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In the Emmy race for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series, six of this year’s seven nominees are celebrating the first Emmy nomination of their careers. Which nominee, though, deserves to hear their name called on Emmy night?

Leading the first-time nominees is Baby Reindeer standout Jessica Gunning, for playing obsessive stalker Martha in the haunting Netflix series. Her co-star Nava Mau is also nominated for playing Donny’s love interest Teri, becoming the first transgender woman ever to be nominated in this category. Professional boxer Kali Reis also knocked out a nomination for playing Alaska detective Evangeline Navarro...

Ryan Murphy has become the go-to person for actors who want to win Emmy Awards. In fact, 13 different performers have won Emmys for appearing in a Murphy production since 2010, for roles that are both humorous and monstrous. Starting with “Glee,” more than 40 actors have been recognized with a nomination by the TV academy, mostly in the limited series/movie categories. It’s no surprise Murphy’s name is typically heard at least once or twice per Emmy broadcast, whether in speeches thanking him or for nominations of his own for directing, producing and writing.

Scroll through our photo gallery above (or click here for direct access) to see which actors have won Emmys for Ryan Murphy shows, with Niecy Nash-Betts (“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”) being the most recent addition. At the current 2024 Emmys, four performers are recognized for their work on FX’s “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans”: Tom Hollander,...

It’s hard to imagine a time when Ted Danson wasn’t on TV. After all, he spent a whopping 11 seasons playing Sam Malone on Cheers, six years as Dr. John Becker on Becker, and, more recently, took on the part of a 6,000-foot tall tentacled fire demon who's taken on the form of a 6-foot-2 silver fox in The Good Place.

Not to mention the fact that he regularly popped up on Curb Your Enthusiasm, effortlessly inhabiting what was perhaps his greatest role to date: Ted Danson.

Now Danson has a brand new show coming out: A Man on the Inside. While it may sound like the title of a self-help book written by Tobias Fünke, it’s actually a new Netflix comedy that reteams Danson with The Good Place and Parks and Recreation producer Mike Schur.

A Man on the Inside is reportedly an adaptation of The Mole Agent,...

The Emmy campaign trail can be a slog, but Diane Lane is loving it. With an Emmy nomination in tow, Lane has been hitting the circuit to discuss her part in Ryan Murphy’s FX limited series “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.” It’s a busy time as voting gets underway: Right after speaking to Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast, she was headed to another FYC event.

“This whole estimation of women’s worth is really in the zeitgeist, certainly politically and globally,” Lane says. “And it’s a wonderful time to be a woman because I think we’re continuing to put the footprints in the sand for generations to take even steps further generations.”

In an interview with Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, Lane sat down with senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay and admitted she’s much more present than she used to be, and how at this...

Adapting a 1,200-page historical novel into a ten-episode limited series is a gamble under any circumstances.

Toss in the fact that most of the dialogue would be in subtitled Japanese, and it sounds like the sort of proposal that might send many American TV execs scrambling for the warm familiarity of a police procedural.

But when FX and Hulu decided to harken back to the prestige literary limited series of yesteryear, they didn't cut any corners or hedge their bets.

Rather, they went all-in with a massive budget and showed absolute trust in a creative team led by the husband-and-wife partnership of Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo.

The process yielded numerous surprises.

For starters, Shogun quickly established itself as one of the most acclaimed series of the year.

Related: Shogun Series Premiere Review: A Violent Clash of Cultures In Feudal Japan

Better yet (from FX and Hulu's perspective), the show...

The concept of the limited series swept the TV world recently, and it felt like it happened overnight.

It is not an entirely new idea, as miniseries have existed since the time of radio dramas.

However, people lost interest in them at some point, and the era seemed to come to an end.

So much so that in 1991, the Emmy Awards merged Outstanding Miniseries with Outstanding TV Movie.

After numerous name changes to the category, the concept suddenly resurged -- the limited series was born.

With the popularity of American Horror Story, in 2015 they changed the category to Outstanding Limited Series.

TV Shows Should Make Stars, Not Depend On Them

But now, the idea carries almost no weight due to networks and streamers renewing the popular limited series and turning them into plain old series.

HBO is one of the biggest offenders of this, literally winning awards in the limited...

There has long been rumored tension between Kevin Costner and Yellowstone showrunner Taylor Sheridan, as it was speculated Costner’s alleged issues with the writer led to his exit from the show. But despite marking his exit from the universally acclaimed show, which will end with its second half of season 5, the JFK star isn’t done with westerns, as he has now kickstarted his own film series.

However, during the premiere of his Horizon: An American Saga, the actor fueled up rumors surrounding the Yellowstone creator plagiarizing materials from other Westerns.

