miami rap duo City Girls – made up of JT and Yung Miami – released their third album, “RAW.” The release, which embraced their spirited party records and moments of real vulnerability, followed a few years of true virality, deserved through hit tracks like 2018’s “Act Up.” But it appears all wasn’t great behind the scenes, and the duo are no longer together. But on Friday, July 19, JT will release her first mixtape as a solo artist, the 19-track “City Cinderella.” “Okay,” the lead single from the release, features Jeezy — a fiery declaration of being a heck of a lot better than just OK.
— Next week Childish Gambino will release his sixth studio album, “Bardo Stone & the New World,” what is being touted as his final album under Donald Glover’s Childish Gambino moniker. It also serves as the soundtrack to his forthcoming film of the same name. The lead track, “Lithonia,” is anthemic synth-rock, like Glover’s own take on Britpop-punk. It was co-produced by Glover, Ludwig Göransson, Max Martin, and Michael Uzowuru. A surprising turn, to be sure.
— Six of the year members of BTS are currently serving South Korea’s mandatory national service. (Jin, the oldest at 31, finished his 18-month military service last month. He will be an Olympic torchbearer at the Paris games.) But that doesn’t mean their slowing down their musical output. Jimin is preparing to release his second solo album, “Muse.” Using “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band,” featuring rapper Loco, as evidence, this release is all rosy cheeked pop songs about love and crushing. Just don’t get a cavity with all that sweetness.
— Rarely does a new artist emerge with such ambition: “I’ll Always Come Find You,” the debut album from LA rapper and singer BLXST, is a concept record of sorts that follows a protagonist named Birdie, who inherits his late father’s chauffeur car service and meets a handful of interesting personalities in the backseat. Across 20 tracks — boasting of collaborations with everyone from 2 Chainz, Amanda Reifer, Becky G, Anderson .Paak and Feid to Kamasi Washington, Offset and Ty Dolla $ign. BLXST traverses genre with the ease of a veteran artist.
— Also out Friday, July 19: Austin artist BLK ODYSSY’s latest, “1-800 FANTASY.” The eclectic release veers across his chosen genres: R&B, hip-hop, funk, neo-soul, and jazz — without ever sacrificing his earworm hooks. Start with the breakup banger “Changes.”
— Kerry Washington’s comedy “UnPrisoned” returns for a second season Wednesday on Hulu. She plays Paige, a single mom raising a teenage son who is thrown a curveball when her dad (played by Delroy Lindo) moves in after he’s released from prison. Paige works as a therapist but has personal issues of her own to work through, including fears of abandonment. The series was created by writer Terry McMillan, who tapped into her own experience growing up in the foster care system because her own father was incarcerated.
— There’s a catchphrase where people share random points in time or moments in pop culture that they think about often and describe it as their Roman Empire. By those standards, director Roland Emmerich’s Roman Empire is… the Roman Empire. Known for big budget disaster flicks like “Independence Day” and “Godzilla,” Emmerich’s first foray into television is a topic that he says has long intrigued him, the Roman Empire. “Those About to Die” is a gladiator series set in ancient Rome during the Flavian era. The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Iwan Rheon, Dimitri Leonidas, Jojo Macari and Tom Hughes. All 10 episodes stream Thursday on Peacock.
— Part 1 of the sixth and final season of “Cobra Kai” launches Thursday on Netflix. Taking place decades after the first “Karate Kid” movie, the series follows Ralph Macchio and William Zabka’s characters Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. It’s taken years, but they’re finally on the same side of the Cobra Kai dojo — as senseis who teach teens karate. They also have a common enemy in John Cleese’s Martin Kove. The show artfully weaves characters from the original movies into its storylines. Co-creator Jon Hurwitz calls it the Miyagiverse.
— Natalie Portman stars in her first TV series in “Lady in the Lake” for Apple TV+. The show is based on a book by Laura Lippman. Set in 1960s Baltimore, Portman plays a bored housewife and mother whose obsession with two local murders prompts her to leave her family to become an investigative journalist. Moses Ingram (“The Queen’s Gambit) also co-stars with Y’lan Noel of “Insecure.” “Lady in the Lake” debuts Friday, July 19.
— Alicia Rancilio
— It’s been more than a decade since we’ve been able to enjoy college football on a video game console, and a lot has changed. For starters, the real-life amateurs can now make a few bucks. That’s good news for Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Colorado wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter and Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, the cover models for EA Sports College Football 25. The long-awaited reboot lets you play as a coach, building a team from scratch, or as a player, fighting your way to the Heisman Trophy. Or you can just go back to your old school — 134 are represented — and enjoy all the atmosphere, fight songs and mascots you expect on an autumn Saturday. The season kicks off Friday, July 19, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S.
— Capcom’s Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is an intriguing experiment from the company known for blockbusters like Resident Evil. It takes place on a mountain ruled by a mystical maiden, but it’s under attack from evil forces called the Seethe. During the day, your job is to rescue villagers who have been possessed by demons. After sunset, you and the villagers join forces to protect the maiden from defilement by the Seethe. The result is a curious blend of the real-time strategy and tower defense genres, with lush graphics inspired by Japanese folklore. The fight begins Friday, July 19, on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S/One and PC.
LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shannen Doherty, the “Beverly Hills, 90210” star whose life and career were roiled by illness and tabloid stories, has died at 53.
After years with breast cancer, Doherty died Saturday, according to a statement from her publicist, Leslie Sloane.
“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace,” Sloane said Sunday. The news was first reported by People magazine.
Her illness was publicly revealed in a lawsuit filed in 2015 against her former business managers, in which she alleged they mismanaged her money and allowed her health insurance to lapse. She later shared intimate details of her treatment following a single mastectomy. In December 2016, she posted a photo of her first day of radiation, calling the treatment “frightening” for her.
In February 2020, Doherty revealed that the cancer had returned and was at Stage 4. She said she came forward because her health conditions could come out in court. The actor had sued insurance giant State Farm after her California home was damaged in a fire in 2018.
“I have no idea how long I’m going to be on the chemo for. … That’s not something that I can predict, it’s not something my doctors can predict. And it’s scary, it’s like a big wake-up call,” Doherty said on a late June episode of her podcast “Let’s Be Clear,” adding that a recent change in the shape of her cancer cells meant there were new treatment protocols for her to try. “For the first time in a couple months probably, I feel hopeful because there are so many more protocols now, whereas before I was hopeful — but I was still getting prepared.”
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Doherty moved to Los Angeles with her family at age 7 and, within a few years, became an actor.
“It was completely my decision,” she told The Associated Press in a 1994 interview. “My parents never pushed me into anything. They support me. It really wouldn’t matter if I was a professional soccer player — they’d still be as supportive and loving.”
As a child star, she worked steadily in such TV series as “Little House on the Prairie,” in which she played Jenny Wilder. She detoured as a teenager to the big screen in “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (1985) and “Heathers.”
In 1990, the doe-eyed, dark-haired actor won her breakout role as Brenda Walsh in producer Aaron Spelling’s hit teenage melodrama set in posh Beverly Hills. She and Jason Priestley’s Brandon, Brenda’s twin brother, were fish-out-of-water Midwesterners.
But Doherty’s fame came with media scrutiny and accounts of outbursts, drinking and impulsiveness — the latter most notably after a very brief marriage to actor George Hamilton’s son, Ashley. Doherty’s second marriage, in 2002, was to Rick Salomon and was annulled within a year. In 2011, Doherty married photographer Kurt Iswarienko. She filed for divorce in April 2023.
She left “Beverly Hills, 90210” at the end of its fourth season in 1994 (the show aired until 2000), reportedly removed by Spelling because of conflicts with her co-stars and chronic lateness.
But in her 1994 AP interview, Doherty described her life as peaceful.
“It must be, if you pick up the Enquirer and find the only thing they can write about me is that I installed a pay phone next to my house and was seen at Stroud’s (a discount bed-and-bath chain) buying $1,400 worth of bed linens and wouldn’t go to an expensive store,” she said. “It must be calm if they’re pulling that stuff out of their heads.”
Three years later, in 1997, Doherty was sentenced to anger-management counseling by a Beverly Hills Municipal Court judge after she allegedly smashed a beer bottle onto a man’s windshield during a quarrel. After a 2001 drunken driving arrest, she pleaded no contest and was ordered to serve five days in a work-release program.
Doherty reunited with Spelling when he cast her in 1998 as Prue Halliwell in “Charmed.” In an AP interview that year, the actor expressed regrets about her past.
“I did bring a lot of it on myself,” Doherty said. “I don’t think I can point fingers and say, ‘Oh, YOU’RE to blame.’ And I don’t do that with myself, either. Because I was just growing up.”
Her personality was “grotesquely misconstrued” by the media, Doherty added.
Spelling said at the time that their relationship was never as bad as some made it seem.
“We had a few bumps along the road, but golly, who doesn’t?” said Spelling, who died in 2006. “Everything Shannen did was blown out of proportion by the rag sheets.”
Doherty starred with Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano in “Charmed” from 1998-2001, at which point her character was replaced by one played by Rose McGowan. Doherty appeared in the “90210” sequel series seven years later and competed on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2010. She also worked on the third “Beverly Hills, 90210” reboot, “BH90210,” a meta send-up that reunited most of the original cast and aired for one season in 2019.
Doherty struggled to recapture her “Beverly Hills, 90210” star status, but worked in big-screen films including “Mallrats” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and in such TV movies as “A Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story,” in which she played the “Gone with the Wind” author. A nadir was “Blindfold: Acts of Obsession,” an erotic thriller opposite Judd Nelson.
Doherty’s lawsuit against her ex-business managers was settled in 2016. She was open about the toll that cancer was taking. She posted photos that showed the baldness that followed treatment and, in an August 2016 interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” shared her fears.
“The unknown is always the scariest part,” she said. “Is the chemo going to work? Is the radiation going to work?” she said. “Pain is manageable, you know living without a breast is manageable, it’s the worry of your future and how your future is going to affect the people that you love.”
Doherty advocated for cancer awareness and care, and spoke to the AP in 2021 about how spending years with the disease affected her life and sense of optimism.
“When you get something like cancer, your tolerance for drama is zero. I don’t like people wasting my time. I don’t like negativity,” she said. “It’s odd because I think if you look back, you’re like, ‘Oh, gosh, it’s so much drama around her,’ but I don’t think I was necessarily into the drama. I just think if we took young 18-year-old Shannen, 19-year-old Shannen, and we took her and planted her like right now, I would be a nerd and nobody would be writing about me.”
___
Lynn Elber, a longtime television writer, retired from The Associated Press in 2022. AP journalists Alicia Rancilio and Mallika Sen contributed reporting.
It’s been five years since the Television Critics Association announced the winners of its annual TCA Awards in person: the pandemic meant the 2020 and 2021 events were virtual, and the WGA and SAG strikes last year meant the 2023 awards were announced in a press release. But in 2024, the event was back for its 40th year, with a ceremony held on Friday July 12 at the Langham Huntington in Pasadena.
Nominees for this year’s TCA Awards had been announced nearly a month ago, on June 10. Hopes were high for contenders such as The Bear (which garnered four nominations) and Ripley (a quintuple nominee). But both went home empty-handed.
