Kate Gosselin left her boyfriend, Steve Neild, flabbergasted with an unusual outfit choice.

Taking to TikTok on Thursday, July 23, Kate, 51, showed off her latest attire — a Little House on the Prairie costume — which she wore as the couple continue to spend time at Steve’s rural property.

“The prairie has clearly gotten to me,” Kate said in the video. “This was a suggestion from somebody on here. And I had never thought of it. So whoever you are, thank you for coming up with this. I immediately went to Amazon and ordered this beautiful costume.”

Kate continued, “I have a video surprising Steve at breakfast time with this outfit and to say he was surprised is an understatement. We’re still laughing about it.”

Related: Kate Gosselin Compares Her Current Drama With Son Collin to Past Negativity

Kate Gosselin is admittedly in good spirits despite her ongoing estrangement from son Collin Gosselin ahead of the release of his tell-all memoir. In the comments of Kate’s Tuesday, July 14, TikTok upload about life in the “wild wild west homestead,” a social media user apologized “if negative energy” had affected the 51-year-old reality TV […]

Steve was taken aback by the costume initially. “What the hell have you done?” he asked Kate. “Where did that come from? What the hell… Is this Little House on the Prairie or the Amish?”

However, he ultimately changed his tune, calling the look “beautiful.” Kate shared the sentiment, describing the ensemble as “really cute.”

Kate has been sharing snippets of her and Steve’s time in their “wild wild west homestead” this month amid her ongoing estrangement from son Collin Gosselin.

@kate.gosselin

A prairie SURPRISE! 🤣🤣🤣

♬ Appalachian Way – The Chilliout Folk

Advertisement

Kate shares twins Mady and Cara, both 25, and sextuplets Collin, Joel, Aaden, Hannah, Alexis and Leah, all 22, with ex-husband Jon Gosselin. The Jon & Kate Plus 8 couple divorced in 2009 after a decade of marriage.

Collin is set to release a memoir, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, which will detail his version of his upbringing.

“My life was always broadcast to millions, but what was actually happening in my life was never shown — in fact, much of it was deliberately kept hidden,” he exclusively told Us Weekly last month, revealing the book cover for the first time. “For years, other people told my story through headlines, television episodes and public speculation. Now, finally, I’m sharing what was really happening behind the scenes.”

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

Advertisement

Related: Kate Gosselin Documents 51st Birthday Alongside Boyfriend Steve Neild

Kate Gosselin is giving fans an inside look at her life with boyfriend Steve Neild. “This is 51,” Gosselin captioned a photo of herself sipping on a coffee via Instagram on Sunday, March 29. “I asked Steve to take pics of me throughout my birthday. Here is what he took.” In the next pic, Gosselin […]

Advertisement

Collin added at the time, “This book is about truth, survival, resilience and finding my voice after years of being silenced. If my story helps even one person feel less alone or gives them the courage to tell their own, then every difficult page was worth writing.”

Kate has not publicly addressed her son’s book but has long denied his accusations about their relationship. Kate has since remained focused on her daily life with her other children and Steve as well as documenting her life via social media.

“Good morning from the wild wild west,” she said via a TikTok video on July 15. In the same clip, Steve could be heard off-camera gushing about his western-style breakfast. “He’s really passionate about his bacon. I rarely feed it to him because I want him to live a long, long time and bacon is very bad for you.”

With the rise of streaming services and on-demand viewing, many networks and platforms are coming out with their own exclusive TV shows to entice people to subscribe. Some of these are original prospects, and others are based on works of literature. Let’s face it, TV shows based on books are nothing new — in fact, book-to-TV adaptations are about as old as television itself.

However, there has certainly been an influx of these adaptations in the new millennium. Quite a few have come out this year already, with more on the way in the coming weeks, months, or years. If you’re looking for something to read, this list is something you’ll want to check out, because all these books, regardless of genre, have TV adaptations coming, meaning there’s no better time to read them.

‘Pride and Prejudice’ (1813)

Image via T. Egerton/ Whitehall

Pride and Prejudice is a literary classic and a very important piece of English history. Written by Jane Austen, this feminist romantic drama is about social norms and expectations in historical England, especially regarding arranged marriage and the limited roles that women have in society. The story is about five sisters, whose parents are trying to arrange marriages for them. But of course, some of them don’t want to marry a strange man they’ve never met before; they want to marry somebody that they actually love.

This legendary novel has seen countless film adaptations, which is natural since it was very popular and came out over 200 years ago. However, this is not the first time it has been adapted into a TV show. It’s the first time in the 21st century, though, and the first TV adaptation of the work since 1995. Note that this only counts pure adaptations and not reinventions or retellings in different settings. In any event, if you’re into period dramas, feminist literature, or romance, this is a book you absolutely must read before the TV show comes out.

