Entertainment
Ranking The 15 Best One-Season Sci-Fi Shows
By Jonathan Klotz | Published
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.
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Ashley Iaconetti set the record straight on if she’s gone under the knife.
The Real Housewives of Rhode Island star, 38, addressed rumors surrounding her appearance during a recent Q&A on her podcast, “Almost Famous,” which she cohosts with fellow Bachelor Nation alum Ben Higgins. During the Friday, May 8, episode, Iaconetti shut down speculation that she had a rhinoplasty and revealed she’s “never had plastic surgery.”
“You know how Kendall Jenner says that she’s never had plastic surgery? Kendall — I understand what she’s saying about her nose, though,” Iaconetti said, referring to rumors that Jenner, 30, got a nose job. “My sister had a nose job, my aunt had a nose job and my grandma had a nose job,” Iaconetti explained of the women in her family. “My other grandma? Well, she didn’t want to have a nose job but let’s just say she doesn’t have a tiny nose and she’s alive and 102.”
“My nose is natural, but Kendall says [her nose] got smaller with Accutane,” Iaconetti continued. “I also think my nose has gotten so much smaller with age.”
Kendall Jenner is proud that she’s only rarely dabbled with cosmetic procedures. “I swear to God, I’ve done two rounds of baby Botox in my forehead [and] that’s it,” Jenner, 30, said on the Friday, January 9, episode of Owen Thiele’s “In Your Dreams” podcast. “[That’s] the only thing I’ve ever injected.” Jenner further debunked […]
Iaconetti went on to say that in old photos, her nose was “so much wider.”
“Now I’m wondering, is it just acne medication in general? Because if [Kendall’s] not lying, my nose [also] got smaller once I started Spironolactone at 24.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Iaconetti doubled down that she’s never gone “under the knife” and has “never been under anesthesia.”
“I get my lips injected about once a year and I’ve been doing that for about 11 years,” Iaconetti shared. “I got it for the first time going into Bachelor in Paradise. And then, I get Botox — really mine lasts a long time. I think my forehead’s kinda trained at this point so it’s really every 5 months.”
She continued, “And then once a year I’ll do Botox in my masseter muscles — my jaw. And then the other thing that I love is chin filler, which I’ve done for 7 years.”
Iaconetti noted that she’s not a “big fan” of having filler in her cheeks.
Jenner previously squashed rumors that she secretly underwent a rhinoplasty during a January episode of the “In Your Dreams” podcast. “I swear to God, I’ve done two rounds of baby Botox in my forehead [and] that’s it,” she said.
“For any young fan that’s watching this video, thinking, ‘I’m just going to run and get a nose job … or whatever it is,’” Jenner continued. “I will say the nose job allegations I’ve gotten, I would believe them if it wasn’t me. I look at old photos of me and I’m like, ‘Wait, it does look like I’ve had a nose job.’”
Jenner shared that with time, she simply “grew into her nose.”
“It did look wider and it did feel bigger on my face when I was younger,” she explained. “I also … did Accutane for my acne, and there’s a theory on TikTok that acne shrinks your nose and, you guys, I swear it’s true.”
Entertainment
Steven Spielberg’s Most Divisive Sci-Fi Film Deserves Its Positive Rotten Tomatoes Score
Even with all the crowd-pleasers to his name, few contemporary blockbuster filmmakers have a catalog as frequently debated as Steven Spielberg. Two decades on, his adaptation of War of the Worlds continues to divide audiences more than most. Released in 2005 and starring Tom Cruise, the film holds one of the lowest audience scores of Spielberg’s career on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s often left out of the top 10 in rankings of his greatest works. But War of the Worlds doesn’t deserve such a middling reputation. Revisiting it today, you’ll find something far more special than its legacy would suggest.
Coming from such iconic source material, you probably already know the basic setup: An alien invasion threatens humanity, and an ordinary man must fight for his family as society collapses. But, unlike the H. G. Wells book, Spielberg takes the book’s Victorian England setting and drops us in New Jersey instead. Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a dockworker and flawed father to Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin). When aliens invade, the family’s going to need a hero if they’re going to make it through alive. But is Ray really up to the task?
