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The Hill
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hill
As Hollywood taps into American empathy, conservatives call it a sin
'Superman' isn't the only summer film I've been looking forward to. ' Freakier Friday ' hits theaters on Aug. 8 and I can't wait — and not only because I'm expecting it to be a lot of fun, but because I think our country needs a dose of good-hearted humor, the same way we needed Superman reaffirming the values of 'truth, justice and the American way.' 'Freakier Friday' is a sequel to ' Freaky Friday,' which came out 22 years ago, during President George W. Bush's first term. Honestly, that feels like a lifetime ago. Come to think of it, it's more than half a lifetime ago for me. If you haven't seen 'Freaky Friday,' you should. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan were brilliant, and it's exciting that they're both back in the movie's starring roles, along with most of the original cast. Fantasy comedy movies, like superhero movies, are about delivering good times, not political messages. At the same time, movies and television shows and other kinds of storytelling succeed by tapping into common experiences and our shared hopes and aspirations. The best of them can make us think and laugh at the same time. That was the genius of shows like ' All in the Family,' created by my organization's founder, Norman Lear. 'Freaky Friday' was essentially about empathy — seeing the world through someone else's eyes in order to better understand their thoughts, feelings and actions. In this case, it was about a mother and teenage daughter who were often at odds before a bit of mystical magic swapped their identities and bodies, literally forcing them to experience the world as the other does. The movie succeeded in being both funny and thought-provoking, silly and moving on a basic human level. In promotional materials for 'Freakier Friday,' Curtis and Lohan tell us that the identity swaps and complications in the new movie are even more complicated — freakier all the way around. That feels appropriate, because things in our country are certainly freakier now than they were 22 years ago — and not in a good or fun way. It's impossible to say what aspect of President Donald Trump's MAGA movement is most horrific, but it could very well be its hostility to empathy. The policies of the Trump administration require the systemic suppression of empathy. How else could you support taking health care away from people who are barely making ends meet so you can shovel more money into the bulging pockets of billionaires? How else could you be so delighted about brutally abducting people who have raised families and contributed to their communities for decades that you turn the operations into music videos? How else would you take such joy in the hopelessness of people kidnapped and sent to concentration camps that you pose for photos and sell merchandise celebrating their suffering? It's disturbing to me as a Christian that so many conservative Christians, who make up a big part of Trump's base, are along for the ride. I understand that people have widely differing interpretations of how their faith informs their political opinions. I understand that people of integrity can disagree on what policies will create the best outcomes. What I don't understand is how so many Christians in the MAGA movement not only accept the Trump administration's cruelty as a necessary evil, but seem to actually revel in it. I imagine that many Americans instinctively feel revulsion when witnessing official lawlessness and brutality. They feel empathy for the suffering of struggling and disrupted families. In other words, they feel empathy. That's not useful to Team Trump, so they tell their followers to reject those empathetic impulses. That's how we get the sickening spectacle of right-wing influencers warning against ' toxic empathy ' and MAGA-minded preachers declaring that empathy is a 'sin ' — a sin! That's a hard sell for this Christian. I see empathy at the core of the golden rule, and of the commandment to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. I love the reaction I've seen appear on church message boards and hand-drawn protest signs: 'If empathy is a sin, sin boldly.' That's the kind of joyful defiance we need more of these dispiriting days. We also need humor and good company to keep us going. That's why I'm looking forward to laughing along with a crowd watching Freakier Friday. See you in the theater.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rob Reiner on the Making of His Almost-Didn't-Happen Comedy Classic ‘This Is Spinal Tap'
