Horror’s most enduring franchises tend to have one common trait: They vary wildly in quality from entry to entry. Nightmare on Elm Street fans get treated to sequels like A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, but then also have to wade through Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Halloween fans get Halloween and … arguably, any of the sequels. Hellraiser gave us both Hellbound: Hellraiser II and Hellraiser: Hellworld. It’s tough to think of any series that doesn’t suffer these kinds of dips…except for one.

For more than 40 years and five films, Sam Raimi’s breakneck Evil Dead series hasn’t produced a single dud. It’s a laudable accomplishment for a series that includes everything from a straight remake to multiple ventures into comedic territory.

In 1981, audiences were shaken by the scrappy, malevolent energy of The Evil Dead, and its 2013 remake somehow managed to capture some of its blood-soaked, downright mean lightning in a bottle. Even 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, flaws and all, didn’t betray the series’ ruthless roots, with its bloody set pieces and fearless attitude toward kids and violence. On Friday, the sixth entry (and third of the modern era), Evil Dead Burn will hit theaters — and there’s good reason to believe the franchise will continue its winning streak.

Why Horror’s Wildest Franchise Is Also Its Most Consistent

Image via New Line Cinema

Sam Raimi and his friends put 1981’s The Evil Dead together with little more than about $90,000 and incredible determination; the story of the film’s hellish production is legendary. However, once Stephen King saw the finished product and hailed it as visionary, studios took notice and the relentless horror film was on screens across the country, X-rating and all. American audiences — even those familiar with the nascent slasher film template or, say, The Exorcist — weren’t prepared for the sheer level of mayhem Raimi was able to spray across the screen. At that point, the only comparison for The Evil Dead‘s hallucinatory splatter were some of the more ferocious Italian genre films by masters like Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci.

The success of the first film made a sequel inevitable — even though it took some six years and concessions to producer Dino De Laurentiis for it to arrive. It did take the series in a more overtly comedic direction (the sequel resembles one of Peter Jackson‘s early “splatstick” comedies more than hallucinatory Italian horror), but that wasn’t a problem — Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn upped the ante in terms of pure wildness and creativity, and was critically praised for it. Even Roger Ebert, who famously loathed many 1980s horror classics, confessed that the film was a blast.

And by the time Army of Darkness arrived in 1991, the series’ transition to comedy-horror was in full bloom, with Bruce Campbell‘s Ash cementing himself as an action hero and Raimi diving into his goofiest set pieces yet, all set in Medieval England. Still, with Raimi and longtime cinematographer Bill Pope behind the camera, the bloody energy and fun never lagged, and Army of Darkness remains a genre classic to this day.

Even the Modern ‘Evil Dead’ Films Have Kept Up the Bloody Standards

Fede Álvarez‘s 2013 reimagining of the original film shouldn’t have worked. Given horror trends of the time and the era’s string of disastrous remakes, the odds were against it. But the first-time writer-director pulled off a bloody, relentless good time with aplomb. Much like the original, 2013’a Evil Dead initially earned an NC-17 rating for its extreme violence, and several eye-popping moments of self-mutilation deserve spots in the gore hall of fame. Álvarez also managed to match Raimi’s pace and dedication to little other than scares; it’s a lean and mean genre film that’s still incredibly rewatchable.

Lee Cronin’s original sequel, Evil Dead Rise, got more lukewarm critical notices than the remake, but it’s almost as much of a ferocious good time. While the film succumbs to the 2020s horror trend toward trauma-porn and underlighting-as-atmophere, it doesn’t disappoint in the demonic visuals and mutilation departments. Cronin also proved he had few qualms with putting kids in danger, and delivered some delightfully vile carnage including scalping and eyeball-spitting … high-quality chaos that sits among the best in the genre.

Sébastien Vaniček Was a Canny Choice to Helm ‘Evil Dead Burn’

Image via Warner Bros.

So far, the modern Evil Dead films have had a different director for each entry, and that’s proven a surprisingly effective strategy, given how crucial Raimi’s auteurship was to the first three pictures. With this weekend’s Evil Dead Burn, the producers have enlisted second-time French director Sébastien Vaniček to bring the mayhem to life. Given the strengths of his prior film, Infested (Vermines), they may have made the right choice.