‘War of the Worlds’ Replaces the Traditional Action Hero With a Panicked Everyman
Spielberg isn’t interested in depicting heroism in the traditional sense. Ray isn’t a savior, and he sure isn’t a leader either. Unlike the action hero you’d expect at the center of all great sci-fi thrillers, he’s highly reactive, incredibly overwhelmed, and just barely holding it together. It locks the film in on a character other post-apocalyptic thrillers would do away with in act one. The ambition of this choice is clear from the film’s first major set piece: the invasion.
In his more than 50 years of filmmaking, Spielberg’s never directed something more terrifying. In films past, the director would put us in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing. But when the ground cracks open and the first tripod emerges, the audience isn’t left in the hands of a level-headed and unwavering lead. Like his kids, we’re stuck with Ray… and all the uncertainty and panic and chaos that comes from him as our guide.
‘War of the Worlds’ Channels Post-9/11 Fear Into One of Spielberg’s Boldest Sci-Fi Visions
The film is innovative for more than just its main character. Beneath the surface, War of the Worlds is a different kind of spectacle — one more concerned with uniquely 21st-century themes. The imagery is clearly born of post-9/11 anxieties: a morning attack, dust swallowing crowds, people running in fear, a sickening sense that things will never be the same … War of the Worlds channels the fear and disorientation that was still so fresh in American minds after 2001. Rather than offering escapism as usual, Spielberg confronts that reality head-on.a 76% critics’ score at Rotten Tomatoes
Plenty of critics liked War of the Worlds — it does hold a modest 76% critics’ score at Rotten Tomatoes — but top voices like Roger Ebert and Jonathan Rosenbaum called it hokey and uninteresting. Its 42% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter is also less than enthusiastic. They’ve got it wrong, though. Viewed today, the film’s unconventional Cruise role and its willingness to explore the darkest corners of the collective unconscious make for one of Spielberg’s boldest projects ever. It’s a film that challenges its audience, sidestepping the easy answers or comforting resolutions we expect from Spielberg. It might not fit neatly alongside some of his most entertaining works, but that’s precisely what makes it so ambitious … and one of his most underrated, too.
- Release Date
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June 29, 2005
- Runtime
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116 Minutes
- Writers
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Josh Friedman, David Koepp, H.G. Wells
Entertainment
What happened to the original “NCIS ”cast? See what Mark Harmon and other stars are doing today
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Tracking the careers of the cast since leaving the CBS juggernaut.
The fallout from “The Roast of Kevin Hart” is continuing to spiral after Tony Hinchcliffe’s controversial George Floyd joke sparked outrage online and drew criticism from Floyd’s family, fellow comedians, and viewers alike. Now, Tiffany Haddish is being pulled into the conversation after she was asked directly about the backlash while leaving the star-studded Netflix event. While the comedian admitted she missed the joke entirely, her reaction to the growing controversy is still raising eyebrows online.
Haddish was stopped by TMZ following Sunday night’s Netflix roast event and asked directly about the joke that has since ignited criticism from George Floyd’s family, fellow comedians, and viewers online. However, the “Ride or Die” actress admitted she was distracted during the now-viral moment. According to Haddish, she had stepped away because she needed to use the bathroom and missed the joke entirely.
While she declined to directly address the George Floyd comment itself, Haddish did appear to react to the backlash surrounding the roast. The comedian suggested that many of the loudest critics are fellow comics who may simply be upset they were not included in the event.
Though Haddish didn’t elaborate further, her facial expression at the end of the interview appeared to hint at how she personally felt about the controversy surrounding the show.
The backlash erupted after Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke referencing Floyd during his set at the Netflix roast. “The Black community is so proud of you… right now George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe,” Hinchcliffe said while roasting Kevin Hart.
Floyd died in May 2020 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest, despite Floyd repeatedly saying he could not breathe. His death, which was captured on video and widely shared online, sparked massive protests across the United States and around the world demanding police reform and racial justice.