Kevin Costner Stirs Speculations Surrounding Taylor Sheridan Stealing Ideas

A still from Taylor Sheridan’s 1883 [Credit: Paramount Network]

While the Yellowstone spin-off 1883 earned rave reviews upon premiering back in 2021, some fans pointed out the similarities of its plot with other classics in the genre. This includes Lonesome Dove, Tombstone, and Dancing with the Wolves, as fans stressed that the...

Taylor Sheridan has become one of the most sought-after writers in the industry after he created shows such as Yellowstone and Tulsa King. The former actor who shot to fame as a writer for Sicario has been feuding with his star Kevin Costner for the past few months as the actor worked on his magnum opus Horizon: An American Saga.

While Yellowstone gears up for its final season Costner’s Horizon seems to have hit it big at the Cannes Film Festival after its premiere received a standing ovation. During a post-screening interview, Costner indicated that Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone spinoff 1883 may have borrowed elements from his own film as he had shared the script with Sheridan.

Kevin Costner Hints At Taylor Sheridan Ripping Off Horizon For 1883 Kevin Costner in Horizon: An American Saga | Credits: New Line Cinema/Territory Pictures

Kevin Costner recently debuted the first part of his epic...

Talking to Kevin Costner after the Cannes premiere of “Horizon: An American Saga,” IndieWire’s Anne Thompson asked the filmmaker if he thought he could improve on Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone.” Costner starred as John Dutton for five seasons; he is unmentioned in the press release for the sixth, which just began production.

“No, of course not,” he said.

However, Costner noted, it could be the other way around: During the second season of “Yellowstone” in 2019, he said, Sheridan was looking for writers. He and Baird sent him the “Horizon” script. Thompson noted that both “1883” and “Horizon” share a wagon train story.

“So I don’t know if there’s any duplications there,” Costner said. “Whether he borrowed something, only he’d have to admit to.” (Reps for Sheridan did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

Vague accusations of “borrowing” aren’t new to “Yellowstone.” It’s a popular topic on fan sites,...

Before "Star Wars," there was "Thx 1138." A strange, dystopic science fiction movie packed with big ideas up to its eyeballs, "Thx 1138" is now mostly known as the feature directorial debut of one George Walton Lucas Jr. (though it also came back in conversation when the best episode of "Andor" paid homage to it). The future Lucasfilm founder originally created this story of repressed emotions and stymied sexuality as a student film, but by the time it was reimagined as a feature, it had gained backing from Warner Bros.

Lucas' American Zoetrope co-founder Francis Ford Coppola also had faith in the movie, and served as one of its producers. "Thx 1138" starred Robert Duvall, then already known for his work on stage and television, not to mention in films like "To Kill A Mockingbird," "M*A*S*H," and "True Grit." Future "Halloween" actor Donald Pleasence co-starred, along with a then-unknown actress named Maggie McOmie.

10. James Arness (1923–2011)

James Arness is primarily recognized for his iconic portrayal of Marshal Matt Dillon in the long-running prime-time Western TV show Gunsmoke.

From 1955 to 1975, Arness entertained the audience by keeping the peace in Dodge City, but he also starred in legendary movies like Them!, Hondo, The Farmer's Daughter, and others.

9. Lee Marvin (1924–1987)

Famous for his tough and brutal character, Lee Marvin was just as masculine off-screen as he was in his movies. He blew up after portraying Kid Shelleen in Cat Ballou and went on to star in other iconic Western movies, including The Dirty Dozen, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Big Red One, and many others.

8. Sam Elliott (1944–Now)

Sharp and rugged, Sam Elliot was born to portray gruffly cowboys with a no-bs attitude. His iconic mustache broke many hearts, and the actor didn’t become less popular after Westerns died off: since his famous Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,...

Dan Wallin, the music scoring engineer who recorded such classic film scores as “Spartacus,” “Bullitt,” “The Wild Bunch” and “Out of Africa,” died early Wednesday in Hawaii. He was 97.

Twice Oscar-nominated for best sound (1970’s “Woodstock” and 1976’s “A Star Is Born”), he won a 2009 Emmy for sound mixing on the Academy Awards telecast and received two additional Emmy nominations in the sound mixing category.

But it was Wallin’s skill behind the console, recording and mixing musical scores for movies and TV, that won him legions of fans among nearly all of Hollywood’s top composers and ensured steady employment for more than half a century.

He recorded the music for an estimated 500 films, including those for “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Cool Hand Luke” and “Finian’s Rainbow” in the 1960s; “The Way We Were,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Nashville,” “King Kong” and “Saturday Night Fever” in the 1970s; “Somewhere in Time,” “The Right Stuff...

