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In the world of television, the best shows don’t just entertain — they spark conversations and push boundaries. It’s not a new thing.

Classics like All in the Family, Maude, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show paved the way by daring to address social issues head-on, tackling topics like sexism, race, and class with unflinching honesty.

Long before today’s open discussions on race, mental health, and LGBTQ+ issues, these series, and others that followed, quietly laid the groundwork for progressive storytelling.

(CBS/Screenshot)

Shows like these shattered stereotypes, broke taboos, and brought real-world issues into America’s living rooms, igniting conversations that continue to shape TV today.

Here’s a look at the trailblazing shows that, in their own way, were ahead of their time.

These shows tackled themes and topics that mainstream TV had long avoided, proving that television could be both thought-provoking and entertaining.

Designing Women...

Alex Wolff slides into a plush chair at the Mandarin Oriental in New York’s Columbus Circle and orders a massive breakfast. By his own admission, he’s hungover, but he looks perfectly put together in that East Village kind of way. The Nickelodeon star-turned-“Pig” breakout is wearing a hoodie with the words “San Francisco” emblazoned across the front, the type a tourist might pick up at Fisherman’s Wharf, paired with Alex Crane pants. The previous night, he hit the premiere for “A Quiet Place: Day One”; the latest entry in the Paramount horror franchise finds Wolff playing a hospice nurse who convinces a terminal Lupita Nyong’o to trek into the city just as an alien invasion unfolds.

“I never really let loose at a premiere. I just get nervous,” he explains. “And then afterwards, I’ll go to some pub and get wasted.”

For the 26-year-old native New Yorker,...

At New York’s City Winery two years ago, both sides of the late J.D. Souther were on display. In a tidy dressing room backstage, Souther, looking like a dapper Old West ranch owner in his tailored suit and white hair and whiskers, was regaling a few visitors with stories. Among them were several women who were longtime fans of the songs he wrote with, or for, the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt — and of the charismatic Souther himself. It wasn’t hard to see why: Adhering to his legend, Souther remained,...

Tom Cruise might be the king of death-defying stunts, but even he knows his limits—well, sometimes. In a career full of heart-stopping moments, from hanging off planes to scaling skyscrapers, there’s one scene that left even Cruise tapping out. Yep, this one stunt was so extreme it was deemed impossible to shoot without risking a trip to the great beyond.

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | Paramount Pictures

And we’re not talking about some CGI extravaganza—this was supposed to be the real deal, but physics and common sense got in the way. Despite his adrenaline-junkie reputation, Cruise couldn’t pull this one off, leaving fans to wonder what could’ve been the most epic and expensive stunt sequence in cinema history. Even Ethan Hunt had to say no!

Behind the Scenes of The Last Samurai: How Tom Cruise’s...

Jd Souther, a Songwriters Hall of Famer whose collaborations with The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor helped define the country-tinged Laurel Canyon/Southern California rock sound of the 1970s, has died. He was 78.

His reps said Souther died peacefully at his home in Sandia Park, Nm, but did not provide a cause or date of death.

Born John David Souther on November 2, 1945, in Detroit — he went by Jd, sans periods, throughout nearly all of his professional career — Souther was raised in Amarillo, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, where he soon, and fortuitously, formed a band called Longbranch Pennywhistle with musician-songwriter Glenn Frey, a fellow Detroit native. The two would continue their songwriting collaboration even after Frey went on to cofound The Eagles, one of the most successful rock bands in history.

Together, Souther and Frey would contribute some of the Eagles’ most enduring and beloved songs,...

Jd Souther, the singer and songwriter who co-wrote songs with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, has died. He was 78.

Souther died peacefully at his home in New Mexico, according to his rep. No cause of death was given. He was about to embark on a tour with Karla Bonoff.

Souther, a Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, was responsible for some of the Eagles’ biggest hits, including the songs “Best of My Love”, “Victim of Love”, “Heartache Tonight”, and “New Kid in Town”. “How Long.” With Ronstadt, he wrote and duetted on the classic songs “Prisoner in Disguise,” “Sometimes You Can’t Win” and “Hearts Against the Wind.” He also enjoyed a successful solo career and penned the hit songs “You’re Only Lonely” and “Her Town Too,” the latter a duet with Taylor.

Born John David Souther on Nov. 2, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan, he was raised in Amarillo, Texas. He started...

John David “J.D.” Souther, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame known for co-penning hits with the Eagles, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt, has died at the age of 78.

The singer-songwriter died peacefully at home in New Mexico, according to reps at Solters PR. A cause of death was not given.

Souther was born in Detroit, Michigan, on Nov. 2, 1945, and raised in Amarillo, Texas. After moving to Los Angeles, California, in the late Sixties, he formed a longtime partnership with the Eagles’ Glenn Frey. The duo briefly formed...

