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Scott Hoying Eliminated on Wicked Night
TV & Streaming

Scott Hoying Eliminated on Wicked Night

by jummy84
written by jummy84

One couple was changed for good during “Dancing With the Stars” Wicked Night.

The Oct. 21 episode welcomed director John M. Chu as the guest judge as pairs danced to hit songs from “Wicked” — with some taking on Elphaba and some taking Glinda.

This week’s scores were combined with last week’s dedication night. Last week, Carrie Ann Inaba recieved a bit of backlash for her criticism on certain pairs, but this week, she gave the first 10 of the season. The score came for Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas’ quickstep. The other judges, with the exception of Derek Hough who went with a 9, agreed with Inaba. At the end of the night, Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sousa also received three 10s and one nine — Hough is saving his 10 paddle — for their stunning rumba.

Hough pointed out after Andy Richter and Emma Slater’s jazz routine that it’s the last week, “so we’ll see,” and ultimately gave him a 6. The other judges, however, were more impressed, with the rest giving him 7s.

Last week, Inaba told Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov that their dances were starting to look the same. This week, she applauded Fishel’s courage and said this was her breakthrough dance. Bruno Tonioli said it was “the most difficult song to choregraph” and Hough complimented the difficulty of the routine, calling it “magnificent.” The scores of four 9s gave them a huge boost on the leaderboard.

But it was Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten’s contemporary routine to “Defying Gravity” that left everyone (including Bersten) in tears and on their feet. “I am 54, I am injured and I just did that,” she said after the dance through tears. She landed four 9s for the powerful routine.

After all the dances and the scores combined from the last two weeks, Richter remained on the bottom of the leaderboard, with Leavitt returning to the top. Once the votes were added in — the show hit 100 million votes over the last two weeks — Scott Hoying was sent home.

Here’s a full list of scores from Wicked Night:

Scott Hoying and partner Rylee Arnold
Dance: Contemporary to “The Wizard And I”
Score: 28/40

Alix Earle and partner Val Chmerkovskiy
Dance: Jazz to “What Is This Feeling?”
Score: 35/40

Robert Irwin and partner Witney Carson
Dance: Jazz to “Dancing Through Life”
Score: 36/40

Whitney Leavitt and partner Mark Ballas
Dance: Quickstep to “Popular”
Score: 39/40

Dylan Efron and partner Daniella Karagach
Dance: Rumba to “I’m Not That Girl”
Score: 32/40

Andy Richter and partner Emma Slater
Dance: Jazz to “One Short Day”
Score: 27/40

Elaine Hendrix and partner Alan Bersten
Dance: Contemporary to “Defying Gravity ”
Score: 36/40

Jen Affleck and partner Jan Ravnik
Dance: Foxtrot to “As Long as You’re Mine”
Score: 32/40

Danielle Fishel and partner Pasha Pashkov
Dance: Argentine Tango to “No Good Deed”
Score: 36/40

Jordan Chiles and partner Ezra Sosa
Dance: Rumba to “For Good”
Score: 39/40

The next “Dancing With the Stars” episode will be Halloween night, airing Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, streaming the next day on Hulu.

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"We Live In A Bully Culture Right Now"
TV & Streaming

We Live In A Bully Culture Right Now

by jummy84
written by jummy84

It’s been 40 years since the release of Back to the Future, and somehow, people still resonate with the themes the film touched on.

Reflecting on the lasting impact of the film, stars Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd recently revealed why they believe the movie continues to connect with audiences after four decades.

“We live in a bully culture right now. We have bullies everywhere — you don’t need me to point the finger at who, but there are all these bullies,” Fox said in an interview with Empire. “In this movie, Biff is a bully. Time is a bully.”

Fox continued, “For me personally, Parkinson’s is a bully. And it’s all about how you stand up to them and the resolve that you take into the fight with them. It’s about your resilience and your courage.”

The actor noted that “there’s a lot to that right now,” adding, “I think a lot of people are responding to the movie because it strikes chords they wouldn’t otherwise recognise.”

Lloyd, who played Doc Brown in the trilogy of films, said, “It continues to amaze me how deeply the Back To The Future films affected young people. It still comes up all the time.”

