Cream is one of the most influential bands to break out of the mid to late 60s. The power trio consisting of Jack Bruce on bass and vocals, Eric Clapton on guitar and vocals and Ginger Baker on the drums released just four albums during their very short time together. The group formed in 1966 in London and defined the psychedelic and blues-based rock music of the time with classic songs “Sunshine of Your Love,” “White Room,” “Strange Brew,” and the George Harrison and Clapton-penned “Badge.”

The group was a trailblazer at the time and is credited with inspiring many hard rock and heavy metal acts. Jack Bruce’s unique style and thumping bass attack inspired many players that followed. While Clapton was hitting his stride as a guitar god with his amazing and sought-after “woman tone,” created by using his 1964 Gibson SG guitar with the tone knob peeled back through a cranked Marshall amp. The warm and creamy distorted tone still has a sense of mystery as guitarists have been trying to emulate it since. Ginger Baker’s unorthodox drumming with his jazz and African polyrhythmic influences were far from straightforward and at times complicated the music. Together, the trio created a torrent of sounds ranging from psychedelic pop to dirty blues, encapsulating an incredible catalog of songs that will live on forever.

In the book, The Uncanny Origins & Unlikely Fortunes of Eric Clapton & Cream, Jack Bruce explains the magic behind the three-piece band. “Ginger had a rhythm element, Eric had a knowledge of the blues, but I had something else which took the band somewhere else. I think that’s the important thing. That’s what made the band different from a lot of other bands. We didn’t just do cover versions of the blues a la The Yardbirds. I love the blues, but I wanted to make my own statement to carry the thing further forward.”

Cream was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2005, they reunited for a final run of shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Ranked by the quality of the songs, overall sound and cultural impact, here are Cream’s studio albums.

4

‘Goodbye’ (1969)

Cream released its final album, Goodbye, after the group parted ways. The album features three studio tracks and three live cuts. The live tracks were recorded in Los Angeles in 1968 and showcase the band’s high-powered live show featuring improvisational elements and great jams. “I’m So Glad” and “Politician” are amazing takes that open the window into the live power of the trio.

“Badge” is the best studio cut on the album. It was co-written by Clapton and George Harrison of The Beatles. The band planned to have each member write a tune for their grand finale. Clapton and Harrison teamed up to write the esoteric song with the classic lines, “I told you not to wander around in the dark / I told you about the swans, that they live in the park,” inspired by Ringo Starr. The song features Clapton’s iconic chorus-driven guitar riff about a minute into the tune and a fantastic solo before diving back into the main theme. The final track “What a Bringdown”, written by Baker, rotates between a 6/4 verse and a 5/4 timing on the chorus, showcasing their progressive side. The intro sounds strikingly familiar to Blind Faith’s “Do What You Like,” both of which were released in 1969.

3

‘Fresh Cream’ (1966)

Fresh Cream is the debut album released in late 1966. The effort was recorded in just 10 days and put the power trio on the map with psychedelic pop songs “I Feel Free,” “N.S.U.,” “I’m So Glad.” Eric Clapton’s woman guitar tone is in full effect, especially on the blistering on bluesy songs “Sleepy Time Time,” and the covers “Spoonful” and, “Rollin’ and Tumblin’.”

The album dabbles into chaotic territory as the band fuses blues, hard rock and psychedelic improvisation, which helped propel a new sound to the masses. The bombastic nature of some of the performances on the album went on to inspire a bevy of hard rock and heavy metal musicians. “Toad” features a lengthy Ginger Baker drum solo that brings the album to a triumphant close.

2

‘Wheels of Fire’ (1968)

Cream released the classic Wheels of Fire in the summer of 68. The band’s third album embraced a more progressive and live sound than previous efforts. At the time, Cream was known for their epic and bombastic live show, taking songs like “Crossroads,” “I’m So Glad,” “Toad,” and “Sweet Wine” and stretching them out with improvisation and extended guitar solos. Songs like “White Room,” “Sitting on Top of the World,” and a cover of Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign,” all showcase the group’s virtuosic musicianship.

Wheels of Fire is a double album that, along with a full studio album, contains four live tracks. The now classic version of “Crossroads” and epic live versions of “Spoonful” and “Toad,” were recorded in San Francisco in early 1968. The band shows off a different side with studio tracks like the spoken word “Pressed Rat and Warthog,” and the soft ballad “As You Said,” which features lyrics were written by Pete Brown, bringing a poetic depth to the album. Other fan favorites peeled off the double LP include “Politcian” and “Deserted Cities of the Heart.”