Jd Souther, the singer, songwriter and actor who co-wrote some of the biggest hits of the Eagles, like “New Kid in Town” and “Best of My Love,” and had a long solo career that included the top 10 hit “You’re Only Lonely,” died Tuesday at age 78. No cause of death was given but he was described by reps at Solters PR as dying peacefully at home in New Mexico.

Souther was about to go out for joint concert dates this fall with Karla Bonoff, another veteran of the 1970s Southern California singer-songwriter scene, and had performed as recently as five days ago.

Besides “New Kid” and “Best of My Love,” other compositions co-written by Souther that appeared on Eagles albums included “Heartache Tonight,” “Victim of Love,” “James Dean,” “Doolin-Dalton,” “The Sad Cafe,” “You Never Cry Like a Lover,” “Teenage Jail” and “Last Good Time in Town.” He was the sole writer of “How Long,...

Gravitas Ventures has acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to Sheridan O’Donnell’s debut feature “Little Brother,” starring Daniel Diemer (“Under the Bridge”), Phillip Ettinger (“First Reformed”), Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”) and Polly Draper (“Thirtysomething”). The film is slated for a Sept. 2024 theatrical release.

“Little Brother” begins after Pete (Ettinger) attempts suicide, pushing his overbearing father Warren (Simmons) to recruit his little brother Jake (Diemer) to drive Pete from Albuquerque to Seattle for a family intervention. The brothers aren’t just oil and water; they’re fire and gasoline—and they’re both crammed inside a busted-up van for 1,400 miles with nowhere to hide. As they cross the American West, the two struggle to reconcile their past and forge a new bond.

The film, which took home the Audience Award at the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival, is a deeply personal one for writer-director O’Donnell, who was partly inspired...

Shawn Levy has long chafed at the labels Hollywood has placed upon him.

That helps explain the evolution of the Montreal-born filmmaker from go-to family comedy guy (Night at the Museum and Cheaper by the Dozen) to the producer of cerebral Oscar winners (Arrival) and cultural behemoths (Stranger Things).

After a string of successes in the aughts, Levy branched out with the 2011 Amblin-esque feature Real Steel, which earned nearly $300 million globally and showed he could bring his trademark emotionality to the action sphere. It also teamed him with Hugh Jackman, who, like others who have worked with the producer-director, says he creates an empathetic environment on set. “There isn’t one scene that necessarily was ‘the moment we clicked,’ ” Jackman recalls. “It was more a feeling on Real Steel that it made me know this was going to be a lifelong friendship.”

After the death of his Museum star Robin Williams...

In 2022, Marcia Gay Harden received her third career Emmy nomination for appearing in a second season episode of “The Morning Show.” Since her first bid had come 15 years earlier for her work on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” she qualified for entry into the club of Best Drama Guest Actress nominees for multiple series. Scroll through our photo gallery to learn who else is in this exclusive group.

Of the 28 women on this list, nine took the gold for at least one of their nominated performances. The one who triumphed most recently was Cherry Jones, whose consecutive victories for “The Handmaid’s Tale” (2019) and “Succession” (2020) made her the category’s fourth two-show winner, after Shirley Knight (“Thirtysomething”; “NYPD Blue”), Alfre Woodard (“L.A. Law”; “The Practice”), and Amanda Plummer (“The Outer Limits”; “Law & Order: Svu”).

Although the Best Drama Guest Actress award has only been bestowed on an annual basis...

It’s always a good time to be in the Sarah Paulson business, but that’s especially true this year. The acclaimed performer recently scored her first-ever Tony Award nomination for her performance in “Appropriate” and she is widely predicted to land double Emmy Award nominations for her guest acting appearances in the FX comedy series “The Bear” and Prime Video drama series “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” If that were to happen when the 2024 Emmy nominations are announced in July, Paulson would join a select few performers to receive concurrent guest-acting nominations since the categories were standardized in 1989.

So far, only 10 actors have received guest-acting nominations in the comedy and drama categories in the same year. The most recent example is Harriet Walter, who collected nominations last year for roles in “Succession” and “Ted Lasso.” Walter is the only person to have achieved this double-dip twice: She was a previous double nominee in 2022.

Before Walter,...

When the 2023 Primetime Emmy nominations were revealed, Ali Wong and Pedro Pascal both had the honor of being included in multiple performance lineups. She made history as the first newcomer to the acting categories recognized for both live action (“Beef”) and voice (“Tuca & Bertie”) work, while he became the first actor nominated for three programs on his initial Emmy outing. These achievements made them the newest members of a group of 26 people who earned their first two (or three) acting Emmy nominations in a single year.

