Will Arnett just drew a hard line on his own podcast.

The comedian shut down a question from his co-host, Jason Bateman, about his marriage so fast that he warned his ex-wife would be furious about it.

Will Arnett and Amy Poehler have built one of Hollywood’s most talked-about co-parenting relationships since their divorce in 2016. This latest moment proved there are still limits to what he is willing to share.

Arnett snapped at his “SmartLess” co-host Bateman after he asked an unusually personal question about his marriage to Poehler during Monday’s episode. “Will, did you ever poo in front of Amy?” Bateman asked.

“Are you looking for clicks? Are you trying to get something that we can click around?” Arnett shot back. Bateman pressed further, asking if the couple truly never used the bathroom in front of each other during their marriage.

“I refuse to answer that. It’s none of your f-cking business,” Arnett said firmly. He then warned his co-hosts that Poehler herself would be “outraged” once she heard the exchange.

Arnett Insists His Ex-Wife Is Off Limits To Jason Bateman

As the back-and-forth continued, Bateman accused Arnett of having no manners for refusing to engage with the question.

“I’m sorry. The question is, did I poo in front of Amy? And you’re saying that I don’t have manners? What are you talking about?” Arnett replied. However, Bateman insisted he believed it “was a good question.”

Arnett disagreed entirely, repeating that the subject was off-limits no matter how the question was framed. The exchange quickly became one of the more talked-about moments from the episode.

Will Arnett And Amy Poehler’s Marriage Spanned Nearly A Decade

Their playful spat is the latest chapter in a relationship that has spanned more than two decades. PEOPLE reported that Arnett first crossed paths with Poehler in 1996 while she was performing with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City.

The pair married in 2003 and went on to welcome two sons, Archie in 2008 and Abel in 2010. They also shared the screen in projects like “Blades of Glory” and “Arrested Development.”

After nine years of marriage, the couple separated in 2012. Arnett officially filed for divorce in 2014, and the split was finalized in 2016, with the former couple agreeing to share joint custody of their two sons. Friends often described them as one of comedy’s most beloved couples. 

The Actor Once Called His Divorce From Amy Poehler ‘Brutal’

Arnett has previously opened up about how painful the divorce truly was. He told The Guardian that returning to film “Arrested Development” during the split felt “brutal.” In his words:

“Just brutal, brutal, brutal. I was driving to the set one day, and I pulled over to the side of the road and cried for an hour.”

He also recalled feeling frustrated by online commentary that took sides in the breakup, saying, “People talk about you like they know you, and they talk about your relationship as if they know what’s going on.”

Despite the pain of those early years, Arnett said the bond he and Poehler built as co-parents only grew stronger with time. “My kids are so lucky that Amy is their mother,” he said.

Will Arnett Has Also Navigated A Major Breakup Recently

Arnett’s personal life has seen its share of change beyond his marriage to Poehler. The Blast reported that he quietly split from his girlfriend of six years, Alessandra Brawn, with the two now co-parenting their son amicably.

The couple, who share five-year-old son Denny, were first linked publicly in 2019 after attending the Creative Arts Emmys together. They had kept much of their relationship out of the spotlight throughout their time together.

Sources described the breakup as low-key, with both Arnett and Brawn choosing to prioritize their son’s stability over any public statements regarding the split. Despite years of public curiosity, both he and Poehler have made clear their bond works precisely because they refuse to explain it to anyone.

With Jason Bateman clearly unbothered by the boundaries Will Arnett tried to set, can anyone really expect this co-host trio ever to stop pushing for more details?

Legendary music mogul Clive Davis has passed away at the age of 94.

RELATED: Prayers Up! Florida Rapper Lil Poppa Has Reportedly Passed Away At Age 25

Legendary Music Mogul Clive Davis Passes Away At 94

According to TMZ, the outlet confirmed the passing of Clive Davis on Monday, June 22. Furthermore, on Monday morning, a post was shared via Davis’ official Instagram, which read in part, “To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives… Today, we celebrate not only a towering figure whose influence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness. We will miss him greatly, cherish him always, and carry his love with us for the rest of our lives.”

Per the outlet, Davis passed away in his home in New York City. At this time, his cause of death reportedly remains unclear. However, it was recently reported that he had been hospitalized “with an upper respiratory infection” before being discharged on June 4.

See the full post shared via his official Instagram below.

Social Media Reacts

Social media users reacted to the death of Clive Davis in TSR’s comment section. Per TMZ, Davis discovered Whitney Houston and founded Bad Boy Records with Diddy, and signed and developed the likes of Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, and more.

The Death Of Legendary Music Mogul Clive Davis Was Preceded By The Passing Of Tay Keith

The death of Clive Davis was preceded by the death of music producer Tay Keith. As The Shade Room previously reported, on June 18, it was reported that Tay Keith was found deceased inside his apartment in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, it was reported that no foul play was suspected, and officers had arrived at his home for a welfare check.

