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Exclusive: Tony Denison, perhaps known best for his starring role on all seven seasons of TNT’s The Closer, has signed with Wright Entertainment for management.

Denison portrayed Lieutenant Andy Flynn on The Closer, as well as its spinoff Major Crimes. He received a Prism Award for Outstanding Performance in a Drama Series for The Closer, in addition to five ensemble SAG Awards nominations for the series.

Denison also recurred heavily on CBS’ All Rise. His other notable television credits include FX’s Sons of Anarchy, Fox’s Prison Break and Criminal Minds for CBS.

Denison has more than 40 film credits, including a starring role opposite Catherine O’ Hara in Little Vegas, along with Atlas Shrugged: Who is John Galt? and Frank and Ava, to name a few.

Denison continues to be represented by Artists & Representatives.

Travis and Sosie Bacon are about to be one degree of separation away from their father.

Spouses Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick are set to direct themselves and their children in a horror comedy for Dark Castle Entertainment that’s being shopped to buyers at the American Film Market event, according to Variety.

The film, accurately and amusingly titled “Family Movie,” is about a family of horror filmmakers whose latest low-budget project spirals out of control when a dead body is discovered on set. But the show must go on, and the only way to save the movie is to cover up the murder and keep going, by any means necessary. “Premature” writer-director Dan Beers wrote the script, and the Bacons are producing along with Dark Castle’s Norman Golightly.

“There may not be a more compelling Hollywood family than the Bacons,” Golightly said in a statement to Variety. “We...

Golden Globe Award-winning actor Kevin Bacon has set his next horror movie after starring in the smash-hit A24 slasher MaXXXine, and it's about to be an entire family affair. Bacon, his Emmy Award-winning wife Kyra Sedgwick, and their two adult children, Travis and Sosie Bacon, will star together in a new horror-comedy titled Family Movie.

The talented family will produce this film for Mixed Breed Films in collaboration with Norman Golightly at Dark Castle Entertainment. Dark Castle is best known for being behind other horror movies such as House on Haunted Hill, House of Wax, Orphan and Orphan: First Kill. Besides Family Movie, Dark Castle is currently working on a third Orphan movie.

Neon International will handle the foreign rights and present the horror-comedy at the American Film Market this week, while CAA Media Finance will manage the U.S. rights. Besides producing and starring in the movie, Bacon and Sedgwick will also direct.

Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon are making their new movie a family affair. They’re set to direct and star in the horror-comedy “Family Movie,” joined by their kids, Travis and Sosie Bacon.

The family will produce the movie through Mixed Breed Films, along with Norman Golightly from Dark Castle Entertainment. Neon International will handle foreign rights and present the project at AFM this week, while CAA Media Finance will manage U.S. rights.

Written by Dan Beers (“Premature”), the story follows a quirky but close family of filmmakers who find themselves in a real-life horror show when a body is discovered on the set of their latest low-budget slasher. As the chaos builds, they decide the only way to keep filming is to hide the murder, no matter what.

“There may not be a more interesting Hollywood family than the Bacons,” says Dark Castle’s co-ceo Norman Golightly. “We...

Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon are taking the title of their next film to heart. They’re set to direct the horror-comedy project “Family Movie” and star alongside their children, Travis and Sosie Bacon.

The foursome will produce for Mixed Breed Films alongside Norman Golightly at Dark Castle Entertainment. Neon International will represent the foreign rights and introduce it at AFM this week while CAA Media Finance will represent the U.S. rights.

The film, based on a screenplay by Dan Beers (“Premature”), follows an eclectic but tight-knit family of filmmakers who suddenly find themselves in a real-life horror movie when a body turns up on the set of their latest low-budget slasher. As the production spirals comically out of control, they realize the only solution to keep filming is to cover up the murder, by any means necessary.

“There may not be a more compelling Hollywood family than the Bacons,...

See what has happened to the 'Family Ties' cast members 35 years after the hit show ended.MEGABrian BonsallBonsall played the role of Andy Keaton through the show's final three seasons.@mrbrianbonsall/Instagram

Brian Bonsall started acting on Family Ties when he was 5 years old, playing the role of Andy Keaton through the show's final three seasons.

He said of his time on Family Ties: "Good memories for sure. They were a second family to me, growing up doing that ... Michael J. Fox used to come pick me up in his Ferrari, taught me to dive into a pool. It was so comfortable hanging out."

The break helped him appear in more 1990s shows, including Father Hood and Blank Check, until he retired in 1995. He later shifted his career and pursued his passion for music with several bands.

Bonsall found himself in trouble when he was arrested in Boulder, Colo.

Paramount’s free streaming service Pluto TV has revealed its October highlights. The Pluto TV October 2024 lineup includes “31 Nights of Horror” on the Pluto TV Horror channel, The Twilight Zone marathon on the Classic TV Drama channel, new animation channels, and more.