Instead, it was Shōgun‘s night. The 250-strong group of TV critics named the limited FX series its Program of the Year, and also awarded it with the Outstanding Achievement in Drama and Outstanding New Program honors. Actor Anna Sawai, who played Lady Mariko on the show, won the TCA’s (all gender-inclusive) Individual Achievement in Drama trophy, as well.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s Baby Reindeer took home the Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials award, while HBO’s Hacks took top honors in the comedy category. Star Jean Smart also came out on top, scoring the Individual Achievement in Comedy award.
Finally, the critics awarded The Traitors with its top Reality honors, Doctor Who won in the Family Programming category, and Bluey was tops in Children’s Programming. A full list of nominees and winners is below.
Program of the Year
WINNER: Shōgun Baby Reindeer The Bear Hacks Reservation Dogs Ripley
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
WINNER:Hacks Abbott Elementary The Bear Girls5eva Reservation Dogs We Are Lady Parts
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
WINNER:Shōgun Baby Reindeer Fallout Ripley True Detective: Night Country
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials
WINNER: Baby Reindeer The Fall of the House of Usher Fargo Fellow Travelers Ripley The Sympathizer
Outstanding New Program
WINNER:Shōgun Baby Reindeer Fallout Mr. & Mrs. Smith Ripley X-Men ’97
Individual Achievement in Drama
WINNER: Anna Sawai, Shōgun Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer Hiroyuki Sanada, Shōgun Andrew Scott, Ripley Juno Temple, Fargo
Individual Achievement in Comedy
WINNER:Jean Smart, Hacks Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary Ayo Edebiri, The Bear Renée Elise Goldsberry, Girls5eva Devery Jacobs, Reservation Dogs Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
WINNER:Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston Frontline The Jinx: Part Two Queens Telemarketers
Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch
WINNER:John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA The Daily Show Jimmy Kimmel Live! Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Late Night with Seth Meyers Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Achievement in Reality
WINNER:The Traitors The Amazing Race Conan O’Brien Must Go Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show Top Chef We’re Here Welcome to Wrexham
Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming
WINNER:Doctor Who Heartstopper My Adventures with Superman Percy Jackson and the Olympians Renegade Nell X-Men ’97
Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming
WINNER:Bluey Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Frog and Toad Pokémon Concierge Sesame Street Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin
The Emmy-winning formula of “Welcome to Wrexham” has convinced FX to back a new soccer documentary series led by club owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. This time, cameras will be chronicling Mexico’s Club Necaxa in Liga MX, the country’s top professional soccer league.
The untitled series from FX and Disney+ Latin America will have actress Eva Longoria, one of several celebrities and athletes who have invested in Club Necaxa, as an executive producer. McElhenney, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, and Reynolds purchased a minority stake in the club in May, joining a group of minority owners that includes actress Kate Upton, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and former NBA star Richard Hamilton.
Deadline reported the series will be produced in both English and Spanish. With Liga MX starting its season this month, work is expected to begin soon on the project.
Club Necaxa shares similarities with Welsh club Wrexham AFC, which McElhenney and Reynolds bought in 2020 when the club was at a low point. Club Necaxa was a Liga MX powerhouse in the 1990s, winning three domestic titles. Los Rayos have since fallen from their peak and the team’s lack of success contributed to their relocation from Mexico City to the working class city of Aguascalientes. They finished last in their conference last season.
A series description from FX says the show will follow Necaxa “as they strive to reclaim their place as one of Mexico’s top teams.” Longoria will try to “breathe new life into the team by enlisting the help of her high-profile friends including new co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds,” Pro Soccer Wire reported.
Unlike English soccer, Liga MX does not have promotion and relegation — one of the central story arcs for “Welcome to Wrexham” during the show’s three seasons. The 159-year-old Welsh club has been promoted twicesince McElhenney and Reynolds bought the teamand will now play in League One — the third tier of English soccer.
In the United States, “Welcome to Wrexham” has been a hit for FX and has helped popularize soccer in advance of the World Cup’s return to North America in 2026. The series earned five Primetime Emmy awards last year, including for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program and Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program. The show has already been renewed for a fourth season.
McElhenney’s More Better Productions, the company he launched earlier this year, will co-produce the new series with Hyphenate Media Group, Maximum Effort Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment.
MUMBAI, India — Global celebrities, business tycoons and politicians began arriving in India’s financial capital on Friday to attend the wedding of the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, highlighting the billionaire’s staggering wealth and rising clout.
Anant Ambani, 29, is marrying his longtime girlfriend, Radhika Merchant, in what many have dubbed the wedding of the year. The celebrations are taking place at the Ambani-owned Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai and their family home and are the culmination of months of wedding events that featured performances by pop stars including Rihanna and Justin Bieber.
The four-day wedding celebrations begin with a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony on Friday, followed by a grand reception that will run through the weekend. The guest list includes former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser, Adele, Lana Del Rey, Drake and David Beckham, according to local media. The Ambani family has not confirmed the guest list.
Television news channels showed celebrities like Kim Kardashian and professional wrestler and Hollywood actor John Cena arriving.
Police have imposed traffic diversions around the wedding venue from Friday to Monday to handle the influx of guests who will be flying into Mumbai, where heavy monsoon rains have caused flooding and flight disruptions for the past week.
The extravaganza and the display of opulence that comes with this wedding has, however, led many to raise questions about rising inequality in India, where the gap between the rich and poor is growing. The event has also sparked anger among some Mumbai residents who say they were struggling with snarled traffic.
“It affects our earnings. I don’t care much about the wedding,” said Vikram, a taxi driver who only uses his first name.
The father of the groom, Mukesh Ambani, 66, is the world’s ninth richest man with a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes. He is also the richest person in Asia. His Reliance Industries is a massive conglomerate, reporting over $100 billion in annual revenue, with interests ranging from petrochemicals, and oil and gas to telecoms and retail.
The Ambani family owns, among other assets, a 27-story family compound in Mumbai worth $1 billion. The building contains three helipads, a 160-car garage and a private movie theater.
Ambani’s son, Anant, oversees the conglomerate’s renewable and green energy expansion. He also runs a 3,000-acre (about 1,200-hectare) animal rescue center in Gujarat state’s Jamnagar, the family’s hometown.
The bride, Radhika Merchant, 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and is the marketing director for his company, Encore Healthcare, according to Vogue.
Ambani’s critics say his company has relied on political connections during Congress party-led governments in the 1970s and ’80s and under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule after 2014.
The Ambani family’s pre-wedding celebrations have been lavish and star-studded.
In March, they threw a three-day prenuptial bash for his son with 1,200 guests including former world leaders, tech tycoons and Bollywood megastars, and performances by Rihanna, Akon and Diljit Dosanjh, a Punjabi singer who shot to international fame when he performed at Coachella. The event was also attended by tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.
It was the start of lavish monthslong pre-wedding celebrations that have grabbed headlines and set off a social media frenzy.
In May, the family took guests on a three-day cruise from Italy to France which included Katy Perry singing her hit song “Firework” and a performance by Pitbull, according to media reports.
The family also organized a mass wedding for more than 50 underprivileged couples on July 2 as part of the celebrations.
Last week, Justin Bieber performed for hundreds of guests at a pre-wedding concert which included performances by Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Salman Khan.
Ambani also made headlines in 2018 when Beyoncé performed at pre-wedding festivities for his daughter. Former U.S. Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry were among those who rubbed shoulders with Indian celebrities and Bollywood stars in the western Indian city of Udaipur.
It’s been quite the week, huh?
Post-Beryl, we hope everyone is safe and well, and we wish you all working electricity
and Wi-Fi, air conditioning and refrigeration, and (hopefully) a well-deserved break
from recovery efforts. If you were lucky enough to come through unscathed, or
just need a place to go with working AC, we’ve put together a list of this
coming week’s best bets. Keep reading for musicals, classical music, a
non-American holiday celebration and more.
Get an early start on Halloween at Insomnia Gallery’s Summer Slashers – Horror Art Show + Night Market at Hardy & Nance Studios.
Photo by Natalie de la Garza
We are officially 112 days from
Halloween, so there’s no better time to celebrate all things horror, which you
can do on Friday, July 12, from 8 p.m. to midnight when Insomnia Gallery presents their
annual Summer
Slashers – Horror Art Show + Night Market at Hardy & Nance Studios. The art
show will showcase the works of local artists, all putting their unique spins
on different scary movies and TV shows, while the horror-themed night market
will feature vendors that specialize in spooky. Of course, you can also expect complimentary
drinks from City Orchard, Equal Parts Brewing, Bad Astronaut Brewing Co. and Eureka Heights Brewery as well as
food from Boom Box Tacos. The show is
free and there’s no ticket required for entry.
Ian Lewis and Danny Hayes in Main Street Theater’s production of The Woman in Black.
Photo by Andrew Ruthven
There’s nothing better than a ghost
story in the summer, and Main Street
Theater has one for you: The Woman in Black,
opening on Saturday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m. The play, adapted by Stephen
Mallatratt from a novel by Susan Hill, is about a man named Arthur Kipps, who’s
sure his family is cursed. Danny Hayes, who plays the actor Mr. Kipps hires to
help tell his story, told the Houston Press the play is “really
unsettling,” but that it is “not
just scary for scary’s sake or trying to be scary with silly jump scares,” noting
that the characters “are
very human” and the play is “so
well crafted.” Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through
Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. through August 11. Tickets are available here for $39 to $59.
The 14th of July is Bastille Day, a public
holiday in France that commemorates the day Parisians stormed the Bastille – a
prison that at one time held Voltaire (as well as the Marquis de Sade) – and
kicked off the French Revolution. You can find a little “liberté, egalité, fraternité”
right here in the Bayou City on Sunday, July 14, at 5 p.m. when the Consulate General of France
in Houston hosts Celebrate
Bastille Day at Rice University Stadium.
Francophiles can enjoy a showcase of sports (remember, the Olympics are in Paris this year),
music, space and cuisine during the festivities. We’ll also go out on a limb
and bet you’ll hear at least one rendition of “La Marseillaise.” Admission is
free, but registration here
is mandatory.
LOS ANGELES — Hollywood has never known exactly what to do with Alec Baldwin, so it has done a little of everything with him.
Before the horrific 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western “Rust” put his career in question, he took on, and sent up, a wide spectrum of variations of masculinity. He has shifted from playing heroes to scoundrels to thugs to gentle father figures to office alpha males to a “ Boss Baby.”
He went from star leading man to bit player to scene stealer, at times going years without a major role in a hit film or show. But he has remained a household name for nearly 35 years, largely on the strength of his real-life personality: as an outspoken liberal, occasional hothead, talk-show guest, podcast host, game show host, and the king of all “Saturday Night Live” hosts.
Alexander Rae Baldwin III is the eldest of six children of a schoolteacher and football coach who grew up in Massapequa, New York and studied acting at New York University. He made his screen debut at age 22 in 1980 on the long-running soap opera “The Doctors,” where he remained until 1982. In 1984 and 1985 he took a step up with a recurring role on a prime-time soap, “Knots Landing.”
Baldwin would break into film in an epic year that included major parts in five major moves. His big-screen breakthrough came opposite Geena Davis and Michael Keaton in “Beetlejuice.” But Baldwin’s bespectacled, bourgeois husband character in Tim Burton’s antic ghost story would not be the norm. His archetypes would emerge in other films. He plays a cheating boyfriend to Melanie Griffith in director Mike Nichols’ huge hit romcom “Working Girl,” and a brass-knuckled, hairy-chested brawler wedded to Michelle Pfeiffer in Jonathan Demme’s “Married to the Mob.” The studios smelled a movie star.
