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  • ‘We were on a coffee break!’ Central Perk Coffeehouse from ‘Friends’ to open in Times Square

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    Could coffee drinkers BE any more excited?!

    The Central Perk Coffeehouse from “Friends” will open in Times Square this fall as a permanent location. Fans of the hit NBC sitcom will be able to gather with friends, grab a cup of coffee and take a seat on the iconic orange couch just like Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Rachel and Ross.

    We were on a coffee break!

    The modern take on the gang’s go-to New York City gathering spot will be located at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street.

    “The opening, scheduled for late fall 2025, invites locals, tourists, and superfans to step into the real-world version of one of television’s most beloved hangouts,” Tuesday’s press release read.


    Courtesy of Central Perk Coffeehouse

    Courtesy of Central Perk Coffeehouse

    A rendering of Central Perk Coffeehouse, which is set to open in Times Square.

    The establishment has not yet announced if it will offer live performances of “Smelly Cat.”

    Central Perk Coffeehouse opened its first location in Boston in 2023. The new café features the same visionary team of food, beverage, and design experts — including “Top Chef” and James Beard Award winner Tom Colicchio.   

    “’Friends’ is one of those rare shows that continues to bring people together, generation after generation,” Peter van Roden of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences said in a statement. “At the heart of that story was always Central Perk, the iconic coffeehouse and the group’s home base, set in Manhattan. It was a place where laughter, connection, and unforgettable moments were shared…and it remains that today.”

    A scene at Central Perk in an episode of “Friends” (Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

    So, fans of the show should soon pivot to New York City.

    The coffeehouse will include an Orange Sofa room inspired by the iconic Central Perk couch. It will serve six original “Friends” themed coffee blends that would make Gunther proud.

    “When we launched the first Central Perk Coffeehouse in Boston, our goal was always to expand to New York City, a place where fans and friends alike could create their own stories in the city where the series was set,” said Paul Landino of CenPer Holdings, LLC. “Opening in Times Square, known as the crossroads of the world, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring that vision to life, offering creative coffee drinks and delicious food in a space that is both familiar and refreshingly modern.”

    In other words: “The One Where Central Perk Opens in Times Square.”

    The café is full of Easter eggs from the show, including décor like iconic couch from the 90s sitcom. The coffeeshop honored the late Matthew Perry during its opening Tuesday, passing out coffee sleeves with quotes by Chandler Bing.

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    Mike Gavin

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  • PBS series

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    PBS series “Human” explores the journey of how we became who we are – CBS News










































    Watch CBS News



    Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi joins “CBS Mornings Plus” to discuss “Human,” the new five-part PBS NOVA series that looks back at our ancient past and explores the discoveries that shaped modern humanity.

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  • Many sports fans are unhappy with how much it costs to watch their games, an AP-NORC poll finds :: WRALSportsFan.com

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    By MAYA SWEEDLER, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — For many dedicated sports fans, keeping up with their favorite teams has become a juggling act.

    Activate an NFL package in August, unsubscribe after the Super Bowl and before the NBA playoffs get underway, then subscribe to the NBA’s service. Grudgingly keep paying the cable bill because it’s the only way to get the local baseball team. Throw in a subscription to ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service for college football.

    This patchwork of expensive subscriptions, cable packages and password shares is common for many sports fans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, and it leaves them beholden to multiple platforms at a cost no one seems to like.

    About 4 in 10 people who follow sports “extremely” or “very” closely use cable or satellite TV and a sports-only streaming platform, according to the poll, compared with about 2 in 10 people who follow sports “somewhat” closely.

    For many fans — particularly those who want to watch out-of-market teams or follow regular-season play closely — there’s no other option. Creating a more seamless form of live sports distribution means essentially rebuilding the cable bundles many have ditched over the last few years.

    New services are emerging — most recently, ESPN’s latest direct-to-consumer streaming service, which debuted in August — but for the most part, sports fans stick to multiple platforms and subscriptions. Sometimes, they choose instead to stop regularly watching a favorite sport or team.

    The people who are happiest with the availability of sports events are the ones who use multiple platforms, according to the poll.

    About 6 in 10 of U.S. adults who report using cable and streaming services say they are “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with the availability of sports events they want to watch, compared with just over half who use only sports streaming services and around 3 in 10 who just have cable.

    John So, 45, was a relatively early cord-cutter, dropping his DirecTV cable subscription in 2020 in favor of the company’s less expensive streaming service. So, who manages a pipeline supply fabrication business in Houston, said he appreciates the flexibility of being able to stream across multiple devices.

    But he sometimes struggles with video quality and turns to other streaming services — Disney+ with ESPN and Hulu integrations or Paramount Plus — when the quality of his DirecTV stream drops out.

    And even though he can access almost all of the local Houston Texans games, he sometimes struggles to watch the local NBA and MLB franchises.

    “I would say I’m content. I wouldn’t say I’m happy (with the availability of sports),” So said. “Even though I’m not an avid watcher of regular-season games, it’s sort of a feedback loop. The lack of availability of local games makes me not an avid watcher. The fact I need to pay an extra $15 or $16 a month for the local sports network package is a disincentive for me to become an active watcher.”

    Serious sports fans are more likely to be using sports-only streaming platforms to begin with. People who follow sports “extremely” or “very” closely report higher usage of sports-only streaming platforms, such as MLB.TV, NFL Sunday Ticket or NBA League Pass. About 6 in 10 people who follow sports “extremely” or “very” closely use sports-only streaming platforms, compared with about 3 in 10 people who follow sports “somewhat” closely. Very few non-fans use these platforms.

    Sports fans are also less likely to be cord-cutters, the AP-NORC poll found. People who follow sports “extremely” or “very” closely are especially likely to say they use cable or satellite TV, with about 6 in 10 saying they use traditional TV options, like cable and satellite. Approximately 40% of people who follow sports “somewhat” closely say the same, as did roughly one-third of people who don’t follow sports closely.

    The poll also found that sports fans are likelier to churn through streaming services than non-sports fans.

    About 6 in 10 sports fans say they have subscribed to a streaming service for a specific show or sports season in the past year, while about half have canceled a streaming service after finishing a specific show or sports season.

    People who follow sports “extremely” or “very” closely are especially likely to say they’ve subscribed or canceled for a specific show or season. That’s also true of people who use sports streaming platforms. According to the poll, about two-thirds of people who currently use sports streaming platforms have subscribed to a streaming service for a specific show or season, compared with about one-third of people who don’t use these platforms.

    Randy Alvarez, 35, said he can get some of what he wants to watch on YouTube TV, an online alternative to TV. He got rid of cable in 2022 and hasn’t missed it, but he described his approach as a “hodgepodge” of streaming, premium channels and password-sharing.

    The Los Angeles-based educator and administrator follows two out-of-market teams with ties to the Bay Area: the Las Vegas Raiders ( formerly of Oakland ) and the Golden State Warriors. But without adding on NFL Sunday Ticket and NBA League Pass, which he said are too expensive, he’s stuck cobbling together what he can get from online streams and whatever is broadcast nationally.

