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Actor Tim Daly married his long-time partner and Madam Secretary co-star Téa Leoni in July, but his sister, Cagney & Lacey alum Tyne Daly, wasn’t invited to the ceremony. The actress spoke to People at the TV Academy’s inaugural Televerse Festival in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday (August 16), where she revealed the reason she wasn’t at her brother’s wedding. “There was a small wedding. Very exclusive, very, very private,” the Judging Amy star explained, adding, “They only had people [there] that they gave birth to or people who gave birth to them,” implying that only the couple’s children and their parents attended the nuptials. Tim shares two children, including fellow Madam Secretary star Sam Daly, with his ex-wife, actress Amy Van Nostrand. Meanwhile, Leoni shares two children from her previous marriage to X-Files actor David Duchovny, including Painkiller actress West Duchovny. While she didn’t get to attend the wedding,...

Timothy Olyphant is starring in a buzzy upcoming series, and the announcement of new cast members has only added to the excitement. The Justified actor has continued to dominate the television landscape, having most recently appeared in the cast of Stick, a golf comedy on Apple TV+.

Olyphant may be known as the greatest Western TV actor of all time, but he's been showing his range lately, and he looks to continue that with the Peacock series, The Five-Star Weekend. Based on the 2023 novel of the same name by bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand, the show will feature a sprawling ensemble cast led by Jennifer Garner.

In addition to Garner, Olyphant, and a host of other talented actors, Varietyrecently announced three more actors to the cast list. Coming off a hot streak of horror movies, Judy Greer will appear in The Five-Star Weekend along with West Duchovny (Painkiller) and Tory Devon Smith...

In January 2025, Peacock revealed its plans to adapt Elin Hilderbrand’s New York Times bestselling novel The Five-Star Weekend into a series. Since then, new details have emerged about the production, including its impressive cast lineup.

The Five-Star Weekend is an upcoming drama series produced by Universal Content Production (UCP). Bekah Brunstetter, who is known for writing for shows such as This Is Us and Maid, is the series creator. She also serves as writer and executive producer. Additionally, Beth Schacter is signed on as a writer and executive producer. Hilderbrand executive produces as well.

Jennifer Garner At WSJ's Future of Everything 2025 | Dia Dipasupil/GettyImages

Golden Globe Award-winning actress Jennifer Garner was the first actor to be attached to the project. She not only stars in the series, but is also an executive producer. She takes on the lead role as Hollis Shaw, a famous food influencer who suffers a terrible loss.

Alison Brie (Community, Glow) is set to star in FX’s as-yet-untitled witness protection pilot, Deadline reports.

In the potential drama, “a violent confrontation drives a high-end D.C. madam (played by Brie) to turn on her partner and enter witness protection in seaside Maine with her adolescent daughter,” according to the official logline.

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The series is based on a previously unproduced script by Sopranos mastermind David Chase.

Peacock’s upcoming series adaptation of the Elin Hilderbrand novel “The Five-Star Weekend” has added three recurring cast members, Variety has learned exclusively.

Judy Greer, West Duchovny, and Tory Devon Smith have all joined the series in recurring roles. The trio join previously announced cast members including: Jennifer Garner, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Gemma Chan, D’Arcy Carden, Harlow Jane, Timothy Olyphant, David Denman, Josh Hamilton, and Rob Huebel.

The official description for the series states:

“Hollis Shaw (Garner), a famed food influencer known for her delicious recipes, impeccable taste, and warm demeanor suffers a devastating loss. Unable to move forward, the death starts to expose the cracks in Hollis’s picture-perfect life—her strained marriage, her complicated relationship with her daughter, and her growing pursuit of validation from her followers. In an effort to overcome grief and find herself again, Hollis gets the idea to host a weekend away at...

Exclusive: Scott Eastwood is joining the mushrooming cast of Paramount’s Regretting You opposite Allison Williams, Dave Franco, Mckenna Grace, Mason Thames and Willa Fitzgerald.

The pic is based on Collen Hoover’s 2019 bestselling novel; the author is an executive producer on the film with Williams, Franco and Grace. The movie hits cinemas October 24.