The case became a defining cultural moment, fueling the Black Lives Matter movement and leading to widespread demonstrations against police brutality. In 2021, Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in connection with Floyd’s death and was later sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
George Floyd’s Family Reportedly Furious Over Tony Hinchcliffe Joke
Now, representatives connected to The Gianna and George Floyd Foundation are speaking out against the joke and criticizing both Hinchcliffe and Hart.
Travis Cains, a spokesperson for the foundation, told TMZ that Hart allegedly allowing the joke was “sad for the culture.” According to the foundation, Floyd’s family and friends are reportedly “baffled and disgusted” by Hinchcliffe’s repeated references to Floyd in comedy routines.
The criticism also comes after Hinchcliffe previously made another Floyd-related joke during “The Roast of Tom Brady.”
George Floyd Foundation Says Jokes Are Impacting His Daughter
The foundation also raised concerns about the impact these jokes could have on Floyd’s daughter, Gianna, who is now 12 years old. According to the organization, Gianna has reportedly experienced bullying at school, something they believe jokes like Hinchcliffe’s only worsen.
“We are trying to rebuild things for our community and make things better in our community,” the foundation said in a statement. “Let’s try to be a little bit more positive, and not sit up there doing colon inspections by white comedians.”
Lil Rel Howery Calls Tony Hinchcliffe’s Joke ‘Disgusting’
Comedian and actor Lil Rel Howery also publicly condemned the roast joke in a passionate Instagram post shared Tuesday morning. Lil Rel described the moment as “disgusting” and questioned why the audience did not react more strongly in the moment. The actor pointed out that the crowd loudly booed NBA star Draymond Green throughout the roast but remained silent during Hinchcliffe’s Floyd punchline.
Lil Rel Howery also said he could not understand why Hinchcliffe felt the joke was necessary in the first place, calling it “needless.” And as outrage surrounding the Netflix roast continues spreading online, neither Kevin Hart nor Tony Hinchcliffe has publicly responded to the criticism.
2025 was packed with great television. From Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham‘s groundbreaking British breakout Adolescence, and the bittersweet genius of Andor‘s second season, to the brilliantly offbeat comedy of HBO’s The Chair Company, and one final outing for the gang in Season 5 of Stranger Things, 2025 was overwhelmed with must-see TV. Because of this reality, several great hidden gems were left under-watched in the streaming rotation, one of which has recently had its future sealed.
The show in question is Film Club, a brilliantly cozy and perfectly melancholic comedy-drama starring one of Britain’s best rising stars, Aimee Lou Wood. Following her breakout in Sex Education, Wood has stunned with several show-stealing performances, with 2025 her most impressive year yet. However, thanks to acclaimed turns in the likes of The White Lotus and Toxic Town earlier in the year, her starring turn in Film Club has fallen further under the radar. This is a particular shame for a series that deals so gently with mental health and offers an emotionally resonant blend of comedy and drama, scoring impressive critical reviews in the process.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Film Club boasts a near-perfect 90% score from critics, dubbed a “subtly off-kilter, and an understated gem,” by one reviewer, with another saying that “this wonderfully nuanced series also sincerely understands the experience of feeling through cinema and feeling seen by it.” Sadly, as revealed in an exclusive new report, the BBC has chosen not to move forward with Film Club, as Wood’s series is cancelled after just one season. According to the report, “The decision was mutual,” with Wood “said to be keen to prioritize other writing, while the BBC was relaxed about moving on from the series.”
Aimee Lou Wood is Joining an Ambitious Cinematic Experience
As her stock continues to rise, Wood is sure to feature in many a big-name film and TV project to come. Perhaps the most impressive project in her filmography yet is the ambitious upcoming Beatles quadrilogy helmed by the brilliant Sam Mendes. In late October last year, it was announced that Wood, Anna Sawai, Mia McKenna-Bruce, and Saoirse Ronan were joining an already stacked cast for the movies as the former Quarrymen’s love interests. It was confirmed that Wood will portray Pattie Boyd, who met George Harrison on the set of A Hard Day’s Night and later became his wife.
Film Club has been cancelled. Stay tuned to Collider for all the latest TV news.