Wong’s eventual Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress win for “Beef” made her the seventh person in this bunch to succeed on one of her bids. The first was Robert Cummings, who received 1955’s Best Single Performance by an Actor prize for “Twelve Angry Men” and simultaneously lost for his regular lead turn on “My Hero.”

The first five champs who followed Cummings were Jack Albertson,...

Erich Anderson, a prolific television actor perhaps best known for his portrayal on Felicity as the title character’s father, died of cancer June 1 in Los Angeles. He was 67.

His death was announced on social media by wife and actor Saxon Trainor.

Launching his film career in 1984 with a role in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Anderson was also featured at the same time in the TV series Bay City Blues. TV guest appearances kept him busy for the next years, with roles on The Paper Chase, Tour of Duty, and Quantum Leap, among others.

In 1990 he landed a recurring role that would become one of his most recognizable: On seven episodes of thirtysomething, he played Billy Sidel, a romantic partner for Polly Draper’s Ellyn Warren. After a sometimes rocky path, the two characters were married late in the series.

The ’90s also saw appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation...

Erich Anderson, who was sometimes also credited as E. Erich Anderson, racked up over 100 credits during a screen acting career that stretched from 1983 into the 2020s, but he may be best known for playing the role of Rob in the 1984 slasher classic Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. A character out for revenge, Rob looked like he had a shot at being able to take down hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees for good… but when Rob finally caught up with Jason, things did not go well for him at all. Among Friday the 13th fans, Rob has become a favorite due to the fact that he seems so cool and capable at first, but then whiffs his shot at vengeance in a major way. Sadly, the actor who brought Rob to the screen is no longer with us. Erich Anderson’s wife Saxon Trainor has confirmed through social media that he...

Months before she won the 2023 Best Comedy Supporting Actress Emmy for the first season of FX’s “The Bear,” it was reported that Ayo Edebiri would move up to lead for season two. According to our odds chart, she looks set to become the 12th woman to reap both supporting and lead Emmy bids (in that order) for a single role on a single series. If she takes the gold again, she will become the first to win both comedy actress awards in that order for one show.

Edebiri’s win in the supporting race at the strike-delayed 75th Emmys was preceded by victories in lead for season two at the 2024 Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards. Having just blocked Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”) from achieving back-to-back supporting Emmy honors, she now faces the challenge of fending off two former lead champions: Jean Smart and Quinta Brunson.

Edebiri would...

In a very unsettled drama Emmy field, one of the few ostensible locks this year is Elizabeth Debicki. With 4/1 odds, she is the runaway favorite to take home the Best Drama Supporting Actress Emmy for her turn as Princess Diana on “The Crown,” which would make the Netflix series the sixth show to deliver two different winners in the category.

Twelve shows have won drama supporting actress more than once. Of those, seven shows have had one person triumph repeatedly, including “Lou Grant” for Nancy Marchand, who won a record four times, and most recently “Ozark” for three-time champ Julia Garner. The five shows that saw the wealth spread among its cast members are “St. Elsewhere”, “The West Wing”, “Hill Street Blues”, “The Practice” and “thirtysomething”. No show has had more than two cast members win the award.

Interestingly, Marchand (1980-82; her first win was in ’78), Roberts (1983), Woodard (1984), Thomas (1985), Bartlett...

We live in a golden era of sci-fi on TV, where "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" come in multiple flavors, "Stranger Things" is an event every season, and the CW recently wrapped up an entire universe of DC Comics superheroes on the small screen. Fortunately for all sci-fi fans, this is a time where the people who make such shows grew up loving them, and critics who review them were raised on the concepts and get it. This is all a relatively new phenomenon.

As recently as the '90s, TV critics weren't necessarily big on high-concept sci-fi, and the people making these shows didn't always know what they were doing either. Even if they did, producers over their heads weren't necessarily making the best decisions either. Superheroes on TV were entirely different three decades ago, and the weekly format was just discovering the notion of season-long arcs. There were growing pains to be sure,...

We are somehow now into the spring season, and while cinemas have been a tad dull, noteworthy new books have arrived at a frantic pace. Here are some that should be on your radar, and please note that our next column will include, among other treats, a lengthy rundown of recent noteworthy novels.

The Art and Soul of Dune: Part Two by Tanya Lapointe with Stefanie Broos (Insight Editions)

Dune: Part One, the first of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptations of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic, spawned a handful of painstakingly crafted, info-packed hardcover books. The Art and Soul of Dune: Part Two takes the same approach that made these earlier texts so satisfying. Tanya Lapointe was on set every day, and her accounts of the pre-production, production, and post-production processes are captivating. The designs of Geidi Prime are standouts and supplemented with quotes like the following, from production designer Patrice Vermette...

