By MARIA SHERMAN, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 68th annual Grammy Awards will take place Sunday with a dramatically different tone than last year.

The 2025 award show was completely reimagined and refocused to relief efforts following the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires. In 2026, focus has been placed once again on the music, where Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and more will go head-to-head.

Comedian Trevor Noah will host for a sixth and final year and history could be made when some of the biggest names in music gather. Here’s some key things to know ahead of Sunday’s show at the Crypto.com Arena.

How to watch the show and red carpet

The main show will air live on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 1.

The Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.

Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the Grammys live; Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.

The premiere ceremony will take place just ahead of the Grammys’ ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, 12:30 p.m. Pacific at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It can be streamed at the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com.

The Associated Press will stream a four-hour red carpet show with interviews and fashion footage. It will be streamed on YouTube and APNews.com ahead of the Grammys on Sunday.

Who’s nominated at the 2025 Grammys

Kendrick Lamar leads the 2026 Grammy Award nominations with nine. Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut follow with seven nominations each.

Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas and Serban Ghenea all boast six nominations. Andrew Watt, Clipse, Doechii, Sounwave, SZA, Turnstile and Tyler, the Creator have five each.

Who’s attending and performing at the Grammys

Doechii, Harry Styles, Carole King, Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, Jeff Goldblum, Karol G, Lainey Wilson, Marcello Hernández, Nikki Glaser, Q-Tip, Queen Latifah and Teyana Taylor will present at the 2026 Grammys.

Performers include Justin Bieber, Clipse, Pharrell Williams, Sabrina Carpenter Bruno Mars, Rosé, Tyler, the Creator, Lady Gaga and all eight of this year’s best new artist nominees: Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, global girl group Katseye, The Marías, Addison Rae, sombr, Alex Warren and Lola Young.

Reba McEntire, Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson will take the stage for the in memoriam. Ms. Lauryn Hill will pay tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack. Post Malone, Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Duff McKagan and Slash will honor Ozzy Osbourne.

By MARIA SHERMAN, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Sunday’s Grammys mark a return to normalcy after the 2025 show was altered to focus on Los Angeles-area wildfire relief efforts.

“I think we will see some history-making moments,” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. told The Associated Press. “With artists being nominated in categories they haven’t been previously nominated in, and a new crop of talent coming through the system this year — I think we’re going to see some really exciting results.”

Here’s how to watch the 2026 Grammys, including how to stream and where you can see music’s biggest stars walking the red carpet.

How do I watch the Grammys?

The main show will air live from LA’s Crypto.com Arena on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the telecast live, too. (Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.)

The Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.

The Premiere Ceremony will take place ahead of the Grammys telecast, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern from the Peacock Theater. It can be streamed at the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com.

How can I watch the red carpet?

The Associated Press will stream a four-hour red carpet show with interviews and fashion footage. It will be streamed on YouTube and APNews.com.

Before I tell you why you should watch the new documentary about Mel Brooks, I will tell you that 25 years ago, he told me, “You may be right. I have done everything there is to do in show business. … Everything except to be tall. That’s the one thing I’ve never accomplished, being tall. But I’m looking forward to that.”

He was a relative youngster then, 74 years old, but at a very important point in his life. He was generally regarded as a comedic giant, and why not? He had spent his life making people laugh, first as a Catskills comic and then as part of a glittering writing team (along with Woody Allen and Neil Simon) for Sid Caesar’s pioneering TV programs “Your Show of Shows” and “Caesar’s Hour”; as the co-creator of “Get Smart”; as the 2000 Year Old Man on a series of best-selling comedy albums with pal Carl Reiner; as movie writer, director, producer and actor in such films as “The Producers,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles.”

But he had not had a critical or box-office hit since his 1977 Hitchcock spoof “High Anxiety.” And there he sat on a cold December day in 2000 in New York, taking a big risk, for many believed that the success or failure of the musical version of “The Producers” he was overseeing would provide the final sentence to his career.

Well, we all know what happened. “The Producers” would open in Chicago, move to Broadway and win a record 12 Tony Awards. The career carried on, and now here is Brooks, as charming, smart and, of course, funny as ever, as the centerpiece of a thoughtfully thrilling documentary now airing on HBO Max. “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!,” exclamation point more than justified.

It may be a bit long at almost four hours (in two episodes, now streaming), but it is impossible not to enjoy. Its length is forgivable since one can sense the excitement and affection of filmmaker Judd Apatow, who interviews Brooks at length. Apatow, along with co-director Michael Bonfiglio, has previously also captured in documentary form George Carlin and Garry Shandling.

Drawing on ample archival footage and candid interviews, he and Bonfiglio take us back to the beginning with Brooks (born Melvin Kaminsky), the youngest of four boys of a widowed mother in Brooklyn, all of them off to World War II, all safely returned, with Brooks telling Apatow, “War changed me. If you don’t get killed in the Army, you can learn a lot.”

His career moves to the raucous Sid Caesar writers’ room and we do also hear, rather wistfully, from Brooks’ three children and his first wife, former Broadway dancer Florence Baum, before he was off to moviemaking in California in the early 1960s. His granddaughter Samantha is charming.

You will hear Brooks tell a terrific Cary Grant story (one he has told many times over the years on the various late-night talk shows where he has been a frequent guest) but, more tenderly, tales of his courtship and marriage to actress Anne Bancroft. Gene Wilder shares feelings that go far deeper than director and star. And we get details of Brooks’ long friendship with writer-director Reiner, from the early 1960s to their sharing dinners together as widowers every night watching “Jeopardy” on TV.

Bancroft died in 2005; their son, novelist Max, is tender in interviews. Reiner’s wife Estelle died in 2008 and Reiner in 2020. Hearing Reiner’s son, filmmaker Rob, talk about his father and Brooks gives one a chill, knowing this was one of the final conversations before he and his wife Michele Singer Reiner’s December murders.

The number of people with whom Brooks has shared his creative life will impress and perhaps surprise you. There’s Richard Pryor, who did a bit of writing for “Blazing Saddles,” who says, “He’s a loving man. It’s about love with him.”

The late director David Lynch credits Brooks with saving his career by hiring him to direct “The Elephant Man” after seeing Lynch’s “Eraserhead.” In addition to his own movies, Brooks produced such films, through his Brooksfilms, as “The Fly,” “My Favorite Year,” “Frances” and others, taking a rare low profile lest his name lead moviegoers to think they would be seeing comedies.

Naturally, we hear from a large crowd of showbiz folks and all of them — Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Sarah Silverman, Conan O’Brien, Josh Gad, Robert Townsend, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and others — are complimentary. There must be someone in that backbiting swamp that is Hollywood who isn’t a Brooks fan, but such a person is not to be found here.

Whatever your relationship with Brooks beforehand, this film will enrich it. Will you understand what makes him tick? I don’t know, and you won’t care. Just spending time with him is satisfying enough.

His famously quick wit has not lost a step. When Apatow asks, “You lost your father at an early age?” Brooks quickly replies, “No, no. My father died.”

His ability to recall names and places and laughs is, frankly, astonishing. He is not only able to remember but to enjoy, to savor. We should all be so lucky.

In the film, he says, “Sometimes my comedy is just to celebrate the joy of being alive.” And as he has said many times in his many years, he has always used humor as “a defense against the universe.” Few, if any, have done it better.

rkogan@chicagotribune.com

Originally, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” was to land on TV screens in mid-2025.

The gods had other ideas.

This third HBO series set in the world that author George R.R. Martin introduced with his “A Song of Ice and Fire” collection of fantasy novels finally arrives this week, mere months before the highly anticipated return of the second, “House of the Dragon,” in the summer.

While “Dragon” is much like “Game of Thrones,” the beloved (until it wasn’t) adaptation of “A Song of Ice and Fire” — an hourlong series chock full of drama, scheming, battles, magic and, of course, dragons — “Knight” is a small-scale, half-hour affair largely grounded in reality while still taking place in the realm of Westeros.

Look at it as an appetizer for the meal that will be the third season of “Dragon.”

“Knight” is based on Martin’s “Tales of Dunk and Egg” novellas, with this first six-episode season an adaptation of 1998’s “The Hedge Knight.” Dunk is the titular figure of that book and the TV series, the towering Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), while Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) is a diminutive boy who comes to squire for him.

