As The Pitt gets through another shift at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center during Season 2, the show is preparing to tackle immigration amid a crucial time. Executive producer John Wells recently recalled his discussion with the execs at HBO about an upcoming episode of the medical procedural drama, which includes an ICE storyline. “I don't want to be in a situation where it's a surprise,” explained Wells to The Daily Beast. Just make sure it's balanced, and we're not just treating the situation as if it doesn't have other points of view. Noting that the episode filmed in December, shortly after Warner Bros. announced its planned merger with Netflix, Wells felt it necessary to consult the parent company amid the multibillion-dollar deal. Wells added, “When we first pitched it, I thought, ‘Uh oh,' you know. I can say that all of us are approaching what's going on in this country right now with a certain trepidation, and also awareness that there are some possible risks to telling certain kinds of stories. Following the killing of U.S. citizen and LA local Keith Porter Jr., who was shot on New Year's Eve by an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, protests and public outcries have broken out over the fatal ICE shootings of Minnesota's Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the death of Savannah, Georgia's Linda Davis, who was killed this month in a chase involving ICE. Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy. Why would ICE have a relevant point of view when their bosses have made it clear why they are doing what they are doing? I can't watch a show that defends ICE in anyway. Are they going to defend white nationalist groups next? We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks Send us a tip using our annonymous form. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.
We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. On the overlook of a dark, looming castle, scarred by war, two friends and lords look out through the mists. That scene from Akira Kurosawa's 1957 film “Throne of Blood” could not be more distinct (one hopes) from the California International Antiquarian Book Fair taking place February 27 to March 1. Why ‘Boxcar Bertha' Belongs in the Canon Can't Sleep? It's a shooting script, with handwritten annotations by an anonymous member of the film's crew, concerned with set design and atmosphere. “It's annotated throughout in pencil with these little drawings of how the scenes are supposed to be laid out or shot, which is really interesting because ‘Throne of Blood' in particular has this atmosphere that's built throughout the film,” Joseph Bills, Peter Harrington bookseller and cataloger, told IndieWire. The rare booksellers also have a shooting script for “Ran,” Kurosawa's jidaigeki take on “King Lear,” but that script is less mysterious. The notes in the margins of that shooting script are full of lens focal lengths, camera angles, and distances that were key to the compositions of shots. “That one is much more solid in terms of who it's from, and you can see it's very much about how you're going to film the piece. The ‘Throne of Blood' one is more vague, but it seems to be about how you're going to design the area that [each shot] is particularly in, which is still important. I think it's particularly important for ‘Throne of Blood,'” Bills said. “Sometimes that takes a little bit of effort because you're seeing ‘Scene 75' and you're like, well, which one is Scene 75? You've got to look at the text and then be like, ‘OK, I think I get it' and then try to work out what minute it occurs and match that,” Bill said. “One of the great things about working in a rare book dealership is you do see all kinds of different things.” Seeing it does come at a cost, though. The “Throne of Blood” script has a £70,000 (roughly $95,000) price tag. This “Throne of Blood” script is the third Kurosawa that's passed through Peter Harrington — they also currently have the “Ran” script and have sold a “Kagemusha” script in the past, and some Studio Ghibli animation cels as well. But Bills said there aren't enough data points to price something like this. “It's a mixture of science and art,” Bills said. And also sometimes it's a bit of instinct.” We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.
Major figures associated with the Make America Great Again movement — including former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, far-right figure Alex Jones, and infamous manosphere influencer Andrew Tate — are fuming at Donald Trump over the military strikes against Iran that began overnight on Saturday. Tucker Carlson, who visited the White House just last week, told ABC News' Jonathan Karl that the choice to attack Iran is “absolutely disgusting and evil.” Greene, meanwhile, wrote on X: “The Trump admin actually asked in a poll how many casualties voters were willing to accept in a war with Iran??? And how many more innocent will die?” she wrote in another post. This is not what we thought MAGA was supposed to be. Greene resigned from Congress in January, and has been feuding with the president over his foreign policy decisions and lack of transparency with the Epstein files. Multiple Republicans still in Congress have expressed their discontent with the newly launched military campaign. When Congress reconvenes, I will work with [Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna] to force a Congressional vote on war with Iran,” GOP Rep. Thomas Massie wrote on X. “The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war.” Republican Sen. Rand Paul wrote on social media, “The Constitution conferred the power to declare or initiate war to Congress for a reason, to make war less likely… As with all war, my first and purest instinct is wish Americans soldiers safety and success in their mission. But my oath of office is to the Constitution, so with studied care, I must oppose another Presidential war.” Several far-right figures have also sounded off on social media. “There is a high probability that Iran will activate terrorist sleeper cells inside the United States in the coming days and weeks,” Jones, a notorious conspiracy theorist, wrote on X. “As always I only support military action anywhere, in any context, if it directly serves the interests of American citizens,” wrote Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire. “It's troubling that the arguments we're hearing for this war in Iran, including from Trump himself, seem to revolve primarily around ‘bringing freedom to the Iranian people.' “The hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said. MAGA Reacts to Trump's Strikes on Iran: ‘Absolutely Disgusting and Evil' Michael Jackson Estate Sued for Child Trafficking by Siblings Alleging More Than Decade of Abuse Iran has launched retaliatory strikes across the Middle East region, targeting Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, where an Iranian missile hit a U.S. Navy base. Experts have cautioned that war with Iran could lead to a lengthy conflict, with Iran owning a large, diverse stock of missiles, some of which can reach several U.S. military bases in the region.
