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As one of the most popular and acclaimed American writers, Stephen King has crafted many novels that hook readers into different worlds with great characters, intricate prose and imaginative settings. At the same time, among the countless authors whose works have been adapted into films, Stephen King has had huge success with several of his novels being turned into movies. However, despite a variety of the author’s books given the cinematic treatment, not every motion picture best reflects the novel’s intent.

With the television landscape heightening and expanding storytelling in a way that film never could, Stephen King’s material is a perfect resource to turn into an episodic format. Given the author’s history of writing long and detailed narratives, a series can elevate a Stephen King novel and excite fans with every new episode. Moreover, several mishandled Stephen King films would thrive in this space and...

When it comes to critical adoration, the late actor Paul Newman holds at least two rare distinctions. First of all, he's one of just a handful of actors who has not one or two but three perfect Rotten Tomatoes scores under his belt, having appeared in three different movies that critics at the time (and today) unanimously agree are pretty dang good. Newman is also one of the few actors (at least that we've come across at /Film) whose best-reviewed movies include a couple of stone cold classics.

Most of the best movies ever made don't seem to end up with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, as the sheer number of professional eyes on them makes it likely that someone will eventually go against the grain. Thanks to this phenomenon, the best-reviewed movies of most actors' careers technically tend to end up being much lesser-known (and therefore less-reviewed) films, like "Dinosaurs: Giants...

Friday’s Three Women premiere gives viewers a taste of female desire — but it’s just foreplay so far.

Based on Lisa Taddeo’s bestselling nonfiction book, the Starz series premiere introduces us to Gia (played by Big Little Lies’ Shailene Woodley): a journalist trying to write a book about pleasure — specifically, sex in America. She meets with Gay Talese (James Naughton), a notable journalist who investigated sexuality in 1981’s Thy Neighbor’s Wife, who tells her she needs to “f–k married men” to find the story.

More from TVLinePower Book II: Ghost Recap: Bye, FeliciaThe Old Man...

“I can’t write about my parents, I have to write about sex — specifically, sex in America,” Gia Lombardi (Shailene Woodley) says, early in “Three Women.” Sitting across from New Journalism pioneer Gay Talese (James Naughton), a living, breathing, propositioning representation of the patriarchy, Gia is trying to find a new direction of her own. The book she’s already written has been dismissed by her publisher. They found it boring, among other issues, and she’s been sent to speak with the author of the 1981 book on sexuality in America, “Thy Neighbor’s Wife,” to find a stronger angle into her extremely broad thesis.

She doesn’t, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say “Three Women” doesn’t either. Even when Gia is giving her closing summary, pinning down what she’s learned at the end of her long, country-spanning journey, her conclusion is wider than the old...

Spend enough time complaining about padded limited series that would have worked better as movies and superfluously ambitious movies that would have been better fulfilled as limited series, and it becomes a relief to offer a small new variation: Starz’s new 10-hour limited series Three Women would have been better as three movies. Or possibly it would have been better as a three-season anthology series. All I know is that watching Lisa Taddeo’s adaptation of her own acclaimed book, I’ve rarely been as conscious that the way a story was being presented onscreen couldn’t possibly be the best way for that given story to be told.

Three Women is, more accurately, three different stories told in suboptimal fashion — maybe four if you include what should have been a framing device but, owing presumably to “It’s my darned book” privilege, has been given equal weight throughout.

Four made-for-tv Planet of the Apes movies from 1980 are now streaming online, the first time they have been available for viewing since a DVD set was released nearly two decades ago. The four films are actually compilations of episodes from the 1974 CBS Planet of the Apes live-action series. The four films are currently streaming for free on YouTube's Movie Channel.

Some fans of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes film are not even aware that the CBS series or TV films even existed. In September 1974, CBS premiered the series, which was based in the same timeline as the 1968 film starring Charlton Heston. Roddy McDowell was the lone cast member from the original Apes films to return for the series. However, he played a completely new character, Galen, a chimp who helps two astronauts (Ron Harper and James Naughton) who have traveled from the past and crash-landed on their home planet a thousand years later.

Disney is reportedly developing a sequel to the popular comedy-drama movie The Devil Wears Prada, which was originally based on Lauren Weisbergers 2003 novel. This comes after 18 years since the first installment had made its theatrical debut.