Their adventures take place about a century after the events being chronicled in “Dragon” and about 100 years before those of “Thrones.” It is a time when the winged, fire-breathing creatures are thought to be extinct and one of relative peace in the realm’s seven kingdoms — or nine, depending on how you are counting.

Showrunner Ira Parker — who has produced and written on “Dragon” — is the writer or co-writer of each “Knight” installment, helping to lend it an unmistakable consistency.

We are introduced to Dunk as he buries the hedge knight for whom he squired, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), and who, Dunk will come to insist, knighted him shortly before dying. Not long after this, we watch as he relieves himself (no, sigh, the second one) behind a tree, the camera still able to catch much of the, um, glory.

Man, it’s great to be back in Westeros!

Unable to conjure a more promising plan, the near-coin-less Dunk decides to ride for Ashford Meadow, soon to be the site of a tournament where he intends to compete in the jousting event. Along the way, of course, he encounters Egg, who asks to be his squire. Dunk initially rejects this idea but soon relents, allowing the lad to be his aide and promising to keep him fed, if not much beyond that, in exchange.

To compete, Dunk must convince others he is a knight — if only a hedge knight, a class of wandering warriors who, we learn, often must sleep in the hedges because no lord will have them. In this pursuit, he meets men with important last names, such as charismatic enjoyer of life Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) and Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen (Bertie Carvel), the heir to the all-important Iron Throne in King’s Landing. The latter is unlike some other powerful members of his family — not just because he has short, dark hair but also because he is thoughtful, measured and kind.

Dunk’s life is complicated when he runs afoul of one of Baelor’s nephews, Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen (Finn Bennett), son of Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell), Baelor’s younger brother. Dunk was in the right, of course, protecting a Dornish puppeteer, Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford), who was having a bit of satirical fun at the Targaryens’ expense, but that matters little considering the power wielded by Aerion.

Egg stands by Dunk, but he will need more formidable allies if he is to survive the trial to come.

“Knight,” with its basic story and Dunk’s relatable values — informed by a late-season flashback episode in which a younger version of the character is portrayed by Bamber Todd during a crucial point in his adolescence in the slums of Flea Bottom — is appealing in its simplicity. That said, even with most episodes around 30 minutes, it could use a bit more excitement and action.

Former rugby player Claffey is a nice find for everyman Dunk, and Ansell (“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”) brings some clever touches to the complicated Egg. However, there’s more crackle to this series when it involves certain supporting players, including the aforementioned Carvel (“The Crown”) and Ings (“The Gentlemen”).

As has “House of the Dragon,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” serves as a reminder of just how well Martin has fleshed out both the geography and overall mythology of Westeros. (Relatedly, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that this series is keeping a little secret, one no doubt already known to many well-steeped in Martin’s world-building.)

While “Knight” is, again, only so filling, you’ll get no objections here that it already has been renewed for a second season, which you’d expect to adapt Martin’s second novella in the series, 2003’s “The Sworn Sword.”

The gods are good.

‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’

What: Six-episode first season of half-hour series set in author George R.R. Martin’s Westeros.

Where: HBO and HBO Max.

When: 10 p.m. Sundays starting Jan. 18.

Rated: TV-MA.

By Mike Householder

The Associated Press

Researchers, documentary filmmakers and others will soon be able to get their hands on screenwriter and director Lawrence Kasdan’s papers at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.

Archivists are about a quarter of the way through cataloging the 150-plus boxes of material that document the 76-year-old filmmaker’s role in bringing to life iconic characters like Indiana Jones and Yoda, and directing actors ranging from Geena Davis and Glenn Close to Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner.

“All I wanted to ever do was be a movie director. And so, all the details meant something to me,” Kasdan said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I couldn’t be happier to have this mass of stuff available to anybody who is interested.”

The archive includes scripts, call sheets and still photos — including a few rarities.

Before Costner became an Oscar winner and Hollywood icon, he worked various studio jobs while taking nighttime drama lessons. His break — or so he thought — came when Kasdan cast him in 1983’s “The Big Chill.”

Costner played Alex, whose death brings his fellow Michigan alums together. Unfortunately, his big flashback scene ended up on the cutting-room floor.

What are believed to be among the only existing photographs of the famously deleted scene are part of the Kasdan collection, now housed in Ann Arbor.

“Different people will be interested in different things,” Kasdan said, pointing to his work writing the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” screenplay as one possible destination for researchers. The archive features audio cassette recordings of Kasdan discussing the film with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. It also includes Polaroids taken of cast and crew members on the sets of his movies.

There are props, too, including a cowboy hat from the 1985 Western “Silverado,” worn by none other than Costner. Kasdan and the kid from California would work together again on “Wyatt Earp” in the ’90s. Costner also starred in “The Bodyguard,” which Kasdan wrote.

A number of unproduced scripts also are part of the collection.

“I’ve always considered myself a director and a writer. And if you are really interested in any particular movie, you can follow the evolution of that movie in the archive,” Kasdan said.

Library staff members are working chronologically through Kasdan’s material, meaning the papers for Kasdan’s earliest work — including “Body Heat” and “The Big Chill,” as well as the scripts for two “Star Wars” classics, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” — can be accessed first.

The remaining material should be completely processed by late 2026, said Phil Hallman, the curator of the collection. Hallman hopes to have Kasdan visit, perhaps next fall, to see the archive and take part in a symposium.

Kasdan’s papers are part of the University of Michigan Library’s Screen Arts Mavericks and Makers Collection, which includes Orson Welles, Robert Altman, Jonathan Demme, Nancy Savoca and John Sayles.

Kasdan, who grew up in West Virginia and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1970 and a master’s two years later, is the lone Michigan alum among the group.

“To be there, held in the same place as those wonderful directors, is really a great honor,” Kasdan said.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another” won best picture, musical or comedy at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards.

“Hamnet” won best picture, drama at the ceremony Sunday night.

Entering the night, “One Battle After Another” topped the list of nominations with nine, followed by “Sentimental Value” with eight.

Comedian Nikki Glaser hosted the ceremony from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The night marked Glaser’s second consecutive year as host.

The first award of the night went to Teyana Taylor, who won female supporting actor, motion picture for “One Battle After Another.”

The Golden Globes bill themselves as Hollywood’s booziest bash. The awards show was broadcast on CBS and is available to stream through Paramount+.

Here’s a list of winners at Sunday’s Golden Globes:

Motion picture, drama

“Hamnet”

Motion picture, musical or comedy

“One Battle After Another”

Male actor, motion picture, drama

Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”

Female actor, motion picture, drama

Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”

Female actor, motion picture, musical or comedy

Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You”

Male actor, motion picture, musical or comedy

Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”

Female supporting actor, motion picture

Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”

Male supporting actor, motion picture

Stellan Skarsgard, “Sentimental Value”

Motion picture, non-English language

“The Secret Agent,” Brazil

Motion picture, animated

“KPop Demon Hunters”

Director, motion picture

Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”

Screenplay, motion picture

Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”

Cinematic and box office achievement

“Sinners”

TV series, drama

“The Pitt”

TV series, musical or comedy

“The Studio”

Male actor, TV series, drama

Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”

Female actor, TV series, drama

Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus”

Female actor, TV series, musical or comedy

Jean Smart, “Hacks”

Male actor, TV series, musical or comedy

Seth Rogen, “The Studio”

Limited series, anthology series or made for TV movie

“Adolescence”

Male actor, limited series, anthology series or made for TV movie

Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”

Female actor, limited series, anthology series or made for TV movie

Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”

Male supporting actor, television

Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”

Female supporting actor, television

Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”

Original song, motion picture

“Golden” from “Kpop Demon Hunters”

Original score, motion picture

Ludwig Göransson, “Sinners”

Stand-up comedy performance

Ricky Gervais, “Mortality”

Podcast

“Good Hang With Amy Poehler”

By ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nikki Glaser went hard then eased up in her monologue to open Sunday’s Golden Globes.

In her earliest jokes she suggested stars in the room might be in the Epstein Files and took a shot at CBS, the network airing the show.

“There are so many A-listers, and by A-listers, I do mean people who are on a list that has been heavily redacted,” she said. “And the Golden Globe for best editing goes to the Justice Department.”