The new animation channels feature your childhood heroes, such as Pokémon, Strawberry Shortcake, Inspector Gadget, Sonic, and The Super Mario Brothers. You can also expect channels dedicated to the beloved legal dramas The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Anthony Bourdain’s globetrotting No Reservations, the science and special effects wizardry of Mythbusters, and more.

Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience. The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with hundreds of international media companies.

Pluto TV offers various genres, languages, and categories featuring movies, television series,...

The logo of Start TV. (Graphic designed by The Desk)

Weigel Broadcasting and Paramount Global’s joint venture multicast network Start TV has launched on DirecTV’s pay television platform.

The rollout of Start TV on DirecTV via Satellite and DirecTV via Internet comes after Weigel signed a multi-year carriage agreement with the pay TV company. The channel became available on the services earlier this week.

Start TV joins two other Weigel-owned channels on DirecTV: Heroes & Icons and Me TV. All three enjoy national distribution on DirecTV’s satellite and streaming platforms.

“We are excited to extend Start TV’s reach, and we know that the network’s lineup of dramas featuring intelligent and powerful female leading characters will bring a unique and compelling entertainment destination to DirecTV subscribers who are always hungry for diverse content,” Neal Sabin, the Vice Chairman of Weigel, said in a statement.

Start TV specializes...

Exclusive: Cora Olson and Michael Diamond, a pair of well-respected industry vets, have joined management and production company Range as Partners, we can reveal.

The pair join from Mgmt Entertainment, where they co-ran the lit division, representing writers, creators, filmmakers and producers.

Olson also has a robust talent business and works with numerous multi-hyphenates, both behind and in front of the camera, and between them, the duo will continue to represent a top-flight list of clients. The list includes Dan Levy, co-creator and star of the record-breaking, Emmy-winning comedy Schitt’s Creek; Michael Sarnoski, writer-director of Neon’s critically acclaimed Pig and Paramount’s hit horror prequel A Quiet Place: Day One; Emmy-winning actress, director and producer Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer); French writer-director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang); writer Chris Kekaniokalani Bright (Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch remake); Golden Globe-nominated actor and filmmaker Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins); writers Jeff Kaplan...

The funniest thing to come out of Joe Rogan’s new Netflix special is the social media mocking it, but don’t kid yourself: CEO Ted Sarandos benefits from that, too.

Rogan, a 56-year-old podcaster, has been called a lot of things since “Burn the Boats” streamed live on August 3. According to his critics on X, he’s “unfunny,” “a bigot,” “the dumbest man on the planet,” “like if Charlie Brown grew up, did steroids, finished balding, and never went to therapy,” “a lapdog for billionaires,” “adult Caillou,” “proof that those D.A.R.E. videos about the dangers of weed might have made some valid points,” and “the Cybertruck of comedians.”

The progressive pile-on is objectively funny and, at first glance, looks like a welcome counterbalance to the millions of Rogan fans who make “The Joe Rogan Experience” the world’s biggest podcast. In the special, Rogan aggressively mocks the LGBTQ community,...

Patti Yasutake, who was a regular on “Beef” and played Nurse Alyssa Ogawa on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” died Aug. 5 in Santa Monica of cancer. She was 70.

Her manager Kyle Fritz said that “Patti was my first client when I began over 30 years ago. We enjoyed every day we got to work together, and I will miss her spirit talent and tenacity but most of all her friendship.”

On Netflix’s “Beef,” Yasutake played George’s mother Fumi Nakai. She reprised her “Star Trek” role as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa in the films “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek Generations.”

She started her career working with Mako at East West Players theater company. She also worked with the other companies including Los Angeles Theatre Center, South Coast Repertory, the Westwood Playhouse.

Her work in 1988’s “The Wash” brought her an Independent Spirit Awards nomination for best supporting actress.

Patti Yasutake, best known for her roles in Beef and Star Trek: The Next Generation, passed away peacefully on August 5 surrounded by friends and family after a long battle with cancer, her manager and friend Kyle Fritz told Deadline. She was 70.

Los Angeles native Yasutake, born and raised in Gardena and Inglewood, graduated from UCLA with honors in theater. She started her career at East West Players, where she worked with the company’s co-founder, Japanese-American acting icon Mako, for six years onstage, on staff and on the board, performing in over a dozen shows.

Yasutake made her major feature debut in Ron Howard’s 1986 comedy Gung Ho as Umeki, a relocated Japanese wife earnestly trying to Americanize. She reprised her character in the follow-up ABC comedy series spawned by the movie.

For her next movie, the 1988 The Wash, Yasutake received an Independent Spirit Award Supporting Actress nomination. Her resume...

