Madelyn Cline made a rare comment about what it was like working with ex Chase Stokes on Outer Banks following their 2022 break-up.

“There were moments when it was difficult, absolutely,” the actress, 28, said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Thursday, August 20. “But once the dust kind of settled, we were able to just revert to the friendship that we always had.”

Cline and Stokes, 33, met on the set of Outer Banks, where she played Sarah Cameron while Stokes portrayed her boyfriend, John Booker “John B.” Routledge. After filming the inaugural season, which aired in 2020, the pair pursued a romantic connection outside the show. They dated from 2020 to 2021.

Following their split, Stokes and Cline returned to film the hit Netflix action-adventure series. While the exes were no longer together in real life, their characters were still a couple.

Related: Madelyn Cline, Chase Stokes’ Quotes About Filming ‘Outer Banks’ Post-Split

Putting work first. Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes have broken down how they kept their real-life romance and split from affecting their roles on Outer Banks. The Netflix series, which debuted in April 2020, introduced viewers to a coastal town in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which is divided into wealthy and working-class sides. […]

“At some point, you look at each other and you’re like, ‘Are you ready to stop being miserable? Because I’m ready,’” she said on Thursday.

Last year, Cline opened up about how she was once unaware of how a public relationship with a costar could take a toll.

“I think at the time I didn’t realize what the repercussions of inviting so many people into — let’s be honest — something that’s intimate,” she said during a March 2025 appearance on the “Therapuss” podcast. “I didn’t understand it. I was so in love.”

Cline explained it was also really difficult especially when fans loved her and Stokes’ characters together on screen.

“It was really, really hard to separate,” she said. “But, also like any breakup, you grow out of it, which is great. But there was a period of time there where I truly did not know which way was up, which way was down because Outer Banks and that public relationship was kind of my identity. And I was like, ‘Who the f*** am I?’”

Cline confessed that she is still working on herself.

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“I have such respect for anyone in the public space who has found and created their identity and is so comfortably seated in that. I know it might seem that they are, and it may not be,” she shared. “But I have so much respect for anyone, anyone that is in any way, shape or form, in the public space.”

Since calling it quits, both Cline and Stokes have dated other people. Cline was previously romantically linked to Jackson Guthy, Pete Davidson and Henry Smith. Us previously reported that Cline has been seeing real estate agent Michael Reyes since this summer.

Stokes, for his part, was in an on-and-off relationship with Kelsea Ballerini from 2023 to 2026.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a weird time. Eric Goode made it weirder. As we all settled into our locked-down lives, making sourdough amid amassed stockpiles of toilet paper, Goode, a night-life impresario turned documentary filmmaker, hit us with Tiger King. Like the caged beasts in the series’ low-rent zoo, audiences were held captive in the bizarre, bleached-mullet, big-cat-mauling world of Joe Exotic. Goode’s next act, 2024’s Chimp Crazy, covered similar territory, exploring the twisted relationships between “chimp moms” and their primate charges. All along, as Goode drew viewers deeper and deeper into the exotic animal trade, few knew that he was closer to his subjects than he let on.

Goode’s latest series, Monsters of God, which premiered August 6 on HBO Max, might be his most outrageous yet. It moves in the dark, violent underworld of illegal reptile trafficking, where disreputable figures smuggle king cobras, bush vipers, Komodo dragons, and other scaly saurians across borders like narcotics. It’s a multibillion-dollar black market, one Goode is more intimately familiar with than most.

Goode’s Lifelong Obsession With Turtles and Tortoises Fuels ‘Monsters of God’

Image via WarnerMedia

Monsters of God’s cast of characters include Southern-fried snake handlers, buzzed couriers who move through airports with suitcases packed full of turtles, and fevered zookeepers all-too willing to bypass the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Like Chimp Crazy’s Tonia Haddix, whose nickname was “The Dolly Parton of chimps,” there’s also a rightfully feared Malaysian animal smuggler known as “The Pablo Escobar of reptiles.” On their heels are a dogged group of federal agents, who pursue the reptile purveyors in a manner that parallels the stings and ops of the war on drugs. Then there’s Goode himself, whose obsession with turtles and tortoises began when he received a pet turtle at age six. From there, he admits he was hooked. “It’s a world I’ve been involved with my entire life,” Goode recently told People. “I’m a reptile guy, obsessed with the forbidden, the rarest of the rare, willing to pay almost anything. It’s been a lifelong fascination.”

