News

Robert Machray, whose prolific, decades-long career as a character actor included appearances on Three’s Company, Roseanne, Suddenly Susan, The Drew Carey Show and, in a four-episode recurring role as Fire Marshal Dobbins on Cheers, died Sunday, January 12, at his home in North Hollywood. He was 79.

His death was announced on Facebook by husband Luigi Camperchioli, who said Machray suffered from dementia.

In addition to his TV career, Machray frequently appeared on stage, including in the 1999 Broadway production of Amadeus, playing the role of Salieri’s Cook opposite Michael Sheen and David Suchet. Numerous regional and Off Broadway stage credits include roles in Waiting for Godot (at L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum), The Boys Next Door, Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow and Threepenny Opera.

Born May 4, 1945, in San Diego, Machray made his TV debut in the 1977 NBC TV-movie Panic in Echo Park starring Dorian Harewood. That same year...

Robert Machray, who starred as Orson Welles on the stage and played Fire Marshal Dobbins on Cheers in an acting career that spanned five decades, has died. He was 79.

Machray died Sunday at his home in North Hollywood after enduring two strokes and a brief battle with dementia, his husband, Luigi Camperchioli, told The Hollywood Reporter.

He also showed up on episodes of Operation Petticoat, Three’s Company, Life Goes On, Roseanne, Sister, Sister, Suddenly Susan, Profiler, The Drew Carey Show, Girlfriends, Criminal Minds and Parks and Recreation, which in 2011 marked his final onscreen credit.

Machray portrayed Dobbins, often the victim of pranks at the bar, on four episodes of NBC’s Cheers during seasons eight, nine and 11 from 1990-93.

He appeared in the 1999-2000 Broadway revival of Amadeus that starred Michael Sheen and David Suchet and received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle prize in 2002 for his turn as Welles...

Are there any Queen Sugar fans out there? If you are, you need to know that the actor who played “Davis West” on the hit Oprah Winfrey Network drama has joined the upcoming daytime drama Beyond the Gates. In Queen Sugar, Timon Durrett played a pro-level basketball athlete. Davis played hard on and off the court, ultimately blowing up his family. So Durrett knows how to play the highs and lows of drama and deviousness. And he will bring it when Btg debuts in 2025.

The Early Days

The Chicago native traveled to Mississippi to attend Alcorn University, where the 6’5″ athlete played college basketball and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1988.

When Alcorn University shined a spotlight on its esteemed alum, Durrett told them about what it was like being a student-athlete. “To some, you are a role model, and if you disappoint, there’s a lot of scrutiny,...

(Courtesy image)

Hearst Media Productions Group (Hmpg) has partnered with multicast television network Dabl to provide a three-hour block of educational and informational (E/I) programs on Sunday mornings.

The new programming block will debut on Dabl in early January, Hmpg said in a statement. The shows will include “Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward,” “Wild Child with Sheinelle Jones,” “Oh Baby! with Janai Norman” and “Best Friends FurEver with Kel Mitchell.”

“Hmpg’s weekly series resonate with today’s audience, delivering powerful reach in an evolving media landscape,” said Frank Biancuzzo, the President of Hmpg. “Dabl is an exciting platform that’s attracting new viewers.”

Dabl is operated by Weigel Broadcasting and Paramount Global’s CBS Television Stations. It reaches more than 50 million homes via over-the-air broadcast television, and is also offered on a national basis through streaming pay TV systems like Frndly TV, Philo, YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV.

Paramount’s free streaming service, Pluto TV, has revealed its December highlights. The Pluto TV December 2024 lineup includes the “Season’s Greetings” category, which features festive TV and movies all month long on channels like Pluto TV Christmas, Hallmark Movies and More Holiday Favorites.

Special programming, like a Hanukah Menorah and Kwanzaa Kinara on the service’s Crackling Fireplace channel, will also be available. Be sure to check out new channels such as Dinos 24/7 and The Twilight Zone as well.

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.

The Most Streamable Time Of The Year

This December, Pluto TV is serving up a sleigh-load of Christmas classics, holiday episodes, movies and more. Don’t miss their “Season’s Greetings” category,...

The horror continues! Light anime Lockdown Zone: Level X , based on the Webtoon of the same name, has confirmed a sequel in production. Check out the short announcement teaser trailer: Lockdown Zone: Level X Sequel Teaser Related: Lockdown Zone: Level X Webtoon Gets Light Anime Series Sora Amamiya and Ryota Osaka will continue in the lead roles of Ryoka Tsurumi and Shuhei Murosaka, respectively. More news will be forthcoming as production progresses. Lockdown Zone: Level X is directed by Hikaru Sato ( 100 Girlfriends ) at Imagica Infos and Imageworks Studio, with Yuichi Imaizumi directing the sound, Hiroki Nozaki and Airi Kobayashi doing the sound effects and kidlit composing the music. The series premiered on September 6 on CBC TV in Japan. The series is part of the "Animation ID" Project from Dai Nippon Printing, which uses a new process of animation production called “light anime” that reduces “time and cost required for animation...

