Rep. Sara Jacobs
High School Drama Never Ends … In Congress!!!

Published
February 6, 2026
1:00 AM PST

By Joshua Tyler
| Published 1 hour ago

In a world gone mad, we could all use a little simple, silly, innocent fun. It’s the perfect time for a revival of The Muppet Show, and, on the surface, that’s exactly what Executive Producer Seth Rogen has given us.

His new version of the classic variety series on Disney+ looks, sounds, and feels exactly like the iconic Jim Henson series from the 1970s and 1980s. On that front, it’s a triumph. A perfect production.

Except, there’s one big difference, and it’s this: Jim Henson’s version was the ultimate in wholesome, family-friendly entertainment. Seth Rogen’s version only pretends to be. 

It’s normal for family-targeted shows to work in a couple of edgy jokes that’ll go over the heads of little kids who might be watching with them. That’s part of the fun for parents. However, what would you think if instead of one or two sly adult references in your Pixar movie, there were twenty? Or thirty? And what if all those sly adult references were only about one specific inappropriate thing? At what point would you start thinking… hey, is this Pixar movie trying to tell my kids something?

Because that’s exactly what The Muppet Show is doing. It’s only thirty minutes long, but I counted at least ten references to various kinds of sex in those thirty minutes. Actually, not just references, most of them seemed to specifically revolve around celebrating full-on, willful cheating.

There’s a joke where Sabrina Carpenter tells Kermit she likes kink. There’s an entire sketch that totally revolves around Piggy cheating on her lover. After that, it’s back to Sabrina Carpenter so she can brag to Kermit about banging a married man. 

Then there’s a segment with Maya Rudolph where she seems to be sort of getting frisky with a grumpy Muppet in the audience. Oh, and two of the musical numbers are popular songs about sex. Though the second one is sung entirely by rats, and it’s hilarious. The third song has Piggy replace Kermit as the object of Sabrina Carpenter’s desire. 

There are more, and to Seth Rogen’s credit, I guess, they’re all structured in a way that little kids probably won’t realize what’s going on. But it’s a significant portion of the show, which is a very weird thing to do for your debut episode of The Muppet Show. It’s not the jokes themselves so much as the volume of them, crammed into a short thirty minutes of otherwise perfect Muppet silliness.

I get and support the desire to work in some sly adult jokes for the parents; it’s a family show, not a kids’ show. But why are they all sex references? And why are there so many of them?

The best parts of The Muppet Show are when it does fully get away from sex and cheating and engages in sillier gags. My favorite was a setup early in the episode where a Beaker mishap leads to eyeballs bouncing all over the Muppet theater. That, in turn, snowballs into Maya Rudolph being pronounced dead, and ultimately ends in a classic saxophone gag buried in the end credits.

It looks and feels so much like The Muppet Show that I worry parents won’t realize their kids are being fed a steady stream of sexualization, or whatever it is. In an era when people are already wary of Disney’s tendency towards showing inappropriate content to minors, filling the debut episode of your attempt to revitalize the greatest family television show of all time with adult references is, to say the least, a very odd decision.

All the elements are there for The Muppet Show to be the right thing at the right time, if Seth Rogen can just get control of his libido. Maybe they’ll fix it in the second episode. Who am I kidding? This is a Disney show. Of course they won’t.

THE MUPPET SHOW REVIEW SCORE

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Annie Guthrie and husband Tommaso Cioni were the ones who received imposter Derrick Callella’s ransom text messages after Nancy Guthrie went missing.

According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Thursday, February 5, Annie and Cioni both received text messages from Callella after the Guthrie family — which includes Annie, Camron and Savannah Guthrie — made an emotional video addressing Nancy’s disappearance.

Callella, who is from Hawthorne, California, was arrested on Thursday and charged with transmitting a demand for ransom in interstate commerce without disclosing his identity and utilizing a telecommunications device with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass a person.

“The Department of Justice will protect victims and families at all costs, and grief profiteers will be held accountable,” U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said in a press release. “This case came together in under 24 hours because of the coordinated work of the FBI, local law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.”

FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke also shared, “To those imposters who are trying to take advantage and profit from this situation – we will investigate and ensure you are held accountable for your actions.”

Both messages allegedly read, “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the translation.”

Nancy, who lives in Tucson, was reported missing by her family on Sunday, February 1, after a friend noticed that she did not attend church that morning. Nancy, 84, was last seen on Saturday, January 31. Police believe that Nancy was abducted due to evidence found at her home and her mobility issues.

