Entertainment
Lili Reinhart Is Going Full Regina George in ‘Forbidden Fruits’ With Lola Tung
The moment I found out Forbidden Fruits would star Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Alexandra Shipp, and Victoria Pedretti, I was instantly sold. But, then I heard Meredith Alloway dub her movie, “Mean Girls, but a slasher,” and I quietly sat there wondering, “Is she making this movie for me?” I wouldn’t be surprised if many others felt that same way. Not only has this hugely talented all-star ensemble amassed quite the following over the years, but Forbidden Fruits is channeling the vibes of a number of iconic and beloved clique movies like Mean Girls, The Craft, Jennifer’s Body, and then some.
The movie takes place entirely in a mall where The Fruits are the queen bees. Led by Reinhart’s Apple, by day, The Fruits run one of the hottest stores in the mall, Free Eden. By night? They turn to witchcraft. When Apple, Cherry (Pedretti), and Fig (Shipp) cross paths with Lola Tung’s Pumpkin, she appears to be an ideal new member for their coven. But, when Pumpkin begins to question their sisterhood, The Fruits wade into some especially dark territory.
Forbidden Fruits is based on Lily Houghton’s stage play, Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin, and Through Her We All Die. Given Houghton and Alloway share a manager, have a number of mutual friends, and also have some similar storytelling interests, they made an ideal match. While visiting the Forbidden Fruits set in the Sherway Gardens Mall in Toronto in March 2025, Alloway recalled:
“I was coming off of a lot of research on female serial killers and female criminals, and so was Lily on another movie, and I was like, ‘Why do we keep having these male serial killer stories? Women kill or commit crimes for very different reasons.’ It’s like the Medea of it all. She did those things to protect her children in her mind. And I was like, ‘I want stories like this. I want to write about women’s dynamics.’ And then I read this play, and I was like, ‘It’s Mean Girls, but a slasher.’ That was the first thing I said, so it’s so crazy that the mall we’re shooting at is where they shot the Mean Girls fountain scene.”
Every ‘Mean Girls’ Needs a Regina George — For ‘Forbidden Fruits,’ It’s Lili Reinhart’s Apple
“Blood should be thicker than water, and when it isn’t, how do you create your own family?”
Casting is vital to any production, but when it comes to a witchcraft movie, finding the perfect coven is make or break.
Reinhart takes on one of the most exciting cinematic opportunities with the role of Apple; she’s challenged with crafting a villainous character you can’t help but love. Reinhart actually boarded Forbidden Fruits while still working on Riverdale, so when filming kicked off, she had been thinking about how to tackle the character for two years.
Reinhart admitted that for a good while, she told people, “I’m playing the villain in a movie!” She continued:
“I had to be like, ‘Wait, wait, wait. I have to play this girl and connect to this woman and be her, and she doesn’t think she’s doing anything wrong, so I can’t think she’s doing anything wrong.’ So, almost weirdly, finding a way and working with a coach to empathize with her actions, which, when you see the movie, you’re like, ‘How does one do that?’ But I did it, and I love her dearly.”
This New Lili Reinhart Series With Mark Ruffalo Is The Best TV Drama You’re Not Watching
While on Collider Ladies Night, Lili Reinhart explains how she scored a dream role after ‘Riverdale’ wrapped its run.
Another important aspect of Apple that Reinhart had to get just right in order to ensure the audience always felt a connection to her was rooting Apple’s extreme qualities and actions into some sort of grounded truth. As Reinhart explained, “She has such a facade and wears such a mask. That’s why her wig and her hair were so important to me.” Throughout much of the movie, Apple is wearing that mask and “is not a grounded human being,” but when that facade starts to crack, there needs to be a degree of human truth underneath, and that’s something that’s hinted at via the reasons why Apple turns to witchcraft. Here’s how Reinhart put it:
“A betrayal from people who weren’t supposed to betray you. Blood should be thicker than water, and when it isn’t, how do you create your own family? And that’s why you can’t see her as a villain if you see where she’s coming from. You still can, but you have to see the person who’s struggling within her situation and what is happening to her to lead her to do what she does ultimately.”
The Fruits Are Intoxicating
“If I see my friend doing something wrong or bad, do I stop it, or do I join?”
The family Apple creates includes Alexandra Shipp’s Fig, a character Shipp describes as a loner who doesn’t want to be one anymore. “What she gets out of it is friendship.” Trouble is, that makes Fig especially susceptible to doing whatever is necessary in order to avoid losing those friends, even if it means abandoning her morals.