She segued into mocking the recent woes at CBS News and its killing of a critical “60 Minutes” story about the Trump Administration sending immigrants to a prison in El Salvador.

“The award for most editing goes to CBS News,” she said. “Yes, CBS News: America’s newest place to see BS news.”

She didn’t bring up Venezuela, a subject she told The Associated Press this week she was considering mentioning, but worried it would already be old news in the chaotic moment. And there was no mention of ICE.

Glaser also told the AP she was struggling to find a joke about Julia Roberts, saying she was so beloved and respected that nothing Glaser tried with her comedy club test audiences was landing.

She found a way to come at it sideways.

“Just like the podcasters nominated tonight, I should not be allowed to be this close to Julia Roberts,” she said, and got the big laugh she was looking for.

It was Glaser’s second time hosting the show. She was quickly rehired after getting strong reviews in her first outing last year. She was hired the first time after the ruthless roast she gave the attendees of the Netflix roast of Tom Brady. She’s been kinder on the Globes, but her jokes still had some bite.

She made the obligatory joke about Leonardo DiCaprio dating young women.

“You’ve worked with every great director. You’ve won three Golden Globes and an Oscar,” she said. “And the most impressive thing is that you were able to accomplish all of that before your girlfriend turned 30.”

She then went meta and apologized for being so obvious.

“Leo, I’m sorry I made that joke, it’s cheap. You know what, I tried not to, but like, we don’t know anything else about you, man. Like, there’s nothing else, like open up!” she said, getting a bigger laugh than she did for the first joke, especially from DiCaprio himself.

She focused on the lean frame of Timothée Chalamet in her inevitable joke about the nominee — and later winner — for “Marty Supreme,” calling him “the first actor in history to have to put on muscle for a movie about ping pong. This is true. He gained over 60 ounces.”

During the show, she stood in the audience and gave a presentation on the ballroom’s layout.

“To my right are the tables for ‘Hamnet,’ ‘All Her Fault’ and ‘Bugonia,’” she said, “an area we’re calling ‘traumatized woman alley.’ We’ll never find out where ‘traumatized men alley’ is because they’re not allowed to tell us.”

Like last year when she merged “Wicked” and “Conclave” into the aborted gag song “Popeular,” she started at one point to sing a deliberately hacky song.

This time she pretended to accidentally say “K-Pong Demon Hunters” before shedding her dress to show athletic wear underneath, grabbing a ping pong paddle-shaped microphone and merging “Marty Supreme” with “KPop Demon Hunters” to the tune of the latter’s best original song winner “Golden.”

“Marty” co-star Fran Drescher soon stepped out to cut Glaser off, saying in her famous nasal rasp, “You have to stop singing, your voice is so annoying.”

But Glaser was also on the receiving end of one joke, from Judd Apatow, who told a story before presenting best director.

“Nikki Glaser used to be our babysitter,” he said. “That’s true. She was our babysitter. And she’s like, ‘I do standup comedy.’ And then I went online to watch her set and it was all about smoking reefer and having weird sex and then she stopped being our babysitter.”

By BEATRICE DUPUY, Associated Press

Ariana Grande, Teyana Taylor, Timothée Chalamet and a sea of other stars said goodbye to color at this year’s Golden Globes, opting instead for black. And many in the crowd stuck with tried and true old Hollywood glamour Sunday.

But even in basic black, the red carpet had plenty of personal flourishes and playful embellishments.

Risk-takers Taylor, a winner for “One Battle After Another,” and Jenna Ortega went with “whale tails,” aka the tops of thongs, peeking out the backs of their black gowns. Taylor did it with her custom slinky Schiaparelli gown that showed off a deep low-cut back with a glittery low-hanging bow thong. Ortega, keeping it goth, wore a Dilara Findikoglu gown with black shoulder tassels and a black thong.

“I thought that was such a cheeky callback to Y2K fashion,” InStyle Fashion Director Kevin Huynh said. “I was just like, wow, you wouldn’t expect that on a red carpet.”

Grande left behind her “Wicked” character’s signature pink color for a black Vivienne Westwood couture dress but brought back her ponytail. Other notable celebrities in black included Ayo Edebiri, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus and Mia Goth.

Edebiri chose a black off-the-shoulder Chanel dress embellished with jewels on the shoulders from Matthieu Blazy’s Métiers d’Art 2026 show.

Celebrities held onto their gowns and watched their steps as they posed for photos on high stairs that served as the red carpet. Like the Met Gala, they lined up at the bottom and had to perilously climb their way up.

The 83rd Golden Globes gives a glimpse into how celebrities will showcase their original take on fashion as the awards season progresses. Since 1944, the show has honored the best in film and television.

The carpet, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, is a chance for nominees to make a statement, though some are beholden to fashion houses who pay them as ambassadors.

Several, including George Clooney, wore Giorgio Armani. The fashion world lost Armani in September, but his eponymous brand lives on.

“It was nice to see so many attendees, including Julia Roberts and Kate Hudson, wearing the brand and pay tribute,” said Véronique Hyland, fashion features director for Elle.

Pops of color hit the carpet

Not all celebrities followed the black dress trend.

Host Nikki Glaser, who held hosting duty for the second time, wore a strapless satin blush-pink corseted satin gown with a full skirt by Zuhair Murad. Emma Stone stunned in a butter yellow Louis Vuitton skirt set.

“Sinners” star Wunmi Mosaku stunned in a flowy yellow Matthew Reisman gown. The mother-to-be revealed her baby bump on the carpet. Mosaku’s co-star Hailee Steinfeld showed off her pregnant figure on the carpet in a peach colored gown.

Stars shone in metallics. “Sentimental Value” actor Renate Reinsve twirled on the carpet in a shimmery silver tasseled dress by Nicolas Ghesquiere for Louis Vuitton. Her co-star Elle Fanning’s Gucci dress was embroidered with Norwegian flowers in honor of their Norwegian drama film.

Rising star Chase Infiniti reflected back the carpet and all its stars in her mirrored corseted gown by Nicolas Ghesquiere for Louis Vuitton.

“She’s now Louis Vuitton ambassador, which I think kind of shows her potential as a star,” Vanity Fair style writer José Criales-Unzueta said. “So much of what happens behind the scenes helps define what we’re looking at, whether it’s a deal, whether it sponsorship, whether it is brand ambassadorship.”

Claire Danes eschewed the academic, laid-back tailored looks of her “Beast in Me” character for an effortlessly elegant, couture gown designed by her close friend Zac Posen for GapStudio. Posen and Danes’ friendship and creative collaboration began in high school.

Posen began working on Danes’ Golden Globe gown in November. As both creative director for Gap and GapStudio designer, Posen told The Associated Press that elevating the American essential into eveningwear is part of his creative process for the brand.

For Danes’ look, Posen transformed the concept of the classic Gap pocket T-shirt into an off-white silk jersey couture gown with subtle bugle beaded detailing and embroidery. The shimmering dress featured a low scoop back and front pocket detail.

“Claire has a great elegance to her and is deeply inherently sophisticated, but yet cool,” Posen said. “Those elements fit perfectly with one of our icons that has built and defined our brands, the pocket tee.

Is sheer dressing still in?

Celebrities are keeping the sheer dressing trend alive with no signs of it slowing down. Lisa of Blackpink wore a black sheer Jacquemus dress, and Jennifer Lopez posed in a see-through dress by Jean-Louis Scherrer.

Jennifer Lawrence walked the carpet in a floral sheer dress by Sarah Burton at Givenchy and accessorized her look with a glamorous floral silk stole.

“Just to go out in a naked dress that leaves very little to the imagination is one thing but what Jennifer Lawrence did was such a romantic approach to it,” Huynh said. “I think that really says a lot to Sarah Burton, the designer of Givenchy. She is a woman designing for women.”

Men choose traditional looks

The male nominees didn’t stray too far from traditional looks. Colman Domingo pared down his typical colorful suits for a black suit by Valentino adorned with silver leaf brooches down his lapel. Timothée Chalamet, a winner for “Marty Supreme,” has become one to watch for his fashion choices. Departing from his past colorful looks, Chalamet wore a black velvet vest and jacket from Chrome Hearts with black Timberland boots. Chalamet’s partner of three years, Kylie Jenner, did not walk the carpet with the actor, but viewers captured her in a custom silver column look by Ashi Studio. It was hand-embroidered with a fan-shaped crystal bead neckline.