Broadcast and cable networks mobilized overnight for ongoing coverage of the U.S. and Israel attack on Iran, in Donald Trump's most significant military action of his second term. As strikes hit Tehran, U.S. outlets provided a mixture of video from news agencies and those obtained from individuals. As Iran launched retaliatory strikes, correspondents in cities including Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi provided details. On CNN International, an alarm sounded as anchor Becky Anderson, in the UAE, alerted videos that they were told to seek shelter. “We are all safe,” Anderson later said, confirming retaliatory strikes there and in Bahrain and Qatar, other countries with U.S. military bases. On NBC News, weekend Today anchors Peter Alexander and Laura Jarrett interviewed Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, from Tehran, who insisted that “all high ranking officials are alive,” while “we are handling this situation, and everything is fine.” Israeli media reported that the government there believes he was killed. CNN broke in with news during The Story Is with Elex Michaelson, its live show from Los Angeles, at 1:31 a.m. ET; Fox News broke into regular programming at 1:38 a.m. ET, ABC News' first special report came at 2:02 a.m. ET and CBS News was on the air at 2:28 a.m. Unlike last year's attacks on sites believed to be where Iran was developing nuclear capabilities, President Donald Trump signaled in his announcement of the attacks that the U.S. goals were far greater, including regime change. “I'm talking to people who suggest that while this won't be a matter of hours, it will be a matter of days, but really it could be up to a matter of weeks as well,” Jennifer Griffin, chief national security correspondent, said on Fox News. The U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees the government's international broadcasting entities, said that President Donald Trump's announcement of the military action was being carried across Voice of America. But it was unclear just how effective that effort to reach Iranians has been, given the agency overall has been drastically scaled back under Kari Lake. In Iran itself, the BBC reported that there was an internet blackout. Some of the most harrowing images were shared by correspondents on social media, including Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson, who posted on an explosion in Bahrain. Iranian Shahed 136 one-way attack drone hits U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain pic.twitter.com/mw9xUD3tCz Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks Send us a tip using our annonymous form. Sign up for our breaking news alerts We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter [This story contains major spoilers from Bridgerton season four, Part 2.] Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha) may have finally found their happily ever after in Bridgerton season four, but it wasn't without plenty of hurdles and setbacks that come with any fairytale story. In Part 2 alone, while also trying to figure out how to make their relationship work within society — as Sophie is a maid and Benedict is a nobleman — Sophie is also dealing with Araminta's (Katie Leung) vendetta against her, trying to throw her in prison forever, and Benedict is contemplating leaving his family and society so he can be with his one true love. Paramount Pays Out $2.8 Billion Termination Fee to Netflix as Warner Deal Draws Near But thanks to Lady Violet Bridgerton's (Ruth Gemmell) masterful plan, Benedict and Sophie make it down the aisle legally (if you caught that post-credits scene) by the end, along with a few highly anticipated spicy scenes along the way. Thompson tells The Hollywood Reporter that it was important for them to “deliver something real” for Benedict and Sophie's intimate scenes, “because we're not thirst trap puppets.” Below, Thompson and Ha break down Part 2, including the chaos with Araminta (Katie Leung), filming those spicy scenes and their thoughts on the new Lady Whistledown mystery. This season centers on a love story between two people who wouldn't be accepted by society's views. LUKE THOMPSON I love how the tensions of what can and can't happen, both because of internal and external blocks, really undoes Benedict. From my point of view, it was really nice to watch a character like that get completely torn to pieces a little bit. It's a nice thing to experience from an actor's point of view. Benedict was really going through it in Part 2, between trying to decide if he's going to leave his family and move to the countryside with Sophie or figure out another way. Symbolically, you always have to hold onto your family a little less tightly if you're going to begin a family with someone else. Everyone's held onto each other a little bit more closely, and Benedict particularly. It was also really intense when Araminta had Sophie arrested and thrown in a jail cell, and almost put on trial. What was it like filming those more intense scenes in Part 2? HA We've never seen a Bridgeton jail before. I was like, “How dark are we going?” I really did have to lean on the directors, and when you are working with a great script and a great cast member like Katie, who really does make you feel immense fear, I think you're just able to play on the day,. THOMPSON Seven hours in a bathtub … it's not for the faint-hearted (laughs). THOMPSON With those scenes, the thing to really hold at bay, for me anyway, is that sort of pressure of, Oh, it's this kind of scene and we need to deliver this kind of thing so that people need to be excited or whatever. Your job is to just live the scene. Lizzy [Talbot], the intimacy coordinator, enables you to do that. She puts you straight in the scene rather than standing there thinking, Are people going to enjoy this? You can't really control that, so you have to keep that side of things at bay because we're not thirst trap puppets. We try and deliver something real, the story of it. In the end, Sophie and Benedict thankfully end up together, but even if Araminta didn't agree to Violet's plan, do you think the Queen would have potentially let Benedict marry a maid? THOMPSON I like the narrative beat that there is a little fudge on the truth because it's nice in the same way that Benedict, through being with Sophie, has found his weight, his seriousness and being in touch with reality. I think it's nice that Sophie retains this little secret, this little bit of fantasy with that fudge on the truth at the end. HA I like to think for the happy ending sake that she would still say yes. Who do each of you think it is? I don't have any inkling at all. I think they've written it specifically for that, because we only get a little taste of this new voice until we get further on into the next season. Though season five won't be focused on Benedict and Sophie, what do you hope for your characters next season, post-wedding? HA Or feel like they can lean on either one of us. All episodes of Bridgerton season four are currently streaming on Netflix. Check out all of The Hollywood Reporter‘s season four coverage here. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Inside the business of TV with breaking news, expert analysis and showrunner interviews Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. In November 2025, the Screen Actors Guild Award made a change. Hollywood's massive union, comprised of more than 160,000 performers, changed the name of its annual awards show. Instead of the SAG Awards, it would henceforth be known as… The Actor Awards. OK. “The Actor Awards.” I mean, it makes sense. Is that the best a group of creative-minded people could come up with? Is this the bland, algorithm-driven future we want? Should every major awards show be numbered, too, so we always know exactly where we are on the road to the Oscars? Doesn't anyone take any pride in a name's meaning anymore? After posing all these questions (and more) to my innocent (yet vindictive) editors, I ended up complaining my way into this assignment. So here we are: an incomplete, ever-evolving list of Hollywood's most cherished awards, broken down by the origins of each awards show, the evolution of its name, and what that name signifies to the industry and the general public circa 2026. Plus, of course, whether the name should change. Sure, it may not be the biggest item on the awards season agenda, but there's meaning in a name, even when the organizations doing the naming try to scrape away any indication of such. (Spoiler alert: Yes, the Actors Awards need a new name, so go ahead and start brainstorming now.) By celebrating bold, original storytelling that shapes the cultural landscape — whether in independent works that push artistic boundaries or commercial entertainment that connects with the broadest audiences — these awards