Love it or hate it, "Sanford and Son" is one of the most groundbreaking American sitcoms of all time. The NBC series about a widowed get-rich-quick schemer (Redd Foxx) living in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood with his adult son (Demond Wilson) was an undeniable hit during its run. It ushered in a Golden Age of Black family sitcoms thanks to dynamic performances, frank dialogue written from a working-class Black perspective, and its often uproarious scripts. It was such a ratings juggernaut that it's often credited for killing off its much more sanitized competition, "The Brady Bunch."

"It was a groundbreaking series," Eric Deggans wrote in a series retrospective for the official Emmys website, noting that "Before 'Good Times' and 'The Jeffersons' would make TV history with powerful stories focused on Black families, 'Sanford and Son' would explore the prickly relationship between a middle-aged Black man and his son.

As soon as Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, July 21, Black-ish star and Broadway veteran Jenifer Lewis did what she does best: put her emotions into performance. Sitting at a piano, Lewis belted an original song for her 1.4 million Instagram followers in celebration of the news.

“It’s an unprecedented day,” she began. “And let me tell you what Auntie’s got to say. I got something I want to yell. My dream team is Kamala and Michelle! Ring the bell,...

Charlie Sheen, Hollywood’s resident warlock, made headlines again for his unconventional life choices. After three failed marriages, Sheen embraced a unique living situation with two girlfriends he called his live-in goddesses. This threesome story became his personal rebellion, a middle finger to normalcy.

Charlie Sheen in a still from Two and a Half Men | Warner Bros. Television

Fueled by bravado (and some sass), Sheen revealed his wild story—a decision that sparked renewed interest in his already colorful Hollywood ending.

Charlie Sheen’s Wild Journey with Two Girlfriends and Twins Charlie Sheen in Two and a Half Men. | Warner Bros. Television

Charlie Sheen, the ex-star of Two and a Half Men, was living life on his own terms. Fired from the show, he wasn’t singing the blues. Instead, he claimed victories before his coffee, living with his twin boys and two 24-year-old girlfriends whom he called his goddesses.

Toni actress Jill Marie Jones left Girlfriends due to her contract ending and wanting to pursue movie opportunities. Toni's departure was written off by sending her to New York City to be close to her son. Jill Marie Jones regrets not announcing her departure sooner, but her co-stars respected her decision.

It's a bit of a surprise when Toni (Jill Marie Jones) suddenly leaves Girlfriends, considering how important a character she was to the hit sitcom, but Jones has her reasons. Girlfriends ran for 8 seasons before it ended in February 2008. In that time, the series followed the lives of four friends, Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross), Maya (Golden Brooks), Lynn (Persia White), and Toni (Jones).

Toni is Joan's oldest friend, with the two growing up together, and she considers herself the popular and "cute" one of the group. Though this can sometimes be read as shallow, she's a loving and loyal friend.

Boys World, the five-piece pop girl group that blew up on TikTok in 2020, is breaking up. On Friday, the group shared an emotional video and a letter to their fans, announcing that they were disbanding, citing changes in the industry and “things that are out of our control.”

“After five unforgettable years of music, friendship and memories, we are sadly announcing the disbandment of Boys World,” read the letter. “Each member of Boys World has grown not just as artists but as sisters, learning from each other and becoming stronger together.

Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!

I am your host Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today, I’m chatting with Prentice Penny, an Emmy nominated, Peabody, and Golden Globe winning writer-director-producer who has brought his unique voice and sensibilities to some of today’s most beloved film and TV projects.

Penny and his multi-media production company, A Penny For Your Thoughts Entertainment, have dedicated creative efforts towards telling stories that offer fresh perspectives and explore beyond the beaten path to challenge the way we think about our culture and one another.

His upcoming projects include Black Twitter: A People’s History, which he directed and produced. Based on Jason Parham’s Wired article A People’s History of Black Twitter, this three-part docuseries charts the rise, the movements, the voices, and the memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly...

On a wall in the top corner of Nkechi Okoro Carroll’s office hangs a photo from THR‘s 2018 Women in Entertainment issue. In it, the All American showrunner appears alongside 61 fellow Black women writers who are part of the Black Women Who Brunch group she co-founded with Lena Waithe and Erika L. Johnson in 2014 to create a network among their growing community within Hollywood. Membership has now swelled to 223 creatives at last count.

