By TeeJay Small
| Published 1 hour ago

If you spend a lot of time trolling Hulu for the best binge-worthy TV shows like I do, you’ve probably found your fair share of duds. Some shows don’t have the writing chops to really make you laugh, some lack a cast talented enough to have staying power, and some are just victims of early cancellation before they can hit their stride. Luckily, I won’t need to look for a new show for a while, because I’ve got five seasons of Abbott Elementary that I can watch over and over again until I die.

I’m not trying to oversell it when I say Abbott Elementary might just be the funniest show on TV. On paper, it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing I’d vibe with, but after taking a chance on the ABC sitcom, I’m completely hooked. I first became aware of the show last year when they collaborated with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia to produce a pair of hilarious crossover specials. Having grown up loving Always Sunny, I tuned in just for the gang, and stayed for the off-the-walls antics of the teachers and students at Willard R. Abbott Elementary School.

Overqualified And Underappreciated

In case you haven’t seen it, Abbott Elementary is a series created by former Buzzfeed contributor Quinta Brunson. Brunson stars as a newly-minted elementary school teacher named Janine Teagues, working in the heart of a deeply underfunded Philadelphia school system. Through the lens of a mockumentary film crew, we meet an ensemble of wacky characters, including the self-centered principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James), the wise and jaded kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph), and the straight-laced and overqualified Gregory Eddie, played by Tyler James Williams of Everybody Hates Chris fame.

Each episode highlights the struggles that teachers face, from bussing strikes, to budget cuts, to the occasional ringworm outbreak. Brunson created the show as a love letter to some of her own teachers from the Philly school system, and worked extra hard behind the scenes to ensure that the series handles topical issues with care. The heart of Abbott Elementary is best exemplified by the middle school teacher Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti), who is constantly trying to ensure that his students have access to clubs and resources that simply aren’t in the budget. Though he’s obnoxious, overbearing, and unspeakably corny, Jacob always goes above and beyond for his students.

Family-Friendly Humor With Bite

Personally, my favorite characters are Principal Coleman and Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter). The former is a character that feels like it was written using my exact likeness before race and gender swapping for the purpose of being legally distinct, while the latter feels like every one of my scheming, Italian aunts from back in Boston. Melissa is a die-hard Philly sports fanatic, an avid gambler, and a top-tier teacher when it comes to showing her kids how to hustle against the system. With endless obstacles in their path, the Abbott crew somehow manage to give their students the best education possible, and take the time to address systemic issues with a surprising level of care.

Though the characters on Abbott Elementary are extremely well realized, the thing that makes this show so special is its nonstop humor. I’m usually a fan of raunchy comedies and foul-mouthed performers (a la Always Sunny) so I was shocked at how many laughs this family-friendly workplace comedy could draw out of me. Pound for pound, I’d say I laugh out loud harder and more often watching Abbott Elementary than I do with any other movie, show, or web series. Every line out of Ava’s mouth is a work of art, and Mr. Eddie’s straight-man glances to the camera are like Jim from The Office on steroids.

If you haven’t had the chance to check this one out yet, be sure to catch Abbott Elementary on Hulu today. For those unsure about giving it a spin, I’d say start with episodes like “Attack Ad,” “Read-A-Thon,” or “Smoking.” Pretty much every episode of this show is a guaranteed banger, but those are some of the episodes that stand out as ruinously funny.

Billie Eilish’s controversial comments about meat-eating have officially gone larger than life. After the Grammy winner sparked massive online backlash for saying people cannot truly love animals while still eating them, PETA is now throwing its full support behind the singer with a gigantic billboard towering over Times Square.

The animal rights organization unveiled the massive display at 1530 Broadway in New York City, strategically placing it near fast-food giants McDonald’s and Popeyes while thousands of tourists and fans pass through the busy area daily. The campaign launch also coincides with fans heading into AMC and Regal theaters on 42nd Street to watch Billie Eilish’s new concert film.

The viral controversy began after Eilish declared during a recent interview that “eating meat is inherently wrong” and argued that people cannot claim to love animals while continuing to consume them. Her comments immediately divided social media, with many meat-eaters criticizing the singer while others praised her for speaking openly about veganism and animal cruelty.

Rather than backing down amid the backlash, the “Everything I Wanted” singer doubled down on Instagram by posting graphic slaughterhouse footage to her more than 125 million followers. The disturbing clips reportedly showed calves being kicked and thrown into trucks, pigs twitching while being dragged across slaughterhouse floors, and other scenes tied to the meat and dairy industries.

“[G]o watch a documentary or two and some footage of what is done to the animals u claim to love and what it does to the planet u pretend to love as well,” Eilish wrote. “[I]f that footage was hard for u to watch I encourage u to pls take a look at urself.”

PETA Says Billie Eilish Is ‘Not Afraid’ To Speak Out

According to PETA, Eilish’s posts inspired many followers to rethink their diets, with some users even crediting the singer for influencing them to become vegetarian or vegan. “Billie Eilish made me go vegan,” one social media user reportedly wrote, while another added, “Just saw Billie’s Instagram story. I am now a vegetarian.”

PETA President Tracy Reiman applauded the “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” singer for using her platform to spark uncomfortable conversations about animal rights. “If you claim to love animals but you’re still eating them, you’re lying to yourself, and Billie Eilish and PETA aren’t afraid to say it,” Reiman said per an email sent to The Blast.

“Helping animals, the environment, and our own health is as easy as leaving animals off our plates, and PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help anyone make the switch,” she added.

Eilish Previously Pressured Oscar de la Renta To Ban Fur

Long before her latest comments about meat-eating sparked controversy online, Billie Eilish had already made headlines for using her celebrity status to push major changes within the fashion industry. Back in 2021, the singer famously agreed to wear an Oscar de la Renta gown to the Met Gala only after the luxury fashion house committed to permanently banning fur sales.

At the time, Eilish spoke openly about her stance on animal cruelty while discussing the decision with The New York Times. “It was shocking that wearing fur isn’t completely outlawed,” she said.

The Grammy winner also admitted she felt proud to help influence change at such a major fashion brand, describing herself as a “catalyst” behind the company’s policy shift.

Billie Eilish Continues To Blend Pop Stardom With Animal Rights Activism

Beyond fashion campaigns and viral social media debates, Eilish has continued to align herself closely with animal rights organizations and grassroots activism efforts. The singer and her brother, Finneas, have both participated in events supporting Farm Sanctuary, which is recognized as the first farm animal rescue organization of its kind in the United States.

Over the years, Eilish has consistently used her massive platform to connect mainstream pop culture with conversations surrounding veganism, factory farming, and animal welfare. And with PETA now amplifying her latest remarks across Times Square, the singer’s message is once again reigniting debate over whether people can truly claim to love animals while continuing to eat them.

LeBron James has been a pillar of the NBA for over two decades, and the idea of retirement is inevitably coming into focus.

The basketball legend was drafted No. 1 overall by Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. He joined the Miami Heat in 2010 before returning to the Cavaliers in 2014, helping the franchise win its first-ever NBA Championship in 2016. James moved to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018.

James — who has been married to Savannah James since 2013 — has a lot to look forward to whenever he decides to officially hang up his jersey. The future Hall of Famer and his wife share sons Bronny, 21, and Bryce, 18, and daughter Zhuri, 11.

In October 2024, LeBron and Bronny became the first father-son duo to play together in NBA history when they both suited up for the Lakers.

“For a father, it means everything,” LeBron said after the game. “For someone who didn’t have that growing up, to be able to have that influence on your kids and have influence on your son. Be able to have moments with your son. And ultimately, to be able to work with your son. I think that’s one of the greatest things that a father can ever hope for or wish for.”