    Sometimes, that means he’s out of luck. The four-time NBA champion Warriors, at least, have games on TNT and ABC, Alvarez said. The Raiders? Well, not so much.

    Alvarez isn’t alone in his approach. Nearly half of sports fans say they’ve shared a password or had a password shared with them, compared with 30% of people who follow sports “not very” or “not at all” closely.

    One area where most sports fans are in agreement: It’s expensive.

    About half of people who follow sports at least “somewhat” closely say they are dissatisfied with the cost of the streaming and cable services they use, and about another quarter were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

    ESPN’s new ESPN Unlimited streaming, which was introduced at $29.99 per month, offers access to all ESPN networks and include expanded NFL-related programming ESPN received as part of its recent deal with the league.

    And, of course, ESPN makes that package available as part of a pay TV package.

    ___

    The AP-NORC poll of 1,182 adults was conducted Aug. 21-25, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

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  • Emmy Awards Ratings Up 8% With CBS Audience Of 7.4 Million – KXL

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Emmy Awards have seen a ratings boost as the television industry aims to recover from recent disruptions.

    About 7.4 million viewers watched the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on CBS, hosted by Nate Bargatze.

    This marks the most-watched Emmys since 2021, showing an 8% increase from the previous year’s ABC telecast.

    Sunday’s show was up more than 70% from the -time low of 4.3 million from the Fox telecast of January 2024, which was delayed by months because of Hollywood’s writers and actors strikes.

    The Emmys last attracted over 10 million viewers in 2018, and nearly 22 million in 2000.

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    Grant McHill

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  • ‘The Studio’ and Seth Rogen have record-setting Emmys as Noah Wyle and ‘The Pitt’ get top drama wins

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    LOS ANGELES — Seth Rogen and “The Studio” turned the Emmys into a wrap party, winning best comedy series Sunday and breaking a comedy record for victories in a season with 13, while Noah Wyle and “The Pitt” took the top drama prize.

    The evening also brought meaningful wins for Jean Smart, Stephen Colbert and 15-year-old Owen Cooper, whose Netflix series “Adolescence” dominated the limited series categories.

    “I’m legitimately embarrassed by how happy this makes me,” “The Studio” co-creator Rogen said with his signature giggle, surrounded by cast and crew from the Apple TV+ movie-business romp after it won best comedy at the Peacock Theater in a show hosted by Nate Bargatze that aired on CBS. Rogen personally won four, including best actor.

    “The Pitt” from HBO Max completed a sentimental journey with its win for best drama series. The character-driven medical drama won over viewers and gained emotional momentum during a season whose biggest drama prizes once seemed destined to be swept by “Severance.”

    Wyle won best actor in a drama for playing a grizzled, warm-but-worn-down supervising doctor, getting his first Emmy after five nominations with no victories in the 1990s for playing a scrubbed young cub doctor on “ER.”

    “What a dream this has been,” Wyle said. “Oh my goodness.”

    Katherine LaNasa, whose nurse is perhaps the show’s most beloved character, was a surprise winner of best supporting actress in a drama over three women of “The White Lotus” on a night when every acting Emmy but one went to a first-time victor.

    The first-timers included Britt Lower, who won best actress in a drama, and Tramell Tillman, who won best supporting actor, in the night’s two biggest moments for “Severance.”

    Along with its creative arts wins, the Orwellian workplace satire ended up with eight for its acclaimed second season. Star Adam Scott lost out to Wyle for best actor.

    The show’s losses kept the evening from being a total triumph for Apple TV+, which has still never won a best drama prize, though it has now won best comedy three times between “The Studio” and “Ted Lasso.”

    Lower’s win was a surprise in a category where Kathy Bates was considered a heavy favorite, for “Matlock.”

    Cristin Milioti won best actress in a limited series for “The Penguin.”

    Jean Smart bucked the rookie trend, winning her fourth Emmy for best actress in a comedy for “Hacks” and her seventh Emmy overall. At 73, she extended her record for oldest winner in the category.

    Netflix’s widely acclaimed “Adolescence,” the story of a 13-year-old in Britain accused of a killing, won six times, including the Emmy for best limited series. Co-creator Stephen Graham won for lead acting and writing while Cooper won best supporting actor and became the youngest Emmy winner in over 40 years.

    Cooper said in his acceptance that he was “nothing three years ago.”

    “It’s just so surreal,” Cooper said. “Honestly, when I started these drama classes a couple years back, I didn’t expect to be even in the United States, never mind here.”

    Best supporting actress went to Erin Doherty, who played a therapist opposite Cooper in a riveting episode that like all four “Adolescence” episodes was filmed in a single shot.

    “The Studio” came into the evening having won nine Emmys already during last weekend’s Creative Arts ceremony. On Sunday night, it added four more, which all went to Rogen. Along with the comedy series award, he won best directing with his co-creator and longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg, and best writing with Goldberg and others.

    The show brought blockbuster buzz for its first season from the start and the Emmys ate it up, whether because of Hollywood’s love for stories about itself (with A-list guest stars) or the television industry’s love for stories that mock the self-importance of movie people.

    Backstage, Rogen clumsily tried to hold up all four Emmys at once. Asked whether the night will be fodder for season two, he said no.

    “This is, like, far too good a thing to have happen on our show,” he said. “Our show is generally based on stress and disappointment and right now, we’re all very happy.”

    Smart’s castmate and constant scene partner Hannah Einbinder, who had also been nominated for all four seasons of “Hacks” but unlike Smart had never won, took best supporting actress in a comedy.

    She said she had become committed to a long-term bit where “it was cooler to lose.”

    “But this is cool too!” she shouted, then ended her speech by cursing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and saying “Free Palestine!” Political sentiments from the stage were otherwise rare.

    In perhaps the night’s biggest upset, Jeff Hiller won best supporting actor in a comedy for “Somebody Somewhere,” over Ike Barinholtz of “The Studio” and others.

    Colbert may have been the night’s most popular winner, taking best talk series for “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” for the first time. He got huge ovations both when he took the stage to present the first award and when he won.

    The win may have been the result of a protest vote and a desire to pay tribute to its host, weeks after its cancellation by CBS. Jimmy Kimmel, who was among his competitors, campaigned for Colbert to win.

    “Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it,” Colbert said in his acceptance.

    Many perceived the end of the show as punishment of Colbert and placation of President Donald Trump after Colbert was harshly critical of a legal settlement between the president and Paramount, which needed administration approval for a sale to Skydance Media. Executives called the decision strictly financial.

    Colbert showed no bitterness to CBS, thanking the network, which telecast the Emmys and aired a commercial celebrating his win, for letting him be part of the late-night tradition.

    Bargatze delivered his opening monologue only after the first award was handed out.

    The show opened with a sketch where “Saturday Night Live” stars Mikey Day, Bowen Yang and James Austin Johnson joined Bargatze, who played television inventor Philo T. Farnsworth opining on what the future of TV will be like.

    Bargatze-as-Farnsworth mentions that there will one day be a Black Entertainment Television. When asked if there will be a network for white people, he replied, “Why, CBS of course.”