“In the film, she does say, ‘I don’t want to lose these girls as friends,’ and I think that that can be a really dangerous place to live in because you become so malleable, morally. And so I think that Fig kind of bends a lot of her morals and ideals for this group because she doesn’t want to be the outsider, [the] loner that she’s been her entire life up until this point. I think that her motivation is just like, ‘These women mean so much to me,” which is key. Every girl should feel that way about their friends, you know what I mean? Your friends are like your blood. They’re coursing through your veins. And yet, at the same time, Fig makes me ask the question of, ‘If I see my friend doing something wrong or bad, do I stop it, or do I join?’”
As for Lola Tung’s Pumpkin, she’s the new girl in town who’s embraced by The Fruits. As Tung explained, Pumpkin has loads of assumptions about the group and how they operate, but what winds up catching her off guard is “an unexpected sense of community.”
Tung considers Pumpkin to be the kind of person who is “friends with everybody, but kind of nobody at the same time.” She added, “I think she’s never felt a closeness and vulnerability like this.” Even when Forbidden Fruits veers into darker territory, The Fruits have a magnetizing quality. Tung explained:
“In certain moments, they talk about things that nobody else talks about, and they make you feel like you’re part of something special and unique. That building of the friendships makes it hurt all the more when things start to happen.”
The Dangers of Performative Sisterhood
Balancing the appeal of The Fruits and their disturbing dark side, and also the characters’ more extreme behaviors and their rawer moments calls for some tonal gymnastics. Alloway explained:
“I think that Forbidden Fruits, at its core, is sort of a satire. I hope that there’s humor. American Psycho is a big guiding light tonally because I think that everyone in the movie is taking their lives really seriously, and it can be kind of fun to laugh at it, but there are also extremely dark moments that feel very raw and real. You can experience that movie in so many different ways. And I think that with Fruits, we sort of took that as like, ‘Okay, let’s keep it playful.’ Ultimately, this should be a fun cinematic experience, but there are scenes that dig into the brutality of female relationships.”
Initially, Alloway and Houghton labeled this problematic form of friendship “girlboss ways,” but ultimately came to realize that Forbidden Fruits is tapping into something quite prevalent but far less explored on screen. Alloway recalled:
“We were sitting around the table, and we were like, ‘Performative sisterhood is more what’s going on here,’ and this sort of need to be accepted, and what we’ll do, anyone, to feel accepted and a part of something and a part of a family. And in this movie, I feel like if the women just really were like, ‘Are you okay? Because I’m not okay,’ none of the chaos would ensue.”
Forbidden Fruits is set to celebrate its World Premiere at SXSW 2026 on March 16 before opening in theaters on March 27.
- Director
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Meredith Alloway
- Writers
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Lily Houghton, Meredith Alloway
- Producers
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Mary Anne Waterhouse, Diablo Cody, Mason Novick
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New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye struggled to control his emotions after losing the 2026 Super Bowl.
“I’m so proud,” Maye, 23, said in a postgame press conference on Sunday, February 8, after the Patriots lost to the Seattle Seahawks 29-13 in Super Bowl LX. “That’s probably the reason I’m choked up most.”
Maye continued to pause as he answered reporters’ questions while visibly holding back tears.
“This team is something that I’m just glad to be part of,” he continued, offering a shout-out to the “great people” who work alongside the Patriots all season.
“I’m just glad to have this uniform on and looking forward to getting back and play [in] another one,” Maye said.
The NFL star looked down and rubbed his eyes before responding to another reporter. While the question was inaudible, Maye replied that it was “hard” to compare playing at the Super Bowl to any other regular season game.
“It’s a business at this level, but it’s more than that,” he explained. “It’s more than that in a game like this and that’s about it. It’s more than a business. There’s people in there that are doing it, not for the money or fame and that’s what’s cool about this team.”
Sunday night marked Maye’s first Super Bowl appearance following an impressive season. In his second year on the Patriots, he brought the team to their first Super Bowl in seven years.
There was speculation ahead of the game that Maye wouldn’t take the field on Sunday because of a shoulder injury sustained during the playoffs. He addressed the injury during the postgame press conference.
“I shot it up, so not much feeling,” Maye said. “It was good to go and it felt all right.”
