When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The Supernatural alum not only stopped by the second season of CBS' Tracker to reprise his role as Colter's brother Russell, but he's also been filming the fifth and final season of The Boys, where he's reuniting with Supernatural co-stars Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins. Now, on top of all that, he's leading a new series, Countdown, that will be making its way to Amazon Prime and the 2025 TV schedule soon, and after a first look was revealed, fans can't get enough. Countdown got some big news earlier this week, as Amazon announced that the series will be premiering on June 25. This project will also star Eric Dane, Jessica Camacho, Violett Beane, Uli Latukefu, and Elliot Knight, and it was created by Chicago Fire creator Derek Haas, so you know it's going to be good. Now, Prime Video has shared some first look photos on Instagram, and boy, am I excited: Ackles has been posting photos from the set of Countdown and even shared a lovely post after filming wrapped, but getting official stills from the series and the premiere date really solidified my excitement for this project. Many fans took to the comments of Amazon's post to share their thoughts on the actor's new show too, and some even threw in some great SPN references: With it, you can watch shows like Fallout and The Boys. It's still hard to believe that, come November, it will be five years since Jensen Ackles' Dean Winchester met a tragic fate in the Supernatural series finale. However, his current characters are alive and well, and knowing that we will soon be introduced to a new one is a great feeling. Of course, fans are over the moon with the fact that the actor will be coming back to television for a new leading role, and many of them will probably be watching just for him, and I can't say I blame them. Countdown's story kicks off when a Department of Homeland Security officer is murdered in broad daylight. Ackles' LAPD Detective Mark Meachum joins undercover agents from all other branches of law enforcement on a task force to investigate. Fans have seen Ackles in a law enforcement role before, as he portrayed Sheriff Beau Arlen on ABC's Big Sky. Countdown premieres its first three episodes on June 25 for those with an Amazon Prime subscription. Between the intriguing storyline and the A-list cast that Ackles is part of, Countdown will be a series fans won't want to miss out on. A Big Taylor Swift Milestone Quietly Came And Went In April Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

Supernatural star Jared Padalecki has always spoken about the fantasy horror series with enthusiasm and acknowledged the impact the long-running series has on his life and career. Similar to previous years, the actor also paid his character, Sam Winchester, a tribute on his birthday. Jared Padalecki was 23 years old when Season 1 premiered in 2005 and was 38 when the final season aired in 2020. Similar to one of the most iconic Supernatural quotes, the show did end up being a family business, not just because the cast and crew evolved together, but because many found their significant others on the show, including Padalecki. In his latest tribute on Instagram, the actor celebrated with his wife, Genevieve Padalecki, whom he met on the set of Supernatural, and their children. A first look at Jensen Ackles' new thriller series, Countdown, has been released, as well as when fans can stream the new show on Prime Video. To celebrate his birthday, the actor wrote, "The Padalecki Clan got together to celebrate #SamWinchester's birthday... Turns out he and Ruby smoothed things over in the afterlife." Padalecki and his wife, Genevieve Cortese, met on the set of Supernatural, where she played the second Ruby. Their characters had a brief romance before Ruby was killed off. Genevieve returned to the show for one of Supernatural's best episodes, "The French Mistake," where Sam and Dean became their real-life actors, Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, respectively. A Supernatural reunion is coming, one way or another. "I think 20 years ago today, we were shooting the pilot," he recalled. There's been a lot of sh*t." He continued, "But in hindsight, I'm so grateful to the [fans] because I was public with what I was going through and you were all supportive." In late 2023, the two actors teased that there were talks about continuing the series, despite its Season 15 finale. Supernatural was a passion project for many actors, especially those who found love on the set, or brought their significant others to play different characters. Since the finale, the actors moved on to new projects, but Padalecki confirmed that he will play Sam again in the future, teasing that they might sit down and talk about a reboot this year, five years after the finale. Ackles had already been a part of the show since Season 4, alongside other Supernatural alums. Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful. Be the first to post your thoughts. Supernatural had an unofficial crossover with The Walking Dead, introducing alternate worlds and creating a great way to bring Negan into the revival. Severance deserves all the praise it receives, but it's not the first show to split personalities to fill a work quota. Fans will be able to get an early look at the upcoming Disney+ show, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld.