That personal connection shows up on screen. Goode even admits that he’s done business with some of his subjects, including self-styled “Lizard Whisperer” Tommy Crutchfield, from whom he ordered contraband reptiles by mail. Over five episodes, Goode’s knowledge of the trade’s mores and inner-workings helps Monsters of God achieve a resonance beyond the “look-at-the-freaks” spectacle into which Tiger King and Chimp Crazy sometimes devolve.

Goode Isn’t Exactly Like His Subjects, Which Is a Good Thing

Image via WarnerMedia

Though Goode freely admits he’s been part of the problem, he’s also done much to mend his errant ways. In 2005, he started the Turtle Conservancy, a public charity committed to protecting vulnerable species, anchored by a 90-acre compound in Ojai, California, where he breeds turtles and tortoises, some of which have gone extinct in the wild. From Mexico to South Africa to the Philippines, the Conservancy has secured thousands of acres for critically endangered species. It also has almost single-handedly brought the ploughshare tortoise – a blackmarket darling once worth $100,000 per animal – back from the brink of extinction, becoming the first to breed the species outside its native Madagascar.

Goode’s distance from his former self also shows up on screen. Though the series elicits a form of empathy for the folks in the throes of reptile fever, Goode never justifies their practices. Subjects like Anson Wong, the Malaysian trafficker compared to Escobar, are clearly the bad guys. Nevertheless, Goode is not in the business of condemnation, leaving final judgment to the viewer. As such, his been-on-both-sides perspective gives Monsters of God the nuance his other efforts often lack. Despite his best deeds in Ojai and beyond, Goode admits he can’t shake a nagging self-doubt that in the end, he might be no better than the likes of Joe Exotic. “I make the judgment that, hey, my tortoises are living a pretty good life, but I could be drinking the Kool-Aid,” he told Vanity Fair. “Maybe they’re not. And I recognize that all of my animals that I keep here would be better off in the wild.”

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Release Date

2026 – 2026-00-00

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Network

HBO

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Eric Goode

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Another week has come and gone, and it’s time once again to pick your next weekend read. After all, at the end of all the ups and downs of a long week, there’s nothing better than a great book to relax and immerse yourself in, letting the worries of the world fade for just a little while. Obviously, there’s no shortage of options to choose from when it comes to good weekend reads, but considering the sheer volume of choices at our fingertips these days, it’s not exactly easy to zero in on the really great ones. That’s why we’ve done the work for you and handpicked some truly wonderful books to keep you company until the next week rolls in again. Without further ado, here are three great books that we think you should read this weekend.

1

‘The Unknown’ (2026)

Image via Dutton – Penguin Random House

Written by Todd Ritter under the pen name Riley Sager, The Unknown is a horror novel that follows a struggling actress who lands a role in a major movie. The film in question explores a century-old mystery on the remote island of New Avalon, where five women inexplicably vanished from a commune for spiritual mediums. The cast and crew head to the island for a weeklong research trip, but they all soon realize that there is something very wrong with New Avalon.

Expertly playing with tension and paranoia, The Unknown is a gripping horror thriller book with a haunting setting. The story is utterly engrossing, and it successfully creates real doubt in the mind of the reader about whether there really is something supernatural afoot or if this is all just some viral marketing stunt gone horribly wrong. From there, it keeps you hooked with one shocking twist after another, culminating in a really unexpected climax. The book has been widely praised, and it’s the perfect read for fans of atmospheric horror and layered mysteries.

2

‘Whistler’ (2026)

Image via HarperCollins Publishers

Written by Ann Patchett, Whistler is the bestselling author’s latest work of literary fiction, examining the unique relationship between a woman and her former stepfather. Daphne Fuller, a 53-year-old English teacher, happens to run into Eddie Triplett, a man who was briefly married to her mother when Daphne was nine. As the two reconnect, the book uncovers the profound nature of their relationship, its impact on their lives, and the circumstances that led to their separation.

Considering the premise, Whistler could easily have been a boring and forgettable book. Instead, what we have here is a powerful, human work of storytelling that’s steeped in love. There’s both good and bad in the lives of these characters, but their warmth and kindness are what radiate off the page more than anything else. It’s a beautiful, simple, yet highly moving story that’s easily among the most acclaimed novels of the year.

3

‘Project Hail Mary’ (2021)

Written by Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary is a science fiction adventure novel that inspired the film, one of the year’s biggest hits. The novel follows Ryland Grace, a high school teacher and microbiologist who wakes up aboard the titular ship light-years away from Earth, with no memory of how he got there. As he pieces together his fragmented memories, Grace also encounters an alien lifeform and must use his scientific know-how to both communicate with the alien and complete his mission.