For a brief moment, Baldwin became a leading man in the mold of Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise. He was the first to play CIA analyst Jack Ryan on screen, in 1990’s Cold War submarine thriller, “The Hunt for Red October,” a major hit. But he would be replaced as Ryan in subsequent films by Ford. “The studio cut my throat,” Baldwin said years later.
He instead played Stanley Kowalski in a Broadway revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” He would get a Tony nomination, and an Emmy nomination for a TV version.
He had a small but unforgettable role in 1992’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” as a slick business bigwig who dresses down, chews out and emasculates a group of salesmen, telling them they lacked “brass balls” (while holding a pair in front of his crotch). The role became a cultural touchstone, and an early rendition of the kind of scene-stealing part that would one day become his specialty. Years later, he would parody it as an alpha elf in Santa’s workshop on “Saturday Night Live.” Baldwin would host the show for the first time in 1990, and go on to do it a record 17 times.
Baldwin’s three younger actor brothers began to emerge in his wake. Daniel Baldwin was a regular on the series “Homicide: Life on the Street” from 1993 to 1995. Billy Baldwin starred opposite Sharon Stone in the 1993 erotic thriller “Sliver.” Stephen Baldwin had a major role in the 1995 classic “The Usual Suspects.”
The brothers as a group became a cultural phenomenon. When Alicia Silverstone admits Paul Rudd is attractive in 1995’s “Clueless,” she says he’s “kind of a Baldwin.”
Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin was expanding the family, and his Hollywood profile, by marrying actor Kim Basinger in 1993. He had starred with her in 1992’s “The Marrying Man” and 1994’s “The Getaway.” Both films flopped at the box office, but Baldwin and Basinger would remain an A-list couple in the public eye for a decade, even playing themselves on “The Simpsons.” Another flop came with the final attempt to make Baldwin a blockbuster leading man, 1994’s “The Shadow.”
Baldwin’s career as a movie star flagged in the late 1990s. He starred in director Rob Reiner’s “Ghost of Mississippi,” but began becoming a bit part specialist, and a popular voice actor, narrating the kids’ show “Thomas & Friends” and the Wes Anderson film “The Royal Tenenbaums.” He still hosted “SNL” almost annually, and was a fiery liberal Democrat on TV talk shows and in other public appearances.
Baldwin’s role as a casino owner in 2003’s “The Cooler” got him his only career Oscar nomination, for best supporting actor. New York Times critic A.O. Scott said “Baldwin swivels elegantly from viciousness to self-pity” in the role.
Strong supporting performances were becoming a trademark. Director Martin Scorsese put him in 2004’s “The Aviator” with Leonardo DiCaprio and in the 2006 best picture winner “The Departed” where he gives Matt Damon a highly quotable, Boston-accented lecture on marriage and manhood.
With new career highs came personal lows. His 2003 divorce from Basinger grew ugly. In 2007, TMZ aired a leaked voicemail from Baldwin to their 11-year-old daughter Ireland, who had missed a scheduled visit with him, on which he called her a “thoughtless little pig.” Baldwin later said in interviews that he considered suicide in the aftermath. Ireland mocked the moment in a 2019 Comedy Central Roast of her dad, saying she almost missed the event because she hadn’t checked emails from her dad in 12 years.
In a full turn toward television, Baldwin was perfectly cast on NBC’s “30 Rock” as Jack Donaghy, a conservative and acerbic network executive whose sparring with Liz Lemon, the show’s creator and star, was a huge part of the series’ appeal. Baldwin would win two Emmys for the role, and more acclaim than he’d received in years.
In 2012, he married yoga instructor Hilaria Thomas. The two have seven children together.
After “30 Rock” left the air, Baldwin would act sporadically while he played himself more often. He played the boss in a pair of “Mission Impossible” movies. And he voiced the animated “Boss Baby” in 2017. He also hosted a prime-time revival of “The Match Game” for five seasons. And he continued to host a public radio show and podcast, ”Here’s The Thing,” in which, in an urbane, laid-back-but-intellectual tone, he interviewed public figures.
He became a national phenomenon in the run-up to, and aftermath of, the election of Donald Trump, when “SNL” brought him on to do his over-the-top impression of his fellow New Yorker, which won him his third Emmy. More public ugliness emerged, though. He would be charged with assault and harassment in 2018 after a fight with a man over a New York parking spot. He later pleaded guilty only to harassment.
On Oct. 21, 2021, on the New Mexico set of the indie Western “Rust,” Baldwin was rehearsing a scene in a small church, and pointed the gun at the cinematographer, Hutchins. It went off, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
In an interview that December with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Baldwin said he had not pulled the gun’s trigger. He would be charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023.
Alex English should be on summer break when I call him on a Thursday afternoon, but instead he’s fresh off of two stand-up sets in New York City, and is last-minute packing for a red-eye flight to London, where he will take the stage at the Top Secret Comedy Club that weekend. The work never ends when you’re, well, a working comedian.
Since joining the SNL writers room in 2021 (season 47), English has shown an uncanny knack for the kind of humor that hits you in all the right places (all the more impressive considering he had no prior sketch experience before SNL). In his short but remarkable tenure, he’s blessed audiences with “Hot Girl Hospital,” “Nice Jail,” and the instantly iconic “Lisa from Temecula,” which he tells me was inspired during a holiday trip to Detroit, his hometown.
English says the source of his humor is found not on social media but in analog experiences. “I talk to people, to my family. I read the paper. I also read a lot of books,” he says. “I love to people watch. I’m an old man.”
English belongs to the next generation of exciting—and excitingly queer—comedians that include humorists John Early, Bowen Yang, Sam Jay, and Joel Kim Booster. What they strive to achieve is not a viral moment, which English says too many new comics thirst for, but a common understanding through life’s absurdities. In fact, English is adamant that social media ruined not only the art of comedy, but also our relationship to it. So I asked him to explain how we got here, and how we might get back.
Jason Parham: What frightens you about the state of comedy right now?
Alex English: I was on a flight recently. Another passenger was watching a clip on their phone and I was like, “Oh, I know that person.” Within seven seconds of the video, he just scrolled off of it. I’m sure that time was the comic setting it up or talking to the audience. That scared me. I was like, “I don’t want anybody to do that to me. I don’t want anybody scrolling off of me.” You know what it is, also—because everybody’s doing it now, it becomes so saturated. There’s no uniqueness to the videos I’m seeing. That’s no diss to people doing it. I just feel that’s not the way I should be doing it.
That’s fair.
Long gone are the days where you could go and perform at a club, someone from the industry sees it, and they want to put you on a platform to elevate your work. Instead, now the business is, do you have 500,000 followers from burning material that you put out on the internet or talking to an audience. When it comes to crowd work, I’m the one who came to work. The audience didn’t come to work. They came to laugh. I don’t understand this obsession with that. When I’m on stage, I don’t care that much about the audience. Like, “Are y’all dating?” Who cares? There’s no unique story to that. And they didn’t pay for that.
Whose fault is that?
I realized, especially after the pandemic, the Instagram and TikTok of it all when it comes to comedy has really ruined a lot of audiences. It’s changed the audiences’ perception of what comedy—specifically stand-up comedy—actually is. I did a show a few months ago that went well. This woman comes up to me after the show. She’d been sitting in the front. She said, “Oh my God, I thought you were gonna talk to us tonight. I thought you were gonna make fun of us.” I said, “Is that what you think stand-up is now?” There’s an expectation from audiences now because of what they’re consuming online.
Often called England’s first queen, Lady Jane Grey only reigned for nine days in 1553 at the age of 16. It was rocky from start to finish: When she took the throne, the country was fiercely divided between Protestants and Catholics.
A new historical fantasy series, My Lady Jane, premiering June 27 on Prime Video, imagines if those divisions were between regular humans—known as verities—and Ethians, humans who can turn into animals and are viewed as the lowest caste in their society. Lady Jane Grey (Emily Bader) frantically spends her short reign trying to promote unity, urging respect for Ethians, especially because her husband Guilford Dudley (Edward Bluemel) is an Ethian who can change into a horse.
TIME talked to two Lady Jane Grey biographers, Nicola Tallis and Leanda de Lisle, about what to know about the real Lady Jane who inspired the show.
Who is Lady Jane Grey?
A great niece of Henry VIII, she was born in Bradgate, Leicestershire, England, in 1537.
In the show, she’s depicted as an extremely intellectually curious teenager, always reading up on medicinal uses for herbs for a textbook she wants to write. This is why Guilford wants to marry her—he hopes she can find a cure that will stop him from turning into a horse at unexpected times.
The real Jane did love reading books, but was more passionate about languages and theology than science. She spoke several languages, including Arabic and Hebrew and relished exchanging letters with other educated people. “She was really, really academic,” says Tallis.
Lady Jane Grey’s real love life
My Lady Jane depicts her as fiercely independent, and hell bent on never getting married. In the show, Jane is married off to English nobleman Guilford Dudley against her will. But the show implies they fall in love, depicting Jane and Dudley experiencing an instant attraction when they meet. Biographers say their real marriage was far from a real love story.
“We know Jane didn’t really want to be married to him,” says Tallis, author of Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey.
In the show, Jane’s mother Lady Frances Grey (Anna Chancellor) plans the marriage with Dudley’s father, the Duke of Northumberland, to ensure her family will not have to worry about money again. But according to Tallis, “there is a source that says that her mother was also really, really against this marriage to Guilford Dudley. And I think that that’s probably quite true.”
The Duke of Northumberland was pushing the marriage from the get-go. As one of the King’s chief politicians, he persuaded a dying Edward VI to name Jane his heir in this will so that when she rose to the throne, his son would be King. It is true, as the show depicts, that there was a rumor that the Duke of Northumberland (Rob Brydon) poisoned the king to hasten his son’s ascent to the throne.
De Lisle argues that Edward VI was a bit of a “misogynist” in that he wanted a married woman to be queen so that a man would at least be doing some of the work of ruling. As she explains Edward VI’s thinking back then, “Jane has a husband and her husband will basically be a king. That’s Edward’s view. [His] sister Mary is not married.”
What to know about Lady Jane Grey’s reign
The real Edward VI died of some kind of pulmonary infection like tuberculosis on July 6, 1553. In the show, his sister Mary is in on a plot to slowly poison him so she can get to the throne faster, but that plot line is purely fictional.
In real life, Edward VI wanted Jane to be his heir because he wanted a Protestant successor, and his elder half sister Mary had become a staunch Catholic.
Jordan Peters as King Edward VI in Prime Video series ‘My Lady Jane.’Jonathan Prime—Prime Video
Mary was not “Mrs. Popular with the powers that be because she was a Catholic,” de Lisle explains. “England was a Catholic country. Protestantism was largely being imposed by the king and by the elites.”
But during Jane’s reign, it was discovered that his will was not legal because it had not been passed by Parliament. That meant Mary was next in line, legally, so that’s why Jane was overthrown after nine days. Mary assumed the throne on July 19, 1553.
Mary was more popular among the general public than Jane in general because she was a daughter of Henry VIII and raised in the court. “Lots of people are fearful of the idea of a woman bearing power and particularly one who they don’t know,” says Tallis.
When Jane started speaking out against all of Mary’s Catholic reforms, describing taking communion in a Catholic mass as a satanic form of cannibalism. On top of that, her family started organizing a campaign to depose Mary. While Mary never wanted to execute Jane in the first place, she felt like she had no choice. Mary saw Jane as “a potential lightning rod for a rebellion,” as de Lisle puts it.