    ___

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

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  • What to Stream: Cardi B, a movie about Bumble, ‘Morning Show’ and a look at Lilith Fair

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    Cardi B releasing her long-awaited sophomore LP, “Am I the Drama?,” and Lily James playing the founder of the popular dating app Bumble in the new biographical drama “Swiped” 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: Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon’s “The Morning Show” debuting its fourth season on Apple TV+., Ariana Madix heading back to Fiji to host “Love Island Games” on Peacock and a Hulu documentary seeks to tell the story of the music festival Lilith Fair in new detail.

    — Lily James plays the founder of the popular dating app Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd, in the new biographical drama “Swiped” which streams on Hulu on Friday, Sept. 19. The film, directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg, traces Wolfe Herd’s trajectory from college and beyond. In 2012, she co-founded Tinder and two years later started Bumble which would put her on a path to becoming the youngest female self-made billionaire. “Swiped,” which premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, also stars Dan Stevens and “Industry’s” Myha’la.

    — And for something completely different, and silly, Netflix has the Liam Neeson action pic “Ice Road: Vengeance” streaming on Monday. Neeson plays an ice-road truck driver who wants to scatter his brother’s ashes on Mount Everest but finds himself having to fight mercenaries. It got terrible reviews when it was released in theaters this summer, but that’s probably beside the point.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    — She’s back and bigger than ever. On Friday, Cardi B will release her long-awaited sophomore LP, “Am I the Drama?” — seven years after the release of her landmark debut, 2018’s “Invasion of Privacy.” What has been released so far sounds like freedom: the sexy empowerment anthems “Up” and “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion from years past, and the bravado of “Outside” and smooth flow of “Imaginary Playerz.”

    — Fans of jangly guitar tones and power pop, listen up. Philadelphia’s Golden Apples, led by singer-songwriter Russell Edling, will release an addictive new album on Friday, Sept. 19 titled “Shooting Star.” Start with “Noonday Demon,” the cheeriest-sounding song about depression you’ll hear this year. It’s a charmer.

    — It was radical then and now. In the summers of 1997 through 1999, a music festival founded by Sarah McLachlan shined a light on women musicians — both bands and solo artists. Streaming on Sunday, Sept. 21, a new documentary seeks to tell the story of Lilith Fair in new detail. “Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery” premieres on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ and features a long list of incredible talent, from those who performed to those whose music takes obvious influence from the events. That includes McLachlan, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, Natalie Merchant, Mýa, Jewel, Indigo Girls, Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile and Olivia Rodrigo.

    — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

    — “Dancing with the Stars” returns for its millionth, er, 34th season Tuesday on ABC and Disney+. Contestants learning the paso doble and foxtrot include Olympian Jordan Chiles, Hilaria Baldwin, actor Corey Feldman, comedian Andy Richter, Robert Irwin, son of late wildlife conservationist Steve Irwin and former NBA star Baron Davis. Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” will also compete. Jan Ravnik, one of the dancers from Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” also joins the show as a pro. Episodes stream next day on Hulu and Disney+.

    — Just as the dust has settled on season 7 of “Love Island USA,” host Ariana Madix is headed back to Fiji to host “Love Island Games” on Peacock. Premiering Tuesday, the show brings back fan-favorite Islanders from “Love Island” iterations across the globe to partake in competitions and get a second chance at love. Fans will recognize Chris Seeley, Andreina Santos and Charlie Georgiou from season 7 and Kendall Washington and Andrea Carmona from season 6 as part of the new cast.

    — Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon’s “The Morning Show” debuts its fourth season Wednesday on Apple TV+. The two play TV news anchors at a fictional news network called UBN. Each season features topical themes and this one is no different, addressing AI, deepfakes, and conspiracy theories in the media. Additional series regulars include Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass, Karen Pittman, and Nicole Beharie and adds new characters played by Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Aaron Pierre and William Jackson Harper to the mix.

    — Hulu’s legal soap “Reasonable Doubt” returns Thursday for its third season. Emayatzy Corinealdi stars as Jax Stewart, a successful criminal defense lawyer in LA who in the new episodes, is defending a former child actor accused of murder. Jax’s standing at her flashy law firm is also in jeopardy when a new hire is determined to take her position.

    — Starz’s steamy “The Couple Next Door” is back on Friday, Sept. 19 with a new season and a new cast that includes Sam Palladio (“Nashville”); Annabel Scholey (“The Split”); and Sendhil Ramamurthy (“Never Have I Ever”). Scholey and Palladio play Charlotte and Jacob, a seemingly solid couple living in a well-to-do neighborhood whose marriage gets threatened by a new colleague in their workplace. The tangled web only grows from there.

    — Alicia Rancilio

    — Over the years, Lego video games have featured the likes of Batman, Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker. Annapurna Interactive’s Lego Voyagers may have the most versatile hero of all: a simple Lego brick. It’s a cooperative game in which each player is a 1×1 piece — one red, one blue — that can attach itself to other chunks and build bridges, vehicles and other devices. Red and Blue need to work together to solve puzzles as they try to rescue an abandoned spaceship. It’s the sort of game that parents with young kids may appreciate, and things start clicking Monday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch and PC.

    — Lou Kesten

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  • Seth Rogen’s ‘The Studio’ Dominates 2025 Emmys With 13 Wins

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    Emmy winner Seth Rogen in The Studio
    Credit: Apple TV+

    “I’m truly embarassed by how happy this makes me,” Seth Rogen confessed during one of several acceptance speeches during the 2025 Primetime Emmys Awards.  

    As actor, director, executive producer and writer, the Hollywood funnyman turned multi-hyphenate scooped up four statues for his work on Apple TV+’s The Studio, which earned a total of 13 wins overall.  

    Hardly surpassing the set three-hour runtime, comedian and host Nate Bargatze led the 2025 Emmys through 26 award presentations; television tributes for Survivor, Grey’s Anatomy, Law & Order and Gilmore Girls and a handful of performances.  

    The ceremony took place in Downtown Los Angeles at the Peacock Theater.

    Following just behind The Studio, HBO’s The Penguin secured nine Emmys, including Cristin Miliotti who won Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her performance as the stylish, conniving Sofia Falcone. “I love acting!” she proclaimed from the podium before exiting the stage. 

    Severance, Adolescence and SNL50: The Anniversary Special each scooped up eight trophies. Fan favorite shows like The Traitors and The Pitt earned five.  

    See more winners from the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards below.   