Pictured: Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw. Photo: Michael Courtney/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This Is Us wasn’t just a phenomenon amongst its viewers — it was also an on-set experience unlike anything the show’s stars had been through before. Now, with that show in the rear-view mirror, Justin Hartley has moved on to a new project, Tracker. Hartley not only stars in the action drama, but is also one of the show’s executive producers, alongside This Is Us (and thirtysomething) alum Ken Olin. And having that familiar face working with him behind the camera, Hartley said that’s one of the reasons why he’s enjoying Tracker just as much as he enjoyed This Is Us. (Click on the media below to hear Justin Hartley) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Justin_Hartley_Tracker_.mp3 Tracker airs Sundays on CBS, and episodes start streaming the following day on Paramount+.

The quest continues to reboot thirtysomething for the small screen.

Original series star Peter Horton, who played Gary Shepherd in the drama that aired from 1987 to 1991 on ABC, gave his followers an update Wednesday on where the project stands. He first engaged fans about the possibility last August by asking them to “try blasting” Amazon Studios and MGM Studios about doing the reboot.

“The bad news,” he wrote on X Wednesday, “Amazon has decided not to program our reboot. Good news: they gave us permission to take it out wide! Take it anywhere without encumbrance. This is big! So keep it up. Stay tuned for progress reports! Keep up the pressure!!!”

Okay. A #whereisthirtysomething update. The bad new: Amazon has decided not to program our reboot. Good news: they gave us permission to take it out wide! Take it anywhere without encumbrance. This is big! So keep it up. Stay tuned for progress reports!

Perhaps you've had this experience:

You hear about an interesting movie or show, or you remember an old favorite, and you reason that since it's a well-known title, it's several years old, and you subscribe to several streaming services, you should be able to watch it for free somewhere.

Then you conduct the research that's necessary to find anything in the vast streaming landscape, and you realize that you're gonna have to shell out to rent or buy this thing.

Or worse, that film or series simply is not available. Anywhere.

If you're lucky, you can go on Amazon and have the DVD delivered in a couple of days, but you haven't seen your DVD player since Obama was in office, and you need something to watch now.

From comedy classics like Cocoon to Oscar winners like Il Postino to beloved children's movies like The Brave Little Toaster to action...

Filmmaker Edward Zwick, whose credits include About Last Night, Glory, Legends of the Fall, The Siege, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, Defiance, Love & Other Drugs, Pawn Sacrifice, and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (not to mention co-creating Thirtysomething), recently published a memoir called Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood (pick up a copy Here). This book contains some very interesting passages – like the one on Zwick’s Jack Reacher regrets, and another where he reveals how impressed Denzel Washington was by Matt Damon’s performance when they were on the set of Zwick’s 1996 film Courage Under Fire.

Zwick wrote, “As we finished Matt’s coverage, Denzel caught my eye and nodded approvingly. Later, he took me aside. ‘Who is that kid?’ he asked. I told him it was Matt’s first big role. ‘Damn,’ he said. ‘Better get my game on. He almost blew me off the screen.

To paraphrase all those singing nuns, how do you solve a problem like Jack Reacher? If you're Christopher McQuarrie, you hire your movie star pal, Tom Cruise (despite the actor's notable height difference from the character as depicted in author Lee Child's novels — more on that later), and make a fabulous, still-underseen '70s-style political thriller/neo-noir film. If you're showrunner Nick Santora, you develop a TV series for Prime Video, hire the biggest Mack truck-looking dude you can, and make "a sharp, self-aware action caper," as /Film's own Valerie Ettenhoffer described it.

However, if you're Edward Zwick, you team up with your old "The Last Samurai" cohort Cruise and attempt to follow up McQuarrie's film with something a little bit different, seeing if there may be more to Reacher beneath his brooding brutality. Sadly, this approach failed to connect with audiences when Zwick's film, "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,...

About 20 notebooks are socked away in producer-director-writer Edward Zwick’s office in no particular order, full of odd magazine clippings and notes. During the pandemic he rooted through them and rewatched his work, looking for the nuggets and details that would become his memoir “Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood.”

He chronicles a television career with longtime Bedford Falls partner Marshall Herskovitz — together they created “Thirtysomething,” “Once and Again,” and “My So-Called Life” — but much of the book tracks Zwick in the movie business, from Demi Moore and Rob Lowe in “About Last Night” in 1986, “Legends of the Fall” with Brad Pitt in 1994, “The Last Samurai” with Tom Cruise in 2003, “Blood DIamond” with Leonardo DiCaprio in 2006, and his last outing with Cruise, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” in 2016.

Zwick and I have talked many times over the years; we reconvened over Zoom to parse his book,...

