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In the chronicles of American cinema, Denzel Washington (who we recently interviewed) stands as a singular force. His body of work represents not just artistic excellence but a fundamental reshaping of what stardom means in Hollywood. Each performance bears his unmistakable signature – a blend of intellectual rigor and emotional truth that has become the gold standard for screen acting.

Washington’s command of his acting instrument sets him apart from his contemporaries. His approach to character isn’t about transformation so much as revelation – peeling back layers to expose fundamental truths about human nature. Where other actors might rely on external changes, Washington works from the inside out, building characters whose inner lives radiate through every gesture, every measured pause, every calculated glance.

The foundation of his artistic journey was built on theater training and a methodical approach to craft. Early television work on St. Elsewhere revealed glimpses of his potential,...

Warner Bros. is seeking to throw out a lawsuit filed by the estate of Michael Crichton, which argued that the forthcoming Max series “The Pitt” is an unauthorized reboot of “ER.”

Crichton was a creator of “ER,” having written the original pilot script based on his own experiences as a medical student. His widow, Sherri, sued in August, accusing John Wells, Noah Wyle and others of going behind her back to create “The Pitt,” which she alleged is “ER” in all but its title.

The studio filed a motion Monday arguing that the two shows are distinct and the lawsuit is doomed to fail.

“‘The Pitt’ is a completely different show from ‘ER,'” the motion states. “Plaintiff cannot use Mr. Crichton’s ‘ER’ contract as a speech-stifling weapon to prevent Defendants from ever making a show about emergency medicine.”

Warner Bros.’ lawyers argue that Crichton’s estate does not...

Warner Bros. Television filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from the Michael Crichton Estate accusing the company of breach of contract, arguing its upcoming Max medical drama “The Pitt” is not a derivative work of “ER.”

The lawsuit alleged that after a lengthy, years-long negotiation to make a reboot of “ER” that ultimately fell through, Wbtv, John Wells, Noah Wyle and R. Scott Gemmill took the concept and reworked it to become “The Pitt,” a drama that follows frontline heroes working in a Pittsburgh hospital. The suit alleges there are only three major differences between the series that was in negotiation and “The Pitt”: the location of the hospital, Wyle’s character name and the estate’s involvement.

However, the studio argued in its motion, filed Monday and obtained by TheWrap, that “The Pitt” is a “completely different show” and that the plaintiff cannot use Crichton’s “ER...

For a few years in the '90s, it seemed like Helen Hunt was destined to be a mainstay on the big and small screen alike forever. The actor landed her earliest movie role in 1977, playing a teenager in the disaster movie "Rollercoaster," which featured a singularly weird plot about a man trying to bomb an amusement park ride. Hunt continued to act over the next decade, taking roles in films like "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and "Peggy Sue Got Married," plus the popular doctor drama "St. Elsewhere." But it wasn't until the '90s, when Hunt earned a trifecta of great, memorable roles, that she truly became a household name.

Hunt's big break came from "Mad About You," a 1992 sitcom in which she played one half of a New York City newlywed couple opposite Paul Reiser. Plotlines for the show mined married life for humor, but they...

Nicholas Pryor, whose nearly seven-decade acting career included hundreds of episodes of soap operas, playing Tom Cruise’s dad in Risky Business and Kathleen Robertson’s dad on Beverly Hills, 90210, died October 7. He was 89.

Fellow actor Jon Lindstrom announced the news on social media, saying in part: “Nick was an Actor’s actor, and an exceptional friend. … He was a mentor, a sounding board, a trusted confidant, and even a father-figure beyond, yes, playing my own father on #Gh and #PortCharles.” See his full post below.

Pryor racked up nearly 175 screen credits and half-dozen more on Broadway. After getting his screen start guesting on such 1950s and early ’60s TV series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Doctors, he played Tom Baxter in more than 75 episodes of the NBC daytime drama Another World. That led to a starring role on The Nurses, a 1965-67 continuation of CBS’ The Nurses, which...

It’s a season of change for Chicago Med, not just in front of the camera with yet another wave of casting shakeups with new faces entering the mix as another beloved favorite departs, but also behind the scenes.

After nine seasons running the show longtime showrunners Andy Schneider and Diane Frovlov, have handed over the reins to Allen MacDonald who is looking to build upon the strong foundation already in place, while shaking things up to keep things fresh as the show enters its tenth season.

As part of the shakeups ahead is the looming departure of yet another long-time member of the cast, whose exit comes as the show prepares to welcome a few new faces to the mix as well as part of a new storyline that promises to pave the way for many exciting stories to come.

Ahead of Chicago Med’s return, One Chicago Center...