“That is the reason why I don’t feel lonely,” says Carroll, who is one of just a handful of Black women who’ve been at the helm of TV shows that have aired 100 episodes: Shonda Rhimes (Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal); Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends); Yvette Lee Bowser (Living Single); Debbie Allen (A Different World). “Everyone is always so grateful to us for starting it, but it’s truly been a gift to me.”

All American,...

Avril Lavigne officially kicked off her “Greatest Hits Tour” on Wednesday night (May 22nd) at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.

Celebrating the release of the Canadian star’s first-ever greatest hits compilation (fittingly titled Avril Lavigne — Greatest Hits), the concert served as the first date of her extensive 2024 tour across North America and Europe. During a 15-song set, Lavigne played classics like “Girlfriend,” “Complicated,” and “Sk8ter Boi,” as well as a cover of All Time Low’s “Fake as Hell,” for which the band joined her on stage. Check out photos, fan-shot video, and the full setlist below.

Get Avril Lavigne Tickets Here

Lavigne’s next stop will be in Auburn, Washington, on Saturday, May 25th, and she’ll go on to hit cities like Las Vegas, Toronto, Nashville, Chicago, and more. Along the way, All Time Low, Simple Plan, Royal & The Serpent, and Girlfriends will serve as support. Grab...

The skinny bundle streamer is adding channels from AMC Networks, We tv, TV One, and Weigel Broadcasting.

Whether you are in search of sports, scares, or something in between, customers of the live TV streaming skinny bundle Philo have even more options. The streamer has added five new free channels to its lineup that include programming from Msg, Shudder, TV One, and more. Philo has also added Dabl to its base package lineup. The channel highlights African American comedies and characters with some of the most iconic Black sitcoms of all time.

Philo is adding five free channels and one channel to its base package. The additions focus on sports, horror, Black-focused sitcoms, true crime, and hip-hop royalty. The new channels join a collection of more than 70 free channels and another 70 channels on Philo’s base plan. 7-Day Free Trial $25+ / month philo.com

Philo has added five new channels to its lineup of free offerings,...

Tracee Ellis Ross is packing her bags and inviting audiences to join her solo travel adventures with the new Roku Original series “Tracee Travels.”

The series will chronicle the award-winning actor and Pattern CEO and founder as she “meticulously, laboriously, and sometimes ridiculously prepares for and travels solo to spectacular locations.” The series will shoot later this year, following Ross as she “charts her own path, exploring the intersection of beauty, fashion, design, food and culture at each stop.”

“I took my first solo trip when I was 22 years old. I decided way back then that I wouldn’t wait to do the things I wanted to do or for my life to come to me,” says Ross. “I’ve been solo traveling ever since, now there’s just a lot more luggage!”

She continues: “I hope this show reminds people that they too can courageously live their lives on their own terms,...

Sex and the City set a new standard for TV by boldly exploring modern dating and dynamic female friendships. Iconic relationships and NYC's glamour defined the show, earning it numerous Emmys and inspiring many other projects. Shows like Broad City, Younger, and Girlfriends all share elements with Sex and the City, making them excellent choices for Satc fans.

Sex and the City set the bar for rom-coms and ensemble comedies on television and went on to inspire dozens of other series. When Sex and the City premiered on HBO in 1998, it ushered in new ideas about what television could be. The show was unapologetically honest about the realities of modern sex and dating, delving into subjects that were once considered too taboo for television. Sex and the City's cast of characters was also revolutionary. The show stood out for depicting grown women who were confident and stylish, but still...

It’s the end of the road for Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner. The first-ever The Golden Bachelor couple has decided to divorce just three months after tying the knot. Nist and Turner sat down for an interview with Good Morning America to make the announcement. Both insisted that the long-distance nature of their union led to the divorce. They claim nothing else was wrong and that Gerry Turner’s past relationship troubles did not play a role in their decision to end their marriage.

Gerry Turner’s past was revealed just one day before ‘The Golden Bachelor’ finale.

Gerry Turner presented himself as a grieving widow, lost and adrift without his high school sweetheart when The Golden Bachelor premiered. Months later, just one day before the The Golden Bachelor finale aired, reports began to surface that Turner quickly moved on from Toni Turner.

Gerry Turner in ‘The Golden Bachelor...

Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian who went to prison for killing his model girlfriend in their residence in 2013, has been relegated to sweeping floors since he was released from prison in January 2023.