The closest comp to Ed Zwick’s new memoir Hits, Flops And Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood is William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade, where he posited a definitive piece of advice on the elusive formula for hit making: “Nobody knows anything.” Although he didn’t create the “if you want to send a message, try Western Union” line that has many authors, Zwick spent a career trying to defy that adage, in directing, writing and producing a long list of great and meaningful films and TV series topped by the Oscar winning Shakespeare in Love and Traffic, to Glory, Blood Diamond, About Last Night, Defiance, The Last Samurai, The Siege, thirtysomething, My So Called Life and many others.

Comparing his book to Goldman sets a high bar. Like the scripter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did, Zwick might fawn over great actors like Denzel Washington,...

Harry Johnson, an actor who appeared on dozens of shows throughout his 40-year career, including Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Law & Order, has died. He was 81.

Johnson died Tuesday, his rep Jonathan Erickson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. The cause of death is unknown at this time.

“It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Atb Talent client Harry Johnson,” Atb Talent Agency shared in a statement. “With a career spanning over 40 years, Harry was a true talent and cherished member of the community. His impact on the entertainment industry will be remembered and celebrated. Our hearts go out to his friends and family, including Christiane, his wife of 15 years and stepchildren, Oliver and Penelope. May his memory be a blessing to all.”

Born on Dec. 27, 1942, in Plainfield, New Jersey, Johnson began his acting career in 1978, when he appeared in the pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica,...

Harry Johnson, an actor with scores of credits spanning 40 years that ranged from the original Battlestar Galactica to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, several Dick Wolf series and the famous “Harry & Louise” commercials, died January 2 of in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 81.

His wife, Christiane, confirmed his passing to Deadline.

Born on December 27, 1942, in Plainfield, NJ, he often credited as Chip Johnson in the 1970s and ’80s and was among the last contract players for Universal Studios. Johnson began his screen career with the multi-part pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica in 1978 and went on to guest-star on dozens of TV series including M*A*S*H, Quincy M.E., The Incredible Hulk, Simon & Simon, The Greatest American Hero, Highway to Heaven, The A-Team, L.A. Law, Dynasty, Who’s the Boss?, Thirtysomething, Melrose Place, Party of Five, Roswell, Resurrection Blvd., Judging Amy, Days of Our Lives and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

He was...

As My So-Called Life nears its 30th anniversary, Executive Producer Ed Zwick took a walk down memory lane Saturday to remind folks about working on the before-its-time drama that starred Claire Danes.

In a long X thread, Zwick shared an “origin story” about how he was first drawn to the work of Winnie Holzman before he would end up co-EPing her script with longtime producing partner Marshall Herskovitz. Zwick chronicles his work on My So-Called Life, as well as thirtysomething, The Last Samurai and Glory in his upcoming book “Hits, Flops and Other Illusions,” out in February.

“Kristy McNichol played ‘Buddy,’ an adolescent girl on ABC-tv’s Family,” Zwick began. “I’d write surly teenage dialogue and get network notes on my scripts with the initials N.O.B. meaning “not our Buddy.” I vowed someday I’d get to portray real adolescence.”

“Marshall wrote a provocative pilot for Showtime called “Secret Seventeen” about unruly,...

Since it’s about to wrap up its Netflix run after six seasons, “The Crown” has no chance of matching the record for most Best Drama Series Golden Globe nominations, which has been held since 2001 by seven-time contender “ER.” However, its appearances in five previous lineups give it the opportunity to make history in a different way, as its probable upcoming sixth program notice would make it the first concluded drama series to earn Golden Globes recognition for every one of its multiple seasons. This monumental achievement, which would occur five decades into the existence of this major category, truly shouldn’t be difficult for the ever-popular show to pull off, especially since it’s already a two-time Best Drama Series winner.

The yet-unseen sixth and final season of “The Crown” is currently ranked third on Gold Derby’s Best Drama Series Golden Globe predictions list, with the early odds heavily favoring HBO’s “Succession,...

L.A.-based Wild Sheep Content, headed by former Netflix international honcho Erik Barmack, is adapting German No.1 bestseller “When Butterflies Fly Loops” for Mexico, as it branches out into unscripted with Adal Ramones, Mexico’s No.1 standup, and boards Lucía Puenzo’s gangster epic, “The Gunwoman (Pepita’s Legend).”

Starring Luisana Lopilato, and just announced, “Gunwoman” reps a “giant story” account, said Puenzo, of real life mobster Margarita Di Tulio, which is backed by a far-ranging consortium of good and great players in and outside Argentina.

All three titles see Wild Sheep driving ever deeper into big IP in highly packaged and star-laden projects, while branching out in sectors and territorial reach – strategies which may well become text-book tactics as streamers and broadcasters pull back on commissions or buys over much of international.

Their announcement comes three days before Jimena Rodríguez, producer of “Three Idiots” and head of Mexico...