- Release Date
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October 7, 2025
- Network
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BBC Three
- Directors
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Catherine Morshead
- Writers
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Anna Jordan
Entertainment
Apple TV’s Only Sci-Fi Series With No Bad Episodes Finally Gets Season 3 Return Update
Over the last few years, Apple TV has become one of the most important streaming services for producing high-quality sci-fi TV shows. The platform unleashed Pluribus into the world last year, and despite it being a much slower-paced, methodical show than some fans may be used to, it still shattered records on its way to becoming the most popular Apple TV sci-fi show of all time. Pluribus, which hails from creator Vince Gilligan and stars Rhea Seehorn, was renewed for Season 2, but it’s unlikely that the show will return anytime before 2028. There is another beloved Apple TV sci-fi show set to return with another season sooner than Pluribus, and while it may have lost its spot at the top of the Apple TV sci-fi hierarchy, that doesn’t mean fans aren’t anxiously anticipating its return.
All the way back in 2022, Apple TV unleashed the first season of Severance into the world, and it’s still viewed as one of the best seasons of sci-fi TV ever made. The COVID-19 pandemic and WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes delayed the release of Severance Season 2, but the show finally returned last year with its long-awaited second season. Apple TV renewed Severance for a third season on the same day that it released the Season 2 premiere, and director Ben Stiller even promised that the wait for Season 3 would be shorter than Season 2. Severance star Adam Scott recently spoke on a red carpet interview for his new horror movie, Hokum, and he was asked if the wait for Season 3 was still going to be shorter than that of Season 2:
“We’re always trying to shorten the amount of time between seasons, but it’s more important for it to be great than for it to be fast. We’re definitely planning on getting it out much sooner than the last round, which was three years, which was too long.”
‘Severance’ Season 3 Is Already in a Deep Hole
While it’s refreshing to hear that Adam Scott and the rest of the Severance team are committed to bringing Season 3 to the screen in a shorter time frame, this is going to be difficult to do. It’s already been over a year since the premiere of Season 3, and reports indicate that Severance Season 3 isn’t even going to begin production for at least a few more months. It takes a long time to film a new season of Severance, meaning the gap between Seasons 2 and 3 is likely to be around 2.5 years, assuming it can even make that. Still, Scott’s comments assure the wait will be worth it.
Check out the first two seasons of Severance on Apple TV and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Season 3.
- Release Date
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February 17, 2022
- Network
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Apple TV
- Showrunner
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Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
- Writers
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Anna Ouyang Moench, Wei-Ning Yu
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Clarke died Monday in Los Angeles.
Lisa Kudrow may have just called out “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” for allegedly faking drama on camera. The “Friends” alum put Andy Cohen, who serves as an executive producer for multiple “Housewives” series and is the longtime host of the reunion specials, on the spot during Monday night’s episode of “Watch What Happens Live” after revealing she had questions about one very suspicious scene from the Bravo reality series.
The awkward exchange began after Cohen casually asked Kudrow whether she watches any of the “Housewives” franchises. “Yes [I do],” Kudrow responded before immediately warning him, “I saw the ‘Beverly Hills’ [episode], you don’t want me to discuss it. I am telling you right now.”
Kudrow then referenced a moment from “RHOBH” Season 15, Episode 15 that sparked major fan speculation online. “I am just going to say Black Mercedes, sprinter twins. I caught that, I’m sorry,” Kudrow said.
Cohen appeared caught off guard by the observation before laughing and replying, “OK, yeah.”
‘The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills’ Fans Accused Italy Blowup Of Being Staged After Van Mix-Up
The scene in question involved Dorit Kemsley storming away from castmates Kyle Richards and Erika Jayne during the women’s cast trip to Italy after a heated argument.
Viewers watched Kemsley climb into the group’s SUV and tell the driver to leave without Richards and Jayne, forcing the two women to supposedly call an Uber. However, eagle-eyed fans quickly noticed what appeared to be two identical black Mercedes Sprinter vans parked near each other, leading many viewers to accuse the show of staging the dramatic exit.
‘RHOBH’ Fans Backed Lisa Kudrow After Spotting Second Van In Scene
Social media users immediately began dissecting the footage after the episode aired, with many claiming the transportation mishap looked suspiciously orchestrated for television. “I noticed the second van and assumed that’s for the actual crew,” one user pointed out. “So no, they weren’t ‘stranded,’ but Dorit did take their vehicle.”