1

‘Disraeli Gears’ (1967)

Cream released its second album, Disraeli Gears, in November 1967. The group’s best album dives into a more psychedelic territory with the trippy songs “Strange Brew,” “Tales of Brave Ulysses,” “SWLABR,” an acronym for “She Walks Like a Bearded Rainbow,” and “World of Pain.” Eric Clapton uses a wah-wah pedal throughout the album brilliantly tapping into the counter culture vibe of the Summer of Love in 1967.

The album features the band’s biggest hit, “Sunshine of Your Love.” The main riff of the song was written by Jack Bruce after being inspired by seeing Jimi Hendrix live. The song features both Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton on vocals and features one of Clapton’s most famous studio guitar solos. Ginger Baker’s use of his tom-tom drumming gives the track a unique feel that makes it stand out. “Outside Woman Blues” is another classic from the album, really shining a light on Clapton’s “woman tone.”

On top of being Cream’s best album, Disraeli Gears is also one of the greatest album covers of all time. The psychedelic cover, created by Australian artist Martin Sharp, is a beautifully strange collage with a photo of the band surrounded by the most 60s-looking art. The album perfectly captures the vibe and energy of 1967 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Jimmy Kimmel Supporters
Flooded FCC With Complaints After Kirk Comments

Published
February 24, 2026
3:42 PM PST

Sarah Shahi revealed that not all of her friends stuck by her when she made the decision to divorce husband Steve Howey following over a decade of marriage.

“I lost friends from it. It was friends that were very deeply in the know that were like, ‘What are you doing?’” Shahi, 46, recalled on the Tuesday, February 24, episode of Amanda Hirsch’s “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast. “[Those were] people that had my back up until the moment that I did get the divorce.”

Shahi recalled getting “dropped” by some of her friends, adding, “I’m not a judgmental person. I’m always somebody where if someone’s going through something, I won’t give them my opinion but I’ll ask them a series of questions about how they feel so that way they come to their own conclusions.”

She continued: “But the amount of judgment I got from getting the divorce from people who honestly were just [as] unhappy in their own relationships. They decided to stick it out and they thought I should do the same. That’s not what we’re here for. We’re here to have fun and be happy. Why can’t I do that? I have the right to be happy. Everybody has the right to be happy.”

Shahi and Howey, 48, met on the set of Reba, dating for several years before getting married in 2009. They were together for over a decade — and welcomed three kids — before Shahi filed for divorce in 2020.

“It worked out for both parties involved. There is no failure here,” Shahi exclusively shared in her January Us Weekly cover story. “I was in a relationship for 18 years and have three beautiful kids. It is by every definition a success to me and we have a beautiful relationship — Steve and I — now as coparents. It’s important to show the kids, in my opinion, that when something is out of sync, you have to have the courage to let it go.”

After working on Sex/Life in the midst of her divorce, Shahi found love with her costar Adam Demos. Following five years of dating, Shahi broke her silence to Us about their split, saying, “There was an element of the relationship that people really felt belonged to them, which was very sweet and heart- warming.”

She continued: “The flip to that is when things end, you feel like you’re going through it twice. You’re going through it emotionally on a personal level, and then you’re going through it again on a much bigger level.”

More recently, Shahi made a rare comment about what led to her split from Demos, 40.

“Without airing any kind of laundry, I do think … it’s hard to build a life when you have children unless the person truly, truly, truly wants that as well,” she said on Kristin Cavallari’s “Let’s Be Honest” podcast earlier this month. “This is not a comment on him but more about the ways that I show up as a parent. I show up as a parent in a very specific way. [As a child], we could walk into our mom’s bedroom at any time and we walked into the bathroom at any time. I think that can be a little challenging for somebody who may not be used to having kids.”

In the same podcast episode, Shahi opened up about her hopes for her love life.

“I want my next relationship to be about me. I’m not looking for a stepparent. I just want a boyfriend,” she added. “Someone that can just take me out and I can be on the beach and just be all sweaty and have sex all the time. I just want someone to purely service me, and if that grows into something else then great.”

In its 60-year history, the Star Trek franchise has made numerous attempts to widen its fanbase beyond devoted Trekkies. Whether through the comedic, time-travel premise of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home or J.J. Abrams’s action-packed 2009 reboot, the creative team consistently tried to appeal to casual audiences by capitalizing on pop-culture trends. In 1996, the franchise nearly landed one of America’s most treasured actors for Star Trek: First Contact — Tom Hanks.

