| | | | | | What's news: HBO Max has renewed The Pitt for S3. FX has renewed The Lowdown. One Battle After Another leads this year’s Actor Awards noms. Spencer Pratt is running to be L.A. mayor. And Disney is planning to roll out a new vertical video product on Disney+ over the next year. — Abid Rahman
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Emmys: TV Academy Introduces Legacy Award ►Justice for The Wire. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Television Academy is adding a major new Emmy: the Legacy Award, which, the organization announced on Thursday, will be presented to TV programs that have made “a profound and lasting impact” on audiences and remain relevant to society, culture and the industry. Candidates for the Legacy Award — which may only be bestowed on a program once — must have (a) accumulated a minimum of 60 episodes across a minimum of five seasons and (b) demonstrated continued or sustained relevance, influence or inspiration to a genre of television, an existing or new audience or society and culture. Franchise properties must be considered as a whole and awarded as such. The story.
—"Are we trying to correct The Wire? Is that what you’re asking?" THR's executive editor for awards Scott Feinberg spoke to the TV Academy‘s president and CEO Maury McIntyre about the introduction of the Legacy Award. McIntyre reveals what inspired the first major new Emmy in nearly 20 years; clarifies how its winners will be chosen, where it will be presented and who gets to take it home; and reveals when we might learn the first recipient. The interview. |
Nick Reiner's Lawyer Abruptly Withdraws ►"We feel we have no choice but to withdraw." The Hollywood power lawyer who represents Nick Reiner has abruptly withdrawn from the case on the first court date of the new year. Alan Jackson — a media savvy criminal defense attorney who previously represented Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Karen Read — had signed on in mid-December to rep Reiner, who has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the slaying of his father and mother, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. He removed himself from the case on Wednesday for unknown reasons. The story.
—"I’m done waiting for someone to take real action." A year after the Palisades wildfire leveled his family’s home, Spencer Pratt has announced his intention to join the 2026 Los Angeles mayoral race. The longtime reality TV fixture has emerged as an influential voice on public policy in the wake of the catastrophe, often drawing fire from elected officials. Pratt went public with his plan at a Jan. 7 neighborhood rally focused on accountability for the fire, which killed a dozen people and destroyed more than 6,000 structures. Its aftermath has led to significant questions about the operations of institutions ranging from the city’s fire and water departments to the state park system, as well as the leadership of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass. The story. |
Disney+ Plans New Features for "AI Native Generation" ►Verts a cert? Disney wants a bigger slice of the mobile video business: The entertainment giant is planning to roll out a new vertical video product on Disney+ over the next year that will feature short-form content from the company’s entertainment portfolio, as well as news and sports. The push into vertical video comes after ESPN entered the space with “verts” in its ESPN app, essentially creating a new sports highlight experience. The company announced the product enhancements at an event at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Wednesday. The story.
—Not giving up. Movie theater chains are bringing their opposition to any sale of Warner Bros. to Capitol Hill. "We are deeply concerned that this acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix will have a direct and irreversible negative impact on movie theaters around the world," Cinema United, the largest trade organization representing exhibitors, said in written remarks sent on Wednesday to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust as it is set to hold a hearing on the potential acquisition of Warner Bros. The story.
—🤝 Bundle deal. 🤝 Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max has signed a bundling deal with German streaming platform RTL+, which will see the two companies offer their services to local consumers under a single joint subscription. The deal comes ahead of HBO Max’s official launch in Germany on Jan. 13. The launch will be accompanied by a publicity blitz, including the world premiere of HBO’s new Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, in Berlin next week. The story. |
Actor Awards Nominations 2026 ►🏆 One awards show after another. 🏆 The nominations for the 2026 SAG Awards, now known as the Actor Awards, have been revealed. One Battle After Another leads this year’s film nominations with seven nods, including one for best stunt ensemble. Sinners scored the second-most nominations of any film with five nods, again including a stunt ensemble nod, followed by three-time nominees Frankenstein, Hamnet and Marty Supreme. Frankenstein is the only one of the latter three films to land a stunt nod. Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another and Sinners are all nominated for the SAG Awards‘ top prize of best cast. The nominees.
—"What is indisputable is that the nom-com really liked four films." THR's executive editor of awards Scott Feinberg reacts to Wednesday's Actor Awards announcement. Scott wonders what to make of the performers from non-English-language films — including Wagner Moura, Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgard — being totally MIA from the nominees list and Sinners maxing out. The analysis.