In 2012, the 37-year-old athlete achieved national acclaim as the first double amputee to participate in the Olympics, where he earned commendation as a symbol of triumph over adversity. However, within six months, Pistorius’s life took a turn when he shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, multiple times through a bathroom door. He claimed that he had mistakenly perceived her as an intruder during his subsequent 2014 murder trial.

Pistorius’s ammunition was specifically designed to cause as severe harm as possible, as was revealed during the trial, which led him to an initial conviction of culpable homicide and a five-year prison sentence in 2014. After the prosecution appealed, his sentence was extended to 13 years and five months.

Pistorius served over...

Veteran international film executive Rosa Bosch has partnered with Spanish distributor and sales agency Begin Again Films, joining the company’s international department.

Madrid-based Begin Again Films is known for handling arthouse fare such as doc The Year of Discovery, Zaida Carmona’s Girlfriends and Girlfriends and Nestor Ruiz Medina’s 21 Paradise.

Bosch joins as Begin Again also takes on sales for Anna Cornudella’s The Human Hibernation, winner of the Fipresci Award in the Forum section of the Berlinale 2024.

A veteran of the international film industry, Bosch’s career includes roles at AFI Fest, the London Film Festival...

Prentice Penny had just wrapped the fifth and final season of Issa Rae’s Insecure and was awaiting its release on HBO when Wired senior writer Jason Parham published his definitive “A People’s History of Black Twitter” in July 2021. The three-part, 9,821-word series chronicles the evolution of the nebulous and influential collective of Black users on the platform now known as X, from an inciting event (the hashtag #UKnowUrBlackWhen) to its growing influence and respective backlash through the present.

For Penny, a multihyphenate talent whose work on such series as Insecure and Girlfriends had been elevated and celebrated by Black Twitter, adapting Parham’s articles into a colorful visual history through the documentary medium seemed like an exciting new challenge after spending much of his two decades in TV predominantly in the narrative comedy space with shows including Scrubs, Happy Endings and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

The result is Hulu’s...

“And Just Like That” and The Morning Show” star Karen Pittman is adding to her stacked TV slate by joining Mara Brock Akil’s “Forever” alongside “The Wire” alum and “Creed” franchise stalwart Wood Harris.

Brock Akil’s highly-anticipated adaptation of Judy Blum’s 1975 Judy Blume novel “Forever” was originally ordered at Netflix in 2022 under the “Girlfriends” creator’s overall deal.

Last month, Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. were announced to star in the series, described as “an epic love story of two Black teens (Keisha and Justin) exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts, set in Los Angeles, 2018.”

Pittman and Harris play Justin’s parents Dawn and Eric, who are navigating parenting during a time of heightened awareness around the lack of safety for Black boys in America.

Pittman‘s Dawn is a college-educated, top executive in corporate finance with...

Taraji P. Henson showed off one of her tattoos as she took to the stage at the American Black Film Festival Honors on Sunday night.

“I got this tattoo a year ago, ‘The truth,’” she said, raising her left arm to the crowd, “because at the end of the day, that’s all we have, our truth. And if you are alive and God blessed you with another day to live, it is your time to tell the truth. Because by you telling the truth, you’re setting yourself free and somebody else free. But if you stay quiet, nothing changes.”

Henson was the female recipient of ABFF’s Excellence in the Arts Award, presented to her by longtime friend and Baby Boy co-star Tyrese. While on the promotional tour for The Color Purple at the end of last year, Henson spoke out about the pay disparity for Black actresses,...

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Just a few days before the 20th anniversary of her sophomore album Under My Skin, Avril Lavigne will be taking her best songs from The Best Damn Thing (and her six studios albums) on the road for the Avril Lavigne: The Greatest Hits Tour.

“This is gonna be too much stupid fun celebrating my career with my friends and fans,” the singer wrote on an Instagram post. “Who’s coming?...

Avril Lavigne will be celebrating her music career during her tour this summer.

Just a few weeks before the summer season starts, Lavigne will begin the greatest hits tour in her home country on May 22. She’ll only be in North America for a short while before she heads to Europe after her Phoenix tour, though.

While in Europe, she’ll make stops in countries like Germany, Denmark, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, among others. After her time in Europe, she is set to return to North America in August and will be staying on the continent until the end of her tour in September.

“Tour dates for 2024 baby!,” Lavigne wrote in her announcement. “I’ll be doing the Greatest Hits from all my albums and along with some of your favorites, perhaps some special requests? And of course all of my friends are joining me!!!”

The friends joining Lavigne on the upcoming tour,...

Exclusive: AMC Networks-operated streaming service Allblk has commissioned Sitcho Ass Down, a new comedy special from comic Gary “G-Thang” Johnson, which will tape at the El Portal theatre in Los Angeles on January 26 and debut exclusively on the platform this spring.