When Rob Reiner's directorial debut, 'This Is Spinal Tap,' opened in theaters in early 1984, it quickly became a cult classic beloved by music fans and cinephiles alike for its hilarious portrayal of the title band, a heavy metal group plagued by mishaps while on tour promoting its latest album. Told in a documentary style in which Reiner riffed on films like D.A. Pennebaker's 'Don't Look Back' and Martin Scorsese's 'The Last Waltz' to tell Spinal Tap's story, the film was incredibly influential, spawning a whole series of mockumentaries by 'Spinal Tap' band member Christopher Guest ('Waiting for Guffman,' 'Best in Show,' etc.) and television series like 'The Office' and 'Parks and Recreation.' Yet, when Reiner tried to raise money for the movie, no one was interested — even after he shot a 20-minute reel of scenes to demonstrate what he was going for. 'We went to every single studio and got turned down everywhere,' Reiner told IndieWire's Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. 'Nobody wanted it. We went from studio to studio with a 16mm film can under our arms.' More from IndieWire Michael Madsen Remembered by Harvey Keitel, Virginia Madsen, Vivica A. Fox, and More: Late Actor Was a 'Poet Disguised as an Outlaw' Onscreen and Off Ringo Starr Helped Rewrite Scenes for the Beatles Biopics: I 'Would Never Do That' It didn't help that Reiner was known as a TV sitcom actor, thanks to his role as 'Meathead' on the hit comedy 'All in the Family.' 'In those days, there was a big division between movies and television,' Reiner said. 'Television people were peons, and the movie people were royalty. They looked down on us.' Luckily, Reiner got his footage to Avco-Embassy executive Lindsay Doran, who loved it and got studio head Frank Capra, Jr. to agree to distribute the film. Reiner thought he was home free, and then another obstacle sprang up. 'This was after a couple years, so I'm excited,' Reiner said. 'Then Jerry Perenchio and Norman Lear bought Avco-Embassy, and they decided to throw out everything they had in development — including 'This Is Spinal Tap.'' Reiner begged for a meeting with Perenchio and Lear, who he knew from 'All in the Family,' and passionately argued that 'This Is Spinal Tap' would be a big hit with young audiences. 'I heard that after the meeting Norman said, 'Who's gonna tell him he can't do this?' Because I was so passionate.' Reiner and the actors playing Spinal Tap — Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer — wrote an outline for the film but improvised all of the dialogue, and Reiner covered the action as though he were shooting a documentary, with minimal blocking and a vérité shooting style designed to catch behavior on the fly. 'We had a cameraman named Peter Smokler who had shot a lot of rock and roll documentaries,' Reiner said. 'He had a good instinct for where to go, and a lot of the time I would act like a human camera dolly, I would get behind him and physically move him.' For the film's concert scenes, Reiner had three cameras and he shot each song three times to give himself nine angles. While the concert footage primarily mimicked music documentaries like the Led Zeppelin film 'The Song Remains the Same,' the director also had fun recreating '50s and '60s TV shows for 'archival' performances from Spinal Tap's supposed early days as British Invasion rockers and psychedelic hippies. He says those moments came straight out of his own memories. 'I'm the first generation that grew up on television,' Reiner said. 'My father [legendary writer, director, and actor Carl Reiner] was on television before we owned a television. We got a television in 1951 and my dad started with Sid Caesar on 'Your Show of Shows' in 1949. From when I was four years old, I just watched television, so in my computer brain I knew what these shows all looked like, 'Hullabaloo' and 'Shindig' and Dick Clark.' Between the performances and the backstage material, Reiner found that he had a lot of footage by the time he got to the editing room. 'Oh, God, it was just like a documentary, where you have millions of feet of film,' Reiner said. His first cut was four hours long, and that didn't include three hours of interview footage — meaning that the initial version of 'Spinal Tap' ran somewhere around seven hours. Slowly but surely, Reiner and his editors whittled away at the movie to get it down to a tight 84 minutes. Reiner found himself rewriting the movie in the editing room by creating an audio track that had all the best jokes and then cutting the image to match. 'I learned from Bob Leighton, our film editor who I picked because he had done a ton of BBC documentaries, that when you put together a documentary the thing that jars you isn't cuts in the visuals, it's the dialogue,' Reiner said. 'If that doesn't match up, that'll be jarring. Sometimes I was on people was on people who were not talking and the best jokes came from off camera, but that's okay. As long as you can marry them together dialogue-wise you can be on whatever.' While sifting through the endless footage, Reiner found it was easy to lose perspective on whether or not the movie he was making was actually any good. 'You sit there and start to question, 'Is this funny?'' Reiner said. 