RELATED: Prayers Up! Memphis Producer Tay Keith Has Reportedly Passed Away At Age 29

Melissa Gorga is thrilled to see daughter Antonia being honest about her plastic surgery.

“She just had surgery. … I’m so proud of her for, like, talking about it and expressing it,” Gorga, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly at her Let’s Sprinkle by MG Chocolate Chip Cookie Launch Party on Thursday, June 18, planned by Lawrence Scott Events.

Gorga also compared Antonia’s plastic surgery experience with her own, admitting that she was never so candid about the work she’s had done. (Though Gorga initially kept her plastic surgery procedures private, she later revealed that she underwent a rhinoplasty and breast augmentation. The reality star has also gotten Botox and fillers.)

“She’s showing everybody her journey, which I did not do, you know. I totally denied it,” Melissa — who shares Antonia and sons Gino, 18, and Joey, 16, with husband Joe Gorga — continued. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, no, I don’t even want to discuss this.’ And half the reason was because my daughter had my nose, so it was like, I never want to say I’m going to change myself, you know? So I mean, crazy, she’s so strong.”

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Melissa Gorga is calling out Jen Armstrong after she “incorrectly” detailed some of her facial procedures to the public. “It was so uncomfortable because she, like, puts my face up on a screen, and the before and after,” Gorga, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, April 15, while attending premium colostrum-based wellness line Bovita […]

Antonia revealed earlier this month that she went under the knife for a rhinoplasty.

“Girl, don’t do it, it’s not worth it,” she lip-synched in an Instagram video on June 10. “I’m just thinking about it, I’m not going to do it.”

In the next clip, Antonia mouthed, “I did it,” while showing off her bandaged nose.

“Surprise …. #nosejob 🤕,” she wrote in the caption.

Melissa commented on the video, “Oh my God! My baby is being open and honest ❤️.”

Antonia’s procedure was done by plastic surgeon Dr. Sam Rizk, who previously completed RHONJ alum Jennifer Fessler’s facelift and rhinoplasty in 2023.

Antonia shared more about her procedure the day after her reveal.

Related: Melissa Gorga Debuts New Cookie With Support From Teresa Giudice and More

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As The Real Housewives of New Jersey fans know, Melissa Gorga sure loves her sprinkle cookies — and now she’s sharing that love with her fellow reality TV stars. To celebrate her Let’s Sprinkle by MG brand’s newest chocolate chip cookie recipe, Gorga, 47, hosted a launch party on Thursday, June 18, where RHONJ costars […]

“I got a rhinoplasty!!! This is something I’ve wanted to do for such a long time, and I’m so happy I finally decided to go through with it,” she wrote via Instagram on June 11. “After meeting with @drsamrizk, I found out that I had a deviated septum, which was a big reason why my nose was crooked.”

Antonia said her “biggest goal” was to straighten her nose and make it more symmetrical. She also wanted her nose to stay “natural and balanced” against her other facial features post-surgery.

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“I never wanted a nose that looked completely different. I just wanted a refined version that still felt like me,” she continued. “Since I have very thick skin, finding the right surgeon was extremely important, and I’m so grateful to have found @drsamrizk, who specializes in rhinoplasty for thicker noses.”

While speaking to Us on Thursday, Melissa also opened up about her cookie and lifestyle brand, Let’s Sprinkle by MG, and where the business is going amid the launch of its new chocolate chip cookie.

“We have coffee, we have mugs, we have so many products,” she explained. “I’ve been very strategic [with] how I drop new flavors and new things. So, I think right now we’re focusing on the chocolate chip, and you know, we’ll see where that goes.”

Influencer Lyss Okada announced the arrival of her daughter, Akira Jade, after a tumultuous final month of her pregnancy. 

Okada shared a carousel of photos via Instagram on Sunday, June 21, which came just weeks after she was allegedly kicked out of the home of her ex-boyfriend, Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Fred Johnson. 

Johnson, 29, is believed to be the father of the newborn. The former couple announced Okada’s pregnancy news together via Instagram in December 2025, and shared that she was having a girl in a joint sex reveal ceremony in January. 

In a TikTok video posted on May 8, Okada claimed Johnson wasted no time getting back on the dating market, alleging that he was looking for women on dating apps while she was in the third trimester of her pregnancy. 

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“Just a quick question, she said. “Hypothetically, if a man were to kick out his 8-month pregnant girlfriend and unborn daughter to then be on [dating app] Hinge the very next day looking for women to have fun with, hypothetically you would not think that that type of man is a good man or a good father. You would probably not think that that type of man has integrity or morals or any form of decency, right?”

She continued, “I’m just trying to see if we’re all on the same page.”