An old-fashioned creature feature brought viciously into the modern day, Infested boasts some of the most skin-crawling, genuinely squirmy horror set pieces of the last decade, as overgrown spiders take over an apartment block. And, like Raimi, Vaniček did it using largely practical effects, including real spiders. Only a viewer made of stone will be able to make it through the entire film without squirming at some point — and for arachnophobes, just watching might be hilariously out of the question.

If Vaniček brings the same atmospherically chaotic but visually precise intensity and dedication to discomfort to his entry in the long-running series, audiences are in for a treat with Evil Dead Burn. It’s just his unapologetically gross, tense siege-film mentality that the series requires. And if that’s the case, then may horror’s most consistent franchise never die.

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Release Date

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July 10, 2026

Runtime

120 Minutes

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Director

Sébastien Vanicek

Writers

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Florent Bernard, Sébastien Vanicek, Sam Raimi

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When it comes to cozy mysteries, Britain proves the perfect backdrop. Whether it’s the quaint village of Midsomer or the gorgeous island of Shetland, the very best of British detective stories are regularly huge hits across the pond in the U.S. Right now on Netflix, Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and co have returned in Enola Holmes 3, earning more than 20 million views in its first five days and topping the streaming charts across the world. This is despite facing backlash from both critics and fans, with many calling this threequel “forgettable.”

From one British crime solver to another, the future of a modern British gem has now been announced on the BBC. The charming detective series Ludwig stars Peep Show and Upstart Crow star David Mitchell, as he must assume the identity of his missing DCI twin brother to crack the case surrounding his disappearance. The second season of the near-perfect series is set to debut on the BBC later this year, with Anna Maxwell Martin, Dipo Ola, Dylan Hughes, Dorothy Atkinson, Ralph Ineson, and Karl Pilkington joined by Mark Bonnar and Fleabag‘s Sian Clifford in a tantalizing cast.

‘Ludwig’ Just Received a Massive Update

Before the second season has even debuted, Ludwig has received a massive update from the BBC, with it confirmed in a press statement that the detective series would officially return for a third season. Mitchell’s puzzle setter-turned-amateur detective will be back alongside Maxwell Martin as Lucy Betts-Taylor for Season 3, confirming the fate of both in the upcoming second. Season 3 will consist of six 60-minute episodes and will once again be written by Brotherhood. Chris Foggin will direct. In a statement, Mitchell said of the renewal:

“I am delighted that Ludwig will be returning to solve more of Mark Brotherhood’s brilliant mysteries. I can’t wait to get started and have renewed the subscription on my denouement-learning app.”

Jon Petrie, outgoing BBC director of comedy commissioning, said: “Ludwig is exactly the kind of smart, distinctive, audience-pleasing show we love at BBC Comedy. Sharp writing, a compelling story, big laughs and, naturally, a generous helping of puzzles. The team at [producers] Big Talk have crafted something truly distinctive and much-loved, and we’re excited to see what mysteries Ludwig tackles next.”

Ludwig Season 2 will air later this year. Stay tuned to Collider for more news.

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Release Date

September 25, 2024

Network

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BBC One

Directors

Jill Robertson, Robert McKillop

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Writers

Mark Brotherhood

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  David Mitchell

  John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor / James Taylor

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  Anna Maxwell Martin

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  Lucy Betts-Taylor

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Riley Burruss is ready to pull back the curtain on her dating life.

During the Wednesday, July 8, episode of Bravo’s Next Gen NYC, viewers were able to meet Riley’s boyfriend, Christian.

“I got a new boyfriend,” Riley, 23, shared in a confessional interview. “He’s super sweet, super caring and he’s a little bit of a nerd, which I love. We play music videos and just dance.”

While meeting for dinner in the Big Apple, the pair discussed their recent trips together — which don’t always make Instagram.

“I feel like we’ve barely spent time in New York,” Riley told her boyfriend. “[My favorite trip was] Korea.”

Christian replied, “I feel like it’s really hard to find someone you don’t get annoyed with after two weeks together. I like the fact that we can go places and not fight.”