After his viral premiere orange look for “Marty Supreme,” Criales-Unzueta said Chalamet decided on a more traditional movie star style by choosing all black.

“Heated Rivalry” star Hudson Williams brought the cummerbund back but with a laid-back twist. The breakout star paired a white-peak lapel dinner jacket with an unbuttoned silk shirt. Williams, along with his co-star Connor Storrie, were presenters during the ceremony. Storrie wore a black tuxedo jacket by Saint Laurent, with black tie and shades.

“It’s really just sexy takes on classic menswear with just those little bit of edge to things,” Huynh said.

Jenna Rosenstein, beauty director for Harper’s Bazaar, noted Storrie’s hair transformation. He plastered his trademark curly locks into a shaggy, retro-inspired mullet. Among the women, beauty highlights included the swoopy bobs of Edebiri and Gomez, she said.

“If there’s one thing you should invest in after this carpet, it’s a really good round brush, a can of hairspray and a statement lipstick,” Rosenstein said.

AP writer Leanne Italie contributed to this report.

The Golden Globes bill themselves as Hollywood’s booziest bash. Political tension and industrywide uncertainty are the prevailing moods heading into Sunday night’s 83rd Golden Globes hosted by Nikki Glaser, a comic known for her roast appearances.

How to watch and stream the Globes and red carpet

The Golden Globes kick off at 8 p.m. EST on CBS while streaming live for Paramount+ premium subscribers. E!’s red carpet coverage begins at 6 p.m. EST.

The Associated Press is hosting a livestream show with a mix of stars’ arrivals, fashion shots and celebrity interviews. It is available on YouTube and APNews.

By JAKE COYLE, Associated Press

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ragtag revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another” took top honors at Sunday’s 83rd Golden Globes in the comedy category, while Chloé Zhao’s Shakespeare drama “Hamnet” pulled off an upset over “Sinners” to win best film, drama.

“One Battle After Another” won best film, comedy, supporting female actor for Teyana Taylor and best director and best screenplay for Anderson. He became just the second filmmaker to sweep director, screenplay and film, as a producer, at the Globes. Only Oliver Stone, for “Born on the Fourth of July,” managed the same feat.

In an awards ceremony that went almost entirely as expected, the night’s final award was the most surprising. While “One Battle After Another” has been the clear front-runner this awards season, most have pegged Ryan Coogler’s Jim Crow-era vampire thriller as its closest competition.

But “Hamnet,” a speculative drama about William and Agnes Shakespeare based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestseller, won in the dramatic category shortly after its star, Jessie Buckley, won best female actor in a drama.

It was a banner night for Warner Bros., the studio behind “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.” Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to be sold to Netflix in an $83 billion deal. Paramount Skydance has appealed to shareholders with its own rival offer.

In his speech after winning best director, Anderson praised Warner co-chief Michael DeLuca.

“He said he wanted to run a studio one day and let filmmakers make whatever they want,” said Anderson. “That’s how you get ‘Sinners.’ That’s how you get a ‘Weapons.’ That’s how you get ‘One Battle After Another.’”

The final awards brought to, or near, the stage a handful of the most talented filmmakers together in Anderson, Zhao and Coogler — plus Steven Spielberg, a producer of “Hamnet.” Regardless of who won what, it was a heartening moment of solidarity between them, with a shared sense of purpose. Zhao fondly recalled being at Sundance Labs with Coogler when they were each starting out.

“As students, let’s keep our hearts open and let’s keep seeing each other and allowing each other to be seen,” said Zhao, while Coogler smiled from the front row.

“Sinners” won for best score and cinematic and box-office achievement. The win for box office and cinematic achievement, over franchise films like “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” was notable for Coogler’s film, a movie that some reports labeled a qualified success on its release.

Yet “Sinners” ultimately grossed $278 million domestically and $368 million worldwide, making it highest grossing original film in 15 years.

“I just want to thank the audience for showing up,” said Coogler. “It means the world.”

Coming off years of scandal and subsequent rehabilitation, the Globes and host Nikki Glaser put on a star-studded ceremony that saw wins for the streaming sensation “KPop Demon Hunters” (best animated film, song), a meta triumph for Seth Rogen’s “The Studio” and an inaugural award for podcasting that went to Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang.”

Many of the Oscar favorites won. Timothee Chalamet won his first Golden Globe, for “Marty Supreme,” after four previous nominations. The 30-year-old is poised to win his first Oscar. Fellow nominees like Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney stood to applaud his win.

“My dad instilled in me a spirit of gratitude growing up: Always be grateful for what you have,” said Chalamet. “It’s allowed me to leave this ceremony in the past empty handed, my head held high, grateful just to be here. I’d be lying if I didn’t say those moments didn’t make this moment that much sweeter.”

Glaser comes out swinging

The Globes, held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, got underway with a pointedly political opening from host Nikki Glaser and an early award for the night’s favorite, “One Battle After Another.” Emceeing the show for the second straight year, Glaser kicked off the show with self-aware satire.

“Yes, the Golden Globes, without a doubt the most important thing happening in the world right now,” she said.

In a winning, rapid-fire opening monologue that landed some punch lines on the usual subjects — the age of Leonardo DiCaprio’s dates, Kevin Hart’s height — Glaser also dove right into some of her most topical material.

For the on-the-block Warner Bros., Glaser started the bidding at $5. Referencing the Epstein files, she suggested best editing should go to the Justice Dept. The “most editing,” however, she suggested deserved to go to Bari Weiss’ new CBS News — a dig at the Paramount Skydance-owned network airing the Globes.

Globes mix glitz and gloom

Political tension and industrywide uncertainty were the prevailing moods heading into Sunday’s awards. Hollywood is coming off a disappointing box-office year and now anxiously awaits the fate of one of its most storied studios, Warner Bros. Following the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, several attendees wore pins reading “Be Good.”

The Globes, formerly presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, have no overlap or direct correlation with the Academy Awards. After being sold in 2023 to Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, a part of Penske Media, the Globes are voted on by around 400 people. The Oscars are voted on by more than 10,500 professionals.

But in the fluctuating undulations of awards season, a good speech at the Globes can boost an Oscar campaign. Winners Sunday included Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”) for best female actor in a comedy or musical, and Wagner Moura, the Brazilian star of “The Secret Agent,” for best male actor in a drama. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s period political thriller also won best international film.

“I think if trauma can be passed along generations, values can,” Moura said. “So this to the ones who are sticking with their values in difficult moments.”

Other winners Sunday included the supporting actor front-runner, Stellan Skarsgård who won for the Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value.” It was the first major Hollywood movie award for the 74-year-old, a respected veteran actor who drew a standing ovation.

“I was not prepared for this because I, of course, thought I was too old,” said Skarsgård.

‘The Studio’ and ‘Adolesence’ win

In the television awards, “The Pitt” took best drama series, while Noah Wyle won, too, brushing past his former “ER”-star Clooney on the way to the stage. Netflix’s “Adolescence” won four awards: best limited series, and acting awards for Erin Doherty, Stephen Graham and 16-year-old Owen Cooper.

Other winners included Rhea Seehorn for “Pluribus” and Jean Smart for “Hacks.”

But the most comically poignant award of the night went to “The Studio,” the best comedy series winner. Seth Rogen’s Hollywood satire memorably included an episode devoted to drama around a night at the Globes. (Sample line: “I remember when the red carpet of the Golden Globes actually stood for something.”) Rogen also won best male actor in a comedy.

“This is so weird,” Rogen said, chuckling. “We just pretended to do this. And now it’s happening.”

The overriding theme defining television in recent years has been a fear of the new. Which is why reboots and spinoffs continue apace, with old titles brought back from the dead (“Scrubs”) or from the not-so-distant past (“The Night Manager”) and intellectual property milked within an inch of its life (somehow HBO has yet another “Game of Thrones” series coming our way).

It’s as if everyone in Hollywood ran out of new ideas all at once. Don’t blame writers, but executives who are rapidly shepherding their industry towards irrelevance with an over-reliance on reworked IP, while original ideas are left unproduced. In better news, the winter Olympic Games are this year, with the opening ceremony taking place Feb. 6 on NBC. (The Super Bowl is that Sunday as well.)