Comedy is bigger than ever, Impractical Jokers’ Sal Vulcano marveled as we spoke in June. When he wanted to be a stand-up comic as a kid, people looked at him as if he had three heads. Now, “there are more comedians than ever. There are more people trying to be comics, there are more theater comedians, there are more arena acts than ever, more specials than ever.”

What’s behind the boom? There are many factors, of course, but to sum up the current era in a single word?

Netflix.

With a crazy-huge library of stand-up specials and new ones dropping every month, Netflix has raised the visibility and viability of stand-up like no other. The streamer is also padding pocketbooks, paying big-name comics astronomical sums. In the past decade, Chris Rock reportedly landed $40 million for two specials, Dave Chappelle got $60 million for three and Jerry Seinfeld pocketed $100 million for...

Fire Country is poised to burn even hotter, when it begins streaming on Netflix as well as Paramount+.

TVLine has confirmed that Season 1 of the firefighter drama starring co-creator Max Thieriot will hit Netflix on Thursday, Aug. 1 (aka my birthday; I’m registered at both Gnc and Chipotle).

More from TVLineRosemary's Baby Movie Prequel Apartment 7A, Starring Julia Garner, Gets Release Date on Paramount+Frasier Sets Premiere Date for Season 2, Including a Return to SeattleFox Announces Fall Premiere Dates for 9-1-1: Lone Star, The Masked Singer, Rescue: Hi-Surf and More

Fire Country is thus likely to enjoy a...

James B. Sikking, an actor best known for playing Hill Street Blues‘ Swat leader Lt. Howard Hunter and the father of Doogie Howser M.D., died peacefully at his Los Angeles home, of complications from Dementia, on July 13. He was 90.

“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farce. His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage,” the late actor’s publicist, Cynthia Snyder, said in a statement. “His talent, integrity and imagination intrigued and delighted audiences.”

More from TVLineJacoby Jones, NFL Great and Dancing With the Stars Finalist,...

NBCUniversal just closed a big addition to Peacock’s library. As of June 30, all seven seasons of TNT’s The Closer are available to stream on the service. Airing from 2005 to 2012, The Closer starred Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, leader of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Priority Homicide Division (later the Major Crimes Division). Sedgwick earned five back-to-back Emmy nominations for her performance — winning the gold in 2010 — and The Closer begat the long-running spinoff Major Crimes. If you’re looking for a substantial Closer binge, consider these 10 episodes, which IMDb users have rated as the best of the best, the series finale included. 10. Season 1, Episode 12: “Fatal Retraction” When a woman purportedly murdered years ago turns up only recently deceased, a convicted killer is freed, and Brenda and her team must ID both the criminal and the actual victim. “With a fine performance by Jason O’Mara as the ultra-smug adversary,...

Brenda Leigh Johnson would be the very first to say, “Thank you, so much,” to Peacock for being the new home for all seven seasons of The Closer — beginning this Sunday, June 30, for Premium subscribers only.

The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick as the aforementioned Deputy Chief in charge of the LAPD’s Priority Homicide Division, originally aired on TNT each summer from June 2005 through August 2012. One day after its series finale, the offshoot Major Crimes, headed by Mary McDonnell (as Captain Sharon Raydor), premiered on TNT (and ran for six seasons of its own).

More from TVLineWhat’s New on Netflix in June — Plus: Disney+,...

It's a family affair for Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon, and their daughter Sosie Bacon. While chatting with Variety for a new profile piece, Sedgwick revealed that she and her husband plan to make, and star, in a horror movie together alongside their daughter, who is best known for her exemplary performance in Parker Finn's 2022 horror film Smile.

The Emmy-winning actress fans know from shows and movies like The Closer and Phenomenon says she and Bacon want to co-direct a horror film together, but apparently, it's harder to get approved for a dual-directing credit from the Director's Guild of America than one might think, even for a couple with as much star power as these two.

She doesn't seem too worried about it, clarifying that they will figure it out when the time comes, though also admitting that she's strategic and wonders "if more people will see this if it's...

Kevin Bacon has been in a good number of horror films over the decades, and he has admitted that he’s drawn to working in the genre because he’s a horror fan himself. Now it has been revealed that he and his wife Kyra Sedgwick are such big fans of the genre that they’re planning to co-direct and star in a horror film – and they’ve cast their daughter Sosie Bacon, who starred in the horror hit Smile, as a co-star!

Variety caught up with Sedgwick to interview her about her role in the Off Broadway play All of Me, and along the way they mentioned that she’s currently developing “a horror film she would star in with Bacon and their adult daughter, Sosie. The couple wants to co-direct the film, though the Directors Guild has other ideas.“

Sedgwick told them, “It’s very hard to get dual directing credit.

“Don’t worry,” Kyra Sedgwick assures me as she assembles a salad. “I washed my hands.”