Back to the Future was released on July 3, 1985. The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is set in 1985 and follows Fox’s Marty McFly as a teenager who is accidentally sent back to 1955, where he inadvertently prevents his future parents from falling in love, which threatens his own existence.

Following the success of the original film, the sequel Back to the Future Part II was released in 1989, and a third film, Back to the Future Part III, was released in 1990.

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Jason Clarke in Murdagh Death in the Family
TV & Streaming

Jason Clarke’s Body Could Use a Break

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Jason Clarke is having a moment. Within a two-week span, he’ll star in Apple TV thriller series The Last Frontier (premiered Oct. 10), Hulu drama Murdaugh: Death in the Family (Oct. 15) and reunite with his Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow for her big Netflix film, A House of Dynamite, which hit select theaters on Oct. 10 and will debut on Netflix on Oct. 24.

What does this packed streaming schedule mean for Clarke? Mainly, he has to do a shitload of press — sorry Bo, add The Hollywood Reporter to that list.

It is the Murdaugh drama, the one in which the “Bo” term of endearment is used liberally, for which Clarke is doing most of these interviews. The Erin Lee Carr/Michael D. Fuller-created scripted series is a prestige-TV awards play, and Clarke — and his body — have earned your consideration. Clarke put on 40 pounds the hard way to play disbarred South Carolina attorney and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh.

“I remember going to dinners with him when we were in prep, and he just was just housing everything,” Fuller told The Hollywood Reporter. “He’s like, “Order some more of that,” or “Order some more of that,” you know? And like, “Does anybody want dessert?”

“I wore tracksuit pants for six months,” Clarke told THR. “Nothing else fit.”

The tracksuits masked (some of) the weight but not the fatigue, poor circulation and back pain. It was “unbearable,” Clarke said. “Your body can’t deal with it. You just kind of panic.”

It was all so uncomfortable, Clarke didn’t want to go out in public. The dyed-red eyebrows didn’t help.

“To watch Jason put on that hair every day, to do the makeup and the skin and everything — you look at the man and he’s almost, to me, unrecognizable,” Carr said. “So there would be some days where I was like, ‘My days are really hard.’ And then I look at him, and I was like, ‘Wooo! Alright, [at least] I’m not having to eat banana splits four times a day.’ Because you think you like it [until the second one].”

Clarke says he has since lost about 38 of those pounds — by the time this story publishes, perhaps more — by, primarily, “not eating much.” Like pretty much every weight loss journey, diet and exercise go hand in hand. That’s true here too, though Clarke says his doctor still doesn’t want him doing much cardio. The weight comes off before the cholesterol comes down.

“You destroy your metabolism,” Clarke said. “I’d finished The Last Frontier and I was in great shape. I had to destroy it. It was horrible.”

You’d need to be in great shape to do The Last Frontier, which is basically Con Air set in the Alaskan wilderness. And maybe a little crazy.

“Jason’s a lunatic!” the series’ co-creator Jon Bokenkamp told THR. “Riding horses, crashing snowmobiles, driving dogsleds on the side of a mountain … the guy’s a trooper and up for anything.”

It was a different kind of beating on the body.

“He took plenty of bruises during the action scenes but never once complained,” fellow co-creator Richard D’Ovidio told THR.

Well maybe he did a little bit when we spoke.

“Of course there’s injuries, dude!” Clarke said when I asked. “The shit hurts.”

Jason Clarke in The Last Frontier.

Apple TV+

The shit’s also appreciated by his fellow producers. (Oh yeah: Clarke also produces The Last Frontier and executive produces Murdaugh.)

“When he’s not throwing himself into the physical side of the job, he’s just a damned good actor and an incredible partner,” Bokenkamp added. “Jason wants everyone to succeed, which means there’s no room for drama. If we have an issue, we confront it head on, in scripts, on set, behind the scenes. That kind of no-nonsense mentality cuts right through all the nonsense and puts the focus on the work. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

Jon, Richard is right there.

“Jason reminds me of those powerhouse actors from the 70s — guys like James Caan, Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman,” D’Ovidio said. “It was hard to find a note to give him, not because he wouldn’t take it, but because from the moment he stepped on set, he was Frank Remnick.”