“The Pitt”

The Pittsburgh-set medical drama from “ER” showrunner John Wells is back for a second season, premiering almost exactly a year after it first debuted. Imagine, a streaming series returning on a reliable schedule! Dr. Robby (“ER” veteran Noah Wyle) is back once again, overseeing the managed chaos, student doctors and medical residents of his emergency department. One of the best examples of competency as comfort, something we could all use more of at the moment in real life. From Jan. 8 on HBO Max.

“The Night Manager”

Stylish and prestige-y as hell, Season 1 of this Tom Hiddleston spy drama premiered (squints) eight years ago. Welp, this is how TV works today. Season 2 follows Hiddleston’s character across the UK, Spain, Colombia and France as he “races to expose a conspiracy designed to destabilize a nation.” From Jan. 11 on Amazon. 

“Hijack”

The first season of this “Die Hard” ripoff starring Idris Elba took place on a seven-hour flight from Dubai to London. For the entirely unnecessary second season, the setting is now a subway in Berlin that’s been taken hostage. If Elba’s character doesn’t say “Why does this keep happening to me?!” at any point, then what are we even doing here? From Jan. 14 on Apple TV.  

“Ponies”

“Game of Thrones” alum Emilia Clarke stars in this 1977-set Cold War thriller about two women (the other is played by Haley Lu Richardson) who become CIA operatives after their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in Moscow. The pair become “ponies” in the parlance — persons of no interest — in order to uncover the truth of what really happened. From Jan. 15 on Peacock. 

“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

Another “Game of Thrones” spinoff. A prequel, this one takes place a hundred years before the events of “GoT,” as two unlikely heroes wander through Westeros: “A young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.” From Jan. 18 on HBO. 

“Steal”

Here I am typing “Game of Thrones” again because the show’s alum Sophie Turner returns to TV in this thriller about a heist at a British pension fund investment company: “But who would steal billions of pounds of ordinary people’s pensions and why? DCI Rhys (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) is determined to find out, but as a recently relapsed gambling addict, Rhys must keep his own money problems at bay while dealing with the secret agendas and competing interests at the center of this far-reaching crime.” From Jan. 21 on Amazon.  

“Drops of God”

I really liked the first season of this emotionally engrossing drama about two young wine experts who battle for a massive inheritance. The series was also criminally underseen, likely because: 1) Apple’s approach to promotion leaves much to be desired; 2) there are no recognizable (American) stars; and 3) that title, which makes sense once you’ve seen the show, but otherwise … nope. It’s back for a second season and if you’ve been missing that frisson of discovery in your TV viewing, this one is worth seeking out. From Jan. 21 on Apple TV.  

“Bridgerton”

Not a fan of this show, but plenty are, so mark your calendars. The Shonda Rhimes historical romance returns for Season 4, with a focus on the family’s second-eldest son, Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), who falls for a servant who sneaks into a masquerade ball. Netflix is chopping the season into two parts. From Jan. 29 on Netflix; the second half premieres Feb. 26.  

“Dark Winds”

This adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee novels, with their stories of the Navajo Tribal Police in the 1970s, continues with a fourth season about a missing Navajo girl, which takes our investigators out of their usual setting and sends them to the underbelly of organized crime in Los Angeles. A tick or two better than your typical cop show, star Zahn McClarnon is reason enough to watch. From Feb. 15 on AMC.  

“Scrubs”

The medical comedy from the early aughts is back, reuniting the old gang: J.D. (Zach Braff), Turk (Donald Faison), Elliot (Sarah Chalke), Carla (Judy Reyes) and John C. McGinley’s memorably tangy Dr. Cox. New cast members include Vanessa Bayer and Joel Kim Booster. The premise appears to be the same as it was, picking up where the show left off. From Feb. 25 on ABC.

“Scarpetta”

A crime thriller based on Patricia Cornwell’s book series about the forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta, played by Nicole Kidman. According to the marketing blurb: “With skilled hands and an unnerving eye, this unrelenting medical examiner is determined to serve as the voice of the victims, unmask a serial killer, and prove that her career-making case from 28 years prior isn’t also her undoing. Set against the backdrop of modern forensic investigation, the series delves beyond the crime scene to explore the psychological complexities of both perpetrators and investigators, creating a multi-layered thriller that examines the toll of pursuing justice at all costs.” From March 11 on Amazon.  

By Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Even with inflation, endless air travel complaints and the recent flight cancellations caused by the government shutdown, millions of Americans, including me, will begin their holiday celebrations on a plane. And while some are already making their packing lists, I am more concerned about what I should watch. In addition to getting you where you want to go, those hours spent in uncomfortable seats — first at the gate and then on board — are a guilt-free opportunity to catch up on or revisit great shows and films.

In-flight viewing is a specific, and sometimes unintentionally communal, viewing experience; not everything works. Choose tearjerkers and musicals with care. Ugly crying over “The Notebook” or singing along with “Wicked” might feel great, but it can cause your fellow passengers unnecessary consternation and/or annoyance.

If you are traveling with or seated near children, you should avoid hard-R-rated fare — as I discovered while briefly attempting to watch “Game of Thrones” while seated beside my then-young son, nudity and beheadings don’t need the sound on to be inappropriate.

Likewise, avoid anything that involves tragic or problematic air travel — catch up on the “Final Destination” franchise another time — and you also might want to skip full-attention-demanding subtitles. The perfect airplane watch allows you to immerse yourself while also remaining aware of what’s happening around you. (Including and especially requests from flight attendants.)

With all these considerations in mind, here are some suggestions.

Watch at the gate

Comedy series are best, for obvious mood-sweetening reasons (should delays occur), but also because the episodes are short and tend not to have dramatic moments that might keep you watching even after your group number has been called.

“Schitt’s Creek” (Amazon)

Each episode of this perfectly addictive series about a once-rich (and very dysfunctional) family that finds itself forced to start anew in a small town will make you laugh no matter how many times you’ve seen it.

“Derry Girls” (Netflix)

Those unfamiliar with the Northern Ireland accent may find it necessary to use subtitles, which I just cautioned against. But this show is worth breaking the rules for. Living through the Troubles in 1990s Derry, five Catholic school friends and their families cope hilariously with everyday issues, including school life under the redoubtable eye of Sister Michael (Siobhán McSweeney).

“New Girl” (Hulu)

The shenanigans of friends/roomies Jess (Zooey Deschanel), Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), Winston (Lamorne Morris) and Cece (Hannah Simone) are always a delight.

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (Netflix)

Any time’s a good time to watch the greatest police comedy series since “Barney Miller.” Andy Samberg’s Jake Peralta heads a misfit but inevitably successful team of New York detectives, headed by the driest, wisest chief in TV history — Captain Holt, played by the late, great Andre Braugher.

“Abbott Elementary” (Hulu)

Celebrate the holidays with this quick-witted, revelatory and very sweet teacher-centric mockumentary-comedy created by and starring Quinta Brunson. Compared with classroom chaos, even the airport will seem like an oasis of tranquility.

“What We Do in the Shadows” (Hulu)

If you somehow missed this hilariously unique comedy-horror mockumentary about a group of vampires living in modern-day Staten Island, now is the time to rectify that.

Watch on domestic flights

All of the above comedy series work here as well — but movies are best, especially if you can time it so the film begins when altitude is achieved and ends as you’re returning your seat backs and tray tables to their full upright positions.

FILMS:

“The Da Vinci Code” (AMC+)

The perfect in-flight film, “The Da Vinci Code” offers something like cultural edification (the Louvre! The Knights Templar! Biblical history!) while not forcing you to think too much. A tour of Paris, great action sequences, the always endearing Tom Hanks and a literally beatific conclusion.

“Spy” (Amazon)

Melissa McCarthy is an everywoman intelligence agent who chooses to go into the field for the first time in this strangely unsung hero of modern comedy. Guaranteed to make you laugh even if you’re stuck in the middle seat. (Also set in Paris, it’s a perfect double feature with “The Da Vinci Code” for those five-hour flights.)

“Crazy Rich Asians” (Netflix)

Jon M. Chu’s glorious romantic comedy will transport you into a world far beyond the dreary confines of contemporary air travel and make you feel, if only for a moment, that you too are flying in a first-class compartment that contains an actual double bed.