‘Flawless’ (2022)

Image via Sourcebooks

Flawless is the first book in the Chestnut Springs series of Western romance novels. Elsie Silver is primarily a romance author, who has a lot of experience in the genre, and it shows in this critically-acclaimed novel. The story is about Rhett, a professional bull-rider who ruins his career in a disgraceful drunken brawl. To clean up his image, Rhett’s agent has their daughter accompany him everywhere, only for the two to end up falling deeply in love.

If you’re into small-town romance or Western romances, this is a book you simply must check out. This is especially true considering a TV adaptation is well under way. It’s still in the early stages of development, but all that’s known is that it’s being handled by Netflix, and that there is no confirmed release date yet. However, this is better since you can take your time and maybe read the whole series before the TV show comes out.

‘Carrie’ (1974)

Image via Doubleday

Carrie is a Stephen King horror novel that was adapted into a pretty famous film shortly after its release. In fact, it’s actually King’s debut novel, which sparked a long-lasting horror legacy that continues to this day. The story is about a girl named Carrie, a girl from a house of abusive religious zealots who is struggling in her social life. After her classmates play a cruel prank on her during high school prom, Carrie uses her telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who made her life miserable.

There are actually four film adaptations of this book, with the earliest coming out in 1976. However, in 2019, it was announced that a TV miniseries was in the works, helmed by FX and MGM. In 2026, that miniseries is finally becoming a reality, with a release date set for sometime in October. Better still, it’s being directed by Mike Flanagan, who is known for his modern horror masterpieces. If you haven’t read the book before, now is definitely the best time to do so.

‘The Good Daughter’ (2017)

Image via William Morrow

The Good Daughter is a mystery thriller that received critical acclaim and many awards. The main character is Charlotte, who is more commonly referred to as “Charlie.” She lives in the small town of Pikeville, which was relatively quiet until a devastating crime left her mother dead. 28 years later, Charlie has become a lawyer, just like her father, which is perfect timing because the violence has also returned. Charlie happens to be the first person to witness the crime, bringing back her repressed memories of her mother and reopening the case that ruined her family.

The Good Daughter is absolutely loaded with bombshell plot twists, so it manages to keep its reader hooked from start to finish. The hit Karin Slaughter novel is actually set to become a TV show this year, helmed by Oscar-winner Steph Green. Charlie will be played by Meghann Fahy, who has done a lot of drama and romance roles. The release date is November 12 of this year, so there’s still plenty of time to read this thrilling novel before it makes it to the small screen.

‘Fourth Wing’ (2023)

Image via Red Tower Books

Fourth Wing is one of the most popular fantasy novels right now, so it’s no surprise that it got quickly scooped up by Prime Video. The series is primarily a romantasy, with some pretty raunchy content that is definitely not for kids. Granted, this is probably one of the reasons the book got so popular in the first place. Fourth Wing is actually the first in the Empyrean series, which currently consists of three novels and a short story collection, though two more novels are planned.

The plot follows a college for dragon riders during wartime, specifically a 20-year-old student named Violet. Things aren’t as simple as they seem, however, as other students are willing to kill in order to secure a bond with a dragon — assuming the dragons don’t kill you first, that is. This book is full of romance, political intrigue, and backstabbing, and has been very popular in the romantasy community. The release date for the show hasn’t been confirmed yet, but Amazon gave it the green light in May of this year, so it’s safe to say it probably won’t be long before it’s gracing our screens. In the meantime, now is a great time to read the first book.

‘The Way of Kings’ (2010)

Image via Tor Books

The Way of Kings is the first book in the ongoing The Stormlight Archive series, written by Brandon Sanderson. The series is part of his shared literary universe called the Cosmere. In the Cosmere, each series or stand-alone novel takes place on its own planet within the same galaxy that each has its own magic systems. Stormlight is set on the barren world of Roshar, which has little to no plant life, and which is constantly blasted by hurricane-like events called highstorms. As a result, all native life forms are crustaceous, so they can take shelter from the storms inside their shells.

Plot-wise, it’s about the indigenous Parshendi people, a race of crab-like humanoids who begin waging war against humanity using an ancient form of magic that hasn’t been seen in over 1,100 years, prompting humans to respond and fight in a war for their very survival. Or so it seems, anyway. The magic system is really complex, but very enjoyable. The book can be daunting considering it’s about 1,000 pages long (and this is the shortest one in the series), but it’s well worth the time it takes to read. Recently, Apple TV secured the rights to Sanderson’s Cosmere universe, with plans to release a Mistborn movie and a 10-episode season of The Stormlight Archive. It’s still early days right now, but with how much time it takes to read these books, it’s best to start soon if you intend to finish them before the show comes out.

‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ (1997)

Image via Scholastic

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the first book in the Harry Potter series, which likely needs no introduction. The books started a massive cultural phenomenon which is still ongoing to this day. Pretty much everyone knows the story by now: an orphaned boy discovers he is a wizard and is whisked away to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to study magic. Shortly after the release of the first book, they also saw a multi-billion dollar series of film adaptations, famously starring Daniel Radcliffe in the leading role. However, HBO recently released a trailer for a TV remake, which is scheduled to come out this Christmas.

Sure, this is an adaptation that a lot of fans aren’t particularly excited about, but there are still plenty of fans who have jumped right on the hype train. It’s set to be a much different take on the story, so it’ll be interesting to see what it brings. The first book isn’t particularly long, so if you’ve been meaning to get in on Potter-mania, there’s no time like the present. You’ve got until Christmas, after all.

Advertisement

Harry Potter

Advertisement

Release Date

2026 – 2026

Showrunner

Advertisement

Francisca Gardiner

Directors

Mark Mylod

Advertisement

Writers

Francesca Gardiner

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Big Bang Theory fans who watch Stuart Fails to Save the Universe will notice some major plot holes.

During an exclusive interview with Us, creators Chuck Lorre, Zak Penn and Bill Prady revealed they purposely introduced story lines that didn’t make any sense throughout the first season of the spinoff.

“We were always completely on top of it,” Penn joked. “Each morning we would get together and go over this big chart.”

Lorre clarified that they were actually “clueless” about the big picture, adding, “We were absolutely in a dark room trying to figure out the elephant.”

Related: How Many Spinoff Shows Does ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Have?

The Big Bang Theory premiered nearly two decades ago — and the TV universe has only grown with three spinoffs (and counting)! The sitcom inspired a franchise when The Big Bang Theory aired from 2007 to 2019. It starred Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch as […]

Penn credited Prady for having a “better sense” of how the story flowed. Prady, for his part, noted that only one aspect of the show was — nearly — airtight.

“I kept track of one thing, which was the loop,” he added. “And it’s not 100 percent right but it’s close enough.”

While speaking to Us, Penn argued that they wanted to have plot holes, saying, “If they don’t then we didn’t do our job.” Prady jumped in to point out that the characters at the center of the HBO Max show “notice them along the way” as well.

Lorre, meanwhile, argued that shouldn’t be what the audience searches for.

“Ultimately, if you’re looking for plot loopholes and you’re not laughing, we failed,” he continued.

According to the official synopsis, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe follows Stuart Bloom as he is faced with the daunting task of “restoring reality after he breaks a device built by Sheldon and Leonard, accidentally bringing about a multiverse Armageddon.”

Stuart “is aided in this quest by his girlfriend Denise, geologist friend Bert and quantum physicist/all-around pain in the ass Barry Kripke. Along the way, they meet alternate-universe versions of characters we’ve come to know and love from The Big Bang Theory. As the title implies, things don’t go well.”

Stuart (Kevin Sussman) was originally introduced on The Big Bang Theory, which aired on CBS from 2007 to 2019. The show starred Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch as a group of best friend scientists and their — sometimes polar opposite — significant others.

The Big Bang Theory won 10 Emmy Awards during its 12-season run and spawned the prequel series, Young Sheldon, a.k.a the follow-up focused on Sheldon’s life (Iain Armitage) as a child prodigy.

Viewers then met Sheldon’s brother, Georgie (Montana Jordan), which paved the way for his love story with Mandy (Emily Osment) to inspire another spinoff, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, meanwhile, is led by Sussman, Brian Posehn, John Ross Bowie and Lauren Lapkus.

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

“For me, Stuart came back to me pretty quickly,” Sussman told Us. “Because the original Stuart was sadly not too different than me. So it was pretty much the same.”

He continued: “Stuart has never really been a character where I’ve thought, ‘OK, who is this guy?’ It’s always just been about, ‘What are these circumstances now?’ So less about who I am and more about how do I navigate all this craziness that’s happening.”

New episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe air Thursdays on HBO Max.

Years after Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt‘s split, a new development involving their daughter Vivienne has renewed attention on the family’s ongoing estrangement.

As the former couple’s youngest children reach adulthood, legal experts say one of the last remaining ties between the exes has effectively come to an end.

The latest milestone comes amid growing scrutiny over several of the couple’s children distancing themselves from Brad Pitt’s surname and what that could mean for the actor’s public image.

A Decade After Their Split, One Of Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt’s Final Legal Ties Ends

5

With twins Knox and Vivienne recently turning 18, all six of the former spouses’ children are now legal adults, effectively bringing any remaining custody-related matters between Pitt and Jolie to a close.

According to family law professionals, the milestone removes one of the last legal connections that continued to bind Jolie and Pitt following their highly publicized split.