Per Puck, Disney has enlisted the original movies scribe Aline Brosh McKenna to pen the sequel, which is said to be in the early phase of development. The outlets sources note that The Devil Wears Prada stars Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt are expected to reprise their respective roles as Miranda Priestly and Emily Charlton in the sequel after producer Wendy Finerman convinced them to sign on. At the moment, it remains unclear if there are plans for Anne Hathaway to also join the long-awaited project.

Related Why Didn't Meryl Streep Fully Return for Mamma Mia 2?

Meryl Streep was iconic as Donna Sheridan in the first Mamma Mia movie. So, why didn't she...

Ron Harper, who starred on Planet of the Apes and four other short-lived primetime series and on the final season of the beloved kids TV show Land of the Lost during a very busy 15 years on television, has died. He was 91.

Harper died Thursday of natural causes at his home in West Hills, his daughter, Nicole Longeuay, told The Hollywood Reporter.

After understudying for Paul Newman on Broadway, Harper portrayed Det. Bert Kling alongside Norman Fell, Robert Lansing, Gregory Walcott and Gena Rowlands on the 1961-62 NBC cop show 87th Precinct, based on the novels of Ed McBain.

He played Jeff Conway, the husband of Connie Stevens’ character, on the 1964-65 ABC sitcom Wendy and Me, also starring George Burns, who produced the show and appeared as the owner of the apartment building in which the young couple lives.

Next up for Harper were turns as the son of Jean Arthur...

Every school has that certain teacher who is a bully, heartless and at times sadistic. Everyone must take their class, but no one finishes the course unscathed. Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) of Alexander Payne’s acclaimed comedy-drama “The Holdovers” is one such instructor. Set in 1970, “The Holdovers” revolves around the by-the-books classics professor teaching at the same New England boarding school he had attended. Hunham is hated by his students, as well as his fellow teachers. And he’s also in hot water, after he failed one of the school’s largest donor’s son in his class. During the Christmas break, he is forced to supervise the “holdovers — -the students who for various reasons must stay on campus. He ends up sharing the holidays with one troubled student (Dominic Sessa) whose mother recently remarried; and the cafeteria administrator (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) grieving her only son’s death in the Vietnam War.

Tony winner Kenny Leon will direct a new Broadway production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the fall of 2024, the first revival of the classic play since the 2002 production that starred Paul Newman as the stage manager.

The production dates, cast, and venue will be announced at a later date.

Leon’s many Broadway directing credits include Ohio State Murders, Topdog/Underdog, A Soldier’s Play, American Son and the current Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch starring Leslie Odom Jr. at The Music Box Theatre. He won the 2014 Tony for Best Direction for A Raisin in the Sun starring Denzel Washington, Sophie Okonedo, Latanya Richardson Jackson and Anika Noni Rose.

“Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in my mind stands at the top of the Mount Rushmore of great American Theatre,” said Leon in a statement. “I feel blessed and fortunate to have gained the trust...

‘Command Z‘ (20239 is a sci-fi comedy web series directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Michael Cera, Roy Wood Jr., Chloe Radcliffe and JJ Maley. It is produced by Extension 765, and can be streamed on its website. The story is inspired by the nonfiction book ‘Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History‘ by Kurt Andersen.

Premise

A team of employees working at a technology company in the future, are assigned with the responsibility of journeying back in time to alter historical events in order to safeguard the world.

Where to watch ‘Command’ Z?

Extension 765

The Cast Michael Cera Roy Wood Jr. JJ Maley Chloe Radcliffe

JJ Maley

Kevin Pollak

Will Brill

Mike Birbiglia

Bianca Norwood

Claire Kenny

Stavros Halkias

Mike Houston

Catherine Curtin

Ariella Josephine

Caitlin Brodnick

Ben Livingston

Jiehae Park

Karen Huie

Dash Peter

Nanie Méndez

Langston Belton

Elisa de La Roche

Alexandra Socha

James Naughton

Nhumi Threadgill

John Ellison Conlee...

This year’s Tony race for Best Musical Revival has two Stephen Sondheim shows (“Into the Woods” and “Sweeney Todd”) in contention. Will one of them win or will they cancel each other out? Let’s go over both of them.

“Into the Woods” combines several fairy tales and explores the consequences of the characters’ quests. The main storyline focuses on a childless baker and his wife as they go into the woods to break a spell set upon them by a witch. There they run into various classic fairy tale characters, all before revealing what happens after “happily ever after.”

The original production won three Tonys in 1988 for Best Actress (Musical) for Joanna Gleason, Best Musical Book for James Lapine, and Best Original Score for Sondheim. Meanwhile, Best Musical that year went to “The Phantom of the Opera,” which wound up with six other awards. The last remounting of...