“Iron Man” (Disney+)

Travel back in time to the moment when Robert Downey Jr. jump-started the Marvel Cinematic Universe and remind yourself why. It really is that good.

“Sense and Sensibility” (Amazon)

The exquisite nature of the performances, writing, direction, cinematography and score has made one of the best Jane Austen adaptations a go-to comfort film for when you’re feeling ill. Which is why it’s perfect while flying.

“Paddington” and/or “Paddington 2” (Netflix)

Come for the adorable bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw), stay for the adventure and sweet hijinks (and, in “Paddington 2,” Hugh Grant!). You will reach your destination feeling more kindly to your fellow travelers, which can only improve any trip.

“Edge of Tomorrow” (Netflix)

Tom Cruise teams up with Emily Blunt to battle an alien invasion, with some help from time travel. Classic dystopian thriller with several clever twists. If you’re feeling hot and cramped, just think of Cruise and Blunt in those super suits.

“The Martian” (Netflix)

Feel bad that your flight got delayed and you might not make your connection? A little time spent with Matt Damon’s astronaut, stranded for years on Mars, will put everything in perspective. At least you don’t have to figure out how to grow potatoes in hostile soil.

“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” (Amazon)

The ultimate full-immersion movie sees four teenagers sucked into a survival adventure game in which their avatars are played by Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan.

“Skyfall” (Amazon)

Honestly, most Bond films are a good choice but Daniel Craig is my favorite Bond and “Skyfall” features a more-than-usual presence of M (Judi Dench). Also, the song.

“Knives Out” (Amazon)

A classic manor house mystery, which revived the genre when it became a hit in 2019, “Knives Out” is the ideal blend of mystery and wit, with a cast of characters to keep you company.

SHOWS:

“Hawkeye” (Disney+)

If you’re looking for a five-hour (or so) miniseries with plenty of Marvel action and a holiday theme, look no further. A year after the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” Hawkeye super fan Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) teams up with her reluctant hero, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), to face down enemies new and old. Oh, and celebrate Christmas in New York.

“Black Mirror” (Netflix)

This sci-fi anthology series is perfect plane viewing because a.) It’s so very good and b.) Each episode is its own story, so you can construct however many hours you need (and, perhaps, catch up on a show so many people continue to talk about).

“Sherlock” (PBS)

Same principle — each episode is essentially a short film and you get to wallow in the wonder of Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), Martin Freeman (Watson), Mark Gatiss (Mycroft) and all the rest as they solve crimes in modern twists on the classic tales.

Watch on international flights

For flights six hours and longer, you can hunker down and make your way through a film franchise or an entire season or seasons of a television series.

FILMS:

“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (HBO Max)

Pick the director’s cut of all three and your journey through Middle-earth will take you almost 12 hours, which is about as long as it takes to fly from L.A. to New Zealand, where it was filmed.

“Hunger Games” (HBO Max)

The four films in which Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and friends attempt to wrest a shattered land from the tyranny of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) clock in at about nine hours total, which, with bathroom and meal breaks, should get you from L.A. to London or Paris.

“Mission Impossible” films (Amazon and other platforms)

Although they often include mishaps in the air, the fantastic (in both senses of the word) nature of “Mission: Impossible” makes these films an ideal high-altitude binge. From first to last, they run more than 18 hours, which is, quite frankly, far too many hours of consecutive movie viewing. But with plenty of installments to choose from, you can accept whichever assignments (and Cruise stunts) appeal to you.

“Harry Potter” (HBO Max)

However one feels about J.K. Rowling’s politics, this is a delightful film franchise that’s even longer than “Mission; Impossible” — about 20 hours. But you can start, and stop, the series wherever you want (though I would urge you not to skip the underrated “Order of the Phoenix”).

SHOWS:

“Black Doves” (Netflix)

Keira Knightley and Whishaw play highly unlikely but ruthlessly skilled mercenary spies who work for an ice-cold Sarah Lancashire. The six-hour-long series tells a complete tale (though Season 2 is in the works) and as the events take place in London as Christmas approaches, makes a fine holiday thriller.

“House”

Pick a season, any season (there are eight of them, with an average of 22 episodes each) and the wit, wisdom and scathing insanity of Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) and his team will carry you through to any destination. And unlike other medical shows, most of the ailments are so bizarre that you won’t have to worry if that cough or twinge is a sign that you’re getting one of them.

“The Durrells in Corfu” (PBS)

It’s 1935 and young widow Louisa Durrell (Keeley Hawes) decides that the answer to her financial straits is to move herself and her four children to the island of Corfu. Sweet and scenic hilarity ensues, and includes the young Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) and Callum Woodhouse (“All Creatures Great and Small”) as two of Louisa’s sons. Four seasons, 26 episodes. You’re welcome.

“Call the Midwife” (Netflix)

Seasonal purists could just download the dozen or so Christmas episodes of this long-running and still-exceptional drama about a group of midwives working out of a convent in London’s East End. (Between the nuns and the babies, the specials are always wonderful.) But if you haven’t seen the series, best to start with Season 1 and keep going.

“Mare of Easttown” (HBO Max)

If you somehow missed Kate Winslet’s turn as a small-town Pennsylvania cop (with a great Delco accent) who is trying to solve a brutal murder, then this is your chance. If you didn’t, well, it’s time for an eight-hour rewatch in which you can use the time you spent wondering who dunit to admire all the terrific acting.

“Slow Horses” (Apple TV)

The butt-numbing hours will fly by like minutes when you immerse yourself in the TV adaptation of the first five of Mick Herron’s Slough House novels. Gary Oldman is having a blast as Jackson Lamb, the greasy, rumpled, sharp-tongued and strategically flatulent keeper of a den of MI5 misfits. Who somehow manage to save the day.

“The Crown” (Netflix)

Think your flight is long? Consider the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth, played over the course of six seasons by Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton. For a full immersive experience, it’s tough to beat the royal settings, period clothes and changing times. And with 60 hours at your fingertips, you can move through history without ever leaving your seat.

“30 Rock” (Hulu)

Tina Fey’s send-up of a fictional “Saturday Night Live”-type show, and satirical look at the television business in general, is just as biting and gimlet-eyed as it was when it premiered almost 20 years ago. It got better as it aged, so for purposes of downloading, look to Seasons 4 and 5.

“Parks and Recreation” (Peacock/Amazon)

Life is always better when you spend some time with Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) and the many fine public servants in Pawnee, Indiana’s city government. The mockumentary series found its feet in Season 2, so you might want to start there.

“The Wire” (HBO Max)

David Simon’s five-season Baltimore-based crime drama is definitely R-rated (thus breaking one of our earlier stated rules) but it is the show that is consistently listed as one of the best — if not the best — TV dramas ever. So if a long-haul flight demands that you binge, why not binge big?

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By KRYSTA FAURIA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — At the movies this fall, Josh O’Connor plays a hot priest with a complicated past, Keanu Reeves is an angel who lost his wings and Elizabeth Olsen has a romantic dilemma in the afterlife.

Hollywood, it seems, has found God.

But it’s not just starry big-budget Netflix films or A24 indies that are grappling with religion and its place in entertainment. In recent years, there’s been an explosion of films and television made from a confessional perspective that evangelize or portray a particular faith, often Christianity, that have performed particularly well with audiences.

There are animated biblical films from Angel, like the upcoming musical “David,” which the company said has already exceeded $14 million in theatrical pre-sale tickets ahead of its release this Friday, to docudramas like Martin Scorsese’s “The Saints.” While episodes from Season 2 are still being released, the first season of the Fox Nation series, which premiered last year, was the most watched on the platform.

“There has been a revival, a revolution of sorts, of spirituality and faith content,” proclaimed Traci Blackwell, head of targeted content for Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, at a recent Variety event in Beverly Hills for faith and spirituality in entertainment. Earlier this year, Amazon premiered the first season of its own biblical drama, “House of David,” and gained exclusive U.S. streaming rights to “The Chosen,” a massively popular drama series about the life of Jesus.

‘The Chosen’ effect

Historically some faith-based entertainment has performed well at the box office — Mel Gibson’s 2004 epic “The Passion of the Christ” was notoriously the highest-grossing R-rated film in the U.S. and Canada for two decades. But faith-based hits have been few and far between for most of this century.