Related: Celebrity Kids Following In Their Parents’ Athletic Footsteps

Shaquille O’Neal’s son Sharif, Serena Williams’ daughter, Olympia, and more kids are proving to be just as athletic as their parents. The retired professional basketball player’s son transferred to Louisiana State University from the University of California Los Angeles in 2020. He chose the university because people there “didn’t really talk about” his dad, he […]

Scroll down for LeBron’s most candid quotes about retiring from the NBA:

May 2023

After the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 West Conference Finals, LeBron told reporters during a press conference that he hadn’t “begun to even think about next year” when asked about the possibility of retiring.

“We had a great run, but we fell short of our goal and our goal is to win championships,” he said. “That’s what this franchise is about, so that’s disappointing.”

He continued: “I don’t like to say it was a successful year because I don’t play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career. I don’t get a kick out of making a conference appearance. I’ve done it a lot. It’s not fun [for] me to not be able to get to the finals.”

LeBron hinted that his athletic future was up in the air. “We’ll see what happens going forward, but I don’t know,” he added. “I’ve got a lot to think about, to be honest. Just personally, with me moving forward with the game of basketball, I got a lot to think about.”

May 2023

When responding to a fan page’s tribute to his career, LeBron shared a cryptic post stating the world should “appreciate him while he’s still here,” adding that “more greatness” was “on the way.”

He shared the same post via his Instagram Story, adding some lyrics to Jay-Z’s “What More Can I Say”: “I supposed to be number one on everybody’s list. We’ll see what happens when I no longer exist.”

The message prompted fans to believe that retirement was — at the very least — on LeBron’s mind.

July 2023

At the 2023 ESPYs, LeBron received an award for surpassing the NBA’s highest-scoring record. (He scored 28.9 points per game throughout the season, with an average of 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists.)

During his speech, he spoke about the rumors of his retirement from the game.

“I don’t care how many more points, or what I can or cannot do on the floor,” LeBron said. “The real question for me is, ‘Can I play without cheating this game?’ The day I can’t give everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today.”

February 2024

Despite reports that the Golden State Warriors inquired about making a trade for LeBron at the league’s deadline, LeBron insisted at an All-Star Game press conference that he wanted to end his career with the Lakers.

LeBron stated, “I have not mapped out how many seasons I have left,” adding, “I know it’s not that many. … I am a Laker and I’m happy and [have] been very happy being a Laker the last six years and hopefully it stays that way. But I don’t have the answer to how long it is or which uniform I’ll be in. Hopefully [it] is with the Lakers. It’s a great organization, so many greats. But we’ll see.”

April 2025

Following a shocking first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, James expressed uncertainty about his future. 

When asked about how much longer he envisions himself playing after the team’s Game 5 loss, James said, “I don’t know.”

“I don’t have an answer to that,” he told reporters. “Something I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens. And just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest. So we’ll see.”

When asked what he thinks the Lakers need to improve in the offseason, James was similarly ominous. 

​​”It’s a business,” he said. “So you don’t know what the roster will look like next year besides the guys that [are] locked into contracts. S***, I got a lot to think about myself. So I don’t know what the roster will look like. I don’t know where I stand right now.”

June 2025

On June 29, ESPN Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania announced James elected to opt in to his $52.6 million contract extension ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season.

“Breaking: Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James is opting into his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN,” Charania wrote on X.

Paul added,  “LeBron ‘knows the Lakers are building for the future … but he values a realistic chance of winning it all.’”

Paul and James have worked together since they were first introduced in 2003.

May 2026

After the Lakers were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the NBA Playoffs, James looked ahead with uncertainty. 

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

Advertisement

“I think you guys asked me about [retirement], and I’ve answered questions,” he told reporters. “I don’t think I’ve come out and been like, ‘Oh, retirement is coming.’ With my future, I don’t know, honestly. … Obviously it’s still fresh from, obviously, losing [the series]. And I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds for me.”

James said he wanted to “recalibrate with my family and talk with them, and spend some time with them” before making any kind of decision. 

“I think for me it’s about the process,” he explained. “If I can commit to still being in love with the process of showing up to the arena five-and-a-half hours before a game to start preparing for a game, giving everything I got, diving for loose balls and doing everything that you know that it takes to go out and play.”

By Robert Scucci
| Published 14 seconds ago

For me, Eddie Murphy is one of those hit-or-miss actors, but when he hits, he’s an absolute force of nature. I’m willing to forget about Norbit (2007) because Bowfinger (1999) is such a perfectly executed satire, and I’m willing to forget about The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) because we have 1982’s 48 Hrs., his feature film debut, which is now streaming in all of its buddy cop glory on Netflix.

If you long for the days when two mismatched men get together to fight crime despite conflicting motives and personalities, all while the captain chews out our heroes for following nobody’s rules but their own because the mayor’s going to have his butt in a vice grip, 48 Hrs. delivers this in spades. Sure, you can tell yourself that Deadpool & Wolverine is the perfect modern analog to the buddy cop film, and you wouldn’t even be lying to yourself, but sometimes you need to jump back a few decades to see how it’s really done. 

After all, 48 Hrs. is considered by many to be the OG, and became the template for the modern buddy cop comedy as we know and love it. 

The Unlikeliest Of Partners

48 Hrs. wastes no time showing us just how much of a badass San Francisco Police Inspector Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) is. When he wakes up, the first thing he does is pour whiskey into his coffee right before arguing with his girlfriend, Elaine (Annette O’Toole). These two behavioral quirks are obviously problematic, but they tell you everything you need to know about his character. Namely, he’s so devoted to and traumatized by his job that he neglects any semblance of a home life while simultaneously drinking himself into an early grave.

When Jack is tasked with hunting down escaped murderer Albert Ganz (James Remar) and his accomplice, Billy Bear (Sonny Landham), he makes an extreme decision that could land him in a whole heap of trouble. Going against SFPD protocol, Jack thinks it’s in everybody’s best interest to work with Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy), a former member of Ganz’s gang who only has six months left on his three-year sentence before he becomes a free man. Jack signs a 48-hour release to get Reggie back on the streets and figures he’ll deal with the consequences later.

As you would expect from an early ‘80s buddy cop flick, the main source of tension comes from the fact that Jack is a white cop and Reggie is a Black criminal. Most of the humor and tension comes not only from their racial differences, but from the fact that they’re both incredibly hard-headed individuals who insist on doing things their own way. The agreement is simple: if Reggie helps locate Ganz and put him behind bars once and for all, he wants his sentence dropped so he can walk free.

It doesn’t take long for the two men to come to blows in 48 Hrs., but again, since we’re talking about a buddy cop flick, it also doesn’t take long for Jack and Reggie to realize they’re not so different after all. Jack, while technically a man of the law, doesn’t exactly do things by the book, which always results in him getting thoroughly chewed out by Captain Haden (Frank McRae). Reggie is obviously behind bars because of his criminal activities, but he’s much smarter than he initially lets on, and his street smarts, compounded by his willingness to go all in while helping Jack track down Ganz, prove invaluable to his de facto partner.

Some Will Say This Didn’t Age Well

Again, like most R-rated buddy cop films from the early ‘80s, there will be some people who tell you the film “aged like milk” or is problematic. While it’s easy to say that in 2026, it’s also easy to forget that this film was a product of its time. Racial epithets and other unwholesome phrases are tossed around casually and frequently, but you’re lying to yourself if you think people didn’t talk like this to some extent in the early ‘80s, especially under these kinds of extenuating circumstances. On the flip side, it’s a good benchmark to see how far we’ve come as a society when it comes to how we treat each other, making it historically significant.

It’s also worth noting that 48 Hrs. is a surprisingly subversive film, and the reason its buddy cop dynamic works so well is because Jack and Reggie absolutely hate each other when they first meet. It’s a deep, systemic hatred that’s supposed to make them mortal enemies. They need to clash hard before broing out, and the initial animosity they have for each other only means that when they start getting along, the payoff feels earned. 