Directing the hour, in his first time out in the stand-up world, is Bentley Kyle Evans, showrunner of The Jamie Foxx Show, Martin and more, who exec produces alongside Johnson and Valarie Benning Thompson (My Name is Mo’Nique).

Currently touring and headlining The Improv and Laugh Factory clubs worldwide, Johnson launched his stand-up career at The Funny Bones Comedy Club in 1994. Over the course of his decades in the business, he’s featured for some of the biggest names in comedy, including Mike Epps, Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, and Chris Rock.

Most recently on the road with Epps for his “Don’t Take It Personal...

Taraji P. Henson, Jeffrey Wright, Garrett Morris and Mara Brock Akil are the honorees of the 6th American Black Film Festival (ABFF) Honors.

The annual awards ceremony recognizes excellence in the motion picture and television industry. Actor and comedian Tommy Davidson will host the gala set to take place on Sunday, March 3rd at the Sls hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.

Henson will be presented with the Excellence in the Arts Award (Female) for her body of work, which includes Empire, Hidden Figures, and The Color Purple.

Wright will receive the Excellence in the Arts Award (Male) recognizing his body of work, which includes Basquiat, Westworld and American Fiction.

Morris, an actor, comedian, writer, singer, and the first Black cast member of Saturday Night Live, will be honored with the Hollywood Legacy Award.

Screenwriter and producer Akil of Girlfriends, The Game and Being Mary Jane, will receive the Industry Visionary Award.

The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) has revealed its honorees for its annual awards ceremony: This year, Garrett Morris, Taraji P. Henson, Jeffrey Wright and Mara Brock Akil will be recipients of special awards.

Morris, actor, comedian and first Black castmember of Saturday Night Live, is receiving the Hollywood Legacy Award, which is “presented to a trailblazing artists whose work (four decades or more) has inspired generations and made an enduring contribution to film and television.” Henson, who is a Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress, is receiving the Excellence in the Arts Award (Female), which honors “a highly acclaimed artist in recognition of their body of work and distinguished career achievement.”

The Excellence in the Arts Award (Male) will be awarded to Wright, who is Oscar-nominated this year for his work in American Fiction. The Industry Visionary Award will be presented to screenwriter and producer Akil (Girlfriends, The Game,...

Taraji P. Henson, Jeffrey Wright, Garrett Morris and Mara Brock Akil will be saluted at the sixth annual ABFF Honors, presented by Nice Crowd.

Founded in 2016, ABFF Honors is the American Black Film Festival’s awards season gala, dedicated to recognizing excellence in the motion picture and television industry. The intimate, non-televised dinner, to be held at the Sls in Beverly Hills on March 3, will be hosted by actor and comedian Tommy Davidson.

Henson and Wright — who sat down last year for Variety’s Actors on Actors series to discuss their turns in “The Color Purple” and “American Fiction,” respectively — will receive the Excellence in the Arts awards, presented in recognition of their body of work and career achievement. News comes a day after Wright earned his first Academy Award nomination for the role, adding to a trophy case that already includes Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony awards; meanwhile, the...

Sinbad had a stroke in 2020 and underwent multiple surgeries and intensive therapy for his recovery. Sinbad's most recent appearance was in the fourth season of the acclaimed series Atlanta, where he played himself. Despite rumors, Sinbad never starred in a movie called "Shazaam" as a genie, but many people confuse him with former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal's movie Kazaam.

Sinbad is a popular comedian and actor who rose to fame in the mid-1980s and 1990s. Also known by his first name David Atkins, Sinbad was born in 1956 in Benton Harber, Michigan. Currently aged 67 as of November 2023, Sinbad grew to prominence in the 1980s as a stand-up comedian who earned several exclusive HBO comedy specials. He eventually brought his comedic talents into the world of acting, appearing in popular 1980s and 1990s television series such as A Different World (1987 - 1991) and his own series The Sinbad Show (1993 - 1994).

Before...

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is getting a second season after a successful first season, and fans are excited. Season 2 will introduce Rentaro's five new girlfriends, taking the story further and potentially adapting up to volume #6 of the manga. Season 2 is expected to be even better than season 1, with a focus on developing the characters and their interactions, promising great chemistry and an elevated viewing experience.

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is easily the biggest harem romcom anime to come to Crunchyroll in years, and, to the delight of its fans, is set to receive a second season. The fact that it’s a harem anime that followed through on its premise immediately set it apart from its contemporaries, and the great character writing, creative animation, and overall direction made the anime one of the biggest hits of the fall 2023 season.