further the mission of The Gotham Film & Media Institute's year-round programming.” What's the Award Signify? The Gotham Awards either boost attention to films and shows that may not scream “awards contender,” or bolster the major players' awards resumes with an early stamp of approval.Does the Name Reflect That? When you hear “Gotham,” odds are high you either think of New York City (the cultural epicenter of planet Earth) or Batman (the coolest comic book character who everyone's heard of — don't come for me, nerds). Both, arguably, fit the Gothams well: It wants to be the cool kids' awards show, and so long as it doesn't overindulge in tribute categories and studio fare (as it has broached in recent seasons, after removing the $35 million budget cap in 2023), it can claim that title with ease.Should the Name Change? Founded: 1984Original Name: The FINDIE Awards (Friends of Independents)Current Name (Official): The Film Independent Spirit AwardsCurrent Name (Colloquial): Indie Spirits, Spirit AwardsMission Statement: “The Spirit Awards are Film Independent's largest annual celebration, making year-round programming for filmmakers and film loving audiences possible while amplifying the voices of independent storytellers and celebrating their diversity, originality, and uniqueness of vision. The winners of the Film Independent Spirit Awards are voted on by Film Independent Members. Indie ascendancy with a little bit of street cred. Then budget caps for qualifying films were raised or removed entirely, TV entered the mix (which makes defining “indie” that much more difficult), and the competition to be positioned as an Oscars precursor grew even more heated. No matter what path they choose, though, they'll need the name.Does the Name Reflect That? Yes, but only to remove the word “film.” I get Film Independent benefits from the visibility, but the Film Independent Spirit Awards also hand out TV trophies, which makes using the full name for the awards show confusing. The Independent Spirit Awards just sounds so much cleaner. Either ditch “film” or create a separate ceremony for TV — you know, like the Gothams did. Founded: 2002Original Name: Movies for Grownups (or whatever the headline said, since these began as a column in AARP Magazine)Current Name (Official): AARP Movies for Grownups AwardsCurrent Name (Colloquial): AARP Awards, Movies for Grownups, Oldies but Goodies, The Grannies (OK, those last two are just what I call them)Mission Statement: “For more than two decades, Movies for Grownups has championed movies for grownups, by grownups, by advocating for the 50-plus audience, fighting industry ageism, and encouraging films and TV shows that resonate with older viewers. [In addition], the annual Movies for Grownups Awards raises funds for AARP Foundation, AARP's affiliated charity, which works for and with older adults to increase economic opportunity by creating pathways to work, expanding access to financial support, mobilizing volunteer-driven community service, and advancing legal advocacy so that everyone can age with dignity and purpose.”What's the Award Signify? While not really an Oscar precursor, the Movies for Grownups awards are one of the few ceremonies on the list that actually raises money for a good cause (rather than the awards body itself). That helps lend the AARP Awards enough integrity to be considered an honor, even if certain stars might blanch at being labeled the retirees' favorite. (It didn't help “Jay Kelly”! There's a lot of fun to be had cooking up alternative titles (see above), but the Movies for Grownups Awards minds the gap between flat-out calling the recipients “old” (an extra sensitive label in Hollywood) and tripping over itself to avoid telling people what they are: awards from folks of a certain age. ASIFA-Hollywood is the largest chapter of the international organization Association Internationale du Film D'Animation (ASIFA). Operating independently through member support and revenue from its events and initiatives, this nonprofit organization continues to unite the global animation community celebrating excellence, preserving history, and fostering education and innovation.”What's the Award Signify? Simple as that.Does the Name Reflect That? Named by Hobart Donavan (the husband of founder June Foray) as a first-thought suggestion, the Annies are as easily understood now as they were conceived then: “As long as it's an animation award, why not call it the Annie?” Why not indeed? Makes more sense than the Oscar, and with half-a-century of history behind it, it only gains significance with each new ceremony.Should the Name Change? Ew.”Mission Statement: “The Critics Choice Awards are bestowed annually to honor the finest in cinematic and television achievement. Historically, they are the most accurate predictor of Academy Award nominations. The CCA is a group of broadcast, radio, online critics, and entertainment journalists who review films, documentaries, and scripted and unscripted television. Instinctually, the name “Critics Choice Awards” should carry more meaning than that, but the word “critics” is a bit of a misnomer, given the more recent influx of awards prognosticators in the membership body and executive ranks. Their influence can be felt not only in the nominees and winners (their 2026 TV winners copied the Emmys exactly for Best Drama Series, Comedy Series, Limited Series, and more), but also in the organization's mission statement, which includes a line bragging that the Critics Choice Awards are “the most accurate predictor of Academy Award nominations.” Setting aside the subjective accuracy of that assertion (not to mention the organization's dubious history), can a group be focused on awarding the “finest in cinematic and television achievement” and be dedicated to making sure your opinions line up with another group? Seems like… no?Does the Name Reflect That? There are plenty of esteemed critics who vote for the Critics Choice Awards, but there's a difference between legitimate critical favorites and awards season favorites.Should the Name Change? Setting aside concerns over accuracy, the word “critic” is a buzzkill for general audiences, and the CCA, with ceremonies dedicated to superhero movies and reality TV, is clearly trying to reach a broad audience. Founded: 1944Original Name: The Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association AwardsCurrent Name (Official): The Golden GlobesCurrent Name (Colloquial): Polymarket Presents: The Gambling GlobesMission Statement: “As a premier entertainment awards show since 1944, the annual Golden Globes has honored achievements in both television and film. Over the last three decades, the Golden Globes has enabled donations of more than $55 million to entertainment-related charities including scholarship programs, film restoration projects, and humanitarian efforts. This funding has also supported diverse programs in partnership with advocacy groups aimed at promoting greater access in Hollywood for underserved communities. Dick Clark Productions is the owner and producer of the Golden Globes.” [Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Corporation, IndieWire's parent company. Few award shows have a history as tumultuous as the Golden Globes, which was nearly axed after countless scandals, before getting new owners, new voters, and a new (though still unresolved) vibe. In its purest sense, the Golden Globes present a fun, crowded party — a warm-up for the Oscars where attendees can shake off the jitters with a few drinks while still going through the same motions they'll go through a few weeks (or months) later when it matters.Does the Name Reflect That? The name — and a bright, shiny prestigious-looking trophy to match — imparts a kind of vague, sweeping value. Now that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is no more and the voters are largely unknown, “globes” is more aspirational: like, “Hopefully, the world pays attention when we dole out these awards.”Should the Name Change? With nominees and winners chosen by eligible performers within SAG-AFTRA's robust and diverse community of more than 160,000 members, the largest voting body in the awards landscape, the show recognizes outstanding work across 15 categories spanning individual and ensemble achievements in motion pictures, drama series, and comedy series. Peer approval, popularity (among Oscar/Emmy voters and the general public), plus a little trendiness. Sporting “the largest voting body in the awards landscape,” the Actor Awards skew toward popular opinion, whether that's what's been seen by the most voters or what's been hyped most ahead of voting. They're a strong indicator of Oscar (and Emmy) fortunes, but they're not beholden to anyone. These are actors, they love acting, and they will vote for whatever actor's acting they love the most, so