“Something unusual at that house occurred that made us go, ‘Wow, something’s wrong here. Something doesn’t fit,’” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos exclusively shared with Us on Monday, February 2. “We’re gonna pull all the stops and go at all angles. We really do hope it’s a search-and-rescue mission and we find her and she’s safe and sound. But it would be unjust if we didn’t look at what’s in front of us and go, ‘We need to act.’”

Amid the ongoing search for Nancy, Savannah and her siblings made an emotional video pleading for their mother’s safe return.

“On behalf of our family we want to thank all of you for the prayers for our beloved mom, Nancy. We feel them and we continue to believe that she feels them too,” Savannah said in a Wednesday, February 4, Instagram video while sitting alongside Annie and Camron. “Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light. She is funny, spunky and clever. She has grandchildren who adore her and crowd around her and cover her with kisses. She loves fun and adventure. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her and you’ll see.”

The family also acknowledged the reports of an alleged ransom note.

“We too have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media,” Savannah said. “As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us.”

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Related: Sheriff Clarifies Timeline, More Key Details in Nancy Guthrie Disappearance

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is clarifying key details regarding the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy Guthrie. Authorities held a press conference on Thursday, February 5, one day after Savannah, 54, and her siblings — Annie and Camron Guthrie — shared an emotional video about their mother’s whereabouts. “We saw last night, the family, […]

The FBI subsequently joined the investigation, and is offering a $50,000 reward for information about Nancy’s whereabouts. On Thursday, it was revealed that there was an arrest for an “imposter” ransom demand.

“We have made one arrest related to an imposter ransom demand, and a complaint will be presented to a magistrate judge later today,” Janke said during a press conference. “You will get more on that from the FBI and our U.S. Attorney’s office here in Arizona when it becomes available.”

Janke also shared some details about the note including a 5 p.m. deadline.

“First, I think [it] was 5 p.m. today, and then it had a second deadline after that,” he said. “So we are continuing in a normal kidnapping case, there would be contact by now trying to discuss that. But those are the time frames we’re looking at as we move forward.”

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Industry Season 4, Episode 4.]

One of the easiest ways to understand the HBO series Industry is to look at Harper Stern (Myha’la) and Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), former co-workers at the now-defunct Pierpoint & Co. financial group, at its emotional center. Their friendship runs deep and their ambition can’t help but put them at odds, but no one understands them better than each other. Even still, Season 4 is testing that, as financial journalist James Dycker (Charlie Heaton) digs into the fintech company Tender, where Yasmin and her husband, Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington), are working with its enigmatic co-founder Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella).

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Myha’la, Abela and Harington discussed the sibling-like relationship between Yasmin and Harper, how long they’ve each come since they first met, that Abela and Harington try to find moments of real love between Henry and Yasmin, shooting that three-way scene in episode three, Harper’s own sexual machinations, and how hard it is for Harper to have Eric (Ken Leung) pull away from her.

Myha’la and Marisa Abela Think Harper and Yasmin’s ‘Industry’ Bond Is Ride or Die

“They have been through so much together that there’s no denying that they’re just beyond the point of no return.”

Image via HBO

Collider: There’s such an interesting dynamic between Yasmin and Harper. They’ve been rivals who care about each other. They’ve been hostile toward each other. Their co-dependence has been a bit toxic at times. I’m always fascinated by watching them because I feel like if they share the same space for too long, they might either kill each other or just implode. How do you view the relationship between them?

MYHA’LA: I think they’re like sisters. People are like, “Are they friends? Are they enemies?” They’re sisters. When you have a sibling, you understand that there’s nothing that your sibling can say or do to you that’s going to make them not your family anymore. You’re stuck with them. They have been through so much together that there’s no denying that they’re just beyond the point of no return in terms of, is there anything they could do to not be friends or not support each other? No. I think they really crave a safe space because of all the stuff that they’ve gone through together. No one knows Harper better than Yasmin does. No one knows Yasmin better than Harper does. And they really need that.

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MARISA ABELA: I see it the exact same way. They’ve come a long way since the people that they were when they met each other. I think that they keep each other honest. They reflect the most innocent versions of themselves back to each other because they knew each other at that point. I think it’s reassuring to see someone who sees that person in you still. They’re both masters at controlling a narrative about themselves, so to have another person that keeps them honest is actually really necessary.

Kit Harington Found It Very Natural to Movie Into the World of ‘Industry’ After ‘Game of Thrones’

“It’s got a lot of similarities to what I spent 10 years doing.”

Image via HBO

Kit, you joined this series in Season 3. How quickly did you find your footing in this world? What’s it like to drop yourself into a show like this, where there is such a specific tone and vibe and delivery to it all? Does that actually make it easier, or are there specific challenges in figuring that out?