The 1980s was a great decade for horror, with classics like “The Shining,” “The Fly,” and two “Evil Dead” movies. Effects were largely practical (not computer-generated) and genre giants Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi and David Cronenberg were making some of their most iconic movies ever.

So come back with us to the Overlook Hotel, the Slaughtered Lamb pub, a cabin in the woods and Elm Street. If you dare.

The Shining (1980) “The Shining” (Warner Brothers)

Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) goes mad after being hired as a winter caretaker at a remote mountain resort in Stanley Kubrick’s eerily masterful adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel.

The Changeling (1980) “The Changeling” (Entertainment One)

Peter Medak’s underrated film about a widower (George C. Scott) who discovers the historic house he’s renting is already inhabited by a vengeful spirit is more subtle and psychological than most of the films on this list,...

Spoiler Alert: This piece contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of “And Just Like That,” which premiered Feb. 3 on HBO Max.

Reader, if you’re seeing these words, we must congratulate ourselves — we’ve made it through the “And Just Like That” wars alive.

The “Sex and the City” revival, which premiered in December on HBO Max, has been the subject of passionate discussion (and division) through its 10-episode season, while also becoming the streamer’s most successful original series. The two things are certainly intertwined, said Casey Bloys, the chief content officer at HBO and HBO Max, who told Variety, “In terms of viewership, it’s been phenomenal.”

Bloys didn’t stop there, though. “Criticism of any show is fair game — when you put a show out in the world, people have a reaction, and that’s healthy, and that’s normal,” he said. “Having said that, in my experience,...

Each month before the Smackdown, Nick Taylor considers alternates to Oscar's ballot...

Remember way back when this Smackdown season started with 1981, and I mentioned Karen Allen as someone who somehow missed out on a well-deserved Supporting Actress nomination despite how few films Oscar bothered to recognize that year? Her barnstorming performance in Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of that adventure classic's secret weapons, building on the potential in Marion Ravenwood and delivering a tangible, electrifying character even when the script lets her down. In truth, I sometimes think of Allen alongside contemporaneous stars like Jessica Harper and Brooke Adams: singular, charismatic screen presences you could never mix up for one another despite their similar appearances, all of whom starred in some of the best, most idiosyncratic films of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

I’d also wager that Harper and Adams’ personas would suggest themselves for the role of the shy,...

Royana Black, an actress who made her Broadway debut at age 10 in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs and, five years later, took the title role in the 1988 sitcom Raising Miranda, died July 14 in Los Angeles of acute myeloid leukemia. She was 47.

Her death was announced by her family. Black was the wife of actor J.P. Hubbell, who survives her.

Born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Black was only 10 when she was cast as a replacement in 1983’s Brighton Beach Memoirs as Laurie, cousin of main character Eugene (the role created by Matthew Broderick).

In 1988, she was cast in the title role in CBS’ short-lived, nine-episode comedy Raising Miranda, playing the teenage daughter of a single dad, played by James Naughton. Bryan Cranston played her uncle.

Black subsequently made guest appearances on such TV series as The Cosby Show, Touched By An Angel, Hold, Please, and Medium, among others. In later years,...

Royana Black, who appeared on Broadway in Brighton Beach Memoirs and starred as the title character on the short-lived sitcom Raising Miranda, has died. She was 47.

Black died July 14 in Los Angeles after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia, her family announced.

When she was 10, Black joined the cast of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1983 to portray Laurie, the younger cousin of Eugene (Matthew Broderick) and daughter of Blanche (Joyce Van Patten) who has heart problems. 

In 1988, she starred as the daughter of a single dad (James Naughton) on Raising Miranda, but the CBS sitcom ...

Stars in the House continues today 2pm with a City of AngelsCast reunion Gregg Edelman, Randy Graff, Dee Hoty, Kay McClelland, James Naughton, Rachel York and David Zippel. Joined by director Michael Blakemore and tonight 8pm with the cast of Ryan Murphy'sHollywoodDavid Corenswet, Darren Criss, Laura Harrier, Joe Mantello, Dylan McDermott, Jeremy Pope, Mira Sorvino, Holland Taylor and Samara Weaving.