Veteran character actress Elizabeth Hoffman, perhaps best known for her role as Beatrice Reed Ventnor, mother of the titular sisters played by Swoosie Kurtz, Sela Ward, Patricia Kalember and Julianne Phillips, on NBC’s ’90s drama series Sisters, has died. Hoffman passed away of natural causes on Aug. 21 at her home in Malibu, CA, her son Chris confirmed to Deadline’s sister pub THR. She was 97.

Born in Corvallis, Or, Hoffman made her television debut recurring as Miss Mason on Little House on the Prairie in 1980. The following year she made her feature film debut as the lead in Frank Laloggia’s supernatural horror film Fear No Evil.

Hoffman also is known for her portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt in The Winds of War, the television miniseries directed and produced by Dan Curtis, which spanned the earliest years of World War II, from the Nazi blitzkrieg of Poland in 1939 to the...

Elizabeth Hoffman, best known for starring in NBC‘s Sisters in the ’90s (pictured above), died at the age of 97. The veteran actress passed away on August 21 in her home in Malibu, according to her son Chris (via The Hollywood Reporter). Hoffman was born on February 8, 1926, and started out in theater before her first onscreen role came via Little House of the Prairie; she appeared in three episodes of the series from 1980 to 1981. She also appeared in the film Fear No Evil in 1981. In the years following her episodes of Little House on the Prairie, Hoffman appeared on shows such as The Greatest American Hero, The Winds of War, The A-Team, Blue Thunder, and Hunter. Her other TV roles included L.A. Law, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Matlock, and thirtysomething, leading up to the aforementioned NBC series. Hoffman played Eleanor Roosevelt in two miniseries, The Winds of War in 1983 and War and Remembrance,...

Elizabeth Hoffman, the actress who portrayed Beatrice “Bea” Reed Ventnor in NBC’s ’90s family drama Sisters, died of natural causes at her home in Malibu, Calif. on Aug. 21. She was 97 years old.

The news was confirmed by Hoffman’s son Chris to The Hollywood Reporter.

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On Sisters, the actress played mom to four daughters played by Swoosie Kurtz, Sela Ward, Patricia Kalember and Julianne Phillips. The...

Elizabeth Hoffman, who portrayed Beatrice Reed Ventnor, the mother of the daughters played by Swoosie Kurtz, Sela Ward, Patricia Kalember and Julianne Phillips during the entire six-season run of the NBC drama Sisters, has died. She was 97.

Hoffman died Aug. 21 of natural causes at her home in Malibu, her son Chris told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hoffman stood out as Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1983 and 1988-89 Herman Wouk miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, directed by Dan Curtis and starring Robert Mitchum.

She also portrayed Meryl Streep’s mom in Curtis Hanson’s The River Wild (1994) and the elderly Ruth, the mother-in-law of Linda Hamilton’s character who lives in a cabin at the base of the volcano, in Roger Donaldson’s Dante’s Peak (1997).

Hoffman’s depressed Bea sets Sisters in motion when her four daughters reunite to care for her after she turns to alcohol to deal...

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The "Nightmare on Elm Street" film series was a hotbed for emerging talent. Many of the directors in the franchise would go on to prolific or interesting careers. Chuck Russell, director of "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" would go on to make Hollywood blockbusters like "The Mask," "Eraser," and "The Scorpion King." Renny Harlin, who directed "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" would likewise enter the Hollywood mainstream with films like "Predator 2," "Die Hard 2," "Cliffhanger," and "Cutthroat Island." Jack Sholder, Stephen Hopkins, and Rachael Talalay also emerged from the series' directors pool. 

One can also find a few rising actors at the start of their careers throughout the Freddy Krueger movies. Famously, a young Johnny Depp starred in Wes Craven's 1984 original, and, for "Dream Warriors," Patricia Arquette made her cinematic debut.

Thirtysomething stars Mel Harris and Peter Horton are leading the charge to get the iconic 80s series available for streaming on Amazon and maybe even film an update on where the characters are today.

Of course, the role of Gary – played by Peter Horton – will have to be a ghost if they show returns.

Horton launched a social media campaign using the hashtag, “whereisthirtysomething.” He teased that getting the series released on the streaming platform was possible with fans’ help.

“Help us bring back thirtysomething!! Try blasting away at #whereisthirtysomethhing,” he tweeted and tagged MGM Studios and Amazon Studios. “Send a message, then send another. Help us get first thirtysomething streamable and thirtysomething reboot off the ground. We’re already so close! But we need your help.”

“It’s time to stream ‘thirtysomething,'” Harris tweeted along with the same tags. “And let’s start shooting our wonderful continuation of...

Robert Lieberman, who directed films including Fire in the Sky and D3: The Mighty Ducks, episodes of The X-Files, Dexter and Criminal Minds and thousands of commercials, has died. He was 75.