Jolie and Pitt, once considered one of Hollywood’s most influential couples, share six children together: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne.

Family attorney Holly Davis told Fox News Digital that the development represents a significant turning point, noting that custody issues are no longer subject to court oversight now that the youngest children have reached adulthood.

“For those that followed the Pitt/Jolie divorce since 2016, it should be no surprise that Angelina Jolie is finally able to achieve what she attempted to get in the 2016 divorce — a complete cutting of ties between the children and Brad Pitt,” Davis noted.

Expert Says Angelina Jolie Has Finally Reached A Long-Sought Turning Point

5

Davis suggested that the outcome aligns with what Jolie has been pursuing since initiating divorce proceedings in 2016, allowing her greater freedom in matters that previously were subject to legal restrictions related to the children.

“Because she was unable to achieve this result in the parties’ divorce, she had to wait until the youngest children were 18 to be able to do the things that the court would not allow her to do,” Davis explained.

At the same time, Davis acknowledged that the reasons behind the apparent estrangement between Pitt and several of his children remain unclear to anyone outside the family.

“Whether or not she influenced them in hating their father based on the legitimate problems in her romantic relationship with Brad, or whether they all suffered similar difficult moments as a family which leads to their decision to no longer see him, will be anyone’s guess,” the family attorney said.

Vivienne Jolie-Pitt Seeks Legal Name Change

5

The latest development comes as Vivienne seeks to formally remove “Pitt” from her surname.

According to reports, the 18-year-old has filed paperwork requesting a legal name change from Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt to Vivienne Marcheline Jolie, citing “personal” reasons.

A court hearing regarding Vivienne’s name change request has been scheduled for November 2, according to public court records.

Following news of the filing, a source close to Pitt commented on the development, telling USA Today that the actor’s previous efforts to maintain a relationship with his children during the lengthy custody dispute with Jolie.

“It is important to contextualize that Brad was awarded 50/50 custody of the children in 2021 following lengthy testimonies from witnesses, experts, therapists and other people who had been with the kids and around them,” the source pointed out amid growing scrutiny over the reason the actor’s kids are publicly disassociating with him.

However, that ruling was later set aside after a California appeals court disqualified the judge who presided over the case.

Vivienne Jolie-Pitt Is The Fourth Sibling To Take Legal Action To Change Her Last Name

5

Vivienne’s request follows a pattern seen among several of her siblings. Long before formally seeking to remove “Pitt” from her surname, she had already begun using a shortened version of her name professionally.

In 2024, she was credited as “Vivienne Jolie” while working on the Broadway production of “The Outsiders,” where she served as a producer’s assistant alongside her mother, who was one of the show’s producers.

Before Vivienne, her older sister, Shiloh, made the move to cut ties with Pitt by filing to change her last name on the day she turned 18.

Very recently, two other Jolie-Pitt kids, Maddox and Zahara, also decided to make their name change legal, opting to drop the Pitt from their last name.

This now leaves Knox and Pax, who have reportedly both been using just Jolie as their last name professionally, but have yet to make a legal request to make it official.

Experts Divided On Impact Of Family Rift On Brad Pitt’s Image

5

The ongoing family developments have also prompted debate about whether the situation could affect Pitt’s public image.

Some experts believe the impact on his Hollywood career will be minimal. Entertainment attorney Tre Lovell told Fox News Digital that Pitt’s reputation as an actor remains firmly established and that his family struggles have been publicly known for years.

In his view, “Most of the public would chalk it up to an unfortunate problem with the relationship with his kids, but as far as his brand, it’s still strong and would survive any type of criticism in this area.”

Others see the repeated decisions by several of Pitt’s children to distance themselves from his surname as more significant.

Crisis communications expert Kaivan Shroff argued that while Pitt’s professional accomplishments remain unquestioned, the discussion increasingly extends beyond his career.

“[Pitt’s] talent remains unquestioned. But when multiple adult children publicly choose to stop using your surname, the conversation inevitably shifts from career to character,” Shroff said. “Whether fair or unfair, that’s the kind of narrative no amount of good publicity can easily overcome.”

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 1 second ago

Angelina Jolie made waves in the ’90s when she bared it all in multiple movies, a trend that carried over into the early aughts and the height of her popularity. None of those scenes are as strange and inexplicable as the time she played Grendel’s mother in Beowulf.

Jolie admitted that it wasn’t until sitting in the theater and watching the movie that she realized the character wasn’t going to be a scaly lizard monster and, instead, would look exactly like her. It’s the strangest choice made by director Robert Zemeckis in a bizarre movie that would never get made today. It’s so unique that if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth your time.