Elsewhere in the dinner, Riley seemingly helped keep Christian up to speed on any and all drama surrounding her friend group.

Before season 2 of Next Gen NYC premiered in June, Riley dropped a few hints that her romantic life may be part of future episodes.

“I am very private about it,” she exclusively shared with Us Weekly. “I really appreciate this relationship, so you may see a glimpse. You never know.”

At the same time, the former Real Housewives of Atlanta star was aware that if you share your dating life on reality TV, people may become invested. She pointed to her mom, Kandi Burruss, who had her 2014 wedding to Todd Tucker documented on a Bravo special titled Kandi’s Wedding. (The pair later split in November 2025 after 11 years of marriage.)

“I think I’ve seen my mom’s relationship, of course, throughout the years, and how that path went for her,” Riley explained. “I kind of already see how it is. I listen to my mom. I hear her and I listen to her experiences. I’m just going to see. This would be the first time for me, but we’ll see.”

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One person who is a big fan of Christian is Riley’s own mom. During a 2025 appearance on Sherri, the musician sang her praises for the man in her daughter’s life.

“I love him because he’s smart, and he’s really pushing her to do better,” Kandi, 50, revealed on Sherri Shepherd’s talk show. “He has his own thing going on. He’s educated. He’s doing big things. … I’m so much happier for the future.”

Next Gen NYC airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET. Stream new episodes the next day on Peacock.

Justin Baldoni and his wife, Emily Baldoni, are speaking out on their new normal after his legal battle with Blake Lively was settled.

“We have not done this in a while, so we have not spoken publicly for the better part of the last two years and it’s not because we haven’t had anything to say,” Justin, 42, began an Instagram video shared Wednesday, July 8. “Lord knows we have, but it just felt like every time we went to make a video like this where we wanted to speak, something was telling us not to. It just doesn’t feel like the right time. We were talking about it and feeling into it and praying about it.”

Emily, 41, chimed in, revealing that “this feels like the moment” to speak out.

“That being said, there is so much to say and it makes it hard to speak, it makes it hard to figure out what is right for us for this specific moment,” Emily noted. “But what does feel important is that we can genuinely say that we are sitting here today feeling immense gratitude for so many things and so many people and so many people that have happened to us.”

Related: Inside Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s Lives and Careers After Settlement

After 18 months of seemingly endless PR mudslinging and more than 1,400 court filings, the bitter legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni appears to finally — mercifully — be winding down. In early May, two weeks before their high-profile trial was set to start, attorneys announced they’d settled the case out of court. […]

In late 2023, Justin was named in a lawsuit by his It Ends With Us costar Lively, 38, who accused the director of sexual harassment, fostering a hostile work environment and attempting to destroy her reputation. Justin vehemently denied the accusations, subsequently filing a defamation suit against Lively, which was ultimately dismissed by a judge.

In the midst of the legal battle, Justin and Emily refrained from speaking publicly. The Jane the Virgin alum further noted on Wednesday that gratitude “saved” the couple, who share two children.

“I also feel that it’s important as we say that, in that gratitude, it doesn’t negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years,” Emily continued. “We’ve had to wrestle with so many things and try to understand so many things, like, ‘How could something like this even happen?’ Let alone disguise[d] as a fight for women. So much to unpack, and the truth is that there’s been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family, which also makes it hard to speak.”

Justin further acknowledged that there have been many “painful things that have been spoken into existence” as a result of the lengthy legal battle.

Related: Justin Baldoni’s Wife Loves ‘The Man, Husband and Father’ He Is Amid Drama

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Justin Baldoni celebrated his 41st birthday with his family by his side amid ongoing legal drama. “Happy birthday, my love,” the actor’s wife, Emily Baldoni, wrote via Instagram on Friday, January 24. “Celebrating the man, husband and father that you are. I’d choose you again and again.” Emily, 40, also uploaded a photo of the […]

“That created so much noise and we didn’t want to add to the noise,” he explained of the couple’s reasons for staying quiet. “We just wanted to let the justice system run its course.”