Okada posted another TikTok video three days later, saying it was time to “stop blaming women for the partners they choose and start blaming the partners for pretending to be something that they’re not.”

“I am so used to people’s judgments and opinions and whatever they want to say about what I share on the Internet,” she said. “But what I’ve realized is there are so many people quick to say, ‘Well, what did you do in the situation?’ or ‘You knew what you were getting yourself into’ or ‘You know who you picked.’ That’s not true. No woman ever knowingly goes into a situation thinking, ‘This person’s going to hurt me, this person’s going to lie to me, this person’s gonna turn out to be a completely different person than the one he’s showing me.’”

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Okada added, “I think it’s really sick that people put the blame on women for truly just believing in and trusting the man that they fell in love with.”

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Us Weekly has reached out to Johnson and the Eagles for comment. 

The NFL star has not addressed the allegations directly, but he did make a cryptic post amid Okada’s claims. 

“God ain’t bring me this far just to leave me,” he wrote via his Instagram Story on May 11. “This to (sic) shall pass. I love you all.”

General Hospital spoilers for June 22 – July 03, 2026 include the return of Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) in the week ahead and then Jenz Sidwell‘s (Carlo Rota) desperate last move coming the following week.

We are going to get into all the latest spoilers for the two weeks starting June 22nd, including what’s happening in sweeps, which kicks off this week and then kicks into high gear next week.

General Hospital: Week of June 22nd-26th Spoilers

On Monday, June 22nd, we’ve got Joe Fitzpatrick (Jonathan Bennett) taking a witness statement from Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) at the PCPD and she reminds Joe that they met at Wyndemere and then says she can help him. So, after Lucy makes her statement, Joe asks why she’s just coming forward. Now, this is obviously Lucy pointing the cops towards Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen) so they’ll pull her cell data, check her alibi, and the frame job will get underway.

And also on Monday, Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Setton) gets an update. So, Lucy may tell Brook Lynn how it went at the PCPD. And Harrison  Chase (Josh Swickard) tells Brook Lynn that she gets to say, “I told you so” on Monday. But Chase is going to be so mad when he finds out what his wife is doing. And obviously it will come out, but not for a while yet.

GH Spoilers: Ava Gets Advice from Ethan

Ethan Lovett (Nathan Dean Parsons) has some advice for Ava Jerome (Maura West). This carries over from last Friday when Ethan came to bring Ava to see Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). But Ava told Ethan she wouldn’t cooperate unless he made it worth her while. Willow has an unwelcome surprise waiting at home. And she tells somebody, “You can’t be here.” I fully expect that this is Sidwell startling Willow the same way he did with someone else. He’s sneaking around. He’s calling in favors and making demands while he makes plans for final payback on Laura Collins (Genie Francis), Sonny, Lucas Jones (Van Hansis), and others.

Plus, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) tells Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr) and Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) that she really doesn’t want to be around them. And I wonder if they will tell Trina that they have buried the hatchet at least somewhat. Of course, that won’t stick.

Cassius Faison (Ryan Paevey) wants Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) and Lulu Spencer (Alexa Havins Bruening) to tell him on the spot if they’re going after Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) and Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr). If not, I’m sure Cassius is going to find another way to intercede, but he can’t go personally because Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) would follow.

General Hospital Week of June 23rd-26th Developments: Laura Uncovers a Secret

Tuesday, June 23rd, Laura learns a secret. So, Ezra Boyle (Daniel Cosgrove) may tell her about Sidwell’s hotel trick and that he’s gunning for her, Lucas, Sonny. Brook Lynn is venting to Michael Corinthos (Rory Gibson) on Tuesday. If Brook Lynn tells him she’s framing Willow, you know, Michael will be all for it, even though he knows that Brook Lynn was the second driver that Jordan Ashford (Tanisha Harper) nearly killed.

Chase makes a choice. So, he may set some boundaries with Willow. And honestly, it is about time. Also on Tuesday, Sonny challenges Ava. This week, they’re up in Sonny’s office. He and Ava are having a tense conversation, and Ethan is right there watching it all. Sonny may suspect that Ava knows how to find Sidwell, but Ava’s well shut of him and doesn’t know where he is. But Sonny may do his usual and threaten to yank Avery Corinthos (Scarlett Spears) from Ava if she is not cooperative.

On Wednesday, June 24th, Britt gets a promise from somebody. I think Rocco, obviously Britt thinks she’s spiraling into end-stage illness. She’s not but thinks she is. So, she may have Rocco promise to get himself to safety and just leave her to die. I doubt he will. We’ll see. Cullum pulls a fast one. But this might be about him trying to find out where Britt and Rocco are so he can have them wiped out.

Anna returns on Wednesday. She’s not back in Port Charles yet. She is still in France, and we see her with her doctor there. She’s crocheting in her bed and has a cute new haircut. Anna is on her way back home to Port Charles soon though and she wants revenge. She’s out to kill somebody. My money is on Cullum for gaslighting and dumping her in France.