Bringing The Classic Poem To Life

Beowulf adapted the classic Old English poem that most people know from their high school English class, and by its nature, it doesn’t lend itself well to the structure of a major Hollywood film. Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary wrote the script over the course of 10 years, intending for it to be dark and gritty. That’s fitting as Avary worked on Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino. When Zemeckis took over and decided to make it an animated film instead, he instructed the pair to “go wild” and write scenes that would cost a million dollars a minute in live-action.

The shift to using cutting-edge motion capture and turning Beowulf into a live-action cartoon brought with it a budget increase from an estimated $25 million to $150 million ($228 million when adjusted for inflation today). Unlike some films where you can’t believe that much was spent, the shockingly realistic versions of the cast make it clear exactly where the money went.

Angelina Jolie wasn’t the only star stunned by her appearance in the film, as Ray Winstone, who played Beowulf, couldn’t believe how much the character looked like him if he was a six-foot six-inch Viking with eight-pack abs. Reacher star Alan Ritchson was used as the body model for the character.

Angelina Jolie thought that as Grendel’s mother, she’d more closely resemble the classic monster instead of being depicted as a succubus, but she still loved the role and enjoyed being an evil, powerful woman in a male-dominated society a decade before Maleficient. Grendel, brought to life by Crispin Glover, who worked with Robert Zemeckis for the first time since Back to the Future, looks like a giant gangly corpse. The fight between Beowulf and Grendel is far more exciting on screen than it ever was when being read out loud by bored sophomores and is still the most brutal fight Zemeckis has ever filmed.

Studios Would Never Make Beowulf Today

Beowulf benefited from having perfect timing, arriving just as 3D was taking off in theaters, and studios were willing to take a risk. “Strange” is one way to describe the movie, but “experimental” is another, as Zemeckis took a huge swing with this film, and thankfully, it worked out in the end.

The movie earned $196 million at the box office but ended up becoming profitable thanks to its DVD release. Over the years, it’s become more of a cult classic, and it is still receiving praise for its high-quality animation work, which holds up even decades later.

We’re now in an era where Hollywood studios are risk-averse, and it seems like nothing but remakes, established franchises and superhero movies are receiving huge budgets, which makes Beowulf a delightful breath of fresh air from when directors could be as creative as they wanted. If you’ve never seen Beowulf, or it’s been a while and you forget how groundbreaking it was, it’s available to stream or free on Pluto TV today.

By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated 20 seconds ago

A large part of Babylon 5’s success is that episodes typically exist in a world of grey, forcing everyone to make a compromising moral choice along the way to getting what they want. “Deathwalker” spells it out with the introduction of the titular war criminal, who is both wanted for her crimes, and wanted for her knowledge. Turns out that dangling the secret to immortality will make every government quickly forget about all the murders. There’s no unified stance among the different species, and at the end of the day, it’s everyone for themselves. 

Too Important To Die

“Deathwalker” starts off with G’Kar’s assistant Na’toth assaulting a woman who just arrived at Babylon 5. The show cuts right through the mystery of her identity in the first act, confirming that yes, this is Deathwalker, a Dilger war criminal, despite being middle-aged when she should be an elder by now. Her real name is Jha’dur, and she’s played to slimy perfection by Sarah Douglas (Ursa from Superman II), since as we learn, she’s holding all the cards. 

Commander Sinclair (Michael O’Hare) is in the middle of a complex web of political and ethical motivations that touch every race in the galaxy. Jha’dur is happy to give up the secret to immortality, which incidentally, involves killing another. Her wish is to spread discord as far as she can across the galaxy. That’s why, when Sinclair and Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) arrive to escort her to trial, she knows how it’s going to end, and cruelly, she spells it out for both men. What she knows is too important and none of the governments will let her die. 

The bickering between the non-aligned worlds, the Minbari, Earth, and the Narn means no one is happy with the outcome. Jha’dur, found innocent, is to head to Earth and share the immortality formula. That’s when the race everyone forgot about, the Vorlons, blow up her ship. Ambassador Kosh calmly says to everyone that they are not ready for immortality. It’s a reminder of where the Vorlon stand in the world of Babylon 5: above everyone else. 

No One Is Perfect Onboard Babylon 5

Fans of Babylon 5 gravitated to the political machinations and in “Deathwalker” alone you have the Earth government again putting morals aside, while G’kar is revealed to have been the mastermind behind bringing Deathwalker to the station, and yet, it was the Minbari Warrior Caste who kept her hidden for all of these years. For once, the person with the cleanest hands in all of this is Londo. It’s another early sign that the future shown in Babylon 5 is far, far removed from Star Trek’s utopian outlook. 