    Scroll to continue reading

    Outstanding Drama Series 

    Andor 

    The Diplomat 

    The Last of Us 

    Paradise 

    The Pitt – WINNER 

    Severance 

    Slow Horses  

    The White Lotus 

    Outstanding Comedy Series 

    Abbott Elementary 

    The Bear 

    Hacks 

    Nobody Wants This 

    Only Murders in the Building 

    Shrinking 

    The Studio – WINNER 

    What We Do in the Shadows 

    Outstanding Limited Series 

    Adolescence – WINNER 

    Black Mirror 

    Dying for Sex 

    Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story 

    The Penguin 

    Sirens 

    Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series 

    Adam Scott, Severance 

    Gary Oldman, Slow Horses 

    Noah Wyle, The Pitt – WINNER 

    Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us 

    Sterling K. Brown, Paradise 

    Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series 

    Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us 

    Britt Lower, Severance – WINNER 

    Kathy Bates, Matlock 

    Keri Russell, The Diplomat 

    Sharon Hogan, Bad Sisters 

    Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 

    James Marsden, Paradise 

    Jason Issacs, The White Lotus 

    John Turturro, Severance 

    Sam Rockwell, The White Lotus 

    Tramell Tillman, Severance – WINNER 

    Zack Cherry, Severance 

    Walton Goggins, The White Lotus 

    Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series 

    Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus 

    Carrie Coon, The White Lotus 

    Julianne Nicholson, Paradise 

    Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt – WINNER 

    Natasha Rothwell, The White Lotus 

    Parker Posey, The White Lotus 

    Patricia Arquette, Severance 

    Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series 

    Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This 

    Jason Segel, Shrinking 

    Jeremy Allen White, The Bear 

    Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building 

    Seth Rogen, The Studio – WINNER 

    Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series 

    Ayo Edebiri, The Bear 

    Jean Smart, Hacks – WINNER 

    Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This 

    Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary 

    Uzo Aduba, The Residence 

    Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series 

    Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live 

    Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons 

    Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear 

    Harrison Ford, Shrinking 

    Jeff Hiller, Somebody Somewhere – WINNER 

    Ike Barinholtz, The Studio 

    Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 

    Catherine O’Hara, The Studio 

    Hannah Einbinder, Hacks – WINNER 

    Janelle James, Abbott Elementary 

    Jessica Williams, Shrinking 

    Kathryn Hahn, The Studio 

    Liza Colon-Zayas, The Bear 

    Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary 

    Outstanding Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie 

    Brian Tyree Henry, Dope Thief 

    Colin Farrell, The Penguin 

    Cooper Koch, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story 

    Jake Gyllenhaal, Presumed Innocence  

    Stephen Graham, Adolescence – WINNER 

    Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie 

    Cate Blanchett, Disclaimer 

    Cristin Miliotti, The Penguin – WINNER 

    Meghan Fahy, Sirens 

    Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex 

    Rashida Jones, Black Mirror 

    Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie 

    Ashley Walters, Adolescence 

    Bill Camp, Presumed Innocence 

    Javier Bardem, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story 

    Owen Cooper, Adolescence – WINNER 

    Peter Sarsgaard, Presumed Innocence 

    Rob Delaney, Dying for Sex 

    Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie 

    Chloë Sevigny, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story 

    Christine Tremarco, Adolescence 

    Deirdre O’Connell, The Penguin 

    Erin Doherty, Adolescence – WINNER 

    Jenny Slate, Dying for Sex 

    Ruth Negga, Presume Innocence 

    Outstanding Reality Competition Program 

    The Amazing Race 

    RuPaul’s Drag Race 

    Survivor 

    Top Chef 

    The Traitors – WINNER 

    Outstanding Talk Series 

    The Daily Show 

    Jimmy Kimmel Live! 

    The Late Show With Stephen Colbert – WINNER 

    Outstanding Animated Program 

    Arcane – WINNER 

    Bob’s Burgers 

    Common Side Effects 

    Love, Death + Robots 

    The Simpsons 

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    Haley Bosselman

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  • A list of the top winners at the 2025 Emmy Awards

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    LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Studio” made history at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards by winning 13 awards, becoming the most awarded comedy series in a single season. It beat the previous record of 11 set by “The Bear” last year.

    “The Pitt” won best drama and delivered Noah Wylie the best drama actor award for his performance as a wise but weary emergency room doctor.

    “Adolescence” won six awards in the limited series categories, including best supporting actor for 15-year-old Owen Cooper.

    “Severance” entered the ceremony as the top overall nominee and ended up taking two acting trophies.

    Here’s a list of winners at Sunday’s Emmys:

    “The Pitt”

    Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”

    Britt Lower, “Severance”

    Tramell Tillman, “Severance”

    Katherine LaNasa, “The Pitt”

    Adam Randall, “Slow Horses”

    Dan Gilroy, “Andor”

    “The Studio”

    Seth Rogen, “The Studio”

    Jean Smart, “Hacks”

    Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”

    Jeff Hiller, “Somebody Somewhere”

    Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, “The Studio”

    Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez, “The Studio”

    “Adolescence”

    Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”

    Cristin Milioti, “The Penguin”

    Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”

    Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”

    Philip Barantini, “Adolescence”

    Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”

    “SNL 50: The Anniversary Special”

    “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”

    “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”

    “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”

    “The Traitors”

    Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen

    ___

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

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  • 2025 Emmy Awards: Top moments and highlights

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    HBO’s “The Pitt,” a tense hospital drama, and Apple TV+’s “The Studio,” a madcap satire of modern Hollywood, nabbed top honors at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night. The three-hour ceremony was hosted by first-time emcee Nate Bargatze, a low-key stand-up comedian who largely steered away from political headlines.

    Here’s what you need to know about how the night unfolded:

    ‘SNL’ stars join Bargatze for opening sketch

    “Saturday Night Live” cast members James Austin Johnson, Mikey Day and Bowen Yang joined Bargatze for a cold open skewering the modern television landscape. Bargatze, dressed in a white lab coat, portrayed Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor who developed the first all-electronic television system. The setting was historical, but the gags were contemporary.

    In the sketch, Bargatze’s Farnworth envisioned a new televisual medium called streaming — “a new way for these companies to lose money.” When asked by an underling whether there will one day be a network for white people, Farnsworth said yes: CBS. (The network acronym actually stands for Columbia Broadcasting System.)

    Stephen Colbert riffs on cancellation, then wins

    Stephen Colbert took the stage at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater to introduce the nominees for best actor in a comedy series. But first, he addressed the elephant in the room: CBS’ decision to take his late-night show off the air. “While I have your attention, is anyone hiring? Because I’ve got 200 very well-qualified candidates here with me tonight, who will be available in June,” Colbert said.

    CBS announced in July that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” would end in 2026, after more than a decade on the air. The news came as CBS’ parent company, Paramount, prepared to complete a blockbuster merger with Skydance — and faced scrutiny from the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission.

    Colbert returned to the stage hours later to accept the Emmy for outstanding talk series.

    “Sometimes, you only know how much you love something when you get a sense you might be losing it. … I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America. Stay strong and be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor,” Colbert said to thunderous applause.

    ‘Severance’ actor Tramell Tillman makes history

    Tramell Tillman made history as the first Black man to triumph in the best supporting actor in a drama series category. Tillman, who stars on “Severance” as corporate enforcer Seth Milchick, riveted the audience with his acceptance speech. He paid tribute to his “first acting coach” — his mother, who was seated in the auditorium. He then quoted her advice to him.

    “You remember what you want to remember. You make time for what you want to make for. Do the work. Show up. And most importantly, for the love of God, don’t embarrass me in public,” Tillman said. (He dedicated his award to his mom.)