Denzel Washington, regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, has a career spanning several decades with work on screen as well as on stage. Initially, he started his career in theater, but soon transitioned to television with the medical drama St. Elsewhere. This project put the actor on the map, and soon every filmmaker in town wanted to work with him.

Denzel Washington in a still from The Hurricane || Credits: Universal Pictures

However, there was one movie that not only tackled major themes but also earned the actor an Oscar nomination. The movie is 1999’s The Hurricane, in which he plays the role of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter.

Washington prepared extensively for the role and even perfected his boxing skills. However, one conversation was enough for him to put the boxing gloves down for good.

Denzel Washington Nearly Gave Up Boxing After The Hurricane Denzel Washington in...

The 1975 TV series "Wonder Woman" is deeply beloved by dutiful Gen-Xers who watched it as children. The show's combination of silly action, funky music, and campy humor hit a sweet spot, presenting the title heroine as bold, strong, and capable, but also upbeat, happy, and capable of whimsy. Also, because lead actress Lynda Carter is so dazzling, many Gen-Xers may confess to having a crush on Wonder Woman at some point. The series was a hit, lasting 59 episodes over three seasons. Along with 1952's "The Adventures of Superman," 1966's "Batman," and 1978's "The Incredible Hulk," "Wonder Woman" was, for many decades, one of the most celebrated superhero TV shows ever made. 

"Wonder Woman" began its life as a 1974 pilot starring Cathy Lee Crosby, as a reimagined version of the character. That pilot didn't fly, but ABC was eager to do something successful with the character and launched a second pilot...

Jennifer Aniston won Best Comedy Actress at the 2002 Emmys for the hit laffer “Friends.” Twenty-two years later, she could well pick up an Emmy bookend by winning Best Drama Actress for her starring role as Alex Levy in the acclaimed Apple TV+ series “The Morning Show.” Her rival nominees are: Anna Sawai (“Shōgun”), Imelda Staunton (“The Crown”), Maya Erskine (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”), Carrie Coon (“The Gilded Age”), and her “The Morning Show” co-star Reese Witherspoon.

Aniston is currently in third place in our odds chart with both Sawai and Staunton ahead of her. Sawai is hoping to win for the first season of “Shōgun,” and she could, theoretically, get taken along for the ride in a “Shōgun” sweep (we expect “Shōgun” to win Best Drama Series). Meanwhile, Staunton is hoping to prevail for the final season of “The Crown” — perhaps voters will get sentimental and want to bid farewell to the lauded show.

"Barney Miller" may not be one of the most talked-about sitcoms of the '70s these days, but perhaps it should be. The NYPD-set show was in some ways the "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" of its time, a socially conscious, funny series that set its action squarely in the precinct where members of the public came to ask the authorities for help -- or get arrested by them.

Like most shows about cops, it has its inherent biases, and some parts of the show have aged poorly. But "Barney Miller" is also surprisingly progressive at times. As TV historian Matt Baume writes in his queer sitcom history "Hi Honey, I'm Homo," the show broke new ground for gay characters on TV, facing off against network censors to portray New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood (post-Stonewall!) with authenticity and diversity.

Only two seasons of "Barney Miller" are currently available to rent digitally in the U.

Before David Simon debuted his groundbreaking socio-political tapestry “The Wire” to audiences and helped garner the prestige HBO now only reserves for “Game of Thrones” and superhero spinoffs, he wrote the book on the world of crime and law enforcement in Baltimore. Published in 1991, his non-fiction book “Homicide: A Year of Killing Streets” pools two years of research from Simon’s time spent observing the Baltimore Police Department, which itself followed four years spent on the police beat for The Baltimore Sun newspaper.

Wishing to adapt the book into a feature film, Simon got a copy to filmmaker and Baltimore native Barry Levinson, who felt the material was better suited to a TV series. Levinson shared with Paul Attansio, a former Washington Post film critic whose would go on to write the Oscar-nominated “Quiz Show,” as well as “Donnie Brasco,” and together the team brought the project to NBC, where...

A new Hallmark movie is coming to television. The film is a Christmas movie based around the Kansas City Chiefs. With so many Chiefs players that fans might want to see in the movie, two names rise to the top — Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. However, some fans might do a double-take when they see who was cast.

The new Hallmark Christmas movie has cast Catrick Mahomes, and here is what you need to know.

Who Is Catrick Mahomes?

When Hallmark cast Catrick Mahomes in its new Christmas movie about the Kansas City Chiefs, many fans might have thought it was a misspelling. However, it is not misspelled at all. This is not Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback. This is Catrick Mahomes. He is a cat.

Today’s Jenna Bush Hager | YouTube

Catrick Mahomes is a seven-year-old Bengal-Tabby mix, whose real name is Sly James the Cat. He even has an Instagram page.