Paramount often tried to attract A-list talent to bring additional box office muscle to Gene Roddenberry’s beloved sci-fi franchise. Longtime Trek fan Eddie Murphy was once considered for a hip San Francisco professor role in The Voyage Home, and Sean Connery was the studio’s top choice to play the villainous Sybok in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. But Hanks, who is also a self-professed Trekkie, wasn’t being eyed for just any new role. Instead, the two-time Oscar winner was shortlisted for Star Trek’s most historic figure outside the Enterprise crew: Zefram Cochrane.

Who Is Zefram Cochrane in the Star Trek Universe?

In Star Trek: The Original Series, Cochrane was introduced as the creator of the warp drive system. Played by Glenn Corbett in the Season 2 episode “Metamorphosis,” Cochrane encounters Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the Enterprise crew on a planet where he had crash-landed years earlier, and an alien entity called “the Companion” had restored his youth. The entity goes on to attack the Enterprise crew, and Cochrane must work with them before they become stranded there permanently.

Cochrane returned in Star Trek: First Contact, whose time-travel plot involves the Borg attempting to assimilate Earth through a temporal vortex. To stop them, the Enterprise crew, led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), follows the Borg back to 2063, where they encounter the legendary warp drive inventor just one day before his historic first flight. However, the Cochrane they meet is far from a heroic icon. He’s an alcoholic inventor who uses his ship in get-rich-quick schemes.

At the time of First Contact’s pre-production, Hanks was at a career peak. After spending much of the ’80s playing comedic everymen in hits like Splash and Big, he transitioned into prestige drama in the ’90s with Oscar-winning performances in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. Add to that his acclaimed 1995 performance as Jim Lovell in Apollo 13, along with voicing Woody in Toy Story, and the world was Hanks’s oyster. His addition could have conferred a new level of prestige and event status that none of the previous installments had achieved. But how close did he come to playing Cochrane?

In 2021, First Contact co-writer Ronald D. Moore addressed the subject during a retrospective interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Though Hanks’s name was floated early on, Moore revealed that talks “never got that far.” The role ultimately went to James Cromwell, who already had franchise experience from playing multiple characters on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

While Hanks’s popularity, high salary, and busy schedule — including directing and starring in That Thing You Do! — likely prevented his involvement, there remained a slim chance he might have participated. When Hanks appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2023, he enthusiastically reflected on the opportunity and his Trek fandom.

“The guy who invented warp drive? Oh come on, I would’ve jumped on that! I would have come in, and I would have brought gift Tribbles to everybody at the first meeting. ‘Guys, here’s some Tribbles for you.’”

Is There Room for Tom Hanks in the Star Trek Universe?

Image via Apple TV+

Despite Hanks’s affection for the franchise, things ultimately worked out for both him and the film. Having already portrayed a string of inspirational and heroic figures, Cochrane might have felt redundant at that stage of his career. Cromwell instead played the iconic fallen hero as a reluctant, slightly cynical celebrity — someone largely indifferent to humanity’s future until the Enterprise crew forces him to confront it. Hanks’s participation likely would have required extensive rewrites to expand Cochrane’s arc in an already crowded narrative. That could have distracted from the ensemble balance that made the film work.

In the end, Star Trek: First Contact succeeded with critics and general audiences without Hanks’s involvement. In later years, the franchise would attract acclaimed actors such as Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Idris Elba, and Paul Giamatti. As Star Trek continues to expand on the small screen with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and a new feature film in development, the door remains open for Hanks to bring his gravitas to a new but significant character in the broader Star Trek universe.

Star Trek: First Contact is streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Team USA Hockey
Gold Medal Win Breaks Record
… Averaged 20.7 Million Viewers!!!

Published
February 24, 2026
2:53 PM PST

The trial for the murder of Parks and Recreation alum Jonathan Joss is officially underway.

Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, who has been accused of killing Joss, appeared in court on February 24, 2026, after being indicted in November 2025. A reset date was set for his next court appearance.

Joss died in June 2025 at age 59 following an alleged altercation with Ceja Alvarez in San Antonio. At the time, it was reported that Joss died following an incident with a neighbor. Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, confirmed the actor’s death and claimed that the incident was a hate crime after he and Joss experienced “openly homophobic” harassment.

The San Antonio Police Department initially claimed in a statement they found nothing to back Kern de Gonzales’ allegations that Joss’ death was the result of a hate crime. However, San Antonio Police Chief William P. McManus later shared during a press conference that the statement was sent prematurely.