When they finally start clicking with each other, that dynamic becomes essential because both men continually impress each other when they’re not beating the hell out of each other. If you’re tuning in to watch Eddie Murphy chew the scenery like an absolute master when he’s fully in his element, you just have to wait for the redneck dive bar scene, where he borrows Jack’s badge and absolutely schools a room full of Confederate-flag-waving, card-carrying racists. They’re left speechless by how brazenly he commands a situation that could have ended horribly if he wasn’t 100 percent confident things would go his way.

That dynamic, playing off Nick Nolte’s “swig from flask and ask questions later” style of operating, makes for a legendary pairing that I can’t confidently say has been replicated at such a high level since. Head on over to Rotten Tomatoes for confirmation if you need it, but buddy cop comedies don’t land 92 percent critical scores by accident (or on purpose, for that matter). Everything else feels like a cheap imitation, and rightfully so. While there were earlier precursors like 1949’s Stray Dog and 1967’s In the Heat of the Night, 48 Hrs. cemented itself in movie history as the modern template for this kind of film, making it not only one of the first of its kind, but also one of the best.

As of this writing, 48 Hrs. is streaming on Netflix.

Martin Short gives a lesson on finding joy through pain in his new documentary Marty, Life Is Short.

The film, directed by Short’s longtime friend Lawrence Kasdan, details the life and career of the beloved comedian through archived footage, never-before-seen home videos and exclusive interviews with Short’s dearest friends including Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and the late Catherine O’Hara.

While the documentary highlights many of Short’s biggest wins — from his jumpstart at SCTV, to Father of the Bride’s success, to falling in love with wife Nancy Dolman to welcoming their three children, Oliver, Henry and Katherine — it also tackles his most tragic of lows. The Only Murders in the Building star lost his older brother, David, and both parents, Olive and Charles, in an eight-year span before turning 21.

Then, in 2010, his wife, Nancy, died following a three-year battle with ovarian cancer.

“What it developed in me was this muscle of survival and handling grief, and a perspective on it,” Short told CBS Mornings earlier this month, pointing out that enduring much loss has actually helped him as a performer. “I think if you’ve gone through that, an audience not liking you is really not that important anymore.”

In February, Short faced his most recent tragedy when his daughter, Katherine, died by suicide at the age of 42. Kasdan suggested they postpone the release of the documentary, but Martin wanted to move forward.

“My instinct was the opposite,” Short explained. “Because it’s about love, loss and survival … I think we proceed. We must figure a way to survive through grief without denying it or without in any way undermining its importance.”

Keep scrolling for the documentary’s biggest revelations:

Martin Short on Falling in Love With Girlfriend Gilda Radnor’s Understudy

Short opened up about dating Radner during their time in Godspell, where he said “everyone” fell in love with her “self-deprecating” sense of humor.

The cast was also interested in Radeor’s understudy: Martin’s future wife, Dolman.

“Nancy was drop-dead beautiful. It was insane,” Short recalled. “And she worked in an antique clothing store where she had smuggled clothes in from Detroit through the [Canadian] border. She had a Joni Mitchell look, long blonde hair. … but it didn’t bother me because I was with Gilda.”

After an on-and-off romance with Radner, Short’s focus shifted. “We’d broken up a few time and we’d now had a fight and we’d broken up again and I got to The Pilot bar and there’s Nancy,” he said. “She was funny … she had just broken up with her boyfriend.”

Short said that Dolman showed up to support him in a play he was doing, which led to them spending more time together off stage. “Nancy came and she was wearing short shorts and a halter top and I was wearing short shorts and a t-shirt. And we went to the Four Seasons hotel and I said to the guy, ‘My wife and I would like a room, please, and even he started laughing because we looked about 12,” Short said, adding, “And that was it.”

Catherine O’Hara Looked to Martin Short’s Marriage During Own Romance Woes

O’Hara confessed that during a troubling time in her own marriage to Bo Welch, the pair looked to Short and Dolman for inspiration.

“My husband and I went through a little rough patch in our marriage and we went to therapy, and one of the questions [the therapist] asked is, ‘Do you have friends, a couple, whose relationship you’d love to emulate? And she said, ‘We have these friends Marty and Nancy.’”

(O’Hara died in January at the age of 71. The documentary is dedicated to her and Short’s daughter, Katherine.)

Nancy Short’s Fertility Struggles

Short said he and Dolman were taken by surprise when they had trouble conceiving a child.

“Suddenly, we couldn’t get pregnant. We hadn’t even considered that,” he explained in the doc, noting they eventually discovered that Nancy suffered from endometriosis, which can cause fertility issues.

During a fight over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the couple decided they wanted to adopt their children. They went on to welcome sons Henry and Oliver and daughter Katherine, who died in February at the age of 42.

Martin Short Reflects on the Death of His Brother David Short

Short looked back at his relationship with older brother David, who died at age 20 when the Father of the Bride star was just 12 years old. Calling him “funny and so sweet,” he detailed how he discovered that his brother had died while away at camp.

“They said, ‘Your brothers been in an accident and it killed him,” he recalled. “And I said, ‘Is he OK?’ … ‘No, it killed him.’”

Short said “nothing made sense” to him after David’s death until his late brother appeared to him in a dream.

“It was in technicolor. I was sitting by a stream in the woods and David came up, and he looked beautiful, and he said, ‘i’m fine everything is wonderful and I’ll see you in a minute,” he recalled. “And I woke up and a cloud had lifted.”

Martin Short Details the Death of Mother Olive and Father Charles Short

Short said that his mother, Olive, developed a “cough” while at the funeral for his brother David after battling breast cancer years earlier — an illness he was not aware she had.

“And by the end of that year, she really started going downhill,” Short shared, recalling how his sister, Nora, “was present when the doctor said you have three months to live.”

Olive, however, had other plans. “She said, ‘This can’t happen. I have another child to raise.’ And then she came home and went into this remarkable, can’t explain it, remission. And she was in perfect health for another two years. But by the time I was in grade 13, she died.”  Short said that after his mother’s death, his father Charles’ health faded “fast.”

“It was just strokes that diminished him. Most powerful guy in the room to being quieter, quieter,”  he explained, adding that even a trip around the world couldn’t bring his dad back to his old self. “Even when we were in Ireland, he didn’t want to see exhibits because he was not in great shape,” Short remembered, noting that his dad previously smoked “two packs” of cigarettes a day.

Olive died in 1968, while Charles died two years later in 1970.

Nancy Short’s Cancer Journey

Short shared that Dolman initially believed she had a hernia in 2007 before a doctor’s scan revealed it was an ovarian cyst. Days later, it was confirmed that the cyst was cancerous.

“At one point, I did have to go and shoot [my movie] Damages,” Short recalled of that time. “No one knew what was going on and I’d be like, ‘Just give me a second in the dressing room …’”

Short noted that his wife was a “positive” person in general, so her approach was, “I can fight it.”

Related: Martin Short Through the Years: ‘SNL,’ ‘Only Murders’ and More

Martin Short is one of the most iconic comedians of all time, but he nearly ended up on a very different career path. Growing up in Ontario, Canada, Short was the youngest of five children, with three older brothers, David, Michael and Brian, and an older sister, Nora. He originally studied to be a doctor, […]

“She was on a new cocktail of chemo, went to the internet and said, ‘I’m not going to do that anymore,’” he recalled, adding that from that point on she just focused on living her life as fully as possible.

“She wanted to keep going until she couldn’t, and he was the perfect partner because he let her,” friend Eugene Levy explained. “He first threw himself into his children’s lives and then he threw himself into his work.”

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

Dolman died in 2010, three years into her fight. She was 58 years old.

“Like any family, it’s a simple fact that loss is something to negotiate,” Short explained of pushing forward after his wife’s passing. “It’s going to happen to all of us.”