'And then the first time you find out whether you were right or wrong is when you put it in front of an audience and then they'll tell you if it's funny or not.' In the case of 'Spinal Tap,' Reiner said it took a while for the film to find an audience because some people were confused about whether or not the movie was a comedy or an actual documentary — and some rock and rollers were insulted by what they saw as a mockery of their work. Over the years, however, both cinephiles and music fans — and many musicians, including Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge, and Metallica's Lars Ulrich — have embraced the film, and it's now returning to theaters in a fantastic looking and sounding 4K restoration. Reiner is also preparing a sequel for release this fall. 'It's finished and it's coming out September 12,' Reiner said, adding that although it's essentially in the same style as the original, there will be a few upgrades. 'It's a tiny bit slicker, because Marty Di Bergi [the director played by Reiner in the original] has seen all the reality television shows and all these four-part and six-part docs,' Reiner said. 'But I wanted to try to do it pretty much the way we did the first one.' The new 4K restoration of 'This Is Spinal Tap' will screen in theaters nationwide from July 5-7 via Fathom Events. To hear Rob Reiner's episode of Filmmaker Toolkit and other great filmmaker conversations, make sure you subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Best of IndieWire The Best Lesbian Movies Ever Made, from 'D.E.B.S.' and 'Carol' to 'Bound' and 'Pariah' The Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in June, from 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window' to 'Emily the Criminal' All 12 Wes Anderson Movies, Ranked, from 'Bottle Rocket' to 'The Phoenician Scheme'
Metro
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
54 years of groundbreaking LGBT TV that shaped what we watch today
In 2025, LGBT+ representation on TV still isn't perfect – but a lot of hard work has been done over the years to make sure things are better than they were. To celebrate the work done to make TV more accessible for everyone in the LGBT+ world, Metro has compiled seven examples of storylines that made things that little bit better each time (with some honourable mentions). From one of the first-ever LGBT+ characters on TV to groundbreaking British dramas of the 2000s, all the way through to a flagship 2010s Netflix series. The storylines chosen for consideration all fall between 1968, when the Hays Code was abolished, and 2015, when same-sex marriage was finally legalised across the United States. Implemented in 1934, the Hays Code rigidly enforced what was acceptable (and unacceptable) to be shown on TV in America, and it had far-reaching consequences in the UK as well. In the days since the disgraceful and dated guidelines were finally repealed, TV has come a long way – here are some milestone episodes that got us here. Across its eight years on TV between 1971 and 1979, American comedy series All in the Family gained a reputation for tackling tough subjects sensitively (for the era anyway). With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications! The series is credited with allowing the sitcom format to introduce more dramatic moments into episodic storylines while also dealing with serious topics in a lighthearted manner. It didn't waste any time, with its fifth episode – titled Judging Books by Covers – examining LGBT+ themes and introducing somebody who is widely believed to be one of the first openly gay characters on TV. In the episode, protagonist Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) makes disparaging remarks about an effeminate man named Roger and presumes he must be gay. However, later in the episode, Archie finds out that one of his old college football buddies, Steve (Phil Carey), is gay and learns a valuable lesson about how to treat other people. The brave episode was controversial from the get-go, with sitting US President Richard Nixon accusing the series of 'glorifying homosexuality' with its content. For its time, The Golden Girls had a subversive attitude from the beginning, focusing on four single, mature women sharing a house together in Miami, Florida. It wasn't afraid to tackle weighty subjects either, and often deftly handled tricky topics for the 1980s, with the writers facing sensitive plotlines fearlessly and head-on. In the season 2 episode Isn't It Romantic? – aired in 1986 – Dorothy (Bea Arthur) invites her friend Jean to stay at the house that she shares with Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Sophia (Estelle Getty). Soon it's revealed that Jean is a lesbian and that she has a crush on Rose, which instantly rubs Blanche up the wrong way – not because Jean is gay, but because Jean fancies Rose instead of her. The rest of the episode pokes fun at the scenario, but not at Jean's sexuality. Instead the script gets several big laughs out of how self-involved Blanche becomes. It wouldn't be the last time The Golden Girls took a glance at LGBT+ themes, with future storylines analysing the topic from different perspectives. To this day, The Golden Girls remains popular with the community, with one Reddit fan explaining: '[The girls] were confident, secure, and loved themselves for who they were. LGBT+ people who felt alienated with society identified with these outsiders.' In 2023, IndieWire reporter Wilson Chapman said that TV show Frasier's queerness went far