By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 21 seconds ago

The most recent Starfleet Academy episode made very dramatic changes to two of the fandom’s most favorite characters. When SAM begins glitching, the Doctor teams up with her people to develop a startling diagnosis. Namely, that she is unable to process trauma because her Makers didn’t implant any memories of growing up.

To fix his holographic homie, the Doctor makes the major decision to raise a rebooted version of SAM on her homeworld for the equivalent of 17 years. Doing so helps the Doctor heal from his own emotional trauma (he’s still mourning the holographic daughter he lost over 800 years ago) while giving her the emotional resilience she will need to handle pain.

This is obviously meant to be a sweet episode that establishes a father/daughter bond between two unlikely characters. Unfortunately, this episode accidentally makes Starfleet the villain because it confirms they let a child into their academy and subsequently put her in various dangerous situations.

Life’s A Glitch

When Starfleet Academy first premiered, SAM was the character that confused me the most. She had a bubbly, childlike personality that was implicit in her programming. Even though she holographically presented herself to the world as a young woman, she was only recently programmed. Therefore, she came into the world with fresh eyes, often approaching things like a hyper-teenage girl version of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

After the show’s first episode, my question was simple: “Wait, y’all let a kid into Starfleet Academy?” While different alien races must mature at different rates, it always seemed like you had to be at least the equivalent of 16 years (like young Wesley Crusher) to even apply. Therefore, it seemed weird they would accept SAM, someone who was practically born (er, programmed) yesterday.

Gathering Enough Data

Soon, I mollified myself with the notion that 32nd-century Starfleet likely saw SAM the same way that 24th-century Starfleet saw Data. To such an organization, the actual age of a person may be less important than their knowledge and relative maturity. Data knew more than probably any human from the moment he was programmed, so it’s not like Starfleet would have wanted him to arbitrarily wait 16 years before applying to the academy.

SAM, I reasoned, must be the same way: programmed with the knowledge needed to excel at Starfleet Academy and ultimately become an exemplary officer. However, what I hadn’t considered was that Data originally had no emotions for Starfleet to worry about. Combined with his extensive knowledge, that made him more or less like a Vulcan. SAM’s emotions, however, were front and center in “Life of the Stars,” an episode that accidentally reveals Starfleet as a villain.

Starfleet’s Sudden Heel Turn

In that episode, SAM begins glitching out, and things get bad enough that the Doctor and Chancellor Ake take the hologram back to her homeworld. Eventually, they realize that she is stuck reliving recent trauma that she was literally unable to process. That’s because her Makers never gave her any memories of growing up, and without learning resilience, she would be unable to handle the flood of negative emotions that come from traumatic experiences.

Our heroes save the day by proposing that the Doctor raise SAM until she is 17, effectively giving her an entire childhood with which to develop necessary emotional resilience. But I was struck by the revelation that SAM was programmed with no experiences or memories of any kind. Sure, she had plenty of intellect programmed in, but in every other respect, she had the mind of a child.

The Dangers Of Enrolling Literal Children

In that way, the happy ending of this episode confirmed my original suspicions that it was weird and downright dangerous for Starfleet Academy to accept a child into its ranks. She was someone without the capacity to really understand most of what she encountered, and her attempts to process something as relatively commonplace (at least, in Starfleet) as trauma nearly got her killed. Put another way, Starfleet nearly got this cadet killed because they didn’t accurately vet her during the application process!

Maybe there will eventually be some crunchy backstory to this; for example, we might get a revelation that, post-Burn, Starfleet is accepting almost every application they receive. Back in the 24th century, applicants like Wesley Crusher had to pass a psychological test where they confronted their greatest fears and showed they had the emotional resilience needed to be a Starfleet officer. In dropping tests like this and just blindly accepting SAM’s application without knowing exactly how she was programmed, Starfleet put her and her fellow cadets in danger.  

Skeezy administrators cutting corners in order to boost enrollment numbers? Maybe Starfleet Academy is more like the modern university system than any of us ever imagined!

The internet is all over Tahj Mowry, telling him to drop his digits thanks to the new Instagram pics he posted. The actor shared some selfies, and fans didn’t waste a second letting him know they were living for the up-close, personal shots.