Maye and the Patriots had a rough go against the Seahawks, making their only two touchdowns during the fourth quarter while their opponents dominated the field throughout the night.
“Just like every year, somebody’s going to lose this game and we have to remember what it feels and make sure that it’s not repeated,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said during his postgame press conference on Sunday. “We couldn’t gain any rhythm, field position. … We’ve been really good against the run lately, and we weren’t.”
Vrabel, 50, added, “I appreciate the way that the guys offensively battled and competed. But just not enough consistent execution.”
Maye also told reporters that the Seahawks “played better” than the Patriots on Sunday, noting they “deserved to win” the game.
“Speaking for the whole team and myself, what a journey it’s been for us. I love this team. Love those guys in that locker room. I’m going to leave it all on the field and I know a lot of guys did that tonight and just came up short. Didn’t play our best and that’s what happens,” Maye added, noting that he’d love to “go back to the beginning and redo” the game.
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
In 1987, Fox debuted Married…With Children, a subversive sitcom about the most dysfunctional family ever put onscreen. The show is filled with “how did they get away with that” jokes and, as an added bonus, happens to star two of the decade’s hottest actors. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a dime to experience these raunchy laughs for yourself, as Married…With Children is currently streaming for free on Tubi.
The basic premise of Married…With Children is that a slobby, schlubby shoe salesman is raising a family that includes a lazy wife, a ditzy daughter, and a dirtbag son. They get into various TV show shenanigans, but what sets this show apart is its dark humor and complete subversion of the family sitcom formula. Basically, this was a show as hilariously mean-spirited as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but it premiered back when the airwaves were dominated by more family-friendly fare like Who’s the Boss and Growing Pains.
A Shockingly Great Cast
The cast of Married…With Children includes David Faustino (best known outside of this show for his voice work on The Legend of Korra) as young Bud Bundy and breakout bombshell Christina Applegate (best known for Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead) as young Kelly Bundy. Katey Segal (best known for voicing Leela on Futurama) plays Peg Bundy, a stunning housewife who is despised by her husband. That husband is played to hapless perfection by Ed O’Neill, someone best known to younger sitcom fans for his long-running role as a perpetually-perplexed patriarch on Modern Family.
When Married…With Children came out, it was a smash with audiences looking for something other than another cookie-cutter sitcom about another overly perfect little family. The show’s comedy has also stood the test of time, and it currently has a 97 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While there are not enough professional reviews for the show to have a critical score (poor Al Bundy gets no respect), most of the critics who reviewed the show agree that it is perfectly cast and filled with writing as acidic as it is infectiously hilarious.
Everyone Fell In Love With TV’s Crankiest Husband
It’s almost impossible to overstate what a monster hit Married…With Children really was. To this day, it is the longest-running sitcom ever aired on Fox, and at 11 seasons and 259 episodes, it’s also one of the longest-running sitcoms in television history. Whether you’re an old fan looking for some comedy comfort food or a new fan looking for a few dark laughs, this is the dirty, binge-friendly pleasure you’ve been looking for.
As an ‘80s kid, I watched Married…With Children at a young age, and if I’m being honest, I didn’t really process what was so subversive about its humor. All I really knew was that Kelly was hot, Peg was hotter, and Al’s cranky punchlines were funny. Returning to the show now as a family guy (complete with a Peter Griffin-like waistline), though, I find myself appreciating its dark humor now more than ever.
The Darkest Laughs The ’80s Had To Offer
You see, the central gag of Married…With Children is that Al Bundy has achieved the American dream: he has a steady job, a beautiful wife, two healthy kids, and a big house to raise them in. Nonetheless, he has inexplicably found that the dream has turned into a nightmare.
His customer service job offers endless abuse from the public, his children are idiots, and his wife has transformed henpecking into an art. All Al really wants to do at the end of a long day is disassociate and obsess about the good old days, which makes him an almost shockingly modern figure in the world of ‘80s television comedy.
Another way that Married…With Children was ahead of its time was how it focused on the comedy that can only come from dysfunctional and hilariously broken people. Seinfeld debuted two years later and became a cultural phenomenon, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (which debuted 18 years later) arguably perfected the formula of “jerks behaving badly.” Arguably, those other shows’ outsized success would have been impossible if Married…With Children hadn’t shown how hungry audiences were for an alternative to saccharine-sweet sitcoms.