KIT HARINGTON: I found it very natural, moving into the show, actually. It’s got a lot of similarities to what I spent 10 years doing on Game of Thrones. It’s a huge ensemble show. I’ve realized recently that the thing I love more than anything in what we do is when we get in a room and chat shit. I think it’s underestimated how important those bits are, actors getting to know each other. When you step on set in Manchester, you know each other as friends, and that makes things sing on camera.

Myha’la, there is a comfort and confidence that Harper has in her own skin and body. Her sex scenes are interesting because sometimes they feel purely transactional and other times it feels like there is story being told. Does Harper have any actual emotional connection with anyone? Do you feel like it’s a fair assessment to say that it’s impossible for her to let people like her?

MYHA’LA: I feel like the only people that she’s ever had a romantic, intimate moment with were her ex, who gives her those forged transcripts, and maybe Robert. He kisses her in Season 1 and that is very honest. It doesn’t feel transactional, at all. She’s also not the one in either of those scenarios, initiating any sort of sexual thing with an end. It feels like those are two people who actually know her and two people who actually care about her. I would say the same about the kiss she shares with Yasmin. The reason it doesn’t feel transactional in those moments, to me, is because it’s with people who know her and care about her. All the other sex that she’s having is absolutely transactional. It is about getting off or a kink in power play with whoever it is that she’s sleeping with. It’s about feeding her own power. That’s why I said kink.

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Kit, there’s a moment in episode two when Yasmin tells Henry to stand up out of the bath, and he ends up telling her that she can be with other men if she wants to. What do you think that exchange between them says about their relationship?

HARINGTON: I think he’s at his lowest level of confidence there. He’s an incredible narcissist. He’s self-involved and an egotist. That doesn’t mean his confidence is particularly high. He’s going through something incredibly deep and traumatic, and she’s wanting to sexualize that moment. She thinks that’s the way to get him reinvigored, and it’s not. She goes from what is quite an intimate moment into something quite sexual. That throws him and his only defense is, “Go fuck someone else. Just leave me alone.” I think there’s quite a male quality to that. There’s a reverting-into-oneself, boyish quality. It’s desperately sad, actually. Me and Marisa [Abela] were keen, in that episode especially, to find the moments of real love and connection between them where we could, so we see that does exist and we care about that breaking down a bit quite quickly. There’s some real pathos to their relationship.

‘Industry’s Yasmin Is Always Vying for Power, Even With Her Own Husband

“She knows that she is the person that is able to provide a service.”

Marisa, in episode three, Yasmin is essentially in charge of her husband and Hayley being together. What was that dynamic like to figure out? Did you have conversations about how that would play out? What was that like to shoot?

ABELA: First of all, that stuff was in the script, so it was just deciding when those moments might happen and also how Yasmin feels about it. Does she feel the same way from the beginning to end of the scene? When it starts, she doesn’t necessarily really know where it’s going to go and how she’s going to feel about what it is that she’s doing, but she knows that there’s something in this. Yasmin is always searching for a way to be a powerful person in a room, and oftentimes she’s failing. In that moment, she is, without a doubt, successful at being the most powerful person in the room. I think it’s an origin story moment for Yasmin.

The way we see Yasmin go this season, she knows that she is the person that is able to provide a service for men, and she becomes invaluable to those men. For me, it was just about not losing sight of that. With intimacy scenes, there’s always a lot of just making sure that everyone feels safe, and it’s comfortable, and it feels right, and it doesn’t feel awkward, and that you are also able to continue to play your action like you would in any other scene, on top of the moment. I had two of my fellow actors being incredibly vulnerable in front of me, and it was my job to play the scene. The dynamics were just making sure everyone was comfortable enough that when they say action, I am Yasmin watching Henry and Hayley do this, and it’s believable.

Kit, what was that scene like for you?

HARINGTON: It was an interesting moment. I felt quite protective of Henry. He’s trying to change. He’s trying to be good. He’s trying to alter his core, and the person he’s falling in love with, his wife, undermines that quite badly and pushes him into something that he doesn’t want to do. I do think there’s an element of that scene of Henry being abused in some ways. He’s not comfortable doing it. Even though he goes through with it, he’s not comfortable, and it’s a schism in their relationship. It breaks it. And I think that Marisa’s character, Yasmin, has a lot to answer for in that moment. Henry’s historically very badly behaved around women and manipulative around women, but at that moment, he’s trying to change and she undermines it.

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Myha’la, how difficult is it for Harper to feel Eric pulling away?