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How to get Dave tickets for 2026 UK tour as first pre-sale goes live
TV & Streaming

How to get Dave tickets for 2026 UK tour as first pre-sale goes live

by jummy84
written by jummy84

It’s a great time to be a Dave fan, as the rapper has just announced a big European tour with plenty of dates across the UK in March 2026.

The tour is entitled The Boy Who Played the Harp, and is in support of his upcoming album of the same name. Due to phenomenal demand, Dave has added three additional dates, even before general sale of the original tour dates has went live.

Dave’s clever lyrics and infectious beats have earned him both cultural and critical acclaim. His debut album Psychodrama went straight to Number 1 in 2019 and won him the Mercury Prize, as well as four BRIT nominations and one win in 2020.

Since then, Dave has collaborated with the likes of Central Cee and Jack Harlow. Here’s how you can see him live in 2026.

Buy Dave tickets at Ticketmaster

Check out more of the best UK concerts and tours in 2025, including Luke Combs tickets for his additionally announced UK tour dates.

Jump to:

Dave UK tour dates and venues

Here’s a full list of dates and venues for Dave’s The Boy Who Played the Harp UK and Ireland tour, including the three additional dates:

When do Dave tickets go on sale?

General sale tickets will be released at 9am on Thursday 23rd October.

Buy Dave tickets at Ticketmaster

What are the Dave pre-sale ticket times?

Dave Jo Hale/Redferns/Getty Images

There are a number of pre-sales going live earlier in the week. Here’s a full list of pre-sales that are live now, and will be running until 8am on Thursday 23rd October:

Here are the rest of the pre-sales due to go live later this week:

Buy Dave tickets at Ticketmaster

Are there Dave hospitality tickets?

If you want to take your Dave experience to the next level, you can do just that with hospitality tickets. These packages include benefits like VIP Lounge access, a dedicated host, and food and drinks.

While hospitality tickets are more expensive, they’re often a great option for shows, like Dave, that are extremely high in demand. If you’re willing to pay the extra money, you’re much more likely to get your hands on a hospitality ticket than general release.

Buy Dave hospitality tickets at Seat Unique

How much do Dave UK tour tickets cost?

Not all venues have yet released their prices, however ticket prices for the Glasgow have been confirmed as ranging between £53.60 – £138.70.

Buy Dave tickets at Ticketmaster

How to get Dave UK tour tickets

As this is Dave’s first tour in a while, demand could be quite high. Be sure to get online at least 20-minutes before tickets go on sale to have the best chance of beating the Ticketmaster queue.

Remember that tickets are available at alternative platforms like Live Nation, where there may be lower demand. Plus, there’s also the option of hospitality tickets.

Buy Dave tickets at Ticketmaster

For more live entertainment, here are the biggest live sporting events in 2025.

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Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough with Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli on
TV & Streaming

Who Will Top the Leaderboard in Week 6?

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Dancing With the Stars fans are about to be changed for good during the show’s first-ever Wicked Night. To celebrate the upcoming release of Wicked: For Good, the remaining couples will be dancing to hits from the beloved Broadway show and film adaptation. Director Jon M. Chu will be serving as a guest judge for the Week 6 performances.

Since no one went home at the end of Dedication Night, you can expect to see at least one Season 34 couple be eliminated on Wicked Night. There could even be a double elimination! Who will defy gravity in the ballroom this week and dance to the top of the leaderboard? Which couple will bid farewell to the competition?

Scroll down for a recap of the night’s performances and scores. Plus, follow along as we find out who got eliminated at the end of the episode.

Ahead of the performances, the pros came together for an epic ensemble routine to Wicked hits after a special introduction from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, our very own Elphaba and Glinda. Derek Hough even got in on the action during the “Dancing Through Life” segment!

Scott Hoying — 28/40

Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold kicked off the night with a contemporary to “The Wizard and I.” Chu started off by declaring this the “best season of Dancing With the Stars ever.” While he wished the transitions had been “cleaner,” Chu told Hoying that he “swept” him away to Oz. Bruno Tonioli commended Hoying on his “determination,” but he advised Hoying to control the passion a little more. Hough added onto Chu’s note about Hoying and Arnold’s transitions. He urged them to “think about making [the transitions] more seamless” moving forward. Hoying earned all 7s from the judges.

