Television

Do you prefer your music playlists with a side of vaccine misinformation? Then late night host Stephen Colbert has a solution for you in light of Spotify’s new content warnings. The Late Show aired an imagined Spotify ad touting a playlist containing “all your favorite songs strategically assembled in an order that results in harmful inaccuracies.” The ad suggests Spotify users are so obsessed with Covid inaccuracies spread by Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that they haven’t noticed the streaming service is “spreading misinformation with music.” The...

The View host Whoopi Goldberg prompted outrage Monday when she insisted the “Holocaust isn’t about race.” Her comments followed a segment on the show discussing a Tennessee school district’s decision to ban Maus, a the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel centering on the horrific experiences of a Holocaust survivor. On Monday night, Goldberg addressed her comments. “On today’s show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race but about man’s inhumanity to man.’ I should have said it is about both,” the comedienne wrote on Twitter. “As Jonathan Greenblatt from the...

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. February is the shortest month of the year but that doesn’t mean it has to be any less filled with enticing film and TV options than any other month. That’s certainly true of this February, which begins and ends with a pair of ripped-from-the-headlines miniseries, beginning with the inside story of an infamous sex tape and ending with a boardroom drama from the ride share world. In between...

Howard Hesseman, the actor and comedian who starred as DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and Charlie Moore on Head of the Class, has died at the age of 81. Hesseman’s wife Caroline Ducrocq confirmed his death to the Hollywood Reporter, adding he died Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital from complications from colon cancer. A member of the legendary San Francisco improv group the Committee and a real-life disc jockey who hit airwaves under the name Don Sturdy, Hesseman broke into acting in 1968 with a bit...

Ahead of the NFL conference championships, Hall of Fame quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning dropped by Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live with some surprising insight about, um, Emily in Paris. Manning explained to Colin Jost that he hasn’t actually watched any of this season’s playoff games yet, because he can’t stop watching Netflix’s romantic dramedy about an American girl navigating life and love in the City of Lights. Immediately, Manning launched into an intense play-by-play of the first season. “Oh my God, Colin, this show has...

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. Light that torch! After the uncertainly of whether the games would still be on due to the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the Beijing Winter Olympics will officially kick off with the opening ceremony on February 4. The games, which will run until February 20, might look a bit different this year, but will still be a place to showcase the talents of top athletes from...

When we first meet Tommy Egan (played perfectly by Joseph Sikora), it’s clear that he’s not to be taken lightly. Born and raised in Queens, he worked alongside his best friend and business partner, James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), to build a thriving drug business. While Ghost wants out of the game, Tommy is thriving in it, ruling the streets and doling out his own idea of justice. While there is no doubt that Tommy is a cold-blooded killer, he has a soft heart, proving time and time again...

Over two nights, Janet Jackson’s story is being told in detail — by none other than Jackson herself. Airing simultaneously on Lifetime and A&E, Janet Jackson is a four-part docuseries that mixes a traditional retelling of a pop star’s life from childhood until now with some juicy revelations; the series straddles the difficult line between rare intimacy from an extremely private public figure and the tight control that comes from letting said figure dictate that narrative. (The first two episodes premiere tonight; the second two air on January 29th.) In...

Betty White’s life will be commemorated at a star-studded, televised NBC special on Monday, exactly one month after her death. On Jan. 31, the network will air Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl, a TV event that will feature President Joe Biden, Cher, Tina Fey, Drew Barrymore and other celebrities. “Co-stars, friends, admirers and those who shared special moments with White recount their favorite memories and reveal untold stories to commemorate the life and legacy of the trailblazing television star,” NBC said in a statement about the special. “The telecast...

At one point in his four-part documentary We Need To Talk About Cosby, W. Kamau Bell hands an iPad to his interview subjects and invites each of them to watch the iconic scene from The Cosby Show where Cliff Huxtable’s family lip syncs to Ray Charles’ “Night Time is the Right Time” as an anniversary present for Cliff’s parents: One by one, you see many of Bell’s guests beaming despite themselves. And why shouldn’t they? The Cosby scene is a master class in pleasing its viewers — its Black viewers...

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. Janet Jackson is back in the spotlight this week with the release of a new two-part documentary series airing on Lifetime and A&E. Simply titled, “JANET,” the doc is tied to the 40th anniversary of the singer’s self-titled debut album and was first teased at the beginning of January with a three-minute trailer. Now, the full Janet Jackson special is available to watch on TV and stream online....

Peacock has shared a new teaser from Bel-Air, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air reboot, which arrives on the streaming service on Super Bowl Sunday. The 45-second preview focuses on the confrontation at a West Philadelphia pickup basketball game that leads to the character Will Smith’s sojourn to Bel Air. While that incident is simply described in the opening credits from the original sitcom — where the main aggressor picks up the Will Smith and spins him around — the fight is much more harrowing in the dramatic reboot, with...

When you hear that Apple TV+’s The Afterparty was created by Christopher Miller — a.k.a. one half of the Lord-Miller team responsible for the 21 Jump Street and Lego Movie franchises, among others — and features a small army of some of the funniest actors working today, including Sam Richardson, Tiffany Haddish, Ben Schwartz, Ilana Glazer, and Ike Barinholtz, it would be safe to expect a laugh riot from beginning to end. The Afterparty is not really that — not because it’s trying and failing at gut-busting comedy, but because...

Pamela Anderson is a single woman, once again. The Baywatch actress is splitting with Dan Hayhurst, her bodyguard husband of little more than a year, a source close to the couple says. Anderson is filing for divorce in her native Canada, where the couple had been living since they tied the knot on Christmas Eve 2020 in a ceremony on the grounds of Anderson’s Vancouver Island home. “Pamela loves as authentically as she lives,” says the source, who dubbed the brief union a “pandemic whirlwind” that petered out. Anderson’s five...