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge follows two shows from the 2004-2005 season on this edition of Broadway Rewind. It's a look at The Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations, but we start things off at the opening night celebration of the New York production of Michael Frayn's play Democracywhich starred Richard Thomas, James Naughton and Robert Prosky. Richard talked about sharing the stage once again with his friend, James Naughton. 'We go way back. This is our fourth play we've done together. We love being onstage together. We're so different in every way, physically and vocally. It's a terrific match for us and we just love to talk to each other onstage.'...

The producers and creative team behind Broadway’s upcoming musical adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook say they are “encouraged” by the author’s “strong statement of support of the Lgbtq+ community today,” and note in a statement of their own that they have “complete freedom to create a very new piece of art from the source material of the book” that “that reflects our core values of diversity and inclusion.”

The pointed assertion of artistic independence came just several hours after Sparks released a lengthy statement (read it below) in which he took issue with last week’s Daily Beast article that portrayed the hugely successful romance writer as homophobic and racist.

Included in the Daily Beast article – which detailed a lawsuit that pits Sparks and the faith-based Epiphany School of Global Studies (which he co-founded) against former headmaster Saul Benjamin. The fired Benjamin is suing Sparks and the Epiphany board over his dismissal,...

First Rachel McAdams was a bird, and now so is Vanessa Hudgens. The Princess Switch actress will reportedly lead a staged reading of the musical adaptation of The Notebook, playing Southern heiress Allie Hamilton (McAdams originated the role in the 2004 romance film). The new musical, which is a collaboration between Ingrid Michaelson and Bekah Brunstetter, will hold the reading for Vassar and New York Stage & Film's Powerhouse Season this Summer, though nothing about whether or not Hudgens will actually end up playing Allie on Broadway has been announced.

Joining Hudgens are Tony nominee and Broadway star Hailey Kilgore (Once on This Island) as young Allie, and Cabaret's Andy Buckley as old Allie. As for Noah, who was originated in the film by Ryan Gosling, Carmen Jones star Clifton Duncan will play opposite Hudgens, with Jagged Little Pill's Antonio Cipriano and Tony winner James Naughton as young and old Noah, respectively.

For the second time in recent months, real-world controversy has visited the make-believe world of Broadway musicals.

Nicholas Sparks, whose 1996 novel The Notebook is being turned into a Broadway musical by, among others, playwright and This Is Us producer Bekah Brunstetter, was slammed in a Daily Beast article today for seemingly anti-gay emails he sent to the former headmaster of the faith-based prep school Sparks co-founded in 2006.

The situation echoes – if at a much lower volume – the recent and far-from-over controversy trailing the Michael Jackson-based musical Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.

Just this week, Vanessa Hudgens confirmed that she would take part in the first staged reading of the musical Notebook adaptation at Vassar and New York Stage & Film’s prestigious annual play development incubator called the Powerhouse. Others reportedly set to take part in the one-time-only reading on June 23 are Jelani Alladin, Nicholas Belton, Candy Buckley,...

An extremely engaging film showcased at this year’s Santa Barbara Film Festival, The Independents, a character drama with music, deserves to find an audience beyond the festival circuit. Greg Naughton, the writer-director and also one of the movie’s three stars, has an impressive musical theater pedigree. His father, actor James Naughton, is a two-time Tony winner, and his wife, Kelli O’Hara, is also a Tony winner. O’Hara and the elder Naughton have cameo roles in the film, but the movie really depends on the three leading actors—Rich Price and Brian Chartrand in addition to Greg Naughton—who form a folk rock...

I'm just seeing this deleted scene from The Devil Wears Prada for the first time, and honestly it changed the whole movie for me pic.twitter.com/6Zkr6UxHQO

— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) August 28, 2017

It’s been 11 years since the film adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 novel The Devil Wears Prada hit the big screen. And though the Meryl Streep / Anne Hathaway film is beloved by fans, an unearthed deleted scene appears to be clouding its legacy for some.

In the cut clip, which takes place at a gala Hathaway’s character Andy chooses to go to over her boyfriend’s birthday,...

Symphony Space will honor philanthropists Ted and Mary Jo Shen at their 2016 Spring Gala on May 9th. Hosted by James Naughton, the evening will feature performances by Victoria Clark, Lilli Cooper, Chuck Cooper, Ricky Ian Gordon, Michael John Lachiusa, Ted Sperling, Katie Thompson and many others. Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director at The Public Theater, will present the award to the Shens.