Jane and Guilford Dudley were both executed on February 12, 1554.
NEW YORK — The days of “plausibly live” Olympics coverage on NBC are coming to an end.
The network displayed some of the new features it has planned for coverage of the Summer Olympics in Paris starting on July 26 — including personalized highlights packages generated by artificial intelligence with the voice of Al Michaels and a star turn by Steven Spielberg — but none could match the sea change in attitude toward how the Games are presented.
For years, NBC has zealously guarded its prime-time Olympics telecasts no matter the time zone, aggravating fans blocked from seeing key events if they happen earlier in the day live. Attempts to essentially pretend that the events were being seen live added to frustration.
This year, NBC said Wednesday that Mike Tirico will host two daily Olympics shows, one that coincides with prime-time in Paris (2 to 5 p.m. Eastern in the United States) and featuring live competition in marquee sports like swimming, gymnastics and track & field. The other, during prime-time hours in the United States while Paris sleeps, will be a curated view of the day’s best action.
Meanwhile, the network promised that its affiliated Peacock streaming service would show every Olympic competition live.
“We’ve given the audience choice, which I think the consumer wants,” said Molly Solomon, NBC Olympics executive producer. “We know how popular live sports is, so to hold something back doesn’t make any sense in this new media landscape.”
That means reconfiguring how NBC structures its telecast for prime-time in the United States, always the biggest draw for viewers. NBC won’t just show competitions, but will use the extra time to tell viewers more about why things played out the way they did, and give a backstage view, she said.
Producers are aware that many viewers come to those delayed broadcasts already knowing who won some of the events, while others won’t and will want to be surprised.
“We never want to ruin the suspense,” Solomon said. “But it is a tightrope act.”
More heavily than in the past, NBC will lean into personality profiles of athletes and feature celebrities in the coverage; Snoop Dogg, for example, is coming to Paris on NBC’s dime. Solomon said she might make use of features that are being planned for Peacock, such as a highlights package narrated by Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson.
“It’s going to look very different from the prime-time shows that you’ve seen in the past,” she said.
That will also require some business adjustments, with NBC selling advertising packages that include inventory in both “prime-time” broadcasts, said Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Universal Media Group. The network is also preparing to emphasize viewership counts across all of its platform, in a way that deflects attention from likely ratings decreases in the evening compared to past years.
Lazarus also acknowledged that NBC did a poor job with its Olympics offerings on Peacock four years ago, essentially overpromising and underdelivering, and consumers reacted with “the big digital middle finger.”
He promised dramatic improvement for Peacock this summer.
The streamer is also using AI to allow fans to create personalized highlights packages, by picking in advance some favorite sports and the type of action they would like to see. AI will then deliver those specific highlights, narrated by an AI-generated model of Michaels’ voice — eerily realistic during a demonstration given on Wednesday.
NBC estimates it will create some 7 million variations of highlight packages through the new service.
Besides Snoop Dogg, NBC is bringing in celebrities like Kelly Clarkson, Peyton Manning and Jimmy Fallon for its coverage. It announced Wednesday that “Saturday Night Live” actor Colin Jost will help cover surfing from Tahiti. And to emphasize storytelling — NBC is billing the Olympics as a reality show, comedy and drama all in one — Spielberg will narrate “Land of Stories,” a short film that will run before the Olympics opening ceremonies.
Executive producer Peter Lenkov, who worked with Wily on both “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I.,” said on Instagram that he was “devastated” and “heartbroken” by Wily’s death.
“You charmed me into making you a regular… on the show… and in my life,” Lenkov wrote in a second post, alongside a slideshow of images of himself and Wily. “You were family. And I will miss you every day, brother.”
Taylor Wily attends the Sunset on the Beach event celebrating season 8 of “Hawaii Five-0” at Queen’s Surf Beach on Nov. 10, 2017 in Waikiki, Hawaii.
Darryl Oumi / Getty Images
Wily was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Before entering the film and television industry, he had a career as a sumo wrestler and mixed martial artist.
Wily had a recurring role on “Hawaii Five-0,” playing the character of Kamekona Tupuola for 171 episodes. He also reprised the role in “MacGyver” and “Magnum P.I.” He also played a role in the film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and appeared during the 20th season of “The Amazing Race.”
Wily is survived by his wife, Halona, and their two children, KITV reported.
Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.
LONDON — Actor Ian McKellen is expected to make a full recovery after he toppled off a London stage during a fight scene and was hospitalized, producers said.
McKellen, 85, was in “good spirits” after doctors said a scan showed he was expected to fully recover from the fall on Monday night, a spokesperson for the production at the Noel Coward Theatre said.
Tuesday’s performance was canceled but McKellen was expected to be back onstage Wednesday, producers said.
The stage and screen veteran, who played Gandalf in the “Lord of the Rings” films, cried out in pain after the fall, according to a BBC journalist at the theater.
McKellen was playing the roguish John Falstaff in “Player Kings,” an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s two “Henry IV” history plays, directed by Robert Icke.
Theatergoers were startled when McKellen lost his footing and fell off the stage in a scene with Toheeb Jimoh’s Prince Hal and Henry Percy, played by Samuel Edward-Cook.
“Sir Ian seemed to trip as he moved downstage to take a more active part in the scene,” audience member Paul Critchley told the PA news agency, saying it was a shock. “He picked up momentum as he moved downstage which resulted in him falling off the stage directly in front of the audience.”
Staff and two doctors in the audience helped the actor, the theater said in a statement.
The theater was evacuated and the performance was canceled.
McKellen played Magneto in the “X-Men” films and is one of Britain’s most acclaimed Shakespearean actors, with roles including Richard III, Macbeth and King Lear.
He has won a Tony Award — for “Amadeus” — several Olivier Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, five Emmys and several BAFTA awards.
Warner Bros. Discovery and the French Tennis Federation made official on Tuesday what had been revealed over the weekend — the French Open will air on TNT Sports in the United States beginning next year.
TV sportscaster Noah Eagle announced at the end of NBC’s coverage on Sunday that TNT Sports would be the new home of the tournament.
The 10-year agreement will average $65 million per year, a jump from the $25-30 million a year the French Tennis Federation had received from NBC and Tennis Channel for the U.S. rights.
NBC first aired the second leg of tennis’ Grand Slam in 1975, and had been doing it uninterrupted since 1983.
“Once it became clear that the rights were available we jumped quickly and then went to Paris and explained the vision for what we wanted to do with the tournament,” TNT Sports chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser said. “We painted a vision where we’re not only talking to the tennis fan, but we want to talk to the sports fan overall. I don’t want to say that it was done quickly, but it was done in a relatively short amount of time.”
TNT will be the lead network for coverage, with additional matches airing on TBS and truTV. Every match from the tournament will also be streamed on Max. Highlights and other content will also be available on Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and HighlightHER.
The new contract brings the French Open on the same level as the coverage of the other three Grand Slam tournaments, which are carried by ESPN. Every match from every court for the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open are on the ESPN+ streaming service. ESPN also airs coverage from all three on multiple channels during select windows.
French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton said in a statement that the new agreement “will enable the federation to ensure maximum exposure for Roland Garros in the USA and help further promote the tournament.”
Warner Bros. Discovery already had a history with the French Open. It had aired the tournament on Eurosport since 1989 and distributed coverage to 55 countries outside the United States.
TNT would likely begin promoting the French Open during its coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in March, and would continue that through their coverage of the NHL and NBA playoffs.
TNT will air two College Football Playoff games on Dec. 21 and has four NASCAR races beginning next year, but its future carrying the NBA remains up in the air as discussions continue with the league on a new rights agreement, which would begin with the 2025-26 season.
LOS ANGELES — After 41 years and over 8,000 episodes, Pat Sajak made his final turn as the renowned host of “Wheel of Fortune” on Friday.
The season 41 finale, dubbed the “Thanks for the memories” show, opened with a clip from Sajak’s first episode as the host of “Wheel of Fortune” in 1981 and closed with Sajak’s warm message of gratitude.
In his farewell message, Sajak thanked the viewers of the beloved game show for granting him the “incredible privilege to be invited into millions of homes, night after night, year after year, decade after decade.”
Sajak, 77, also gave a heartfelt thanks to his “professional other half,” Vanna White, who has co-hosted with him for over 40 years and delivered her emotional tribute to Sajak a day earlier.
“We’ve seen a lot of changes in each other’s lives over the years, but we’ve always been there for each other,” he said. “I will miss our nightly closes and her laughter and her good nature. She’s a very special woman.”
Among the many thanks and shoutouts Sajak offered during the final episode before his retirement, he said the crew and staff, some of whom have been working on the show as long as he has, were a “joy” to work with. “Your skills and dedication and good humor made this a place I always wanted to be,” he added.
Sajak thanked one staff member by name: his daughter Maggie. She began working as the show’s social correspondent in 2021 and he said their collaboration has been the “best part of the last couple of years.” Sajak also mentioned his son, Patrick, and his wife, Lesly, and said that he is “blessed” to have his family.
The famed host also said that the “real stars of the show” have been the contestants who competed for cash and luxury prizes throughout the decades of the show’s run. He called them “kind and considerate,” noting that they always “took great pride in talking about their family, their hometown, their friends, their schools, their jobs, even their pets.”
Reflecting on the show’s massive reach, Sajak noted that he always found it important to keep the daily half-hour show a “safe place for family fun,” excluding any social issues or political topics from the banter he shared with contestants and White. He said he wanted to keep the show “just a game,” before noting that to many, it became a part of their daily lives.
“Gradually, it became more than that,” Sajak continued. “A place where kids learned their letters, where people from other countries honed their English skills, where families came together along with friends and neighbors and entire generations. What an honor to have played even a small part in all that.”
Sajak’s closed out his message with a crack about how viewers could still see more of him through reruns of the show during its summer break. “The jokes will be the same, but I’d appreciate it if you’d laugh anyway,” he quipped before saying a final goodbye.
To make time for his closing message, Sajak truncated the game by cutting out a round. He said he wanted to ensure the competition was still fair for contestants Tammi, Adrienne and Nino, so Sajak spun the wheel himself and added to their totals. While he initially said he’d add $1,000 to the prize money the wheel landed on, he bumped the bonus up to $5,000 for each person after noting that it wasn’t his money he was allocating. “Little Jimmy’s surgery can wait,” he joked.
During her tribute on Thursday, White called Sajak “like a brother” and a “true lifelong friend.” In the pre-recorded video that featured clips and photos of their decades as co-workers, she added that their personal friendship has meant even more than their professional collaboration.
Seacrest paid tribute to Sajak — and White — in an Instagram post on Saturday.
“Your dedication, charm, and wit have made the show a beloved part of American television for decades. Your partnership with Vanna has been nothing short of iconic, and together, you’ve created countless wonderful memories for viewers,” said Seacrest’s post, which included a photo and a video of him, Sajak and White at the game show’s familiar set. “You’ve set the standard for hosts everywhere, and this marks the end of an era.”
LOS GATOS, Calif. — Although its video streaming service sparkles with a Hollywood sheen, Netflix still taps its roots in Silicon Valley to stay a step ahead of traditional TV and movie studios.