Is Angelina Jolie Bisexual? (Picture Credit: Facebook)

Angelina Jolie is one of the rare celebrities who’s been open about her personal life. From living with her boyfriend at the age of 14 to dating actress Jenny Shimizu, her life is an open book. Before dating Brad Pitt, Angie was a proud bisexual and once shared her thoughts on her sexual orientation. Scroll below for all the details!

Angie hasn’t been lucky in love, but she’s given it multiple chances. During her teenage years, she was pretty serious about her first relationship, which lasted almost two years. She began her acting career at a very young age and fell in love with Jonny Lee Miller on the Hackers (1995) sets. She was also romantically involved with Jenny Shimizu and Billy Bob Thornton before her long-term romance with Brad Pitt began.

Angelina Jolie opens up about her sexual orientation

During a 1997 interview with Girlfriends magazine,...

The latest episode of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You pushes boundaries even further, showcasing its absurd humor and storytelling in an unexpected ending. The addition of an adult character to Rentaro's harem in episode #10 is both surprising and ridiculous, as harem anime typically stick to the protagonist's age group. The inclusion of an adult in Rentaro's harem reveals that the anime has no limits when it comes to the types of girls who will join, paving the way for future episodes to be even more outrageous and over-the-top.

Warning: Spoilers for The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You episode #10.One of the biggest selling points of the new Crunchyroll anime The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You has always been its willingness to push boundaries. The fact that it actually follows through on its harem element is one thing,...

Raphael Saadiq and U.K. singer Kelli-Leigh have dropped a new holiday single, “Miracle.” The classically overwrought, pop-tinged song was written and recorded for Prime Video’s forthcoming Christmas movie, Candy Cane Lane, which stars Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross.

“The song ‘Miracle’ is about, of course, a miracle,” Saadiq said in a statement. “Once you see the film, you see all these amazing things happening — a little bit of beautiful magic between a family and a mother and father. ‘Miracle’ just comes on and tells that whole story of how a family works.

Nearly four decades after playing Frasier Crane in the third season of Cheers and thirty years since Frasier Crane got his own show, Kelsey Grammer is back with a Frasier revival, currently streaming on Paramount+.

The series takes fans on a new adventure with the titular Frasier, older and wiser with hopes of fixing his relationship with his grown-up son Frederick “Freddy” Crane, played by Jack Cutmore-Scott, whom he shares with his ex-wife Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth). Oh, and all of this is taking place in Boston, a change from Seattle where the original spinoff series was set but where everything began for Frasier.

Grammer spoke to Deadline about why the new series’ focus was the perfect next chapter, reuniting with both Neuwirth and director James Burrows, and more.

L-r: Jess Salgueiro as Eve, Toks Olagundoye as Olivia, Jack Cutmore-Scott as Freddy Crane, Kelsey Grammer as Frasier and Nicholas Lyndhurst...

When Barbra Streisand’s “Yentl” opened on Nov. 18, 1983, directing was very much a man’s world. In the 1970s, there had been a few inroads for women. Italian director Lina Wertmuller was nominated for best director for 1976’s “Seven Beauties” Stateside, actress Barbara Loden, who was married to Oscar-winning director Elia Kazan, wrote, directed and starred in the acclaimed 1970 indie drama “Wanda,” which won best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival. She never followed up with another movie and died of breast cancer in 1980.

There was also Joan Micklin Silver (“Hester Street”), Claudia Weill (“Girlfriends”), Martha Coolidge (“Not a Pretty Picture”), Joan Tewkesbury (“Old Boyfriends”) and Joan Darling (“First Love”). But those filmmakers ran into brick walls when they tried to set up projects with the major studios. The late Silver told Vanity Fair in 2021 that a studio executive didn’t mince his word: “Feature films are expensive to make and expensive to market,...

Warning: Spoilers for The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Episode #3.The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is Crunchyroll’s new hit romance anime, and it's putting a dark spin on the popular romcom Komi Can’t Communicate. Komi Can’t Communicate stars Komi, a girl who’s shy to the point that she can only communicate by text. Komi still strives to make friends, however, and the series chronicles her efforts to do so while overcoming her communication disorder.

Despite what Komi’s had to go through in life, Komi Can’t Communicate has always been a relatively lighthearted series, but The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You has a much darker take on its premise. Episode #3 introduced Rentaro’s third girlfriend, Shizuka Yoshimoto, and just like Komi, she’s a cute girl who’s so shy that she can...

A24 has won yet another major bidding war.

This time, the indie studio outbid stiff competition for the rights to turn true-crime podcast The Girlfriends, from iHeartPodcasts and Novel, into a television series. The weekly podcast, which launched in the summer, tells the real-life story of a group of women who band together to put a murderous ex behind bars. And though details of the TV version are being kept under wraps, Michael Showalter and his Semi-Formal Productions are already attached.