“Mamma Mia!” held its final Broadway curtain call this past Saturday after 14 years and well over 5,000 historical performances. Do you know which other Broadway shows have enjoyed similarly impressive stretches? These are 11 of the Great White Way’s longest running shows. And here’s to keeping a good thing going! “The Phantom of the Opera”A worldwide phenomenon and Broadway’s longest running musical, “Phantom” opened in 1988 to rave reviews and multiple awards, and has stood the test of time ever since. The epic Andrew Lloyd Webber masterpiece is still playing at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre (clocking in at over 10,000 performances) and is wowing new audiences a generation removed from the show’s first fans. “Chicago”Though Broadway’s original 1975 production may have closed after a (relatively) short two years, the current revival of “Chicago” has been jazzing it up at Broadway’s Ambassador Theatre since 1996. The latest iteration has...

BroadwayWorld previously reported that Secondhand Lions, featuring a book by Tony Award-winner Rupert Holmes and music and lyrics by First Date composers Michael Weiner and Alan Zachary, got a New York City reading June 18-19. Presented by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, the musical, which played at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in 2013, was directed again by Scott Schwartz. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the reading, starring James Naughton and Tom Wopat, below...

Grief unleashes self-centered bluster instead of contemplative sorrow in the talky drama Childless. Four relatives preparing to attend a funeral focus less on the sudden death of sixteen-year-old Katherine (Natalie Dreyfuss) and more on relationship anxieties. Mary (Diane Venora) envisions an awkward reunion with ex-boyfriend Richard (Joe Mantegna), Katherine's stunned father, while his sister Natalie (Barbara Hershey) contemplates her future with distant husband Harvey (James Naughton). Writer-director Charlie Levi airs their musings as a series of monologues, and even Katherine gets in on the act. With a surprising lightness, Dreyfuss plays her as a blithe spirit free from earthly worries, unlike the exasperating adults fixated on their own concerns. Na...

Read More: Monterey Media Acquires True Crime Drama 'The Pardon' Monterey media has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to writer-director Charlie Levi's award-winning drama "Childless," starring Joe Mantegna, Barbara Hershey, Diane Venora and James Naughton. The film won the Visionary Award at the Boston Film Festival during an initial test screening. The uniquely styled drama centers on four adults in the aftermath of the sudden passing of a teenage girl. As each gets ready for the funeral, they speak their private thoughts directly to the camera in an attempt to understand and justify the current states of their own lives. It's ultimately left up to the viewer to make sense of these off-kilter, self-serving, yet frequently humorous personal accounts. "We are so very thrilled to be on board with these wonderful actors and this distinctive film with its interesting history," commented Scott Mansfield, Managing Partner of monterey.

Teresa Wright: Later years (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon.") Teresa Wright and Robert Anderson were divorced in 1978. They would remain friends in the ensuing years.[1] Wright spent most of the last decade of her life in Connecticut, making only sporadic public appearances. In 1998, she could be seen with her grandson, film producer Jonah Smith, at New York's Yankee Stadium, where she threw the ceremonial first pitch.[2] Wright also became involved in the Greater New York chapter of the Als Association. (The Pride of the Yankees subject, Lou Gehrig, died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1941.) The week she turned 82 in October 2000, Wright attended the 20th anniversary celebration of Somewhere in Time, where she posed for pictures with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. In March 2003, she was a guest at the 75th Academy Awards, in the segment showcasing Oscar-winning actors of the past. Two years later,...

Paul Rudd returned as host for the Third Annual Paul Rudd All-Star Bowling Benefit to support Say The Stuttering Association for the Young. Attendees included David Alan Basche, Emily Bergl, Alexis Bledel, Everett Bradley, Bobby Cannavale, Nicki Clyne, Maddie Corman, Lucy DeVito, Frank Dilella,Rachel Dratch, Halley Feiffer, Gina Gershon,Judy Gold,Mariska Hargitay, Jeremy Hays, Peter Hermann, Cady Huffman, Gregory Jbara, Richard Kind, Ricki Lake,Jesse L. Martin, Greg Naughton, James Naughton, Kelli O'Hara, Denis O'Hare, Nykhor Paul, Josh Radnor, Alysia Reiner, Ron Rifkin,Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan, Eric Stoltz and Meredith Vieira.BroadwayWorld brings you more photos from inside the exciting night below...