“Hollywood has taken a lot of criticism by those in the faith community for not providing films that speak to them, that reflect their values,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst, emphasizing the box-office potential of faith-based films.

Studios are realizing faith-based film and television is a worthwhile investment at least in part due to the success of “The Chosen,” which Angel helped launch in 2017, even if it initially took time to see those results.

“It was like pulling teeth to get people to watch it,” recalled Angel CEO and co-founder Neal Harmon. “People have this idea that faith means cheesy or preachy. And we had to break through that barrier.”

Once they did, it paid off. Since Fathom Entertainment began distributing “The Chosen” theatrically in 2023, the series has grossed more than $116 million domestically.

Though not a Christian company, Angel aims to distribute and market “values-based entertainment” that includes but is not limited to stories of faith. They’ve released a host of religious films, with “Zero A.D.,” a biblical epic about the Massacre of the Innocents recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, on the docket for 2026.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate is set to premiere “I Can Only Imagine 2” in theaters February, a sequel to the 2018 biopic starring Dennis Quaid, which was one of the highest-grossing Christian films of all-time in the United States.

Co-director Andrew Erwin said he noticed a “massive shift” take place about five years ago, after years of disconnect between the demand for these kinds of films and Hollywood’s willingness to make them.

“For the first time, movie studios are really giving us a fair shake,” he said, though he thinks the quality of the content was also a factor. “We didn’t have the knowledge of how to do the filmmaking side of things. And so, I think the storytelling has gotten a lot better.”

Lionsgate is also set to distribute the first of Gibson’s two-part sequel to “The Passion of the Christ” in 2027.

Defining ‘faith-based’

Trying to define what counts as faith-based programming is a bit like trying to define what counts as pornography.

Themes of belief, guilt and “foolish grace” abound in O’Connor’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” — the third of filmmaker Rian Johnson’s hit Netflix franchise. But few would call it a religious film.

Amanda Seyfried preaches celibacy and endures persecution in “The Testament of Ann Lee,” the musical biopic about the founder of the Shakers sect, in theaters Christmas. But in all the acclaim and Oscar buzz surrounding the film, there’s little talk of its engagement with faith.

Even Scorsese’s 1988 “The Last Temptation of Christ” or filmmaker Paul Schrader’s Oscar-nominated “First Reformed,” which also stars Seyfried, are hardly thought of broadly as Christian films, despite the fact that both men have been outspoken about their respective traditions.

“This film was his way of exploring his faith and exploring who his God is,” Scorsese’s daughter Francesca, who directed one of the episodes of “The Saints,” said of “The Last Temptation of Christ.”

Conversely, the people behind some of these recent projects resist them being called explicitly religious, even when audiences perceive them as such.

“I wouldn’t characterize it so much as overtly Christian,” Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen,” told The Associated Press last year. “It’s a historical drama that centers on Jesus.”

For studios and filmmakers, acknowledging that a project is told from a religious perspective can be a double-edged sword.

“If you’re buying in on going to the movie theater for a faith-based movie, you know you’re gonna have people around you who are really into the experience,” Dergarabedian said. “The minute you say faith-based though, it kind of puts a movie in a box.”

A fad or here to stay

Many Christians celebrate the trend beyond its monetary potential. Phil Wickham, a Grammy-nominated Christian recording artist who voices the character of David in the upcoming Angel film, said it’s been gratifying to see the success of shows like “The Chosen” and “House of David.”

“Growing up, anything that was Christian media felt so preachy,” Wickham said. “Even as a pastor’s kid, it was a turn off. But now I think there’s just more opportunity to tell bigger stories over the course of a series and more people willing to really dig in and tell something with excellence and beauty.”

While it’s too soon to tell whether there’s been a sea change in Hollywood or if it’s a short-term fad, the success of some of these projects has stood out amid an otherwise perilous time in the business.

“Hollywood usually follows money,” Jason Klarman, Fox News Media’s chief digital and marketing officer, said as he touted Fox Nation’s packed slate of upcoming faith-based content, including Zachary Levi’s “David: King of Israel” docudrama. “Even when the trend ends, we’ll still be doing it.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that a deal struck by Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share.

“There’s no question about it,” Trump said, answering questions about the deal and various other topics as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors.

The Republican president said he will be involved in the decision about whether the federal government should approve the $72 billion deal. If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the world’s biggest streaming services under the same ownership and join Warner’s television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with Netflix’s vast library and its production arm.

The deal, which could reshape the entertainment industry, has to “go through a process and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

“Netflix is a great company. They’ve done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man,” he said of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, noting that they met in the Oval Office last week before the deal was announced Dec. 5. “I have a lot of respect for him but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens.”

Asked if Netflix should be allowed to buy the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max, the president said, “Well that’s the question.”

“They have a very big market share and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot so, I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll be involved in that decision, too. But they have a very big market share”

Sarandos made no guarantees at their meeting about the merger if it is approved, Trump said, adding that the CEO is a “great person” who has “done one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things.”

He repeated that a merger would create a “big market share” for the company.

“There’s no question about it. It could be a problem,” Trump said.

Associated Press writer John Carucci contributed to this report.

Jim McCarty and Johnny “Bee” Badanjek may not be household names, but in the music world, the guitarist and drummer, respectively, are legends.

And now the two Detroiters are the subject of a documentary series, “Jim and the Bee,” that will have a premiere screening this weekend before airing next spring.

The three-part series examines the duo’s careers, which include tenures with Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Detroit, Cactus, the Rockets and more. McCarty currently leads his own band, Mystery Train, while Badanjek — whose session resume includes work with Alice Cooper, Edgar Winter, Nils Lofgren and others — is also a noted painter who released a solo album.

Ken LaPlace, whose Ortonville-based Living Legends Motion Pictures directed and co-executive produced “Jim and the Bee,” says the plan began after Badanjek appeared on its syndicated PBS cooking show “The Melody Grill.” “The original plan was to produce a simple half-hour feature on Johnny,” he explains. “Word got out and pretty soon, we had a list of well-known rockers calling to be in it, and here we are today.”

Filming took place between March 4, 2024, and Oct. 2, 2025, including interviews with Cooper, Lofgren, Suzi Quatro, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, the E Street Band’s Max Weinberg, Mark Farner, the Smithereens’ Dennis Diken and others. It’s slated to be shown in three parts on WDCQ in Saginaw, most likely in March, and is being pushed to other PBS outlets. An extended trailer is available on YouTube.

The “Jim and the Bee” premiere takes place at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at Harpo’s Concert Theatre, 14238 Harper Ave., Detroit. 313-824-1700. Proceeds will benefit sick, injured and disabled first responders through the nonprofit Living Legends Organizations. Attendees will have the opportunity to sign a petition requesting Ryder and the Detroit Wheels to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Mike Tirico, Maria Taylor, Ahmed Fareed and Noah Eagle will work multiple events in February as NBC broadcasts the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Super Bowl 60 and the NBA All-Star Game.

On Feb. 8, Tirico will handle play-by-play in a Super Bowl for the first time after being the pregame host in 2022. After the Super Bowl postgame, he will host “Primetime in Milan” from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Tirico, who will be hosting NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage for the fifth time, will begin hosting from Italy on Feb. 10 until the conclusion of the games on Feb. 22.

Tirico will also be part of NBC’s debut of “Sunday Night Basketball” on Feb. 1 when he calls the Los Angeles Lakers-New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.

Taylor will be the lead host of the Super Bowl pregame for the first time. On Feb. 7, she will be the primetime host of Olympics coverage and then will be the late-night host from Italy beginning on Feb. 10. This will be the fourth Olympics assignment for Taylor, who joined NBC in 2021.

Taylor will also host the debut of “Basketball Night in America” on Feb. 1.

Fareed will anchor the NBA All-Star Weekend coverage from Inglewood, California, Feb. 13-15 as well as being the daytime host of Olympics coverage on Feb. 7.

Eagle will call his first NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 15 as well as All-Star Saturday. He will also be part of the Super Bowl pregame and has NBA games on Feb. 1 (Oklahoma City at Denver) and Feb. 22 (Boston at Los Angeles Lakers).