Another X user wrote, “‘RHOBH’ is really so far from reality TV.” A third chimed in with, “We all saw the second car.” Others agreed with Lisa Kudrow, with one fan writing, “We are all Lisa in this moment. Andy, you really don’t want to hear what we think and feel about this season.”
Meanwhile, someone else didn’t hold back, writing, “Lisa Kudrow just EXPOSED ‘RHOBH’ live on ‘WWHL.’”
Kyle Richards Insisted Her Explosive Fallout With Dorit Kemsley Was Real
The blowout fight itself centered around tensions involving punctuality issues and ongoing relationship drama between the women. Despite fan speculation surrounding the scene, Richards later insisted the fallout with Kemsley was very real.
Ahead of the episode airing, Richards told Us Weekly that she and Kemsley had a “big blowout” because Dorit is “not open-minded.” “I didn’t think we were supposed to say, but it pretty much came out at BravoCon that Erika and I are not speaking with Dorit and vice versa, because we had a very big blowout on our cast trip,” Kyle said.
The reality TV star added, “She’s not open-minded to listening to you, and when she has something in her head, that’s it. It’s really frustrating to try to have a conversation with her. Unfortunately, we tried to fix things, and it was like two steps forward, three steps back.”
Dorit Kemsley And Kyle Richards’ Feud Continued Exploding At Reunion
The drama between Richards and Kemsley only intensified during the Season 15 reunion earlier this month. During the explosive sit-down, Kemsley accused Richards of judging her finances and trying to make her “look bad” amid her highly publicized split from estranged husband PK Kemsley. Richards later denied the allegations while admitting she was still hurt over the collapse of their friendship.
The pair’s ongoing issues reportedly worsened after Richards remained friendly with PK during the separation. Now, thanks to Kudrow’s unexpected observation on live television, fans are once again questioning just how “real” reality TV actually is.
Season 15 of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” is available to stream on Peacock.
Days of Our Lives stuns as Marlena Evans (Diedre Hall) shocked the DiMeras when she changed her mind and abruptly showed up at Stefano DiMera‘s (Joseph Mascolo) will reading. But then Marlena didn’t even accept the chess set that the Phoenix bequeathed to her and John Black (Drake Hogestyn).
And I think that chess set is more than meets the eye. We know the late Stefano DiMera called John Black the pawn and he called Marlena of course the queen of the night. So, we have a lot to unpack about what secret might be hidden in this bequest.
The Will Reading Was Lackluster Days of Our Lives
So, after all the buildup for weeks and weeks about Stefano’s will reading, I think, you know, based on what I’m seeing on soap social media here in the comments also, fans were really let down. Because it was totally lackluster. We are in May sweeps and after all of EJ DiMera‘s (Dan Feuerriegel) plotting and planning, we got May sleeps. Because it was almost a snoozefest. We already expected that Gabi Hernandez (Cherie Jimenez) was going to barge in, and she did. She made her grand entrance to announce she’s not an ex-wife. She’s a widow.
And so, Gabi claimed that she’s entitled to her late husband, Stefan DiMera’s (Brandon Barash) share of Stefano’s inheritance. Gabi has a signed affidavit from Vivian Almain’s (Louise Sorel) manservant, Ivan Marais, stating that he saw Vivian personally sign the divorce papers with Stefan’s name. So, there is some proof that Gabi and Stefan were never legally divorced.
Lexie’s Return Lacked Drama on DOOL
Some of the DiMeras groused, but honestly, the reaction was kind of eh, a shrug. And of course, we all expected some huge earth-shattering thing with Lexie Carver‘s (Nikki Crawford) resurrection. You know, maybe the DiMeras are just immune to this. Because they are known for fake deaths and resurrections.
So, when she showed up and collapsed, most of the family again was like, “Oh, it’s Lexie.” You know, the biggest reaction was from nosy Leo Stark (Greg Rikkart) who wanted to write about it and of course from Chad DiMera (Connor Floyd) because he ran to EJ asking can he do the same thing and bring back Abigail DiMera (Marci Miller) and of course EJ said that he couldn’t because it had been too long and all this. But honestly, he could have her in a person pod somewhere. We’ll see.