A story of friendship and survival suffused with a love of science, Project Hail Mary has all the same DNA as Weir’s first breakout hit, The Martian, but with greater stakes and more fascinating worldbuilding. The novel quickly became a bestseller and was a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award. It’s also earned near-universal praise from critics and readers alike, and its feature film adaptation, starring Ryan Gosling as Grace, has also been similarly successful.

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Release Date

March 15, 2026

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157 minutes

Director

Christopher Miller, Phil Lord

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Drew Goddard, Andy Weir

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Producers

Aditya Sood, Amy Pascal, Andy Weir, Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Rachel O’Connor, Ryan Gosling

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Prince Harry is looking forward to coming back home after spending six years in California.

“Harry is not as happy in the U.S. as he is in the U.K.,” a source exclusively shares with Us after news broke that the Duke of Sussex and wife Meghan Markle would be moving back to Britain.

“They aim to be somewhere outside of London, not in, like, the city proper,” the source adds. “They are open to a new chapter.”

On Wednesday, August 19, multiple outlets reported that Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, would be relocating with their children to the U.K. for an extended period starting later this month. The pair’s son, Prince Archie, 7, and daughter, Princess Lilibet, 5, are scheduled to begin school there in September.

Related: Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s U.K. Move Change Their Royal Roles?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to return to the United Kingdom, but will they resume their duties as senior working royals? News broke on Wednesday, August 19, that Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, planned to move back to England in time for their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, to start […]

The couple plan to keep their home in Montecito, California, and their vacation residence in Portugal while having non-royal property in Britain.

“They’ve been spending a lot of time in Portugal this summer,” the source shares. “Harry has friends there, and Meghan has expat friends there. They have a community there.”

Meghan is expected to continue leading her lifestyle brand, As Ever, from their international home. Harry, meanwhile, will be spending more time supporting U.K.-based charities and patronages.

“Harry still operates as if he were a member of the royal family when he evaluates opportunities,” the source explains. “He’s seen royals who have left the royal family, like Sarah Ferguson, whose path he does not want to emulate. He wants to do things that are a right fit for him, but that can be very limiting. And, of course, they need to find ways to make money, so they are eager to find partnerships that are the right fit and fruitful for them.”

Us has reached out to reps for Harry and Meghan for comment.

After the moving news was revealed, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke to the BBC and said the family’s security measures were “private.” (Harry has repeatedly stated in the past that he did not feel safe bringing his family home to the U.K. after they lost their taxpayer-funded security upon their 2020 royal exit.)

“It’s a matter for Harry and for Meghan,” Burnham, 56, stated. “We wish them well in the move that they are making.”

As for what Prince William and Kate Middleton think of the move, one royal expert speculated that they may not be completely thrilled.

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Related: What Prince Harry Feels Is Still ‘Missing’ From His Life in America

On Christmas Day, King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, led the royal family to and from St. Mary Magdalene Church for the annual Sandringham walk. Prince William and Princess Kate followed with their three children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, who warmly engaged with members of the public, […]

“All I can think of is: here we go again,” Brothers and Wives author Christopher Andersen exclusively told Us. “For starters, I can only imagine that William and Kate are tearing their hair out. They have so much on their plate as it is trying to shore up the monarchy and propel it into the future; they don’t really need to cope with having Harry and Megan on their proverbial doorstep.”

With Harry and Meghan returning to the U.K., Andersen, 77, predicts that the “Sussexes will inevitably suck up all the oxygen in the room.”

“They will generate countless tabloid stories and take the focus away from other members of the royal family, which is a major no-no,” he claimed. “King Charles and Queen Camilla, in particular, don’t like to be upstaged, and the same goes for William.”

A mother of three was killed by her boyfriend in an apparent murder-suicide shortly after she dropped two of her three children off at school in Georgia.

Nicole Karastury Elliott was shot in the head outside of her home on Monday, August 17, after a dispute with her boyfriend, Andrew Roy Harris.

One day later, Harris, 36, was found dead in a room at a Days Inn hotel in Phenix City.

Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley said during a press conference on Tuesday, August 18, that Harris shot Elliott, 35, after they got into a fight over prescription medication that belonged to one of her children.

“We heard the voices on the Ring camera where she had yelled, ‘Don’t do it,’” Jolley said. “We heard the gunfire. And then we heard her call his name out. ‘Don’t, don’t do it,’ and called his name out on the Ring camera.”

Jolley also said that Elliott’s children were informed about her death by members of law enforcement.

“To make that notification yesterday to those three kids that their mother is no longer with us was heart-wrenching,” Jolley said. “It’s never an easy thing to do, but when you tell three young kids that their mother is no longer here it’s heartbreaking.”