deeper than many viewers realised during its 11-year run between 1993 and 2004. Originally conceived as a spin-off from Cheers, Frasier soon took on a life of its own and became a hugely successful and acclaimed comedy in its own right. That process was helped along by episodes like season 2's The Matchmaker, which was originally broadcast in October 1994. In the episode, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) invites a man named Tom for dinner at his home, unaware that Tom thinks the dinner is an official date between the pair. Over the course of the episode, stereotypes about gay men are thoroughly deconstructed – the show's writers received a GLAAD Media Award for the show's portrayal of LGBT characters. In 2022, Reddit user Barbourwhat explained: 'TV never really depicted [gay men] as what they are – ordinary people. Tom wasn't a cartoon version of gay people and Frasier didn't treat him differently. He was just another person.' By its fourth season, TV executives for The Ellen Show were growing frustrated with its reluctance to depict Ellen Morgan's (Ellen DeGeneres) dating life. To remedy this, they suggested to show writer Johnathan Stark that Ellen should buy a puppy in order to focus the show's plot and boost falling ratings. Instead, Stark had another idea: sticking with the title The Puppy Episode, the writers began negotiating with Disney to have Ellen Morgan come out as a lesbian that week. At the same time, Ellen DeGeneres came out in real life. The buzz around the upcoming Puppy Episode was huge – major TV star Oprah Winfrey applied to be a guest actress on the show and, in 1997, said she would 'go to Hell' to defend Ellen's rights. In an emotional scene from The Puppy Episode, Ellen confesses her sexuality to her new friend Susan (played by Jurassic Park star Laura Dern) and later reveals the truth to her friends and neighbours. The episode was watched by 42million people (a series high) and was initially well received. But the backlash from some quarters was swift and horrible: The Ellen Show was slapped with a parental advisory warning and was cancelled a few months later. Ellen and Laura Dern's careers also suffered in the aftermath – while Ellen was briefly blacklisted from TV, Laura was out of work for 18 months as a result of her association. The backlash arguably proved the episode's point – that coming out can be tough to confront, hard to navigate, and unbelievably risky. Section 28 – which prohibited the 'promotion of homosexuality' in British schools – might have been repealed in 2003, but its legacy deeply impacted kids in classrooms up and down the UK for years afterwards. Not to mention that the 2000s saw a widespread increase in Islamophobia across the country, sparked by the War on Terror and further fueled by the news media. Which is why it was vitally important for E4 youth drama Skins to focus on the story of openly gay teenager Maxxie Oliver (Mitch Hewer) and his Muslim best friend Anwar Kharral (Dev Patel). Close friends for many years, Maxxie's sexuality doesn't appear to matter to Anwar at all. However, after finding out that Maxxie has secretly drawn intimate portraits of Anwar, the two fall out over Maxxie's sexuality conflicting with Anwar's religious beliefs. Things come to a head in the season finale, when Maxxie refuses to attend Anwar's 17th birthday party unless Anwar tells his conservative dad, Istiak (Inder Monocha), the truth about Maxxie's sexuality. When Istiak finds out, the two kids expect the worst… only for Istiak to comfort Maxxie. Istiak tells Maxxie that, while his beliefs have prevented him from understanding homosexuality so far, it won't always be that way. The two friends make up and remain close until the first generation of the cast leaves college and starts their lives by heading off to different universities. On Reddit in 2024, Jytsma said: 'The way the story was done was perfect. They are best friends, their beliefs should in theory oppose each other – but they love each other nonetheless.' The Love Boat (1982) An early 80s episode of The Love Boat titled Gopher's Roommate has been celebrated for its sensitive portrayal of transgender character Rachel, played by cisgender woman Mackenzie Phillips. One Life to Live (1992) Long-running soap opera One Life to Live introduced Billy Douglas in 1992, who became the first openly gay teenage character on American TV. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) Groundbreaking season 4 episode Rejoined became famous for depicting one of the first ever lesbian kisses seen on American TV. Friends (1996) Friends was never great for LGBT representation, but season 2 episode The One With the Lesbian Wedding is credited by fans with finally treating Carol and Susan like a loving, genuine couple. The Simpsons (1997) In season 8 of The Simpsons, Homer's homophobia is exposed and his ways are changed thanks to loveable new friend John, played by none other than John Waters. Coronation Street (1998) Hayley Cropper was the first transgender character to appear on a British soap. She was played by cisgender actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who later accepted she wouldn't be able to play the role these days. Queer as Folk (1999) Russell T. Davies' influential short-lived series about three gay men living in Manchester spawned a majorly successful American remake. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1999) Hush, a mostly silent episode of Buffy, has been called 'an elegy for its gays' as fan-favourite characters Willow and Tara begin what would become one of the first long-term lesbian relationships on TV. The Wire (2002) Michael K. Williams' iconic stick-up man Omar Little was described as 'the most important queer character of the century' by TV critic Razvan Ion in 2023. The Sopranos (2006) Season 6 episode Johnny Cakes, which depicted the love and romance in Vito's relationship with Jim, brought up the ugly resentment and homophobia of Tony Soprano and his crew and exposed them as being unable to adapt to the modern world. Ugly Betty (2007) Season 1 episode Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a heartbreaking outing for Ugly Betty, as 'love to hate him' character Marc St. James unexpectedly comes out to his conservative mother. Glee (2009) Adorable Kurt Hummel was one of the most recognisable faces on TV during Glee's early days, which is why his father's touching acceptance of his coming out warmed so many hearts 16 years ago. Modern Family (2013) The season 5 premiere sees main characters Mitchell and Cameron celebrate the legalisation of same-sex marriage in California by proposing to one another. Syed Masood (Marc Elliot) made his first appearance on EastEnders in 2009, a year after Christian Clarke (John Partridge) had come to Albert Square. After initially marrying Amira Shah (Preeya Kalidas), Syed comes to terms with his sexuality and enters a relationship with Christian, despite the pressure from his family and his Muslim faith. Wanting to avoid stereotypical storylines about homosexuality, writer Diederick Santer said Syed and Christian's story was 'more about the inner turmoil and conflict [they] endure'. The storyline had a major impact on TV viewers, with Inside Soap readers voting Syed as their favourite member of EastEnders' Masood family in 2011. Christian and Syed ultimately resolved their 'inner turmoil and conflict', marrying each other during a 2012 storyline and eventually moving to America to start their life together. EastEnders producer Lorraine Newman thanked Marc and John and said: 'Their characters have been a huge success. Their storylines have broken boundaries that have not been seen in a soap before.' In 2024, a Reddit user commented on the storyline, saying: '[Syed and Christian] got me into the show, so I've got a lot of love for them, particularly as I was a closeted gay teen at the time.' While great strides were made with some queer storylines on TV in the 2000s, transgender representation in media was still a mixed bag (to say the least – and, honestly, it still is!). 2013 was a landmark year, though, thanks to the third episode of Netflix's flagship series Orange Is the New Black – titled Lesbian Request Denied and starring Laverne Cox as Sophia Burset. OITNB initially told the story of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a privileged middle-class woman sentenced to time in prison for drug running. Once there, she met an incredible ensemble of diverse characters who slowly but surely surpassed Piper – while Piper became just another inmate at Litchfield Women's Penitentiary, the stories of everyone else became far more important. Among them was Sophia, a transgender hairdresser in the prison's salon, who had been jailed for using fake credit cards to pay for her medication and gender reassignment surgery. More Trending Flashbacks show Sophia's life before prison – when she was a firefighter dealing with gender dysphoria, the subsequent collapse of her marriage, and estrangement from her son Michael. Writing for The AV Club in 2013, Myles McNutt said of the episode: 'Sophia is elevated above Piper for a week as we learn Sophia's own story of becoming.' The role of Sophia turned Laverne Cox into a star, eventually winning a Daytime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work on the show. View More » In 2014, Laverne became the first ever trans actress to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and the first transgender person to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, for an interview titled 'The Transgender Tipping Point'. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Iconic 90s BBC drama is now free to watch on UK streaming service MORE: I'm a man and I don't let myself climax during sex MORE: Chris Tarrant reveals heartbreaking reason he left TV career after 52 years
Business Wire
26-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Fubo Adds Weigel Broadcasting's Networks Including Top-Rated* MeTV and WCIU, the U Chicago