    Hannah Einbinder and others advocate for Gaza ceasefire

    “Hacks” star Hannah Einbender, accepting the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series and wearing a red “Artists4Ceasefire” pin, closed her speech with two words: “Free Palestine.” She was not the only attendee who advocated for Palestinian rights and an end to the war in Gaza.

    Meg Stalter, one of Einbender’s “Hacks” co-stars, carried a purse that said “CEASEFIRE!” Javier Bardem, star of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” wore a keffiyeh and told a reporter on the red carpet that he would “not work” with any entertainment company that “justifies or supports the genocide” — echoing a pledge he’s made with others in the industry.

    Television Academy chair sticks up for PBS

    Cris Abrego, the chairman of the Television Academy, the organization that oversees the Emmy Awards, drew cheers and applause from the crowd with remarks that focused in part on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the nonprofit organization that recently lost all federal funding and then announced it would shut down.

    The CPB distributed funding to PBS and NPR stations nationwide, turning it into what Abrego characterized as “the backbone of American public media.” He mentioned famed PBS series “Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” then blasted lawmakers.

    “Congress voted to defund” the CPB, Abrego said to loud boos from the crowd, “and silence yet another cultural institution.”

    He added: “That’s a reminder just how much our work here matters, especially right now. In a time when division dominates the headlines, storytelling still has the power to unite us.”

    Malcolm-Jamal Warner remembered

    “The Cosby Show” star Phylicia Rashad opened the annual In Memoriam video package with a tribute to her former co-star, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the Emmy-nominated actor who died from drowning on July 20. “He remains in our hearts,” Rashad said.

    The video — accompanied by a musical performance from Vince Gill and Lainey Wilson — included the names and photos of other luminaries who died in the last year, including Julian McMahon, Teri Garr, Ozzy Osbourne, Anne Burrell, Bill Moyers, George Wendt, Richard Chamberlain, Michelle Trachtenberg, John Amos, David Lynch and Quincy Jones.

    “They made us believe in something bigger: the best within us,” Rashad said.

    The ticking clock

    Bargatze said at the top of the show that he planned to donate $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America — but, in a bid to keep each acceptance speeches inside the time limit, he would subtract $1,000 for every second a winner’s remarks went over the allotted 45 seconds. If the winner stayed under the time limit, though, Bargatze said, he’d put $1,000 per second back on the board.

    “It is brutal,” Bargatze said. “What are you going to do, though? I can’t change it. This is the game I made up, and these are the rules.”

    The donation tally, tracked in a real-time graphic at the bottom of the TV screen, bounced up and down throughout the night. HBO late-night host John Oliver managed to recoup some of the lost cash with a rapid-fire speech he delivered in the style of an auctioneer. The writing crew behind “The Studio,” likewise, kept it tight.

    Still, at the end of the night, the tracker had dipped below $0. That’s when Bargatze said CBS would contribute $100,000 and he’d kick in $250,000 for a total donation of $350,000.

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    Daniel Arkin | NBC News

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  • Emmys winners list for 2025: Live updates

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    What to know about the 2025 Emmy Awards

    • The 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are being held Sunday night to honor the best of television from the past year.
    • Apple TV+’s “Severance” earned the most nominations with 27, followed by HBO Max’s “The Penguin,” with 24. “The White Lotus,” another HBO Max offering, and Apple TV+’s “The Studio” each got 23 nominations.
    • Harrison Ford earned his first-ever Emmy nomination at age 83 for his supporting role in the AppleTV+ series “Shrinking.”
    • Comedian Nate Bargatze is hosting the Emmys this year for the first time. He also received two nominations for his variety special “Your Friend, Nate Bargatze.”
    • The Emmy Awards are airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

    Check out the full list of winners and nominees below as each category is announced.

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  • 2025 Emmy Awards: Top moments and highlights

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    HBO’s “The Pitt,” a tense hospital drama, and Apple TV+’s “The Studio,” a madcap satire of modern Hollywood, nabbed top honors at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night. The three-hour ceremony was hosted by first-time emcee Nate Bargatze, a low-key stand-up comedian who largely steered away from political headlines.

    Here’s what you need to know about how the night unfolded:

    ‘SNL’ stars join Bargatze for opening sketch

    “Saturday Night Live” cast members James Austin Johnson, Mikey Day and Bowen Yang joined Bargatze for a cold open skewering the modern television landscape. Bargatze, dressed in a white lab coat, portrayed Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor who developed the first all-electronic television system. The setting was historical, but the gags were contemporary.

    In the sketch, Bargatze’s Farnworth envisioned a new televisual medium called streaming — “a new way for these companies to lose money.” When asked by an underling whether there will one day be a network for white people, Farnsworth said yes: CBS. (The network acronym actually stands for Columbia Broadcasting System.)

    Stephen Colbert riffs on cancellation, then wins

    Stephen Colbert took the stage at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater to introduce the nominees for best actor in a comedy series. But first, he addressed the elephant in the room: CBS’ decision to take his late-night show off the air. “While I have your attention, is anyone hiring? Because I’ve got 200 very well-qualified candidates here with me tonight, who will be available in June,” Colbert said.

    CBS announced in July that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” would end in 2026, after more than a decade on the air. The news came as CBS’ parent company, Paramount, prepared to complete a blockbuster merger with Skydance — and faced scrutiny from the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission.

    Colbert returned to the stage hours later to accept the Emmy for outstanding talk series.

    “Sometimes, you only know how much you love something when you get a sense you might be losing it. … I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America. Stay strong and be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor,” Colbert said to thunderous applause.

    ‘Severance’ actor Tramell Tillman makes history

    Tramell Tillman made history as the first Black man to triumph in the best supporting actor in a drama series category. Tillman, who stars on “Severance” as corporate enforcer Seth Milchick, riveted the audience with his acceptance speech. He paid tribute to his “first acting coach” — his mother, who was seated in the auditorium. He then quoted her advice to him.

    “You remember what you want to remember. You make time for what you want to make for. Do the work. Show up. And most importantly, for the love of God, don’t embarrass me in public,” Tillman said. (He dedicated his award to his mom.)

    Hannah Einbinder and others advocate for Gaza ceasefire

    “Hacks” star Hannah Einbender, accepting the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series and wearing a red “Artists4Ceasefire” pin, closed her speech with two words: “Free Palestine.” She was not the only attendee who advocated for Palestinian rights and an end to the war in Gaza.

    Meg Stalter, one of Einbender’s “Hacks” co-stars, carried a purse that said “CEASEFIRE!” Javier Bardem, star of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” wore a keffiyeh and told a reporter on the red carpet that he would “not work” with any entertainment company that “justifies or supports the genocide” — echoing a pledge he’s made with others in the industry.

    Television Academy chair sticks up for PBS

    Cris Abrego, the chairman of the Television Academy, the organization that oversees the Emmy Awards, drew cheers and applause from the crowd with remarks that focused in part on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the nonprofit organization that recently lost all federal funding and then announced it would shut down.

    The CPB distributed funding to PBS and NPR stations nationwide, turning it into what Abrego characterized as “the backbone of American public media.” He mentioned famed PBS series “Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” then blasted lawmakers.