Marty, Life Is Short is streaming on Netflix now.

Jimmy Kimmel‘s fellow late night hosts playfully poked fun at his recent drama with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.

Ahead of Stephen Colbert’s final episode of The Late Show, five late night hosts gathered during the Monday, May 11, broadcast. Colbert, 61, asked the group whether they ever thought about the president having “strong feelings” about their programming.

“You know what’s even weirder? Doing a job that his wife has strong feelings about,” Kimmel, 58, said, as Seth Meyers joked, “Most of us have avoided that part.”

John Oliver, meanwhile, recalled the way Kimmel initially responded to the drama.

“It’s an amazing thing to get a text from Jimmy saying, ‘Oh, boy,’ and then a picture of Melania mad at him. What a way to start the day!” Oliver, 49, quipped.

Jimmy Fallon said he had an unexpected reaction, adding, “And then I sent a text to you guys, and I said, ‘Hey, don’t be mad at me, but I liked it.’ I think she’s got a point.”

Kimmel recently made headlines for a monologue on his late night show which featured a 10-minute roast about the president ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Kimmel joked that Melania, 56, has a “glow like an expectant widow.”

The comedian was subsequently slammed by Melania and Donald, 79, after a shooting took place at the Washington, D.C. event in April. Melania described the joke as “hateful and violent rhetoric” that “is intended to divide our country,” while her husband called to have Kimmel fired.

“We’re all kind of happy when you get in trouble over there, and how do you feel when you wake up, and you see the attention?” Colbert asked Kimmel, who replied, “The saddest part of it is that I realize in those moments that the only four people who care are sitting right here.”

Kimmel added: “It takes 12 hours for the rest of the people in my life to even figure out that anything’s going on.”

The five late night hosts came together in honor of Colbert’s final episode of The Late Show, which will air on Thursday, May 21.

When CBS announced in July 2025 that The Late Show was ending, the news was met with immediate backlash. Network executives then released a statement addressing their decision, claiming it was not “related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount” but was instead due to finances.

Some were still skeptical about the move, since it came after an episode where Colbert spoke out about Paramount, CBS’ parent company, settling what he called “a nuisance lawsuit” brought by Donald. In his lawsuit, the president alleged that 60 Minutes had unfairly edited an interview of Kamala Harris.

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

“I do not dispute their rationale [that it was for financial reasons],” Colbert told The New York Times in April when asked about viewers who are skeptical over the reason for his late night talk show coming to an end. “I do make jokes about it.”

The comedian said he could see both sides of the argument.

“But I also completely understand why people would say (A) that doesn’t make sense to me and (B) that seems fishy to me,” he noted. “Because the network did it to themselves by bending the knee to the Trump administration over a $20 billion, settled for $16 million, completely frivolous lawsuit.”

Adam Sandler is showing off a noticeably slimmer look after debuting a hilarious song about Ozempic. The 59-year-old comedian stepped out in Los Angeles over the weekend for a father-daughter outing with his eldest child, Sadie Sandler, and fans immediately noticed his apparent weight loss.

While strolling through Brentwood, the “Billy Madison” star kept things casual in his typical oversized style, rocking a patterned button-down shirt, gray sweat shorts, and colorful sneakers. Despite the laid-back outfit, Sandler appeared significantly slimmer after reportedly dropping more than 25 pounds.

Sandler’s dramatic slim-down also comes months after he debuted a comedic song called “Grandma’s on Ozempic” during his “You’re My Best Friend Tour” last year. However, the actor has never publicly addressed using weight-loss injections himself, and there is no indication that his recent transformation is connected to GLP-1 medications.

See the photos here.

Sandler Admitted Weight Loss Has Been ‘Rough’

The actor has been candid in recent years about trying to improve his lifestyle, especially with encouragement from his daughters, Sadie and Sunny, whom he shares with his wife, Jackie Sandler. During the New York City premiere of “Adam Sandler: Love You in August 2024,” Sandler revealed that his daughters often push him to prioritize his health. “They always look out for me and my health just like I used to with my dad,” he told PEOPLE at the time.

Sandler later spoke in more detail about his fitness struggles during an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in August 2024. “I used to take working out so serious,” he admitted. “And now I can’t f-cking do it.”

The actor explained that balancing exercise and eating habits became increasingly difficult as he got older. “I play hoop, and then I eat. Every time I’m eating, I’m going, ‘What are you doing, man? You don’t need to do this,’” he said. “I can’t stop, just got a little bit of thickness all over… Now it’s f-cking rough.”

Adam Sandler Gushed Over Wife Jackie Just Days Before Family Outing

Sandler’s father-daughter outing also came just two days after the actor publicly celebrated his wife with a heartfelt Mother’s Day tribute on social media.

The Hollywood star shared throwback photos of Jackie posing with their daughters, Sadie Madison Sandler and Sunny Madeline Sandler, while honoring the important women in his life. “Happy Mother’s Day to all the great moms out there. My mom. My mother-in-law. My sisters, sister-in-law, niece, and aunts,” he wrote on Instagram.

Sandler then turned his attention to Jackie, praising her for both her parenting and unwavering support throughout their marriage. “To my wife. Thanks for being the funniest, sweetest, smartest, and most loyal lady I know,” he wrote. “And thanks for teaching our kids to want to be the same. Love you always and enjoy your day, sweetheart!”

Sandler’s Daughter Helped Push Him Back Into Shape

According to Sandler, it was his daughter Sadie who encouraged him to reconnect with the personal trainer who helped him get in shape for his 2008 comedy “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” “My kids, one daughter, Sadie, is always saying, ‘Dad, get the trainer from the Zohan. Why would you ever give that up? Why did you stop?’” he recalled.

Sandler admitted he resisted the idea because of how demanding the process was. “It’s a lot of work,” he remembered telling her. Still, the actor acknowledged that his daughter may have been onto something. “I just can’t get back in there,” he said. “She’s right about everything, [but] I don’t promise her. I go, ‘Let me think about that. That’s a good idea.’”

Adam Sandler’s Slimmed-Down Appearance Comes Amid Secret Project Buzz

Sandler’s latest outing also arrives as rumors continue swirling about a mysterious new project involving the comedy legend. Director Kyle Newacheck recently teased that he and Sandler are quietly developing something together behind the scenes, though he stopped short of revealing exactly what the project is.

While attending the Directors Guild Awards red carpet, Newacheck was asked by ScreenRant whether he planned to reunite with Sandler again in the future. “Me and the Sandman, we’ve talked. We have something cooking, but I don’t want to say it right now,” the filmmaker revealed.

Newacheck admitted he was hesitant to share more details because he was unsure how far along the project currently is. Still, he made it clear he is eager to work with Sandler again. “I’m excited,” he said. “I love Adam Sander, and working with him is just weird because he basically raised me with his comedy. So when I show up to set, I’m like, ‘Well, I think that’s funny because you taught me that that was funny!’”

With new career rumors swirling and fans taking notice of his slimmer appearance, Sandler is proving he’s still one of Hollywood’s most talked-about stars.

By Jonathan Klotz | Published 8 seconds ago

Science fiction is a risky business, and more often than not, that risk does not pay off. The result is a media landscape littered with great science fiction programming that was so far ahead of its time, it was canceled before people would really sit down and watch it.

That means there’s a treasure trove of amazing viewing that was cut off too soon, out there waiting for you to enjoy. These are the 15 best one-season sci-fi shows. 

15. Surface

The success of Lost kicked off a Hollywood land rush to create the next big sci-fi mystery series. Most of them were canceled within weeks of their premiere. The lucky few completed their first season. Surface was one of the lucky ones. 