NEW YORK & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FuboTV Inc. (d/b/a/ Fubo) (NYSE: FUBO) and Weigel Broadcasting Co. announced today a multi-year agreement for distribution of seven networks including MeTV, America's #1 classic TV entertainment network, H&I and MOVIES! as well as WCIU, The U, the home of the WNBA's Chicago Sky, on the sports-first live TV streaming platform. Subscribers of Fubo's Pro and Elite channel plans can now stream Weigel's national entertainment networks while customers in the Chicago DMA also have access to WCIU-TV's local sports, news and entertainment programming. Share Subscribers of Fubo's Pro and Elite channel plans can now stream Weigel's national entertainment networks while customers in the Chicago DMA also have access to WCIU-TV's local sports, news and entertainment programming. WCIU, The U's sports coverage includes more than 30 games from the WNBA's Chicago Sky during the 2025 season. 'In partnership with Weigel Broadcasting, we are thrilled to bring Fubo subscribers even more entertainment programming, including some of the most-loved TV shows and movies of all time,' said Todd Mathers, executive vice president, content strategy and acquisition, Fubo. 'Our subscribers in Chicago can also follow the Sky's pursuit of a second WNBA championship this season, as well as local news and entertainment content, with the addition of WCIU, The U to their channel lineup.' 'Weigel is excited to add our entertainment networks and Chicago's WCIU, The U to the Fubo platform,' said Jim Hall, vice president, business development, Weigel Broadcasting Co. 'Giving viewers access to our programming, alongside the popular sports and general entertainment content that Fubo is well known for, is a win-win for their subscribers, our viewers and both our companies.' The Weigel networks launching on Fubo include: MeTV: MeTV, America's No.1 classic TV entertainment network, presents over 60 different programs every week, more than any other network featuring classic TV. MeTV shows include classics like M*A*S*H, The Andy Griffith Show, All in the Family, Perry Mason, Carol Burnett, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animation, Gunsmoke, Adam-12, Leave It to Beaver, The Waltons, The Three Stooges, The Love Boat and dozens more. Plus, fans of all ages enjoy our original MeTV hosted horror movie show Svengoolie, our original weekday morning show Toon In With Me, and our original pop culture series Collector's Call. MeTV is 'Memorable Entertainment Television' for the whole family to enjoy. H&I: Heroes & Icons presents a wide variety of heroic characters showcased in iconic TV series, heroes who are aspirational, inspirational, or just plain fun. Western heroes, Justice heroes, bold and All-American heroes, H&I has them all! Featured series include NCIS, Walker: Texas Ranger, Nash Bridges, Black Sheep Squadron, The A-Team, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-O, Batman, Adventures of Superman, Wonder Woman, all five-live action original Star Trek TV series and more! MeTV+: MeTV+ is the companion network to MeTV, America's #1 classic television network. Offering everything viewers love about MeTV, plus more, MeTV+ is home to even more Memorable Entertainment Television favorites from our deep library. Weekdays tune in for timeless TV dramas including Police Woman, TJ Hooker, The Mod Squad, The Streets of San Francisco and the original Hawaii Five-O. Weeknights gather round for classic TV westerns including The Rifleman, The Big Valley, Lawman, The Restless Gun and Have Gun – Will Travel. Every weekend, we feature classic sitcoms, westerns, action and adventure series and even classic cartoons. Getting so much more Memorable Entertainment Television is always a plus on Me TV+! MeTV Toons: MeTV Toons is dedicated exclusively to the very best of classic animation, from Hollywood-era shorts to made-for-television favorites. MeTV Toons welcomes dozens of the world's most loved classic cartoons to this new destination, hearkening back to the glory days of cartoons on TV with familiar friends including Warner Bros. Discovery's most famous animated characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, George Jetson, Top Cat, Yogi Bear, Popeye, Johnny Quest and Fred Flintstone, to name just a few. Alongside Warner Bros. properties, other beloved cartoon characters joining MeTV Toons include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Huckleberry Hound, Woody Woodpecker, Casper, Betty Boop, Speed Racer and many more. Catchy Comedy: Catchy Comedy is America's front row to fun, showcasing some of TV's greatest comedy series, headlined by the funny women and men who became audience favorites, household names and TV legends. Weekdays in daytime catch the ground-breaking and hilarious leading ladies of television comedy. In primetime, the legendary comedies from Norman Lear take center stage. In late nights, it's a celebration of TV's smartest and best written comedies. And every weekend, enjoy the Catchy Binge from our deep library of TV comedy favorites. Catch all the smiles, catch all the fun, catch all the laughs on Catchy Comedy. MOVIES!: The Movies! TV Network is America's classic movie destination. Showcasing our 'Reel Variety' from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema, Movies! features a wide array of the best films from major studios including Warner Bros., Fox/Disney, Columbia/Sony