    “Congress voted to defund” the CPB, Abrego said to loud boos from the crowd, “and silence yet another cultural institution.”

    He added: “That’s a reminder just how much our work here matters, especially right now. In a time when division dominates the headlines, storytelling still has the power to unite us.”

    Malcolm-Jamal Warner remembered

    “The Cosby Show” star Phylicia Rashad opened the annual In Memoriam video package with a tribute to her former co-star, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the Emmy-nominated actor who died from drowning on July 20. “He remains in our hearts,” Rashad said.

    The video — accompanied by a musical performance from Vince Gill and Lainey Wilson — included the names and photos of other luminaries who died in the last year, including Julian McMahon, Teri Garr, Ozzy Osbourne, Anne Burrell, Bill Moyers, George Wendt, Richard Chamberlain, Michelle Trachtenberg, John Amos, David Lynch and Quincy Jones.

    “They made us believe in something bigger: the best within us,” Rashad said.

    The ticking clock

    Bargatze said at the top of the show that he planned to donate $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America — but, in a bid to keep each acceptance speeches inside the time limit, he would subtract $1,000 for every second a winner’s remarks went over the allotted 45 seconds. If the winner stayed under the time limit, though, Bargatze said, he’d put $1,000 per second back on the board.

    “It is brutal,” Bargatze said. “What are you going to do, though? I can’t change it. This is the game I made up, and these are the rules.”

    The donation tally, tracked in a real-time graphic at the bottom of the TV screen, bounced up and down throughout the night. HBO late-night host John Oliver managed to recoup some of the lost cash with a rapid-fire speech he delivered in the style of an auctioneer. The writing crew behind “The Studio,” likewise, kept it tight.

    Still, at the end of the night, the tracker had dipped below $0. That’s when Bargatze said CBS would contribute $100,000 and he’d kick in $250,000 for a total donation of $350,000.

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    Daniel Arkin | NBC News

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  • Sean Astin, son of Academy Award-winning actress Patty Duke, is elected as SAG-AFTRA’s new president

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    LOS ANGELES — The union that represents tens of thousands of actors and other entertainment and media professionals has elected Sean Astin as its new president.

    On Friday, SAG-AFTRA elected Astin — an actor who appeared in “The Lord of the Rings,” “Stranger Things” and “Rudy” — to succeed Fran Drescher as its president. Astin is the son of the late Academy Award-winning actress Patty Duke and John Astin, who starred in the 1960s TV series “The Addams Family.”

    Sean Astin defeated Chuck Slavin in a 79% to 21% vote. Michelle Hurd was elected secretary-treasurer.

    Patty Duke, Sean Astin’s mother, served as the Screen Actors Guild’s president from 1985-1988.

    According to its website, SAG-AFTRA brings together Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. It represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, program hosts, recording artists and others.

    Under Drescher, the union has navigated a pair of strikes involving film and television actors and a separate one involving video game and interactive media performers.

    ___

    This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Patty Duke’s first name in the headline.

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  • Comedian Riki Lindhome opens up about her life and career

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    Riki Lindhome is part of the comedy folk duo Garfunkel and Oates, but that’s just one hat the comedian, musician, actor, producer and writer wears. Lindhome puts a comedic spin on everything she touches and shares her life, even the most painful parts, with a laugh. Dana Jacobson has more.

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  • The Road to the Emmys

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    Katherine LaNasa received her first Emmy nomination, for “The Pitt,” after a long star-crossed career.

    “I love acting, but also I’m very formed; I’ve been through experiences,” she said. “I’ve sat at the bedside while people died. I’ve given birth. I’ve raised children. I’ve had cancer. So you know, this is just a nice thing.”

    Read more>

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    The New York Times

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  • Lee Pace Has Big Hopes for the Fourth Season of ‘Foundation’

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    You haven’t seen the last episode, have you?

    No.

    I didn’t give anything away just now, did I?

    No, no, you were tending in the directions I think had been set up. I’m even more eager to see it now. I do have an acting question: How do you and your fellow actors play the same person who is not the same person?

    In the very first season, we created this idea that they sit around dinner and they have the same movements—that that’s a cultural thing among these three people. We had these technical ways of making their shared consciousness visual, and actable in. We just practiced it. We came up with this little dance that we would do with those dinner table scenes. In the second season, we did something different with it. We created this idea of one who’s not going to follow the rules, who’s just going to do it differently, whether the other brothers like it or not.

    Oh, interesting.

    I love working with Terry [Mann, who plays Brother Dusk] and Cassian [Bilton, who plays Brother Dawn] and Laura. It’s such a unique concept that [writer and producer David S. Goyer] had with these cloned emperors that are all living together as family, and there are lots of different ways to look at it. I think it’s a completely original idea, and in line with the questions that Asimov asks in Foundation and his other work.

    Lee Pace with (hopefully fake) bloody knuckles and a red iPhone on the set of Foundation.

    Courtesy of Lee Pace

    Lee Pace working on Foundation.

    Lee Pace working on Foundation.

    Courtesy of Lee Pace

    I completely agree that it’s a genuinely original idea. There’s always a new way to play basic blues, but this is a really new idea that I can’t think of an antecedent for. Maybe there is one.

    It’s about time, too. It’s about time. You can do this thing with time and generations, and that’s what I feel like now we’ve done in season three. We’ve now covered 300 years, and we look back even further.

    Much like Asimov did.

    He worked on this story over so many different decades, writing the Foundation books, writing them with collaborators and finding ways to tie in other short stories and storylines that he had written in other books and series, and expanding this world of Foundation.

    Yes, but I would also imagine that much source material can be overwhelming.

    I really love how on this show we have not treated the making of the series like fan fiction, where we would be like, OK, now we do the scene where this happens and now we do the scene where this happens and this happens and this happens. But we let the hugeness of the story that Isaac Asimov left us be on the table, and we can explore the plotlines that he wrote, plotlines that are referred to, plotlines that happen offstage, the plotlines that he discovered later in writing and realizing about the story.

    Right, it stays true to the shape of Asimov’s ideas without being beholden to them.

    As a science fiction fan myself, I feel like that’s like a good opportunity taken when we could bring it to screen, to use and be inspired by everything we have in front of us with what he has achieved in writing Foundation and then tying in all of these other different stories and plotlines that he had created throughout. I mean, he’s just an incredibly prolific writer.

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    Tim Marchman

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  • NFL averaged 22.3 million viewers per game for opening week, its highest on record

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    The NFL averaged 22.3 million viewers per game during the league’s opening week, making it the most-watched Week 1 on record for the second straight year.

    The per-game average on TV and digital platforms was a 5% increase from the 21 million Week 1 average of last season, according to the league and Nielsen.

    Some of the increase can be attributed to a change in the way viewers are counted. Nielsen began using its Big Data + Panel methodology for all events beginning on Sept. 1 and coinciding with the upcoming start of the new television season.

    Earlier this year, Nielsen began measuring out-of-home viewers for all states but Hawaii and Alaska, along with including data from smart TVs along with cable and satellite set-top boxes.