The Los Gatos, California, company, based more than 300 miles away from Hollywood, frequently reaches into its technological toolbox without viewers even realizing it. It often just uses few subtle twists on the knobs of viewer recommendations to help keep its 270 million worldwide subscribers satisfied at a time when most of its streaming rivals are seeing waves of cancellations from inflation-weary subscribers.
Even when hit TV series like “The Crown” or “Bridgerton” have wide appeal, Netflix still tries to cater to the divergent tastes of its vast audience. One part of that recipe includes tailoring summaries and trailers about its smorgasbord of shows to fit the personal interests of each viewer.
So someone who likes romance might see a plot summary or video trailer for “The Crown” highlighting the relationship between Princess Diana and Charles, while another viewer more into political intrigue may be shown a clip of Queen Elizabeth in a meeting with Margaret Thatcher.
For an Oscar-nominated film like “Nyad,” a lover of action might see a trailer of the title character immersed in water during one of her epic swims, while a comedy fan might see a lighthearted scene featuring some amusing banter between the two stars, Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.
Netflix is able to pull off these variations through the deep understanding of viewing habits it gleans from crunching the data from subscribers’ histories with its service — including those of customers who signed up in the late 1990s when the company launched with a DVD-by-mail service that continued to operate until last September.
“It is a secret sauce for us, no doubt,” Eunice Kim, Netflix’s chief product officer, said while discussing the nuances of the ways Netflix tries to reel different viewers into watching different shows. “The North Star we have every day is keep people engaged, but also make sure they are incredibly satisfied with their viewing experiences.”
As part of that effort, Netflix is rolling out a redesign of the home page that greets subscribers when they are watching the streaming service on a TV screen. The changes are meant to package all the information that might appeal to a subscriber’s tastes in a more concise format to reduce the “gymnastics with their eyes,” said Patrick Flemming, Netflix’s senior director of member product.
What Netflix is doing with its previews may seem like a small thing, but it can make a huge difference, especially as people looking to save money start to winnow the number of streaming services they have.
Last year, video streaming services collectively suffered about 140 million account cancellations, a 35% increase from 2022 and nearly triple the volume in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic created a boom in demand for entertainment from people corralled at home, according to numbers compiled by the research firm Antenna.
Netflix doesn’t disclose its cancellation, or churn rate, but last year its streaming service gained 30 million subscribers — marking its second-biggest annual increase behind its own growth spurt during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns.
Part of last year’s subscription growth flowed from a crackdown on viewers who had been freeloading off Netflix subscribers who shared their account passwords. But the company is also benefiting from the technological know-how that helps it to keep funneling shows to customers who like them and make them think the service is worth the money, according to J. Christopher Hamilton, an assistant professor of television, radio and film at Syracuse University.
“What they have been doing is pretty ingenious and very, very strategic,” Hamilton said. “They are definitely ahead of the legacy media companies who are trying to do some of the same things but just don’t have the level of sophistication, experience nor the history of the data in their archives.”
Netflix’s nerdy heritage once was mocked by an entertainment industry that looked down at the company’s geekdom.
“It’s a little bit like, is the Albanian army going to take over the world?” former Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said of Netflix during a 2010 interview after being asked about the threat Netflix posed at the time.
Not long after that put-down, Netflix began mining its viewing data to figure out how to produce a slate of original programming that would attract more subscribers — an ambitious expansion that forced Time Warner (now rolled into Warner Bros. Discovery) and other long-established entertainment companies such as Walt Disney Co. into a mad scramble to build their own streaming services.
Although those expansions initially attracted hordes of subscribers, they also resulted in massive losses that have resulted in management shakeups and drastic cutbacks, including the abrupt closure of a CNN streaming service.
What Netflix is doing with technology to retain subscribers to boost its fortunes — the company’s profit rose 20% to $5.4 billion last year — now is widening the divide with rival services still trying to stanch their losses.
Disney’s 4-year-old streaming service recently became profitable after an overhaul engineered by CEO Bob Iger, but he thinks more work will be required to catch up with Netflix.
“We need to be at their level in terms of technology capability,” Iger said at a conference earlier this year. “We’re now in the process of creating and developing all of that technology, and obviously the gold standard there is Netflix.”
Netflix isn’t going to help its rivals by divulging its secrets, but the slicing and dicing generally starts with getting a grasp on which viewers tend to gravitate to certain genres — the broad categories include action, adventure, anime, fantasy, drama, horror, comedy, romance and documentary — and then diving deeper from there.
In some instances, Netflix’s technology will even try to divine a viewer’s mood at any given time by analyzing what titles are being browsed or clicked on. In other instances, it’s relatively easy for the technology to figure out how to make a film or TV series as appealing as possible to specific viewers. If Netflix’s data shows a subscriber has watched a lot of Hindi productions, it would be almost a no-brainer to feature clips of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt in a role she played in the U.S. film, “Heart of Stone” instead of the movie’s lead actress, Gal Gadot.
“We want to do a really good job putting the things that you prefer in front of you,” Kim said. “Part of that is the content recommendations themselves, but it’s also about how we present the content to you.”
Disney+, if you didn’t know, isn’t just for kids. With its ownership of the Lucasfilm brand and the Marvel titles, the streaming service offers plenty of grown-up content in its bid to compete with Netflix and Amazon—and we’re not just talking movies. Since launching the service, Disney has used the name recognition of Star Wars and Marvel to launch scores of TV shows, from The Mandalorian to Loki. In the list below, we’ve collected the ones we think are the best to watch, from those franchises and beyond.
Want more? Head to our best movies on Disney+ list if you’re looking for movies, and our guides on the best shows on Netflix and best shows on Apple TV+ to see what Disney’s rivals have to offer. Don’t like our picks, or want to suggest your own? Head to the comments below and share your thoughts.
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The Acolyte
A Jedi turning to the Dark Side is a concept as old as the Star Wars franchise itself, and not something fans have given much thought to in terms of the “why.” But this new Disney+ series dares to ask that question, and plays out a bit like a true crime procedural in a sci-fi landscape. Carrie-Anne Moss stars as a Jedi Master, and if her character seems a bit like Trinity from The Matrix series, that’s by design. Series creator Leslye Headlandtold Empire that the character owes much of its inspiration to the Wachowskis’ movies and that Moss’ Indara is basically “Trinity with a lightsaber.”
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire
It’s been five years since Disney released the last Star Wars movie, and it will likely be another two years (at least) until The Mandalorian & Grogu arrives. Fortunately, Disney+ has plenty of TV series to fill the void, including this animated anthology that adds new stories about the franchise’s Galactic empire, in the same time period in which the original trilogy existed. It follows the very different journeys of two characters: Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), a Force-sensitive human and member of the Nightsister coven who, after being one of the few of her people to survive the Clone Wars, is seeking revenge. Meanwhile, Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger) is a former Jedi who is questioning her own disillusionment with the order and what her road ahead looks like. Both are forced to make decisions that will change their individual destinies, and the galaxy far, far away with it.
Doctor Who
May 10 marked the beginning of a new era for Doctor Who fans when Ncuti Gatwa was officially handed the sonic screwdriver and to take the legendary sci-fi series in new directions as the Fifteenth Doctor. Russell T. Davies is back to oversee all the time-traveling shenanigans as the latest incarnation of the Time Lord journeys through space and time with companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson). The pair officially made their debut as part of the latest Christmas specials, which also saw the return of fan favorites David Tennant (here playing the Fourteenth Doctor) and Catherine Tate in honor of the show’s 60th anniversary. While the series will keep its standing as a BBC staple in the UK and Ireland, American audiences will need to head to Disney+ to experience it all.
X-Men ’97
Of all the big-budget X-Men movies and TV shows that have existed over the years, it’s hard to believe that a cartoon series from the ’90s is one of the most beloved entries. But it’s true. And fans of that series, which ran for five years beginning in 1992, have been eagerly awaiting this revival, which arrived in March. Many of the original voice actors have returned to reclaim their characters, who must learn how to navigate a world without Professor Xavier to guide them. The events of this series pick up just one year after the point where the original show (which you can read more about below) ended.
Renegade Nell
Louisa Harland shines as Nell Jackson, the renegade of the title, who accidentally becomes one of the most feared highwaywomen in 18th-century England after she is framed for murder. Of course, this being a Disney series, it’s best to expect something a little magical—which in Nell’s case is Billy Blind, a magical sprite sent to help her realize her true destiny. What is surprising is that the series, which is perfectly suited to teens and their families, was created by Sally Wainwright, the brilliant mind behind such adult-themed series as Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack.
Iwájú
Tola Martins (Simisola Gbadamosi) is an adventurous 10-year-old who longs to discover more about the history and culture of her native Nigeria, which is portrayed as a kind of Wakanda. But her father, a wealthy scientist and tech CEO, prefers that his daughter remain within the bubble of privilege he has built around her on their island home. When she decides to travel into the city to surprise her dad, his own worst fears are realized when she is kidnapped. The limited sci-fi series, which is set in a futuristic Lagos, plays out a bit like a graphic novel—which is a good thing. With its striking animation and themes of class and racial divide and social justice, Iwájú is the thinking family’s next binge-watch.
Queens
“We don’t call her Mother Nature for nothing,” says Angela Bassett in the trailer for Queens, a Nat Geo series that documents six far-flung places around the world where female animals rule the kingdom, from the mountains and rainforests to the oceans and savannas. The series’ final episode also pays special tribute to the women working to protect these fierce female warriors.
Dinosaurs
Nineties kids no doubt remember this sitcom about a family of dinosaurs. Earl Sinclair is a fortysomething megalosaurus living with his family in Pangaea circa 60,000,000 BC. While his days are spent working as a tree pusher (yep, he pushes over trees), he lives for his family: wife Fran and kids Robbie, Charlene, and Baby Sinclair, whose running gag of hitting his dad over the head with a frying pan and shouting “Gotta love me!” never gets old. Not even three decades on.
Genius: MLK/X
Since first premiering in 2017, Nat Geo’s Genius series has given viewers an exhaustive history of some of the world’s greatest thinkers, beginning with Albert Einstein (masterfully played by Geoffrey Rush). For its latest season, the network is diving into the real histories of the lives of civil rights icons Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre). Rather than just hit the high points, like the famous speeches you likely know by heart, Genius delves into the past and deep below the surface to show how their backgrounds and personalities led them to become the icons we know today.
Echo
This Marvel series continues the studio’s recent trend of shining a spotlight on its fearless—and complicated—female characters. In this case, that character is Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), aka Echo, who is best known to audiences as a baddie from Hawkeye. But over the course of its relatively short five episodes, all of which are streaming now, we learn why Maya—one of the MCU’s few deaf characters—must reconcile the events of her past and reconnect with her Native American roots in order to confront the future she has created for herself. The series is already earning solid reviews, especially for the work of Hollywood newcomer Cox, who deftly manages to shoulder the weight of an entire MCU series.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Nearly 20 years after the release of the first book in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, this small-screen adaptation of that first title is being praised for how faithful it has remained to Riordan’s beloved words. Being a tween is hard enough, but for 12-year-old Perseus “Percy” Jackson (Walker Scobell) it gets even harder when he learns he’s the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and that he has pissed off his uncle, Zeus, who believes that Percy has stolen his thunderbolt. (And you thought having a zit was bad!) Fortunately for Percy there is Camp Half-Blood—a place where demigods like himself can learn to harness their powers and use them for good. It’s there that Percy learns the whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing and embraces it—even if he’d rather be playing video games with his friends.