We’re in her Manhattan apartment with its commanding view of Central Park, and Sedgwick, a self-described “putterer,” is in perpetual motion — microwaving black beans, fetching a serving spoon for the chicken mole, liberating a bottle of Tabasco from the cupboard. The feast she’s pulling together is leftovers from a dinner Sedgwick and her husband, Kevin Bacon, hosted for her castmates from “All of Me,” an Off Broadway play about two disabled 20-somethings who meet cute in Schenectady. In the romantic comedy, Sedgwick plays an emotionally callused woman juggling two jobs to pay the rent. She’s also struggling to accept her daughter’s worsening condition due to muscular dystrophy, as well as her desire to have her own life.

“It’s so fresh and funny,” she says as we take our seats at the dining room table.

Creator-owned streaming service Nebula has snagged a video content deal with Spotify.

That deal will bring content from some of Nebula’s 100+ education-oriented creators to the Spotify for Podcasters hub, which currently offers more than 2.5 million watchable episodes of podcasts. Video content has been a major focus for Spotify in its quest to outdo other podcast-offering platforms; it’s made several high-profile (and high-dollar-amount) deals for video podcasts, including its $100 million drop on The Joe Rogan Experience.

Nebula, meanwhile, was founded in 2019 by CEO Dave Wiskus as a “thoughtful expansion pack for YouTube” where participating creators earn revenue from views and get an ownership stake in the platform.

From their partnership, Spotify will get an opening slate of content from YouTubers including CinemaWins, Charles Cornell, Hello Future Me, Captain Midnight, Tale Foundry, Game Makers ToolKit, Todd in the Shadows, Adam Neely, The Closer Look, Fd Signifier, and Kat Blaque.

“Creators...

“The Good Wife” introduced Carrie Preston‘s Elsbeth Tascioni back in 2010. She was so popular with fans that she also featured in the spin-off show “The Good Fight.” Now Preston and Elsbeth take center stage in the brand new spin-off “Elsbeth.”

CBS’ hit drama series follows Elsbeth as she carries out work as an unconventional attorney and helps the NYPD catch criminals with her astute observations. Preston was excellent in her guest role in “The Good Wife” but she is even better here as the main course, as critics have noted.

Ben Travers (Indie Wire) observed: “Preston knows the exact pitch at which to play Elsbeth. Never grating yet always pesky, her unrelenting positivity (and general relentlessness) would undoubtedly get old, fast, in real life. Cops and criminals alike are exhausted by her, but audiences can more easily appreciate her dogged demeanor because a) we know she’s on the right track,...

Today, Netflix released viewership data for the second half of 2023. The numbers shine a light on what worked, what flopped, and how Netflix may move forward in the future.

Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com ‘One Piece’ to Rule Them All

The most-watched show on Netflix in the second half of 2023 was “One Piece.” The live-action remake of an anime classic racked up an incredible 71.6 million views and over 541 million hours. The easy conclusion is that Netflix should greenlight more live-action remakes of anime shows, right? Well, maybe not.

One of Netflix’s most high-profile flops was the live-action “Cowboy Bebop,” which hit the platform in November 2021. Although it hit the Netflix Top 10 list for three weeks, the show declined 59% in viewing hours from its second week to its third. Netflix canceled the show less than a month after its debut.

Netflix’s remake of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was a hit this year.

Isaiah Lee, the man who attacked Dave Chappelle onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022 and was arrested and jailed over the incident, is suing the venue and the security team it hired, Los Angeles’ ABC 7 reports.

The lawsuit, which was filed Friday, claims Hollywood Bowl’s security guards along with members of Chappelle’s team beat Lee “ruthlessly” after he jumped on the stage where Chappelle was performing during Netflix Is a Joke festival on May 3, 2022.

Lee, who identifies as bisexual, “became upset by the discriminatory nature” of Chappelle’s jokes that evening,...

Need a bit more laughter in your life? That was a trick question — the answer is always a resounding yes. While we certainly support attending as much live comedy as you can to get your jollies, sometimes the move is to skip the two-drink club minimum and settle in for a long night of couch cackling. That’s where we come in: Netflix has 16 Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning comedy specials to choose from, all of which you can enjoy from the comfort of home.

Not sure where to start? Begin your comedy journey by checking out the three specials that received 2023 Grammy nominations. This upcoming year, Jim Gaffigan, Dave Chappelle and Patton Oswalt are all nominated for Best Comedy Album for Comedy Monster, The Closer andWe All Scream,respectively. This...

Stand-up comic Jerrod Carmichael has been feuding with industry veteran Dave Chappelle again over his past remarks. The Emmy Award-winning comic had previously criticized Chappelle over his anti-trans jokes in his Netflix special The Closer. The special had come under fire due to the remarks and had prompted widespread criticisms.