    Nielsen previously measured just the top 44 media markets, which covered 65% of the country.

    This was the third straight season where at least four of the 16 games averaged at least 20 million.

    NBC had the two most-watched games.

    Defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia’s 24-20 victory over Dallas in last Thursday’s opener averaged 28.3 million on TV and digital, making it the second-most watched NFL Kickoff game on record. The game was averaging 31.6 million, and would have topped last year’s record 29.2 million mark for Baltimore versus Kansas City before a weather delay in the third quarter stopped the game for more than an hour.

    Buffalo’s 41-40 victory over Baltimore on Sunday night averaged 24.7 million, the most watched SNF opener since 2022.

    NBC and Peacock’s 26.5 million average for the two games is its second-highest opening week average. The 2015 slate of Steelers-Patriots and Cowboys-Giants averaged 27.2 million.

    The late afternoon contest between Detroit and Green Bay averaged 24 million on CBS, the network’s most-watched Week 1 game since it reacquired NFL rights in 1998. The Packers posted a 27-13 win over the Lions in Micah Parsons’ debut with Green Bay.

    CBS averaged 20.4 million for its doubleheader package of six games. The four-game early window — headlined by Pittsburgh’s 34-32 win over the New York Jets — averaged 17.1 million.

    Minnesota’s 27-24 comeback victory over Chicago on Monday night averaged 22.1 million on ESPN, ABC and ESPN2, the second-most watched MNF game since ESPN took over as the main broadcaster in 2006 and an 8% increase over last year.

    Led by Washington’s 21-6 win over the New York Giants, Fox’s early Sunday singleheader of six games averaged 17.9 million.

    Last Friday’s game in Brazil between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs on YouTube TV and NFL digital platforms averaged 17.3 million globally. The U.S. average for the Chargers 27-21 victory was 16.2 million, which included over-the-air broadcasts in Los Angeles and Kansas City.

    ___

    AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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  • ‘SNL’ wins big for season 50 at the Creative Arts Emmys. Obama, Kimmel and Lamar also take trophies

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    LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barack Obama won his third career Emmy and Kendrick Lamar won his second, while the 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” was the biggest winner with 11 on the second night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

    Lamar and Tony Russell won for the music direction of his Super Bowl halftime show. He won his first Emmy in 2022 as a performer at the Super Bowl halftime headlined by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

    Obama won a star-studded documentary narrator category that also included Tom Hanks, Idris Elba and David Attenborough. He won the same award in 2022 and 2023.

    Neither Lamar nor Obama was at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles to accept his Emmy. Neither were expected to be, at a show that despite several high-profile winners including Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien and Alan Cumming is primarily devoted to behind-the-scenes crew members a week before TV’s stars take the same stage for the bigger Emmys ceremony.

    Presenter Jordan Klepper laughed along with the crowd as he said, “Apparently, Barack Obama couldn’t be here tonight” after announcing the winner.

    “SNL 50: The Anniversary Special,” the pinnacle of a season-long celebration for the NBC sketch institution, won seven Emmys, including awards for its directing, writing, hairstyling and editing. A pop-up immersive experience tied to the special won an Emmy for emerging media and regular episodes of the show won three more.

    HBO’s “Pee-wee as Himself” won four awards including best documentary, posthumously giving its star and subject Paul Reubens, who died in 2023, his first primetime Emmy.

    O’Brien an Emmy for his travel series, “Conan O’Brien Must Go,” taking his career total to six. And while he didn’t get one personally for the show, Netflix’s “Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor” beat out football halftime shows from Lamar and Beyoncé to win best variety special.

    Beyoncé did win a previously announced special Emmy for the costumes on her Christmas Day “Beyoncé Bowl” on Netflix.

    Kimmel, who has hosted both the Oscars and the Emmys multiple times, was here to accept his fourth primetime Emmy, for best host of a game show for his work on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

    He thanked the show’s late original host Regis Philbin for making “Millionaire” a cultural phenomenon.

    “Regis was the best at this,” Kimmel said backstage. “It is exciting to have this and to know that he has this same Emmy in his family’s collection somewhere.”

    “Jeopardy” won best game show, while Cumming won best host of a reality show for “The Traitors.”

    The two-night Creative Arts Emmys hands out nearly 100 awards in hyper-specific categories that can bring oddities. Like the Grammys and Oscars winning Emmys, as each did Sunday.

    The CBS Grammys telecast won for its choreography, while ABC’s Oscars telecast — also hosted by O’Brien — won for its production design.

    The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was honored with the Television Academy’s Governors Award even as it winds down its nearly 60-year work after the U.S. government withdrew funding from the institution that has helped pay for PBS, NPR, 1,500 local radio and TV stations

    The award goes to a person or entity “made a profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television.”

    “Even an act of Congress can not erase an indelible legacy,” Henry Louis Gates Jr., host of “Finding Your Roots” on PBS, said during the presentation.

    “Queer Eye” won best structured reality show, while “Love on the Spectrum” won best unstructured reality show.

    The Creative Arts show runs quickly and efficiently — 47 awards are handed out on Sunday aloe in about 2 1/2 hours — but the atmosphere is loose. Swearing is allowed because of the lack of TV, as Kimmel showed when he told nominee Will Ferrell to shut up during his speech.

    “This is the Emmys for the people that the people who run the Emmys don’t think should be seen on network TV,” presenter Sarah Silverman said when she opened the show as a presenter.

    The two nights are edited down into one show that will air on TV on FXX on Saturday. The following day, the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Nate Bargatze, will air live on CBS.

    While Sunday honored variety, documentary and reality TV, scripted series had the stage on Saturday.

    “The Studio” won nine early Emmys including best guest actor in a comedy for Bryan Cranston, making it the front-runner to end up with the biggest total after next Sunday’s main show.

    “Severance” was tops among dramas with six awards, including best guest actress in a drama for Merritt Wever.

    “The Penguin” pulled in eight in the limited series categories, and Julie Andrews won her third Emmy at age 89 for her voice-over work on “Bridgerton,”

    ___

    This story has been corrected to show that Barack Obama has won three Emmys, not two, and that Conan O’Brien won one Emmy Sunday, not two.

    ___

    For more coverage on this year’s Emmy Awards and recent television shows, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/television

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  • ‘Severance’ and ‘The Studio’ could rake in early awards at the Creative Arts Emmys

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    LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Severance” and “The Studio” could bring in a boatload of early Emmys this weekend.

    Over the next two days, nearly 100 trophies will be handed out to many of TV’s finest at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the annual precursor to the main Primetime Emmy Awards, which will air on Sept. 14 on CBS.

    “Severance,” the top overall nominee this year with 27, could win as many as 13 for Apple TV+ on Saturday, which will be devoted to scripted shows while Sunday is dedicated to variety and reality TV. “The Studio,” also from Apple, is the top comedy nominee with 23, and could bring in as many as 12 this weekend.

    The Creative Arts Emmys mostly go to technical and craft nominees who have little name recognition outside their field. Categories include best sci-fi or period hairstyles and best stunt coordination for a comedy.