and others, including hard to find independent films and niche distributors. Enjoy award winning and acclaimed action, suspense, western, comedy, drama, Film Noir and other genres, starring the biggest names on the silver screen including John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Elvis Presley, Meryl Streep, Humphrey Bogart and many more. Working with the best prints available, Movies! never edits films for time. Movies! Our name says it all! Story Television: Story Television is a broadcast TV network focused exclusively on history and world events, presenting real people, historic moments and riveting stories that span from across the ages to the present day. On Story Television, every moment is dedicated to compelling stories rooted in historical and factual events and the real people who dared to explore, experiment, and expand the world around them. Stories include those of military and combat, innovation, world events, American history, modern achievement, unexplained phenomena and biographical profiles. Story Television, every moment tells a story. WCIU, The U Chicago: WCIU, The U is Chicago's go-to local independent entertainment station, with well-known sitcoms, court programming, dramas and talk. WCIU, The U is also the broadcast home of the WNBA Chicago Sky, Illinois High School Association Championship Football and Basketball, and Game of the Week featuring girls and boys high school sports. *Source: Nielsen NNTV; Year-to-date 2025 (12/30/24-6/8/25); Live+Same Day; Panel Only; Program Average Total Day. Persons 2+ = Total Viewers About Fubo With a global mission to aggregate the best in TV, including premium sports, news and entertainment content, through a single app, FuboTV Inc. (d/b/a Fubo) (NYSE: FUBO) aims to transcend the industry's current TV model. Ranked among The Americas' Fastest-Growing Companies 2025 by the Financial Times, the company operates Fubo in the U.S., Canada and Spain and Molotov in France. In the U.S., Fubo is a sports-first cable TV replacement product aggregating more than 400 live sports, news and entertainment networks and is the only live TV streaming platform with every English-language Nielsen-rated sports channel (source: Nielsen Total Viewers, 2024). Leveraging Fubo's proprietary data and technology platform optimized for live TV and sports viewership, subscribers can engage with the content they are watching through an intuitive and personalized streaming experience. Fubo has continuously pushed the boundaries of live TV streaming, and was the first virtual MVPD to launch 4K streaming, MultiView and personalized game alerts. Learn more at About Weigel Broadcasting Co. Weigel Broadcasting Co. is a family-owned media company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company owns and operates national television networks, as well as local broadcast stations throughout the country. Weigel is a leader in broadcast television with MeTV, Memorable Entertainment Television, the number one rated classic TV entertainment network, as well as the Movies! Network in cooperation with the Fox Television Stations, the Catchy Comedy Network, the H&I - Heroes & Icons Network, the Start TV Network and the Dabl Network in association with the CBS Television Stations, the Story Television Network, and the MeTV Toons Network in collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery. Weigel produces the original network TV programs Svengoolie, Toon In With Me and Collector's Call. Weigel's local stations include CBS, ABC, The CW, MyNet, Telemundo and Univision network affiliates and independent stations, offering a mix of entertainment programming, local news and professional and college sports broadcasts in 28 U.S. markets including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Weigel is the creator of the nationally syndicated music format MeTV FM. For more information on Weigel, visit: Fubo Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements of FuboTV Inc. ('Fubo') that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our business strategy and plans, partnerships, sports programming and live events, and distribution. The words 'could,' 'will,' 'plan,' 'intend,' 'anticipate,' 'approximate,' 'expect,' 'potential,' 'believe' or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. 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The Age
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Loretta Swit, who played ‘Hot Lips' Houlihan in M.A.S.H., dead at 87