Exclusive: Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) has been tapped for a role in Lionsgate’s Good Fortune, the debut feature of Master of None and Parks and Rec star Aziz Ansari, in which he also stars alongside Seth Rogen, Keanu Reeves, and Keke Palmer.

Oh’s role is being kept under wraps, as is the plot of the movie. Ansari directed from his own script and also produced alongside Anthony Katagas and Alan Yang, with Aniz Adam Ansari and Jonathan McCoy exec producing. At Lionsgate, the film is overseen by Brady Fujikawa and Jon Humphrey.

The film is the second Ansari has looked to direct, on the heels of the Searchlight dramedy Being Mortal, which was shut down amid complaints of inappropriate behavior on the part of cast member Bill Murray in 2022. Previously, he’s helmed his 2022 comedy special Nightclub Comedian for Netflix, as well as 11 episodes of Master of None,...

The 1990 television adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel "It" may be best known for Tim Curry's performance as Pennywise, who made an entire generation seriously terrified of clowns, but it would be nothing without the heart and soul of the Loser's Club. In the 1950s, a group of misfit kids growing up in Derry, Maine are brought together, partially because they don't belong anywhere else, but also because they happen to be targeted by the malevolent force that haunts their town, stealing and murdering its local children. Together, they have to face off against Pennywise to stop the killing once and for all. That's what they think, anyway. But despite defeating Pennywise as children, they're forced to return to Derry as adults and once again confront the terrors of their youth.

As a result of this, "It" has an interesting casting dilemma of finding not only seven...

Long before he sauntered into the role of John Dutton III and seized the reins of the family ranch on Yellowstone, Kevin Costner was one of the most in-demand filmmakers and leading men in Hollywood.

Now, the Oscar- and Emmy-winner is ditching the small screen and returning to his roots.

In what might be his most ambitious project to date, Costner has directed a sprawling Western epic that will be released in theaters in two parts this summer.

This is a man who was born to saddle up and gaze into the camera from beneath a wide-brimmed Stetson, so naturally, Costner will be playing the lead role in both films.

The first trailer dropped today, and anticipation among Costner devotees and horse opera fanatics is at an all-time high.

So, without further ado, here's everything we know about Horizon: An American Saga.

What Is Horizon: An American Saga About?

Set...

It’s impossible to imagine any modern work of fiction from a relatively unknown author creating the sort of cultural impact made by James Clavell’s 1975 novel Shogun.

In the 49 years since its publication, the book has sold 15 million copies and served as the inspiration for a Broadway musical, multiple video games, and an Emmy-winning five-part miniseries.

Now, FX and Hulu are hoping that a new generation will be equally captivated by Clavell's story of clashing cultures and violent power struggles in feudal Japan.

A ten-part adaptation of Shogun starring Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai, and Cosmo Jarvis will premiere simultaneously on the network and the streaming service on February 27.

Of course, we doubt that the dual platforms are anticipating an effect as profound as the one made by the version produced by NBC in 1980.

Still, among both industry insiders and grownup viewers seeking grownup content, there's a hope that Shogun...

In its third season, "Yellowstone" did something unusual: it included an in-memoriam title card for an actor who had never worked on the show. The star in question was Wilford Brimley, the former Western actor who appeared in touchstones of the genre like "True Grit," "Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid," "Lawman," and more. Though Brimley hadn't actually appeared on Taylor Sheridan's wildly popular Montana-set drama before he died in 2020, he still earned a farewell note within the show. "In loving memory of Wilford Brimley," a title card accompanying the penultimate episode of season 3 read, continuing: "A cowboy, an artist, and a damn good friend."

There don't seem to be any links between "Yellowstone" and Brimley, aside from the fact that the former clearly takes inspiration from classic Westerns like those the legendary actor starred in throughout the 20th century. Series star Kevin Costner never acted alongside Brimley and...

Oscar-winner Robert Duvall has starred in dozens of films spanning a 60+ year career, racking up six additional nominations in the process, but how many of those titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Duvall made his big screen debut with the small but memorable role of Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962), released when he was 31-years-old. His first Oscar nomination came just 10 years later: Best Supporting Actor for Francis Ford Coppola‘s mob classic “The Godfather” (1972).

It would take 11 years before Duvall finally clinched that elusive Best Actor Oscar for “Tender Mercies” (1983), a small-scale drama about a drunken country-western singer working towards redemption. He would compete five additional times: lead for “The Great Santini” (1980) and “The Apostle” (1997); supporting for “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “A Civil Action” (1998), and “The Judge” (2014).

Duvall has found success on the small screen as well,...

In just a little over three minutes Brandy Clark flies to Paris, reads Lonesome Dove, listens to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and goes on a psychedelic trip. But she still can’t forget the lover who broke her heart. That’s the genius premise of “Buried,” Clark’s Grammy-nominated song and a standout of her superb self-titled 2023 album.