Related: ‘Parks and Rec’ Alum Jonathan Ross’ Death: Everything to Know

Parks and Recreation alum Jonathan Joss died at age 59 in June 2025. The actor’s husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, confirmed his death in a Facebook post at the time. “My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home in San Antonio, […]

“We issued a statement the day after Jonathan Joss’ murder that was way, way, way premature. We shouldn’t have done it,” McManus told reporters in June 2025. “It was way too soon before we had any real information. I will own that. We simply shouldn’t have done that. It was way too early in the process for any statement of that nature to be issued.”

Five months later, Ceja Alvarez was indicted by a grand jury on one count of murder. Local outlets reported that Ceja Alvarez was initially arrested back in June 2025 on a charge of first-degree murder. He posted a $200,000 bond before being released.

In Texas, a hate crime is not a separate charge. A hate crime conviction would be handled as an enhancement during sentencing.

Keep scrolling for updates on the trial for Joss’ murder:

How Did Jonathan Joss Die?

Jonathan Joss died in June 2025 after authorities were dispatched to a shooting. Law enforcement found Joss lying “near the roadway.” Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, later confirmed the news.

“My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home. That home was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire,” read a statement shared via Facebook at the time. “We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done.”

Kern de Gonzales shared that when he and Joss returned to their former property they found “the skull” of one of their dogs and its harness, which caused them “severe emotional distress.”

“We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw,” the statement continued. “While we were doing this a man approached us. He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.”

Who Was Arrested for Jonathan Joss’ Murder?

Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez was arrested in connection to Jonathan Joss’ murder in June 2025, per a grand jury indictment in November 2025. Ceja Alvarez was charged with first-degree murder. He was released after posting a $200,000 bond.

Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez Appears in Court for Pre-Trial Hearing

Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez was stone-faced as he appeared in front of Judge Joel Perez alongside an interpreter in Bexar County’s 437th Criminal District Court in February 2026. The prosecution found no issues with the current conditions of Alvarez’s bond and had no updates to share at this time. A date was set for Alvarez’s next appearance in court.

When it comes to adaptations, it’s rare for any movie or television series to follow the source material to a tee. In fact, the more beloved a novel or comic book is, the more likely some filmmaker will put their own unique spin or reimagining of the material, much to the chagrin of those who adored it in the first place. (Believe me, as a Dracula fan, I still maintain that no adaptation has ever gotten the book right.) So when Netflix announced that its new Little House on the Prairie series wouldn’t just be an adaptation of the book but a “reimagining,” needless to say, that was a comment that made many diehards pause in wonder.

Netflix Plans To “Re-imagine” ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Into Something New — and We’re Concerned

Naturally, when Netflix revealed that it was doing Little House on the Prairie, with the books serving as the basis for Rebecca Sonnenshine‘s take on the Laura Ingalls Wilder story, many (including myself) were a bit skeptical. After all, as fun as Netflix’s Anne with an E was, it’s a seriously vast departure from the original Lucy Maud Montgomery books. However, we remained hopeful because of Sonnenshine’s initial comments. “I fell deeply in love with these books when I was 5 years old,” she told Tudum. “They inspired me to become a writer and a filmmaker, and I am honored and thrilled to be adapting these stories for a new audience.” It was with those comments in mind that I felt cautiously optimistic about the made-for-streaming series. After all, although the original Little House TV show was a classic, it deviated considerably from the Wilder novels (with the 2005 miniseries being a bit more faithful). With this Netflix series, longtime lovers of the books might finally be able to watch Wilder’s words come to life on the screen. Right? Well, maybe not.

In the same breath as Sonnenshine’s comments about loving the novels and hoping to adapt them well, Netflix billed this series as a “reimagining” of Little House on the Prairie. If other franchise reimaginings — like Battlestar Galactica, Walker, and Hawaii Five-0, for example — are any indication, this will not be your grandmother’s Little House. There’s a stark difference between a reimagining and a reboot, though there are often similarities between them. A reimagining is typically more than just a simple updated take on the material. Oftentimes, reimaginings shift genres. Battlestar Galactica, for instance, was originally a campy sci-fi adventure series but was quickly turned into a dark, gritty one under Ronald D. Moore‘s guidance. Likewise, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a family sitcom that, sure, could deal with real-world issues, but always in a lighthearted way. Peacock’s Bel-Air, however, was reworked into an intense contemporary drama.