The mystery of Surface focuses on what lurks under the sea. Instead of a hot crustacean band, it’s rising temperatures, gigantic sea monsters, a government conspiracy, and more questions than there are episodes. Surface took so long to answer any of its questions that the audience grew bored and wandered off, but if they had stayed, they would have seen one of the most insane season 1 finales of all time. 

In its final episode, Surface flooded the planet. It’s the type of bold, daring move a show makes only when it knows the end is near. It teased a second season of humanity after the apocalypse, dealing with emerging sea monsters and a world that’s suddenly unrecognizable.

Unfortunately, the early episodes of Surface are so slow that you might never get to the ending. It remains a perennial sci-fi “What If?” 

14. Street Hawk

You’ll notice that a lot of sci-fi one-season wonders can be considered loving homages to other, more successful shows or blatant knock-offs. Street Hawk is no different. It answered the question, what if Knight Rider were about a motorcycle? 

Street Hawk was both the name of the prototype motorcycle used by Los Angeles Police Officer and dirtbike racer Jesse Mach, and the name of his vigilante crime-fighting alter-ego. Using the bike’s advanced technology, including a laser, rockets, submachine guns, and a ludicrous speed mode that reached 300 miles per hour, Jesse solved a new crime each week. This was back in 1985, before studios knew what a “mythology arc” was. 

Lacking the charisma of David Hasselhoff, Rex Smith’s Jesse could never get out of the shadow of its more popular competition. Today, Street Hawk is often a punchline among forgotten 80s television. And yet, if you manage to find episodes streaming, give them a chance, because this show’s goofy, ridiculous premise is so over the top and cheesy, you can’t help but enjoy yourself. We were robbed of six seasons and a Street Hawk legacy movie. 

13. 1899

The German series Dark is, to this day, one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time. When the creative team announced their follow-up, 1899, everyone took notice. What would the twisted minds behind a time-traveling cave tunnel come up with next?   

1899, named for the year it takes place, follows passengers aboard two ships as they cross the Atlantic to New York. A strange symbol, an upside-down triangle with a line through it, provides a throughline as weird occurrences start up. Hidden passageways, cryptic messages, and teleportation hint at something larger and far more sinister lurking just under the surface of mutineers and class-based conflict. 

You need to watch 1899’s first and only season as blind as possible, because, like Dark, where it goes is not where you’d expect from the first episode. You’re left with many, many unanswered questions at the end, and it’s frustrating that we’ll never get to see more. But in one season, 1899 managed to be both gorgeous and thought-provoking, giving fans a puzzlebox mystery that, for once, is worth experiencing. 

12. Defying Gravity

Defying Gravity is what happens when a network refuses to give a sci-fi series time to find its audience. Sci-fi fans were put off when the show was first announced. A sci-fi show by Shonda Rhimes? The woman who created Grey’s Anatomy? How will that be any good? It is. 

First, Defying Gravity stars Ron Livingston and Malik Yoba; second, the concept of a spaceship making a tour of the solar system for an unknown mission is the type of mystery that can go anywhere. 

For the first half of the season, Defying Gravity focuses on the relationships and interpersonal conflict among the crew and the team back on Earth at Mission Control, both in the present and in flashbacks set five years earlier. That’s what kept the sci-fi audience from embracing the series and led to an early cancellation. 

For fans who grabbed the DVD, they were able to watch the rest of the season. The unaired episodes revealed the motive behind the space mission: Recover an alien artifact on each planet. 

Aliens were real, and they left something behind for humanity to find. Defying Gravity’s finale episodes managed to thread the needle between relationship drama and science fiction in a way nothing has ever since. Sadly, it’s now one of many examples of sci-fi shows canceled too early, just as they were about to pay off. 

11. Swamp Thing

Swamp Thing received one of the fastest cancellations on this list. In fact, it hadn’t even started airing yet when word leaked that Warner Bros was going to end it. 

The official announcement came one week after the first episode debuted on the DC Universe app. It was perfectly timed for the first wave of critical and fan adoration that praised Swamp Thing as the best thing DC had done in years. 

The tale of scientist Alec Holland and his transformation into Swamp Thing had been told many times before, but in 2019, it never looked better. Embracing the character’s horror roots with an equally dark storyline was a recipe for success. The Avatar of the Green isn’t a classic superhero, and this isn’t your usual superhero show. 

Bringing to life the dark side of the DC Universe may have led to critical success, but it was also expensive. Money was one of the largest reasons why Warner Bros decided a creative, unique take on superheroes had to go, but the other was the show’s plot. 

The dreaded “creative differences” was the second reason Swamp Thing was sent to an early grave. Everything fans loved about it, the incredible visuals, the dark and violent story, was why Warner Bros made another in a long, long line of bad decisions. 

Swamp Thing went one episode before cancellation, and yet, Titans aired for four seasons.

10. Terra Nova

In the future of Terra Nova, Earth is overpopulated to the point that humanity will go extinct, so the solution is obviously to send colonists back through time to the Cretaceous period, in strict violation of everything we ever learned about time travel, to harvest natural resources and send them to the future. 

Don’t think about it too hard. It’s not that kind of show. 

Instead of focusing on the damage being done to the time stream, Terra Nova is about the Shannon family adjusting to life in the past under the authoritarian rule of Commander Taylor, brought to life by Avatar’s Stephen Lang, a man born to play a militant ruler of an exotic outpost. There’s no getting around it; most of the plot of each episode is annoying, the kid and teen characters will get on your nerves almost instantly, but there’s also no denying that, with a slight tweak here and there, this show could have been great. 

The colonists end up rebelling against the government of the future, including shipping a T. rex through the time portal in the moment that proves why the show exists in the first place. Dinosaurs are awesome. Unfortunately, Dinosaurs are also expensive, and Fox pulled the plug due to the high cost of every episode, denying us the chance to see a live-action Dino-Riders on network television. 

9. Crusade

Crusade is especially frustrating to talk about because the series that aired is not what the creator of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski, wanted out of the spin-off series. 

Just as he had with the original series, Straczynski had developed an elaborate five-year plan for Crusade. Originally about recovering lost Shadow artifacts around the galaxy, the series that ended up airing was laser-focused on curing the Drakh-induced nanoplague that had infected Earth. 

The writing was there, the cast was there, including Gary Cole, Daniel Dae Kim, and returning from the original series, Tracy Scoggins as Captain Lochley, but what they couldn’t overcome was an enemy worse than the Drakh or the Shadows: studio interference. 

Episodes aired totally out of order. Just watch how the crew’s outfits change during the season, entire plots are dropped, and then picked up again with conversations referencing events that haven’t happened yet. All of the pieces were there for Crusade to be another huge sci-fi hit, but once again, the network, TNT, set it up for failure. 

8. Dark Skies

Take The X-Files, but set it in the 1960s in the shadow of the Cold War, be upfront about the invading aliens, and add in real-life historical figures, from Jim Morrison to Dr. Carl Sagan, and you have Dark Skies. It was the most blatant of all the X-Files knock-offs, but at the same time, it’s one of the best. 

The 60s setting, complete with fashion and technology of the era, made it look and sound different from anything else airing in the 90s, and the alien Hive, parasitic mind-controlling aliens dubbed “Ganglions”, made for great villains. Opposing the Hive is Majestic 12, a shadowy organization that claims they want to save humanity, and end up recruiting John Leongrard, a Congressional aide, and eventually, a pre-Seven of Nine Jeri Ryan. It’s hard to be a Mulder and Scully when both of them believe aliens are out to get them, because they are, in every episode, but the pair has just enough of a spark to keep the back half of the season interesting. 

The early cancellation, after only one season, denied fans the opportunity to see Dark Skies planned gimmick: Every season was going to be a different decade. Starting from the 60s into the 90s, fans would see John and Juliet battle the Hive behind the scenes of American History. Frankly, that sounds amazing, and 30 years later, fans are still upset they never got to see it.