Written with Jessie Jo Dillon, “Buried” is nominated for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance at this year’s Grammy Awards and is built around a classic-country switcheroo. All throughout the lyrics,...

Eric McCormack’s wife, Janet Leigh Holden, has filed for divorce from the Will & Grace star after 26 years of marriage.

Holden filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court on November 22, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the cause for separation. She is seeking spousal support and has requested that the court terminate the actor’s eligibility to be awarded spousal support.

McCormack and Holden met on the set of Lonesome Dove in 1994. The couple married in August 1997 and share one son, 21-year-old Finnigan Holden McCormack.

“I met my wife, Janet, in 1994 on the set of a TV series,” McCormack wrote in an essay for The Guardian in 2007. “I was just coming out of a relationship, and not to be trusted. I’d been dating actresses but Janet was different. She wore jeans, drove a pick-up truck.”

“At first, she wasn’t too keen,” he continued. “She knew actors are a...

When Aly and Aj Michalka headlined the Greek Theatre for the first time in September, it was a moment tinged with nostalgia and ripe with promise for the next phase of their careers. The venue was the site of the very first concert the L.A. natives attended (LeAnn Rimes in 2004) and has long been a holy grail of sorts. The sisters played folksy Americana songs from their newest album, With Love From — a blend of Kacey Musgraves, Haim and Carly Rae Jepsen — and updated versions of hits from their teen years for an audience that felt, to them, like a perfect microcosm of the fandom they’ve been building slowly and steadily. “When we started out, all our fans were kids, and now we’ve built this community of adults who have been with us from the beginning and people who don’t even know we had a phase before this album,...

Westerns, if done right, are great to watch. There have been some great Western shows over the years that work fantastically well in the long format. In fact, the template of the Westerns has also been seen in shows like Breaking Bad and Westworld, where the story doesn’t seem to lend itself naturally to the genre. It is the landscape of the ‘Wild West’ that lends itself organically to long-form television, and there have been shows like Deadwood and Lonesome Dove to prove that point. With great writing, such a series can be more than a satisfying watch. Sometimes, they become some of the greatest shows ever. Lawmen: Bass Reeves, the latest Paramount+ original, stars David Oyelowo, Dennis Quaid, and Barry Pepper, among other stars, and it chronicles the life of the legendary officer Bass Reeves, who became the first African American Deputy U.S. Marshall. The Wild West...

Frederic Forrest, an actor best known for his supporting roles in acclaimed films like “Apocalypse Now” and “The Rose,” died Friday at the age of 86. The news was first made public on Twitter by actress Bette Midler, who starred alongside Forrest in “The Rose.”

“The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died,” Midler wrote. “Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months. He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.”

The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months. He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.”

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 24, 2023

Forrest passed away...

Frederic Forrest, the character actor known for his roles in The Rose, Apocalypse Now, and several other Francis Ford Coppola films, has died at 86. Friend and fellow actor Barry Primus told The Hollywood Reporter he passed at his home in Santa Monica after a long illness.

Born on December 23rd, 1936 in Waxahachie, Texas, Forrest served in the Army and studied radio and television studies and theater arts at Texas Christian University before beginning his acting career. In 1966, he appeared in an off-Broadway production of Viet Rock, while he made his film debut in 1972’s When the Legends Die, for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer.

In 1979, Forrest appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War epic, Apocalypse Now. He portrayed Jay “Chef” Hicks, an aspiring chef from New Orleans who ends up getting drafted. The role made him a favorite of Coppola, who went...

Frederic Forrest, who earned critical acclaim opposite Bette Midler in The Rose and collaborated with Francis Ford Coppola, has died. He was 86.

Other than earning both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for playing Huston Dwyer — the opposite end of a doomed relationship — in 1979’s The Rose, Frederic Forrest is perhaps best known for playing Jay “Chef” Hicks, who loses his head both mentally and literally, in Apocalypse Now the same year. For both performances Forrest was recognized by the National Society of Film Critics as that year’s Best Supporting Actor.

Bette Midler took to Twitter to pay tribute to her co-star, saying Frederic Forrest was a “remarkable actor” and “brilliant human being.”

The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months. He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and...

Frederic Forrest, a character actor who had a memorable role in 1979’s “Apocalypse Now” and earned an Oscar nomination for “The Rose” in the same year, died Friday in Santa Monica. He was 86.

Forrest’s death was first reported by his “Rose” co-star Bette Midler, who paid tribute to the actor on Twitter.

“The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died,” Midler wrote. “Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months. He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.”