help you God.Does the Name Reflect That? It sure does!Should the Name Change? The Actor Awards is, quite simply, a silly name. Yes, the trophy has always been called The Actor, so there's historical precedent, and sure, it's an accurate representation of the ceremony itself (actors and actors, as far as the eye can see), but the name is so basic, it's stripped of any personality, any gravity, and any sense of significance. Admittedly, when they were the SAG Awards, people would call them the SAGs (less than flattering) or even the Saggies (yikes), but now the group has run so far in the opposite direction, it's as if they named their esteemed celebration of thespianism based on what best served the Netflix algorithm. (“When regular people want to watch our awards show, what would they search for? Time to ask your screenwriter buddies for a rewrite. Founded: 1990Original Name: Golden Laurel AwardsCurrent Name (Official): Producers Guild of America AwardsCurrent Name (Colloquial): PGA AwardsMission Statement: “The Producers Guild Awards ceremony is a cornerstone of the film and television industry, celebrating the work and accomplishments of producers and recognizing outstanding achievements in producing across various categories, including theatrical motion pictures, television, documentaries, animation, and emerging media.”What's the Award Signify? The PGA Awards are known for their high success rate in predicting Best Picture winners (and they're also pretty good at anticipating, or reacting to, Emmy favorites), but it's the 10 nominees for Best Theatrical Motion Picture that tell the real story. In the past 10 years, the PGA Awards have nominated “Avatar 2,” “Barbie,” both “Black Panthers,” “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” both “Dune” movies, “Elvis,” “F1,” “A Quiet Place,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Weapons,” “Wicked” (just the first one this time! ), and “Wonder Woman” (again, just the first one). If you made a high-grossing movie (with decent reviews), you need to land a PGA nomination if you want a shot at the Oscars.Does the Name Reflect That? Producers do a lot of work that's mysterious and important, so you could argue that having the profession in the title is the best way to reflect the guild's identity, priorities, and taste. But when you held the Golden Laurel Awards for 12 years — a name so mysterious and important it required curious observers to figure out what it meant — it's hard to swallow such a flavorless name. The PGA already names its individual awards after legendary producers (the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, the Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama, etc.). So why not chase that instinct and name the awards after Dick Wolf (The Wolves! Sure, none of those names immediately explain what's being awarded, but this isn't a blockbuster movie. The title of a niche awards show doesn't need broad appeal. Even the Golden Laurels would be an improvement. Founded: 1938Original Name: The Honorary Life Member Award (given to D.W. Griffith)Current Name (Official): Directors Guild of America AwardCurrent Name (Colloquial): DGA AwardsMission Statement: “Since its founding in 1936, the Directors Guild of America has fought for the economic and creative rights of its members; protected their ability to financially benefit from the reuse of their work; established strong and durable pension and health plans; and established jurisdiction in new technologies and distribution platforms. Today we represent more than 19,500 directors and members of the directorial team working in film, television, commercials, news, sports, and documentary.”What's the Award Signify? Elite direction, peer approval, and Oscar/Emmy frontrunner status.Does the Name Reflect That? Yes, although with similar hang-ups as the PGA Awards. I'd be more inclined to change the trophy, honestly. Don't get me wrong, the massive medallions handed out to winners are awesome — distinct, beautiful, and time-honored. But I gotta say, the little golden director's chairs they use to mark each assigned seat at the ceremony's sit-down dinner? I covet those like little else. So cool (and of unmistakable origins — it's a director's chair! Founded: 1949Original Name: The Screenwriters Guild AwardsCurrent Name (Official): Writers Guild AwardsCurrent Name (Colloquial): WGA AwardsMission Statement: “The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, streaming, news (broadcast and digital), radio/audio, and promotional categories. The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, digital media, and broadcast news. The Guilds negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of their members; conduct programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers' views to various bodies of government.”What's the Award Signify? Elite scripts and peer approval, sure, but the WGA Awards are a bit of a wild card when it comes to boosting Oscar and Emmy odds. Various eligibility discrepancies between the awards bodies prevents direct comparisons between what the WGA says is best and what other screenwriting awards recognize. But make no mistake: The category depth on the TV side helps draw attention to dramas, comedies, new series, and animated programs, while the voters' oft-surprising preferences can be a real boon to movies and shows that may seem too small or strange for the Oscars and Emmys. Yes, although a little more originality from writers would be welcome.Should the Name Change? Only if it avoids SAG's mistake of skewing too basic. Founded: 1929Original Name: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Merit AwardsCurrent Name (Official): Academy AwardsCurrent Name (Colloquial): The OscarsMission Statement: “The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world's premier film organization and is home to a global membership of more than 11,000 of the most accomplished film industry artists and leaders. The Academy connects global audiences — its members, the film industry, and film fans — through their shared passion for making and watching films. The Academy's affiliated charitable organization, the Academy Foundation, serves a public benefit through its robust educational, preservation, and cultural activities. It doesn't get any better than an Oscar.Does the Name Reflect That? Nearly a century of ceremonies under the same name (essentially) will do that.Should the Name Change? Founded: 1949Original Name: Primetime Emmy AwardsCurrent Name (Official): Primetime Emmy AwardsCurrent Name (Colloquial): EmmysMission Statement: “The Television Academy celebrates those who excel in the industry recognizing their achievements through awards and accolades, including the renowned Emmy Award. The pinnacle of television artistry — it doesn't get any better than an Emmy.Does the Name Reflect That? Nearly a century of ceremonies under the same name (essentially) will do that. The Emmy name stems from early television cameras, so it's not random, and “Emmy” is a nice, feminine compliment to the Oscar, which helps audiences recognize it as a significant honor. By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Over the last year or so, the Umamusume series has gone from ultra-niche to only moderately niche, the kind of thing terminally online individuals might have come across in passing thanks to Northernlion or any number of other popular streamers. Previously only available in Japan, the game Umamusume: Pretty Derby came out worldwide last July, and it's essentially a management and racing sim where you play as a trainer for anime horse girls (that is, anime girls with horselike features called umamusume) who are based on real-life Japanese race horses. It kicked off an online fervor that began as ironic before quickly becoming anything but, sucking droves into a fever dream of endless Bakushins. Before CygamesPictures worked on the latter, they handled Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Beginning Of A New Era, a film where hand-drawn animation captures pure speed in flashes of prismatic light and blurred motion. After a long wait since its initial 2024 debut in Japan, it's finally releasing stateside this week (likely due to the series unexpectedly breaching containment). While most of the movie's initial charm comes from how it handles such a bonkers premise with utter earnestness—dramatizing the real-world 2001 Japanese Classic Races through horse girls—it isn't long until skepticism transforms into a sports fan's passionate cheers. As for the main umamusume of this story, her name is Jungle Pocket (again, the characters are based on real-life race horses, so their names are ridiculous), and she's a student at Tracen Academy, the premier destination for up-and-coming sprinters. Her fate was sealed the moment she saw an upperclassman tear up the race