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Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2025 — Winners List
TV & Streaming

Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2025 — Winners List

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Are rats cute, creepy, or a matter of genre? That’s the sort of debate you have at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival — a warm-and-whacky annual event in New York City that expanded rapidly for its 10th edition.

Co-founded by creative director Justin Timms, this gonzo celebration started a decade ago as a quaint movie club in the backroom of a bar. Now, it’s a ten-day affair held at several different venues with an estimated 5,000 guests in attendance for 2025. That’s a 20 percent increase since last year and proof that buzz for Brooklyn Horror is building scary well.

“Rats, much like horror, are deeply misunderstood,” said Timms, who champions plenty of weird art you could describe that way. This year, Brooklyn Horror gave top accolades to Mickey Reece’s “Every Heavy Thing,” Emilio Portes’ “Don’t Leave the Kids Alone,” and “Last Call,” a short film directed by Winnie Cheung. Read the exclusive Brooklyn Horror Film Festival winners announcement below.

David Zaslav and Steven Spielberg at the premiere of 'The Color Purple' held at The Academy Museum on December 6, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

“There really wasn’t a festival like this in New York,” said Timms. “There’s the New York City Horror Film Festival, but they show more strictly defined horror movies — and Scary Movies at Lincoln Center is back, but that’s a much smaller program. So, there are other horror festivals, but they’re just not programming all of the kinds of films that we’re interested in.”

Creative director Justin Timms at the 10th Brooklyn Horror Film FestivalSean Chee, Brooklyn Horror Film Fest

Brooklyn Horror recruited IndieWire to its panel of expert judges this year. That group — which also included voices from prominent genre brands like Vinegar Syndrome, Fangoria, MPI Media, Alter, and more — toasted not just the scariest cinema but the most out-there media of all kinds. That’s important to Joseph Hernandez, the senior programmer and director of community development who has been working alongside Timms since the festival’s inception.  

“The mainstream perception of horror goes back to the ‘80s to that explosion of slasher sequels, and that’s what really helped form the image of what a horror movie is today,” Hernandez said. “Ever since then, true horror fans have been trying to explain that the genre world is so much more than that.”

The three categories in competition at Brooklyn Horror 2025 included the annual shorts contest; the Dark Matter lineup, for features grounded in serious subject matter; and the Head Trip section, for features that expand your mind. The winners from the 10th-anniversary year demonstrate just how far you can stretch the definition of an award-worthy film — in the best way.

“What worries me most is that people will stop taking big swings,” said publicist Justin Cook, when asked about his hopes and fears for the genre landscape going forward. Cook just joined Brooklyn Horror Film Festival a few years ago, but he knows what’s cutting-edge. “There should always be movies out there that take big swings. Some work for me personally. Some do not. But I will always respect a big swing.”

Asked about the best movie debate he’s had at Brooklyn Horror so far, Cook hauled off and asserted a hot take he heard earlier this week: Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” is… more entertaining than John Carpenter’s original?! Programmer Tori Potenza is a recent addition to the team too, and it’s those kinds of moments that transformed them from a visiting film critic to a yearly organizer hungry for more.

“The community is the thing that made me love this festival so much,” said Potenza, noting that many of the most important conversations in genre veer toward Dark Matter. “When you look at the history of horror, there’s so much that’s either in the subtext or the actual text that’s about marginalized communities. We are representing that history by honoring people who didn’t always have the chance to be behind the camera and tell their own stories.”

The 2025 Leviathan Award winner Ernest Dickerson at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Sean Chee/Brooklyn Horror

“Horror is a very wide prism that can be so many things and we’re just constantly trying to reflect that in our program every year,” agreed Hernandez. “We are a genre film festival and we’re very proud of our ongoing mission to continue to stretch that definition.”

