Television

A review of this week’s The Book of Boba Fett, “From the Desert Comes a Stranger,” coming up just as soon as my big smile lets me get away with anything… Return of the Jedi was perhaps the most memorable moviegoing experience of my childhood — the sequence in and around Jabba the Hutt’s palace in particular. Each time a familiar character appeared on screen for the first time in this film, the crowd erupted in applause. They didn’t have to be doing anything interesting — Lando Calrissian simply lowers...

Julia Roberts embodies Martha Mitchell in the trailer for Gaslit, Starz’s forthcoming limited series that takes a new spin on the Watergate scandal. The actress is joined by Sean Penn, who plays Nixon’s loyal Attorney General and Martha Mitchell’s husband, John Mitchell. The series, premiering April 24, centers on Martha as the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both the presidency and her personal life to unravel. The show also stars Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham and Darby Camp, and was directed...

The Masked Singer judges Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke apparently walked off the set in disgust when Rudy Giuliani was unmasked during his taped appearance last week in the first episode of the hit show’s newest season, multiple reports say. According to Deadline, who first reported the news, the pair left the stage to protest Giuliani’s inclusion after the disgraced Donald Trump lawyer and former New York mayor’s reveal as a contestant on the show — although they later returned. The remaining two judges, Jenny McCarthy and Nicole Scherzinger, apparently...

Hello, my baby! Hello, my darling! Hello, my… “Cinnamon Girl?” With Neil Young’s and Joni Mitchell’s official catalogues removed from Spotify, there’s still at least one way fans can hear the famed songwriters’ tunes on the streaming service. Stephen Colbert tapped barbershop quartet the Chordon Bleus to reimagine some of the singers’ most famous works on The Late Show. In the clip — the second fake Spotify ad created by Colbert this week — fans are encouraged to enjoy Young’s and Mitchell’s music as “covered by the bands who haven’t...

There have been a lot of days lately where it’s felt like the traditional broadcast TV networks haven’t been trying very hard. Their primary goal, it so often seems, is to keep generating spin-offs of pre-existing franchises (coming soon, probably: FBI: IT Enterprise Services Division) and to provide library content for their respective streaming services. Sometimes, the broadcasters stop airing their more interesting shows altogether and send them straight to streaming, which is why Evil is now a Paramount+ exclusive rather than part of CBS’ primetime lineup. But from time...

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...