Frederic Forrest in “Apocalypse Now”

As Jay “Chef” Hicks in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” Forrestt played the tightly-wound former New Orleans chef on the river patrol boat who raves “I didn’t come here for this, I don’t fucking need this, all I...

Actor Frederic Forrest, known for his roles in “Apocalypse Now” and “The Rose”, has died at age 86.

The news of Forrest’s passing was announced by Bette Midler, his co-star in “The Rose”, who took to Twitter to pay tribute.

“He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life,” she wrote. “He was at peace.”

The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months. He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.”

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 24, 2023

Actor Barry Primus, a longtime friend, told The Hollywood Reporter that Forrest died Friday at his Santa Monica home after a lengthy illness.

Forrest played the love interest of Midler’s character in the 1979 musical drama,...

Frederic Forrest, the resilient character actor best remembered for his performance as the high-strung Chef Hicks in Apocalypse Now and for his Academy Award-nominated turn as Huston Dyer, the Awol army sergeant who captured Bette Midler’s heart in The Rose, has died. He was 86.

Forrest died Friday at his home in Santa Monica after a long illness, his friend, actor Barry Primus, told The Hollywood Reporter.

On Twitter, Midler called Forrest “a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.”

The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months. He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.”

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 24, 2023

The first of two...

Robert Gottlieb, the legendary editor at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker who helped shape the work of many of the world’s greatest writers over the past six decades, has died, according to Knopf and The New Yorker. He was 92.

A partial list of the literary talents whose work Gottlieb edited includes Nobel laureates such as Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing and V.S. Naipaul; bestselling novelists such as John le Carré, Michael Crichton and Ray Bradbury; Hollywood types such as Elia Kazan, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Nora Ephron and Lauren Bacall; Pulitzer Prize-winners such as John Cheever, Katharine Graham and Robert Caro; and even a president, Bill Clinton.

Gottlieb was featured in the documentary Turn Every Page, directed by his daughter Lizzie, which premiered at last year’s Tribeca Festival and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. The film focuses on Gottlieb and Caro as...

When legendary Western hatter John B. Stetson invented the first commercially manufactured cowboy hat in 1865, he probably didn’t expect it would become a major fashion accessory more than a century and a half later. And yet around the world today, cowboy hats are worn by more people than ever before, and much of the credit for their newfound popularity goes to the costume designers of “Yellowstone” and “1923,” and to the shows’ creator, Taylor Sheridan.

Award-winning costume designer Janie Bryant created the costumes for the “Yellowstone” prequels “1923” and “1883,” and she believes the timeless appeal of cowboy hats is due, in large part, to their symbolic associations. “I think it really is about the American spirit,” she says. “There’s a wildness, a pioneering spirit, and a sense of freedom that we identify with the cowboy hat. It’s iconically American, and I think people relate with it globally.”

Bryant’s...

“I did some globe trotting on that show,” declares production designer Cary White about his work on “1923.” The Paramount + series serves as a prequel to the hugely successful drama “Yellowstone.” White is no stranger to the “Yellowstone” universe, having served in the same capacity on both “Yellowstone” and the previous prequel series “1883.” However according to White, “1923” had its own unique set of challenges. Check out more of our exclusive video chat with White above.

White had been retired for a number of years when “Yellowstone” and “1923” creator and writer Taylor Sheridan invited White to work on the franchise’s flagship series. As it turns out, White had worked on one of Sheridan’s favorite television projects– the 1989 television miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry‘s “Lonesome Dove.” “Taylor got on the phone. I was living in Mexico at the time and was retired,” recalls White. “[Sheridan] said, ‘Well, how retired are you?...

The level of solidarity among striking WGA writers has been a powerful force during these first few weeks of the writers strike. Seeing it in action on picket lines is a good reminder for the industry at large that there’s a special camaraderie among those who know what it’s like to stare at a blank screen, search for inspiration and then type away at draft after draft to get the words just right.

That’s true for novelists as much as it is for screenwriters. Often those are one and the same — and because we live in an age where pre-sold IP usually makes it easier to sell a TV project, there have never been more series based on books than there are right now.

I don’t have the numbers to back me up on that, but we’re still living in peak TV times. Which means...

Composer Christopher Lennertz was declared a BMI Icon at Broadcast Music Inc.’s 39th annual Film, TV and Visual Media Awards Wednesday night (May 10) in Beverly Hills.

Lennertz, a two-time Emmy nominee, veteran film composer and game-music creator, was honored for his 30-year career in media music-making.

BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill presented the award, noting that Lennertz was “legendary for his diverse and distinct impact across the worlds of film, television and gaming” and telling the 51-year-old composer, “your captivating scores have taken us on a thrilling ride.”