MYHA’LA: It’s devastating. She’s been saying to him the entire season that she was not trying to get personal and that this was just business. It’s working really well, but it’s just business. She needs someone. She needs him on a really personal level. When her mother dies, they go to a place that feels very paternal. She cracks open the door and he kicks it open, and there they are. She trusts him and she says, “Okay, we’ve gotten here now.” As soon as she’s given him what he asks for, it feels like he totally pulls the rug out from underneath her, not just as her business partner, but now it’s as a paternal figure and he can’t give her an answer or a reason. She says, “We’re being honest with each other,” and he can’t do that with her.

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Release Date

November 9, 2020

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Network

HBO

Directors

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Isabella Eklöf, Tinge Krishnan, Ed Lilly, Birgitte Stærmose, Zoé Wittock, Caleb Femi, Mary Nighy, Konrad Kay, Lena Dunham, Mickey Down

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• 
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  Marisa Abela

  Yasmin Kara-Hanani

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  Harry Lawtey

  Robert Spearing

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Industry airs on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max. Check out the Season 4 trailer:

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A former LA County employee has been charged with attempting to scam Savannah Guthrie’s family as they continue their search for the Today anchor’s missing mother.

Los Angeles Magazine reported on Thursday, February 5, that Derrick Callella, was previously involved in an overtime theft case last October before having new federal charges leveled against him after he allegedly reached out to the family of missing grandmother Nancy Guthrie, 84.

Callella was one of 13 LA County employees charged with stealing $430,000 in unemployment benefits between 2020 and 2023.

“As government employees, we have an obligation to uphold the public’s trust,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said via a press release in October 2025.

He continued: “When a civil servant steals from the government, that trust is broken. The scale of fraud in these cases is shocking, spanning seven different County agencies, including employees whose very job was to help the public determine whether they were eligible for public benefits. Most egregiously, these individuals allegedly claimed to be unemployed during the COVID pandemic when millions of Californians were legitimately in need of unemployment benefits. I thank Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller Oscar Valdez for his partnership and commitment to holding government employees accountable. Today, we are putting all government employees on notice: If you steal from taxpayers, you will be prosecuted.”

According to court documents seen by Us Weekly on Thursday, Callella was allegedly connected to what the FBI described as an “imposter” ransom scam after he contacted Nancy’s family following her disappearance.

Per a criminal complaint obtained by Us, Callella initially sent a text message to Savannah’s sister Annie Guthrie and Annie’s husband Tommaso Cioni.

The text read, “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.”

Callella then allegedly made a phone call to an unidentified family member of Nancy, which lasted nine seconds.

Authorities tracked Callella down on Thursday morning, he admitted to sending the ransom demands. He told the FBI “that he pulled family information from a cyber website, and that he had been following along and watching TV.” He told authorities his text messages were an attempt to “see if the family would respond.”

FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge, Heith Janke, addressed the ransom note received by the Guthrie family via a press conference held on Thursday, February 5.

“I think we start to look at what the deadlines were in the note,” Janke shared. “First, I think [it] was 5 p.m. today, and then it had a second deadline after that. So we are continuing in a normal kidnapping case, there would be contact by now trying to discuss that. But those are the time frames we’re looking at as we move forward.”

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Related: Annie Guthrie and Husband Tommaso Cioni Got Imposter’s Ransom Texts

Annie Guthrie and husband Tommaso Cioni were the ones who received imposter Derrick Callella’s ransom text messages after Nancy Guthrie went missing. According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Thursday, February 5, Annie and Cioni both received text messages from Callella after the Guthrie family — which includes Annie, Camron and Savannah Guthrie […]

Addressing the “imposter ransom” arrest, Janke added, “We have made one arrest related to an imposter ransom demand, and a complaint will be presented to a magistrate judge later today.”

He continued, “There’s no evidence to connect this to Nancy’s case. It was someone that was trying to profit off it.”

Janke also warned that authorities would come down hard on anyone trying to exploit the Guthries’ situation for profit.

“To those imposters who are trying to take advantage and profit from this situation, we will investigate and ensure you are held accountable for your actions,” he said. “This is an 84-year-old grandma that needs vital medication for her well being. You still have the time to do the right thing before this becomes a worse, much worse scenario for you.”

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the news of Nancy’s disappearance on Sunday, February 1, sharing a missing person report via X. Nancy was described as a “vulnerable adult” who was last seen “at her residence” within Arizona’s Catalina Foothills area on the evening of Saturday, January 31. The report noted that it is “unknown what clothing she may be wearing.”