When Brooklyn Horror first got started, the infamous pizza rat video from 2015 had just gone viral. The rodent has served as the fest’s unofficial mascot ever since, but it took a decade for Timms to finally stop by a Spirit Halloween and pick up the animatronic that’s stealing the spotlight in all of this year’s photos. The rat is called Pepperoni and his agent “demands he be credited by name,” said Cook.   

But to quote the truest internet meme I’ve read in recent memory, “The worst person you know is somewhere saying, ‘I’m passionate about uplifting community.’” Not so at Brooklyn Horror, where Timms avoids taking credit and instead heaps praise on his organizers and volunteers… while waxing poetic on the redemptive quality of rats. Popping sponsored Gushers in red wine (an off-the-menu secret you found here first!), the creative director shared his favorite conversation from this year’s Brooklyn Horror as well.

Recalling a chat he had with Leviathan Award winner Ernest Dickerson, who got distracted on his way to the bathroom during a screening, Timms said, “He forgot he was waiting, and completely out of the blue, he wanted to tell me about this Japanese horror movie he saw on YouTube. He said it’s so good I need to watch it. So, you know I will.”

Read on for all the winners (and some of their reactions!) at the 10th Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.

Dark Matter Jury Awards

Best Feature: “Don’t Leave the Kids Alone”

“On behalf of everyone at ‘Don’t Leave the Kids Alone,’ we would like to thank the jury of the Dark Matter section, Matt Barone and everyone who make the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival possible and everyone who took the time to attend the screenings. Thanks for inviting the film, fighting for the theatrical experience, nurturing horror audiences, bringing together international films and colleagues of the forbidden genres. And last but not least… ¡Viva Brooklyn Horror Fest y el Cine de Terror!”
—Emilio Portes, director

A scene from director Emilio Portes’ “Don’t Leave the Kids Alone”

Best Director: Paolo Strippoli, “The Holy Boy”

Best Performance: Olivia Taylor Dudley, “Abigail Before Beatrice”

Best Screenplay: Aleksandar Radivojevic, “Karmadonna”

Best Cinematography: Cristiano Di Nicola, “The Holy Boy”

Best Practical FX: Mio Chiba and Tokhiko Endo, “Incomplete Chairs”

Head Trip Jury Awards

Best Feature: “Every Heavy Thing”

“What an honor. It’s been my lifelong goal to buck the formula of every kind of movie so it’s galvanizing to receive this award which celebrates just that.”
—Mickey Reece, director

(Left to right): Tipper Newton and Mickey Reece for “Every Heavy Thing”Sean Chee/Brooklyn Horror Film Fest

Best Director: Yûta Shimotsu, “New Group”

Best Screenplay: Avalon Fast, “CAMP”

Best Performance: Tipper Newton, “Every Heavy Thing”

Best Editing: Simon Glassman, “Buffet Infinity”

Best Cinematography: Eily Sprungman, “CAMP”

Best Sound Design: Johnny Blerot, “Buffet Infinity”

Shorts Competition Jury Awards

Best Short: “Last Call”

“I’m grateful to the festival, the jurors, and everyone who embraced the shadows of this film. This honor belongs to the cast and crew, whose artistry and devotion brought to life the strange, the unsettling, and the hauntingly beautiful metamorphosis of ‘becoming.” 
—Winnie Cheung, director

A scene from director Winnie Cheung’s “Last Call”

Best Director: Kylie Aoibheann, “The Dysphoria”

Best Performance: Nicole Elliot, “Jeff”

Best Special FX: Sharp FX, The Dysphoria

Best Screenplay: Louise Flaherty & Neil Christopher, “The Gnawer of Rocks”

Best Sound Design: Jack Goodman, “Eonian”

Best Art Direction: Danny Christopher & Sarah Ball, “The Gnawer of Rocks”

Best Editing: Marcus Fahey, “Daddy is a Hunter”

Home Invasion Award: “Rebrand” (dir. Edoardo Ranaboldo)

Special Jury Mention for Filmmaker to Watch: Nathan Ginter, “Overgrown”

The Leviathan Award

Brooklyn Horror’s first and only tribute award, was created in 2023 to honor the luminaries of horror and acknowledge their monstrous contributions to the genre.