Added BMI’s VP creative, film, TV and visual media Tracy McKnight: “His compelling body of work, from blockbuster films to hit TV shows and gaming, highlights Christopher’s passion for all styles of music and has made him one of the industry’s most sought-after composers. He is also dedicated to giving back through philanthropic work and advancing the next generation of composers.

James McMurtry took the title of his 2002 song “Red Dress” quite literally while playing a string of shows in Tennessee last week. The songwriter — one of America’s greatest living ones, at that — delivered his encore in Knoxville and Nashville dressed in drag to protest the state’s anti-drag legislation.

“When in Tennessee we will do our little bit for humanity,” McMurtry announced onstage at Nashville’s 3rd and Lindsley on Sunday after returning from an encore break wearing a red floral dress, lipstick, pearls, and fishnets. Prior to the quick change,...

Westerns hold a nostalgic place in television history. Dominating the primetime airwaves, more than 100 original TV Western series aired between 1949 and 1969. Shows such as The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, and The Rifleman had a faithful following, tuning in each week to witness the fast-paced, gun-slinging, horse-riding action. The Big Valley, starring prominent actors Barbara Stanwyck, Lee Majors, and Linda Evans, ran for four seasons in the mid-’60s. Despite its immense popularity, the TV series ended abruptly. Why was The Big Valley canceled?

‘The Big Valley’ was a big deal ‘The Big Valley’ cast | ABC Photo Archives/Contributor

In 1964, The Big Valley premiered on ABC, becoming one of the first Westerns to showcase a woman as the lead. The controversial move proved popular among viewers, and the series reignited the career of Stanwyck, an iconic big-screen actor. She portrayed the formidable matriarch of the wealthy Barkley family, tasked with running her late husband’s California ranch.

While Anjelica Huston is the daughter of iconic, award-winning film director John Huston, she’s become a legend herself over several decades as a fashion model, actor, and director. Huston’s enjoyed a highly successful career racking up many awards including an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and several Emmy nominations. Still working today, she is regarded as one of the finest actors of her generation. And that’s in part why she chose not to become a mom.

Anjelica Huston is an award-winning actor

Huston started out as a model, working for some of fashion’s biggest names in the 1970s. It wasn’t long until she realized that what she really wanted to do was become an actor. She began taking acting classes in Los Angeles.

In 1985, she had her first breakout role in the film Prizzi’s Honor, a film directed by her father. She won an Academy Award...

HGTV’s Fixer Upper fans have been following Chip and Joanna Gaines for years, and they’re astonished by all that the Gaines family has accomplished. The couple created their Magnolia empire in Waco, Texas, and they’re expanding even more. Chip reportedly acquired landmarks in Archer City, Texas — and the townspeople are reportedly nervous about what it could mean for their beloved bookstore.

Chip Gaines purchased landmarks in Archer City, Texas, that have residents buzzing ‘Fixer Upper’ star Chip Gaines | Mireya Acierto/FilmMagic

Joanna and Chip Gaines are no strangers to expanding their Magnolia empire. And it looks like Chip is branching out beyond Waco, Texas, and into Archer City.

According to CNN, Chip bought famous author Larry McMurtry’s historic Texas bookstore, Booked Up Inc. McMurtry, who wrote Lonesome Dove and The Terms of Endearment, opened the store in 1987. It has since become a destination for book lovers all over the country.

The relationship between fathers and sons is complicated. It can be tough, tender, loving, combative, disappointing, violent, the stuff of Shakespearean and even Greek tragedy. It’s little wonder there have been countless films exploring fathers and sons including “East of Eden,” “Finding Nemo,” “Back to the Future,” “Field of Dreams,” “Nebraska,” “Fences,” “Beginners” and “Kramer vs. Kramer.”

One of the most indelible is Martin Ritt’s “Hud,” which celebrates its 60th anniversary. And time hasn’t diminished the power of this unapologetic drama starring Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and Brandon De Wilde.

Newman had played characters of questionable morality such as his Oscar-nominated turn “Fast” Eddie Felsen in 1961’s “The Hustler,” but he had never played anyone quite like Hud, the ultimate heel who never met a bottle of booze he wouldn’t drink or a married woman he didn’t seduce. Living on a cattle ranch in a tiny,...

TV’s number 1 show is “Yellowstone.” Fans love it. Critics love it. The TV industry loves it. But will the motley crew of international journalists at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association finally catch on to TV’s biggest blockbuster? We’re about to find out, as the HFPA are about to unveil its nominations for the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards on Monday, December 12.