Paul Rudd returned as host for the Third Annual Paul Rudd All-Star Bowling Benefit to support Say The Stuttering Association for the Young. Attendees included David Alan Basche, Emily Bergl, Alexis Bledel, Everett Bradley, Bobby Cannavale, Nicki Clyne, Maddie Corman, Lucy DeVito, Frank Dilella,Rachel Dratch, Halley Feiffer, Gina Gershon, Judy Gold,Mariska Hargitay, Jeremy Hays, Peter Hermann, Cady Huffman, Gregory Jbara, Richard Kind, Ricki Lake, Jesse L. Martin, Greg Naughton, James Naughton, Kelli O'Hara, Denis O'Hare, Nykhor Paul, Josh Radnor, Alysia Reiner, Ron Rifkin,Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan, Eric Stoltz and Meredith Vieira.BroadwayWorld brings you photos from inside the exciting night belowi...

On Sunday, November 23 7 p.m., in a celebratory landmark performance, the company of Broadway's record-breaking hit musical Chicago welcomed back its four original stars -- Tony Award winners Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, James Naughton and Joel Grey. Chicago has surpassed the run of iconic Broadway blockbuster Cats with a record-breaking 7,486 performances, making it the second longest-running show in Broadway history. Only one show -- The Phantom of the Opera -- has run longer than Chicago. BroadwayWorld was there for the after-party and brings you photos below...

In the new film 'The Word,' a man's otherwise perfect life is destroyed when his son is kidnapped and murdered. He finds himself torn between avenging his son's death and moving on with his now hollow existence. Two-time Tony-winner James Naughton plays F.B.I. agent Mike Sheehy, who is tasked with hunting down the boy's killer. 'The Word' opens in select cities, including New York and Los Angeles, this week. Last week, I spoke to Naughton about the film, his iconic role as the original Billy Flynn in long-running 'Chicago' revival, being a part of a family of performers, and whether or not there is any truth to the rumors of a 'City of Angels' reunion concert.

A pop-culture touchstone, a nearly all-purpose metaphor and one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises of the Seventies and beyond, the Planet of the Apes films do what all good what-if fantasies should do: hold up a mirror to humanity and reflect our own conflicts, issues and failings back to us through a wildly outrageous premise. The original 1968 movie mixes satire, social commentary, action and suspense, capped by a first-rate twist at the end. ("Damn you, damn you all to hell!")

'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'...

Network: CBS

Episodes: 15 (hour)

Seasons: One

TV show dates: September 23, 2013 -- January 6, 2014

Series status: Cancelled

Performers include: Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott, James Naughton, Rhys Coiro, Billy Brown, Sandrine Holt, Tate Donovan, Quinn Shephard, and Mateus Ward.

TV show description:

In this suspense drama, Doctor Ellen Sanders (Toni Collette) is a premiere surgeon who's scheduled to operate on the President (James Naughton). She's thrust into a political conspiracy when her family is taken hostage by a rogue FBI agent, Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott). He orders her to assassinate the President by causing his death on the operating table.

Carlisle's highly skilled accomplices include his brother-in-law Kramer (Rhys Coiro), whose loyalty to Carlisle will be tested; quick-tempered and intimidating Archer (Billy Brown), an ex-military man with a razor-sharp tongue; and the only woman...

CBS called Hostages a "limited series" but that didn't mean that it couldn't return for a second season if the ratings were strong enough. They weren't and now, the network has officially cancelled it.

On Hostages, the lives of a prominent surgeon's family are threatened by terrorists who want her to kill the President of the United States. The cast of this thriller includes Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott, James Naughton, Rhys Coiro, Billy Brown, Sandrine Holt, Tate Donovan, Quinn Shephard, and Mateus Ward.

The series debuted to weak ratings back in September and the numbers fell even lower in subsequent weeks. It was clear that this show was going to be cancelled, the only questions was "When?". To their credit, CBS kept Hostages on the air for all 15 episodes.

They've now officially cancelled Hostages. Fortunately for the fans who stuck...

Symphony Space's free signature event, Wall to Wall, took up the theme with Wall to Wall Cabaret on Saturday, May 3. The lineup of nearly 50 performers was a veritable roll call of cabaret icons and rising stars, including Kate Baldwin,Klea Blackhurst, Barbara Carroll, Bill Charlap Sandy Stewart, Barbara Cook, Judy Gold, Julie Halston, Ute Lemper, Lypsinka, Taylor Mac, Andrea Marcovicci, Marilyn Maye,Andrea McArdle, Jane Monheit, Steve Ross, Billy Stritch, and many more. James Naughton served as the evening's Master of Ceremonies. The distinguished house band for the evening was Russ Kassoff on piano, John Arbo on bass, and John Redsecker on drums.