But the Lexie drama, to be fair, isn’t over yet because Theo Carver (Cameron Johnson) just found out that Paulina Price (Jackée Harry) already knew that Lexie was in the person pod. And Paulina just found out that Theo’s known for a couple of weeks that his mom was being brought back from the dead. But once Abe Carver (James Reynolds) finds out, Theo and Paulina both knew, there is more fallout coming. But other than the staff getting houses and a stipend, the will reading was honestly low drama. All of Stefano’s stuff is to be divided equally among the family.
Marlena’s Inheritance Was A Chess Set
And I think most fans thought Marlena’s inheritance from Stefano would be a much more grand bequest. Jewels, a tiara, something that hearkened back to the Queen of the Night days. And this did, but not in a big splashy way. I think Marlena knew that Stefano was taunting her, giving her a chessboard with a queen and a pawn among the pieces.
And it was meant for her and John both. So, Stefano thought that they would both survive him. That’s clear. So it wasn’t just a message for Marlena, but also for her late husband John. And by refusing to keep Stefano’s bequest, Marlena lost the chance to explore what was in that box. She gave it back to Theo and Marlena said, “Thanks, no thanks.” And then she up and walked out. She felt like, “Okay, I’m done with Stefano. That’s my closure.”
Days of our Lives: Other DiMeras Start Poking Around?
I think Theo or one of the other DiMeras, maybe EJ, maybe Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis), may start poking around into the chess set and discover something hidden within Marlena’s gift. Now, first off, right away, there could be a hidden compartment. The chess set isn’t only symbolic of Marlena and John’s past with Stefano on Days of our Lives.
There could be more to it. You know, there might be a real treasure in there or some sort of mystery or a secret. So, it could be Marlena’s gift contains a secret hidey-hole in the box or in one of the pieces. If Stefano was going to hide something, I bet he would conceal it inside the queen since Marlena was his queen of the night, at least in Stefano’s mind.
There Could Be Something Hidden In The Chess Set on Days
So, there could be something in there, something small like maybe a flash drive or, you know, a photo card. What do you call those little things? A little tiny memory. Those things are teeny tiny now, like pinky nail size. Or there could be a note rolled up and pushed inside it. There could even be a couple of things. One thing hidden in the queen and another thing to go with it hidden inside the little pawn piece.
But because Marlena walked away from the box and left it, somebody else might find whatever Stefano meant for her and John’s eyes only. So, it could be that Marlena’s former rival, Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk), decides to check out the chess set and she discovers something hidden. We know Kristen was hot for John and so she might be curious about what her dad left.
Days of our Lives: Stefano Playing Mind Games?
It could also be that Stefano meant the chess set as a form of psychological warfare from beyond the grave. And it may contain a secret that he wanted Marlena and John alone to know. You know, could be something that Stefano thought he could only trust Marlena with.
And don’t forget, Stefano was a master manipulator. He loved to play mind games, not just with his enemies, but also with his own family. And of course, the box startled Marlena when it revealed the queen and the pawn because Stefano tormented her and John for decades.
And somewhere hidden within the box could be a clue revealing a secret tied to Stefano and Marlena’s twisted past, maybe tied to something Stefano did to her when she was gaslit and manipulated and she doesn’t have clear memories. You know, could be information about a secret love child or a cloned embryo.
There’s been some hints recently that maybe Stefano and Marlena had a child together she doesn’t know about. Of course, that would prompt the question, who. Is there going to be a new DiMera showing up in Salem? It could be somebody already on the canvas like Chad who was born during the period where Stefano was kidnapping Marlena all the time. So she could have had a kid, Chad or somebody else.
The Chess Set Could Be Part Of A Long Revenge Game
Finally, the chess game that he left Marlena could signify some sort of proxy power play and some long revenge game that Stefano was plotting against Marlena and John and their family. Now that she refused the bequest, you know, Marlena may think she’s finally free from Stefano and all the things he tried to do, but he may have been one step ahead of her and anticipated that Marlena would refuse his gift because that seems obvious.