The Original Doomer
In this way, Married…With Children is weirdly timeless: it still works well as a kind of antisitcom, and if you grew up watching ‘80s staples like Who’s the Boss, you’ll still laugh (and laugh hard) at how transgressively this show breaks all the rules. But if you’re a bit young for those vintage sitcoms, you’ll still enjoy the adventures of Al and Peg Bundy because they are of a piece with later cynical programming like It’s Always Sunny. Basically, Al Bundy is the original doomer, and whether you’re here to laugh at his jokes or ogle his wife, there’s a lot to love in this vintage sitcom.
Will you agree that Married…With Children is one of the best raunchy sitcoms in television history, or would you rather work in a shoe store than finish a single episode? The only way to find out is to run for the remote (go channel your glory days as a high school running back!) and stream it for free on Tubi. Come for the killer theme song and stay for the hottest ladies the ‘80s had to offer!
Entertainment
The Prime Video Favorite That Ruled the Charts Falls Off Entirely After Hotly Debated Season 3
In a year stacked with great television, a handful of shows stand out as defining 2025 titles. From the outstanding Noah Wyle-led medical drama The Pitt to Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham‘s timely masterpiece, Adolescence, 2025 was home to some of the best and most vital television of the decade. The summer of 2025 was packed with plenty of popular projects, but it was the final installment of a Prime Video romance that had us all turning pretty.
The biggest teen series of the year, The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s (almost) final chapter saw Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, and Gavin Casalegno, caught in the fiery final stages of a gripping love triangle, all set against the gorgeous sunset of the fictional town of Cousins Beach. Earning 70 million viewers worldwide in its first 70 days, marking a 65% increase over Season 2, Season 3 was a greater success than most involved could’ve imagined. Despite the finale airing on September 17, 2025, The Summer I Turned Pretty has remained a constant on the streaming charts ever since.
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and, at the time of writing, The Summer I Turned Pretty has bowed out of the Prime Video top ten in the U.S. In all likelihood, it will quickly find its way back into the charts, but a mammoth finale for Fallout Season 2 and the arrival of Bridgerton‘s fourth outing on Netflix have taken viewers’ gaze away from Jenny Han‘s coming-of-age gem.
‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Isn’t Going Anywhere Just Yet
Fear not, TSITP fans, as more is on its way in the form of a feature film. Set to serve as a direct continuation from the recent finale, the film was announced following the enormous success of Season 3, with Han returning to pen the story. There has been no word on when production might begin on the next installment of this love story, nor do we know what direction Han will take it in following Belly’s final decision between the brothers, so make sure to stay tuned for the latest updates. A logline of The Summer I Turned Pretty reads:
“A girl is caught in a love triangle between two brothers as she deals with her first love and first heartbreak during the perfect summer.”
The Summer I Turned Pretty is available to stream on Prime Video. Stay tuned to Collider for the latest streaming stories.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Erica Dunton, Jesse Peretz, Jeff Chan
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Lola Tung
Isabel ‘Belly’ Conklin
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Christopher Briney
Conrad Fisher
Entertainment
Hoda Kotb returns to “Today ”to fill in for Savannah Guthrie amid search for mother: 'There is also a job to do'
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‘We show up for each other,” said Kotb, who left her permanent post on the show in 2025.
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Whether I’m flying, driving or taking the train, I’m pretty much always heading somewhere. That means my wardrobe is overflowing with travel outfits, but like anyone else, I have my favorites. Some live in the back of my closet while others are front and center, worn and washed every week. Rather than gatekeep, I’ve rounded up my top picks, a.k.a. the pairings I reach for on both travel and non-travel days.
My go-to travel outfits have to be loose, breathable and skin-soft. They also have to be layerable, since I can’t stand being too hot or cold on an airplane. Lastly, style is non-negotiable for a fashionista like me. These 17 picks check all the boxes. I’ve also included some outfits that are currently in my cart — because no, my closet isn’t large enough for all 17 travel outfits at once. Maybe someday!
The 17 Comfiest, Classiest Travel Outfits — From $7
1. Sporty Chic: This side-stripe outfit begs to be worn to Europe, so go ahead . . . plan that vacation. I’m wearing it to London!
2. Road Trip: You haven’t experienced ‘silky’ until you’ve tried this loose, buttery-soft outfit that’s perfect for long car rides.