Carly Corinthos Spencer (Laura Wright) delivers a shocking confession. She may come clean to Lulu about Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart). Carly may have lied that Valentin was hiding out at her place. Now that he’s gone and Carly thinks that Valentin is going to disappear into a safe house or a WSB black site, never to be seen again. Gio and Emma Scorpio-Drake (Brayden Bruner) have a day at the Metro Court pool. The Metro Court pool is finally open, y’all.

General Hospital July Sweeps – June 25th Through July 3rd: Jordan Desperate for Help

Thursday, June 25th. July sweeps kicks off today and it runs through the third week of July. Jordan needs help. Maybe medical stuff, maybe personal. Sidwell may want revenge on her for betraying and turning on him. Plus, Chase gets a warning. This may be about Willow because of Lucy’s false statement that has the PCPD looking at Willow as the possible second driver.

Lulu and Dante find out something. This may be another update on Britt and Rocco or Cullum or unfortunately all three. Plus, Cassius is clashing with Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy). So, Cassius comes down to see her and may talk about his concern for Rocco and Britt since Josslyn and Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati) are the only people that he can really talk to openly at this point.

Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn) is summoned to the PCPD. This may be to accompany Willow, who might have been called in for questioning. And if Justine Turner (Nazneen Contractor) brings her in, Willow may think it’s about Drew Cain Quartermaine (Cameron Mathison) and has Alexis come represent her.

Friday, June 26, Willow is completely stunned. She’s going to be blindsided to be questioned about being a driver who left the scene of an accident in the crash that Jordan caused. Willow, of course, will deny it, but there’s going to be some digital evidence thanks to Brick (Stephen A. Smith). Also, Anna does something risky. She’s supposed to be coming home soon, so hopefully she won’t mess up the things that Willow arranged to get her back to New York.

Curtis jumps to the wrong conclusion yet again. He may hear about the Willow accusation and not buy it. Someone thinks fast. This may have something to do with Rocco or Britt. Then the week of June 29th through July 3rd. This is the first full week of July sweeps.

We may get a rerun on Friday. I don’t think so. But just keep an eye out because that is the federal holiday ahead of Saturday, July 4th’s Independence Day. So, when they have a holiday on the weekend, it usually goes the day before or the Monday after. We’ll see what Curtis does after his latest inaccurate jump to a conclusion. I’m sure it’s about Isaiah because Curtis isn’t going to want to give up on the idea of him being the second driver so easily.

General Hospital July Sweeps Major Developments: Sidwell Out for Revenge & Anna Returns

Sidwell shores up his resources and lays out his plan to get revenge on Sonny, Laura, and Lucas for setting him up. Plus, Willow is in disbelief at being accused of something she didn’t do. And it wasn’t even on her radar considering all the things she actually has done. But the frame job seems thorough and according to summer spoilers is still in play when Curtis goes to trial to face criminal assault charges.

Anna’s back to Port Charles and gets her job back. Dante’s going to be happy to give Anna back the police commissioner chair and she’s going to spread word about Cullum, so his time is almost up in Port Charles. Drew’s recovery begins soon and he’ll start to regain mobility and speech. But if Jack delivers the goods, then Willow can blackmail Drew into silence about causing his stroke and keeping him captive. We’ll soon find out the identity of the mysterious Z. I suspect it’s Serena Baldwin (Kelly Kruger). I would be thrilled if it was Johnny Zacchara (Brandon Barash). But I don’t think it is.

Sonny and Sidwell have their final boss battle coming soon, but Cullum’s going to die first, and Josslyn is involved in that final battle, which is supposed to happen at Wyndemere. We’ll find out Valentin’s fate. I expect him to return to Port Charles with Z. We’ll get more on Britt’s health. She and Rocco are back to Port Charles pretty soon and both have to face the music, but Britt has a silver lining coming her way.

Also, some casting news. Jaquan Jackson is back as Quinn. He was on the show before. We’re still waiting on his air date, but it’s July. And Robert Gossett is back as Marshall Ashford also in July presumably for Curtis’ trial.

In late 2025, Adam Driver revealed that he had been working with director Steven Soderbergh on a “Star Wars” film that was titled “The Hunt for Ben Solo.” The film would have featured his character, Ben Solo, who was introduced as the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia in 2015’s “The Force Awakens.” However, he passed away at the end of 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” Even so, Driver felt he had unfinished business with the character and spent a few years developing a script with Soderbergh, who was set to direct. Unfortunately, Driver says Disney execs didn’t understand how Ben Solo could still be alive and shut down the project. Although he was disappointed that his film didn’t come to fruition, Soderbergh has since revealed that the canceled project enabled him to pursue his own passion project.