    But big stars and big moments also emerge. Last year, “Shogun” broke a record for most Emmys for a series in a season with 14 at the Creative Arts ceremony, before it went on to dominate the main ceremony. And the songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul sneakily joined the elite EGOT club when they won their first Emmy to go with their Oscar, Tony and Grammy trophies for a song they co-wrote for “Only Murders in the Building.”

    The always star-studded guest acting categories will be handed out on Saturday. The guests who played themselves on “The Studio,” the Hollywood satire starring and cocreated by Seth Rogen, make for an A-list set of nominees. Directors Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese are up for their first acting Emmys, and they’ll be competing with fellow “Studio” guests Anthony Mackie and Bryan Cranston for guest actor in a drama.

    The best guest actress in a comedy category includes Oscar winners Jamie Lee Curtis and Olivia Colman, both up for their roles on “The Bear.”

    And on Sunday, Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé are both nominated for football halftime shows, while Barack Obama’s competition for his second Emmy in the narration category includes Tom Hanks and Idris Elba.

    The big names don’t always show up to claim their Emmys at these ceremonies, but many nominees this year are also presenters, including Howard, Curtis, Questlove and Maya Rudolph.

    Because of the abundance of more technical awards including prosthetics and visual effects, the Creative Arts Emmys are often a time for genre shows to shine. “The Penguin” and “The Last of Us” could easily collect a set of wins for HBO and streaming partner Max, which led all outlets this year with 142 overall nominations.

    So could “Andor” the gritty, revolutionary “Star Wars” series that is a rare Emmy bright spot for Disney+. Snubbed in the acting categories, 11 of its 14 categories will be handed out Saturday. They include best character voice-over for Alan Tudyk, who provided the bluntly honest dialogue of the droid K-2SO.

    Tudyk’s category shows the strange range of nominees the Creative Arts ceremony can bring. His voice-over competitors include Julie Andrews for “Bridgerton,” Hank Azaria for “The Simpsons,” and Rudolph for “Big Mouth.”

    ___

    For more coverage on this year’s Emmy Awards and recent television shows, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/television

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  • A TCU Alum is Joining the Cast of SNL This Season

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    After a months-long celebration of the 50th season of Saturday Night Live, it’s back to business as usual for the iconic sketch comedy show. Just a few weeks away from the Oct. 4 premiere of SNL season 51, the show announced the abrupt firing of four cast members, including Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Heidi Gardner…

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    Simon Pruitt

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  • Don’t look now, but there’s an AI-generated Italian teacup on your child’s phone. What does it mean?

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    In the first half of 2025, she racked up over 55 million views on TikTok and 4 million likes, mostly from tweens glued to their cellphones. Not bad for an AI-generated cartoon ballerina with a cappuccino teacup for a head.

    Her name is Ballerina Cappuccina. Her smiling, girlish face is accompanied by a deep, computer-generated male voice singing in Italian — or, at least, some Italian. The rest is gibberish.

    She is one of the most prominent characters in the internet phenomenon known as “Italian Brain Rot,” a series of memes that exploded in popularity this year, consisting of unrealistic AI-generated animal-object hybrids with absurdist, pseudo-Italian narration.

    The trend has baffled parents, to the delight of young people experiencing the thrill of a new, fleeting cultural signifier that is illegible to older generations.

    Experts and fans alike say the trend is worth paying attention to, and tells us something about the youngest generation of tweens.

    The first Italian brain-rot character was Tralalero Tralala, a shark with blue Nike sneakers on his elongated fins. Early Tralalero Tralala videos were scored with a curse-laden Italian song that sounds like a crude nursery rhyme.

    Other characters soon emerged: Bombardiro Crocodilo, a crocodile-headed military airplane; Lirilì Larilà, an elephant with a cactus body and slippers; and Armadillo Crocodillo, an armadillo inside a coconut, to name a few.

    Content creators around the world have created entire storylines told through intentionally ridiculous songs. These videos have proven so popular that they have launched catchphrases that have entered mainstream culture for Generation Alpha, which describes anyone born between 2010 and 2025.

    Fabian Mosele, 26, calls themselves an “Italian brain rot connoisseur.” An Italian animator who lives in Germany and works with AI by trade, Mosele created their first Italian brain-rot content in March. Shortly after, Mosele’s video of Italian brain-rot characters at an underground rave garnered about a million views overnight, they said. It has since topped 70 million.

    Even as the hysteria over the absurdist subgenre has slowed, Mosele said the characters have transcended the digital realm and become an indelible part of pop culture.

    “It feels so ephemeral,” Mosele said, “but it also feels so real.”

    This summer, one of the most popular games on Roblox, the free online platform that has approximately 111 million monthly users, was called “Steal a Brainrot.” The goal of the game, as the title would suggest, is to steal brain rot characters from other players. More popular characters, like Tralalero Tralala, are worth more in-game money.

    Sometimes, the games’ administrators — who are also players — cheat to steal the characters, a move called “admin abuse” that sent many kids and teens into a frenzy. One video of a young child hysterically crying over a stolen character has 46.8 million views on TikTok.

    In the non-virtual world, some have made physical toy replicas of the characters, while others have created real-life plays featuring them.

    The nonsensical songs have at times gestured to real-world issues: One clip of Bombardiro Crocodilo sparked outrage for seemingly mocking the war in Gaza.

    But ultimately, the majority of videos are silly and absurd.

    Mosele said Italian brain-rot consumers largely don’t care about how the images relate to what is being said or sung. They often don’t even care to translate the nonsensical Italian to English.

    “It’s funny because it’s nonsense,” Mosele said.

    “Seeing something so dark, in a way, and out of the ordinary, that breaks all the norms of what we would expect to see on TV — that’s just super appealing.”

    Italian brain rot didn’t go viral in a vacuum. “Brain rot,” the 2024 Oxford University Press word of the year, is defined as the numbing of an intellectual state resulting from the “overconsumption of trivial or unchallenging material.”

    It can also be used to describe the brain-rotting content itself.

    Lots of content falls into that category. Consider videos of the game “Subway Surfer” split-screened next to full episodes of television shows, or “Skibidi Toilet,” an animated series featuring toilets with human heads popping out of their bowls.

    Those not chronically online might instinctively recoil at the term brain rot, with its vaguely gory connotations, especially as concern about the potential harms of social media for adolescents mounts.

    When brain rot was crowned word of the year, Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said the term speaks to “one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.”

    Emilie Owens, 33, a children’s media researcher, agreed that endless scrolling poses dangers for young people. But she said that the concern about brain rot is misguided.

    It’s normal to “view the thing the newest generation is doing with fear and suspicion,” she said, pointing to how past generations have had similar concerns about the detrimental effects of comic books, television and even novels at one time.

    Concerns about brain rot — that it is unproductive and pointless — actually reveal a great deal about their appeal, Owens said. Brain rot is an acute rejection of the intense pressures on young people to self-optimize.

    “It’s very normal for everyone to need to switch their brains off now and again,” she said.

    ___

    Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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