Showalter, who’s on a hot streak with a string of recent successes across TV (The Dropout) and film (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), is set to direct, with Semi-Formal partner Jordana Mollick executive producing. She’ll be joined by fellow EPs Conal Byrne, Will Pearson and Carrie Lieberman of iHeartPodcasts, and Julia Bromberg and Neil Krishnan of Novel.

The news comes as the broader IP market has only...

Warning: Contains spoilers for The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You episode #1.The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is the latest romcom anime to come to Crunchyroll, and it’s already fixing one of the biggest clichés in all of anime: the harem. Many anime feature harems insofar as having multiple girls pining after the protagonist and trying to win his affection. Despite the premise, however, The 100 Girlfriends puts a fresh new spin on it.

Harems are definitely a major cliché in anime, but The 100 Girlfriends is already doing a lot to fix it through parody. As the title would imply, 100 Girlfriends is also a harem anime, and unlike other anime, the harem aspect, rather than just being an add-on to the story, is what the anime explicitly revolves around. Even with that, however, it manages to fix the biggest problems with the genre,...

In one of the first deals to emerge from the San Sebastian Film Festival, powerhouse indie studio, Filmax, which celebrates its 70th anniversary at San Sebastian Festival, has snapped up international rights to LGBTQ+ dramedy “Norbert(a)” from Imposible Films, the producers of hits “Truman,” “The People Upstairs” and “Stories not to be Told.”

Directed by newcomers Sonia Escolano, who also penned the script, and Belén López Albert, it is toplined by Luis Bermejo (“Magical Girl”), Adriana Ozores (“Alba”), Mariona Terés (“The Girls at the Back”) and María Romanillos.

Norbert(a) follows Norberto and María, who’ve been married for decades and live what seems like an ordinary life in their working-class neighborhood. But little do people know that every night, to supplement their meager incomes, Norberto dresses up as a woman and carries out petty robberies while Maria waits for him in the getaway car.

But Norberto later confesses...

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is set to air during the fall 2023 anime season, and it could be the perfect parody series for fans of rom-com anime. The series follows Rentaro Aijo, a boy who, after being rejected 100 times throughout his life, is told that he will meet and fall in love with 100 soulmates during high school. The twist, however, is that they will die if they can't be with him, meaning, Rentaro has no choice but to make all 100 of his soulmates his girlfriends.

The basic premise of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You might make it sound like a typical harem anime, but it’s actually one of the best parody series around. Not only does the series have an incredible sense of humor that often borders on surrealism, but it also plays with the harem genre in ways...

Jill Marie Jones is officially coming to “The Chi,” TheWrap can reveal thanks to an exclusive clip. The “Girlfriends” star is set to play Bianca in a guest starring role.

The clip shows Bianca (Jones) curled up on a bar couch next to Douda (Curtiss Cook). Framed by romantic lighting, Bianca flirtatiously helps Douda weigh the pros and cons of the best person to take over his gang. After he finds a fault in all available options, Bianca says, “They can’t all be cold-blooded like you.”

“But that’s the job,” Douda replies before kissing her. Watch the full clip above.

In Jones’ guest starring role she will be playing a business owner “with a shady clientele and a haunted past,” according to Showtime. Jones’ debut episode will take place on Aug. 25 in the episode “ReUp.”

Best known for portraying Toni Childs in Mara Brock Akil’s beloved sitcom “Girlfriends,...

Girlfriends was a groundbreaking sitcom featuring a diverse, all-Black cast that touched on difficult topics other shows avoided, proving the demand for diverse programming. The show's cancellation was due to low ratings and high licensing costs in an unusual business environment, not a reflection of its quality or importance in TV history. The cast had a heartwarming reunion on Black-ish, showcasing their incredible chemistry and the lasting impact of Girlfriends on both its audience and the actors themselves.

After nearly a decade of breaking new ground on the air, the beloved sitcom Girlfriends was canceled suddenly in 2008. Debuting in 2000, the series follows a group of Black women who bond over the trials and tribulations of daily life as they navigate the worlds of work and romance. Girlfriends was the first show of its kind in TV history to feature an all-Black cast led by women. The show's tremendous success proved...

A fan came up with their own cast for a reboot of the hit sitcom “Girlfriends,” and the show’s creator, Mara Brock Akil, is fond of the idea: “Are we manifesting?”

“Someone said this needs to be the Girlfriends of today’s reboot,” a Twitter user by the profile name “_RareDefined” said in a tweet on Monday. The post was accompanied by a lineup of photos with the original cast of “Girlfriends” above the actresses fans thought should be cast in a potential reboot.