A GoFundMe page has since been set up to help Elliott’s kids financially following her death. The page explained that her children were 14, 10 and 6 years old.

Fundraiser organizer Jarrod Thorne said that the kids “are facing an unimaginable loss after their mother was tragically killed in a domestic dispute.”

“Nicole had taken her boys to school that morning, and soon after, her children’s lives were changed forever. They were taken from school and told that their mother was gone,” Thorne wrote. “Nicole was an amazing woman, mother, and friend with a huge heart who was always willing to help anyone in need. Her family is now left trying to process this heartbreaking tragedy and make sense of a loss that feels impossible to understand.”

Related: Tennessee Man Kills Wife and 8-Year-Old Daughter in Murder-Suicide

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Authorities in Tennessee are investigating a tragic double murder-suicide that left three people dead, including an 8-year-old girl, Us Weekly has learned. Sorrow has befallen McMinnville following the Sunday, March 8, killings of Randi Jean Shelton and her daughter, Thea, by the girl’s father, Joseph Nicholas Shelton, Jr. After shooting his wife and daughter to […]

Thorne added that Elliott and her kids had moved into a new house right before she was killed. “The children were so excited to finally have rooms of their own. Now, in the middle of grief and shock, they are also facing the many practical needs that come with losing their mother,” Thorne continued.

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The donations raised will help “cover funeral and memorial expenses,” as well as will “provide support for the children’s everyday needs as they adjust to life without Nicole.”

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.

More than two decades after “Save the Last Dance” became a fan favorite, Julia Stiles could be returning to the dance floor. The actress is reportedly among the celebrities joining “Dancing With the Stars” for its 35th season. While Stiles has taken on a range of roles since her breakout years, the potential appearance in the dancing competition would take her back to familiar territory.

Julia Stiles became widely known for her role as Kat Stratford in the 1999 rom-com “10 Things I Hate About You,” but one of her most memorable performances came as Sara Johnson, a classically trained ballet dancer who finds a new rhythm through hip-hop, in “Save the Last Dance.”

Now, 25 years after the dance movie’s release, Stiles is reportedly gearing up to head back to the dance floor as one of the competitors in the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars.”

The dance competition show has, so far, confirmed the identities of four contestants, but sources who are part of the production told TMZ that Stiles will be heading to the ballroom.

The Actress Is An Avid Fan Of ‘Dancing With The Stars’

In 2025, Stiles shared that she was hooked on “Dancing With the Stars,” describing it as her version of Monday Night Football.

“I’ll go down YouTube rabbit holes of watching old videos, and I have my favorite choreographers,” the actress told PEOPLE, adding that she has thought about participating in the show, but the logistics would be difficult. “I live in New York City, so it would be hard. Maybe they could do an East Coast version,” she added.

Stiles was born and raised in New York City, and she now lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Preston J. Cook, and their three young sons.

Julia Stiles Underwent Intensive Dance Training For Her Role

Stiles had no formal dance training before taking on the role of Sara, admitting that her only experience came from dancing casually and brief ballet lessons in her younger years.

To embody the classically trained ballet dancer, Stiles had to undergo intensive training for months before filming began. While she said the choreography was challenging, she was eager to learn. For the film’s 20th anniversary, Stiles looked back at her experience and said the “best thing” about the movie was dancing.

“It was really challenging and really daunting because I’m not a professional dancer. So there was a lot of playing catch-up. But it was so fun. And such an awesome opportunity to get to do that kind of, like, rigorous training, and choreography rehearsals,” she told TODAY in 2021.

The Actress Appeared On ‘SNL’ As Her Character In 2023

Ain’t no way! Julia Stiles herself made an appearance!👀😁😂#SNL pic.twitter.com/IiHkEjdcSG

— Giselle//💥⏳ 💍💫 (@giselleb1234) December 10, 2023

During the “Weekend Update” segment on “SNL” in 2023, Chloe Fineman enters and performs dance moves while yelling plot points of “Save the Last Dance.” Colin Jost then asks, “So, does she get into Juilliard?”

Stiles bursts onto the scene and confirms that Sara did get into the prestigious academy at the end of the movie. She and Fineman then perform a short routine.

In 2025, the actress said “SNL” approached her a day before the show, and she agreed to appear in the skit not knowing what it was going to be about. “But I thought it was so cool. I was excited to be there. It was so fun,” she said of the experience, per The Hollywood Reporter.

‘Dancing With The Stars’ Returns In September For Season 35

Four celebrities have been officially confirmed for the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars” so far: Ciara Miller, Maura Higgins, Jackson Olson, and Guillermo Rodriguez.