3. Medium-Thick: If your body can’t decide between hot and cold, this medium-thick tracksuit is a smart pick. It has short sleeves and long pants for the perfect balance.
If you think rich mom outfits are complicated, think again! Reese Witherspoon confirmed that a simple sweater does the trick. Her polished style is incredibly easy to recreate, thanks to this cashmere-like sweater on Amazon that looks identical, yet costs only $27. You’d never know the difference! In a recent Instagram reel, Witherspoon announced a […]
4. Layering Staple: I love wearing this tank and pants combo with a cardigan for the plane and a jean jacket for lunch.
5. Warm Weather: This tee and shorts set is my easy but cute uniform for weekends in Florida and spring breaks in Mexico. It’s a lightweight dream!
6. Feeling Nauti: I’m adding this striped polo sweater and lounge pants set to my cart while it’s on sale! The nautical pairing channels pure yacht-wife energy.
7. Elevated Look: Everything about this tee and pants set is polished, including the ribbed texture, slouchy fit and practical waist tie.
8. Oui Oui: You don’t need a French passport to look Parisian, thanks to this cozy, classy knit set. The cap-sleeve top and joggers do all the talking.
9. Errand Outfit: Whether you’re stocking your Airbnb or grabbing coffee for your crew, Ekouaer’s stretchy set keeps you cool and comfy on the go.
10. Oddly Flattering: I wrote an entire article about this viral travel sweatshirt. This lounge set features the iconic hoodie plus flattering sweatpants.
11. Second Skin: Calling fabric snobs! This rayon-and-spandex-blend set might make you forget you’re wearing clothes.
12. Date Night: I wear this sophisticated knit outfit for date nights near and far. The pleated pants are elegant enough for the office, too.
13. Super Cozy: Imagine feeling like you’re wrapped in a cloud while looking like a millionaire. That’s the best way to describe this fuzzy ribbed outfit.
14. Boho Babe: People will think you bought this waffle-knit set at Urban Outfitters or Zara. They’d never guess it’s only $25!
15. Cool Mom: Classic and luxurious, Automet’s crewneck and pants combo is the easiest add-to-cart. The drapey silhouette screams ‘cool mom.’
16. Aspen Socialite: This color-blocked quarter-zip outfit makes you look like a wealthy ski bum. I’m grabbing it to wear both on and off the slopes.
17. Budget-Friendly: Considering this short-sleeved, pajama-like lounge set is just $7, you’ll want to scoop up a few in different colors.
The famous couple recently sparked separation rumors after the “WAP” hitmaker gave a curt response to a question about the NFL player.
The speculated rift in their relationship comes days after Stefon Diggs addressed the possibility of taking his relationship with Cardi B to the next level.
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Cardi B Raises Eyebrows With Curt Reaction To Stefon Diggs Question
Fans were shocked ahead of the 2026 Super Bowl, where the New England Patriots faced the Seattle Seahawks on February 8. Before kickoff, an ESPN reporter asked Cardi to say something inspiring to her beau.
The female rapper paused at the question, gave a curt smile, and coldly quipped, “Good luck,” before walking away. A clip of the interaction was shared on TikTok, sparking breakup rumors, as many suspected there was trouble in the couple’s paradise.
“He pissed her off. She’s such a Libra!!” Someone theorized. Another echoed similar sentiments, noting Cardi and Stefon Diggs probably fought before the Super Bowl. “She is upset with him,” a third TikTok user agreed.
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Fans Suspect The Athlete May Face A Similar Fate To The Rapper’s Ex
The breakup theories continued, with someone noting “Steffon is just an ‘n’ away from Offset.” A concerned fan wondered what Diggs did to upset Cardi, while another described her reaction as “beefing with my man, but I gotta keep it professional.”
“She didn’t mean good luck for the game,” a TikToker pointed out, with more social media users agreeing. Other fans noted that her reaction confirmed a looming breakup, revealing they had stopped following each other on Instagram.
“Cardi don’t follow him no more. Our good sis said deuces,” a TikTok user shared. A quick search confirmed that the rapper no longer follows Diggs on Instagram and vice versa, fueling fans’ suspicions that they may announce their separation sooner rather than later.
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The Grammy Winner Reportedly Left The Super Bowl Early
The timing of Cardi and Diggs’ speculated rift couldn’t have come at a worse time for the athlete, as the Seahawks dominated the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Additionally, Page Six reported that the rapper appeared to have left the event early.