“Deathwalker” is a standalone episode but as with most of Babylon 5 it’s still required viewing. Watching all of the ambassadors and governments butt heads after throwing away their morals, or not in the case of the non-aligned worlds, lets you know where everyone stands before the Shadow War heats up. There’s no real allies in the world of Babylon 5, and there’s no perfect hero coming to save the day. Sinclair, and later Sheridan, is the closest we get, and even those two men have their flaws. It’s all because in order to survive in this galaxy, choices have to be made, and often, there’s no good choice available.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 8 seconds ago

Star Trek is currently experiencing something of an identity crisis. Starfleet Academy tried to appeal to young fans, but that effort failed, and the new show got canceled after one season. It joins a graveyard of canceled shows, including series like Picard and Lower Decks that were aimed squarely at older fans. Now, Paramount’s new leadership has decided to pivot the franchise to the big screen. That means Strange New Worlds will be the final show to bear the torch before Trek ceases developing new shows for the foreseeable future. Because of these factors, this show is likely the very last to directly channel the pioneering spirit of The Original Series.

That’s a lot of baggage for the show to carry as it warps into Season 4. Fortunately, Strange New Worlds carries that weight very well with a new episode that feels like the lovechild of Doctor Who and Jurassic Park. The result is a tale with plenty of breathless action, fun character moments, and top-notch special effects. There’s only one downside: all of the episode’s most dramatic beats require the characters to act completely stupid. In the end, this leads to a fun-but-dumb episode that helps you determine what kind of Star Trek fan you actually are.

See You, Space Cowboy

The premise of this Strange New Worlds Season 4 premiere (“Valles Marineris”) is that the Enterprise investigates a distress buoy inside a solar storm. They get sucked inside and emerge 65 million years into the past, and the only way to get back home is for an Away Team to dodge dinosaurs and get some fuel for the warp core. Meanwhile, on the ship, Captain Pike and crew encounter a hyper-advanced alien race from Mars who wants to make the Enterprise part of a bitter war with some nearby aliens. The crew must now find a way to get home without doing anything that destroys their entire future.

For the most part, “Valles Marineris” works as a modern take on a Star Trek: Original Series episode. That first show was pitched as a Western in space (“Wagon Train to the stars,” in Gene Roddenberry’s words), and the Strange New Worlds Season 4 premiere leans into this with an opening shot of Pike and his Away Team dressed as cowboys and riding on horses on a planet straight out of Rick and Morty. It’s a really fun, really beautiful scene that’s never really contextualized; it’s just there to look cool. In a way, that is the thesis for this episode and, now, Star Trek as a whole.

Hit The Ground Stunning

Let’s start with what works about “Valles Marineris.” First, it’s got a great amount of action and adventure, including cowboy shenanigans, wacky space hijinks, and dinosaur dilemmas. While nobody has ever accused Strange New Worlds of being a boring show, this season debut never goes very long without providing a new scene to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. It is, quite frankly, the kind of episode you show to your friends who are convinced that nothing ever happens in Star Trek. Here, a shocking number of things happen, including events that radically redefine our characters’ understanding of human history. 

That leads into the next great thing about “Valles Marineris:” it’s yet another example of Strange New Worlds taking a big, creative swing. Those swings don’t always connect, but I’m glad the show keeps making them, even if we end up with failed experiments like the musical episode. Like, without getting into too many spoilers, this episode gives us a time travel episode unlike anything we have seen, one that delightfully channels Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder.” Between this and the extensive exploration of a predestination paradox, “Valles Marineris” delivers a creative and surprising story that pays homage to some of the crunchiest concepts in sci-fi history.

TFW Your Crew Keeps Getting Stupider

Aside from the beautiful visuals, the final major strength of “Valles Marineris” is its fun character moments. Sure, some of them fell flat; I thought the Ortegas/Scotty rivalry was pretty silly, and the prissy new Vulcan cadet is uniformly annoying in both of her scenes. Otherwise, though, this is great. We get to see Pike be a literal cowboy (talk about Hell On Wheels flashbacks!) and see Number One lead the craziest Away Team in Star Trek history. La’An gets to punch a dinosaur and (it is highly implied) ride Spock while dressed like a cowgirl. Throw in characters doing things like phasering a T-rex, and you have a truly unforgettable adventure.

Hovering over all of these cool elements, though, is a deeply depressing truth: Star Trek is now a franchise that focuses more on looking cool than making sense, so most of its biggest moments are tied to these highly-trained, brilliant Starfleet officers acting like complete idiots. For example (and beware some gentle spoilers!), Number One takes a shuttle to a nearby planet to get iridium so the Enterprise can get home. On the planet, they suddenly discover the dinosaurs thanks to a personal tricorder. This caused my nerdy ass to sit up in my chair and ask the obvious question: “wait, you didn’t scan the planet from orbit with your shuttle?”