track, demolishing her competition in front of a packed audience before taking a regal bow. From this point on, Pocket wants to be the best. This straightforward motivation is set up quickly, but the film sucks us into its slipstream with racing scenes that are so intense they make it feel like a loss means being sent straight to the glue factory. Helmed by veteran animator Ken Yamamoto (who is credited for direction, storyboarding, animation direction, and key animation), CygamesPictures captures the power behind these racers' every step. Hooved boots press into mud as final sprints come alive with the explosive force of an orbital missile strike. Thankfully, there are visual highlights off the race track as well, and Yamamoto's direction builds towards the kind of human (er, horse girl) drama that builds investment. At the other end, moments of slapstick comedy turn these characters into expressive, exasperated blobs that may as well be from an old-school comic strip, selling these sudden tone shifts. The atmospheric direction throughout is particularly important for capturing Pocket's headspace, a surprising development that shows just how much is bouncing around in her brain. She begins as a typical headstrong athlete, overconfident in her own skills and sure of her eventual success, until she runs into the previously mentioned monster, Agnes Tachyon, a perfect foil who, despite her incredible skill, seems to only care about these races for much colder, more scientific reasons. It sets up what seems like a typical back-and-forth rivalry, only for events to take an unexpected turn, destroying Pocket's self-confidence as she's consumed by imposter syndrome and the pressure to achieve outward success. The abrupt switch from sports antics to psychodrama is another bizarre touch conveyed through skilled execution. Her doubts are visualized in anxious body tics and shadowy embodiments of self-loathing, while voice actor Yuri Fujimoto captures this range in guttural cries of victory and jagged inner monologues. There's suddenly less Rocky Balboa going on and more Shinji Ikari. Even the nominal “villain,” Tachycon, goes through a similar emotional journey as she attempts to rationalize her misfortune. For Tachyon, this is about understanding what lies at the limits of umamusume ability, while Pocket is driven by the desire to become an unambiguous champion. Moreover, there's a sort of fuzziness to the stakes, which is partially a function of how horse racing works: while some races are far more prestigious than others, like the Japanese Derby, there isn't really a final championship or tournament to overcome, like you'd find in traditional sports stories. Recommended for You1After a harrowing start, Resident Evil Requiem settles into the overly familiar2Paramount might be slowly winning Warner Bros. Discovery over3Decency prevails in A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms' terrific season finale4Aimee Lou Wood will lead the next Brontë adaptation5Harper and Yasmin's interests align on Industry
To a passerby, the Guess Who‘s Jan. 31, 2026, gig at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario, probably didn't seem like a significant event. After all, the Guess Who have been mainstays on the oldies circuit for decades, playing hits like “American Woman,” “These Eyes,” “No Time,” and “Share the Land” at clubs, casinos, and fairs all over North America. But for the Guess Who faithful who traveled to Niagara Falls for the show, it was an evening of triumph many thought they'd never live to see. That's because the band masquerading as “The Guess Who” since 2003 was little more than a group of competent ringers assembled by original bassist Jim Kale. But a legal maneuver finally gave them back their rightful name last year. Niagara Falls was the first of many shows they'll play in 2026. Weeks after the gig, as they prepare to travel from their homes in Canada down to the Caribbean where the Guess Who are booked on the Rock Legends Cruise alongside the Gene Simmons Band, Rick Springfield, Art Garfunkel, and Blue Oyster Cult, Bachman and Cummings are still in a state of semi-shock that this is really happening. “Our songs have become the soundtracks to peoples lives. We look out from the stage and they know every word of them.” “You had to play the Hit Parade every single week,” says Bachman. “And our producer came to us and said, ‘If you guys start writing songs that are good enough to fit in between ‘Ruby Tuesday' and ‘Let It Be,' I'll put it in there. That was a tall order, but Cummings and Bachman had spent much of their downtime trying to do exactly that. “I was still living with my mother and grandmother, and one Saturday morning Randy came over with his guitar in his hand,” Cummings says. “He started playing this riff and singing the line ‘No time left for you.' And I started answering over the top of it, “On my way to better things…' We started answering each other. It was good enough for the Let's Go producers to let them play it on the air. “This is where fate comes in,” says Cummings. “It's the God's truth what I'm telling you, but it sounds like I'm making it up…Jack Richardson, who ended up producing all 15 Guess Who albums for the RCA label, just happened to hear us 1,500 miles away in Toronto. He heard us do ‘These Eyes,' and he believed so much in the song that somehow he put it together to take our band to New York City and record Wheatfield Soul, our first album for RCA.” Follow-up singles “Laughing,” “Undun,” and “No Time” were also smashes. Their days of playing cover songs on Winnipeg television were over. They were now playing large halls across North America, and raking in real money. Before HIV, there was far more crazy casual sex. And things didn't go all that smoothly for the band.” The Guess Who's Epic Tour War Is Back at Center of Another Lawsuit Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings to Reunite As the Guess Who After Ending Trademark Suit Bachman-Turner Overdrive Enlist Neil Young for First New Song in Over 25 Years The Guess Who End Decades-Long Legal Battle: 'An Impossible Task' I was too afraid to do any of that. But the tour was a hellacious time for Bachman. “I had a gallbladder attack every night on the road for two weeks,” he says. And that happened for two weeks on the road. He flew out to New York for the show, unable to eat anything but sugar-free Jell-O and crackers, per instructions from his doctor. “If you got caught with marijuana back then, you couldn't cross the border and work,” Bachman says. “And we were earning all our money in the States. John Lennon got to New York, and he couldn't leave. So that was alway going through my head. “We were being taken much more seriously as a rock & roll band.” released the enormous hits “Takin' Care of Business” and “You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet,” which have been staples of classic-rock radio for five decades. Relations were rocky between the former Guess Who bandmates when B.T.O. were ascendant, and Burton Cummings was struggling to launch his solo career. But it was short-lived, dismissed by them both today as a silly spat. They made peace in the late 1970s, appeared on each other's solo albums, and signed on for a Guess Who reunion tour of Canada in 1983. “I remember it as ‘The Nightmare Tour,'” he says. And they were pushing us so hard to sell Molson's. “We're doing this interview backstage in Toronto and they've got [drummer Garry] Peterson with a Molson shirt on and Jim Kale with a Molson cap. I was more like a Jim Morrison guy. I'm not going to be paraded around with logos on me. It just wasn't a happy band in '83.” Bachman has a wildly different take on the tour. He won't let me put them together. It would be a great thing to have the Guess Who '83 together with all those songs. All I got to do is remix it. Maybe he'll want to do that one day for prosperity's sake.” Bachman largely blames the chaos of his personal life. They reformed again when the Pan American Games came to Winnipeg in 1999, which sparked a series of tours that culminated at the SARSfest concert on July 2003 where they played for half a million people at Toronto's Downsview Park. “We were there with AC/DC, Rush, and the Rolling Stones,” says Bachman. When I did ‘Takin' Care of Business' and said, ‘Clap your hands,' and the hands went up in the air, there were a million hands in the air.” It was his last happy moment with the Guess Who for a very long time. They played with them at first, but eventually stepped aside and kept it going as a zombie band. Cummings and Bachman, meanwhile, went out under the name Bachman Cummings in 2006, but discovered it was tricky to get bookings if they didn't own the name to their own band. “The fake band was using music that we wrote, and Burton sang on, to promote their shows,” says Cummings. I