There’s a generation who know him as Sheldon’s idol Professor Proton in an Emmy-winning turn on “The Big Bang Theory.” Another generation remembers him as Buddy’s adoptive dad in the film “Elf” (2003). Yet another generation grew to love him as writer-turned-innkeeper Dick Loudon, who’s surrounded by eccentric Vermonters on the sitcom “Newhart” (1982-1990). But before all those memorable characters, Bob Newhart won over audiences as psychologist Dr. Robert “Bob” Hartley on “The Bob Newhart Show,” which premiered 50 years ago on September 16, 1972.

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Emmy-nominated comedy, plus the 93rd birthday of the TV Academy Hall of Fame inductee, by touring our photo gallery ranking the 25 best episodes.

Set in Chicago, Bob splits time between his home life with his loving but sometimes flippant wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) and their neighbor and friend Howard Borden (Bill Daily), an airline navigator (later co-pilot) who drops in unannounced A Lot.

Once upon a time, in a TV world long ago, there was no such thing as a series finale. How can that be? In the beginning, most series were episodic, and although viewers came to love many characters, there weren’t story arcs to be resolved, or even futures to be determined. Somewhere out there, it seems, Lucy and Ricky and Fred and Ethel will always be up to their shenanigans, because it quite simply never really ended.

That all changed in 1963 when Americans got hooked on “The Fugitive.” Week to week, viewers tuned in to watch wrongly-convicted Dr. Kimble relentlessly search for his wife’s true killer while running from the law. TV history was made in 1967 when this series provided an actual conclusion to its story, which went on to become the most-watched television episode up to that time, proving that audiences yearned for closure with their favorite characters.

Newhart, Bob Newhart’s second CBS sitcom, ran for eight seasons and 184 episodes from 1982-1990, neatly surpassing the run of his first CBS sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show, which ran from six seasons and 142 episodes from 1972-1978. But the second show always lived in the shadow of the first. The Bob Newhart Show was viewed as a key piece of a new Golden Age of TV comedy in the Seventies — a whipsmart ensemble sitcom perfectly tailored to the sane man in an insane world sensibility of its eponymous star, who...

On Wednesday, 17 July 2024, Jimmy Kimmel Live! welcomes Howie Mandel, Roy Wood Jr., and The Decemberists to the show. Howie Mandel is a Canadian comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel is known for his roles in the Gremlins films, the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere, and the Fox children’s cartoon Bobby’s […]

Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Howie Mandel, Roy Wood Jr., The Decemberists...

Denzel Washington’s legendary career began with his feature film role in Carbon Copy in 1981. However, his breakout role came in six seasons of the medical drama series, St. Elsewhere. He got some interesting roles following his series role. He once revealed that he rejected a comedy film, which could’ve altered the course of his career.

Denzel Washington in a still from St. Elsewhere | NBC

Washington went on to film critically acclaimed roles in Cry Freedom and Glory, which would land him Oscar nominations and an Oscar win for the latter. The Equalizer actor’s latest project in development is the sequel to Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning film, Gladiator.

Denzel Washington Rejected A Comedy Film Which Could’ve Changed His Career Path Denzel Washington in a still from Cry Freedom | Universal Pictures

Denzel Washington was determined not to get hung up on television roles before St. Elsewhere came his way.

Actor Denzel Washington became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. But he didn’t see himself achieving this A-list status in his younger years. Back then, his plan didn’t go beyond just making a living as an actor.

How Denzel Washington became an actor Denzel Washington | Tibrina Hobson/WireImage

Washington didn’t start out wanting to be an actor. He explored a few potential occupations before realizing that acting was something that he wanted to do. In college, he was a pre-med major before focusing on becoming a lawyer. In the end, he earned a degree in Journalism from Fordham University in 1977.

He revealed that it wasn’t until his stint at a summer camp that he considered a career in acting. But even then, he didn’t see himself becoming the movie star that he turned out to be.

“I worked as a creative arts director at an overnight Ymca summer camp.

If there was a decade that truly helped to shape the future of the crime thriller genre, it was undoubtedly the 1990s. The era churned out numerous movies that have become the benchmark for how to craft a movie about the hunt for a serial killer, or flashing femme fatales with a penchant for murder. Movies such as The Silence of the Lambs, Misery, Se7en and Basic Instinct set a benchmark for not only quality in the crime flick, but also by delivering iconic sequences that are synonymous within the genre. Lambs had Anthony Hopkins’ wonderful Chianti sipping performance, Misery gleefully smashed ankles, Se7en had the tragic head in a box scene, while Basic Instinct allowed Sharon Stone to show more than just her acting ability. The point is, by the time the movie we’re focusing on in this episode was released in 1999, audiences had preconceived expectations, thanks...