On June 20, Soderbergh released his app “Production 02074” on the Apple Store and is currently working on an Android version. The app is a compilation of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster hit “Jaws” and all the work that went into making the movie.

While speaking to Deadline about his new app, Soderbergh revealed that he saw “Jaws” over 30 times in theaters, and the app is a love letter to one of the most groundbreaking films of all time. The app includes images as Spielberg shot them, along with observations and anecdotes provided by Spielberg himself. The app costs $24.99, with all proceeds going to an animal charity.

Soderbergh Was Able To Finish The Project Because ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’ Got Axed

During the conversation, Soderbergh admitted, “If Star Wars had gone forward, this wouldn’t have gotten finished.”

He revealed that his plan to transition from a coffee table book to an app started directly after then-Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy called him to tell him that they were not moving forward with Driver’s “Star Wars” film.

“This was in the immediate aftermath of that not happening. I started in on multiple writing projects, to both see if I could generate material to go and make as movies but also just to keep myself occupied,” he said. “And literally, as soon as we got the call, ‘This is not happening,’ I thought, ‘OK, it’s time to really sit down and get serious about finishing this thing.’ Had I gone off and made that movie, this thing would not have gotten done.”

Soderbergh Says That Everyone Has Since ‘Moved On’ From The Project

Earlier this year, Adam Driver got rave reviews for his work on James Gray’s “Paper Tiger” at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s only one of many projects that the actor has lined up in the near future.

Soderbergh admitted that although the decision to cancel the film was “baffling,” he confessed, “Everybody just immediately moved on.”

“I don’t burn a lot of calories on sh-t I can’t control,” he explained. “There’s no upside to that. And so as soon as Kathy [Kennedy] called and said, ‘It’s not happening,’ I was like, ‘OK, moving on. I got to go to work.’”

Did Steven Soderbergh Throw Some Shade At Disney?

Elsewhere in the interview, they talked about the difficulty of reconciling studio and financial expectations with a director’s vision. Soderbergh noted, “My response is, ‘Well, what do you expect? Why would you expect them to have the vision that you have? If they did, they’d be doing what you’re doing.’”

“I don’t expect enlightened visionary responses from the people that pay for movies. It’s a nice surprise when you are dealing with a studio or an executive that gets it and totally sees what you’re trying to do, and is totally supportive and backs you in whatever request you make. But I don’t expect that as the default,” Soderbergh said.

He didn’t mention any studio or executive in particular, but some fans can’t help but wonder if Soderbergh’s comment was directed at Disney for shutting down his “Star Wars” film, or at the industry in general.

Soderbergh Emphasizes Not ‘Mulling Over Stuff You Can’t Control’

Elsewhere in the interview, Soderbergh made another possible pass at Disney when he said that he “would rather encourage a filmmaker to be prepared for people to not understand at times what you’re trying to do, and not see it until they see it.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t trust people. It just means, don’t expect everybody to feel about it the way you feel about it. Or you’re going to be disappointed a lot,” he continued.

However, he went on to say that “disappointment is not an active state,” adding, “You need to keep yourself in an active state and be doing things, not just kind of mulling over stuff that you can’t control, or that is too late to change. You have to understand that you have a finite amount of real estate in your brain to give to whatever you’re making. You need to be ruthless about excluding noise that doesn’t ultimately help you make a better version of the thing.”

‘Megalopolis’ Also Starred Adam Driver

During the interview, Deadline brought up Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed “Megalopolis” as an example of someone who didn’t want to have any regrets about making their completed project true to their vision. Ironically, the 2024 film also starred Adam Driver in the main role.

Soderbergh used the example to encourage aspiring filmmakers to “be somebody who finishes things” because “finishing something that’s okay but not great is better than not finishing something that could have been great.”

“I’m a real stickler about that, and this is an example, 19 years essentially from beginning to end on this project. If I decide to start, it’s going to get done,” he continued. “It may not be perfect, but I can’t think of a single project that I have assigned to myself or that somebody has assigned to me that I have not completed.”

“Production 02074” is currently available on the Apple Store, with an Android version expected in the coming weeks.

By Jennifer Asencio
| Updated 30 seconds ago

The Sandlot is a beloved coming-of-age movie about baseball. The 1993 comedy-drama not only resonated with fans but is frequently quoted in memes to this day. It is a touching period piece about a summer that shapes the entire life of the main character, Scott Smalls.

In it, “Smalls” (Tom Guiry) is the new kid in town, having moved to San Fernando Valley in 1962 with his mother and stepfather, Bill (Denis Leary). Encouraged to go make friends, he stumbles upon the titular lot, which is used by eight boys for a never-ending baseball practice. They are led by Benny (Mike Vitar), a talented center fielder who takes Smalls under his wing and teaches him the game.