Carmichael, who came out as gay in his HBO special Rothaniel, spoke about how Chappelle had made comments on his special as well, which had received accolades and praises from fans. Carmichael mentioned that Chappelle was not happy with his criticism and had expected him to publicly apologize.

Jerrod Carmichael On Dave Chappelle’s Anti-Trans Jokes Jerrod Carmichael in a still from Rothaniel

Jerrod Carmichael took the world by storm when his brave comedy special Rothaniel was released. The HBO special saw him come out as gay publicly for the first time and received multiple accolades. The show also won...

Jerrod Carmichael is sharing more details surrounding his relationship with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle.

The Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show star spoke to Esquire for its digital April cover and shed some further light on what happened between him and Chappelle following the latter’s anti-trans jokes in the special The Closer.

Carmichael first spoke out about his fellow stand-up comedian in a 2022 interview with GQ, during which he asked, “Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro? That’s the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans shit? It’s an odd hill to die on.”

The actor came out as gay in his 2022 stand-up special, Rothaniel, which Chappelle called “the bravest special for 1996.” The Poor Things star told Esquire that specific comment has stayed with him ever since. “It’s like, that’s a funny enough line, whatever, but I wonder...

“You all look so gorgeous which is why you excel in a medium where no one can see you,” Trixie Mattel quipped at the start of Tuesday night’s Ambie Awards inside of the Jw Marriott LA Live in Los Angeles. The winner of season three of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars served as the host of The Podcast Academy’s fourth annual Awards for Excellence in Audio sponsored by Wondery, The Hollywood Reporter, Audible, Dolby, Campside Media,The Podcast Show, Tenderfoot TV, Outfront, Castbox, Raedio, Gumball, Headgum, Good Tape, and IMDb.

The top honor of the evening went to Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas, which was awarded Podcast of the Year. The show, now in its eighth season, is hosted by Slate staff writer Joel Anderson and tells the story of Clarence Thomas’s rise to power.

Weight For It, hosted by Ronald Young Jr., was the most...

A champion of complex comedic discourse and honest-to-God nuance, Hannah Gadsby both holds back and comes out swinging in their self-facilitated “Gender Agenda.”

The Australian comedian, now on their fourth stand-up special for Netflix, plays it mostly cool in the cheekily named genderqueer showcase — which started streaming on the platform Tuesday, March 5. It’s a consistently strong hour introducing seven less known queer and genderqueer performers from across the globe. Jes Tom, Chloe Petts, Asha Ward, DeAnne Smith, Mx. Dahlia Belle, Krishna Istha, and the mononymous Alok appear at London’s Alexandra Palace in that order.

Kept to roughly seven minutes each, the sharp and sensitive lineup explores everything from using they/them pronouns and attending straight weddings to seeking gender-affirming care and hooking up while taking hormones. It’s a potentially life-changing opportunity for both the comedians (only some of whom have been on Netflix before now) and curious subscribers,...

The Very Worst Thing that Could Possibly Happen, a fictional podcast from Wolf at the Door about a man who can write letters to his favorite deceased author, topped the Ambies 2024 nominations list with five nods, including podcast of the year.

Other contenders for the podcast of the year award include 50 Years of Hip-Hop (iHeart Podcasts), Can You Dig It?: A Hip-Hop Origin Story with Chuck D (Audible), Embedded: Taking Cover (NPR), Exposed: Cover-Up at Columbia University (Wondery), Ghost Story (Wondery, Pineapple Street Studios), Next Year In Moscow (The Economist) Questlove Supreme (iHeart Podcasts), Post Reports: The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop (Washington Post) and Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas (Slate)

Last year, Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment’s Chameleon: Wild Boys, a podcast uncovering the truth about two young men who fooled a small town and claimed to have been raised in the wilderness in British Columbia,...

Dave Chappelle has won his fifth Grammy for best comedy album and second in a row for What’s in a Name, a 40-minute Netflix special taken from a speech at his former high school, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where he defended his controversial 2021 special The Closer, which won the comedy album prize at the 2023 Grammys, and expressed support for freedom of expression.

With his win at the 2024 Grammys, Chappelle beat fellow nominees Wanda Sykes (I’m an Entertainer), Sarah Silverman (Someone You Love), this year’s Grammys host Trevor Noah (I Wish You Would) and Chris Rock, whose Selective Outrage live Netflix special featured Rock speaking out publicly about being slapped onstage by Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars. Chappelle wasn’t in attendance to accept the award, which was handed out during the premiere ceremony, where the majority of this year’s Grammys are given out,...

Dave Chappelle has four previous Grammy nominations for Best Comedy Album and four previous wins: “The Age of Spin and Deep in the Heart of Texas” (2018), “Equanimity and The Bird Revelation” (2019), “Sticks and Stones” (2020) and “The Closer” (2023). Indeed, he’s undefeated in the category and is a contender again this year for “What’s in a Name?” If he prevails again he’d tie for second place on the all-time list of winners in the category.