Regretting You is set against a shocking car wreck that takes the lives of two family members. The event unlocks a series of secrets, lies and regrets, as the people left behind can’t move forward without looking at the past. Regretting You explores what’s left behind after a tragedy, the messiness and grief, but also the beauty of life and love.

Josh Boone is directing and adapted the most recent draft, which was first penned by Susan McMartin (After).

Hoover-mania began at the summer box office...

Right at the top of 2025, Taylor Kitsch landed his latest television series hit with the release of American Primeval on Netflix. The series dropped on Jan. 9 and has remained in the daily top 10 most popular ranking since its release. But if you're a fan of the actor, then you know this isn't his first rodeo on the small screen.

In fact, his breakthrough role was in a television series you might have heard of called Friday Night Lights. Ring any bells? Of course it does! He played the troubled bad boy football player Tim Riggins that stole everyone's hearts. But between American Primeval and Friday Night Lights, Kitsch has starred in plenty more shows.

After watching his new hit Netflix limited series, are you looking to add more Taylor Kitsch to your watch list? We're sharing six of the series he has starred in and suggesting whether to watch or skip each title.

Exclusive: West Duchovny (Painkiller) and Scott Eastwood (Fast X) are in production in Austin, TX on Pearl, an indie drama written and directed by Marcos Efron (And Soon the Darkness), which will also star the Babylon duo of Lukas Haas and Ethan Suplee, along with Vincent Laresca (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood).

Inspired by pictures like Five Easy Pieces, The Sugarland Express, and Hell or High Water, the film follows a young musician, Pearl (Duchovny), who is stuck in an abusive relationship until she meets Eli (Eastwood), a bank robber on the run, who links up with her as he looks to evade law enforcement in rural Texas. Details as to the roles of the other actors are under wraps.

Producers include Chuck Pacheco of Lbi Entertainment, Lavinia Postolache, Vince Maggio, and Eastwood. Loren Albento is serving as executive producer.

An up-and-comer known for roles Hulu’s psychological drama...

A Breaking Bad reunion took place over the weekend, and it included the actors who played the Schraders. Dean Norris and Betsy Brandt, who played Hank and Marie Schrader in the hit AMC series, were back together again in a new photo shared by Norris 11 years after the show ended.

On Instagram, Norris shared an image of himself joined by Brandt. The reunion came from both actors appearing in Portland for Rose City Comic-Con, joined by several other stars of the series. In the caption of his post, Norris said, "Reunited and it feels so good. I love this woman. So good to hang in Portland." The post can be viewed below.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dean Norris (@deanjnorris) View this post on InstagramA post shared by Luis Moncada (@luis_moncada)

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From Chuck McGill's death...

Netflix's Painkiller is the award-nominated TV series that tells the sordid true story of the opioid epidemic, emphasizing Purdue Pharmaceuticals' role in creating the problem. It is similar to the Hulu show Dopesick which was met with critical and audience praise after its release in 2021. The show has a terrific, experienced cast, including stalwarts like Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, and Uzo Aduba. Still, it's a relative newcomer who has the most memorable turn in the harrowing story. West Duchovny is the daughter of X-Files star David Duchovny and Deep Impact and Bad Boys actress Téa Leoni. It is an unexpected show-stealing performance and confirms that Duchovny's trajectory is definitely headed in the right direction. Given that Aduba gives a strong performance and Kitsch is solid per usual, the newcomer who only has a few credits to her name up to this point, makes the most of what's likely the...

West Duchovny plays a young pharmaceutical salesperson named Shannon Schaeffer in Netflix's "Painkiller," which tells a fictionalized version of the story of how OxyContin helped trigger the United States' opioid crisis. Duchovny's nuanced performance has been earning her some buzz, but while West herself is fairly new to the entertainment industry, her parents most definitely are not.

West, 24, is the daughter of David Duchovny - who's starred in multiple series, including "The X-Files" and "Californication" - and Téa Leoni, who is also an actor with roles in "A League of Their Own," "Fraiser," and more. David and Leoni were married from 1997 to 2014. During their time together, they welcomed West in 1999 and a son named Kyd Miller Duchovny in 2002. Despite separating, David and Leoni seem to remain on good terms, coming together for special occasions and vacations with both of their kids.