Lieberman died July 1 in Los Angeles after a long battle with cancer, his son, Nick Lieberman, who co-directed Searchlight Pictures’ Theater Camp, which hit the big screen this weekend, announced.

Lieberman helmed TV spots for such companies as McDonald’s, Hallmark and Oreo and worked with talent ranging from President Clinton, Ray Charles and Jerry Lewis to Michael Jordan, Anne Hathaway and Kenan Thompson. He received more than two dozen Clio Awards and, in 1979, the inaugural DGA Award for commercials.

Much of his work was done through Harmony Pictures, the company he founded with Stuart Gross.

In addition to Fire in the Sky (1993), starring D.B. Sweeney and Robert Patrick, and the hockey sequel D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996), starring Emilio Estevez,...

Robert Lieberman, who directed the sci-fi cult classic Fire in the Sky and won the inaugural DGA Award for Commercials, has died in Los Angeles after a long battle with cancer. He was 75.

His death on July 1 was confirmed by his manager, John Bauman.

Lieberman kicked off his 50-plus year career as an assistant editor in commercials but by the mid-’70s had worked his way up to directing. He ended up helming more than a thousand spots for McDonald’s, Hallmark, Oreo among countless others and winning the DGA Award in 1979 and 1995. He worked with talent ranging from spanned from President Bill Clinton, Ray Charles and Jerry Lewis to Michael Jordan, Anne Hathaway and Kenan Thompson, and much of this work was done through Harmony Pictures, the company he founded with partner Stuart Gross.

Lieberman was in the vanguard that brought a more cinematic, filmmaker’s eye to television. He...

Nicolas Coster, the British-American actor who played an evasive lawyer in All the President’s Men, a fiendish kidnapper in All My Children, zany businessman Lionel Lockridge on Santa Barbara, and the father of Lisa Whelchel’s Blair Warner in The Facts of Life, died Monday at a hospital in Florida. He was 89.

His death was announced by his daughter Dinneen Coster on social media. “There is great sadness in my heart this evening, my father actor Nicolas Coster has passed on in Florida at 9:01 pm in the hospital,” Dinneen Coster wrote on Facebook. “Please be inspired by his artistic achievements and know he was a real actor’s actor!”

A cause of death was not given.

A prolific actor whose career spanned decades on television and encompassed both leading and character roles,...

Since the fourth season of HBO’s “Succession” focuses on finally providing an answer as to whether Logan Roy’s media empire can survive in the hands of his three youngest children, it’s only fitting for the actors who play said offspring to now be on the same tier when it comes to awards consideration. Soon after former supporting Emmy nominee Kieran Culkin joined his TV brother (Jeremy Strong) and dad (Brian Cox) in submitting as a lead this year, Sarah Snook, who portrays youngest Roy sibling Shiv, followed suit. This move means she will very likely be counted among nine other women who each procured supporting and lead Emmy bids (in that order) for a single role on a single series.

As a featured “Succession” performer, Snook earned her first two TV academy notices in 2020 and 2022. She lost on both outings to “Ozark” actress Julia Garner, who she...

In 2021, Emma Corrin was widely expected to follow up their Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award wins for playing Princess Diana on the fourth season of Netflix’s “The Crown” with a Best Drama Actress Emmy victory. In fact, 69% of the people who predicted the race on Gold Derby thought this would be the outcome, but the trophy ultimately went to fourth-place runner Olivia Colman for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II on the same series. Now, Elizabeth Debicki and Imelda Staunton, who respectively replaced Corrin and Colman as their “Crown” characters, are vying for their own TV academy recognition, but will not have to face each other since Debicki is seeking the Best Drama Supporting Actress prize. It’s an interesting move, and it just might pay off.

The fifth season of “The Crown,” which takes place between 1991 and 1997, focuses heavily on how Diana and Prince Charles (Dominic West...

The last time the Writers Guild of America went on strike against the Hollywood studios was in November 2007, which feels like a million generations ago. George W. Bush was still president; the broadcast networks still had an enormous footprint on the pop-culture landscape; and House of Cards, the first high-profile series made directly for streaming, was still six years away.

In both cases, the writers are picketing over transformations to the industry that have made it exponentially more difficult for writers to make a living. In 2007, it was about the...

Cherry Jones could score three Emmy nominations this year for her supporting turn on the Apple TV+ limited series “Five Days at Memorial” and her guest appearances on “Poker Face” and “Succession.” It’s those double guest bids, though, that would put her in rarefied air as the three-time Emmy winner would become the 11th person to earn drama and comedy guest acting nominations in the same year.