SEEGrammys dilemma: Will Taylor Swift win another controversial Album of the Year title?

To date the biggest winner for Best Comedy Album is the now-disgraced Bill Cosby. He claimed six in a row from 1965 to 1970, and then won a seventh in 1987. Of the five comedians who are next in line, Chappelle is the only one still living. The late George Carlin and Richard Pryor won five apiece, and Chappelle shares fourth place with fellow quadruple...

Exclusive: Husband-and-wife duo Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have landed roles together in a movie for the first time in two decades, with The King of Queens creator Michael J. Weithorn penning and directing Connescence.

Principal photography kicked off this week on the movie from Victoria Hill and Greg Clark’s Fibonacci Films, with Bacon and Sedgwick playing the leads, joined by White Lotus star Brittany O’Grady and Oscar-nominated The Fabelmans actor Judd Hirsch.

Bacon plays Stan Olszewski, a sharp, funny, but chronically underachieving security guard, who breaks up an attempted robbery at the home of Cynthia Rand (Sedgwick), a successful urologist married to brilliant former Watergate prosecutor Warren Rand (Judd Hirsch). From this chance encounter grows a charged and dynamic friendship – first as late-night text sessions filled with humor and intimate revelations, growing into something that shakes the foundation of both their lives.

Bacon and Sedgwick, who married in...

After receiving harsh criticism for his remarks about transgender and LGBTQ+ communities in his previous Netflix special The Closer, Dave Chappelle again took a jab at trans people and targeted the disabled community in his latest special The Dreamer.

Chappelle focused on the trans community in his opening. He recalled meeting Jim Carrey on the set of the 1999 movie Man on the Moon, in which Carrey portrayed the late comedian Andy Kaufman.

“I was very disappointed because I wanted to meet Jim Carrey and I had to pretend he was Andy Kaufman all afternoon. It was clearly Jim Carrey. I could look at him and clearly see it was Jim Carrey,” Chappelle said, describing how Carrey stayed in character while off-camera. “I say all that to say … that’s how trans people make me feel.”

He then moved on to the disabled community. “Tonight, I’m doing all handicapped jokes.

Maybe it’s time for Dave Chappelle to try some new material.

The comedian’s newest special, “The Dreamer,” debuted on Netflix on Dec. 31, and largely focuses on his early years in entertainment and how he manifested his success. But he floods the first 12 minutes of the set revisiting his favorite target in recent years: Transgender people.

Chappelle opens the special by telling a story about visiting Jim Carrey while he was shooting the 1999 film “Man on the Moon,” where the actor famously went method on set while portraying comedian Andy Kaufman. Dave recalls being “very disappointed” that he spent the day speaking to Carrey pretending to be Kaufman, ending by saying, “That’s how trans people make me feel.”

He then addressed the controversy surrounding his anti-trans material, saying, “If you guys came here to this show tonight thinking that I’m going to make fun of those people again,...

Dave Chappelle isn’t exactly toning it down, but his new stand-up special The Dreamer is arguably more reflective and tackles a broader array of topics than his last couple of Netflix efforts.

On Sunday, the controversial comedian returned to Netflix with The Dreamer, his first full-length stand-up special in two years.

The Dreamer plays more like a traditional comedy special than 2021’s ultra-controversial The Closer — which was criticized for being hyper-focused on the trans community and Chappelle defensively responding to his critics — yet the comedian still targets marginalized groups, such as the disabled. One lengthy bit in the new special is about paraplegic former North Carolina Republican representative Madison Cawthorn, who famously alleged he was invited to Washington sex parties. “I don’t doubt they do this shit in Washington [but] who the fuck invites a paraplegic to an orgy?” Chappelle wondered, and, at one point, declared: “I love punching down!

Netflix has dropped a teaser for Dave Chappelle’s upcoming New Year’s Eve special, Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer.

The first look is narrated by Morgan Freeman, who asks, “What do you dream about? Not the dreams you have in your sleep, the ones you hold in your heart. Don’t be intimidated by the audacity of your dream — be inspired by it.”

The teaser then cuts to Freeman sitting next to Chappelle. As the pair watch the special, Freeman says, “What happens to a dream deferred? Lucky for Dave, he doesn’t know.”

The Dreamer was shot in Chappelle’s hometown of Washington, DC at the historic Lincoln Theatre and was directed by Emmy Award winner Stan Lathan, who has helmed all seven of Chappelle’s specials for the streaming giant.

The Dreamer follows Chappelle’s last special, The Closer, which debuted on Netflix on Oct. 5, 2021. The special was...

Dave Chappelle is back on Netflix with a new comedy special that drops on Dec. 31 and features Morgan Freeman.

Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer was filmed in the comic’s hometown of Washington D.C. at the historic Lincoln Theater.