A judge ruled in May to dismiss the majority of Lively’s lawsuit claims. The rest were settled within weeks before the pair were expected to begin trial.

“The truth and the facts have spoken for themselves,” Emily stated on Wednesday. “And here we are.”

In the months since the legal drama concluded, Justin and Emily have been focused on “healing.”

“We are healing, and if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear,” Justin said. “It looks different every day, and we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real and what matters and it’s this, it’s our family, it’s our friends, it’s our community [who] have been there for us, it’s our faith.”

He continued, “I think we’re closer and more devoted and steadfast in our faith that we’ve ever been. Also, and this has been on both of our hearts, there were so many of you who, when we didn’t have a voice, were our voice. … So many of you had discernment and you used your intuition and you trusted that, and you have given your time to fight for us. Thank you does not feel like enough, but we’re here in large part because of so many of you and all of our friends and family.”

According to Justin, he and his wife learned one major lesson from the ordeal.

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“One thing that we learned is that when God presses the reset button and everything else is stripped away, that’s when love shows up,” he said. “And we feel so loved.”

Justin and Emily closed out their four-minute video, stressing that they will have “more to say” in due course.

“That time will come,” Emily noted. “For now, we are going to focus on continuing the healing and hanging out with our kiddos and enjoying life.”

Farscape: the definition of “if you know, you know.” If you’re an outlier in this equation, allow us some evangelizing. Within cult classic circles, Farscape is the Sci-Fi Channel series guaranteed to make you weep over farting, lustful alien puppets designed by the incomparable Jim Henson Company. In many ways, a summation like “an American guy gets stuck in an Australian BDSM fever dream” isn’t wrong. In other ways, Farscape‘s reputation as the defining “found family in space,” proto-Guardians of the Galaxy story is untouchable and nigh-impossible to replicate.

Part and parcel of this content feast is the series’ most irrefutable fact: Farscape is a romance. Normally, love stories aren’t a selling point for traditional science fiction. You have your Mulder and Scully, your Sheridan and Delenn, even your Aral and Cordelia if you include books. But love stories are one plot among many, a complementary feature emerging from a series’ character pool that sometimes enhances the whole.

Farscape doesn’t just brandish its weeping, swooning, whack-a-doodle heart on its sleeve; it bellows it into a space megaphone. Creator Rockne S. O’Bannon and co-producer Brian Henson crafted this oddball gem as a sweeping love story set against the backdrop of an equally sweeping space opera. John Crichton (Ben Browder) and Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) are a destined love written by the stars. More importantly, because Farscape also defined itself through enviably exemplary script work, John and Aeryn resonate as palpably human.

Their connection is as delicate as a whispered secret and as wrenching as an open wound. These two are everyone’s favorite love story across decades of science fiction — yes, everyone’s, because I said so. And if Farscape‘s team hadn’t broken the television industry’s rules about romance, then this revered couple — the concept baked irreparably into Farscape‘s DNA — might never have unfolded.

How Was ‘Farscape’s Romance Different?

Image via SyFy

When Farscape premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel in 1999, television romances were defined by the “will they won’t they.” A dynamic as timeworn as, say, Little Women‘s Jo and Laurie, series like Moonlighting, Cheers, The X-Files, Friends, and Gilmore Girls notoriously toyed with fans’ hearts by dangling potential love stories and denying them resolution season after season. By those standards, Farscape hits the ground running and never stops long enough to beat around the bush (or asteroid belt). John Crichton, a human astronaut transported to another galaxy through a wormhole and stuck with a group of murderous criminal misfits, might be outrunning villains who want to master wormhole technology. Still, John Crichton and Aeryn Sun simply are the A-plot of Farscape. The two kiss halfway through Season 1 and sleep together three episodes later.

And they keep sleeping together into Season 2! They catch “I’ve never felt this before” feelings and tentatively reckon with their significance! Yet John and Aeryn are far from a rushed, empty attempt to increase ratings via sex (in space, no one wears anything but leather). The writers’ room uses the seasonal episode counts to their advantage. They time emotional arcs beat for beat, prioritizing the characters’ separate and shared growth and letting situations organically emerge from that conflagration. John and Aeryn’s romance consumes them without ever subsuming.