They have typical pre-adolescent summer adventures with girls, with Little League, and with each other. But the most important test for Smalls and the entire gang is Hercules, a gigantic hound who dwells in the yard of Mr. Mertle (James Earl Jones), whose home is adjacent to the back of the lot. Hercules likes baseballs, so when a prized ball is hit over the fence, the boys have to figure out how to get it back.

This heartwarming family film helped form the childhoods of many 80s and 90s kids, relying more on its child stars than on the famous adult actors (Smalls’ mother, played by Raiders of the Lost Ark star Karen Allen, doesn’t even get a name). The year in the movie is 1962, a more innocent time when kids weren’t bogged down by so much technology, not even the number of TV stations we have these days. The boys from The Sandlot would probably be flabbergasted by the ability to play their favorite game on Xbox instead of in the lot, but that’s not all that would surprise them.

They probably wouldn’t recognize baseball if they were suddenly time-warped into 2026, because it is vastly different from the game they spent so much time practicing. Over the intervening years, MLB has made some major changes to the rules and the game. Sure, it’s still nine innings, with three strikes making an out and four balls making a walk, but other alterations made to the game would seem to the kids from The Sandlot as though they didn’t belong.

In honor of baseball’s nine innings, here are nine things about baseball that would be entirely new to the Sandlot kids.

1. More Teams Than You Can Count

1961-62 is known as “the expansion era” because during that time, a total of 10 teams were added to Major League Baseball, including my beloved New York Mets. The sport was already divided into two leagues, the National League and the American League, and the expansion era put 10 teams into each league. Today, each league has 15 teams, for a total of 30, and they are further subdivided into East, West, and Central divisions based on their locations.

Some of the historic teams the boys might remember from 1962 have moved, changed names, or disbanded, so while old standbys like the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees would still be familiar, the Washington Nationals or Atlanta Braves would seem misplaced, and they’d have never heard of the Colorado Rockies or either Florida team.

2. Ghost Runners

For some reason, the people in charge of baseball decided that it was too long and slow, especially if it went into extra innings beyond the regulation nine due to a tie. One of the changes implemented to streamline and shorten the game was the “ghost runner,” which is an automatic baserunner who takes the field for the batting team if the game goes into overtime. While some games in the past have gone on for several hours and dozens of innings, the ghost runner rule wasn’t made a permanent part of the game until 2023.

The Sandlot kids probably used ghost runners themselves to compensate for the fact that there were only nine of them, but the only purpose they have in MLB is to shorten the game by giving each team a small boost in extra innings. The argument in favor of the ghost runner is that it cuts costs and saves time, while the argument against is that it ruins the purity of the competition. One wonders what the boys would make of the ghost runner rule.

3. Three Strikes, Yer Out?

Umpires, the referees of baseball, have been known throughout the years to make some serious errors that have cost teams important games. They are responsible for determining officially if a pitch is a ball or a strike, and it used to be that they had the final word. For fans, getting mad at the umps was as much a part of the game as pitchers and batters and bases.

Starting in 2026, MLB is using the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System, which allows an umpire’s call to be challenged.

Each team only gets two, and if the challenge fails, they lose one. Whether it’s a pitcher who thinks he threw a strike or a manager who thinks his batter was just dealt a ball, teams still need to be careful how they use ABS challenges. The only reason ABS challenges can exist is that technology has evolved way beyond what the Sandlot boys might recognize, allowing each pitch to be analyzed for its position relative to the batter, something that used to rely on an umpire’s eye.

4. Pitches Are Limited-Time Only

Once upon a time, pitchers could take as long as they wanted to deliver a pitch. This resulted in tension between the pitcher and batter as the two stared one another down until the pitcher finally decided what to throw, making each pitch high drama.

In 2023, the pitch clock was implemented, which limited the amount of time the pitcher had to decide on his pitch to a mere 15 seconds (18 if there are baserunners).

The purpose of the pitch clock was to shave more time off the game, and it did result in runtimes decreasing by an average of 25 minutes. But the high drama of the duel between pitcher and batter is an aspect of the game the Sandlot boys would miss.

5. Stats for Everything

Baseball statistics used to be simple: how many strikeouts did a pitcher get? How many hits did a batter get? These statistics were general and imperfect, however, and the computing era of the 1970s and 80s saw a new system called Sabremetrics used to analyze the game.

Sabremetrics made the existing stats, like home runs and batting averages, a little more precise by adding metrics such as on-base percentage (OPS), which included batters who got on base without hitting the ball (such as by a walk or being hit by a pitch). This improved the understanding of each player’s contribution to the team, particularly in the case of pitchers.

As technology further improved, a second era of statistics arose, called the Statcast era. Today, there are statistics for how fast a ball is hit, how many times a batter is expected to make it on base, and even how valuable a player is to a team compared to an average player in his position. The mountain of new statistics is dizzying for many long-time fans, but maybe professionals like Smalls and Benny would understand them.