“What do you dream about? Not the dreams you have in your sleep, the ones you hold in your heart,” Freeman’s voice is heard saying in the trailer. “Don’t be intimidated by the audacity of your dream — be inspired by it.”

Emmy Award-winning director Stan Lathan returns to direct The Dreamer, having directed all seven of Chappelle’s Netflix specials.

Chappelle has received five Emmy awards including three for his Netflix comedy special Sticks & Stones (2019) and Equanimity & The Bird Revelation (2017), and two for hosting Saturday Night Live.

The comedian is a four-time Grammy winner for The Closer, Sticks & Stones, Equanimity & The Bird Revelation, and The Age Of Spin...

Netflix has released the official trailer for Dave Chappelle’s newest comedy special, “The Dreamer.”

The trailer is narrated by Morgan Freeman, who also makes an appearance alongside Chappelle.

“What do you dream about? Not the dreams you have in your sleep: the ones you hold in your heart. Don’t be intimidated by the audacity of your dream — be inspired by it,” Freeman says in the trailer. “What happens to a dream deferred? Lucky for Dave, he doesn’t know.”

“The Dreamer,” which was shot in Chappelle’s hometown of Washington, D.C., at the Lincoln Theatre, marks Chappelle’s seventh special with Netflix. Stan Lathan, who directed Chappelle’s six other specials for the streamer, returns to direct “The Dreamer.”

Chappelle became a controversial figure following his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer,” in which he made jokes about transgender people, leading to company walkouts in October of that year.

Dave Chappelle has dropped the trailer for his new Netflix comedy special The Dreamer, out on December 31.

On Sunday, the comedian released a trailer for the special, featuring Morgan Freeman delivering one of his trademark voiceovers as Chappelle takes the stage. “What do you dream about? Not the ones when you go to sleep; the ones you hold in your heart,” Freeman asks in the teaser. “Don’t be intimidated by the audacity of your dream. Be inspired by it.”

The trailer then cuts to Chappelle and Freeman watching The Dreamer together,...

Ricky Gervais has stirred up another controversy with a joke in his new Netflix special “Armageddon,” which hasn’t even come out yet.

In a teaser clip released by the comedian, Gervais jokes about terminally ill children, calling them “baldy” and the R-slur. Now, more than 12,000 people have signed a Change.org petition demanding Netflix remove the joke from Gervais’ upcoming stand-up special, which hits the platform on Dec. 25.

Immediately after the controversial “Armageddon” joke, Gervais says to the audience, “These are all jokes, all right? I don’t even use that word in real life, the R-word. … I’m playing a role.”

In an interview with Nihal Arthanayake on BBC Radio 5 Live’s “Headliners” podcast, Gervais called out “faux” outrage against him, and compared the petitioners to “hecklers.”

“I can play to a million people, I won’t get a complaint,” Gervais said. “As soon as it goes on...

The word “slay” is thrown around a lot on RuPaul’s Drag Race, but it’s about to take on a whole new meaning in Season 16. As revealed in MTV’s just-released trailer, Sarah Michelle Gellar (aka Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself!) is among the extra-special guest judges visiting the main stage in 2024.

Drag Race‘s two-part Season 16 premiere kicks off on Friday, Jan. 5 (8/7c) with guest judge Charlize Theron, while singer Becky G will join the judges’ panel for Part 2 on Friday, Jan. 12.

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Elementary is coming to Start TV Network, and in celebration of the show’s addition to the lineup, the network will air a New Year’s Day marathon before it moves to its regular timeslots at 12 pm and 1 pm Et/Pt Monday through Sunday. Starring Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller, Elementary originally aired for seven seasons on CBS from 2012 to 2019. Following Detective Sherlock Holmes (Miller) and Dr. Joan Watson (Liu), the procedural drama is based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels and is set in modern-day Manhattan. (Credit: Start TV) Elementary is just the latest series to join Start TV’s lineup of dramas showcasing intelligent and empowered female characters. Other series in the network’s lineup include Medium, Crossing Jordan, The Closer, and Rizzoli & Isles, to name a few. Serving up a fresh take on the Sherlock Holmes story, Elementary‘s Holmes is a police consultant...

Even if you don’t immediately recognize the name Frances Sternhagen, there’s still a good chance that you’ve seen her acting in something at some point over the decades. Sternhagen has stage and screen credits going back decades, and over that time she racked up Emmy nominations and Tony wins. Sadly, it’s being reported today that she passed away of natural causes this past Monday, at the age of 93.

Sternhagen earned her first screen credit on the TV show Producers’ Showcase in 1955, and went on to work on 75 other projects, including the Burt Reynolds comedy Starting Over, the Sean Connery sci-fi classic Outland, Independence Day – the 1983 drama, not the alien invasion movie; Dudley Moore’s Romantic Comedy, the John Lithgow / Morgan Freeman drama Resting Place, the Michael J. Fox drama Bright Lights, Big City and the Michael J. Fox comedy Doc Hollywood, Tales from the Crypt, The Outer Limits,...