7. Almost Human

Take Blade Runner. Make it a Fox network series starring Karl Urban and Michael Ealy as mismatched detectives. One hates androids, one is an android, That’s 2011’s Almost Human. 

It’s a neo-noir cyberpunk sci-fi procedural. The only series remotely like it is Altered Carbon. There’s something about cyberpunk that scares Hollywood away, making it a miracle we ever received even 13 episodes of Almost Human. 

Urban’s John Kennex and Ealy’s DRN-0167, or Dorian, slowly reveal the world of New Pittsburgh to viewers as they solve the case of the week. We learn about augmented humans, a gigantic wall that circles the city and separates it from the badlands, and that even in the future, network procedurals love serial killers. The mystery of New Pittsburgh and the stunning revelation in the very last shot of the final episode will remain unsolved. 

Almost Human was everyone’s preview of Karl Urban in The Boys, and while Kennex isn’t as homicidal as Butcher, you can see how someone watched the Fox series and thought he’d be perfect to take down Supes. At only 13 episodes, none of the side plots or strange mysteries about the setting are given time to truly breathe, but the chemistry between Urban and Ealy overcomes those shortcomings to turn the series into an underrated, underappreciated series. 

6. The Prisoner

Airing in 1967, The Prisoner is a strange combination of science fiction and psychological horror that’s often been imitated, but never matched. Created, directed, and starring Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner defies description. This is the series that invented the puzzle-box format used by Lost, Surface, and countless others. 

In The Prisoner, McGoohan plays Number Six, a man who wakes up in a strange seaside town called the Village. Some of the residents are prisoners, some are guards, and all are shown as lacking individuality and personal freedom. 

It’s a bit heavy-handed in its metaphor, but The Prisoner succeeds by using surreal visuals, including the balloon-like monster guarding the perimeter, and by refusing to give any answers to the audience. Viewers become as desperate as Number Six to learn what the Village is, why Number Two is always someone new each episode, where the Village is located, and why everyone is being held prisoner there. 

You never get a good answer in The Prisoner’s only season, but what you realize by the end is that the answers don’t matter. 

5. Flashforward

While Lost was gearing up for its final season, ABC was already preparing its replacement, another sci-fi puzzlebox called Flashforward. Created by Star Trek’s Brannon Braga and the writer of The Dark Knight trilogy, David S. Goyer, the series had a simple concept: What if everyone on Earth fell unconscious and experienced a vision of themselves, six months in the future? 

Turns out, FBI Agent Mark Benford saw the results of his investigation into the Flashforward event during his own flashforward. Others had visions that were less useful, including his boss seeing himself on the toilet, a doctor who saw himself meeting the love of his life, and, in the case of Mark’s partner, Demetri, nothing. 

Flashforward doesn’t shy away from the lasting emotional damage that comes from knowing where you’ll be, what you’ll be doing, and who you’ll be with six months from today. Or in the case of those similar to Demetri, knowing all you saw is the void, embracing self-destructive hedonism during the time you have left. 

Unlike other Lost clones, Flashforward answered questions. For every answer there were two more questions, but the first, and only, season tells a complete story. By the time the final credits roll, you’ll know the who, what, where, how, and why of the Flashforward. That’s more than can be said for Lost. 

4. Caprica

The prequel to Battlestar Galactica, 2010’s Caprica takes place 58 years before the Cylons enacted their plan. Before it debuted, fans of the Galactica revival were going mad online trying to guess at the plot and what it would reveal about the origin of the Cylons. It was an early case of online speculation resulting in a show that was incapable of reaching the lofty expectations of fans; no matter how good it really was, the imaginary one they dreamed up would always be better.

Caprica did reveal the origin of the Cylons; the first of them was inhabited by the digital consciousness of a teenage girl killed in a terrorist attack, and I swear it’s more compelling than that sounds. Allowed to show the technology that existed on Caprica prior to humanity fleeing for the stars, fans got to see an entire virtual world, elaborate factory setups, and monorails. It’s bright, colorful, and the opposite of Battlestar Galactica’s palette of greys and browns. That’s why at the time, Caprica received mixed reactions; it was very different from the original series. 

The marketing campaign, featuring a naked Alessandra Torresani holding an apple, because she’s the first Cylon….Eve….get it?…..didn’t show the type of sci-fi that the series would embrace, and was instead dismissed as irrelevant pandering to lonely nerds. Today, the performance of Esai Morales as Admiral Adama’s father and Eric Stoltz as Daniel Greystone, creator of the Cylons, alongside Torresani as Zoe, are praised by fans who now wish, 16 years later, that Caprica had been allowed to keep going. 

At least it ended with a flashforward that sets up the conflict seen in Battlestar Galactica. Not every one-season series is able to tie up loose ends as well as Caprica, which may have failed, but succeeded in its mission as one of the best prequel series.

3. Space: Above and Beyond

When you think of space shows from the 90s, you think of Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1, Farscape, or if you’re a true sicko like me, Lexx. But for a specific type of sci-fi fan, nothing comes close to Space: Above and Beyond. One of the greatest military sci-fi shows ever produced, the one-season fans got to spend with the Wildcards squadron as they went up against the insectoid Chigs, was a tease of the planned five-season storyline. 

Space: Above and Beyond complicates the aliens vs. humans setting by introducing Silicates, artificial robotic humans incapable of experiencing fear, and the In Vitroes, genetically enhanced humans treated as expendable fodder by “normal” people. It’s a masterclass in layered storytelling that pivots between political conspiracies, deep-space dogfights, and survivor’s guilt, all within the same episode. 

The 13th episode, “Who Monitors the Birds?” isn’t only the best episode of the series, it’s one of the best sci-fi episodes of the last 30 years. The mostly silent episode follows the In Vitroe U.S. Marine Hawkes struggling to survive after a mission behind enemy lines goes horribly wrong. It’s inventive, wonderfully shot, and respects the intelligence of the audience by not spelling everything out. It’s a nearly perfect example of science fiction done right. 

There’s never been another series like it, and there never will be. Space: Above and Beyond is the best sci-fi show of the 90s you’ve never watched.

2. Kolchak: The Night Stalker

If you like The X-Files, Fringe, or Supernatural, you should thank 1974’s Kolchak: The Night Stalker. A mix between the supernatural and science fiction, Kolchak was a monster of the week procedural long before the term was ever uttered by a fan. 

Every week, Investigative reporter Carl Kolchak stumbled into a new mystery involving a vampire, or a mummy, or a succubus, or a monster lizard, or Helen of Troy. Kolchak the series worked so well because Kolchak the character was a regular guy. He’s smart and very lucky, but he’s not a trained federal agent or a former soldier going up against the beasts of the night. He’s a journalist with a deadline and a very frustrated boss. 

Kolchak: The Night Stalker is over 50 years old, but it holds up better today than shows from 5 years ago. The special effects are horrible, the presentation was low-budget even by the standards of 1974, but the writing and especially Darren McGavin’s performance as Kolchak, prove why it’s a revered cult classic. 

Kolchak was often terrified of what he was up against. McGavin’s wild-eyed stare doesn’t make Kolchak look like a cool action hero; it makes him look like a regular guy in far over his head with no idea what’s going on. 

That’s the key ingredient that was missing from the 2005 revival attempt starring Stuart Townsend. Townsend was 3 years removed from playing Lestat in Queen of the Damned. He didn’t look like a regular guy over his head, he looks like an American Eagle model briefly inconvenienced by multiple run-ins with serial killers. 

Even though Kolchak: The Night Stalker lasted only one season before star Darren McGavin decided to call it quits, its legacy lives on through X-Files, Supernatural, Sleepy Hollow, The 11th Hour, and countless other series. Next to Star Trek, it may be the most important sci-fi series of all time. 

1. Firefly

Death, Taxes, a new season of NCIS, and Firefly appearing on a list of greatest one-season sci-fi shows. These things are inevitable. 