Rewind the ’90s
The further removed people become from any particular decade, the more ridiculous that decade seems to become. And the ’90s are no exception, especially when you’re reminded that the government feared Furby, of all things. This limited series from Nat Geo is a loving look back at the decade that made us dependent on the internet, introduced us to the Spice Girls, and made Fabio a sex symbol around the world. If you don’t know who Fabio is, you now have even one more reason to watch. (Disclosure: WIRED’s culture editor, Angela Watercutter, is a talking head in this series.)
Behind the Attraction
Disneyland, Walt Disney’s very first theme park, opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955. In the nearly 70 years since, Disney parks have become a worldwide phenomenon and inspired rabid fan bases who make annual (if not more frequent) pilgrimages to these so-called Happiest Places on Earth. But what goes on behind the scenes? From the creation of major attractions like the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean to its bustling food scene (Dole Whip, anyone?), this docuseries goes behind the scenes of the world’s most famous amusement parks.
Goosebumps
For more than 30 years, R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps books have fed the nightmares of young readers—much to their delight (well, usually). Now Disney is inspiring a whole new generation of horror lovers with this fun series, which follows the lives of a group of high schoolers who begin to unravel the terrifying truth about a decades-old murder—and the roles their nearest and dearest might have played in it—in their otherwise picture-perfect hometown. While the always-affable Justin Long stars as a teacher who may or may not be possessed in season 1 of this anthology series, season 2—which was announced in February—will bring an all-new cast with it, including Friends star David Schwimmer.
Loki
The MCU is exhaustingly huge. Yet while Loki is undoubtedly part of that universe, the series could just as easily work as a stand-alone piece, and it’s all the more fun and surprising as a result. There are enough plot twists, silly one-liners, and time-travel antics to keep everyone entertained, and even a wisecracking alligator. If that doesn’t do it, Loki has a visual effects budget that would put most Hollywood blockbusters to shame. Sure, it’s not the most intellectually stimulating show out there, but Tom Hiddleston does a great job of turning Loki into a fairly complex, interesting character. No word yet on whether there might be a third season in Loki’s future—and even Hiddleston is in the dark. “I truly don’t know,” he admitted to Variety in a recent interview, adding: “There have been other times when I thought that it was the end and I have been mistaken. But if this is the end, I’m so proud of where we ended up.”
Daredevil
Before Disney+ became the home for all of Marvel’s TV content, Netflix was the place to find it—beginning with Daredevil, in which blind attorney Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) spends his days seeking justice and his nights looking for revenge as a masked vigilante attempting to rid his Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of its criminal element. While the series ended in 2018, Cox has reprised the role and is at work on a new series, Daredevil: Born Again, which will be a Disney+ exclusive when it arrives in January 2025—hopefully (the reboot is in the midst of a massive overhaul).
Ahsoka
We know what you’re thinking: Wait, another Star Wars series? And we don’t blame you for asking the question. But for old-school franchise fans, Ahsoka just might surprise you. Rosario Dawson reprises the title role as Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi who studied under Anakin Skywalker, which she first played in season 2 of The Mandalorian. Here, Ahsoka sets off on a journey to locate Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen, Mads’ brother)—a master manipulator who seems to be on a mission to become the grand ruler of the galaxy. A second season is in the works.
The Wonder Years
In 2021, writer-producer Saladin K. Patterson (Frasier, The Bernie Mac Show) rebooted the award-winning, and much beloved, series The Wonder Years for a new generation. Don Cheadle narrates the adventures of Dean Williams (Elisha “EJ” Williams), as he comes of age in Montgomery, Alabama, in the final years of the Civil Rights Movement. Both seasons of the worthwhile series are now streaming.
Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire
While Black Panther may have gotten an official sequel with 2022’s Wakanda Forever (which is, of course, available to stream on Disney+), this animated anthology series is in many ways a spiritual successor to that Oscar-winning MCU flick. More than a dozen up-and-coming African storytellers were handpicked to write and/or direct these 10 short films, which build on the makers’ cultures and histories to paint a fascinating, gorgeously animated—and often dystopian—picture of Afrofuturism.
Secret Invasion
From the moment it launched, Secret Invasion sparked conversation—although not for the reasons Marvel might have hoped. Turns out, the studio used artificial intelligence to create the show’s opening credits, a move that turned off some fans. Whether it’s curiosity about those Midjourney-looking visuals or general interest in what Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has been up to, Secret Invasion is worth a look. Captain Marvel costars Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn (Talos) team up again, and the show follows the two as they investigate a clandestine invasion of Earth by a shape-shifting alien race known as the Skrulls. If that doesn’t do it for you, you might want to tune in for Olivia Colman and Emilia Clarke’s first—though surely not their last—forays into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Muppets Mayhem
As any Muppets fan will tell you, The Electric Mayhem Band is a highlight of any show the gang puts on. This time, Dr. Teeth and the gang are front and center, on a quest to record their first studio album with the help of an ambitious music executive, played by one-time YouTube star Lilly Singh. While one season is all you’re getting, get ready to rock nonetheless.
A Small Light
While the story of Anne Frank is well known, the life of Hermine “Miep” Gies—Otto Frank’s secretary, and one of the five Dutch citizens who helped to hide the Frank family—is lesser known. This powerful Nat Geo miniseries helps to change that, with Bel Powley delivering a moving performance as a young woman who takes a heroic stand, regardless of the consequences.
American Born Chinese
Oscar winners—and Everything Everywhere All at Once costars—Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan reunite for this Disney+ original series. Jin Wang (Ben Wang) is your typical teenager who’s just trying to get through the day of dealing with high school social hierarchies. But his life is forever altered when he’s asked to serve as a mentor to Wei-Chen (Jimmy Liu), a foreign exchange student who is hiding some pretty big secrets. Like that he’s actually on an otherworldly mission from the heavenly realm and has chosen Jin to serve as his guide. Part coming-of-age tale and part mythological fantasy, the single-season series is a formidable adaptation of Gene Yang’s graphic novel.
Star Wars: Visions
For a franchise as varied and diverse as Star Wars, sometimes its output can feel a little same-y. That’s not the case with Visions. The point of the anthology series is to provide “all-new, creative” takes on the Star Wars universe. The first series, which premiered in 2021, featured nine installments from some of the best anime studios in Japan, including Kamikaze Douga and Trigger. The second anthology, which arrived in 2023, broadens the scope further, incorporating work from studios in India, Ireland, Spain, Chile, France, South Africa, the US, and the UK. If you’re looking for the best one-off tales from the Star Wars universe, look no further.
The Mandalorian
The Mandalorian was, and is, exactly what the Star Wars franchise needed. Everything about this Jon Favreau series feels like classic TV—from the episodic adventures to the cameos. Set in the outer reaches of the galaxy, it follows a moody, masked Mandalorian bounty hunter (WIRED cover star Pedro Pascal) and really delivers on the hype with its retro-futuristic robots, salty Space Western vibes, lack of Skywalker baggage, and, of course, Grogu (aka Baby Yoda). The Mandalorian really set the tone for what a great Star Wars series could be, and while not every subsequent show has been as good, others, like Andor, have lived up to the precedent it set—and proved Star Wars stories can make for great TV. There’s still no official word on a fourth season, but there is one more exciting adventure on the horizon: a movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu, which is rumored to begin production in June (with a 2026 release date).
Andor
Andor is something of a miracle. Created by Tony Gilroy, the filmmaker brought in to save Rogue One, it’s the origin story of one of that movie’s most beloved characters, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). Set in the early years of the Rebellion, it charts Andor’s path to becoming one of the most integral of the Rebels. With a supporting cast that includes Fiona Shaw and Stellan Skarsgård, it also features a fantastic score from Nicholas Britell (Moonlight, Succession). After spending so much time with Mandalorians and Jedis, it’s a welcome reprieve and perhaps the closest thing to prestige TV the Star Wars universe has released yet,
Ms. Marvel
With Ms. Marvel, Disney manages to combine its knack for producing coming-of-age tween fare with its new role as caretaker of the MCU. Iman Vellani charms as Kamala Khan, an Avengers-obsessed high schooler from Jersey City who feels like an outsider in most areas of her life. But when a gold bangle arrives from her grandmother in Pakistan, Kamala begins to realize that all the time she’s spent fantasizing about what life would be like with superpowers might have been preparing her for real life. With one foot in the teen drama world and the other in the comic book universe, Ms. Marvel—which just happens to feature Marvel’s first Muslim superhero—marks yet another admirable step forward for the company in both innovation and inclusion. Vellani’s Ms. Marvel recently made the leap to the big screen to star alongside Brie Larson in The Marvels.
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures
If helping to raise a new generation of Star Wars geeks was even a small part of your reason for having kids, this brand-new animated series, which is basically the Star Wars version of Muppet Babies, is a great place to start their education. Set during the High Republic era, approximately 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, it follows a group of young Jedis—Jedi Lites—who are sometimes stumbling their way through learning the ways of the Force. Like any good kid series, it also teaches important lessons about life and making a positive difference in the world.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Tatiana Maslany is no stranger to complicated characters (see: Orphan Black) or to playing more than one side of a single character (see again: Orphan Black). In She-Hulk, she gets to hone her deft skills even further while amping up the silliness of it all. Maslany plays Jennifer Walters, the cousin of Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), with whom she shares that angry green gene. Ultimately, this turns out to be a boon for Walters—and the audience—when she is given the chance to head up a new branch at her law firm that’s dedicated to cases involving “superhumans” like herself. While Maslany could easily carry the show on her own (yet again, see: Orphan Black), an all-star supporting cast that includes Ruffalo, Jameela Jamil, Tim Roth, and Benedict Wong only adds to the fun and further cements the show’s place in the MCU.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Ewan McGregor has not always had the kindest words for the Star Wars prequels in which he first played the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi—a role he inherited from Alec Guinness, who also had plenty of less-than-favorable things to say about the franchise. So it was somewhat surprising when Lucasfilm announced that McGregor would be donning his Jedi gear again to star in a stand-alone Star Wars series for Disney+. (Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has already said there will not be a second season.) In many ways, however, it allowed McGregor and former costar Hayden Christensen to course-correct some of their earlier work, as it follows a downtrodden Obi-Wan attempting to process his personal and professional disappointment over losing Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) to the Dark Side.
The Beatles: Get Back
In January 1969, just more than a year before they announced they were breaking up, the Beatles allowed a film crew unprecedented access to the creative process and recording of Let It Be, which would be their final studio album. Fifty years later, Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson was presented with the nearly 60 hours of film footage and more than 150 hours of audio that resulted from this project, and he remastered it and turned it into a three-part docuseries. Whether you’re already a Beatles fan or not, the documentary is a fascinating look at the creative process of one of the music world’s most influential bands as they work against the clock to finish recording an album, decide to have a free concert on their label’s rooftop, and occasionally butt heads. Knowing what the subjects do not know—that this will be the last time they perform live together or record an album—only adds to the project’s intimacy. The miniseries won all five Emmys it was nominated for, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
Moon Knight
Oscar Isaac brings yet another marquee name to Marvel’s growing roster of all-star talents with Moon Night. Here, Isaac plays a man with dissociative identity disorder, giving us not one but three distinct characters: mercenary Mark Spector, British gift shop employee Steven Grant, and the mysterious—and seemingly ominous—Jake Lockley. Ultimately, he must face off against himself to get the answers he’s seeking. For Moon Knight, Isaac told Empire that he was thrilled to be able to do something “really fucking nutty on a major stage”—and he delivers.