A three-time Primetime Emmy nominee for her work on “Cheers” and later “Sex and the City,” acting legend Francis Sternhagen has passed away this week at the age of 93.

“It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear mother, actress Frances Sternhagen, died peacefully of natural causes in New Rochelle, NY, on November 27th, 2023 at the age of 93,” the family shared in a statement to People this afternoon.

“She is survived by her 6 children, 9 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. A celebration of her remarkable career and life is planned for mid January, near her 94th birthday,” the statement continued. “We continue to be inspired by her love and life.”

Here in the horror world, Francis Sternhagen is best remembered for a handful of roles in the Stephen King Cinematic Universe, including Misery (1990) and The Mist (2007).

Sternhagen also starred in the 1991 mini-series “Golden Years,” created by Stephen King.

Other...

Tony-winning actress Frances Sternhagen, best known to TV audiences as Cliff Clavin’s mother on Cheers and Dr. Carter’s grandmother on ER, died Monday. She was 93.

Sternhagen’s death was confirmed Wednesday by her son, actor John Carlin, on Instagram.

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“[Frances] died peacefully at her home, a month and a half shy of her 94th birthday,” Carlin wrote. “She was beloved by many. I’m very lucky I was able to call her my mom,...

Frances Sternhagen, a Tony-winning actress with many decades on the stage and screen, died Monday of natural causes in New Rochelle, N.Y.

She was known for her recurring role as the regal grandmother of Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle) on “ER” and as Cliff’s mother on “Cheers,” for which she was twice nominated for Emmys.

“Frannie, as she was known to her family, friends, and colleagues was a hardworking, award-winning, beloved and celebrated actress for over 60 years. Her foundation was the theater, but she was known for roles in film, television, and spoken arts. She was versatile – adept at comedy as well as drama, character roles and leading ladies,” her family said in a statement.

Sternhagen made a distinct impression in her role as the doctor who helps Sean Connery’s cop in Peter Hyams’ 1981 sci-film “Outland” and in “Misery,” she played the sheriff’s wife Virginia, who was...

Frances Sternhagen, the versatile actress whose half-century on Broadway included two Tony Awards, seven nominations and memorable roles in Equus, On Golden Pond and The Heiress, has died. She was 93.

Sternhagen died peacefully Monday of natural causes at her home in New Rochelle, New York, her family said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “We continue to be inspired by her love and life,” they noted.

With all her success on the stage, Sternhagen is perhaps best known for playing two mothers on television: the blue-blooded Bunny MacDougal on HBO’s Sex and the City and the overbearing Esther Clavin on NBC’s Cheers. She received Emmy nominations for both performances.

Sternhagen specialized in portraying characters who had a no-nonsense, overbearing attitude and plucky fortitude. She relished roles that were off the beaten track — the odder and more eccentric, the better.

“I must say it’s fun to play these snobby older ladies.

Frances Sternhagen, the legendary Broadway actress who won two Tony Awards, was nominated for another five and achieved lasting and widespread recognition for her comedically stern portrayal of Esther Clavin, the demanding mother of insufferable postman Cliff Claven on Cheers, died Nov. 27 of natural causes. She was 93.

Her death was announced by her son, the actor John Carlin, on Instagram.

“Frannie. Mom. Frances Sternhagen. On Monday night, Nov 27, she died peacefully at her home, a month and a half shy of her 94th birthday,” Carlin wrote today, ending the tribute with “Fly on, Frannie. The curtain goes down on a life so richly, passionately, humbly and generously lived.”

See Carlin’s Instagram post below.

Sternhagen, one of the New York stage’s most celebrated and beloved stars, gave indelible performances in productions including the 1972 production of The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Equus in 1975, Angel in 1978, On Golden Pond in 1979 and,...

According to Marlon Wayans, the number one rule in comedy is “You can’t be afraid to offend.”

Four of today’s hottest comics came together for Variety’s stand-up comedy roundtable — Marlon Wayans (“God Loves Me”), Tom Segura (“Sledgehammer”), (“Salute Me or Shoot Me”) and Matt Rife (“Natural Selection”) — to discuss the state of comedy.

In the past few years, many comedians have argued that political correctness and increased sensitivity have negatively impacted the art form. A fresh face in the scene, the 28-year-old Rife ignited backlash last week over a joke about domestic violence in his new Netflix special. In an Instagram story that followed, Rife offered a fake apology and directed anyone offended by his jokes to a website for special needs helmets. This roundtable conversation was filmed before the release of Rife’s special, but during the conversation, Rife shared with his fellow comedians that “intention matters.