The box may have been bait and Stefano might have known she would refuse it and that it’d be left behind with his family. There could be some bizarre post-mortem contingency plan that Stefano set up to pull Marlena into DiMera family drama. You know, she may have to be the reluctant queen who has to play one more game to protect Salem from Stefano’s final scheme because it feels like there should be a final scheme, right?
I definitely feel like the Phoenix may have something up his dead evil sleeve when it comes to his queen of the night and the man, the pawn, all that. Given how lackluster the will reading was and really to me just totally anticlimactic, it feels like there may be another shoe to drop where Stefano is concerned.
Actress Demi Moore is one of several notable figures to attend the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. However, while attending, the “I Love Boosters” star sparked controversy by making what has been called a vailed advertisment for artificial intelligence.
This comes after Reese Witherspoon‘s recent controversy, in which she was accused of encouraging others to learn about AI while potentially profiting from it.
Moore took part in the Cannes Film Festival jury press conference on May 12. During it, per Variety, she was asked about her opinions on artificial intelligence and how the movie industry is and could be impacted by it. She began, “Wow, that’s a big question.”
Moore continued, “I think the reality is that to resist — I always feel that against-ness breeds against-ness. AI is here. And so to fight it is to fight something that is a battle that we will lose.”
She added, “So to find ways in which we can work with it, I think, is a more valuable path to take.” The actress then said, “To your question of, are we doing enough to protect ourselves? I don’t know the answer to that. And so my inclination would be to say probably not.”
Moore Says There’s A Beauty To AI
Moore continued her discussion of AI and its impact on Hollywood. Specifically, she noted that “there’s beautiful aspects to being able to utilize” it as a tool. However, she acknowledged that the technology has its limits.
According to her, “The truth is there really isn’t anything to fear because what it can never replace is what true art comes from, which is not the physical, it comes from the soul. It comes from the spirit of each and every one of us sitting here, to each and every one of us who creates every day.”
She added, “And that they can never recreate through something that is technical.”
Fans Aren’t Taking Kindly To The ‘Substance’ Star’s AI Sentiments
Following Moore’s remarks about finding ways to work with AI that went viral, she’s receiving considerable backlash on social media. One person reacted, “What a dumb argument. Just because Demi Moore is here, it doesn’t mean directors need to cast her.”
Someone else said, “She sounds like an investor, not an artist. Entirely out of touch with technology and art. 90s movie stars had it easy and became rich and retreated from caring about the sustainability of the business they helped fuck up.”
A different social media user stated, “Every celebrity that comes out and says this shit is probably investing in it.”
After that, another fan offered a prediction. They said, “Aging actors who know their roles are drying up are going to embrace this idea (after the pitch meeting) of selling their digital likeness to AI so they can continue to make money into retirement. They have no other choice but to screw the rest of the industry.”
Lastly, another concerned social media user wrote, “Gross – ‘againstness breeds againstness’? No, if you stop using AI, block data centers from being built, and make anti-AI regulations, then the slop does in fact go away! I only hear older people afraid of being “left behind” and AI shills using this type of language, by the way.”
Demi Moore Also Advocated For Free Speech
There’s been discussion in Hollywood about whether filmmakers should shy away from expressing political beliefs. This comes as some wonder whether outspoken actors and filmmakers distract from the movies themselves.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Moore was asked about this while at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. In response, she said, “I think part of art is about expression, so if we start censoring ourselves, then we shut down the very core of our creativity, which is, I think, where we can discover truth and answers.”
Demi Moore’s Next Movie Arrives In Theaters This Month
Moore’s comments at Cannes 2026 come ahead of the release of her new film, “I Love Boosters.” Written and directed by Boots Riley, the comedy-adventure film will be released in theaters on May 22. In addition to Moore, it stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Page, Poppy Liu, and more.
Ahead of its release, “I Love Boosters” garnered impressive early reviews. It currently sits at a stellar 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews. In the movie, Moore portrays a fashion maven who becomes the target of a group of shoplifters, also known as “boosters.”
The film is rated R and is distributed by Neon.
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