RELATED: Sisterly Love! Tia & Tamera Mowry Spark Reactions After Seemingly Reuniting In NYC (PICS + VIDEOS)

Tahj Mowry Just Dropped Some Selfies & The Internet Is Losing It!

Roommates, Tahj Mowry set Instagram on fire after dropping some fresh pics. The comments blew up fast with fire everywhere and heart-eyes flying. He posted two selfies in what looked like a car, one showing his side profile and the other staring straight into the camera. The ladies were feeling the energy, even joking that he went from little TJ Henderson to “Foine Man.” Tahj hasn’t addressed the fan reactions yet, but his sisters, Tia and Tamera Mowry, jumped in the comments. Fans started begging Tia to “put them on” after she wrote, “Brotherrrrrr….,” prompting one user to reply, “tell your brother I said call me.” 

Fans Are Ready To Slide Into Tahj Mowry’s DMs

After The Shade Room posted Tahj’s pics, the comments kept rolling in. Fans joked he’s always been fine, while others said they thought he was Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, at first glance.

Instagram user @therealmooney645 wrote, “He look sooo good! I BET HE STILL soooo SMART ❤️he so handsome 😩😩😩🙌🙌” 

Instagram user @djsugashae wrote, “He’s a smart guy ❤️” 

While Instagram user @therealmiyanamonique wrote, “I thought that was the Dwayne Johnson 🤦🏽‍♀️🤣🤣” 

Then Instagram user @sharleen_evett wrote, “He BEEN fine 😮‍💨😮‍💨😍😍” 

Another Instagram user @mzslimthick wrote, “Men know they look better with age! He looks good.” 

Instagram user @notyacupof_tee wrote, “Mr. Smart Guy looking good 😍” 

While another Instagram user @chioma.jpeg wrote, “Tell him we said drop the skincare routine AND the number.” 

Then another Instagram user @tamabam_ wrote, “Another slice of life, of master TJ Henderson, super intelligent, a fine young gentleman 😩” 

Finally, Instagram user @t0mmyn0pickles wrote, “Tj Hendersonnn 🤏🏽🤏🏽🤏🏽” 

Is Tahj Mowry Single Or Taken? Fans Want To Know!

For the ladies asking, Tahj Mowry hasn’t confirmed his relationship status. The ‘Full House’ star keeps his love life on the low and rarely drops hints on social media. Reports state that he was allegedly dating Naya Rivera in the early 2000s, before her passing. So for now, the girlies are going to have to do some serious detective work to see if Tahj is off the market or single and ready to mingle.

RELATED: Too Cute! Tamera Mowry’s Daughter Ariah Puts Her On To Tyla’s Viral ‘Chanel Dance Challenge (WATCH)

Bhad Bhabie on Cancer Battle
Doctor Gave Me Some ‘Bad News’
… But God Has the Last Say

Published
February 28, 2026
11:40 AM PST

Donnie Wahlberg revealed if wife Jenny McCarthy — or brother Mark Wahlberg — could appear in future episodes of his Blue Bloods spinoff Boston Blue.

“Jenny and I have discussed it. We’ve all discussed what she could possibly do on the show,” Wahlberg, 56, exclusively told Us Weekly. “What most people don’t know is that she was offered a part on Blue Bloods when we first started dating for an episode and we decided it was best not to do it. We didn’t want to distract the audience with that.”

Wahlberg didn’t rule anything out, adding, “But going forward, we had talked about her being [my son] Sean’s nurse and then she catches Danny’s eye. But Sean didn’t stay in the hospital too long … so Jenny’s definitely game to do something.”

The actor pointed out that McCarthy, 53, has already become part of the cast.

“Her and [my costar] Sonequa Martin-Green have become very close so they’re talking ideas,” he noted. “Every time I FaceTime with Jenny, Sonequa says something like, ‘Come on, we you need to a part on the show. I need you here all the time.’ It makes my heart so happy.”

