Television

The New York Times reports: Richard Chamberlain, who rose to fame as the heartthrob star of the television series “Dr. Kildare” in the early 1960s, proved his mettle by becoming a serious stage actor and went on to a new wave of acclaim as the omnipresent leading man of 1980s mini-series, died on Saturday night in Waimanalo, Hawaii, on the …

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports: Legendary actor, two-time Oscar winner and author Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their home in the Santa Fe Summit community northeast of the city. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed just after midnight Thursday the couple had died, along with their dog. Mendoza …

The New York Times reports: Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, “The ReidOut,” is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not …

Deadline reports: PBS is closing an office dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, following Donald Trump‘s series of executive orders targeting such programs. The announcement comes amid the prospect that public television funding will be targeted by the current administration and Republicans in Congress. In his first term, Trump sought to zero out funding for the Corporation for Public …

People Magazine reports: Paul Reubens is sharing his truth from beyond the grave. In a posthumous documentary, Pee-wee as Himself, which premiered Thursday, Jan. 23 at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the legendary comedian came out as gay after concealing his sexuality for the entirety of his career. Before he became known for playing Pee-wee Herman, Reubens revealed he was …

Deadline Hollywood reports: One of Hollywood’s worst weeks in just got worse. David Lynch, the four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Wild at Heart, The Elephant Man and others who also created the Showtime drama Twin Peaks, has died. He was 78. Lynch had been diagnosed with emphysema. Sources told Deadline that he was forced to relocate …

Front Office Sports reports: A former Fox Sports hairstylist alleges in a lawsuit that a network executive used “his position to sexually harass women,” as well as that Skip Bayless touched her inappropriately and propositioned her for sex. Noushin Faraji, who says she worked at Fox Sports from 2012 through last August, made a series of allegations in the 42-page …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Linda Lavin, the beloved veteran stage and TV actress known for her Emmy-nominated role in the 1976 sitcom Alice and for her Tony-winning performance in the 1986 play Broadway Bound, died today, Dec. 29. She was 87. The news comes as a shock as Lavin has been working as recently as this month, promoting her new Netflix …

Study Finds reports: Commissioned by UserTesting and conducted by Talker Research, the survey exposes the growing frustration with the current streaming landscape. The research paints a vivid picture of entertainment exhaustion, revealing that the average person now spends a staggering 110 hours per year — nearly five full days — simply scrolling through streaming platforms in search of something to …

NBC News reports: The Amazing Kreskin, the famous mentalist and frequent guest on “The Tonight Show,” died on Tuesday at age 89. Kreskin, whose real name was George Kresge, was born in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1935. He rose to fame in the ’70s through numerous TV appearances on shows including “The Mike Douglas Show,” “The Mervin Griffin Show” and …

People Magazine reports: Phil Robertson’s family is sharing an update on their patriarch’s health. On the Friday, Dec. 6 edition of the Unashamed with the Robertson Family podcast, the Duck Dynasty alum’s son, Jase, revealed that his father is in the “early stages” of Alzheimer’s disease. “Phil’s not doing well. I think I spoke on the 1000th podcast. We were …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Chuck Woolery, the charismatic game show host who kicked off the long run of Wheel of Fortune before spending 11 years playing matchmaker on Love Connection, has died. He was 83. For his Love Connection trademark, Woolery told viewers that the program would return after the commercials in “two and two” — two minutes and two …

NBC News reports: Comcast is expected to announce a plan Wednesday to spin off its cable networks into a separate company, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News. The split would cleave off some of NBCUniversal’s best-known brands, including MSNBC, E!, Syfy, Golf Channel, USA, CNBC and Oxygen, which now face the same cord-cutting challenges as many other …

Ars Technica reports: Amazon is shutting down Freevee, its free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service, as it heightens focus on selling ads on its Prime Video subscription service. Amazon, which has owned IMDb since 1998, launched Freevee as IMDb Freedive in 2019. The service let people watch movies and shows, including Freevee originals, on demand without a subscription fee. Amazon’s …

Variety reports: Teri Garr, the comic actress and singer who brought her buoyant personality to “Young Frankenstein” and was Oscar-nominated for “Tootsie,” died on Tuesday in Los Angeles after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. She was 79. An influential performer to comedians including Tina Fey, Garr was a familiar face in dozens of TV shows and films of the …

The New York Times reports: Mitzi Gaynor, the bubbly red-haired actress, singer and dancer who landed one of the most coveted movie roles of the mid-20th century, the female lead in “South Pacific,” but who abandoned film as the era of movie musicals came to an end, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 93. “South Pacific” was a …

Deadline Hollywood reports: John Amos, the actor whose characters in Good Times, Roots, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show lent the 1970s a solid share of its too-few portrayals of strong Black male role models, died August 21 in Los Angeles of natural causes. He was 84. His death, announced by son Kelly Christopher Amos, had not been disclosed until …

Reuters reports: DirecTV on Monday agreed to buy EchoStar’s satellite television business that includes Dish TV, capping decades of on-and-off talks to create one of the nation’s largest pay TV distributors with a combined 20 million subscribers. The transaction comes at a time when satellite TV services DirecTV and Dish are hemorrhaging market share to competitors like Netflix and Amazon’s …

The Guardian reports: Maggie Smith, the prolific, multi-award-winning actor whose work ranged from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie to Harry Potter to Downton Abbey, has died aged 89. The news was confirmed by her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens in a statement. They said: “She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. Smith’s gift …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: The first (and possibly only) presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump drew a substantially larger audience than a June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden. Early Nielsen ratings figures for Tuesday’s telecast, produced by ABC News but simulcast on multiple broadcast and cable networks, show the debate drawing about …