When it comes to the race to win an Emmy, there will be a collective buzz around the award’s 60+ categories until Sept. 15 when we find out who gets the gold.

Arguably one of the most highly competitive awards doesn’t happen at the main event but the weekend before at the Creative Arts ceremony. That’s when the winners in the four guest performer categories (which include guest actor and actress in both comedy and drama genres) are awarded for a one-time or re-curring role. (Think Jamie Lee Curtis’ two-episode performance on FX’s “The Bear” — a likely candidate.)

In looking back at early precursors, this award has quite a checkered past with numerous category name changes and head-scratching nominee groupings over the years. For example, in 1977, the bracket was called outstanding single appearance in a comedy or drama series. There was no separation by genre, so nominees included...

Feeny! Feeny! Fee-hee-hee-hee-ny! William Daniels, who played one of the most beloved teachers in all of media, shared a new photo with some of his old Boy Meets World students, calling them some of his favorites.

In his Instagram post – and how amazing is it that William Daniels is active on social media at the age of 97? – the actor shared a pic in which he, Danielle Fishel (Topanga Lawrence), Rider Strong (Shawn Hunter) and Will Friedle (Eric Matthews) reunited, along with the caption, “Just a little reunion with my favorite students!!” He also had a photo with just Fishel, showing an even more special bond between the two. Notably absent, of course, was Ben Savage (Cory Matthews), who has distanced himself from Boy Meets World, showing a disinterest in reunions or media appearances.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bill Daniels (@mrbilldaniels)

William Daniels’ post is just...

Nowadays, it seems like a quaint notion that a television series might stay on the air long enough to run out of ideas.

But almost fifty years ago, even a successful show like Happy Days wasn't immune to using outlandish stunts to bolster ratings.

And thank goodness for that, or we might all have been deprived of the cultural touchstone that is Fonzie jumping the shark.

Fonzie Jumps the Shark (And Enters History)

The phrase "jump the shark" has become shorthand for the moment when a television show loses its creative way and begins a downward spiral in quality and popularity.

However, when the actual shark jump happened in the "Hollywood: Part 3" episode of the show's fifth season, Happy Days hit number one in the Nielsen ratings.

The series aired for another six well-received seasons and even had successful spinoffs in the sitcoms Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. 

Fonzie's leather...

Humanitas has tapped actors/writers June Diane Raphael and Paul Scheer as host of this year’s Humanitas Prizes event, which will take place on Thursday, September 12 (three days before the Emmy Awards) at Avalon Hollywood.

“As writers, actors, and comedians June and Paul work tirelessly to champion stories and the people creating them,” said Humanitas executive director Michelle Franke in a statement. “Year after year, the Humanitas Prizes crowd is warm, engaged, and ready to laugh, and we know they’re going to have a blast with these two leading our show.”

The Humanitas Prizes nominees will be announced later this summer, the org said. The annual prize recognizes “writers exploring the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way” across nine TV and feature categories.

As part of the awards, Humanitas has also launched the Starz #TakeTheLead award, “which will recognize a New Voices Fellowship alum who has demonstrated...

Comprising 1994’s The Kingdom, 1997’s The Kingdom II, and 2022’s much belated The Kingdom: Exodus, Lars von Trier’s television miniseries trilogy plays like the unholy love child of St. Elsewhere and Twin Peaks, the latter an acknowledged influence on the director. The trilogy works brilliantly as a blackly comic piss take on running a hospital, with all its attendant frustrations and absurdities, as well as a blast of surreal weirdness that seeks to expose the dark underbelly of its titular locale.

But the parallels between The Kingdom series and its forebears are even more specific. The final episode of Exodus dramatically hinges on a snow globe containing a miniature of the hospital, just as St. Elsewhere famously ended on a similar image. As with Twin Peaks: The Return, over two decades passed between the second and third season of The Kingdom, allowing for some intriguing narrative resets and retakes.

Denzel Washington was recently spotted filming a highly anticipated Spike Lee film. The beloved actor‘s appearance alongside his co-star in Brooklyn reminded us that he is looking mighty fine at nearly 70 years old! Washington will turn the big 7-0 later in 2024. In the meantime, he’s barely slowed his acting career. See pics of the Oscar winner and get more details about High and Low here:

Denzel Washington and Ilfenesh Hadera on the set of ‘High and Low’ on April 19, 2024 | Metropolis/Bauer-Griffin/Gc Images

On April 19, cameras spotted Denzel Washington and Ilfenesh Hadera filming a scene for High and Low in the Dumbo area of Brooklyn. Wearing a black pinstriped suit, white pocket square, and corresponding white tie, Washington strolled an NYC street alongside Hadera. A regular collaborator with Spike Lee, Hadera has appeared in The Punisher, Da Brick, The Blacklist, and Chicago Fire, among others.