Apparently, they never thought to do so. The character stupidity gets more annoying when we get to the big reveal that the Enterprise has traveled 65 million years in the past and that the Away Team is actually on Earth. This reveal takes time because the trip to the past damaged the ship’s sensors, and it takes a while to restore them. Why, I wondered, did Number One not bother to run scans as soon as the shuttle was in space? For that matter, why didn’t Spock suggest anyone try this? It is, after all, the most logical thing they could do.

There IS Life On Mars

Later, we get to the weird revelation that not only was there an advanced alien civilization on Mars, but they were at war with aliens from a seemingly new planet in our solar system. Multiple characters comment on how this planet isn’t there in their timeline; when the Martian ship gets ready to destroy that planet, Pike orders his crew to let it happen. They object, leading him to declare, “In our future…there is no fifth planet.” This is framed like a dramatic reveal, but this factoid was previously explained to the other characters and, effectively, the viewer. Why are they surprised, and why do we have to hear it twice?

That last bit reminded me of Matt Damon’s own dramatic reveal. Namely, that Netflix encourages writers to restate the plot three or four times because they know most of the audience is playing around on their phones. Apparently, Paramount+ subscribes to this idea, too, which is why we have an elementary school-ass factoid about our own solar system. Writing for bored, distracted audiences would also explain why the characters seem selectively stupid. After all, why have characters remember how sensors work if half the viewers aren’t even looking up? Why have characters remember what they heard one minute ago when half the viewers don’t know what they heard one minute ago?

Basically, all of the smart nuances of Trek have been sanded off so we can get to the cool parts (horses, dinos, and explosions, oh my!) that much quicker. That’s why this episode is a perfect way to answer the big question: what kind of Star Trek fan are you? 

What Kind Of Star Trek Fan Are You?

If you like more of the fast-paced action, snappy one-liners, and vibes-based storytelling of Star Trek (2009), you’ll likely love “Valles Marineris.” And you’re in luck, too: based on NuTrek and what little we know about the next Trek movie, it sounds like Paramount has gone all-in on transforming the franchise into something more like Guardians of the Galaxy than The Original Series. Incidentally, if you’re a big fan of TOS or the Golden Age of Trek, you’ll likely hate “Valles Marineris” because the show routinely dumbs characters down for the sake of drama, something that would never happen in, say, The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine.  

Before anyone calls me a snob, there’s no wrong way to like Star Trek. While I prefer the more cerebral Trek of the ‘90s, I’m a big fan of Star Trek (2009) and generally liked the Strange New Worlds Season 4 debut, “Valles Marineris.” If this is to be nothing but a shlocky action/adventure franchise, then, as Captain Sisko might say, I can live with it. What we have now is a daring thrill ride, one that consistently delivers pure, unadulterated fun. Unfortunately, this season premiere is a permanent reminder that the Golden Age of Star Trek is a bit like the dinosaurs featured in this episode: complex. Majestic. Powerful. Iconic.

And, most of all, completely and utterly extinct.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe has featured cameos from several The Big Bang Theory alums — but not every cast member has made their triumphant return to the small screen.

The HBO Max spinoff follows comic book store owner Stuart Bloom, who “is tasked with restoring reality after he breaks a device built by Sheldon and Leonard, accidentally bringing about a multiverse Armageddon,” according to the official synopsis.

Stuart “is aided in this quest by his girlfriend Denise, geologist friend Bert and quantum physicist/all-around pain in the ass Barry Kripke. Along the way, they meet alternate-universe versions of characters we’ve come to know and love from The Big Bang Theory. As the title implies, things don’t go well.”

Kevin Sussman, Brian Posehn, Lauren Lapkus and John Ross Bowie were tapped to headline the show. They will all reprise their roles from the original series, with Posehn returning as a geologist at Caltech. Sussman’s Stuart owned a comic book store and found love with Denise (Lapkus).

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is the fourth project in the Big Bang Theory universe. CBS’ hit sitcom aired from 2007 to 2019 and starred Jim Parsons, Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch as a group of scientists and their significant others.

CBS later launched the Young Sheldon prequel, which focused on Sheldon’s life (Iain Armitage) as a child prodigy growing up in Texas. Viewers met Sheldon’s brother, Georgie (Montana Jordan), which paved the way for his love story with Mandy (Emily Osment) to inspire another spinoff, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.

Keep scrolling to see who is — and isn’t — on Stuart Fails to Save the Universe:

Kevin Sussman

After appearing on The Big Bang Theory, Sussman is back as the lead of his own spinoff.

Johnny Galecki

Galecki a.k.a Leonard hasn’t appeared — yet.

Jim Parsons

Parsons, who hasn’t been on Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, previously expressed his preference not to play Sheldon Cooper again.

Kaley Cuoco

Cuoco has been booked and busy since playing Penny and hasn’t appeared on Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.

Simon Helberg

Helberg, who played Howard, isn’t in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe so far.