Ridley Scott's Alien is a sci-fi-horror classic, but its original ending would have been disastrous. 1979's Alien almost had a very different, and far worse, ending that could have derailed the Alien franchise that followed the movie. And all of it might never have happened if the original ending of Alien had been used. As with many movies, the ending of Alien wasn't set in stone when the movie first entered production, with Ridley Scott proposing a very different and far more grim ending to 20th Century Fox. While the ending was never filmed, Scott spoke of it in an interview with EW in 2017, and it would have likely heavily reshaped the Alien franchise – if not ended before it even began. After Ripley escapes with her cat, Jonesy, on the Nostromo's escape ship just before the interstellar cargo freighter explodes, she at first breathes a sigh of relief that the monstrous alien creature who decimated her entire crew has been eliminated. However, this would have proven to be ineffective against the alien, who then manages to pull itself back into the ship and, in Ridley Scott's words to EW, “It comes forward and it slams through her mask and rips her head off.” Hopefully, they'll pick me up” in the voice of Tom Skerritt's Captain Dallas. Per Scott, he pitched this original ending for Alien over the phone, and the studio swiftly threatened to fire him from the movie, leading to Alien‘s ending being changed to have Ripley prevail. The event of Ripley's death wouldn't necessarily have prevented any further movies in the Alien Universe from ever being made, with Ridley Scott's prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant showing there's plenty of Alien stories to tell without the involvement of Ripley. However, the movie's direct sequel Aliens is regarded not only as a classic of sci-fi and action but as the best of the Alien franchise by many Alien fans (including yours truly). You can throw Aliens and virtually every Alien movie not set before the original into the recycling bin, if Ripley had never made it out alive. Moreover, Scott's original ending would have taken the movie out on a bizarre twist that completely undercuts the spine-tingling tone of everything that came before it. On top of being a generally crushing experience for viewers, the abandoned ending of Alien would have likely been a “Jump the Shark” moment on par with the wild unrealized original plans for Scott's Gladiator II. Fortunately, Alien ended up heading down the path toward a brighter future of nightmare storytelling. The gloomy tone of Alien would have made Ripley's demise a particularly tough pill to swallow; moreover, it would have robbed sci-fi fandom and cinema of a great legacy franchise. That's not counting Sigourney Weaver's run as Ripley, which established one of the greatest sci-fi and/or horror heroines of all time. The transformation Ripley experiences from Alien to Aliens, in particular, would be a great storytelling loss of a deeply traumatized survivor becoming a warrior with an iron will. Alien concluding with the Xenomorph sending out a phony transmission in the voice of Dallas would have ended the movie on a whimper, and likely would've become a punchline in later years. By keeping so much about the Xenomorph unknown and mysterious, Alien is the kind of movie that is strengthened by elements it left unexplained being expanded upon and evolved in subsequent entries in the series. Alien is an example of the latter, and its original ending shows how much that could have changed for the worse. The Alien movies are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+, and Alien: Earth will debut on Hulu this summer. Get access to exclusive stories on new releases, movies, shows, comics, anime, games and more! By signing up, you confirm that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. A gorgeous guitar that has more than enough substance to match its irresistible style. Trying to be a bit too clever in areas? The Squier Paranormal Offset Telecaster we have here is certainly no exception. Essentially a de facto Frankenstein'd Jazzmaster/Tele hybrid, this particular model looks to repackage (most of) the tones and functional stylings of a traditional single-cut in a form that takes visual inspiration from Fender's beloved offset. On paper, it looks and sounds like an absolute winner, but does it have the substance to match its irresistible style? Launch price: $449/£409/€439Made: ChinaType: Six-string electric guitar Body: PoplarNeck: Maple / "C" ShapeFingerboard: Indian laurel, boundScale length: 9.5"/241mm Nut/width: Bone / 42mmFrets: 21, Narrow TallHardware: Vintage-style tuners, 3-Saddle Vintage-Style Strings-Through-Body Tele w/ Chrome Barrel Saddles, Knurled Flat Top control knobsString spacing at bridge: mmElectrics: 2x Fender Designed Alnico Single-Coil, Master Volume (Series/Parallel Push/Pull), Master Tone (In-Phase/Out-Of-Phase Push/Pull), 3-position BladeWeight: 8.5lb/3.8kgOptions: N/ALeft-handed options: Any options, if so what finish? Finishes: Ice Blue Metallic, Olympic White, Charcoal FrostCases: NoContact: Fender Previous Squier Paranormal guitars that we've reviewed have set a seriously solid precedent with their impressive build quality. First