The Paramount Network hit series broke ratings records and shattered hearts last season, as its premiere was watched by a staggering 8.38 million live viewers, becoming cable’s most watched episode of any series since 2018. Season 5 (which premiered last month) built on that success, with the neo-Western captivating 12.1 million live-plus-same-day viewers, a huge uptick on an already high watermark. Numbers like that are almost unheard of these days in a TV landscape that is so fractured by hundreds of choices across a multitude of platforms and networks.

Jessica Lowndes and Paul Greene are teaming up!

Great American Family revealed Thursday that Jessica Lowndes, Paul Greene (When Calls the Heart), and Golden Globe ® nominee (Pipe Dreams) and seven-time Grammy Award ® winner (22 nominations), the “Empress of Soul,” Gladys Knight are set to star in Someday at Christmas.

The flick is an original Christmas movie, which is set to premiere on the network this November.

The film reunites Knight with former Motown chief and acclaimed, award-winning writer-producer, Suzanne de Passe.

The new film begins production on September 9 and will be part of Great American Christmas, the network’s holiday programming franchise which returns on October 21 with a new slate of original holiday movie premieres every Saturday and Sunday and Christmas movies all day and all night through the end of 2022.

“As anticipation builds for year two of Great American Christmas, we are delighted to be working with the incomparable Gladys Knight...

Exclusive: Diane Lane (Feud: Capote’s Women) has signed with CAA for representation.

Lane is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actress who will next star opposite Naomi Watts in the second season of FX’s anthology series Feud, titled Feud: Capote’s Women. In the series written by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Gus Van Sant and produced by Ryan Murphy, she will play Nancy ‘Slim’ Keith.

The actress is currently in production on David E. Kelly’s upcoming Netflix limited series A Man in Full, starring opposite Jeff Daniels, with Regina King co-executive producing and directing.

Lane earned her first Oscar nomination in 2003 for her leading role in Adrian Lyne’s thriller Unfaithful, securing Emmy noms for the CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove and the HBO TV movie Cinema Verite in 1989 and 2011, respectively. She’s otherwise best known for turns in films like Under the Tuscan Sun and Must Love Dogs,...

Diane Lane is stepping out from Jeff Daniels’ shadow in David E. Kelley and Regina King’s upcoming Netflix series. Lane has joined A Man in Full, based on Tom Wolfe’s 1998 novel of the same name, according to Deadline. The six-episode limited series follows an Atlanta real estate mogul, Charlie Croker (Daniels), who faces sudden bankruptcy. Political and business interests collide as he must defend his empire from those who wish to benefit from his downfall. Lane will be starring as Charlie’s ex-wife, Martha, who emerges from his shadow. “Beware the dormant, Martha’s rebuild poses a threat both personally and financially as three decades of marriage comes with its baggage,” her character description reads. Lane’s TV credits include Y: The Last Man, House of Cards, The Romanoffs, and the miniseries Lonesome Dove, for which she was nominated for an Emmy in 1989 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special.

Diane Lane has been cast opposite Jeff Daniels in the upcoming Netflix limited series “A Man in Full,” Variety has learned.

The series is based on the Tom Wolfe novel of the same name. Variety exclusively reported the show had received a straight-to-series order at the streamer in November 2021. It hails from David E. Kelley with Regina King onboard to direct and executive produce.

In the series, Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Daniels) faces sudden bankruptcy. Political and business interests collide as Croker defends his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace.

Lane will play Martha Croker. Martha emerges from the shadow of her ex-husband while his real estate empire begins to crumble. Beware the dormant, Martha’s rebuild poses a threat both personally and financially as three decades of marriage comes with its baggage.

Lane is no stranger to the Netflix audience, as she...

From the Oscar-winning Drive My Car to festival favourite Hit the Road, audiences and critics are relishing the recent wave of road movies. Here, Geoff Dyer delves into the roots of the genre

Four directors discuss breathing new life into the road movie

Wherever there is an actual physical journey there is inherent narrative interest. It doesn’t matter whether the journey is on foot through the Australian outback (Walkabout) or in the Antarctic (Scott of the…), on horseback (Lonesome Dove) or covered wagon, by boat, train (Von Ryan’s Express), aircraft or spaceship (take your pick), car, or some permutation of any of the above: Planes, Trains and Automobiles. With jour, journey and journal(ism) sharing the same root, we’re linguistically programmed to follow day-by-day accounts of journeys. Writing in 1849, Thomas De Quincey celebrated the unprecedented “velocity” of English mail coaches that revealed to him, first “the glory of motion: suggesting,...

Josh Brolin has spent his career pushing the narrative boundaries of the West.

Roles in resurgent Westerns such as “No Country for Old Men” and “True Grit” fortified the Oscar nominee’s place in the genre’s recent canon. His first major TV role was on ABC’s 1989 series “The Young Riders,” about the Pony Express.