Other media personalities rumored to join the show include Sarah Jane Nader, Connor Leavitt, and Tatyana Ali. The full cast list will officially be announced live on “Good Morning America” on September 2, followed by the show’s premiere on September 15 on ABC and Disney+.

RAYE is a Grammy-nominated singer who put out two chart-topping albums and a slew of hit singles, including the viral TikTok track “Where Is My Husband!” But despite the success, the British musician recently said in a new interview that her next album could take a decade to complete.

RAYE appeared on the “Today” show to perform on the talk show’s “Citi Summer Concert Series” on Thursday, August 20. While speaking with the co-hosts about her career and upcoming plans, the 28-year-old said that she’s “basically on strike” and that fans shouldn’t expect new music until she falls in love.

“I’m on strike from making an album until I fall in love basically,” she said, revealing that she wants the next title of her album to be “And Then She Fell in Love.” RAYE shared that she’s adamant about the album title because she wants to create a new sound for her fans.

“I’ve written so many songs. Picture this: I’ve been a songwriter for a really long time and your perspective… my perspective has largely just been, ‘This didn’t work out or this sucks or I’m alone. My ex that time, or my ex that time.’ So I’m just very bored of that perspective,” she said.

RAYE Reveals Her Next Album Could Take 10 Years

When one of the show’s hosts asked RAYE whether she’d release another album until she’s married, she said yes. “Absolutely. I’m hard-set. It could be 10 years, guys,” she said.

Longtime “Today” show personality Al Roker said the singer could likely find love sooner than 10 years, to which she said, “That’s the optimist’s perspective. I’m gonna hold that.”

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She added, “I’m just really excited to find another project, see what happens in life and just enjoy the twists and turns, do all that stuff.”

RAYE Previously Said She Wouldn’t Write A ‘Single Song’ For Her Third Album Until She Finds Mr. Right

@voguemagazine If #whereismyhusband is a preview of #raye’s third album, we cannot wait for it’s release. The singer-songwriter appeared on Vogue’s #TheRunThrough ♬ original sound – Vogue

This isn’t the first time that RAYE has shared her perspective about her third album. In a previous TikTok, she said that she wouldn’t even write a song on the project until she finds the right one.

“Because it’s enough ‘I’m single, this guy done me wrong, this sucks about this and that’ songs. I’m tired of writing songs like that. The end. No. So my next album is gonna be called ‘And Then She Fell in Love,’ and I will fall in love and I will write an album,” she said.

Megan Thee Stallion DOES Have A New Album Coming

One artist who is gearing up to release a new album is Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion. According to The Blast, she recently appeared on Michelle Obama’s “IMO” podcast and told the former First Lady that her new album will reintroduce her alter ego, Tina Snow.

“I think giving her a proper rollout, a proper title, a reintroduction to Hotties that may not have been with me since 2017, 2018, I think that this is gonna be a new experience for them,” she said. “Tina is grown now, babe. She has been through lots of life since y’all heard from her last.”

Megan Thee Stallion Took Her Time With Her New Album

While no new music has been released just yet, Megan Thee Stallion said this would likely be her “favorite” project she’s ever put out. ‘Act III is going to be one of my favorite projects I ever put out because I definitely took my time with this one,” she said.

The “Savage” rapper went on to say that she begged her team to give her space and time to complete the new batch of songs. “So, this has been the most organized and the most calm I’ve been making music in a while,” she shared.

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The Witcher used to be Netflix’s flagship fantasy series, the kind of show people were calling the next Game of Thrones because Season 1 was just that good. Then the creative team completely and utterly botched it. Storylines got rewritten past the point of recognition. Henry Cavill walked away from a role he was incredibly passionate about. And now, the show is absolutely unwatchable.

Netflix also took Avatar: The Last Airbender, arguably the greatest, most perfectly constructed animated series ever made, and adapted it into a live-action show that had none of the heart that made the original so beloved. After those two disasters, most people tend to write off anything with the Netflix fantasy tag without even bothering to check it out. Fair enough, because most of the time that instinct is correct. But there are a handful of Netflix fantasy originals that genuinely do not have a single bad episode in their entire run, and those are the shows we’re talking about today.

‘Locke & Key’ (2020–2022)

Image via Netflix

Locke & Key is adapted from the acclaimed comic series by Joe Hill, the son of horror legend Stephen King. Hill has become an acclaimed author in his own right, and Locke & Key is proof that the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. The series follows the three Locke siblings after their father is murdered, and the family moves into his childhood home, Keyhouse, where they quickly discover the house is hiding a whole set of magical keys with reality-bending powers. For example, the Anywhere Key opens a door to literally any place you can picture. The Ghost Key turns you into a spirit who can wander the town while your body lies lifeless back home.