and foremost, the Paranormal Offset Tele is a really good-looking guitar, and – especially when one considers its hybrid design brief – it's been pieced together rather smartly indeed. The fretboard binding is in pretty good nick, the finish is largely flawless, and when you've got it in your hands, it feels like a sturdy, reliable bit of kit. That said, unsurprisingly it's not the best-built guitar you'll come across, and it's clear that – although nicely put together – it suffers in a few places as a result of the cheaper appointments. For example, the control knobs are unconvincingly knurled (there's hardly any grip there at all), unusually stiff, and don't facilitate speedy parameter changes. The push/pull functions of the volume and tone controls are effective and solid, though, and while I initially felt that Squier was at risk of trying a bit too hard to go above and beyond here – I thought a simple Tele/Jazzmaster hybrid would have been appealing enough – it does a decent job of living up to the Paranormal name and injecting a healthy dose of accessible, expansive tones. Everything seems to have been put together rather solidly, and the marrying of the Jazzmaster and Telecaster styles has worked. Nothing rattles, nothing is loose, and the Offset Tele does a really convincing job of bringing two beloved builds under one umbrella. I found multiple in-song applications for some of the switching options that my more expensive Tele simply can't deliver. The vintage-style tuning machines feel a bit more bulbous than usual and make things feel a bit cramped, but otherwise everything is in working order. I can't help but feel that the 24” scale of a Jaguar would have made such a hybrid model even more playable and appealing – and dare I say, more 'Paranormal' –but maybe that's being too picky. It feels a little ‘tight' at times with bends and faster runs, especially higher up the neck, but for some shoegaze-y rhythm playing and ethereal chording, it delivers the goods. It's solid, rather than extraordinary, but comfortable and reliable nonetheless. Like most Squiers that come packing Fender Designed Alnico Single-Coils, the stock sounds are probably all you'd want or need from an Offset Tele. Clear, punchy and bright with plenty of bite that can really cut through the mix, they are capable of handling everything from piercing cleans to fuzz-drenched leads, with an impressive clarity and definition maintained throughout. When compared to my usual American Vintage II Telecaster Thinline, it didn't quite set the room alight, but it definitely performed better than expected when I gave it a tour of my Neural DSP Nano Cortex and wider rig – especially when compared to a guitar almost six times its price tag. In fact, I was particularly drawn to its neck pickup, which seemingly avoids the overly 'wooly' and muddy sound that budget pickups are often known for. I found multiple in-song applications for some of the switching options that my more expensive Tele simply can't deliver. Elsewhere, the series/parallel split helped flip-flop between a bit more added warmth and depth, which the single-coils on their own lacked. All of this caused me to do a U-turn on my opinion of this guitar's electronics, and by the end I was onboard. This is a very cool guitar with a lot of style, and fortunately it has the substance to match its good looks. On paper, the Jazzmaster/Telecaster design brief should absolutely work, and while it doesn't have a flawless execution and it teeters on the edge of trying too hard, the resulting guitar has won this writer over. Granted it didn't quite leave the same impression that other Paranormal Squiers have in the past – look no further than the Troublemaker Tele, for example – but it's a solid player with a bunch of inspiring and applicable tones to boot. Final verdict: A gorgeously styled guitar that has more than enough substance to match its irresistible style. Nice execution of both designs, with a few minor blemishes. Solid playability that is comfortable, if not extraordinary. An interesting, versatile and great-performing guitar for the price point. If you want a high-performing Squier offset, but don't want to get bogged down in the novelty of the Paranormal models, look no further. Squier Paranormal Troublemaker Telecaster DeluxePrice: $449/£399Though the Paranormal Offset Tele didn't move us, the Troublemaker Telecaster Deluxe definitely did. We gave it a five-star review last year, and commended it for its top notch humbucker tones and excellent playability. This one pairs a Tele with the style of a Les Paul, and it's an example of the Paranormal series done right. Read more: Squier Paranormal Custom Nashville Stratocaster review When he's not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician. “I remember there was a video of Gary Moore and he played Red House on this Fiesta Red Strat, and I thought it was just the most incredible thing”: Is Toby Lee Britain's next blues-rock superstar? I think Billy Corgan saw that in me”: From Veruca Salt to the Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage, Nicole Fiorentino has become alt-rock's go-to bassist Guitar World is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA.