If Farscape had adhered to television practices contemporaneous with the 1990s, a romance executed to this caliber — a full series of this caliber, where people talk more than they shoot — wouldn’t exist. In May 2023, Shout! Factory TV held The Farscape Fandemonium Marathon. Reflecting on the series, Rockne S. O’Bannon and Brian Henson left no doubt about their intentions with John and Aeryn. Farscape intentionally broke with established industry practice. “The television rules with a potential romance were, don’t ever let them get together,” Henson explained. “But Rockne, you knew really early, this was going to be a huge romance. We are not going to keep them apart.” O’Bannon elaborated: “I wanted it to be a classic, classic romance. […] I wanted to keep them at odds as long as possible […], but it was all kind of this planned thing to make sure that we made it as unlike other shows as possible, the way other shows would follow tropes [and never let them get together].”

If Farscape hadn’t crossed out the rules with permanent marker then shredded the rule book and ejected the scraps into space’s cold vacuum, the most exquisitely poignant and agonizingly raw romance known to science fiction probably wouldn’t deserve those adjectives. What a disappointing world that would be.

What Made John and Aeryn a Compelling Romance on ‘Farscape’?

By bucking the confines of the will-they-won’t-they, Farscape lets John and Aeryn’s galaxy-spanning love story exist. Sometimes their love thrives, sometimes it withers, but it’s always lived in, always breathing, and always reactive to the wider narrative and proactive in its evolution. Watching John and Aeryn is compelling not just because of the superior writing and the actors’ chemistry (an embarrassment of riches, there), but because Farscape makes good on its scope — microcosm and macro. At first, these grown 30-somethings dance around each other like smitten, awkward teens. It’s simultaneously endearing and tragic given the abusive brainwashing the Peacekeepers subjected Aeryn to. For a soldier conditioned to never feel, being vulnerable with John breaks every rule. What’s more, Aeryn’s been hurt before. A hulking space monstrosity? No big deal. Hand the lady a gun. True emotional vulnerability is a risk from which Aeryn flees time and time again. She’s a desperately frightened rabbit in a trap, trembling inside her protective Peacekeeper shell.

Yet to paraphrase the perennially applicable Jane Eyre, there’s a string binding John and Aeryn together. It pulls them taut, an irresistible gravitational pull. Their primary emotional conflict and division stem from finding the courage to love and be loved in a ruthless galaxy where pain, loss, and tragedy lurk predatorily around every corner. Who couldn’t root for that? Just the way the camera frames their kisses or tracks John’s yearning blue eyes is worthy of scholarly study. Their empathy’s aching tangibility warrants assuming the fetal position. John and Aeryn’s romance is a testimony to the lengths we’ll go to protect this fragile yet innately human thing called love. Farscape devastates you to a pulp and then offers catharsis.

A solid foundation compounded by genuine stakes and “no other show has the guts, I’m scarred for life” tragedies makes John and Aeryn’s romance oscillate like a tuning fork on repeat. Farscape makes the psychological stakes equivalent to the plot’s stakes — which are the height of space opera. Whether the crew survives, whether these two wild kids can make it work, matters as much as preventing the totalitarian villains from conquering the universe. Personal conflict balances with spectacle; they work together to escalate tension like a storytelling pas de deux. John and Aeryn survive plot twists that should be ludicrous but are earned by their sincerity. They don’t even break up (a tired trope) so much as grow. Sometimes, growing means unraveling your tangled knots before reuniting.

Their relationship evolves because the characters exist in constant metamorphosis. Science fiction can equal escapism, but isn’t a realistic relationship inside an outrageous situation the most pleasing outcome? Farscape tells the best story: one where every joint in the architecture informs the rest until it’s a symphony, with John and Aeryn’s romance as the leading motif. (Yes, I’ve mixed my metaphors. John Crichton would be proud.)