But things take a dark turn when one of the keys accidentally unleashes a malicious shapeshifting demon hell-bent on collecting every key in the house. As the world-building grows increasingly complicated and the stakes keep getting higher, the show also benefits from having a clear endgame in sight. Showrunners Carlton Cuse and Meredith Averill always envisioned a three-season run, and that’s exactly what they got. The show got to develop its mythology and ultimately bring the Locke family’s story to a satisfying conclusion and go out on its own terms.

‘One Piece’ (2023–Present)

Image via Netflix

For years, live-action anime adaptations were cursed. Death Note bombed. Cowboy Bebop got canceled after one season. So when Netflix announced it was adapting One Piece, arguably the most beloved manga on the planet, fans braced for another disappointing live-action anime adaptation. But then the show premiered, and it actually turned out great. It embraced a world of Devil Fruit powers, snail phones, and increasingly ridiculous villains without overdramatizing everything or forcing it into the grounded realism Netflix is often criticized for.

The series follows Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) as he sails through the East Blue with a ragtag crew of pirates, all chasing the legendary treasure, the “One Piece,” that will make Luffy the next Pirate King. Season 1 scored a strong 82% with critics and a near-perfect 95% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and Season 2 has topped it with a perfect 100% critic score and a 95% audience score! For a franchise this beloved, with this many ways to screw it up, One Piece has not missed once.

‘Wednesday’ (2022–Present)

Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) gets expelled from her normal school for releasing piranhas into a swimming pool and gets shipped off to Nevermore Academy, a boarding school populated by creatures like werewolves, vampires, and sirens, alongside normie humans. The series starts out as a fish-out-of-water story, and then turns into a full-blown murder mystery, with Wednesday hunting a monster stalking the town while trying her best not to make any friends. Ortega is the primary reason the show works as well as it does. She nails Wednesday’s deadpan humor and complete lack of interest in fitting in, and delivers a career-defining performance.

Tim Burton also serves as executive producer and the leading creative director behind the show’s look and tone, and he even directed four episodes in each of the first two seasons. No one does Gothic fantasy quite like him, and Wednesday feels like it was made specifically for his style. The result is a show that looks unlike anything else on Netflix, and Season 1 still remains the most-watched English-language series in Netflix history by a wide margin.

‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ (2019)

Image via Netflix

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The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a prequel to Jim Henson‘s 1982 cult classic film, set on the planet Thra, where the gentle Gelfling race lives under the rule of the evil Skeksis. But when three Gelflings uncover the horrifying truth behind their rulers’ power, that they have been draining the life essence out of their own subjects using the Dark Crystal, they set out to start a rebellion. It was a very faithful and surprisingly dark expansion of one of fantasy’s most beloved worlds, and fans absolutely loved it.

The series scored an 89% critic rating and an even higher 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it even won the Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program. Then, Netflix being Netflix, canceled it after a single season, reportedly over production costs and COVID-related delays, and left one of the best-looking fantasy shows ever made stuck on a cliffhanger forever. Still, what we got is pretty damn special.

‘Castlevania’ (2017–2021)

Image via Netflix

Loosely adapted from the 1989 video game Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, this animated series follows Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage), the last member of a disgraced monster-hunting family. He teams up with the sorceress Sypha Belnades (Alejandra Reynoso) and Alucard (James Callis), Dracula’s own half-vampire son, and the three of them set out to stop Dracula from wiping out humanity in Wallachia. It is Gothic, brutal, full of gruesome deaths, and does not pull a single punch on violence or profanity.

Castlevania became the first video game adaptation in history to earn a Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It holds an overall 94% critic score, with Seasons 2 and 4 both landing a perfect 100%. That is an absurd track record for a genre that has historically produced some of the worst adaptations in Hollywood. It was also successful enough to spin off into Castlevania: Nocturne, set 300 years later, which has kept the streak of near-perfect scores alive.

‘Sweet Tooth’ (2021–2024)

Image via Netflix

Sweet Tooth is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a viral pandemic wipes out most of humanity. Around the same time, babies mysteriously started being born as human-animal hybrids, and people began fearing that the hybrids might be the cause of the plague and started hunting them. The story follows Gus (Christian Convery), a naive 10-year-old deer-boy hybrid who leaves his safe home in the forest and teams up with a gruff wandering loner named Tommy Jepperd (Nonso Anozie). Together, they journey across what’s left of the United States looking for answers about where Gus actually came from and what happened to his mother.