Denzel Washington films...

Leonardo DiCaprio used to edge out Oscar-winner Denzel Washington in this one unique and understated category. And it was a category not even Washington knew he was a part of.

How Denzel Washington reacted to being #2 behind Leonardo DiCaprio in this category Denzel Washington | Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

DiCaprio and Washington have a few things in common beyond being praised for their craft. At one point, both actors were known for doing standalone films without doing too many sequels or franchises. They were also the two richest actors to have done so, with Washington right behind DiCaprio. When Screen Rant mentioned this to Washington himself, however, he seemed unimpressed by the stats.

“Okay, good for me,” Washington responded regarding the tidbit.

When it came to franchise films, Washington didn’t seem to make the conscious decision to avoid them. But being a part of a franchise was just not something he prioritized.

CBS sitcom "The Bob Newhart Show" was a staple for American TV audiences of the '70s, thanks in large part to clever writing and Newhart's much-loved performance as psychologist and comedic straight man Bob Hartley. The show ran for six seasons from 1972 to 1978, but it had a surprisingly long pop cultural afterlife. Characters from "The Bob Newhart Show" have popped up in everything from "Murphy Brown" to "St. Elsewhere" to "Alf," though their most famous reappearance came in the jokey "Newhart" finale in 1990. In it, Newhart wakes up in bed next to his wife from the previous series and discovers that this entire sitcom was all an elaborate dream. "The Bob Newhart Show," it turned out, was his real world.

When it wasn't being resurrected for increasingly meta crossovers, "The Bob Newhart Show" was a pretty straightforward sitcom about the life of a mental health clinician and the assortment...

The Story: A goofball gym teacher (Mark Harmon) is forced to teach a remedial English class over the summer.

The Players: Starring: Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, Dean Cameron, Courtney Thorne-Smith & Shawnee Smith. Music by Danny Elfman. Directed by Carl Reiner.

The History: Hollywood spent a couple of years trying to make Mark Harmon happen as a movie star. Fresh off an arc on “St. Elsewhere” which infamously had his character contract AIDS from a one-night stand, his career was red hot. For a while, he was seriously considered to replace Don Johnson on “Miami Vice” after contract negotiations fell through, and in 1987-88, we got a bunch of starring vehicles that would try him out in a variety of genres to see if one would stick. He did action in The Presidio (even doing his own stunts – although the film was stolen by co-star Sean Connery), drama in Stealing Home,...

In a very unsettled drama Emmy field, one of the few ostensible locks this year is Elizabeth Debicki. With 4/1 odds, she is the runaway favorite to take home the Best Drama Supporting Actress Emmy for her turn as Princess Diana on “The Crown,” which would make the Netflix series the sixth show to deliver two different winners in the category.

Twelve shows have won drama supporting actress more than once. Of those, seven shows have had one person triumph repeatedly, including “Lou Grant” for Nancy Marchand, who won a record four times, and most recently “Ozark” for three-time champ Julia Garner. The five shows that saw the wealth spread among its cast members are “St. Elsewhere”, “The West Wing”, “Hill Street Blues”, “The Practice” and “thirtysomething”. No show has had more than two cast members win the award.

Interestingly, Marchand (1980-82; her first win was in ’78), Roberts (1983), Woodard (1984), Thomas (1985), Bartlett...

Wil Wheaton landed his first professional acting gig in 1981, appearing in the TV movie "A Long Way Home." He was nine years old. Wheaton was impressive enough to become one of Hollywood's more in-demand child actors, and the next five years of his life were immensely busy. He appeared in films like "The Defiant Ones" and "The Last Starfighter," and TV shows like "Highway to Heaven," "Family Ties," and "St. Elsewhere." It was nothing but an upward arc for the young performer. 

Wheaton's first leading role came in 1986 with the release of Rob Reiner's 1950s nostalgia piece "Stand By Me," an adaptation of the Stephen King novella "The Body." In "Stand By Me," Wheaton played 12-year-old Gordie Lachance, a kid smarting from the recent death of his older brother and the familial resentment it caused. Gordie has three close friends -- played by Rover Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell...

The Western is a genre that's mostly gone by the wayside in recent decades, as portraits of straight-shooting American heroes and uncomplicated "bad guys" have become less digestible to the public. While popular neo-Westerns (like "Justified" or the works of Taylor Sheridan) and perspective-changing genre breakdowns have made a splash in recent yers, the genre has mostly died out. Of the relics that remain, few are as prolific and familiar as "Bonanza," a Western series that ran for an impressive 14 seasons on NBC in the '60s and '70s.

As a long-running TV series, "Bonanza" was able to chart the change — or stubborn lack thereof — within the genre and the country, frankly addressing topics like racism and bigotry while also delivering regular laughs and a dash of melodrama to loyal viewers. The series starred Lorne Green as widower Ben Cartwright and Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts, and Michael Landon as Ben's three sons.