Firefly wasn’t the first sci-fi western, but it is the best, and for good reason. Everything, from the cast to the writing, the worldbuilding to the action, is, as the kids say, peak. 

Set at the edge of civilization years, after a failed rebellion, Firefly is all about the ragtag crew going from one job to another, scrapping together enough to get by, and keep flying. It’s a simple concept, but what makes it work is how not a single person in the cast feels like they’re acting. You will believe Nathan Fillion is the charming Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Alan Tudyk really is Wash, the crew’s pilot, and the late Ron Glass, as Shepard Book, is a former government killer attempting to lead a quiet life of contemplation and atonement. 

When it aired back in 2002, Firefly suffered from a poor timeslot on Fox, and a general public that wasn’t ready for science fiction this different. Going from a spaceship to horseback riding, battling space cannibals to a duel with an arrogant aristocratic noble was too jarring for the average viewer to handle. Then again, the ratings Firefly was pulling in 2002 would, in 2026, make it one of the hottest shows on television now. 

As viewer habits have changed, Firefly has risen in popularity, going beyond being a cult classic. It’s too beloved and too popular. Firefly’s gone mainstream. 

There’s not a lot that can be said about Firefly that hasn’t already been said over the last 25 years. It’s a classic for a reason, and it’s required viewing for sci-fi fans. Firefly was taken off the air far too early, but for millions of fans worldwide, you can’t stop the signal.

By Douglas Helm
| Published 24 seconds ago

Looking for an underrated psychological horror movie with a twist? Netflix has you covered. You can stream the 2018 flick The Perfection on the platform today.

The Perfection is a film about a music prodigy who returns to her former mentors at her former school, only to find them enamored with a new student. It follows the two musicians down a dark and shocking path. The movie creates a taut atmosphere and will keep you guessing about the twist throughout.

A Must-See For Fans Of Psychological Horror

The Perfection is directed by Richard Shepard from a screenplay by Shepard, Nicole Snyder, and Eric C. Charmelo. The film stars Allison Williams, Logan Browning, Steven Weber, Alaina Huffman, Mark Kandborg, Graeme Duffy, and Eileen Tian. The film premiered at the Fantastic Fest back in 2018 before hitting Netflix in 2019, but it’s well worth checking out if you’ve missed it since Netflix made it available on its platform.

With a 71 percent fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes The Perfection clearly made itself known as a solid psychological horror entry. The consensus is that the twist is intriguing and that the film brings some top-notch performances to the table from stars Allison Williams and Logan Browning. Audiences were a little less warm toward the film, with an approval rating of 56 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and most critiques focusing on the messy third act and overall pacing of the movie.

So, just keep in mind that your results may vary with The Perfection. Obviously, it’s not a film that became a massive hit or anything and has gone fairly underseen since its 2018 release, so it’s not surprising that the reviews of the film are mixed. However, it might just be the right film for you if you like psychological horrors mixed with classical music.

Speaking of classical music, the soundtrack of The Perfection certainly delivers in that category, with the likes of Bach, Mozart, and Handel being featured. Classical music and psychological thrillers always go hand-in-hand, and this film proves that it’s a combination that almost always pays off. It also continues to prove that Allison William’s talents are well suited to the horror genre.

Allison Williams And Horror

While Allison Williams was best known for her role in Girls before 2017, she proved her horror bonafides when she co-starred in Jordan Peele’s universally acclaimed 2017 film Get Out. The Perfection followed shortly after and kept Williams’ horror hot streak going. She would follow up that film with her role as Kit Snicket in Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events TV series adaptation.

Allison Williams once again took on the horror genre in 2023 with the creepy animatronic doll film, M3gan. That film ended up being a surprise horror hit of 2023, which quickly led to the film getting the green light for its sequel, M3gan 2.0, in 2025.

The Perfection may not be quite as well-received as her other horror outings, both from a critical and commercial perspective, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth checking out on Netflix if you’re looking for something new to watch.

By Joshua Tyler
| Published 1 hour ago

Not every movie that attempts to screenwash its audience succeeds right away. Sometimes, the agenda being pushed is so outlandish and ridiculous that it needs more time to take hold. That was the case in the late 1990s, as the powers that be began ramping up their crusade against prosperity by attacking Americans’ rosy view of the past with a clumsy, Pavlovian sledgehammer. 

So in 1998, when most studios were busy greenlighting asteroid destruction porn and CGI bug invasions, an attack on order and virtue slipped into theaters disguised as a high-concept sci-fi movie. It flopped at the box office and failed to influence the audience it targeted, but in the years since has gained acceptance among a new audience too young to see it at the time, as a cult classic.

This is the story of how Pleasantville was rejected by Generation X, only to screenwash Millennials into destroying everything they love.

No Color, No Problem

Pleasantville begins with a teenage boy who disconnects from abuse and neglect at the hands of his parents and his peers by escaping into the idyllic world of classic television. The movie ends with him accepting his crappy situation as fine, because he has no right to expect anything good, and everything just is what it is. In between those two bookends, he destroys an entire town, and the movie works hard to convince the audience it was worth it, because now they have brighter colors of red.

Tobey Maguire stars in the film as David, a teenage boy with a chaotic living situation and no social life. He’s obsessed with a classic, black-and-white 1950s television show called Pleasantville, which depicts an idyllic town where people are nice to each other, and things are going well. Basically, the opposite of his own life. 

For reasons that aren’t ever really explained, geeky David and his self-described “slut” sister Jennifer (played by Reese Witherspoon) are transported into the TV by a TV repairman (Don Knotts) and find themselves living in the black and white world of Pleasantville. 

For David, who is now called Bud by the townspeople, it’s a dream come true, and Pleasantville is every bit as pleasant as its name suggests. The basketball team never loses, and Main Street is perfect. Dad earns a living; Mom makes pot roast and takes care of her kids. The local diner only serves cheeseburgers, and dating mostly revolves around whether or not to hold hands. 

No one is ever hurt, no one suffers, it doesn’t even rain. The fire department’s job is to get cats out of trees because no one has ever seen a house fire. People are happy, and everything runs perfectly. Always. Their only problem is that the entire world is black and white, except it’s not a problem because none of the residents notice. 

The Lusty Battle Against Boredom

So Pleasantville is paradise, but for Jennifer, who everyone now thinks is a girl named Mary Sue, it’s a hellhole. It’s a hellhole because she’s a slut and the town’s virtuous residents don’t want to have sex with her, because they’re committed to saving themselves for marriage.

So Jennifer sets out to destroy it all, because she’s really horny. Seriously, that’s Jennifer’s actual motivation in this movie. 

As a movie, Pleasantville wants to be a story about repression, about how nostalgia is a lie. It wants to be about how the “good old days” weren’t that good. Safe enough, predictable enough, but BORING and BORING, as everyone was previously screenwashed to believe by movies like The Graduate, is the worst. 

So Pleasantville frames Jennifer’s dedication to her libido as the result of boredom. Jennifer hates BORING because BORING doesn’t get her laid.

Pleasantville wants you to believe the black-and-white town is dystopian, but not because it’s cruel. It’s dystopian because it’s orderly. Because roles exist. Because people behave. And no one should have to behave because that’s BORING.

As Jennifer begins seducing virgins, colors start to appear in the black and white landscape of the town. Before long, it’s clear that intense pleasure and emotion cause the black and white to give way to vibrant technicolor. 

As color spreads, so does chaos. You’d think David would try to stop it, because he loves this place and loves what it represents. But he soon joins in destroying Pleasantville, seemingly unaware that he’s just recreating the world he left and didn’t like. 

Every Bad Californian Stereotype All At Once

It wasn’t part of the cultural lexicon back then, but David is a prototype of every real-life bad-transplant stereotype. You know the one: it frames out-of-towners as locusts who flee their state to avoid crime and overregulation, only to set about turning their new state into a copycat of the place they just left. 