As seen in a video shared on her Instagram Story, Cardi was in her car singing along to Bad Bunny’s song after the halftime show. It seemed she skipped out on watching Diggs’ team lose the Super Bowl after her halftime show cameo.
Cardi, alongside several celebrities like Pedro Pascal and Karol G, made guest appearances during Bad Bunny’s performance. The entertainer’s decision to leave early further fueled the separation rumors as she had been eager to watch Diggs at the Super Bowl.
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The Entertainer Braved The Cold Weather To Support Her Man
In January, The Blast reported that Cardi proudly showed her love and support for Diggs after his team earned a ticket to the Super Bowl. Despite the cold weather, she rushed onto the field to wrap her man in her arms.
“I’m very excited for him. Very excited for the whole team, they been working their butts off,” Cardi raved in an interview. She noted that she was particularly proud of Diggs, who not only recovered from an ACL injury but also gave his best on the field in every game.
Weeks later, The Blast shared that Diggs had addressed the possibility of proposing to Cardi. When a reporter asked if the athlete would consider putting a ring on Cardi if his team won the Super Bowl, he replied: “It’s on the agenda, maybe, right? Right?”
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Stefon Diggs And Cardi B’s Relationship Timeline
Diggs and Cardi first sparked romance rumors in October 2024 when DJ Akademiks announced that they were dating on his YouTube channel. However, Cardi later shut down the claims that month, calling the relationship speculation “funny.”
However, the paparazzi spotted Cardi with Stefon Diggs on Valentine’s Day in 2025, reigniting the dating rumors. They continued keeping fans guessing in May 2025 when they attended a New York Knicks game together, holding hands upon their arrival.
PEOPLE reported that Cardi made their relationship Instagram official in June 2025 when she shared PDA pictures from a yacht. They welcomed a son, whose name hasn’t been revealed, in November 2025, and the rest is history.
Matt Rife & Mariah Morse
Splitsville
Published
Matt Rife and Mariah Morse have gone their separate ways after a brief romance … TMZ has learned.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … the comedian and the fitness influencer, who we first reported were dating in March 2025, recently called it quits. It’s currently unclear what led to the split. The two have also unfollowed each other on social media.
@amosblackmon
When we broke the story last year, Matt and Mariah looked very much all in. While it was unclear exactly how long they’d been seeing each other at the time, Mariah had already gotten close enough to post a pic with Matt’s dog, Hammer, raising eyebrows among fans.
The two also enjoyed a cozy weekend together on the East Coast they were spotted holding hands while heading into a Rhode Island club, and Mariah was later seen posted up next to Matt in a group Instagram photo.
They went Instagram official shortly afterward and Mariah has shown up with Matt at a bunch of his public appearances as well as at his comedy shows.
Matt definitely has a type. Mariah joins the list of blondes he’s dated, following his previous relationship with actress and dancer Jessica Lord, which ended 2 summers ago.
We reached out to reps for Matt and Mariah … so far, no word back.
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
It’s currently the year 2026. For six years, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been off the air, and every day since, fans of the adventure series have been wondering when their favorite characters will show up in the MCU. They won’t.
From the very beginning, the signs were there that Disney had no interest in fully integrating the television series into the MCU. All you had to do was watch the second episode, “0-8-4,” a bottle episode that could be set in any universe, with any cast of characters, and needed a last-minute 30-second Samuel L. Jackson cameo in order to keep viewers going into Episode 3.
No Show Should Start With A Bottle Episode
“0-8-4” has Agent Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) team in Peru to recover an artifact of “unknown origin.” Bringing back the “hero ducks down and a shockwave comes from their stick” move from Serenity, the team flees back onboard their ship, “the Bus,” with members of the national army. That’s right, the second episode of the brand new big-budget MCU television series is a bottle episode.
Bottle episodes utilize existing sets, typically with only the main cast involved, and are heavier on dialogue. They can be great when used right, like Supernatural’s “Baby,” but “0-8-4” was only the second episode to air. Going right into a bottle episode was meant to let us see how the characters interact with one another and develop relationships, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was also a Marvel series, and nothing about this episode took advantage of the setting.
How many lost civilizations exist in the Marvel universe that the artifact could have been tied to? It could have been part of Nova Roma. Instead of the Peruvian army, Coulson’s ex could have been leading a unit of The Wild Pack. Something. Anything small to tie the story into the larger world, instead of being a generic adventure. Then again, bottle episodes are cheaper to produce, so “0-8-4” should have been a clue that the show’s budget was being throttled in order reach 22 episodes a season.