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Daniel Kaluuya’s ‘Barney’ Movie Is ‘Surrealistic’ and an ‘A24-Type’ Film, Mattel Films Exec Says

The fan’s post suggested Jill Marie Jones’ character Toni Childs be played by star Coco Jones (“Bel-Air”), Persia White’s character Lynn Ann Searcy be played by Zoe Kravitz (“The Batman”), Golden Brooks’ character Maya Denise Williams be played Keke Palmer (“Nope”) and Tracee Ellis Ross...

It was game over at Paramount+ this week, as the streaming service became the latest platform in the industry to announce it was pulling some shows from its platform. One of the series canceled at Paramount+ was its revival of “The Game,” the 2006 spinoff of “Girlfriends.”

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The new version of “The Game” ran for two seasons on Paramount+, and features a mix of original cast members and new characters as they head to Las Vegas. The series examines Black culture through the prism of professional football, diving deeply into the lives of its characters to present a dramatic and highly nuanced series.

Is ‘The Game’ Completely Gone From Paramount?

All the revival episodes are, yes. The original series, which ran for 9 seasons is still available to stream on the platform, though time will...

A reboot of the classic 1980s TV series of the same name, 2021's well-cast Highway to Heaven is a Lifetime Original movie about Angela, an angel who comes to Earth to help people. Angela takes a job as a guidance counselor at a junior high school, but her guidance goes beyond the job description, as she seeks to help a distressed teen who has been causing trouble at school and drifting apart from his father ever since the loss of his mother. Angela is aided in her quest by the school’s principal, Bruce, but her unexplained angelic presence also invites suspicion.

The original Highway to Heaven series was created in 1984 by Michael Landon, who also played the angel. The show saw Landon’s angel John Smith travel across the country with retired police officer Mark Gordon (Victor French), assuming different jobs and helping troubled souls overcome their problems. The Highway to Heaven remake,...

In recent months, Danny Bonaduce, former “The Partridge Family” star and “The Danny Bonaduce Show” radio host, has revealed to his fans that he will be undergoing brain surgery after being on a difficult health journey.

In a recent interview with TMZ, Bonaduce explained after visiting “100 doctors” and going through a period of time without a diagnosis, he’s been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a neurological disorder that is also referred as “water on the brain.”

Bonaduce described for TMZ that during the upcoming operation, the surgeons will place a “shunt in my head” and a “drainboard” to remove the liquid from his brain.

While Bonaduce remains hopeful for the potential relief the surgery could provide, he admits he “will be completely bummed out if this doesn’t work.” Bonaduce added, “I’d rather be safe than sorry. I don’t want to get my hopes up too much that I’ll be cured.

Enter the Nineties sleepover (and pop group) nostalgia! On Friday, girl group Boys World released their newest single, “Me, My Girls & I,” an empowering pop earworm dedicated to a bestie fresh off of a breakup, along with its pink-filled video.

The Sarah Wiseman and Andy DeLuca-directed music video sees the group’s five members — Makhyli, Lillian Kay, Queenie Mae, Olivia Ruby, and Elana — singing the track’s lyrics and engaging in choreography from inside a nostalgic bedroom before transporting to inside a club.

“Head up you know you a...

Some celebrities know what they want and are unafraid to go after it. Tracee Ellis Ross, the daughter of iconic singer Diana Ross is one actor who has been vocal about her beliefs.

As the star of the hit show Black-ish, Ross has found fame and success. She also knows exactly where her own happiness comes from. Now, in an interview, Ross has addressed the “expectation” of the “husband and the babies.”

Tracee Ellis Ross has been in the spotlight for years

Born in 1972, Ross is no stranger to life in the public eye. Her mom is one of the most famous singers of our time.

According to Biography, the Girlfriends star began working as an editor for high-profile fashion magazines in the mid-1990s and soon entered the modeling world. After being featured on the cover of several publications, she decided to transition into acting.

To say that she...

Idris Elba, who starred as Russell "Stringer" Bell on The Wire for three seasons reveals that, in some ways, the role hurt his career. First airing on HBO in 2002, The Wire ultimately ran for five seasons until its conclusion in 2008. The series chronicles the lives of the drug dealers, law enforcement officers, and innocent bystanders who get caught up in the Baltimore drug scene, with Elba's Bell serving as the right-hand man to drug kingpin Avon Barksdale.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Elba reveals that, although his role on The Wire was really his big break in many ways, it also hurt his career in others. After convincingly playing an American for three seasons, the actor explains that his British heritage actually resulted in less interesting roles coming his way. Check out Elba's full comment below:

“Most people thought I was American during The Wire and then when they realised I was not,...