25 Years Later, ‘Farscape’s John and Aeryn Are Still Amazing

Image via The Jim Henson Company

John and Aeryn even call gender stereotypes a rude name before punching the concept, because why not add egalitarian feminism and healthy masculinity to the victory lap? The radiant Aeryn Sun with her cutting features is the stoic, closed-off one. She’s the action woman who never leaves Moya without her guns. John Crichton eventually can aim for more than the broadside of a barn, but he’s a wise-cracking pop culture maven attuned to his emotions. He’s starstruck, reverent, and open, and unrepentantly cries at a hat drop. John and Aeryn balance one another by coincidence and understand each other by design. Shades of Peter Quill and Gamora exist here, but Quill couldn’t manage this level of male-wife.

As for the actors carrying 2000s science fiction on their backs, Ben Browder and Claudia Black are, in the words of Brian Henson, “magic.” Chemistry that one in a million can’t be manufactured. They’re attentive performers who match, regulate, and dynamically improve their scene partner. Both deliver a Masters curriculum on how to act your ass off. And even with scripted exchanges like “Do you love Aeryn Sun?” “Beyond hope,” Browder and Black convey that enormity without words. It’s a testament to the risks Farscape took and the rewards it reaped. Moya’s family of misfits, criminals, and morally bankrupt broken people defined the era. John and Aeryn defined the sci-fi genre. Next year marks the series’ 25th anniversary. No science fiction love story has surpassed the reformed Peacekeeper and her nerdy astronaut — and good luck trying.

Farscape is available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.

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Farscape

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1999 – 2003-00-00

Writers

Rockne S. O’Bannon, David Kemper, Justin Monjo, Richard Manning

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Amanda Batula may believe her relationship with West Wilson deserves another chance, but not everyone around her agrees. 

Months after the couple’s romance sparked controversy, one of Batula’s own “In the City” co-stars is making it clear she thinks the reality star is heading in the wrong direction. 

Georgina Ferzli says she has already delivered her advice face-to-face and remains convinced Batula still has an opportunity to repair her reputation, if she’s willing to walk away before it’s too late.

Ferzli revealed she wasted little time addressing Amanda Batula about her relationship when they crossed paths at the “In the City” premiere in May.

Speaking exclusively with Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea,” the board-certified dermatologist recalled approaching the TV personality to commend her for attending the event despite the controversy surrounding her romance with Wilson.

“I went up to her and I was like, ‘This is the first great thing you’ve done. It takes a lot of courage to show up to this premiere party,’” Ferzli recalled.

She admitted she understood why Batula may have wanted to avoid the spotlight altogether, noting, “Nobody wanted to see her. She hadn’t made any sort of public appearance. I wouldn’t have shown up.”

However, after offering praise, Ferzli quickly pivoted to what she considered an even more important conversation.

Batula’s Reaction Didn’t Change Ferzli’s Opinion

According to Ferzli, she encouraged Amanda Batula to reconsider her relationship with West Wilson before it caused further damage. “The next good thing is to break up with West,” she recalled telling her.

Batula, however, didn’t appear to take the comment seriously. Ferzli said the reality TV star laughed as if she was joking. That response hasn’t changed Ferzli’s stance.

She explained that Batula has repeatedly acknowledged the romance was a mistake, making it difficult for Ferzli to understand why she continues to stay in the relationship.

“She keeps saying this is a mistake she made,” Ferzli explained, adding, “My point to her at the premiere and also going forward from there was, ‘You keep making the mistake. You can end the mistake and start fixing it.’”

Although she believes everyone deserves another chance, Ferzli argued that redemption requires action, not simply recognizing where things went wrong.

Amanda Batula Still Has A Chance To Change Course, Ferzli Says

The release of Big Little Lies is one of the most important television events of the 21st century, as it marked a point when a network like HBO could attract movie stars. There had certainly been HBO shows featuring A-list actors before, but it was unheard of for a series to be populated by some of the most famous stars, based on a hit novel, and helmed by an acclaimed director. Big Little Lies was a summer television spectacle that created a thrilling mystery, yet also sparked meaningful conversations about domestic abuse and toxic relationships. While the series was a faithful interpretation of Liane Moriarty‘s book, it became too big a hit for HBO to remain a limited event. Big Little Lies returned for a second season entirely based on new material, and it’s set to continue soon with the impending Season 3.