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

Kunal Nayyar

Nayyar, who is best known for playing Raj Koothrappali, returned in the series premiere of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.

Mayim Bialik

Bialik hasn’t confirmed a return on Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.

Melissa Rauch

It is unclear if Rauch will be on Stuart Fails to Save the Universe in season 1.

Jennifer Garner and longtime boyfriend John Miller are reportedly facing a pivotal moment in their relationship after years of maintaining a low-key romance.

While their arrangement has worked well in the past, sources claim the couple now wants to take the next step but has struggled to determine how to move forward.

As they reportedly set aside time to discuss their future together, Jennifer Garner’s close co-parenting relationship with ex-husband Ben Affleck is also said to be creating challenges for the couple.

Jennifer Garner And John Miller Reportedly Strained Over Her Close Relationship With Ben Affleck

5

Garner and Miller may be approaching a turning point in their relationship after years of keeping their romance largely out of the public eye.

For much of their relationship, the pair were comfortable maintaining a low-profile arrangement. They reportedly balanced family responsibilities and busy schedules without feeling the need to rush into living together or making other significant commitments.

“He accepted that, and for a long time their very non-traditional arrangement seemed to work perfectly,” a source explained to Star Magazine. “They were fine keeping things private and working around their custody schedules without feeling any pressure to move in together or make some big commitment.”

According to the publication, the couple’s romance has been thriving for years because Miller has “never been the type to push Jennifer and, for years, that really worked well for her because her kids were the priority.”

But things seem to be taking a turn, as the source noted that the “nature” of Garner’s “dynamic” with Affleck makes it “very difficult for her to fully merge her life with John.”

Jennifer Garner And John Miller Are Said To Be At A Relationship Crossroads

5

Garner and Miller are said to be reassessing their future. Insiders claim the couple feels ready to deepen their commitment but have struggled to move beyond discussions about what comes next.

“They’ve reached a point where they both want more, and they’re struggling to figure out how to get there,” the insider said. “They’ve talked about taking the next step before, but it never seems to happen, so they’ve ended up in this weird limbo.”

To address that uncertainty, Garner and Miller are reportedly setting aside dedicated “quality time together away from all the usual distractions and want to use it to come up with a realistic step-by-step plan for their future.”

The insider added that they “really do love each other and neither of them wants this relationship to drift along forever, but it’s going to take some real effort on both their parts to make any significant changes.”

Inside Jennifer Garner’s Relationship With John Miller And Her Ongoing Friendship With Ben Affleck

5

Garner was married to Affleck from 2005 until their separation in 2015, with their divorce finalized three years later.

The former couple share three children: Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel, and have maintained a great co-parenting relationship. Garner began dating Miller in 2018, and after a brief split in 2020, the pair rekindled their romance in 2021 and have remained together ever since.

Speculation about a possible engagement surfaced in late 2024 after Garner was photographed wearing a diamond ring on her left hand while driving.

The actress and Miller chose not to address the rumors publicly, leaving fans to wonder whether wedding plans could be in their future.

At the same time, Garner’s close relationship with Affleck has continued to attract attention.

John Miller Reportedly Feels Like A ‘Third Wheel’ Amid Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck’s Close Bond

5

In recent years, Affleck has repeatedly praised his ex-wife as an exceptional co-parent and trusted friend.

Reports have also suggested that Garner has remained a source of support for Affleck as he continues his sobriety journey.

Some insiders claim the close bond between the former spouses has created tension for Miller.

According to reports, he has occasionally felt like a “third wheel” due to Affleck’s continued presence in Garner’s life, particularly as the actor increasingly relies on her while working to maintain his sobriety after years of publicly documented struggles with alcohol addiction.

While Affleck has previously described his divorce from Garner as one of the “biggest regrets of his life,” there is no indication that the former couple’s relationship extends beyond friendship and co-parenting.

Jennifer Garner Is Concerned About Ben Affleck’s Love Life After His Split From Jennifer Lopez

5

Since Affleck’s divorce from his other ex-wife, Jennifer Lopez, Garner is said to be worried about her former husband as he navigates the dating world again.

Insiders claim Garner wants Affleck to focus entirely on his own happiness, especially since he seems to be thriving in his single life.

According to a Page Six source, “Jen thinks it might actually be good for Ben to take a break from dating for a while. She cares about him a lot and only wants what’s best for him at the end of the day.”

Garner feels this time away from romance could be a positive turning point, with the insider noting that “from her perspective, he’s happier than he’s been in a long time, and she feels like it could be healthy for him to keep putting that energy into himself, his work, and his family instead of jumping into a relationship.”

Ultimately, Garner has no plans to step in or dictate his personal life, as the source noted that “she trusts Ben to make his own decisions and supports him either way.”