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Is Too Good For Modern Marvel
The best of “0-8-4,” besides FitzSimmons, the best part of every episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is the brief cameo appearance of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury after the credits. For over a decade, fans have complained that they have never experienced another moment like that. That was the second clue in “0-8-4” that the series was never, ever, going to reach its potential.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually found its groove by, ironically, abandoning all connection to the MCU and saying, “Screw it, we’re doing Ghost Rider,” or “Let’s adapt Secret Empire.” It was a fun, fantastic sci-fi adventure show. 14 years later, the unrealized potential that Disney had right there still hurts. Given the current state of the MCU, though, maybe it’s good that FitzSimmons, May, Quake, Coulson, and Mack can be remembered on their own. But….What If?
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The new Star Trek spinoff, Starfleet Academy, has proven to be very controversial, but its fans always offer the same rebuttal to any criticism of the show: “give it time.” The logic goes that this show might need time to find its footing, just like The Next Generation and Voyager did. However, given that the show is limited to 10 episodes per season and a maximum of four seasons, Starfleet Academy is officially running out of time to impress viewers.
This reaction to a new spinoff began with Star Trek: The Next Generation, whose first season was its absolute worst. Season 2 wasn’t much better, but the show (thanks largely to new showrunner Michael Piller) transformed into must-see TV with Season 3. After Deep Space Nine had a similarly rocky Season 1, it became gospel among many Trek fans that you should always give a new series a season or two to really find its footing.
It Gets Ugly When You Run The Numbers
Needless to say, this has become the most common defense Starfleet Academy fans have used against any and all criticisms of the show. Those fans love to make comparisons to TNG and say that critics should give these cadets time to find their space legs, just like we gave Picard and crew time. However, what these Starfleet Academy fanboys don’t realize is that the new show is racing the clock, and it’s all Paramount’s fault.
Back in the Golden Age of Star Trek, shows ran for seven seasons, with (outside of the occasional writer’s strike) 26 episodes per season. This is why shows like Voyager could afford to have a rocky first season: whenever there was a bad episode, fans could reasonably expect that a good one was around the corner. Even if the first two seasons were wildly rocky (looking at you, The Next Generation), there would be 130 episodes left that would be, relatively speaking, very good.
Each Season Is A Bubble, Waiting To Pop
But those were the salad days of network television. In the streaming era, shows are more streamlined, and Starfleet Academy (like Strange New Worlds before it) has only 10 episodes per season. Moreover, executive producer and co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman has confirmed that the show is designed to last only four seasons, mirroring the four years it takes the cadets to complete their academy training.
That means that Starfleet Academy has a much more limited window to find its audience than fans think. Every episode represents ten percent of an entire season, meaning that a few bad episodes can make the entire season feel like a mixed bag. This is why fans began turning against the more whimsical episodes of Strange New Worlds: while the occasional lighthearted story can be fun, it feels weird when 30 percent of your third season is devoted to overly wacky episodes.
Starfleet Academy is facing a similar problem because the writers keep dragging decent stories down with juvenile humor. Tales of parental trauma and racial diaspora exist uneasily alongside jokes about cadets eating comm badges and vomiting glitter (incredibly, these are different cadets). By the time the show ends, fans may well wonder how much more character development we might have gotten if there had been fewer scenes of farting fish, drunken dancing, and other try-hard attempts to make us laugh.
The Show Will Be Over Before You Know It
It’s also important to remember that Starfleet Academy lasting four seasons is actually a best-case scenario. Previously, NuTrek shows like Discovery and Lower Decks were prematurely canceled by Paramount. Strange New Worlds, meanwhile, unexpectedly had its final season (which recently finished filming) cut in half. While Starfleet Academy has already been renewed for a second season, poor reception of Season 1 could very well get the show prematurely canceled.
That may already be happening, as Starfleet Academy recently tumbled out of the Top 10 list on Paramount+. With any luck, the show will continue to smooth out its rough edges and grow more impressive over time, like The Next Generation before it. But considering that Starfleet Academy will have fewer episodes in its total run than TNG had for only two seasons, it’s important for fans and showrunners alike to realize that this new show is rapidly running out of time to win over new audiences.
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