Wahlberg didn’t stop there with the suggestions. “But I think my nephews are also interested in playing parts. They’re actors and we have Oscar, Jeffrey and Brandon. They are all doing very well in their own right,” he continued. “Is there a world where I finally twist Mark’s arm to come do an episode? Maybe. It depends on the script but anything’s possible.”

Before Boston Blue, Blue Bloods followed the lives of the Reagan family, many of whom work for the NYPD under the leadership of NYC police commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck). Frank’s father, Henry Reagan (Len Cariou), was also central to the show, alongside Frank’s children: daughter Erin Reagan (Bridget Moynahan) and sons Danny (Wahlberg) and Jamie Reagan (Will Estes).

The show aired from 2010 to 2024 before CBS announced a spinoff. Wahlberg’s character is at the center of the spinoff, which picks up as the former NYPD officer takes on a position with the Boston P.D. He is then paired with detective Lena (Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family.

“That’s the joy right now of working with this group of writers. And the show runners specifically is … I told them on Monday that I had a phone call with [the Boston Celtics’] Jaylen Brown and he said, ‘Get me on the show,’” Wahlberg explained. “I told our EPs and they wrote a scene as I sat there next to them. That’s how we’re approaching this.”

Wahlberg has been having fun exploring new possibilities.

“We can’t just do anything haphazardly at any old given time,” he told Us. “But they are so game to try things and it’s really just about making sure we’re doing it the right way and making sure we’re giving it the most value for the audience.”

He concluded: “It is also realizing we can take our time and we don’t have to force all these things upon the audience. We can stretch it out and keep surprising them and keep having twists and turns that they didn’t expect.”

Boston Blue airs on CBS Fridays at 10 p.m. ET.

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 53 seconds ago

According to film critics, Scream 7 is the death of the franchise. With an aggregate of 33% from 120 critic reviews as of this writing, it’s easy to believe they are right. There is just one problem: the movie is so popular that it’s poised to break opening-weekend franchise records.

The previous record was set by Scream VI, which opened with $44 million. The new movie is projected to approach or break $50 million, with some estimates as high as $59 million. Fans gave Scream 7 a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating a big gap between audiences and critics.

How Politics Influences The Reviews Of Critics

The one thing that all the bad reviews have in common is discussion of the firing of Melissa Barerra and the subsequent departure of Jenna Ortega, both of whom played characters central to the two previous installations. Barerra was fired for making inflammatory remarks about Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, sentiments which are shared by many in the entertainment industry; Ortega left in protest of Barrera’s dismissal. A lot of critics and major entertainment news venues sympathize with Barrera’s views, and some of these are gleefully reporting the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ ratings as though it means something for the movie.

Critics also infamously panned the biopic of the First Lady, Melania, with an even wider gap of 11% based on 53 reviews, while over 1000 audience reviewers average 98%. They are also offering great praise to the politically motivated series Starfleet Academy, the latest Star Trek show that hasn’t really resonated with fans, but which we keep being told is the best Star Trek yet. Meanwhile, the Daily Wire+ show The Pendragon Cycle has been ignored by mainstream critics, with no score on Rotten Tomatoes at all, not even a 0, despite an average of 85% from viewers.

What this all indicates is that industry reviewers are circling the wagons based on political divides rather than giving honest reviews. They are evaluating movies with greater consideration of whether they check certain boxes off-screen, and are boycotting or panning films that don’t neatly fit their mold. Critics are relying on their authority as insiders to dictate culture through the lens of politics rather than examining movies on their own merits and audience potential.

Professional Review Bombing

Some commenters have even accused the collective of mainstream critics of “review bombing” Scream 7. Review bombing is a phenomenon in which individuals give a movie a bad rating for some motive outside the show. Recently, a review bombing war between A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fans and Breaking Bad fans resulted in the IMDB rating of the latter’s crowning episode, “Ozymandias,” being reduced to a 9.5 from a perfect 10. The war started because the Game of Thrones spinoff received some bad reviews from Breaking Bad fans, who may or may not have been acting in bad faith.