The premise of the 1977 sitcom "Three's Company" -- adapted from the 1973 British series "Man About the House" -- would likely never fly in 2024. Roommates Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy (Suzanne Somers) require a third roommate to pay rent in their expensive Santa Monica apartment. They stumble across Jack Tripper (John Ritter), an aspiring culinary student whom they get along with. It so happens, though, that the building's landlord, Mr. Roper (Normal Fell), is ultra-conservative and refuses to let unmarried men and women share his apartments. To get around this contrived contingency, Janet and Chrissy tell Mr. Roper that Jack is gay. This satisfies the landlord but opens Jack up to homophobic jibes.

Fell eventually left the series and was replaced by the high-strung Mr. Furley, played by Don Knotts. Mr. Furley, it seems, required the charade to continue. Somers also left the show in its last two seasons and was...

Tony Goldwyn is a true-blue network guy.

Taking over the prosecutor’s office for “Law & Order” in Season 23, the steely actor is set to debut District Attorney Nicholas Baxter on the revived legal drama Thursday, March 14 at 8 p.m. Et. The character introduction comes just two weeks after Sam Waterston stepped down as the legendary Jack McCoy. For his final appearance at NBC in Episode 4 “The Last Dance,” the iconic Da sacrificed his reelection campaign to fight corruption in the mayor’s office. Leaving his post after 30 years, McCoy assured his colleagues that the next Da would be an even stronger legal mind.

Replacing Waterston won’t be easy. The 83-year-old’s retirement from the series created a major vacancy in TV’s most famous police procedural. And that’s a genre already difficult to keep compelling in an increasingly divided America. “Law & Order” is still doing well in the ratings,...

Jean Allison, a television star who notched appearances in more than 80 series, has died. She was 94 years old. Allison’s family said that the actor — who lived in Rancho Palos Verdes, California — died on February 28, according to The Hollywood Reporter. No cause of death has been announced. Across her 27-year screen career, Allison starred in episodes of Maverick, Bonanza, Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gunsmoke, Adam-12, Ironside, and St. Elsewhere, among many others. She also hit the big screen in the 1958 film Edge of Fury, in which she played a woman pursued by Michael Higgins’ psychopathic character. Her other film credits include The Devil’s Partner (as seen above), The Steagle, Bad Company, and Hardcore. Allison was born and raised in New York, attending Harmony High School in Tarrytown and Adelphi College in Garden City. An agent signed Allison after seeing her perform in the...

Jean Allison, the familiar character actress who appeared on dozens of TV shows, from Have Gun — Will Travel, Bonanza, Hawaiian Eye and The Rifleman to McCloud, Adam-12, The Waltons and Highway to Heaven, has died. She was 94.

Allison, a resident of Rancho Palos Verdes, died Feb. 28, her family announced.

Allison made her big-screen debut as a woman menaced by a psychopath (Michael Higgins) in the United Artists drama Edge of Fury (1958), and her film résumé also included The Devil’s Partner (1960), Paul Sylbert’s The Steagle (1971), Robert Benton’s Bad Company (1972) and Paul Schrader’s Hardcore (1979).

Born in New York on Oct. 24, 1929, Allison attended Marymount High School in Tarrytown, New York, and Adelphi College, also in New York.

While appearing on stage in the Patricia Joudry drama Teach Me How to Cry, she was spotted and signed by agent Doovid Barskin. Her first TV gig came in 1957 on CBS’ General Electric Theater.

Eighties television was a land of new ideas that hadn’t been seen before. It was also a place where old tropes were made shiny and new with a modern sheen that intrigued audiences and would produce classics like the hospital drama St. Elsewhere and the crime drama Hill Street Blues.

It would be a humdinger of a decade within the genre of mystery and detectives. It would see the return of the iconic detective Mike Hammer in a new series and would also bring us the dramedy Moonlighting. We’d also be treated to one of the greatest performances of Sherlock Holmes ever with the amazing Jeremy Brett.

It would also bring us a female detective who, in a world filled with male counterparts, couldn’t catch a break until she made up her own male counterpart in a boss named Remington Steele. The rest, as they say, is history,...

For a character who is at the center of one full-length story, The Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade is as iconic as it gets in the world of detective fiction. Dashiell Hammett’s book, and John Huston’s 1941 movie adaptation with Humphrey Bogart, loom impossibly large over the gumshoe genre, to the point where Spade is just as famous as Philip Marlowe and Mike Hammer, who have appeared in far more novels and films over the years.

But the Sam Spade who appears in the new miniseries Monsieur Spade is not...

Who’s ready for a return trip to Cicely, Alaska?