Tonight marks the end of Hostages on CBS. Though the "limited series" has not been officially cancelled, the ratings have been so poor that there's just no way that they're going to bring it back for a second season.

On the two final episodes -- titled "Suspicious Minds" and "Endgame" -- Duncan (Dylan McDermott) discovers Sandrine's (Sandrine Holt) betrayal and decides to use her to save Nina (Francie Swift) and Sawyer (Lola Cook). Before Ellen (Toni Collette) operates on President Kincaid (James Naughton), the First Lady (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) confronts her and forces Ellen to tell the truth about the assassination plot.

What do you think? If you've seen the finale, was it a satisfying ending to the series? Do you think they could have realistically made another season -- either with some of the same characters or, with completely new ones? Would you have...

"Hostages" concludes with two back-to-back episodes Monday (Jan. 6), much the way the season has unwound. It requires leaps of faith from viewers as operatives triple-cross each other. Many die, and even those who are supposed to live happily ever after probably won't. 

Part 1

In "Suspicious Minds," Col. Thomas Blair (Brian White), a leader of plot to assassinate the president, kidnaps FBI Agent Duncan Carlisle's (Dylan McDermott) wife and daughter.

Ah, karma. Carlisle, of course, is the leader of a band of kidnappers who have been holding surgeon Ellen Sanders (Toni Collette) and her family hostage, demanding she kill the president during surgery. 

Carlisle wanted in on the plot so he could harvest the president's bone marrow to save his wife, who is dying from leukemia. Nina (Francie Swift) is the daughter the president (James Naughton), fathered when he raped a reporter in 1978. 

Carlisle has proven to be a decent man,...

CBS has just released details about the two hour finale of Hostages but refer to it as just a "season finale" instead of a "series finale." Does that mean that the "limited series" is coming back for a second season?

On Hostages, Toni Collette plays Ellen Sanders, a doctor who's set to perform a fairly rudimentary surgical procedure on the President (James Naughton). When a group of men (led by Dylan McDermott) invade her home and take her family hostage, she's faced with a lose-lose decision. If she doesn't cause the President to die on the operating table, the terrorists will kill her family. The cast also includes Rhys Coiro, Billy Brown, Sandrine Holt, Tate Donovan, Quinn Shephard, and Mateus Ward.

The Monday night drama got off to a mediocre start in the ratings, drawing a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 7.41 million...

With Monday's episode (Nov. 25), "Hostages" is two-thirds of the way through its run.

CBS is committed to finishing the series, and since 15 episodes were planned this is the 10th, we're 66.66 percent of the way there. In an unusual move, no one is killed this week. And a little more is explained.

For starters, FBI Agent Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott) and Dr. Ellen Sanders (Toni Collette) have more honest conversations with each other than either does with anyone else. She wants to know why no one knows that his terminally ill wife, Nina, is the president's daughter.

Carlisle tells her, and it's shown in flashback how President Kincaid (James Naughton) was a young congressman in 1978. A young journalist went to his hotel room to interview him. He raped her, then tried to buy her off. When she could not be bought, Burton Delaney (Larry Pine) helped her leave the country.

The...

Now in its 16th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook will continue to expand its scope celebrating the best in American singing and songwriting. New this year, the opening night concert will befree, in the David Rubenstein Atrium, on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. 'Live From Lincoln Center,' the Emmy Award-winning program broadcast nationally on PBS stations, will shoot four of the first week's American Songbook concerts in The Allen Room by James Naughton, Lawrence Brownlee, Jason Isbell, and Patina Miller. These performances will be broadcast nationally beginning in Spring 2014. In addition, American Songbook concerts taking place in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center will be live-streamed via httpwatch.lincolncenter.org.

By the end of the eighth episode of "Hostages" Monday (Nov. 11), just what constitutes a "good reason" is anybody's guess.

Are there good reasons why a colonel, the president's chief of staff and the scorned sister of the first lady want the president dead? It's unlikely they share the same motivations, outside of a mad power grab.

Col. Thomas Blair (Brian White) believes that the government should continue to spy on citizens. Since he is in charge of Operation Total Information, he wants it to continue. President Kincaid (James Naughton) wants to stop the spying.

"When the American people find out the extent to which this government has been secretly spying on its own citizens -- surveillance devices in cars, in computers -- they are going to demand my head on a stake," the president says to the colonel and Quentin Creasy (Jeremy Bobb), his chief of staff, who are involved in the assassination plot.