Since the guest categories as we know them were standardized in 1989, 10 people have pulled off this feat. Jack Gilford was the first, getting shortlisted that very year for “The Golden Girls” and “thirtysomething.” In 1991, Colleen Dewhurst won comedy guest actress for “Murphy Brown” and was nominated in drama for “Road to Avonlea.” Gwen Verdon snagged noms in 1993 for her guest spots on “Dream On” and “Homicide: Life on the Street,” while Marlee Matlin followed in 1994 with bids for “Seinfeld” and “Picket Fences.

Don’t be surprised if the finale of “Acidman” doesn’t summon the cathartic feelings suggested by its premise, wherein an eccentric recluse and his estranged daughter try to heal their familial fracture. Director Alex Lehmann shrewdly chooses not to construct his strife-filled scenarios this way. Rather, those emotions tend to hit later, unfolding long after the credits roll. The film’s poignancy lies in the way these characters authentically grow from their jagged-edged conflicts, enlightening each other on their issues while bridging their cavernous divide. Though not without its flaws, this resonant, resourceful indie drama leaves a gentle imprint on audiences’ souls.

Thirtysomething Maggie (Dianna Agron) is clearly carrying a lot of baggage, both emotional and physical, when she arrives at her father Lloyd’s (Thomas Haden Church) decrepit trailer deep in the Pacific Northwest. She’s traveled thousands of miles to reunite with him, though she’s unsure...

Patricia Heaton is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her roles in Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle.

Patricia Heaton Biography: Age, Early Life, Family, Education

Patricia Heaton was born on March 4, 1958 (Patricia Heaton: Age 65) in Bay Village, Ohio to Patricia and Chuck Heaton. When Heaton was 12 her mother died of an aneurysm, leaving behind Heaton and her four siblings.

Heaton graduated from the Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in drama. After graduating, Heaton moved to New York City to study with drama teacher William Esper in 1980.

In 1990 Heaton married actor and director David Hunt and the two had four sons together.

Patricia Heaton Biography: Career

Heaton’s first appearance on the Broadway stage was as part of the chorus in Don’t Get God Started in 1987. Her time on Broadway caught the attention of a casting director for ABC’s Thirtysomething where she guest-starred six times.

ABC‘s newest series, The Company You Keep, finally premieres tonight. The drama follows a con man named Charlie Nicoletti who falls in love with an undercover CIA agent named Emma Hill after a passionate night together. Little do they know that they’re on a collision course professionally, and their families are on different sides of the law and politics. The Nicolettis and the Hills have quite a few faces to get familiar with; here’s a guide to The Company You Keep cast and characters ahead of the premiere.

‘The Company You Keep’ cast members William Fichtner as Leo, Sarah Wayne Callies as Birdie, Polly Draper as Fran, Milo Ventimiglia as Charlie, Felisha Terrell as Daphne, Catherine Haena Kim as Emma, Tim Chiou as David Hill, Freda Foh Shen as Grace Hill, and James Saito as Joe Hill | Brian Bowen Smith/ABC ‘The Company You Keep’ cast: Meet...

Almost exactly one year ago, we heard that JJ Abrams’ production company Bad Robot was shopping around a limited series adaptation of the Stephen King novel Billy Summers (you can pick up a copy at This Link), with Edward Zwick attached to direct the series and write the scripts with Marshall Herskovitz. At the time, Bad Robot wasn’t certain how long Billy Summers was going to be, just somewhere in the range of “six to ten episodes”. Well, now we know it’s going to be something closer to two hours long. The decision has been made that Billy Summers will work better as a feature, and the movie is now set up at Warner Bros. with Leonardo DiCaprio’s company Appian Way producing alongside Bad Robot.

Deadline notes that, depending on how well development of the project goes, Abrams could end up directing the film with DiCaprio taking on the lead role.

(Welcome to Best Actor Ever, an ongoing series where we explore the careers and performances of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen.)

If the young Denzel Washington had his way, the now 68-year-old Mount Vernon native would have a bust in Canton's Pro Football Hall of Fame. The man who would be Malcolm X, Rubin Carter, and Alonzo Harris initially had his sights trained on the gridiron before he enrolled at Fordham University in 1977, where he was a skilled enough athlete to play under Coach P.J. Carlesimo for the school's junior varsity team. "He would run us all day, and make us work," Washington told the New York Times in 1998. "But you know what? We were always prepared for the fourth quarter, and we hardly ever lost. Some of the things I learned from him, I still apply myself."

Washington knew by this point that a pro sports...

As Angela Bassett enjoys a serious awards-season run for her supporting role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she’s about to dress up her trophy case even more. The current Oscar nominee and recent Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award winner will receive the Spotlight Award at the Costume Designers Guild’s gala next month.

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She will be honored with the awards, which honors an actor whose talent and career personify an enduring commitment to excellence, including a special awareness of the role and importance of costume design, at the...