However, those are individuals, even if some of them coordinated via an internet campaign. They are not the professionals relied on to be unbiased and to evaluate movies and television based on the productions themselves, not on who made them or their politics. The fact that the critics don’t seem to be connected to what audiences seem to want makes it even worse, because we are all being told that liking the stuff we like makes us bigoted if they don’t like it. And they also seem to think that if they ignore it altogether, like with The Pendragon Cycle, that maybe it will slip by unnoticed.

How much of our culture is being suppressed by critics with political agendas? Scream 7 indicates that the question needs to be asked as it is such a runaway hit that the motives of mainstream reviewers may not be critique, but activism.

Shia LaBeouf
I Don’t Have a Drinking Problem
… But I am Scared of Gay People Touching Me!

Published
February 28, 2026
10:34 AM PST

Yung Miami has spoken out after receiving criticism for saying that she wants a man with a net worth of at least $100 million.

RELATED: Oop! Yung Miami Claps Back After Social Media Users Go IN On Her Latest Song Snippet (VIDEO)

Yung Miami Says She Wants A Man With A Net Worth Of At Least $100 Million

On Wednesday, February 25, UPROXX and HipHopDX released a sitdown episode of ‘Sound Check’ with guest Yung Miami via YouTube. During the sitdown, Miami was asked to share her “status of love” and revealed that she’s “just living” and “just having fun.” As for her list of things she’s looking for in her next partner, she explained that her next boo has to “have a coin.”

“A provider. I need someone that’s God-fearing; that’s religious. That believes in God — someone that leads,” she said.

At that point, she was asked to share the “minimum net worth” her ideal man has to have.

“I want a man that has at least has like $100 million,” she stated.

Social Media Reacts

Social media users reacted to Yung Miami wanting a man with a net worth of $100 million in TSR’s comment section.

Yung Miami Speaks Out After Sparking Criticism For Saying She Wants A Man With A Net Worth Of At Least $100 Million

Yung Miami was apparently unprepared for the criticism and stepped into TSR’s comment section herself. Furthermore, she wrote, “Why yall always so mad? Yall ok?? 🥴🥴🥴 that’s WHAT I WANT!!!!! ME AS IN CARESHA BROWNLEE!!!!”

But after the clip of her sentiments only received more attention, she took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday, February 27, with more thoughts.

“I’m trying to figure out how did I insult so many ppl by stating what I want in a man…  why yall so mad? B***h I believe I can fly wtf. I’m so confused a lot of yall feel hit I wasn’t even talking to yall!” she tweeted.

RELATED: Two Fingers Touching Energy? Tyla Enters The Chat With Her Response To Yung Miami’s ‘Tea Time’ Track (VIDEO)

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 30 seconds ago

In 1996, iconic director Wes Craven rejuvenated the slasher genre with Scream, a film that served as the perfect deconstruction of horror movies. Scream was ahead of its time in many ways, predicting modern phenomena like true crime obsession and paradoxical relationships. At the same time, it worked as a perfect scary movie, one that transformed the entire genre for the better.

However, Scream was delivering diminishing returns even before Wes Craven died, and the franchise later re-oriented itself around a new pair of leads with Scream (2022). Unfortunately, the studio lost both Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, which necessitated the return of original franchise icon Neve Campbell for Scream 7. The new movie is directed by original Scream scribe Kevin Williamson, and while it provides competent kills and fun moments for returning cast members, the sloppy plotting results in a film that only diehard fans will really enjoy.

Sydney’s Coming, And Hell Is Coming With Her

The basic premise of Scream 7 is that a new killer (or is it killers?) is gunning for Sydney Prescott, and they are claiming to be the original Scream villain, Stu Macher. Syd is skeptical and thinks Stu’s taunting video calls are just an AI fabrication, but the danger is all too real when her daughter and her daughter’s friends become targets for the attacker. Now, Sydney must team up with Gale Weathers and other returning allies, but even their combined strength may not be enough to defeat the one type of foe they have never fought before: one who refuses to follow any kind of rules.