After years stuck in streaming limbo, early ’90s classic Northern Exposure — the fifth most sought-after, non-streaming show in a July TVLine poll — is now available to binge Stateside on Prime Video. All six seasons (110 episodes) have quietly been uploaded to the service in high definition and retain their original 4:3 aspect ratio.

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At first glance, it appears two episodes were...

Chicago – Although Ed Begley Jr. has had hundreds of roles in TV and film, he is most likely best known as an activist for environmental and sustainability concerns. He highlighted his latest book, “To the Temple of Tranquility…and Step on It!” at the Fall 2023 Chicago Humanities Festival, and HollywoodChicago.com got the Exclusive Photos and Interview.

Ed Begley Jr. was born in Los Angeles, the son of character actor Ed Begley and Amanda Huff, who he later learned was not his biological mother. After graduating from Los Angeles Valley College, he began his acting career in the late 1960s. After several smaller roles on TV and films, he landed as a regular on the legendary cult show “St. Elsewhere,” as Doctor Victor Ehrlich. After the series ended memorably, he continued his run in TV and film, including as a series regular on “Gary Unmarried” and in Christopher Guest’s “Best in Show.

Throughout 2023, we have been updating our “In Memoriam” photo gallery (view above). Scroll through to remember 36 entertainers from film, television, theater and music. Many were winners at the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and/or Tonys. Here is a closer look at just a few of those we celebrate in our gallery:

Veteran actor Alan Arkin died on June 29 at age 89. He was an Oscar winner for “Little Miss Sunshine” and was also nominated for “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming,” “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” and “Argo.” He was a six-time Emmy nominee and won a Tony Award for “Enter Laughing.”

Composer Burt Bacharach died on February 8 at age 94. He was a six-time Grammy winner and also won at the Oscars and Emmys. Some of hit songs included “Walk on By,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “Alfie,” “What the World...

Nothing defined New Hollywood quite like "The Graduate," and for very good reason. The film was chock full of innovation, from the salacious script to the ground-breaking cinematography, but the movie might be best remembered for its incredible cast. The coming-of-age classic features career-defining performances from Anne Bancroft, already a huge star at the time, and Dustin Hoffman, the best actor ever, in one of the first major roles of his long and storied career.

The 1967 film follows Ben, a recent college graduate (as the film's title implies) with an uncertain future and a community of expectant WASPs to answer to. In his summertime languor, he finds his way into the waiting arms of Mrs. Robinson, a middle-aged family friend who persistently pursues our passive hero into his sexual awakening.

Quite a lot of time has passed since 1967. The world is almost unrecognizable now, and yet, today's 20-somethings can still...

"Smokey and the Bandit" was a delightful '70s action-comedy movie; it spawned two sequels, the first of which was pretty damn good. For a modern audience looking back, the series was also remarkably star-studded. It featured beloved late actors like Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, Patrick McCormick, and Mike Henry, most of whom are still fondly remembered over forty years after the first movie came out. Although the series itself isn't quite as well-known among today's young viewer as we'd probably prefer, most of its cast certainly is.

But what about the actors in the series who are still alive today? What are they up to? Let's check in on the lives and careers of the remaining "Smokey and the Bandit" cast, and see how they're holding up. We might never get to see that Seth MacFarlane-penned revival series we heard about back in 2020, but it's not time to...

Few shows in the history of broadcast television can ever claim they were as successful as "M*A*S*H." Based on Richard Hooker's book "Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors," and the Robert Altman film that previously adapted that same book, the series aired for 11 seasons on CBS from 1972 to 1983 totaling a whopping 256 episodes. Its series finale remains the most-watched finale of any TV series. Unfortunately, the spin-off "AfterMASH" couldn't recapture that same magic — and the show's creator thinks he knows why.

The spin-off series only lasted two seasons, with the second season having its run cut short after the ratings plummeted. It was a short-lived experiment that failed to live up to its predecessor. In "TV's M*A*S*H: The Ultimate Guide Book," author Ed Solomonson spoke with "AfterMASH" co-creator Larry Gelbart, who also developed the original show. When asked about the spin-off, Gelbart first...

The intent of THR‘s annual list of the 50 Most Powerful Showrunners is to provide an accurate state of the TV union — a rundown of the writer-producers selling in an increasingly fraught media climate, making culturally relevant and awards-friendly shows and serving the masses at a time when consensus entertainment has all but vanished. It’s also a great opportunity to pick some brains.

Those showrunners who made the 2023 list were polled on a variety of subjects. If Suits can become a streaming hit years after ending, what other shows deserve a similar fate? What IP are they dying to get their hands on? What’s already a pressing issue for the next WGA contract negotiation with the studios? And if they found themselves with a burner social media account, what would they do with it?