Set in Monterey, California, Big Little Lies explores a wealthy elementary school and the parents of its attending children, including Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman) and Madeline Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon). Madeline is trying to rebuild her confidence after her ex-husband Nathan (James Tupper) marries the yoga instructor Bonnie Carlson (Zoë Kravitz), and Celeste discovers that her husband Perry (Alexander Skarsgård) has a relationship of some kind with single parent Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley). Both Madeline and Celeste share a friendship with the socialite Renata Klein (Laura Dern), but all five women develop a bond when they discover the extent to which Perry has been abusive. Big Little Lies‘ first season tells a concise story; its seven episodes are a flashback following the reveal that a homicide occurred on school grounds. While Season 2 didn’t have the same exciting hook, it offered a deeper exploration of surviving trauma.

‘Big Little Lies’ Became an Event Series for HBO

Big Little Lies amplified the class commentary present in Moriarty’s novel, with a fair amount of black comedy satirizing the extent to which wealth and privilege have made these women out of touch with reality. Yet the series also confirms that no amount of money or material possessions can protect them from rampant sexism. Kidman depicts the turmoil that Celeste faces as she copes with Perry’s violence, Witherspoon portrays the pressure Madeline is under to retain her public profile after her husband remarries, and Dern takes on a somewhat more comedic role that becomes more nuanced as Renata reveals some of her mental health struggles. Kravitz’s role in the series was particularly important because it was critical to highlight the experience of a woman of color, especially given the culture of Monterey. Although Woodley had given several notable performances in young adult films, Big Little Lies confirmed her maturation as a performer.

Big Little Lies delicately handled potentially divisive subject matter; it was unflinching in its graphic content, but it didn’t exploit the characters. Although the first season was directed in its entirety by the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée, both Kidman and Witherspoon were involved as producers and were thus able to determine how they were projected onscreen. It became clear that the characters were the reason for Big Little Lies‘ success, and that there was audience interest in seeing how their lives changed after the traumatic incident that ended Season 1. Since the show had made icons of its characters, it would have been a missed opportunity for Season 2 not to let the stars continue playing their roles.

‘Big Little Lies’ Turned Into More Than a Book Adaptation

Season 2 of Big Little Lies is a bit of a mess, as the brilliant filmmaker Andrea Arnold was reportedly not allowed to execute her vision, resulting in some tonal inconsistencies. That being said, Season 2 deepened the message of survival and perseverance by showing how the absence of an abuser does not mean that trauma is erased; a majority of the season is spent on the bonding between Celeste and Jane, who decide to inform their children that they all share the same father. The biggest addition to Season 2 was Meryl Streep as Perry’s mother, Mary Louise, delivering one of her best performances of the 21st century. The season addressed nuanced themes of modern feminism by confronting the women who ignore abuses committed by their loved ones, and the arc of Mary Louise coming to grips with the reality that her son was a monster is unforgettable.

Big Little Lies wasn’t just a ratings hit and an Emmy-nominated critical darling, as the show changed the landscape of prestige television by revealing the demand for these types of book adaptations. Kidman would transform her career by becoming one of the most consistent television stars around, and Witherspoon also had a career resurgence that led to more work on the small screen. While it is unclear what shape the next iteration of Big Little Lies will take, its legacy has already been solidified.

Lindsay Hubbard’s “Hot Hubbs Summer” is officially heating up after Summer House received a 2026 Emmy Awards nomination.

“I screamed, I didn’t cry but I got chills, and I ran a lap around my apartment,” Lindsay, 39, exclusively tells Us Weekly after the hit Bravo show earned its first-ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program after 10 seasons on Wednesday, July 8. “Then I started pacing around on the phone calling everyone.”

Lindsay, who has been part of the Hamptons-based series since its 2017 premiere, confesses she couldn’t “contain my excitement for an entire two hours.” (The Emmy nominations were announced on Wednesday morning, with Summer House competing against America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Love on the Spectrum, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked and Welcome to Wrexham.)