A kid with antlers named “Sweet Tooth” isn’t exactly the most enticing selling point, and at first glance, the whole thing looks like a kids’ show. And that’s why it remains criminally underseen; most people wrote it off before even giving it a chance. But the series holds an incredible 92% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. It perfectly blends a bleak post-apocalyptic world with an almost childlike sense of wonder and innocence. The entire series feels very Steven Spielberg-esque in tone, and it might be the best family show on this entire list if you’re looking for a show to watch with your kids.

‘Arcane’ (2021–2024)

Image via Netflix

Arcane is an animated prequel set in the League of Legends universe, but you do not need to know a single thing about the game to enjoy it. If anything, going in blind makes the whole experience better, because there are turns this story takes that hit twice as hard when you have no idea where these characters end up. The series is set in Piltover and Zaun, twin cities built on the discovery of Hextech, a way to bottle raw magic into crystals that anyone can use. The show is phenomenal from the jump, with insane action sequences, an incredible soundtrack, and visuals that genuinely rival the Spider-Verse movies.

But Season 1, Episode 3, “The Base Violence Necessary for Change,” is where the show reveals its true hand. It is a true point-of-no-return episode that completely changes the show’s trajectory, like Ned Stark’s (Sean Bean) execution in Game of Thrones or Omni-Man massacring the Guardians in Invincible. And from then on, you just can’t predict where the story’s going to go. Arcane wrapped up after just two seasons and ended exactly where its creators wanted it to. It still boasts a rare 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and remains one of the most perfect shows Netflix has ever created across any genre.

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Arcane

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Release Date

2021 – 2024

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Network

Netflix

Showrunner

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Christian Linke

Directors

Barth Maunoury, Marietta Ren, Christelle Abgrall

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Carrie Ann Inaba likes to find out who is competing on Dancing With the Stars the same way the fans do, with an air of mystery leading up to the official announcement.

“I never know, I find out via social media,” the DWTS judge, 58, exclusively told Us while promoting her partnership with Novartis to spread awareness of Sjögren’s disease. “Of course, I used to be like, ‘Can’t you tell me?’ And then I was like, you know what? It doesn’t matter.”

Carrie Ann joked that fellow judge Derek Hough “always seems to know who’s coming” but she “never” does — and she prefers it that way.

“I think the less I know about the person, the better it is for me as a judge,” she said. “Because I really just want to judge what’s happening in front of us. It would be difficult if I was friends with everybody.”

Carrie Ann added that she has “kept” to herself so she can be a fair judge to all the participants.

“I keep myself very distanced from everybody on the field, so that I can really have the same consistent voice with everybody,” she explained. “I always want to make sure the playing field is level for everybody, no matter what level they’re coming in at. And you know, we get people from all different backgrounds.”

Currently, Love Island’s Maura Higgins, Summer House star Ciara Miller, Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson and Jimmy Kimmel’s sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez have been confirmed as newcomers to the cast. (Us reported that actress Jenna Dewan, Bachelor Nation’s Tyler Cameron, Whitney Leavitt‘s husband Conner Leavitt and Brooks Nader’s sister Sarah Jane Nader will also compete for the mirrorball, but they have yet to be officially announced.)

Carrie Ann teased that she thinks Guillermo, 55, will be the one who is going to steal “the hearts of everybody.” Carrie Ann also thinks that Maura, 35, will perform well in the ballroom.

“There’s something about her. I don’t know what it is about her. I think she’s going to be really, she’s got this timing to her. She’s almost like a comedian with her timing,” she told Us. “I think that’s going to be good. Plus, I feel like maybe she was hanging out with Mark [Ballas] in The Traitors. So I wonder if Mark taught her a few moves.”

More contestants will be revealed during the official DWTS season 35 cast announcement on GMA on September 2. In the meantime, Carrie Ann revealed who she would like to see in the ballroom one day.

“I always say Craig Ferguson, but I thought about this last night. I would love to see Bowen Yang,” she said. “He’s got that musical theater background. He’s so musical and he dances, and he’d be fun.”

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Related: What to Know About Season 35 of ‘Dancing With the Stars’ So Far: Cast and More

The Dancing With the Stars ballroom is filling up fast for season 35. While simultaneously confirming the reality competition’s renewal, Hulu shared during the Get Real House event in April that Summer House’s Ciara Miller and Love Island star Maura Higgins would be lacing up their dancing shoes. The following month, Savannah Bananas second baseman Jackson […]

Carrie Ann also shared that she also thinks Glee alum Harry Shum Jr. would be a great addition to the show.