was going to sign it for this kid. For Peterson, the decision to perform as the Guess Who was a way to preserve a legacy. “The Guess Who is kind of unique in the way that it's had four or five successful versions with different members. There was no one definitive band, unless you just want to say the people that recorded ‘American Woman' are the definitive version of the Guess Who,” he told Goldmine magazine in 2024. The situation for Cummings and Bachman seemed hopeless until 2023 when they teamed up with attorney Helen Yu and sued Kale's Guess Who for $20 million, alleging false advertising, unfair competition, and violation of right of publicity. It meant that nobody could play Guess Who songs to a paying audience since there was no way to properly compensate the rights holders. “I'm willing to do anything to stop the fake band; they're taking [Bachman and my] life story and pretending it's theirs,” Cummings told Rolling Stone at the time. This doesn't stop this cover band from playing their shows, it just stops them from playing the songs I wrote. This left Kale and his legal team hopelessly cornered. They rounded out the lineup with member of Cummings' solo band, including drummer Sean Fitzsimons, bassist Jeff Jones, percussionist Nick Sinopoli, and guitarists Tim Bovaconti and Joe Augello. “We now have three lead guitar players,” says Cummings. The set includes the three biggest Bachman-Turner Overdrive songs (“Let It Ride,” “You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet,” and “Takin' Care of Business”), and Cummings' 1977 tune “My Own Way to Rock.” But the rest of the show is dedicated to Guess Who classics. Cummings is 78, but his voices shows shockingly few signs of wear and tear, and he still hits every high note without struggle. “I'm still getting people telling me, ‘Hey, Burton, you still sound like you did when I was a kid,' or, ‘Hey, you still sound like the guy on the records.' Many singers also yearn to earn a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “I don't really think about the Hall of Fame that much,” says Cummings. “I have enough awards on my doors and walls in my house that I'm not hurting for any acceptance, put it that way. Certainly I'm not going to stand on stage with Peterson and Kale as the Guess Who.” “There's people in there we love, like Dolly Parton and Leonard Cohen, who've never rocked in their lives,” he says. “They are great artists, but should be in a different Hall of Fame. And don't hold your breaths waiting for us to get in. Right now, his focus is on gearing up for an extensive Guess Who tour of Canada, and more dates are expected to be added in North America in the summer. Later in the year, he's headed to Japan for a run of Bachman-Turner Overdrive shows. But Randy's son Tal Bachman now tours with the band, and there's talk of cutting a new B.T.O. Michael Jackson Estate Sued for Child Trafficking by Siblings Alleging More Than Decade of Abuse And Why Are We Giving Them So Much Cash? Ryan Gosling Promotes 'Project Hail Mary' With Convincing Final 'Jeopardy!' There are no plans for a new Guess Who record. “Sometimes he picks up a guitar, starts playing riffs, and I start singing over them. Just don't expect to hear anything new this year when the Guess Who tour. “There was a big record by Ricky Nelson called ‘Garden Party' and he said something in that song that always surprised me,” Cummings says. First of all, that's a little bit demeaning to truck drivers. And secondly, Ricky, your whole life was creating memories for people. I'll be glad to sing the memories forever.” Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation.
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter Even without the Justice Department stepping in, Paramount still faces several roadblocks to completing its acquisition of Warner Bros. Now, all eyes turn to two people: Makan Delrahim, a savvy legal operator who's familiar with the ins-and-outs of D.C. dealmaking and is the architect of Paramount's merger blueprint, and Rob Bonta, California's top prosecutor who will likely lead the effort among state attorneys general to block the deal. Expect a court face-off that will shape the landscape of Hollywood for years to come. “These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review.” Bonta said he's in talks with other attorneys general about the acquisition. Such compliance with this regulatory requirement in normal circumstances can take over a year, but Paramount got it done in a couple of months. A lawsuit can be filed after the merger is consummated, but the playing field will look different at that point. In that scenario, Paramount would have started to integrate Warner Bros. into its operations. Courts have historically been more open to stopping a deal rather than unwinding one. The upshot: Time is a big consideration right now, and it's largely on Paramount's side. To buy some, California could seek a temporary court order blocking Paramount from closing. “It's all well and good they got past the federal government, but they haven't gotten past California,” this insider in the state government says. “They can't short circuit our investigation or concerns here.” Timing aside, state attorneys general, particularly Bonta, appear confident they can advance a compelling narrative that the merger violates antitrust laws. A Sherman Act claim, which blocks deals that entrench an existing monopoly, is almost surely off the table, but the argument that the merger violates the Clayton Act, which blocks deals that will create a monopoly, could be almost as strong, if not stronger in some areas. Talent in Hollywood have been sounding the alarm on this issue for years. “Media consolidation has made it exponentially more difficult to sell a television or movie project,” wrote Leonard Dick, a writer on Lost and House, to the Federal Trade Commission in 2023. “If I am partnered with say, 20th Television (owned by Disney) and the Disney-owned streamer/networks don't want to order it, chances are slim to none another network/streamer will buy it because they want to own their own shows.” Dan Gregor, a writer on How I Met Your Mother, echoed those concerns, telling the FTC that he has “zero leverage to negotiate now.” In a post on X on Friday, Mark Ruffalo urged state attorneys general to come together to talk with talent about how the deal will “kill competition in the industry and drive down wages.” He asked people to weigh in on the merger here. “We are looking at this from all sides, including horizontal consolidation and certainly any vertical impacts,” said the person familiar with Bonta's thinking, who noted that the deal's impact on labor is a “significant concern.” Paramount CEO David Ellison has pledged to release at least 30 movies per year. Political considerations will take a backseat in the case, but it's almost impossible to ignore. “A five-to-four merger in the cardboard market would be viewed differently than in this context with these companies that will have control over most major news outlets,” says Rebecca Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt law school. Syracuse University Professor J. Chrisopher Hamilton, who's worked as a business exec and lawyer for the Paramount Global, Disney, Warner Bros. “We are talking about HBO Max, Paramount Plus, Turner Classic Movies, and a vast universe of cable networks that shape how tens of millions of Americans consume not just news, but culture, history, and storytelling itself,” he says. Earlier this month, they filed a lawsuit looking to block Netflix's bid to acquire Warner Bros and could do the same against Paramount. For Delrahim, his thinking could be geared not so much toward whether the deal will get done but rather what Paramount will have to concede. Historically, their focus has largely revolved around local fixes aimed at requiring companies to sell off certain cable/TV assets in certain territories where there's not much competition. The European Commission approved the purchase of 21st Century Fox in 2019 after Disney agreed to divest from several European factual TV channels, including History and Lifetime, since they overlapped with Fox's National Geographic channels. And in what could be a closer analogue to the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal, Amazon's 2022 purchase of MGM was greenlit without any conditions. Regardless of legal considerations, Ellison will have to deal with have to navigate the practical realities of carrying nearly $100 billion in debt. He's planning $6 billion in cost savings but that figure could quickly balloon to multiple times that amount, as Sarandos said it would. 