In Pleasantville, David does it because he likes the attention, and (just like modern-day Californians) he knows he can always go back where he came from when he messes things up. So when colorizing things turns him into Technicolor Jesus in the eyes of attractive teenage townsfolk, David embraces it and basks in the reverie of a full-blown savior complex. The movie, of course, frames this as enlightenment, and when he gets violent in service of the town’s newfound hedonism, he’s rewarded with colorization.

Pleasure Framed As Man’s Only Reason For Living

It’s Bill Johnson, the owner of the local diner, who really accelerates the process. He’s played by Jeff Daniels as an empty shell, who only comes to life when confronted with color.

As Bill contemplates his place in the universe, he asks Bud/David to explain why he should bother making cheeseburgers. Bud is somehow unable to come up with an answer, either, and the viewer, along with Bill, is left to conclude that there is no value in what he does. This is obviously preposterous, and it’s the spot where the movie most clearly tips its hand. 

Bill and Bud have somehow forgotten that Bill feeds the town, provides a local hangout for teens, and earns a living, which allows him to keep a roof over his head. The diner and his cheeseburgers are a focal point for the entire community, but Pleasantville hand-waves that away as valueless because it isn’t hedonistic.

This is a blatant example of Agenda Setting.

Agenda Setting To Shape Perception

Agenda Setting is a propaganda technique in which a communicator shapes public perception by controlling which issues, values, or considerations are treated as important, while ignoring or excluding others. By determining what topics are discussed and what reasons are considered legitimate, agenda-setting influences the conclusions audiences reach without directly arguing for them.

Using this technique, Pleasantville presents a world where only immediate self-gratification has meaning, and hard work serves no purpose. So Bill closes the diner and starts giggling over colors and banging Bud’s Mom, who has decided to start cheating on his loyal, hard-working father for no reason other than pure hedonistic pleasure. 

Eventually, it all comes to a head when Bill Johnson turns the town’s wholesome teen hangout into a pornographic display. The townspeople, who’ve politely minded their own business up til now, reasonably object to lewd images of naked residents publicly displayed on a building that used to be a safe place for kids, and then the film frames them all as monsters who hate beauty. 

Selling Hedonism With The Aesthetic Halo Effect

Pleasantville positions Bill’s lewd grooming of minors as morally righteous, and sells literally everything that happens in the movie using something called The Aesthetic Halo Effect. 

The Aesthetic Halo Effect is a cognitive bias in which the perceived beauty, style, or artistic presentation of a person, idea, or action causes observers to assume it is virtuous, truthful, or justified. Attractive visuals or pleasing design act as a moral shortcut, transferring positive judgment from appearance to substance.

In the case of Bill’s pornographic mural, it’s painted in stunning, bright technicolor in a town where everything is gray and dreary. It’s totally inappropriate, but also a beautiful display, and as a viewer, your brain automatically associates beauty with good, skipping over the fact that it’s literally adult material being thrust in the face of small children.

This works for the same reason data shows that attractive people are more likely to get good jobs and earn more money than unattractive people. It’s why you bought that pretty girl at the bar a drink last week, and didn’t buy one for her ugly friend.

So over the course of the movie, Pleasantville becomes a place of pleasure-seeking dopamine addicts, and when a few black and white residents try to slow things down through reasonable regulation, the film shames them with a courtroom scene deliberately ripped straight out of To Kill A Mockingbird, meant to frame the objectors as no better than evil racists arguing against Gregory Peck.

Pleasantville Triggers A Pavlovian Response

So, of course, the audience sides with the hedonists, because every betrayal, moral lapse, and sin committed by them results in more color on the screen. And in a theater, staring at a black-and-white world, color becomes the ultimate reward. 

This is Affective Conditioning.

Affective conditioning is a psychological process in which a neutral behavior, idea, or object is repeatedly paired with positive or negative emotional cues, causing people to develop the same emotional attitude toward it.

The most well-known example of this is Pavlov’s dog. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian Psychologist who trained dogs by ringing a bell before feeding them. After repeated pairings, the dogs began salivating at the bell alone, proving that a neutral signal can be conditioned to trigger a reflex. In the process, he discovered that it was possible to condition nearly anyone to do anything, using variations of this technique.

That’s classical conditioning. Affective Conditioning is a variation on Pavlov’s technique in which someone is conditioned to specific emotional attitudes rather than autonomic responses. By rewarding you with exceptionally beautiful imagery whenever someone commits a morally questionable act, Pleasantville conditions its audience to share in its hedonism. 

That’s why you never feel bad for Bud’s father when he’s cheated on and abandoned, because it’s the cheating betrayal of his wife that results in some of the movie’s most stunning and beautiful colors. You can’t hear the reasonable arguments of the black and white men in the bowling alley, because you crave more color, and the only way to get it is by having Bill plaster the town in nude photos.

How Reese Witherspoon’s Jennifer Affirms Hedonism As Optimal

You might think Jennifer’s character arc contradicts all of this, but it’s actually a key part of completing and affirming it. Unlike everyone else, Jennifer begins the movie as a hedonist. She then introduces sex, temptation, and emotional intensity into Pleasantville. That’s the spark that breaks the town’s rigid system and starts the color spreading.

In propaganda terms, Jennifer is the catalyst, the outsider who destabilizes the old order. Once that system collapses, the movie no longer needs her to keep pushing chaos.

So the story reframes her. She becomes intellectual, thoughtful, and studious. The message shifts from hedonism to self-actualization. The idea is that once people are “freed” from repression by pleasure seeking, they can pursue higher things: art, literature, education, and personal identity.

This solves a messaging problem. If the movie only showed sex and rebellion, the change might look shallow or destructive. By turning Jennifer into a reader who wants to go to college, the film reframes upheaval as progress toward enlightenment.

In persuasion terms, it’s a two-step structure:

• Destabilize the old culture through Jennifer’s early influence.
• Legitimize the new one as intellectually superior through Jennifer the scholar.

Jennifer isn’t rejecting the transformation of Pleasantville. She’s proof that the transformation somehow produced a better kind of person, even though that makes no sense at all in the context of what happens in the film. 

By the final act, the town is half monochrome, half Technicolor, a visual civil war. They’re all on a path toward eventual chaos and ruin, but you’re fully on the side of the colors.

How Pleasantville Influenced Millennials

Pleasantville is a beautifully made film. Its effects were groundbreaking for the time. Its performances are earnest. But it’s not neutral. It’s not just “about feelings.” It’s a manifesto about how to view the past and how to behave in the future.

Except it didn’t work, not at first. Gen X, coming into its own and swimming in the high-energy, high-ambition early days of the dot-com boom in the late 1990s, had no patience for a movie selling hedonism and chaos. Despite a slick marketing campaign and a lot of slobbering praise from critics, the movie flopped at the box office. Gen X wanted nothing to do with it.

It was Millennials, too young to see it in theaters in the 90s, who eventually embraced it. Through heavy rotation on cable and strong DVD sales in the early 2000s, they encountered Pleasantville as teenagers with underdeveloped brains. Its central visual idea, a black-and-white 1950s television town gradually turning to color as characters break social rules and express themselves, made it an easy metaphor for the individuality and rebellion against conformity that had already been planted by other forms of screenwashing. 

The movie ends with David returning home to the real world, where he finds his mother at the kitchen table, sobbing and lamenting her terrible life choices. She wants to make things better. Don’t bother David tells her, life isn’t supposed to be anything. Just accept whatever it is. 

That’s the real message of Pleasantville. Stop trying, stop striving, seek pleasure. Whatever happens happens. Roll over and take it. Expect nothing and seek only pleasure.

Congratulations, hedonist millennials, you’ve been Screenwashed.