The year prior to “Riders,” Brolin spent 24 hours believing he’d get his big break on CBS’ “Lonesome Dove” miniseries, having been cast as Newt, an orphan in the West, alongside his all-time favorite actor Robert Duvall. But the day after getting the role, the network pulled the offer, citing a contractual obligation to eventual star Rick Schroder.

“It was the greatest moment of my life,” Brolin recalls. “It is still the most elated I’ve ever felt about anything work-related and then it left as quickly as it came. I was absolutely freaking devastated.

The number 1 show on TV is “Yellowstone,” as the Paramount Network blockbuster keeps breaking records and shattering hearts. And while the neo-Western’s superb fourth season still basks in widespread praise, cast and crew have already assembled, back in production for its highly anticipated fifth season which will debut on November 13.

To celebrate the acclaimed fourth season, watch our special 40-minute “Making of” roundtable discussion with five key behind-the-scenes crafts artistans — costume designer Johnetta Boone, Emmy-nominated set decorator Carla Curry, editor Gary D. Roach, A.C.E., stunt coordinator Jason Rodriguez and Emmy-winning production designer Cary White. Together they are joined by Gold Derby senior editor Rob Licuria for a memorable Q&a. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

“Yellowstone” was created by Oscar nominee Taylor Sheridan (“Hell or High Water”), about a powerful Montana ranching family under constant threat by politicians, developers and the neighboring Native American reservation. Oscar,...

Actress-director Anjelica Huston may have been born into film royalty and may have fulfilled that royal destiny by becoming the third generation, after actor grandfather Walter and director-actor-writer father John Huston, to score Oscar gold, but her early innings were not the stuff cinema dreams are made of.

“Casino Royale” is the film where she first appeared, as an uncredited young teen 55 years ago this month. It is largely regarded as an overcooked comedy fiasco, or as Variety deemed it back then, “an attempt to spoof the pants off the James Bond.” The film had no less than five directors, including her father, John.

Variety was kinder to John Huston’s 1969 film “A Walk with Love and Death,” Anjelica’s first starring role, but most other outlets were tougher on the film and Huston’s performance, and it came and went with little notice.

In a vain attempt to overcome that fate,...

NFL veteran and Super Bowl Champion, Kevin Carter and co-host Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts hosted the Grand Finale of “Waiting for Wishes” Celebrity Waiters Dinner at the Hilton Nashville Downtown on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.

Kevin Carter, Tim McGraw and Jay DeMarcus

Credit/Copyright: Terry Wyatt

The star-studded event benefited The Kevin Carter Foundation and Make-a-Wish Middle Tennessee. The event series, which concluded with this Grand Finale, has raised 2.5 million to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions through Make-a-Wish of Middle Tennessee.

The celebrity event, emceed by former Wkrn’s John Dwyer (for all 20 years) was an exclusive, VIP evening where hosts Carter and DeMarcus invited professional athletes, country music artists and various celebrities from all over the country to wait tables, followed by the Official After-Party – Jammin’ with Jay DeMarcus & Friends, emceed by SiriusXM The Highway’s Storme Warren. DeMarcus showcased his new band Generation Radio...

Spoiler Alert: This story contains details from Sunday’s Season 1 finale of Paramount+’s 1883.

Larry McMurtry was a literary inspiration for writer-director Taylor Sheridan, who took a page from the miniseries adaptation of that late author’s Lonesome Dove by scattering the harsh terrain with the bodies of its most beloved characters in the Paramount+ 101 Studios MTV Entertainment series. Sheridan’s 10-episode odyssey, about the push to Montana by the ancestors of Yellowstone‘s Dutton clan, saw the death of the show’s bright young narrator, Elsa Dutton (Isabel May), the grizzled Pinkerton agent Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott), and most of the European settlers who made the trip from Fort Worth, Texas in a ragtag wagon train caravan.

While there has been speculation of another season with this iteration of the Duttons once they arrived in Montana, a conversation that follows here with Sheridan that can only make you think,...

Motown founder Berry Gordy had a galaxy of star executives helping him build the company into the powerhouse it became, but not many of them shone as brightly as Suzanne de Passe.

Joining the company relatively late in its heyday, de Passe moved from her native Harlem to Detroit in 1968 and soon convinced a skeptical Berry to sign a group of kids calling themselves the Jackson 5. She quickly took charge of developing the group into the pop-culture juggernaut they immediately became — their first four singles went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — developing their live show, imaging, choreography, television appearances and much more. Her next signing? An R&b combo called the Commodores featuring a young singer named Lionel Richie.

After being named the company’s West Coast head of A&R she went on to work with Rick James and others, while gradually transitioning into her main career: as a TV and film executive,...