The Book of Boba Fett
As with The Mandalorian, Jon Favreau helms this Disney series, in which the criminally unsung bounty hunter of the Star Wars films finally gets his day in the sun. The series is technically a spinoff of The Mandalorian and takes place in the same time frame, after the events of Return of the Jedi. That explains why Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and his partner Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) are attempting to take over the underworld previously controlled by Jabba the Hutt.
The Muppet Show
While The Muppet Show, which ran for five seasons between 1976 and 1981, is considered a piece of classic television today, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for creator Jim Henson. Henson produced two one-off Muppet specials that were intended to take the show into prime time, but neither came to fruition. Fortunately, the Muppets did have a recurring gig in “The Land of Gorch” sketches that aired during Saturday Night Live’s first season, which—when that became a hit—gave Henson proof that there was a potentially massive audience for an adult-oriented Muppet show (not to mention celebrity connections to entice plenty of A-list names to host). The rest is Muppet history.
The Punisher
The Punisher is yet another Netflix-turned-Disney+ Marvel series that also happens to be a spinoff of Daredevil. Like Daredevil, the Punisher (real name: Frank Castle, played by Jon Bernthal) is a vigilante who seems to relish exacting revenge, regardless of the results. He and Daredevil operate within the same universe, and while the Punisher sort of admires Daredevil’s quest for true justice, Daredevil despises the Punisher’s by-any-means-necessary methods. Bernthal brings an intensity to the role that, while undoubtedly violent, also has a sense of humor about it.
Boy Meets World
If ABC’s TGIF lineup wasn’t a part of your night as a kid, you clearly didn’t grow up in the ’90s. But Disney+ is happy to right that wrong by housing all seven seasons of the teen sitcom in its library. Corey Matthews (Ben Savage) deals with the ups and downs of growing up and ever-evolving relationships with friends and family—plus that one teacher, Mr. Feeny (William Daniels)—who always has the right answer to your problems, whether you like it or not. As the show progressed and the kids grew up, serious issues like drugs and sex were thrown into the mix, which didn’t always please the network. When the show aired on the original Disney Channel, a few episodes weren’t included in the lineup because of the more mature subject matter. You can also check out all three seasons of Girl Meets World, the series reboot (which features Corey as the parent and Mr. Feeny) when you’re done.
Jessica Jones
Just about six months after Daredevil arrived on the scene, Netflix took another chance on a Marvel property with Jessica Jones. In this dark dive into the world of superheroes, Krysten Ritter plays a private investigator who gave up her days as a superhero after a major catastrophe. But you can’t deny who you are, as Jessica discovers when it seems like every case that comes her way forces her to confront her past—and the supervillain Kilgrave (David Tennant), who turned her into a shell of her former self.
Hawkeye
Yet another in an ever growing string of spinoff TV shows from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hawkeye gives some long overdue attention to Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton, who in many ways has often seemed like the forgotten Avenger. The supernaturally skilled archer is in most of the ensemble Avengers films, but this Disney+ series marks his first solo outing. The show sees Hawkeye teaming up with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), a precocious twentysomething who shares his skills for slinging arrows but lacks his eye for danger. It’s set during the holidays, and there are shades of Die Hard as the eponymous character tries to save the day and make it home in time for Christmas. Let the arguments about whether it’s a Christmas TV show begin.
Monsters at Work
Monsters at Work is the Monsters, Inc. spinoff you didn’t know you needed. It picks up the action six months after the end of the iconic Pixar movie—after Sully and his friend and colleague Mike (a giant green eyeball) have reworked the Monstropolis energy grid to run on laughter instead of children’s screams. The show, which includes elements of a workplace comedy, premiered in the summer of 2021 and just debuted its long-awaited second season in April.
The Bad Batch
Yes, Disney really is milking its Star Wars properties for all they’re worth. The Bad Batch is an animated spinoff series set in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy in the overarching timeline. It follows a group of clone soldiers with genetic defects that give them individual traits and personalities, making them well suited to taking on daring mercenary missions. All three seasons are available to stream.
WandaVision
This slow-burning sitcom parody is unexpectedly compelling. For the first couple of episodes, even hardened Marvel fans will have very little idea what’s going on, as Avengers Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) live out an idyllic family life in black-and-white 1950s suburbia. Quickly, it becomes clear that something is wrong in the quiet town of Westview, as the world of the show ties into the wider MCU. Olsen reprises her role in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which picks up right after the events of WandaVision. Though there will not be a second season, fan-favorite Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) is getting a spinoff, Agatha All Along, which is expected to drop in September.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
After the surreal sitcom stylings of WandaVision, the second Marvel show to land on Disney+ covers more familiar ground. It’s an action-packed thriller that follows Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as they try to fill the void left by Captain America in the months after the events of Avengers: Endgame.
Star Wars Rebels
Accessible for kids and adults alike—and undoubtedly one of the best Star Wars TV series on Disney+—this animated series follows a group of rebels led by the former Jedi Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and featuring his force-sensitive Padawan, Ezra Bridger (Ezra Gray). Fan favorite Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) is another regular character across its four seasons, which do a neat job of fleshing out the time between the end of the prequel trilogy and the beginning of the original one.
The Simpsons
Have you got some time on your hands? Well, the 34 seasons of The Simpsons currently streaming on Disney+ should keep you busy. What can be said about one of the longest-running—and arguably most famous—animated TV shows ever made? While the first season is a little patchy by today’s standards, and there are ongoing arguments about when the show went from essential viewing to neglected cash cow, whatever your view, there are literally weeks worth of entertainment here.
X-Men: The Animated Series
If you really want to nerd out, this critically acclaimed animated X-Men series from the ’90s is worth a watch. In fact, the first two films in the live-action movie franchise drew heavily from this cartoon, which serves as a nice reminder of what can be done with rich source material.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
This seven-season series, which is for serious Marvel fans, revolves around S.H.I.E.L.D.’s less super agents, led by Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). The first season takes a while to warm up, but it really hits its stride in its second and especially third seasons, and it eventually ramps up with a complex plot that ties into the films.
Agent Carter
Agent Carter is a better show than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it struggled to find an audience during its two seasons. Hayley Atwell reprises her role as Peggy Carter from several MCU films in this 1940s-set series, where she doubles as an agent for the US government while helping Howard Stark (Tony’s dad) out of more than one jam. The two seasons stretch to only 18 episodes, so it’s a quick watch, but one worth making the time for.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
This is another Star Wars animated show worth seeking out, though it’s not to be confused with the equally worthy 2003 animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars from legendary Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky. Both series deal with the period between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and chronicle the rise of Anakin Skywalker from arrogant Padawan to powerful Jedi Master.
Inside Pixar
There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes content on Disney+. These are short clips that, in another age, would have been confined to the DVD extras menu. But this series of 20-minute documentaries on different Pixar movies offers a fascinating insight into the animated hit machine.
What If …?
Here’s an animated series based on one simple question: What if? The Watcher, played by Jeffrey Wright, is an extraterrestrial being who observes the multiverse, occasionally making minor changes to influence events. This series looks at how events in the Marvel movies would have turned out differently if they’d had a Sliding Doors moment. The first episode follows an alternate timeline in which Steve Rogers remains a scrawny sidekick and Agent Carter becomes a Union Jack-draped super soldier. Actors from the films reprise their roles, including Josh Brolin as Thanos, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Karen Gillan as Nebula. The second season arrived in late 2023.
Idris Elba narrating a National Geographic series about the millions of soldiers erased from World War II history and the action-comedy-romance “Hit Man” landing on Netflix 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: Dakota Johnson plays a woman questioning her sexuality in “AM I OK?,” Nigerian singer Tems’ debut album drops and the late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld is spotlighted in a new six-part series for Hulu.
— “Hit Man” is finally hitting Netflix. A charming and fun action-comedy-romance that’s based on a “somewhat true story,” “Hit Man” stars Glen Powell as a mild-mannered philosophy professor whose life takes a wild turn when he starts doing undercover work for the police as a fake hit man. It’s all costumes and fun and convictions until he meets the beautiful Madison (“Andor’s” Adria Arjona) and starts living a double life. Richard Linklater directed the film, which he co-wrote with Powell. A sensation at the fall film festivals, “Hit Man” was picked up by Netflix which seems like a good home for this, shielding it from any “box office disappointment” narratives. In my AP review, I got a bit hung up on some of the choices and logic but wrote that, “It’s perfectly enjoyable: a glossy, easy-to-digest Powell showcase that isn’t trying to be anything but fun.”
— Over on Max, Dakota Johnson plays a woman questioning her sexuality in “AM I OK?,” which begins streaming on Thursday. Johnson’s company TeaTime Pictures helped produce the film directed by Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne and co-starring Sonoya Mizuno. Around the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022, Johnson spoke to the AP about what drew her to the project. “There were a few things that I loved, but I think it was the idea of a woman in her 30s still figuring out who she is,” Johnson said. “I loved the idea of somebody being afraid of their sexuality and the truth of it. And then the female friendship aspect: I liked that sort of more intense subject matter was infused in a sort of buddy comedy.”
— Before she even released her debut album – “Born in the Wild,” which releases Friday, June 7 — Nigerian singer Tems won a Grammy. (That was for her contributions to the Future track “WAIT FOR U,” which also featured Drake.) She’s been nominated for an Oscar, having co-wrote “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” as performed by Rihanna. And she co-wrote “Move” from Beyoncé’s “Renaissance.” The accolades are many — and on “Born in the Wild,” deserved. The R&B, pop, and Afrobeats performer marries all of her influences here, starting with the lead single and love letter to Lagos, “Love Me JeJe.”
— In 2024, the avant-garde pop performer Charli XCX is returning to the raves of her youth. It’s a funny statement to make about a 31-year-old super producer/songwriter/hitmaker, but it’s the truth. “Brat,” her fourth full-length release, amplifies Charli XCX’s Y2K-era obsessions, like on the single “Von Dutch,” with its early-aughts references and showboating filtered through futuristic PC Music-style production, or her contemporary IT girl anthem “360.” (A choice lyric from the chorus: “I’m everywhere/I’m so Julia,” she sings, a reference to model/actor/memoirist Julia Fox.) Turn it up, smell the smoke machine, feel the sweat.
— On Friday, June 7, one of the most exciting voices in contemporary country music, Carly Pearce, will deliver a new album, “Hummingbird.” It is her first since 2021’s “29: Written in Stone,” a continuation of her EP “29,” which chronicled her divorce from singer-songwriter Michael Ray. That’s important to note, because it gives additional context to this release: Still concerned with grief and loss, but now energized by a new sense of autonomy and hope, Pearce’s songwriting is as sharp as ever. The title track is deeply-felt bluegrass; “fault line” recalls ’70s country a la Tammy Wynette and George Jones. She also co-produced the album with collaborators Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.
— There is no shortage of great music documentaries flooding Paramount+, and on Tuesday, another will be added to the list. “Let the Canary Sing” is a feature-length doc on Cyndi Lauper, exploring her rise to fame, her political activism, and most crucially of all, her hits. Because “Time After Time,” “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” “All Through the Night,” am I right?
— The National World War II Museum says Black men and women served in every branch of the armed services during World War II, yet their stories are largely untold. Two new documentaries debut Monday on National Geographic that highlight their service. “Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color” is executive produced and narrated by Idris Elba. “The Real Red Tails,” narrated by Sheryl Lee Ralph, recaps the discovery of a WWII-era Tuskegee airmen plane in Lake Huron, Michigan. Both stream next day on Hulu and Disney+.