6. Designated Hitters

The idea of a player not batting for themselves would be alien to the Sandlot kids. Until 1973, even pitchers went up to bat, traditionally ninth in the lineup.

Then, the American League introduced the idea of the designated hitter, a batter who replaced the pitcher’s turn and could be added anywhere in the lineup; many teams would put in a slugger who didn’t play the field but only batted.

The National League persisted in having pitchers bat until the designated hitter rule was made universal in 2022.

Now it applies to all teams, and only rare pitchers get up to bat. While the designated hitter allows pitchers to focus on their craft and adds an element of strategy to the batting lineup, the tradition of the pitcher batting last is something the boys would have grown up with.

7. Expanded Playoffs

Since 1903, the World Series has been a contest between the best teams in both leagues, National and American. This was determined by which teams in each league had the best win-loss records.

In 1969, after the expansion era, the leagues split into divisions, East and West. Already, the Sandlot boys are in unfamiliar territory, as the semi-final round, known as the playoffs, was introduced.

The teams with the best records in the East and West now compete for the league title and the right to continue to the World Series. In 2026, there are 30 teams, and each league is split into three divisions, meaning there are even more playoff games as more rounds were added to contest ties and accommodate the expansions.

These days, the National and American leagues each have six teams that play post-season: the top in each of the three divisions, and three “wild card” teams that place based on their win-loss records.

While sometimes this can be confusing and means that the “best” don’t always make it to the end, it also adds more competition to the final rounds and allows teams that had good seasons a chance at the finals. Who knows what the boys would make of all these post-season games. To me, they’re bonus baseball.

8. Instant Replays

The instant replay has long been a staple of football, hockey, and basketball, so it was surprising that baseball didn’t start using it until 2008, and didn’t start using it regularly until 2014.

As with many of the other calls the umpires were responsible for, the instant replay gave managers and players the chance to have the action reviewed on video to determine if a call was right.

These days, there’s an entire center in Manhattan that is responsible for reviewing plays and confirming or overturning bad calls. While this has improved the game (and also showed which umpires actually were bums), fans and players alike have spent a century criticizing umpires, and even today, a good argument between a manager and an ump is celebrated by fans.

The more mechanical part of the boys’ baseball thinking would probably appreciate the instant replay, but whether they would like it as fans is another question.

9. The Decline of Starting Pitchers

Once upon a time, it was very common for pitchers to pitch all nine innings of a game. Relief pitchers and “the bullpen” were available, but not such a common part of the game as they are today (remember, back then, pitchers also batted).

However, as more sophisticated statistical metrics were added to the game over the years, teams began to notice trends in pitching performance, such as a drop-off in efficiency on the third time facing the nine-man batting lineup. Starting around the late 1980s, teams began to rely more on their bullpens.

In 2026, it is very rare for a pitcher to complete a game, as starting pitchers are limited in the number of pitches they are allowed to throw and relief pitchers are put in to counter specific types of batters. The Sandlot boys might enjoy the strategy of the bullpen, but they come from an era when many great pitchers dominated the game, and that era is no more.

Professional baseball has been around for over 150 years and has seen a lot of changes, for better or worse. In 1962, when The Sandlot takes place, baseball was still more or less in its nascent form, with only the addition of new teams to change it. As baseball has gotten televised and more teams have been added, the game and its rules have changed in ways that cut costs and make it more broadcast-friendly. Whether the boys from The Sandlot would like or despise these changes is up for debate, but one thing is for sure: baseball is not the same sport they played together during that memorable summer.

For a look back at the good old days of baseball, The Sandlot is streaming on Disney+.

By Robert Scucci
| Published 40 seconds ago

One of my favorite modern time travel movies has to be 2024’s Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox. It’s a movie about a guy who repeatedly tries killing his past self, only to learn that he broke the space-time continuum, resulting in thousands of clones of himself. He doesn’t know how to break the cycle, and each attempted fix for his botched experiment continues to make things exponentially worse. While watching 2022’s Madelines, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities, which made me think the two films would make a great double feature.

Madelines, while ridiculous on its own terms, feels more subdued thanks to its willingness to play things a little straighter. Most of the humor in Madelines is situational, whereas Tim Travers takes a more slapstick approach while tackling the same kind of paradoxical storytelling that most good, low-budget time travel movies are known for.

From One To Many

The premise of Madelines is painfully simple before it veers into the kind of unhinged time-travel logic you’re typically used to. Madeline (Brea Grant) and Owen (Parry Shen) finally think they’ve cracked the code for time travel, but Madeline doesn’t want to start animal trials because she thinks it’s cruel. Her investor, Rory Devonshire (Richard Riehle), couldn’t care less because he just wants results.

Thinking that the only ethical way to push the research forward would be to test the technology on herself, Madeline takes one for the team, not realizing there was an error in her code, leading to an unthinkable number of alternate versions of herself generating like clockwork every day.