The growing awareness of feminism in the '70s spurred Houlihan's transformation from caricature to real person, but a lot of the change was due to Swit's influence on the scriptwriters. 'Around the second or third year I decided to try to play her as a real person, in an intelligent fashion, even if it meant hurting the jokes,' Swit told Suzy Kalter, author of The Complete Book of 'M.A.S.H.' 'To oversimplify it, I took each traumatic change that happened in her life and kept it. I didn't go into the next episode as if it were a different character in a different play. She was a character in constant flux; she never stopped developing.' M.A.S.H. wasn't an instant hit. It finished its first season in 46th place, out of 75 network TV series, but it nabbed nine Emmy nominations. It was rewarded with a better time slot for its sophomore season, paired on Saturday nights with All in the Family, then TV's highest-rated show. At the 1974 Emmys, it was crowned best comedy, with Alda winning as best comedy actor. The series also survived despite cast churn. In addition to Swit and Alda, the first season featured Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville and Gary Burghoff. Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell and David Ogden Stiers would later be added, while Jamie Farr and William Christopher had expanded roles. Loading 'Loretta Swit's portrayal of Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan was groundbreaking – bringing heart, humour, and strength to one of television comedy's most enduring roles. Her talent extended well beyond that iconic character, with acclaimed work on both stage and screen that showcased her intelligence, versatility, and passion,' National Comedy Centre Executive Director Journey Gunderson said in a statement. 'More of a real person' Swit appeared in all but 11 episodes of the series, nearly four times longer than the Korean War itself, exploring issues like PTSD, sexism and racism. Swit pushed for a better representation for women. 'One of the things I liked, with Loretta's prodding, was every time I had a chance to write for her character, we'd get away from the Hot Lips angle and find out more about who Margaret was. She became more of a real person,' Alda told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. The series ended on a happy note for Houlihan, who spends much of the finale debating whether she wants to head to Tokyo or Belgium for her next overseas post. Ultimately, she opts to return to America and work at a hospital, citing her father – a career Army man. Loading Swit didn't personally agree that was the correct decision for a military-minded official: 'I didn't think that was correct for my Margaret,' she told Yahoo Entertainment in 2023. 'I think her next move was Vietnam. So I didn't agree with that, but that's what they wanted her to do.' But the actor did get to write the speech that Houlihan delivers to her fellow nurses on their final night together, in which she says: 'It's been an honour and privilege to have worked with you. And I'm very, very proud to have known you.' 'I was consumed with writing that. And I still get letters from women all over the world who became nurses because of Margaret Houlihan. To have contributed to someone's life like that is remarkable,' she told Yahoo Entertainment. During her run, Houlihan had an affair with Hawkeye's foil, the bumbling Frank Burns, played by Linville in the TV version, and in Season 5, Houlihan returns from a stay in Tokyo engaged to a handsome lieutenant colonel, a storyline that Swit says she advocated for with the writers. 'I told them: 'Can you imagine what fun you're going to have with Larry when I come back to town and I tell him I'm engaged? He'll rip the doors off of the mess tent!' And that's exactly what they had him do. So we were all of the same mind.' Towards the end, Swit was tempted to leave the show. She played the role of Chris Cagney in a 1981 television movie, Cagney & Lacey, and was offered the part when it was picked up as a midseason series for the spring of 1982. But producers insisted she stay with M.A.S.H. for its last two seasons. Swit told The Florida Times-Union in 2010 she might have stayed with M.A.S.H. anyway. 'You can't help but get better as an actor working with scripts like that,' she said. 'If you're in something that literate, well, we got spoiled.' In 2022, James Poniewozik, The New York Times ′ chief television critic, looked back on the show and said it held up well: 'Its blend of madcap comedy and pitch-dark drama – the laughs amplifying the serious stakes, and vice versa – is recognisable in today's dramedies, from Better Things to Barry, that work in the DMZ between laughter and sadness.' Loading After the TV series, Swit became a vocal animal welfare activist, selling SwitHeart perfume and her memoir through her official website, with proceeds benefiting various animal-related non-profit groups. In 1983, she married actor Dennis Holahan, whom she'd met when he was a guest star on M.A.S.H. They divorced in 1995. A migrants' daughter Born in Passaic, New Jersey, the daughter of Polish immigrants, Swit enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, then paid her dues for years in touring productions. In 1969, she arrived in Hollywood and was soon seen in series such as Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, Mission Impossible and Bonanza. Then in 1972, she got her big break when she was asked to audition for the role of 'Hot Lips'. She would regularly return to theatre, starring on Broadway in 1975 in Same Time, Next Year and The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 1986. She was in Amorous Crossing, a romantic comedy, at Alhambra Theatre & Dining in 2010 and in North Carolina Theatre's production of Mame in 2003.