The 2025 Leviathan Award goes to the multitalented Ernest Dickerson, whose prolific career as a cinematographer and director has given horror fans a surplus of greatness on screens both big and small. With his trailblazing run of feature films and TV show episodes dating back to the 1980s and spanning to the present day, Ernest Dickerson has helped to pave the way for the likes of Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta by showing that horror cinema knows no color lines nor cultural barriers.

Leviathan Award winner Ernest Dickerson at the Brooklyn Horror Film FestivalSean Chee/Brooklyn Horror Film Fest

The 10th Brooklyn Horror Film Festival runs through October 25 in New York City. Check showtimes.

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Freestyle Digital Media Acquires 'Yes Repeat No' for November Release
TV & Streaming

Freestyle Digital Media Acquires ‘Yes Repeat No’ for November Release

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Freestyle Digital Media has acquired the North American rights to “Yes Repeat No,” a drama exploring Israeli-Palestinian identity. The film releases Nov. 11 on North American VOD platforms and DVD. 

“Yes Repeat No” follows the story of three actors who are auditioning to play Juliano Mer-Khamis, a Palestinian-Jewish actor and activist who was assassinated in 2011 on the steps of the theater he founded in Jenin. Born to an anti-Zionist Jewish mother and a Palestinian Christian Communist father, Mer-Khamis became an internationally acclaimed actor who appeared in films including “The Little Drummer Girl” and “Miral,” and later began a career as a director, theater founder and a political activist.

“Yes Repeat Now” stars Salome Azizi (“The Director”), Mousa Kraish (“Arab Juliano”), Adam Meir (“Public Juliano”), and Kariem Saleh (“Israeli Juliano”).

“Because we made this film before October 7th, we could examine our collective, fraught history with nuance and compassion, without clinging to ‘sides.’ We want to build bridges rather than fan flames, and to challenge our viewers’ understanding of the conflict,” said filmmaker Michael Dahan. “By weaving direct quotes from Palestinian, Israeli, Arab and American leaders throughout the dialogue the film reveals how the meaning of words spoken by political figures such as Arafat, Netanyahu, and others have shifted over time. In a time of conflict, ‘Yes Repeat No’ insists on imagining a better future and encourages its audience to feel more understood and less alone.”

The film is written and directed by Dahan, who also serves as the film’s producer alongside N. Braxton Pope and Sarah Szalavitz.  

Watch the trailer for “Yes Repeat No” below.

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PBS SoCal Sets Live 3-Hour Telethon With Josh Groban, Jamie Lee Curtis
TV & Streaming

PBS SoCal Sets Live 3-Hour Telethon With Josh Groban, Jamie Lee Curtis

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Following public media’s loss of federal funding, PBS SoCal is hoping viewers will help fill the gap. It has announced We ❤ Public Television, a star-studded live three-hour telethon, which will air on Sat. Nov. 8 from 4-7 pm on PBS SoCal in the Southern California area and on PBS stations nationwide on Thanksgiving night.

The celebrity lineup includes Josh Groban, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ken Burns, Ziggy Marley, Lily Tomlin, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Marlee Matlin, Nicholas Ralph, Noel Paul Stookey, Rick Steves, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Adam Arkin, Courtney Vance, Martha Plimpton, Joe Bonamassa, Sheléa, Jesse Cook, Judy Blume, Celtic Woman, Sarah Silverman, Mychal the Librarian, Lindsey Stirling and more.

The program will feature live musical performances and viewer testimonials, plus archival material from iconic public television shows including Masterpiece, Austin City Limits, Great Performances and Sesame Street.

The telethon also will include three special performances from the Nashville PBS studios featuring Kathy Mattea, Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle and Ketch Secor.

Following the broadcast, the telethon will be available on the free PBS App from Nov. 27-Dec. 24, 2025.

“This Telethon is going to be a giant lovefest celebrating Public Television. We will feature great music, some classic clips from viewers’ favorite PBS series and a few surprises,” commented PBS SoCal’s Executive Producer for the Telethon, Maura Daly Phinney. “Every contribution that viewers make will go to their local public television station and help them fill the gap created by the loss of our federal funding.”

Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS, informed station general managers in August that PBS planned to cut its budget by 21% as public media faces the loss of $1.1 billion in federal funding over the next two fiscal years. The overall pool of station dues will be reduced by $35 million, she said. 

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, set up by Congress in the 1960s to distribute federal funding grants, announced that it would be shutting down by the end of the year. 

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Elgin James
TV & Streaming

‘Prison Break’ Reboot Gets Hulu Series Order

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Hulu is heading into — and then out of, presumably — the big house.

The Disney-owned streamer has greenlit an update of the 2000s Fox series Prison Break. The series, in development for the better part of two years, comes from Mayans MC co-creator Elgin James, who will serve as showrunner after writing and directing the pilot episode.

While the new Prison Break will be set in the same world as the prior show, it will follow a new cast of characters. Emily Browning, Drake Rodger, Lukas Gage, Clayton Cardenas, JR Bourne, Georgie Flores and Myles Bullock star.  

The series will center on Browning’s character, an ex-soldier turned corrections officer who, per the show’s logline, “takes a job at one of the deadliest prisons in America to prove just how far she’ll go for someone she loves.”

Prison Break comes from 20th Television, which also produced the original series. James executive produces with Paul Scheuring (who created the original series), Dawn Olmstead, Marty Adelstein and Neal Moritz. Olmstead, Adelstein and Moritz were also EPs of the original show.

Prison Break premiered on Fox in 2005 and ran for four seasons, then was revived for a nine-episode run in 2017. It starred Wentworth Miller as a man who deliberately has himself incarcerated as part of a plan to break out his wrongfully convicted brother (Dominic Purcell). The show’s cast also featured Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper, Sarah Wayne Callies, Paul Adelstein, Rockmond Dunbar, Peter Stormare, Robin Tunney, Marshall Allman and William Fichtner. The original series streams on Hulu and Netflix.

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Amandaland Christmas special confirms Absolutely Fabulous reunion
TV & Streaming

Amandaland Christmas special confirms Absolutely Fabulous reunion

by jummy84
written by jummy84

The BBC has officially announced that Motherland spin-off Amandaland will be returning for a Christmas special, starring Lucy Punch, Philippa Dunne and Dame Joanna Lumley.

Lumley first revealed the news at the beginning of October during an appearance on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio UK, but the BBC has now officially confirmed that the festive special is indeed happening.

And if that isn’t fabulous enough for you, Lumley will be joined by her Absolutely Fabulous partner in crime Jennifer Saunders, who will play her on-screen sister Aunt Joan – described as “a ball of country-living, enthusiastic upper-class bluster [and] very, very different from Felicity”.

It also marks the first time the pair have been reunited on screen since their Ab Fab days.

“I am delighted to be joining the fabulous Amandaland gang for a Christmas special,” said Saunders, while writers Holly Walsh and Laurence Rickard called her “the perfect addition to the gang”.

“Playing Joanna’s on-screen sister is guaranteed to be a laugh – who doesn’t love a family reunion SoHa style?” added Saunders.

Punch went on to say that the Christmas special “is going to be an absolute cracker – it’s like totes fire, with all the festive feels, for reals. Slay bells!”

Joanna Lumley as Patsy and Jennifer Saunders as Edina in Absolutely Fabulous. BBC

And in further exciting news, production has begun on the show’s second season, which was confirmed back in March following its strong ratings performance.

Its first episode attracted 7.4 million viewers, making it the BBC’s second-biggest new comedy launch in recent years, behind Ludwig.

Read more:

“It’s an absolute joy to be back in SoHa (South Harlesden) again,” said Walsh and Rickard.

“After six months of researching Brent Council’s fly-tipping rules, attempting Anne’s Irish accent and writing the odd bit of script, we’re so excited to get filming with our amazing cast.”

The first season followed Punch’s eponymous queen bee, who relocated to South Harlesden after her divorce – a move that brought plenty of challenges, including Amanda working in retail (the horror!) and narrowly avoiding what looked set to be another failed marriage following a whirlwind romance.

But could a new romance be on the cards with her neighbour Mal? And what else will drive Anne to the brink of a nervous breakdown?

Season 2 will arrive on the BBC in 2026.

Amandaland is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

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