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Likewise, reimaginings often update the original or more popular material to feel more culturally relevant to modern-day. So, for Netflix’s Little House, expect contemporary issues to be stuffed into a 19th-century setting — not unlike how the 2002 Twilight Zone revival remade episodes initially about the Cold War into meditations on the fears of post-9/11 terrorism. Lastly, reimaginings typically include overall tonal changes that shift not just the look, but the feel of the program. A recent example of this was The CW’s Walker, a reimagining of the Chuck Norris series Walker, Texas Ranger that got Norris’ permission to go from a family-friendly (and heavily moralistic) action series to an overly soapy neo-Western procedural, changing the entire personality of Cordell Walker in the process. So, when Netflix says that it plans to reimagine Little House on the Prairie into something new, this comes across as a bit worrisome for those just hoping to see some of their favorite historical novels brought to life on the screen.

The New ‘Little House’ Could Still (and Hopefully Will) Surprise Us

Now, just because something reimagines the material doesn’t mean that it’s automatically bad; it only means that it’s not a direct adaptation. From the get-go, Netflix was clear that its Little House wouldn’t just be populated solely by the Ingalls family and good old Mr. Edwards (Warren Christie), but also by brand-new characters who were not part of Wilder’s books. So, perhaps this doesn’t come as a surprise. So long as the new Little House can capture the spirit of the books (as the NBC series did), maybe that’s all we can ask for.

The series has been described as “part family drama, part epic survival tale, and part origin story of the American West,” which is about everything we could expect from anything labeled “Little House on the Prairie.” As series star Luke Bracey noted in his sentiments to Collider:

“I, for one, know that everyone who was a part of making Little House on the Prairie had their heart in the exact right place, and all we want is for people to love it and to fall in love with it again, and to know that we understand the responsibility and the privilege that comes with playing these timeless characters that are a part of so many people’s lives, and a part of so many of their hearts.”

Here’s hoping that their hearts being in the right place is enough to competently bring Wilder’s story to life.

The original Little House on the Prairie series is available for streaming on Peacock and Prime Video.

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Little House on the Prairie

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Release Date

1974 – 1983

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Directors

Victor French, William F. Claxton, Leo Penn, Alf Kjellin, Joseph Pevney, Lewis Allen, Maury Dexter, Michael Ray Rhodes

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‘Heated Rivalry’ Love Nest
Airbnb & Chill?! Puck Yeah!!!🏒

Published
February 24, 2026
2:01 PM PST

Savannah Guthrie said her family is now offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of her mother, Nancy Guthrie. The 84-year-old has been missing from her Arizona home for more than three weeks. 24 days to be exact, the ‘Today’ show host said Tuesday in a video update. Meanwhile, law enforcement is asking search volunteers to allow space to investigate the missing persons case.

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Savannah Guthrie Hopes Mom Will Be Found Alive

Speaking in a social media video, Savannah Guthrie said her family is still holding out for a miracle, hoping Nancy Guthrie will be found alive. However, the ‘TODAY’ host also acknowledged that they realize it might be too late. Since the first days of her disappearance, authorities have expressed concern about Nancy’s health. The 84-year-old needs vital daily medicine.

“She may already be gone,” Savannah Guthrie said in an Instagram post. “She may already have gone home to the Lord that she loves and is dancing in heaven with her mom, with her dad, with her beloved brother…with our dad. If this is what is to be, we will accept it.”

Savannah Guthrie said her family needs to know where her mother is, no matter what happened. “We need her to come home…Someone out there knows something that can bring her home,” she said. Additionally, she included the FBI number in her caption, 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) and more details about the $1 million reward and the acceptance of anonymous tips. Her family also plans to donate $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“We are hoping that the attention that has been given to our mom and our family will extend to all the families like ours,” she said.

What Happened To Nancy Guthrie? 

Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her home just outside Tucson, Arizona, on Jan. 31. She was reported missing the next day. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, and the FBI released surveillance videos of a masked man who was outside Guthrie’s front door on the night she vanished. Drops of her blood were found on the front porch. However, authorities haven’t publicly revealed much evidence.

What Is Police Doing To Find The Savannah’s Mother?

Several hundred people are working the Guthrie investigation, and more than 20,000 tips have been received, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office has said. The FBI and other agencies are assisting.
The porch camera footage released two weeks ago, which showed a man wearing a backpack and gloves outside Nancy Guthrie’s house, gave investigators their first major break. But it also has fueled intense speculation.

The sheriff’s department said Monday that it’s aware of differences in the masked person’s clothing depicted in various images that were released, namely with and without a backpack.
“There is no date or time stamp associated with these images,” the department said. “Therefore, any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative.”
Sheriff Chris Nanos said a week ago that members of Guthrie’s family, including siblings and spouses, are not suspects.

RELATED: Prayers Up! Lil Jon Breaks Silence After Son Nathan Smith’s Body Found In Pond Following Missing Person’s Report

Associated Press writer John Seewer contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.