The Stu Macher stuff is mostly an excuse to bring fan-favorite actor Matthew Lillard back into the fold, and his taunting video calls to Syd are easily one of the best parts of the film. Unfortunately, his presence is also evidence of the worst part of the film: namely, that Scream 7 is much more interested in wallowing in nostalgia than really building anything new. This is a franchise that once deconstructed the entire horror genre, and every movie was fair game. Now, the latest Scream is only interested in its own lore, and with nothing left to really deconstruct, all director Kevin Williamson can really do is play the hits of yesteryear.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

On paper, that happens through a loose reconstruction of the first film: Sydney now has a daughter of her own, one who is the exact age that Syd was when the Woodsboro murders went down. She’s got a slightly creepy boyfriend who likes to climb in her window for surprise snuggles and a group of hapless friends that soon become cannon fodder for a marauding masked killer. The police (including her dad, the chief) are helpless to stop the carnage, forcing these plucky teens to take matters into their own hands lest they get picked off one by one.

A remake (or requel, or whatever we’re calling all this crap now) of the first film works well on paper, but the essential problem of Scream 7 is that it can’t decide which characters to focus on. We start out with an uneasy balance of newer and older actors, but the film soon focuses almost exclusively on legacy characters like Sydney Prescott, Gale Weathers, and even Scream 5 and 6 veterans Chad and Mindy. While that leads to some great fan service for returning audiences, it creates one of the film’s biggest problems: we don’t really get to know almost any of these younger characters before Ghostface is picking them off.

Ghostface Is Back For More Blood Than Ever Before

Fortunately, the kills in this movie are some of the nastiest and most memorable in the entire franchise, and Ghostface is as viscerally scary as ever as he dispatches victims in increasingly grotesque ways. Accordingly, your enjoyment of Scream 7 will largely hinge on your primary motivation for watching slasher movies. If you’re here for killers looking cool (the kids call it aura farming) and pretty faces dying ugly deaths, this latest franchise entry delivers all that and a bloody bag of chips. If you prefer to get to know the virtual victims before they are transformed into raw meat, you’ll likely find Scream 7 to be the weakest movie in the entire series.

Speaking of weak, the reveal of the killer (or is it killers? Don’t worry, I’m keeping this spoiler-free) is particularly disappointing because the motivation for stalking Sydney comes out of nowhere. In the first movie, Stu Macher and particularly Billy Loomis had tangible reasons for stalking Syd, and discovering who the killers were felt a bit like solving the puzzle of a whodunnit. Like Scream 6 before it, Scream 7 tries too hard to surprise fans with the reveal, and this came at a cost: namely, the killer’s motivation makes no real sense, and it comes in the form of an exposition chunk so thick it threatens to choke the climax of the movie.

Killer Performances From Actors Old And New

Aside from the cool kills, Scream 7 does a few other things very well. The new additions to the cast are awesome: Community’s Joel McHale is weirdly perfect as Sydney’s top cop husband, and the character steals his handful of scenes with McHale’s trademark rogueish charisma. But I was even more pleasantly surprised by Isabel May, who convincingly gives Sydney Prescott’s daughter an aching vulnerability whose pain masks ice-cold reserves of hidden strength.

As you might imagine, the returning actors all do a great job, starting with Courtney Cox: her Gale Weathers is as fierce and funny as ever, and she has taken the characters played by returning actors Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown under her wing as journalistic interns. Those younger characters continue to provide humorous, Randy-like commentary on the violent proceedings around them. But the actor truly giving it her all is Neve Campbell, whose Sydney reluctantly saddles up for one last fight with the ghostly demons of her past.

When You Stare At The Past, It Stares Right Back

Ultimately, how much you like Scream 7 will depend on how much you enjoy the franchise as a whole. As for myself, I’m a superfan: I saw the original in theaters, I’ve listened to the cast speak at multiple conventions, and I’ve got a house filled with way too much Ghostface merchandise. From the perspective of a superfan, the film is decent (good, not great) in bringing back our favorite characters and wrapping up its derivative story in the bloody packaging of some truly innovative kills.

If you’re not a Scream fanboy, though, it’s worth waiting to catch this on streaming, assuming that you catch it at all. Kevin Williamson wrote the legendary first film in this franchise, but now that he’s in the director’s chair, he created a movie that only complete franchise diehards will really enjoy. As for everyone else, let’s just say that if Ghostface calls, Scream 7 will never be the answer to this franchise’s age-old question: “what’s your favorite scary movie?”