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Related: Emmy Awards 2026 Nominations: See the Complete List

The countdown to the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards has begun following the official nominations announcement. The first two honorees were announced on the Today show before Liza Colón-Zayas and Jeff Hiller unveiled the complete list of nominees live from the Wolf Theatre at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July […]

The TV personality — who has created multiple catchphrases on the show, including “Hot Hubbs Summer” and “Don’t Activate Me” — tells Us that when she calmed down, she had to contact fellow OG stars Kyle Cooke and Carl Radke to celebrate the milestone.

“I texted Kyle and Carl on a group text first,” Lindsay recalls. “And then I texted our editors and our executives from Truly Original.”

Lindsay reveals that her messages were “filled with a lot of caps, exclamation marks and extra letters to express my excitement.”

“I am so beyond proud and excited for our entire team top to bottom,” Lindsay gushes. “From our producers, editors, executives at Truly Original, to [the] cast and our entire crew that has been with us for the majority of these past 10 years, I am just so happy for our show! Very well deserved nomination!”

During season 10, which aired earlier this year, the cast got even more attention than usual following Kyle and Amanda Batula’s divorce announcement in January. (Amanda, 34, has been part of the show since season 1 when she was Kyle’s new girlfriend and not yet a full-time cast member.)

Related: Summer House’s Lindsay Slams Austen Love Triangle Comparison to Amanda, West

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Lindsay Hubbard is over comparisons between her past with Southern Charm star Austen Kroll and the current drama surrounding Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s budding romance. Instagram account Unhinged and on Camera got her attention this week by suggesting that “Lindsay kind of did the same” to Ciara Miller when they were both interested in […]

After four years of marriage, the pair announced their divorce. The following month, Amanda sparked romance rumors with season 8 addition West Wilson, but they both denied there was any truth to the fan speculation.

On March 31, Amanda and West, 31, changed their tune and confirmed that their platonic friendship had turned romantic.

The revelation shocked the Bravoverse, especially since West and his ex-girlfriend — costar Ciara Miller — had seemingly gotten close again during filming in summer 2025. West and Ciara, 30, previously dated in 2023 and Amanda was privy to all of her ups and downs with West as one of her former BFFs.

During the explosive three-part reunion special, West confessed to having “sleepovers” with Ciara during the fall of 2025, but claimed that he didn’t start seeing Amanda until February. (He also confessed that he was dating Meija Moreno before Amanda, but said she was never his girlfriend.)

Some of the cast, including Lindsay, Amanda, Kyle, West and Ciara also filmed Summer House: The Aftermath to give fans even more clarity on Amanda and West’s relationship timeline.

While Us has since confirmed that both West and Amanda are not returning to the franchise amid the drama and subsequent fallout, their hookup seemingly gave Summer House the fuel it needed to get its first Emmy nod.

Related: Lindsay Hubbard Teases ‘Summer House’ Future Before Season 11

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Lindsay Hubbard is sharing any insight she has into Summer House season 11. “I think they’re working on it because it would start filming in a month from now,” Lindsay, 39, told Us Weekly exclusively while attending Dustin Lynch’s fourth annual Pool Situation: Nashville CMA party at the Margaritaville Hotel in Nashville earlier this month. […]

“This season was jam-packed with drama, fun, and vulnerability from the cast,” Lindsay tells Us about why she thinks the show was nominated. “It was a 16-episode season, with three-part reunion, and one additional aftermath episode: 20 episodes of premium content to feed the viewers was huge for fans.”

Lindsay, who is also one of the stars of the show’s spinoff In the City, says that the way their editors were able to “seamlessly and flawlessly incorporate a present scandal into two shows” should be applauded.

She explains that the production teams were able to not confuse viewers while “also delivering all the new content in a way that still told these updated stories,” calling it “beyond impressive.”

“They were working around the clock editing these shows and they did such a phenomenal job,” Lindsay adds.

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While Lindsay has always been one to prepare for anything life can throw at her, she admits to Us that she’s not ready to write an acceptance speech just yet.

“I don’t want to jinx anything so I’m going to just keep my fingers crossed for now and see what happens next!” she teases.

The 2026 Emmy Awards air on NBC Monday, September 14, at 8 p.m. ET.