—🏆 Wait, The Gorge? 🏆 The Directors Guild of America has announced its TV, documentary and commercial nominees for the 2026 DGA Awards. Among the TV nominations are Amanda Marsalis and John Wells for The Pitt, Ben Stiller for Severance, Lucia Aniello for Hacks, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg for The Studio, Mike White for The White Lotus, Jason Bateman for Black Rabbit and former DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter for Zero Day. Jesse Armstrong received a nomination in the movies for television category for Mountainhead, along with Scott Derrickson (The Gorge), Michael Morris (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy), Kyle Newacheck (Happy Gilmore 2) and Stephen Chbosky (Nonnas). The nominees.
—🏆 Tough competition. 🏆 The Art Directors Guild has announced its nominees for the 2026 Excellence in Production Design Awards, which celebrate extraordinary production design across film, TV, commercials, music videos and animated films. Among the feature film nominees are Tamara Deverell for Frankenstein, Jack Fisk for Marty Supreme, Nathan Crowley for Wicked: For Good, Ben Munro and Mark Tildesley for F1 and Florencia Martin for One Battle After Another. In the TV categories, The Gilded Age, Palm Royale, The Last of Us, Stranger Things, Pluribus, Severance, Adolescence, Monster: The Ed Gein Story and The Studio are among the nominees. The nominees. |
'Tangled' Live-Action Movie Finds Its Leads ►🎭 Rumors untangled. 🎭 THR's Borys "Scoops" Kit has the big scoop that Walt Disney Pictures has found the starring leads for Tangled, the live-action adaptation of its 2010 animated movie. The studio has chosen rising Australian actress Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim, star of Disney Channel’s musical Zombies franchise, for the respective parts of Rapunzel, the curious and plucky would-be princess with magical hair, and Flynn Rider, the cocky outlaw thief who helps her escape her tower prison. Michael Gracey is directing the feature, which, like the original, will have big musical elements. The story.
—🎭 Solid as a rock casting. 🎭 Will Arnett has stepped in to replace David Harbour in Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! drama. Harbour had earlier pulled out of the project that also stars Pedro Pascal and Olivia Wilde after the wrap of Stranger Things, apparently in need of some downtime. Gilroy is directing Behemoth! for Searchlight Pictures and represents his first major work from since he wrapped up all his commitments to season two of Disney+'s Andor. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Well Go USA has picked up North American rights to Louis Koo’s big-budget action drama Back to the Past and will release the film in theaters on Jan. 30. Directed by Ng Yuen-fai and Jack Lai, the feature continues the story of the hit 2001 Hong Kong series A Step Into the Past and reteams many of its original stars, including Koo, Raymond Lam, Jessica Hsuan, Sonija Kwok and Joyce Tang, alongside new additions Michael Miu, Bai Baihe and Louis Cheung. The story. |
'The Pitt' Renewed for S3 at HBO Max ►YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! HBO Max has renewed The Pitt for season three ahead of season two of the hit medical drama premiering on Thursday. HBO and HBO Max chairman and CEO Casey Bloys announced the renewal during the series’ season two premiere event in Los Angeles Wednesday night. The Pitt season two takes place 10 months after season one, over the July 4 weekend, giving Noah Wyle‘s Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch and the other characters some time to deal with the issues that emerged from the mass shooting and other incidents that took place in season one. The story.
—Greenlight. Nick Kroll’s new Netflix comedy series A Hundred Percent is happening and has snagged a top-notch cast, including a reunion from FX’s The League for Kroll and Jason Mantzoukas. Sam Richardson and Vanessa Bayer will also star on the show, which will be showrun by Gabe Liedman. Kroll will write with Liedman. A Hundred Percent is a half-hour comedy about a group of friends working inside the Thought Leader industrial complex, per Netflix. Their books, podcasts and morning routines might help us live our lives more perfectly, but away from the screens and mics, they are most definitely far from perfect. The story.
—No-brainer. FX will continue to follow the exploits of Tulsa, Oklahoma “truthstorian” Lee Raybon: The Disney-owned outlet has ordered a second season of its noir series The Lowdown. The renewal comes about two months after the show, which stars Ethan Hawke as Lee, concluded its first season as one of the most critically acclaimed shows of 2025. The series from Reservoir Dogs co-creator Sterlin Harjo made numerous best-of lists from critics (including those at THR) and the American Film Institute’s top 10 shows of the year. The story. |
'Real Time' Renewed for 2 More Seasons at HBO ►Don't tell Larry. Real Time With Bill Maher has been renewed for two additional seasons. HBO renewed the late night talk show through 2028, with season 24 premiering Jan. 23 (airing from 10 to 11 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and also available to stream on HBO Max. The long-running show features Maher delivering a comedic, often satirical opening monologue, along with one-on-one interviews and roundtable discussions that often center on current events, as well as the “New Rules” segment that ends every show. The story.