By Robert Scucci
| Published 6 seconds ago

Serial killers in film are often synonymous with slashers or crime procedurals, leaving very little to the imagination when it comes to narrative structure. Typically, you get a killer whose crimes slowly escalate, a damsel in distress who either becomes one of many victims or the final girl, and an ending where good prevails over evil and everybody goes home saying, “That’s just about what I was expecting.” I’m not knocking slashers or procedurals because they’re still fun and, when done well, make for a great viewing experience.

2023’s Woman of the Hour, on the other hand, ignores those familiar beats and tells its story through multiple timelines that converge at just the right moment. The audience understands how everything connects while the characters take a little longer to catch up from their respective vantage points, which makes the payoff all the more satisfying.

Even if you’re familiar with the true crime story involving real-life serial killer Rodney Alcala that the film is based on, Woman of the Hour reshapes those events into something so uniquely structured that you’ll wish more stories were told this way. As a viewer, you feel omniscient. The thrills come from waiting for the characters to realize what you already know.

Set On A Game Show Lot, But So Much More Than That

Set between 1971 and 1979, Woman of the Hour introduces Rodney Alcala, depicted strangling a woman in 1977 after luring her to a remote location for a photo shoot. The film then shifts to 1978 Los Angeles, where we meet our primary protagonist, struggling actress Sheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick), whose agent convinces her to appear as a contestant on The Dating Game.

Reluctant because she believes the gig is beneath her, Sheryl shows up to the taping and turns on the charm with Bachelor #1 (Matt Visser), Bachelor #2 (Jedidiah Goodacre), and Bachelor #3 (Daniel Zovatto), who just so happens to be Rodney Alcala. By this point, Woman of the Hour has already shown Rodney murdering a flight attendant named Charlie (Kathryn Gallagher) in 1971 New York City, along with the woman from the opening sequence. Now dialing in the charm for the TV lights, Rodney quickly gains the upper hand on The Dating Game, putting himself in position to win a weekend getaway to Carmel-by-the-Sea with Sheryl.

During the taping, a studio audience member named Laura (Nicolette Robinson) recognizes Rodney as the man who murdered her friend, but was never found by police. Panicked, she flees the production floor and knocks over a camera in the process. Her boyfriend dismisses her claims, and security brushes her off as well.

Before we learn Sheryl’s immediate fate, the film jumps to 1979, where a woman named Amy (Autumn Best) encounters Rodney under circumstances similar to his earlier victims. He offers to take her photos in a remote area, his violent side begins to surface, and the scene cuts away as Woman of the Hour transitions back to the game show. There, Sheryl takes creative liberties with her flirtatious questions, winning over the audience, and ultimately chooses Bachelor #3 as the winner.

The Suspense Comes From Knowing

Even if you’re unfamiliar with Rodney Alcala’s real-life murder spree in the 70s, which eventually led to his capture and incarceration, Woman of the Hour still generates relentless tension. By the time Sheryl meets Rodney on The Dating Game, we already know exactly what he’s capable of. Nobody else does.

Laura’s suspicions are met with condescension. Her boyfriend reassures her that game show producers aggressively vet contestants and run background checks before allowing them to participate. They don’t. Complicating matters further, Rodney is a serial killer operating across multiple states over several years who has not yet been definitively identified by authorities.

We witness Rodney’s crimes across separate timelines and see how easily he evades consequences. We catch glimpses of his mental state both when he commits violence and when he’s questioned by authorities, narrowly slipping through their fingers before relocating. We see how sly and charming he can be before he escalates, which makes his presence on The Dating Game all the more unnerving. He’s amiable enough to lure victims in, but that facade drops the second he senses control slipping.

The result is a nail-biting thriller where you know the killer from the moment he appears in the opening scene. The tension doesn’t come from guessing who did it. It comes from watching him zero in on Sheryl, who is blissfully unaware and simply trying to carve out a career in Hollywood, while Laura struggles to convince anyone to listen.

Woman of the Hour is streaming on Netflix.