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The mid-'90s into the aughts were a time of great experimentation in anime, an era that gave us many of the medium's most memorable original series: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Serial Experiments Lain, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Kaiba, and Mononoke, just to name a few. But of these, there's one in particular that doesn't get the reputation it deserves, a show sometimes slapped with a particularly dismissive label. Ergo Proxy, which turns 20 this week, has been described by its detractors as “pretentious.” While this is a somewhat understandable reaction if you haven't seen it through to the end, the series pulls a trick that reconextualizes everything, tying together its many digressions into an existentialist creed that argues for fighting back against perceived meaninglessness. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, it follows Re-l Mayer, a citizen of the domed city Romdo, and Vincent Law, an immigrant who doesn't remember his past. From this branching point, there are even more detours: One episode is a paranoid one-off involving dopplegangers and heavy allusions to Millais' Ophelia, while another is about a Disneyworld-equivalent and the empty consumerism of theme parks. It introduces new ideas by the minute, name-dropping philosophers, fine art, and other classical references as it keeps its core truths close to its chest. The opening and ending sequences sum this up perfectly: The main theme delivers melodramatic, post-grunge angst and vague imagery behind a grainy filter. The main character, Re-l, is decked out in a trench coat and wears aggressively blue eye shadow that could only have been cool in that time period. This style can be grating in repetitive segments that only feel meaningful in hindsight, such as episode 11, “Anamuneshisu.” The series takes far too many big swings both visually and thematically to be boring, but there are definitely a few whiffs along the way. As you reach the final three-episode arc, it seems likely that the show won't tie together all its ideas; many original anime have gone off the rails in their final act without an outline established by source material. This context makes it all the more surprising when you discover that screenwriter Dai Satō (Eureka Seven, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, etc.) actually did know what he was doing all along. Despite focusing on robot rebellions, immigration politics, technocratic dictatorships, and at least one murderous game of Jeopardy!, the story ultimately centers on existentialist philosophy as its characters struggle with finding meaning after being stripped of their original purpose. To summarize this intricate sci-fi mystery, it turns out that the “original humans,” known as the Creators, accidentally destroyed Earth's atmosphere, fled to space, and then enacted a complicated plan to rehabilitate the planet for their eventual return. Our central characters are each from the groups that make up one layer of this plan: Re-l (a new human), Vincent (a proxy), and Pino (an auto-reiv android). The proxies were cursed with both immortality and reason, doomed to eventually discover that their initially prescribed meaning of watching over the new humans, whom they were told would repopulate Earth, was a ruse. Similarly, the new humans lived in heavily controlled cities, like Romdo, where each citizen was given a specific goal, a raison d'être. All of these beings were given an initial purpose, only to realize it was a lie. Most of the proxies, humans, and auto-reivs grappling with this reality couldn't handle losing their raison d'être and either gave in to despair or accepted their destruction. While Re-l, Vincent, and Pino's journey to discover this truth is quite winding, as the group encounters various factions and places or people not-so-subtly named after philosophers, most of these digressions reflect a fundamental search for meaning beyond the roles they were born into. The many quotes and name-dropped figures are a stand-in for humanity's long-running search to understand the nature of existence and why we're here. It all leads to the oppressive realities that existentialist philosophers like Kierkegaard and Nietzsche confronted: Re-l, Vincent, and Pino learn that their gods are “dead,” in that these beings aren't gods at all. Our protagonists discover they are the creations of one-percenter humans who fled the planet (that they themselves destroyed) before concocting a cruel plan to sacrifice others for their benefit all over again. In the finale, our trio is forced to reconcile this existential dread. Pino faces her initial purpose as an android constructed to console a particular family when she learns that her “papa” is gone. The resolution of this slow-building mystery falls on the audience almost as hard as it does on these characters, justifying long-delayed reveals as it evokes the feeling of suddenly being overwhelmed by impossible-to-stomach truths. It conjures the kind of gnawing meaninglessness that humans have long tried to fight off with ideology and theocracy. In some ways, the Creators' plan does mostly work: the empty domes and unhinged proxies that our trio find on their long journey confirm that this despair worked as intended, and even Romdo ends up in ruins. And Pino lives on past the family she was designed to comfort. They choose to keep going, embracing the absurdity and freedom of a “meaningless” existence. This defiance is made very literal in the final moments. “I believe,” she says before making a leap of faith. It's not faith in a pre-ordained purpose or a deity, but in her fellow rejects whose continued existence defies the “gods” themselves. Recommended for You1After a harrowing start, Resident Evil Requiem settles into the overly familiar2Paramount might be slowly winning Warner Bros. Discovery over3Decency prevails in A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms' terrific season finale4Aimee Lou Wood will lead the next Brontë adaptation5Harper and Yasmin's interests align on Industry
1s among nine top 10s as a recording artist, all of which he co-wrote. “I have a theory that there are three kinds of songwriting,” Neil Sedaka posited to Billboard in 2010. “The emotional is when you go through some trauma and get it out on the page,” he mused. “The intellectual writing is when you have a tune in your head spinning around for many years and you almost rewrite it. And the last is spiritual writing, which is something that comes from a higher power that kind of writes itself and you're channeling. It's my theory, but I find that over the years, these are the three types of writing.” During his lifetime, Sedaka, who died Feb. 27 in Los Angeles at age 86, translated his craft into beloved Billboard chart hits, including three No. 1s among nine top 10s as a recording artist on the Billboard Hot 100. He totaled 30 entries on the chart overall as a singer, from 1958 to 1980, 26 of which he co-wrote, the bulk with writing partner Howard Greenfield (who passed in 1986). Sedaka additionally crowned the Hot 100 as the co-writer, with Greenfield, of Captain & Tennille's debut smash, “Love Will Keep Us Together,” for four weeks in 1975. (Sedaka had first recorded the song in 1973; the duo's version famously shouts him out near its close.) 1 with “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” for two weeks in June-July 1960. He and Greenfield co-authored all three songs. On the Aug. 4, 1958, list, Connie Francis' “Stupid Cupid” began its run to a No. Sedaka and Greenfield co-wrote the song, along with two top 10s for Francis: “Frankie” (No. The Brooklyn-born entertainer tallied his first 20 Hot 100 hits as a singer, all on RCA Victor, through 1966. He reigned again for three weeks that October with “Bad Blood,” which includes John on backing vocals. He co-wrote both tracks with Phil Cody. Sedaka last reached the Hot 100's top 10 under his own artist billing with a slowed-down interpretation of “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” which hit No. Captain & Tennille, meanwhile, notched two more top 10s that decade that Sedaka wrote: his own “Lonely Night (Angel Face)” (No. 3, 1976) and the Greenfield co-write “You Never Done It Like That” (No. Sedaka charted his last Hot 100 title with the Elektra Records single “Should've Never Let You Go” — a duet with his daughter, Dara. In his 2010 Billboard Q&A, Sedaka shared his belief that a tenet of creating hit songs is to “write something that's not predictable, something that has turns and twists. In honor of Sedaka's chart legacy, below is a recap of his 10 biggest Hot 100 hits as a recording artist. Neil Sedaka's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits chart is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100, through the Feb. 28, 2026, ranking. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry Send us a tip using our anonymous form. A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation.