—Distant third locked up. The ratings for Tony Dokoupil’s debut as anchor of the CBS Evening News are … fine. The Jan. 5 edition of CBS’ nightly newscast improved some on the show’s season averages, but it did not meaningfully close the gap between CBS and network rivals ABC and NBC. CBS has for years ranked a distant third in the 6:30 p.m. newscast ratings. Dokoupil’s first weeknight turn in the Evening News anchor chair drew 4.37m viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, and 596,000 adults 25-54, considered the key demographic for newscasts. The ratings.
—National scandal. A two-part drama about the undoing of disgraced BBC News presenter Huw Edwards is on the way from Paramount-owned U.K. broadcaster 5. Doc Martin star Martin Clunes will play Edwards in Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards (w/t), directed by Michael Samuels and written by Mark Burt. The show is set to explore the story of how a vulnerable 17-year-old was groomed by one of the most powerful figures in British television. A year in the making, the project is the first collaboration between 5’s factual and scripted commissioning teams, and the first-ever major dramatization of the scandal. The story. |
TV Review: 'His & Hers' ►"No one's." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Netflix's His & Hers. Lady Macbeth writer-director William Oldroyd steers a six-part Georgia-set thriller, in which a detective and a reporter investigate a murder that involves them both. Starring Tessa Thompson, Jon Bernthal, Pablo Schreiber, Crystal Fox, Sunita Mani and Rebecca Rittenhouse. Created by William Oldroyd. The review.
In other news...
—Sophie Turner is at the center of a heist in trailer for Amazon's Steal
—Madelaine Petsch makes last stand against masked killers in The Strangers: Chapter 3 trailer
—SNL: Finn Wolfhard, Teyana Taylor, Alexander Skarsgard debut as hosts in January
—Marc Jacobs L.A. bags disappear online amid complaints they depict Angelyne
—Horror maestro Lee Cronin set for an Oscar Wilde Award
—How to stream the 2026 Golden Globes online
—Radha Subramanyam, CBS research chief, dies at 55
—Andy Friendly, first producer on Entertainment Tonight and a CNBC exec, dies at 74
What else we're reading...
—Christopher Grimes considers what last year’s hit movies tell us about Hollywood in 2026 [FT]
—Margaret Hartmann looks at why Trump wants Greenland and how he can take it [Intelligencer]
—Ashley Parker, Michael Scherer, and Nick Miroff have a rather frightening piece on Trump's chief goon Stephen Miller and his scary level of power [Atlantic]
—Brian X. Chen looks at the tech trends that will invade our lives in 2026, including talking computers and self-driving cars [NYT]
—Carlos Delclós writes that Rosalía’s album Lux is more than epic Catholic pop – it grapples with a world fraught with complexity and crisis [Guardian]
Today...
...in 2016, Gramercy Pictures and Focus Features released Jason Zada's The Forest in theaters. The supernatural horror film starred Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, and Eoin Macken, and was a box office hit despite being panned by critics. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Cynthia Erivo (39), Sarah Polley (47), Sam Levinson (41), Gaby Hoffmann (44), Freddie Stroma (39), Rachel Nichols (46), Karan Soni (37), John McTiernan (75), Harriet Sansom Harris (71), Sam Riley (46), Jenny Lewis (50), Michelle Forbes (61), Cara Theobold (36), Stuart Martin (40), Christopher Russell (43), Genevieve Padalecki (45), Lauren Hammersley (45), Maria Pitillo (60), Josh Meyers (50), Amber Benson (49), Yash (40), Rebecca Liddiard (36), Bella Dayne (38), Ami Dolenz (57), Damián Alcázar (73), Jacob Matschenz (42), Ariana Guerra (32) |
| Marcia Rodd, the Tony-nominated actress who starred opposite Elliott Gould in the Jules Feiffer black comedy Little Murders and originated the role of Bea Arthur’s daughter in the pilot for Maude, died Dec. 27. She was 87. The obituary. |
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