— A ninth season of “Below Deck Mediterranean” sails onto Bravo on Monday with a 75-minute premiere episode. Aboard a luxury charter yacht led by Capt. Sandy Yawn and her chief steward, Aisha Scott, cameras catch the crew’s conflicts with each other while they also cater to their guests. The show streams the next day on Peacock.
— Since her release from prison in late December for conspiring to kill her abusive mother, Gypsy Rose Blanchard has remained in the public eye. She’s walked red carpets, been the topic of tabloid gossip and even met Kim Kardashian. Lifetime cameras have followed Rose as she acclimates to freedom in a new docuseries, “Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup” debuts Monday.
— In a new FX limited series called “Clipped,” Ed O’Neill (“Modern Family”, “Married with Children”) plays former Clippers team owner, Donald Sterling, who was recorded making racist comments that were leaked to TMZ. It led to Sterling stepping down as owner of the Clippers and to being banned for life by the NBA. “Clipped” also stars Laurence Fishburne as Doc Rivers and Jacki Weaver as Sterling’s wife, Shelly. The series is based on an ESPN 30-for-30 podcast called “The Sterling Affairs.” “Clipped” debuts Tuesday on Hulu.
— Daniel Brühl is already getting positive reviews from critics for his portrayal of late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld in a new six-part series for Hulu premiering Friday, June 7. “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” focuses on Lagerfeld’s rise in the fashion world as designers of Chloé and Fendi. The series also doesn’t shy away from Lagerfeld’s complex legacy because besides his contributions to fashion, he also made contentious remarks around the #MeToo movement, same sex marriages and plus-size models.
— The NHL has its answer to the Puppy Bowl with its first Stanley Pup game airing on the NHL Network. The Stanley Pup will feature rescue dogs representing the 32 NHL teams. The 16 dogs representing the teams that are playing in the hockey playoffs will compete for the Stanley Pup. The “Stanley Pup” will air in the U.S. on Friday, June 7 at 8 p.m. ET on NHL Network and ESPN+ and on Sportsnet in Canada on Saturday, June 8 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
— Candice Carty-Williams has adapted her popular 2019 novel “Queenie” for television. It follows Queenie Jenkins, a Jamaican Brit living in South London recovering from a bad breakup and trying to navigate her mid-twenties. The show stars Dionne Brown as Queenie along with British R&B musician Bellah, Samuel Adewunmi, Michelle Greenidge and Joseph Marcell. “Queenie” premieres Friday, June 7 on Hulu.
— You can head to a galaxy far, far away with Zynga’s Star Wars: Hunters. In the hottest sport on the planet Vespaara, teams of four battle it out with their blasters and lightsabers. The gladiators include droids, Wookiees, Jawas and even a few ordinary humans from both the Dark and Light sides of the Force. The arenas range from a lush Ewok village to the desert planet Tatooine to the surface of a Death Star. The core game is free to download and play on mobile devices, though of course Zynga is hoping you’ll shell out for costumes and season passes. Join the fray Tuesday on Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android.
Some television viewers greet commercials by grabbing the remote control and surfing other channels. Others just thumb-punch the mute button. Once in a while, we merely endure them. That’s because much commercial advertising can be annoying at best and offensive at worst.
This means you, gambling, booze, and pickup trucks. You, too, fast food. And all you car-crash lawyers who sue, sue, sue everybody all the time all over Detroit TV.
But a rare and special ad currently airing in heavy rotation can lure a viewer into staying on channel, turning up the volume and staring at the screen for 30 charming seconds. It is the mini-drama for Expedia Travel called “Northern Lights: Julie, Grace & Maya.”
The frosting on this particular cupcake is a 57-year-old song by the Velvet Underground called “I’ll Be Your Mirror.” The whole package is sentimental without being schmaltzy, a delicate balance that is hard to achieve.
“Northern Lights” tells a plausible story touching on nature and nurture and female family ties. It honors intergenerational bonding over family values that are about more than material things.
Nevertheless, exotic-destination travel — what Expedia calls a “bucket-list-trip” — is a high-end product, not for those struggling financially. As another old song might have said: all you need is money.
“Lights” shows a working mother taking her daughter and her mother on an impulsive vacation to Norway to see the Northern Lights. As their story unfolds visually, the soundtrack plays a short clip from the 1967 song “I’ll Be Your Mirror.”
“I find it hard to believe
“That you don’t know
“The beauty you are
“But, if you don’t . . .
“Please put down your hands
“‘Cause I see you.”
The ethereal female singing voice is that of Nico and not Lou Reed, the usual front man of the V.U. If ever a commercial on TV can be called exquisite, this may be the one. It began to air on Super Bowl Sunday to promote specific, special tourism in the year of the aurora borealis.
Like many ads, “Lights” tries to include memorable visual “hooks” that viewers anticipate (sometimes unconsciously) on repeated viewing. One comes in the fifth shot of 16 camera cuts in 30 seconds.
It shows the working Mom (lawyer? executive?) having rushed home through the front door while still on her cell phone. She’s looking for her mother, who is baby-sitting for her daughter. This family appears to be matriarchal, if not matrilinear.
“Mom?” she says, an urgent edge to her tone.
By now, we see a personality, if not a character. Single mom? Husband dead or away in the military? Divorce? They leave it vague, but force you to imagine this mother more fully. Her “mom” is the smiling, grayish woman playing in the next room on the floor by the bed with the little girl.
Their toy shows a pretend version of the Northern Lights projected in a dark room. The visual plotting here is clear even as a silent film. Then comes a pivotal shot. The camera swings left to right to meet the working mom as she comes to a sudden stop while entering through the doorway.
She gazes at her mother and daughter, open-jawed, slightly startled, her eyes with just a flash of regret — is my daughter growing up without me? But her look quickly softens and her lips close in a small smile because, after all, her daughter is safe with grandma. Still, a seed has been planted.
Despite a quiet feel, the “Mirror” music plays on, almost like a lullaby, which is appropriate for the next scene, after the grandmother puts on her coat and leaves. We see, through the mother’s eyes, the little girl sleeping on the sofa while mom works late at her home desk, burning the midnight electricity.
She works against the backdrop of two, big windows, dark against the urban skyscape. That’s a clue, too. They live in the sky but can’t really see it. The soft singing continues, a German accent, a voice once described as “a bewitching contralto.”
The camera then pans left-to-right and downward (from mom’s point of view) to the Northern Lights toy. This gives Mom a flash of inspiration. You can see it in her eyes. She pulls out her cell phone right away and books a trip for three to Norway to see the Northern Lights!
The second-last shot of the ad shows the three of them, in profile, transported to Norway, staring up at the dark, northern sky, and all those swirls and flashes of shimmering green light. You see, mom, this is your reward for all those late hours and all your success
You’re not assuaging guilt; you’ve earned this. Gosh darn it, Julie (or Grace, or Maya), you’re a good mom. The song’s words are the only other dialogue besides “Thanks, Mom.” At conclusion, the lyrics blend into the voice of the Scottish actor Ewan McGregor.
“You were made to dream about it for years,” he tells the audience. “We were made to help you book it in minutes.”
The ad was directed by Hiro Murai, Expedia said. The website campaignlive.com reported that the ad was created by Yo Umeda and Michael McCommon.
Actor John “Beau” Billingslea, 79, is scheduled to appear at MomoCon 2024, May 24-27, to participate in curated panels and fan meet-n-greets. As a voice actor, he is known for iconic roles in popular anime such as Ay, the Fourth Raikage in Naruto and Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop.
“I will be at MomoCon in two weeks,” Billingslea said. “I look forward to seeing my friends, family and fans. I’m looking forward to coming back to Atlanta.”
This will be Billingslea’s first time participating in MomoCon, which started in Atlanta at Georgia Tech in 2011. The convention that celebrates Japanese Anime, American Animation, Comics, and Gaming (video games, esports, tabletop, LARP) has been consistently held at the Georgia World Congress Center since 2015.
This year, MomoCon anticipates the participation of 50,000 guests, compared to the 48,000 attendees who came in 2023.
Attendees at MomoCon 2023 (Photo Credit: Martel Sharpe/The Atlanta Voice)
Few Black actors, or any actors, have a comparable resume to Billingslea regarding on-camera and voice actor appearance. Since the 1970s, he’s acquired on-camera roles in television and film, and as a voice actor for animation and video games.
As an on-camera actor, he appeared in The Atlanta Child Murders television miniseries, MacGyver, NYPD Blue, Baywatch, Walker, Texas Ranger, NYPD Blue, 7th Heaven, The West Wing, NCIS, and more. Some of his film credits include Hannah Montana: The Movie and Star Trek Into Darkness.
However, his role as a voice actor in anime gained him an international fanbase. The Naruto franchise is one of the most popular anime series that consists of television shows, films, graphic novels, video games, toys, apparel, and other merchandise.
Earlier this year, trendy shoe brand Crocs released a limited-edition collaboration with Naruto. The brand took its signature clog-like shoe and created multiple designs based on characters from the anime series, along with special charms to place on the shoe.
This role is even more special because the character in Naruto that Billingslea gives his voice to is also Black, and considered to be a force to reckon with as the leader of one of the top ninja villages in the series. Known as The Village Hidden in the Clouds, this fictitious community consists of the most characters of color in the entire series and depicts cultural traits that resemble Black culture.
“When I started, there weren’t very many characters of color that were drawn in animation. I started my career doing caucasian characters. Luckily, I was in an environment where everyone was caucasian but my race did not hold me back in terms of them hiring me to voice characters. I was very fortunate in that way where I didn’t experience a bunch of discrimination because of my color,” Billingslea said.
Already an on-camera actor, Billingslea started his voice acting career in the late 1980s.
He continues, “A friend of mine was producing and overseeing the dubbing of foreign live-action films into English. There would be a German film with an African character, and he would ask me to dub the character into English. We did quite a few of those and one day, he asked me if I would do anime. I said ‘Sure, what’s anime’ because I didn’t even know what it was.”
That decision sparked a career that would also include anime series Digimon, Rurouni Kenshin, Rave Master, Cyborg 009, Hunter × Hunter, and Wolf’s Rain, most of which have aired on Cartoon Networks’ popular programs Toonami and Adult Swim; in addition to Naruto and Cowboy Bebop.
“A lot of people expressed how Cowboy Bebop helped them through hard times in their lives. I’ve gotten that a lot,” Billingslea said. “They’ll say, it was a bad time in their life for whatever reason, and watching cowboy bebop helped them through those hard times in their life.”
“When I hear stories like that it just warms my heart. Because when we’re in the booth we’re not thinking about having a profound effect on people. We’re just trying to entertain people with our work.”
Furthering his impact, Billingslea is also the voice actor for Leroy Smith, a new Black character in the Tekken franchise, which started as an arcade game in 1994. The character was introduced in Tekken 7, released in 2019, and carried over into Tekken 8, which was released in January 2024.
Tekken 8 sold over two million copies worldwide within its first month. Currently, it’s considered one of the top 10 selling video games in the United States according to monthly sales reports produced by research firm Circana.
Attendees can register for four-day or single-day memberships. Four-day memberships are $85-$100. Single days range from $45 – $60 (kids 9 and under free). Game tournament registration and separate concert tickets are also available at www.MomoCon.com.