Hollywood is racing to cover former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's royal downfall over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein — and Netflix is at the forefront. The streamer is reportedly looking to revive its Emmy-winning royal drama “The Crown” for a potential limited series about Mountbatten Windsor's public disgracing, reports Daily Mail. “There have been discussions for some time with Left Bank Pictures, which owns the rights to ‘The Crown,' for a series of one-off specials about royal scandals and dramas,” the source continued. “The Crown” ran for six seasons on Netflix from Nov. 4, 2016 to Dec. 14, 2023, winning a total 21 Emmy awards during its run. Start your day with Page Six Daily. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. In addition to Netflix, Disney Studios and Amazon MGM are allegedly also looking to produce projects surrounding Mountbatten-Windsor's scandal. Screenwriter Jeremy Brock, who wrote Amazon MGM Studio's “A Very Royal Scandal,” echoed both sources claims, telling the outlet that both Netflix and Amazon are “100 percent” in talks to make a drama based on the scandal. Netflix did not immediately respond to Page Six's request for comment. Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested last Thursday, which was also his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office for allegedly forwarding confidential trade documents to Epstein. The arrest came one month after anti-monarchy campaigner Graham Smith reported Mountbatten-Windsor to the Thames Valley Police over alleged misconduct in public office. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison. After staying in jail for 11 hours — during which time, the royal got his mugshot taken, was fingerprinted and submitted a saliva sample for DNA purposes — he was then released and caught looking terrified as he made his exit. In response to his brother's arrest, King Charles released a statement expressing his “deepest concern” over the accusations.
While accepting an honorary César Award in Paris on Feb. 26, the 64-year-old actor publicly confirmed he is in a relationship, giving a heartfelt shoutout to his “sublime companion,” Min Ah. According to People, Carrey delivered his acceptance speech entirely in French and made sure to acknowledge the loved ones who joined him for the milestone moment, including his daughter, Jane Erin Carrey, his teenage grandson, Jackson, and Min Ah. I love you now and forever,” Carrey said during the ceremony. He then added, “Thank you to my sublime companion, Min Ah. I love you, Min Ah.” He also honored his late father, Percy Joseph Carrey, calling him “the funniest man I have ever known” and crediting him with teaching him about love, generosity and laughter. Min Ah accompanied Carrey to the awards ceremony alongside Jane and Jackson, marking their red carpet debut together. It is unclear how long the couple has been together. However, Us Weekly noted that Carrey has been linked to Min Ah since 2022, when Just Jared published photos of him leaving a Los Angeles charity comedy show with a woman identified as Minzi, who is believed to be Min Ah. The French Academy announced in October 2025 that Carrey would receive the Honorary César Award, praising his “exceptional versatility” across film and television. My tongue is tired,” he said, per a translation. Carrey has previously been open about his views on relationships. He later briefly wed his “Dumb and Dumber” co-star Lauren Holly from 1996 to 1997. He also had high-profile relationships with Renée Zellweger and Jenny McCarthy. In 2020, he reflected on past relationships without regret, saying, “I do appreciate the people that have come through my life for the good that they gave me.” Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
The “View” co-host Sara Haines frustratedly admitted she and her husband Max Shifrin's three young children constantly interrupt them in the bedroom. When asked where the best place she's had sex is on Friday's episode of the daytime talk show, the former “GMA” host, 48, answered that it's “wherever vacation is. Because Max and I have small kids.” At which point, Joy Behar joked: “No children around.” Your mama hat goes on real fast, and that's the least sexy thing I wear,” Haines jokingly added. But, Haines was quick to shut the idea down. “No, but they bang on the door,” Haines responded. Start your day with Page Six Daily. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. After another co-host suggested giving the kids video games to keep them occupied, Haines shared that she and her husband have “tried everything,” but to no avail. “We don't have a lot of screen time, so we will literally give them sugar and video games, put them in a corner, and they need us immediately,” she explained. “You can't even get there mentally. It's like your parents calling when you settle in for a night.” This isn't Haines' first bedroom confession on the show. “I need to wait a little longer. Which is why I look at my phone. “I turned to Max and I just said, ‘I'm willing to have transactional deals with you if you can just put the kids to bed please,'” she joked at the time, per People.
It was so, so disappointing for Radiohead to learn that its song “Let Down” was used in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement video and posted to the agency's X account on Feb. 18. “It ain't funny, this song means a lot to us and other people, and you don't get to appropriate it without a fight.” The English rock band concluded its message with a blunt, “Also, go f–k yourselves …” The ICE video the three-time Grammy-winning band took issue with starts off with a black screen as the third verse of “Let Down” from 1997's OK Computer plays, while one by one, images of Americans appear. ICE captioned the video, “American citizens raped and murdered by those who have no right to be in our country. The agency has faced intense scrutiny and protest for its violent tactics as it follows President Donald Trump's directive to remove undocumented immigrants from the United States. During its operations in Minneapolis in January, ICE agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens: Renee Good, who was attempting to peacefully drive away from agents; and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse working at a VA hospital who was attempting to help a woman who had been knocked down. Among them are Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Chappell Roan, Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and Kehlani. After the deaths of Pretti and Good, Morello held a benefit concert in Minneapolis to not only support their families, but also to protest against Trump's immigration policies and defend “democracy and justice,” he said in a statement. A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry Send us a tip using our anonymous form. A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry Send us a tip using our anonymous form.