While serving as a judge on the competition show, Carrie Ann has been battling Sjögren’s disease. She teamed up with Novartis for the Sjöut for Sjögren‘s campaign to help spread awareness for the condition.

“I think a lot of people who deal with something like Sjögren’s disease and are battling chronic illness go through these moments where you wonder if you can keep going, if you can keep your job,” she said. “That’s why it’s so important to have conversations like this about it.”

Tracy Tutor‘s new announcement came with a mix of raw emotions.

The Bravo veteran is trading real estate drama for a new kind of spotlight on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” Fans had speculated about this move for years, and now the wait is finally over.

Tracy Tutor built her name on Bravo’s real estate scene long before this exciting casting. She joined “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” back in 2017, and the show made her the franchise’s first female lead cast member.

In a joint post on Instagram with Bravo, Tutor confirmed joining the cast of the show, admitting that the secret had been building for a while behind the scenes.

The 51-year-old looked super stylish as her long blonde wavy hair fell over her shoulders. She wore a wine-colored two-piece set with a grey belt to lock the style in place. Tutor brought the whole look together with the same color purse as her belt and opted for even darker wine leather gloves.

The emotions and excitement in her words were impossible to miss, as the real estate agent’s caption began with, “I’m joining the cast of ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,’ and I could not be more excited for this next chapter.”

She then acknowledged Beverly Hills as her home and credited the town for helping her with motherhood and her career before adding, “I’ve decided to let you all even further into my life.”

Tutor didn’t hide her feelings, mixing happiness with a little uncertainty. In her words, “Excited? Very. Nervous? A little. Likely to get into some trouble? Absolutely.” She closed out the caption in Bravo catchphrase fashion by writing, “So what’s left to say but, Let’s f-cking go.”

How The ‘Million Dollar Listing’ Star Landed Her Spot On The Show

The production of the Season 16 “Bravo” reality series has already commenced. “Bravo” has been quietly building out a fresh cast lineup. The “Million Dollar Listing” Los Angeles star got herself a spot with “Bravo” once again. 

According to Deadline, Tutor’s addition brings a familiar face into the new season for longtime viewers. She is not new to “Bravo.” In 2017, she joined the “MDLLA” reality series. She joined in season 10 and stayed on till the show’s season 15.

Tutor is a resident of Beverly Hills, which makes her casting a smooth one. We also had some disagreement with Dorit Kimsley, “RHOBH” star. She said Kimsley owes her a payment and also stalked her on her social media.

Tracy Tutor Defended Reality TV Last Year

In 2025, she clashed with veteran broker Leonard Steinberg over comments he made. At The Real Deal’s annual NYC Forum, brokers Steinberg and Eleonora Srugo debated the impact of reality television on the real estate industry. Steinberg said the reality TV depicts women in real estate poorly and as mediocre.

Tutor didn’t let the remarks slide quietly at all. As shown in a widely shared clip on YouTube. She fired back directly at Steinberg by name. She called the broker’s comments outdated and out of line.

“It is not only offensive, but it is also condescending, and beyond that, gross,” she said about his remarks. She called his criticism tone-deaf. She then challenged Leonard Steinberg to a real estate debate. 

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Tutor Struggled With Marriage

The TV star had gone through a major personal chapter. She filed for divorce from husband Jason Maltas after years of marriage. The split played out just as her TV career was taking off.

The Blast reported that Tutor walked away with an $18 million Los Angeles mansion in the settlement. She and Maltas agreed to share joint custody of their two daughters. Neither side was ordered to pay spousal support under their prenuptial agreement.

The settlement also kept their daughters off the “Million Dollar Listing” show. Tutor and her ex-husband also agreed to stay off drugs or alcohol during the time of custody. After the finalization of the divorce, Tutor’s legal name was changed to her maiden name. 

Tracy Tutor Enters New Chapter With A Love Interest

Tutor’s personal life has shifted since her last relationship ended. After splitting from boyfriend Erik Anderson, she stayed quiet about dating for a while. That changed when she confirmed a new romance.

Tutor shared details about her love interest on the Sirius XM radio show in 2024. The real estate agent met her new boyfriend through a dating app. She described him as sweet and coming from a close-knit family. “I did meet him on an app,” she confirmed. 

Tutor revealed that she stayed friends with Anderson after their split. She shared with Daily Dish that things got really complicated for both of them, but they have maintained a good friendship. The TV personality revealed that her unrealistic expectations might have made the relationship a difficult one.

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After Tracy Tutor, who is joining the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” next?