From this point forward, and this is why the film would play perfectly against Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox, Madeline and Owen decide that the best course of action is to kill every new Madeline as they poof into existence. The operation becomes less about extolling the virtues of time travel and more about cleaning up their mess in the form of repeatedly murdering Madeline until they can figure out how to close the loop.

Matters get complicated, however, because each new version of the scientist eventually develops her own unique experiences. And now that they’re all aware of each other, closing the loop becomes a process that’s a bit more complicated than, “We need to murder Madeline in perpetuity.”

Doesn’t Quite Stick The Landing

Personally, I think Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox is, overall, the stronger movie. I give it more credit for going full ridiculous while attempting to answer the same kind of questions Madelines poses. Both films stand on their own, but Madelines is more introspective and contemplative, reluctantly dealing with its open-loop disaster while trying to reclaim its protagonist’s humanity. Tim Travers, on the other hand, is a total agent of chaos who ultimately loves what he’s doing in the unhinged name of experimental science. Madeline is Lisa Simpson. Tim Travers is Pickle Rick.

If you’re into low-budget sci-fi with surprisingly sound time travel logic, I strongly recommend watching both films as a double feature. They tackle many of the same ideas, but their execution couldn’t be further apart.

As of this writing, you can stream Madelines for free on Tubi. Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox can be found on the platform as well. 

After briefly losing the top spot, Louisa Levy’s Off Campus is once again the number one show on Prime Video this week. Inspired by Elle Kennedy’s book series, the show stars Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli as a music student and a star hockey player who find unexpected romance. The romance drama series has been quite acclaimed and popular since its premiere in May, but in case you’re in the mood for something a little different this week, there’s still a lot more to explore on the streaming service. Here’s a look at three great shows that we think you should binge on Prime Video this week.

For more recommendations, check out our list of the best shows and movies on Prime Video.

1

‘Rules of Engagement’ (2007–2013)

Image via CBS

Created by Tom Hertz, Rules of Engagement is a CBS sitcom that revolves around a group of friends: a married couple, an engaged couple, and their single friends. The show follows their interpersonal relationships and the many hilarious complications of dating and marriage that they run into. The series stars Patrick Warburton, Megyn Price, Oliver Hudson, Bianca Kajlich, David Spade, and Adhir Kalyan in lead roles, with several notable recurring and guest stars including Curtis Armstrong, Jessica Walter, Tony Hale, and more.

Produced by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions, Rules of Engagement aired a hundred episodes across seven seasons, earning largely negative reviews throughout that time. But even though critics never really warmed up to it, the show proved quite successful with audiences, garnering good ratings. The series also received three Emmy Award nominations and won four BMI Film & TV Awards for Best TV Music.

2

‘Primeval’ (2007–2011)

A British sci-fi TV show created by Tim Haines and Adrian Hodges, Primeval follows a group of scientists as they investigate several temporal anomalies that appear across the United Kingdom. With creatures from the distant past and future threatening the present, the scientists help deal with the fallout of these anomalies while simultaneously uncovering a plot to bring about the end of the world. The show stars Douglas Henshall, James Murray, Andrew-Lee Potts, Lucy Brown, Hannah Spearritt, Juliet Aubrey, Ben Miller, and more in key roles across seasons.

Back when Primeval first premiered in 2007, the show was rather unfavorably compared to Doctor Who, but as the first season progressed, the critical and audience response grew ever more favorable. By the end of its five-season run, the show was a widely acclaimed international hit, having grown into a unique sci-fi series in its own right. Often ranked among the best British sci-fi shows of all time, Primeval went on to spawn a multimedia franchise that includes novels, games, a spin-off series, and merchandise.

3

‘Small Axe’ (2020)

An anthology series of five films, Small Axe is a British series created and directed by Steve McQueen that explores the history of West Indian immigrants in England across three decades. Spanning the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, each installment of the anthology explores a different story set against the backdrop of real events. The anthology features a star-studded ensemble cast across its five films, with Letitia Wright, John Boyega, Malachi Kirby, Micheal Ward, Shaun Parkes, and more in key roles.

Small Axe premiered at the 2020 New York Film Festival and screened as part of the Cannes Film Festival the same year, earning near-universal acclaim from both presentations. A powerful, educational, and inspirational anthology that covers political realities, personal struggles, and emotional moments with equal care, the series has since grown to be acknowledged as one of the finest miniseries of the 21st century. Though it’s relatively underrated these days, Small Axe earned several accolades at the time of its release, including a Golden Globe, a Peabody Award, and six BAFTAs.

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Small Axe

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Release Date

2020 – 2020-00-00

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  Shaun Parkes

  Frank Crichlow

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  Malachi Kirby

  Darcus Howe

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  Rochenda Sandall

  Barbara Beese

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