Here are some of the best answers to those and more questions.

If I...

NCIS fans are familiar with Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He joined the NCIS team in 2003 — and years before that, fans knew him for his dashing good looks. Harmon was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1986, and he had no trouble attracting women. While speaking to the publication, he discussed his brief hookup with star Heather Locklear.

‘NCIS’ star Mark Harmon once said his brief hookup with Heather Locklear wasn’t special

Mark Harmon is known for his time as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS, but true fans of the actor know he was once crowned the Sexiest Man Alive by People. Harmon made viewers swoon after first starring as Dr. Robert Caldwell in St. Elsewhere. His co-star, Cristina Pickles, who played nurse Helen Rosenthal in St. Elsewhere, commented on how women reacted to seeing Harmon.

“Mark’s sensitivity shows through that handsome face, and women love that,...

In the wake of Piper Laurie’s death over the weekend, Kyle MacLachlan is remembering his Twin Peaks co-star’s “caring presence” and “vivacious energy.”

“It’s never easy losing a member of the Twin Peaks family, and the passing of Piper Laurie is no different,” the actor behind Agent Dale Cooper shared on Instagram Tuesday. “She was such a caring presence [and] incredible force on screen. The vivacious energy she brought to Catherine [Martell] will live on forever. Sending love to her family, friends, [and] fans.”

More from TVLinePiper Laurie, 3-Time Oscar Nominee and Twin Peaks Alum, Dead at 91Tom Sizemore Dead at 61Angelo Badalamenti,...

The 1980s were a junky era for film and television. Once the studios and networks figured out what kinds of formulas American audiences were keen on after Vietnam, Watergate, and the election of Ronald Reagan reshaped the country's psyche, they exploited them relentlessly. One particularly reliable genre of sorts was the gung-ho, men-on-a-mission actioner where outnumbered, yet armed-to-the-teeth heroes resourcefully defeated equally well-armed bad guys.

When these projects were made for the big screen, studios piled on the red meat. Scads of folks got shot, stabbed, and blown up, and the directors didn't skimp on the viscera. These were the hardest of the hard R-rated movies of the decade, and they made heaps of money.

At a network level, television was still cinema's less-appreciated little brother in the 1980s. Sitcoms were king, while hour-long dramas tended toward soapiness or murder-of-the-week mysteries. There were very fine shows that worked within these parameters,...

Piper Laurie, best known for her work on Twin Peaks and Carrie, has died.

She was 91.

According to Variety, the actress had been ill for a long time.

Laurie's manager, Marion Rosenberg, told the outlet that Laurie was "A beautiful human being and one of the great talents of our time."

She played Catherine Martell on Twin Peaks, the iconic ABC drama from David Lynch.

Although Catherine perished during the show's freshman season, Lynch wanted Piper to return to the show in some capacity, and she was brought back under the disguise of Mr. Tojamura.

Piper's involvement in the second season was shrouded in secrecy, with her name kept out of the opening credits and the cast being kept out of the loop, believing Piper to be an actor named Fumio Yamaguchi.

"'What kind of man is going to be up to you,'" Piper claimed Lynch said he told her,...

Bloody Disgusting has learned the sad news tonight that three-time Academy Award nominated acting legend Piper Laurie has passed away. The actress was 91 years old.

Los Angeles Times reports, “Still acting until late in life, Piper Laurie died Saturday morning in Los Angeles, her manager confirmed. An exact cause of death was not given.”

One of the films that earned Piper Laurie an Oscar nomination was Brian De Palma’s Carrie, the iconic 1976 adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel. Laurie played Margaret White in the film, the mother of lead character Carrie White and the true villain of the horror classic.

Piper Laurie was also nominated for Academy Awards before and after her role in Carrie, first for The Hustler in 1962 and then later for Children of a Lesser God in 1987.

Horror fans will also remember Piper Laurie for her roles in “Twin Peaks” and the 1998 movie The Faculty,...

Piper Laurie, the actress who captivated audiences as Catherine Martell in "Twin Peaks" and terrified them as Margaret White in "Carrie," has died. The Hollywood Reporter has just confirmed that the actor passed away this morning at the age of 91.

The three-time Oscar nominee began her acting career during high school, signing a contract with Universal in 1949 and starring opposite Ronald Reagan in her on-screen debut, "Louisa." From there, the actress began working steadily, starring opposite Tony Curtis several times and appearing in 14 Universal movies (typically in the starring role) in just 7 years. Eventually, as THR notes, Laurie desperately wanted out of her contract, and her agent was able to extricate her from a deal that was keeping truly challenging roles at arm's length.

After leaving Universal, Laurie made one of the most memorable moves in her career with her turn in "The Hustler," an acclaimed movie about a pool...