The grainy image, reportedly taken by a commercial airline pilot in 2021, shows a silver, disc-shaped object allegedly hovering over the landmark intersection of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. (Also read: Mysterious underwater 'UFO base' believed to be alien hub spotted off Southern California coast) Internet users and sceptics were quick to analyse the photo, suggesting that the so-called flying saucer was nothing more than two crop irrigation circles seen from above. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Elizondo offered a detailed explanation: “As you know, I am always first to admit mistakes, but this is not one of those times,” he wrote. “This illustrates a bigger point here… when pilots come out to share what they feel may be anomalous, they are faced with fierce ridicule… and learn quickly not to ever share again.” Elizondo has previously faced criticism for promoting UFO evidence that was later debunked, with Pentagon officials disputing many of his claims. The panel, held in Washington, D.C., also featured US Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Tim Burchett, along with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb and nuclear physicist Eric Davis. Davis claimed that four alien species—“grays,” “Nordics,” “reptilian,” and “insectoid”—have visited Earth. Elizondo has previously faced criticism for promoting UFO evidence that was later debunked, with Pentagon officials disputing many of his claims. The panel, held in Washington, D.C., also featured US Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Tim Burchett, along with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb and nuclear physicist Eric Davis. Davis claimed that four alien species—“grays,” “Nordics,” “reptilian,” and “insectoid”—have visited Earth.

On the eve of Australia's national poll to determine its next leader, two hunks of meat were dangled above a murky pool. Attached to one line, the picture of prime minister, Anthony Albanese. In the water lurked a 36-year-old saltwater crocodile called Speckles. So it's only fitting Speckles was once again put to the test, this time with chunks of buffalo meat. “That is a form of interpreting portents to work out what is going to happen in the future.” Once again Speckles predicted the fall of a government – only this time, he was decisive. In 2022, the 4.8 metre saltie predicted, via plucked chook, that Albanese would defeat then prime minister Scott Morrison. “But they took control of their own lives.” Which is another tradition that Anne-Marie Condé, senior curator at the Museum Of Australian Democracy At Old Parliament House, hopes lives on in the modern world. And this sense of ownership over the democratic process means that “we can have a little fun with it if we want to”. “It's fun watching crocodiles decide who might be the next prime minister,” Condé says. “But you know what: your vote does count, it's not a random thing. “So it's great if people can have a bit of think before they vote to how they want to use that vote – because the outcome will determine the future of us all.”

Do you believe in ghosts? Whether you're a skeptic or psychic, National Paranormal Day is the holiday for you. Grab your Ouija board on May 3 and start communicating with the great beyond. I'm bending spoons I'm keeping flowers in full bloom I'm looking for answers From the great beyond — Peter Buck/Mike Mills/Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) If you've ever experienced something beyond the norm or had an inexplicable otherworldly happening, you've stumbled onto the right day. National Paranormal Day is for those fascinated by the unknowable “other side.” If you don't know your normal from your paranormal, don't worry — you can still celebrate! Just head online to learn about the movies, documentaries, and science fiction that deal with this subject. Log in to leave a comment Just add your email and you're on the list. (We will never spam you).