Today show co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin will also be part of Olympics coverage. Guthrie will host the Opening Ceremony with Terry Gannon Feb. 6 and then “Primetime in Milan” on Feb. 9. Melvin has the Late Night show from Feb. 7-9.

Everybody loves a reunion — and the “Everybody Loves Raymond” team is giving the people what they want.

Ray Romano, who starred as sports journalist Ray Barone, and creator Phil Rosenthal will host “Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion” on Nov. 24 at 8 to 9:30 p.m. ET, to commemorate both the 29 years since the Long Island-set sitcom premiered on Sept. 13, 1996 and the two decades since the show took its final bow in May 2005.

“Audiences are invited back to the recreated Barone living room for an unforgettable evening with America’s favorite family,” reads CBS’ press release.

There will be a “moving tribute” to the late Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle, who starred as Ray and Robert’s overbearing mother and sardonic father Marie and Frank — “fan favorites and the emotional anchors of the series.”

Brad Garrett and Patricia Heaton, who starred as Ray’s brother Robert and Ray’s wife Debra, will take part in the special’s “candid conversations,” as will Madylin and Sullivan Sweeten.

The Sweetens played Ray and Debra’s kids Ally and Michael, along with their late brother Sawyer, who played Michael’s twin Geoffrey. Sawyer died by suicide in 2015 at age 19.

“Raymond” earned 69 Emmy nominations and 15 wins — including twice taking home the award for Outstanding Comedy Series — during its nine-season run.

Speaking to the Daily News in October 2020, Emmy winner Rosenthal ruled out a reboot or remake “because we’re missing key ingredients” in the absences of Boyle and Roberts, who died in 2006 and 2016, respectively: “There is no show without them.”

“There’s an old showbiz axiom, by the way: get off the stage before somebody says, ‘Get off the stage.’ And we did. CBS wanted us to continue,” said Rosenthal. “And we wanted to stop before we became lousy.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Amazon Prime Video will stream two hours of coverage during the first and second rounds of the Masters beginning next year.

The Masters will stream on Prime Video from 1-3 p.m. ET daily on April 9 and 10, leading into ESPN’s coverage both days from 3-7:30 p.m.

“Working alongside Amazon in this capacity is an exciting opportunity for the Masters Tournament and its fans,” Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National and the Masters, said in a statement. “We are proud of our longstanding partnerships with CBS Sports and ESPN, who have set the highest standard for broadcast coverage of the Masters. The addition of Amazon will only further our abilities to expand and enhance how the Tournament is presented and enjoyed.”

Paramount+ will stream the third and fourth rounds on April 11 and 12 from noon-2 p.m. ET before CBS takes over beginning at 2 p.m.

With the addition of Prime Video, primary broadcast and streaming coverage of the Masters will be at least 27 hours, up from 18 hours last year.

“It’s an honor for all of us at Amazon to become a broadcast partner of the Masters Tournament and to provide fans additional hours of live coverage of this treasured event,” Jay Marine, head of Prime Video U.S. and Global Sports, said in a statement. “We are humbled and proud to begin our relationship with Augusta National Golf Club, and we cannot wait to get started.”

By Adam Graham, MediaNews Group

“Whatupdoe!” Jimmy Fallon shouted to the crowd at the Detroit Opera House on Sunday, taking the stage during a special on-the-road edition of “The Tonight Show,” which marked the show’s first-ever visit to the Motor City.

It was a lively taping in front of an animated crowd and was filled with Detroit flavor: mentions of Vernors and coney dogs, “Ja-red Goff!” chants from the audience, jokes about Eminem’s Mom’s Spaghetti, nods to Motown, an appearance by the Detroit Pistons’ dancers and a cameo from Aidan Hutchinson, the Detroit Lions’ superstar defensive end. Hutch showed up at the end of the taping and handed Fallon an honorary game ball, just hours after the Lions’ decisive 52-21 victory over the Chicago Bears just a few hundred yards away at Ford Field.

Fallon gave shout-outs to She Wolf, Buddy’s Pizza and Miller’s Bar in Dearborn, spots he had eaten at over the last few days while in town for the taping. He also gave a shout-out to Motown legend Martha Reeves, who was watching on from the box seats in the mezzanine, among the 3,000 attendees at the taping.

It was the first Detroit visit from a network late-night show since 2006, when Jimmy Kimmel brought his show to the Gem Theatre as Detroit prepared to host Super Bowl XL. Ford was a sponsor of the Fallon taping, and there were taped bits of Fallon driving around Detroit in an F-150, with a stop at Ford Field and an appearance by Ford CEO Jim Farley.

The show opened with a pre-taped segment where Fallon tried hyping himself up in his dressing room mirror, “8 Mile”-style. He then ran into his band, the Roots, who were dressed up as Kiss, explaining they thought they were going with a “Detroit Rock City” theme for the evening. The local references were already off to the races.

“We’re officially moving the show to Detroit!” Fallon said after his reception from the crowd. Soaking in the cheers, he said, “This must be how Eminem felt when he found a word that rhymes with orange.” He later joked the word “Detroit” is “a French word meaning, ‘suck it, Chicago.’”

Fallon, 50, sprinkled a sing-songy Detroit tune into his monologue, making punchlines of back tattoos of Lions quarterback Goff, the paddle pubs seen around downtown, and Vernors pop. Yes, pop: another bit had Fallon in conversation with Roots frontman Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, where he accidentally said “soda” instead of pop, and also pretended to confuse Detroit with being in the Central time zone, not Eastern.

During a brief taping break, Fallon told the crowd about when he was in Detroit in 2008 filming “Whip It,” Drew Barrymore’s roller derby movie in which he plays a small role, and he shared a story about riding a bike through downtown at 3 in the morning.

Guests on the show were Detroit actor and comedian Keegan-Michael Key, Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham and rapper Common. The talk segments unfolded in front of a video backdrop of the Detroit city skyline, from which the Renaissance Center was curiously missing.

Key had joined Fallon at the Lions game earlier in the day. “You came (to the game), and (the Lions) scored immediately,” Key told Fallon. “You have to come back to Detroit every Sunday.”

Key wore a Barry Sanders Lions jersey and played a game with Fallon where he asked the host to do his best at pronouncing several Detroit street names, including Livernois, Dequindre and Gratiot. “Gra-shee-oh?” Fallon tried with the last one, to the great amusement of the crowd. Later, Key and Fallon dined on samples from Slow’s Bar BQ, the Corktown BBQ spot that is celebrating 20 years in business.

The pair also participated in a Lip Sync Battle, with Fallon taking on Björk’s “It’s Oh So Quiet” and the Billboard Hot 100’s current No. 1 song, HUNTR/X’s “Golden.” Key took a more old-school approach, miming a pair of Motown classics, The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street.” Fallon joined him on the latter and did his Mick Jagger impression, nodding to Jagger’s 1985 remake of the song with David Bowie.

Cunningham, the 6-foot-6 Pistons point guard, talked fondly about his time in Detroit and gifted Fallon a pair of Cartier Buffs. He also joined Fallon as he shot shirts into the crowd with a T-shirt cannon as they were flanked by the Pistons’ dance squad and Pistons mascot Hooper.

Common was joined by singer Bilal as they paid tribute to late Detroit hip-hop producer J Dilla, performing “The Light,” a Dilla-produced track from Common’s 2000 album “Like Water for Chocolate.” At the front of the stage, an artist spray-painted a portrait of Dilla during the performance.

Hutchinson crashed the party at the end of the taping, greeting Fallon by giving him a giant bear hug.

The local taping was announced Sept. 5. Tickets for the show were given out free to fans through an online lottery, and lines wrapped around the Opera House on Sunday afternoon as fans were let in to the building.

The show taped from about 5 p.m. until about 6:20 p.m. It is set to air at 11:30 p.m. on Monday on NBC, and will be available to stream on Tuesday on Peacock.

Among those in attendance was Jamie Longenbarger of Monroe.

“I think it’s amazing to have Jimmy come here to our city. Detroit is exciting as it is, and to have someone like Jimmy here makes it extra,” she said. “It was so exciting. Every part of it. It was great. Great experience.”

Said Traci Longenbarger, who joined Jamie at the taping, “Coming out of that (Lions) game, I think (Detroit) was just super hype today. It was amazing.”