Ellen (Toni Collette) cannot catch a break in Monday's (Nov. 4) episode of "Hostages."

She and her husband, Brian (Tate Donovan), have decided the only way out of the situation with Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott) holding their family hostage is to kill him.

Given that Carlisle's a trained marksman, with an arsenal at his disposal, Ellen a surgeon and Brian a businessman, the odds of successfully killing Carlisle are lousy.

The episode brings the action back to the series' premise: assassinating the president (James Naughton), who appears on screen for the first time in a while.

For those watching closely: A hint was dropped in the third episode that the first lady of the United States (Mary Elizabeth Mastroantonio) could be the power who wants her husband dead.

In this episode, her sister (Joanna Kelly) shows up as an ambassador, who had a fling with the president. The first lady is not the forgiving sort.

Now in its 16th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook will continue to expand its scope celebrating the best in American singing and songwriting. New this year, the opening night concert will befree, in the David Rubenstein Atrium, on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. 'Live From Lincoln Center,' the Emmy Award-winning program broadcast nationally on PBS stations, will shoot four of the first week's American Songbook concerts in The Allen Room by James Naughton, Lawrence Brownlee, Jason Isbell, and Patina Miller. These performances will be broadcast nationally beginning in Spring 2014. In addition, American Songbook concerts taking place in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center will be live-streamed via httpwatch.lincolncenter.org.

Apparently the only character on "Hostages" with a finely honed sense of survival is the president.

Though James Naughton is not in Monday's (Oct. 21) episode, it was an assassination attempt on him, by lethal operation, which kicked off the series. He's managed to stay unscathed while the family taken hostage suffers -- and the kidnappers themselves aren't doing too well -- in "Truth and Consequences."

When we last saw the Sanders family, Ellen (Toni Collette) was outside the depot, about to join her children and board a bus to Canada. She was walking into the station when she exhibits an unusual lapse of judgment by answering her cell phone only to watch Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott) shoot her husband, Brian (Tate Donovan).

This episode picks up with her kids, Morgan and Jake (Quinn Shephard and Mateus Ward) uncertain of whether to board the bus. They decide to wait. A little later,...

If you’re anywhere near the Los Angeles area this Saturday, you may be interested in checking out “An Evening with the Makers of An American Werewolf in London,” a special event that features a screening of the film and a number of guests, including John Landis and Rick Baker:

“The moon seemed perennially full on screen in the 1980s, a decade that saw more than its share of classic—and not-so-classic—werewolf movies including Wolfen (1981), The Howling petrology (1981-1989), The Company of Wolves (1984), Silver Bullet (1985) and Teen Wolf (1985), to name a few. Towering above them all is writer-director John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London (1981). A defining film of the era,American Werewolf proved wildly successful thanks to Landis’ deft balance of comedy and horror, while Rick Baker’s Academy Award–winning makeup effects set the bar for technical mastery. The film’s influence can be felt in...

CBS is advertising Hostages as a "limited series" with 15 episodes. If the ratings are poor, will it be cancelled before they all air? Or, if it's a big hit, will they find a way to make a second season? Time will tell.

On Hostages, the lives of a prominent surgeon's family are threatened by terrorists who want her to kill the President of the United States. The cast of this thriller includes Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott, James Naughton, Rhys Coiro, Billy Brown, Sandrine Holt, Tate Donovan, Quinn Shephard, and Mateus Ward.

The ratings are typically the best indication of a show's likelihood of staying on the air. The higher the ratings (particularly the 18-49 demo), the better the chances for survival. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available -- usually the next day, around 11:30am Est/8:30am Pst. Refresh to...

When are people going to learn to stop underestimating smart women?

That's the main takeaway from Monday's (Oct. 7) episode of "Hostages." Well, that and some true leaps of faith the show asks of viewers.

Dr. Ellen Sanders (Toni Collette) is exceptionally smart, calm and calculating. So why don't people recognize that? 

Why doesn't FBI Agent Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott) realize she is way smarter than he? Sure, he is better armed, and is holding her family hostage. But never is her brain sharper than when she is cornered.

Carlisle and the people he works for spent ages devising a plot to kill President Kincaid (James Naughton). Sanders foils them at every turn.

Since this episode begins by referencing online conspiracy theories about the nurse who allegedly committed suicide in the last episode, we have a few of our own questions to ask.

Is Carlisle a rogue FBI agent as he's...