In an Aug. 10 interview with Women's Wear Daily,...

When Barry Meier first published what would become his explosive book Pain Killer back in 2003, which investigated the billionaire scions behind Purdue Pharma and the drug OxyContin, it was optioned by production firm Anonymous Content. But, the author says, Hollywood wasn’t actually ready to tell the story. “They had a very hard time selling a script at that point, because Purdue had not been indicted yet by the Justice Department,” Meier tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So people in Hollywood were going, ‘Are these good guys; are they bad guys? How do we cast this?’ Well, by 2007, it was pretty clear that this company had pled guilty to a federal crime, and that OxyContin had planted the seed and was the gateway drug to this horrible opioid epidemic that was still unfolding.”

Nearly 20 years later, after Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article “The Family That Built the Empire of...

Uzo Aduba's character, Edie Flowers, is a fictional composite of real investigators who looked into Purdue Pharma and OxyContin. Edie Flowers, the fictional character, opposes the real-life pharmaceutical tycoon Richard Sackler, who was involved in the development of OxyContin. The show's creators wanted a singular hero to represent the investigators' efforts, which is why they created Edie Flowers as the central character for dramatic purposes.

Uzo Aduba stars in Painkiller, which was inspired by the opioid crisis, and some wonder if Aduba's character, Edie Flowers, is based on a real person or is entirely fictional. The Netflix limited series centers around Edie, an investigator with the United States Attorney's Office tasked with looking into Purdue Pharma and the company's manufactured drug, OxyContin. The story is based on Barry Meier's 2003 non-fiction book Pain Killer and Patrick Radden Keefe's 2017 New Yorker article "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain.

Netflix’s new limited series “Painkiller” tackles the Sackler dynasty and Purdue Pharma’s role in the opioid crisis through a fictional retelling of the epidemic — similar to Hulu’s 2021-released “Dopesick.”

“Painkiler” EP and director Pete Berg says the coincidence was simply a matter of timing.

“We were sort of moving at the same pace,” Berg told TheWrap about the Netflix six-episode series and “Dopesick.” “Both shows were in development around the same time, which happens every once in a while and our business. They went first.”

“Dopesick,” which premiered October 2021, stars Kaitlyn Dever, Michael Stuhlbarg and Michael Keaton, whose portrayal of a doctor getting bit by addiction Berg called “shattering.” Centering on similar themes of the destruction prompted by the opioid epidemic, “Painkiller,” which was released Thursday on Netflix, balances its critique of the Sackler family — led by Matthew Broderick’s Richard Sackler — with touching vignettes portrayed by Uzo Aduba,...

Making a compelling show about the opioid crisis was certainly a challenge for “Painkiller” executive producer Eric Newman — especially one that kept viewers engaged for the entirety of the Netflix six-episode limited series without feeling like the show was overly burdensome emotionally.

“Because so many people know someone [or] have lost someone from opioid abuse, it can appear daunting, to jump into a show on the subject, and we were very conscious about not wanting it to feel an exercise in grief,” Newman told TheWrap.

With the hopes that Netflix’s broad reach will share the tragic story of the epidemic that has destroyed so many lives and crushed an uncountable number of families — and “why it can’t happen again” — with as many people as possible, the “Painkiller” team adjusted the series’ tone to ensure viewers would stick it out until the end.

“The tone, the casting, all of it...

Netflix's "Painkiller" tells the story of how one family built a business that helped launch the opioid crisis, and how they evaded real consequences for a long time even amid ongoing legal struggles. The limited series, which premieres on Aug. 10, is based on Patrick Radden Keefe's 2017 New Yorker article "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain" and Barry Meier's book "Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic," which both chronicle how Purdue Pharma - led by the Sackler family - obscured the truth about their product OxyContin.

Are the Characters in "Painkiller" Based on Real People?

"Painkiller" is a scripted series, but it sticks closely to real-life events as it traces the rise and fall of the Sackler family's empire. Most of its main characters are fictional, including Edie Flowers (Uzo Aduba), a lawyer from Virginia who, in the series,...

If the facts don’t rattle you, then surely Painkiller, the new Netflix miniseries about the sketchy rise of OxyContin and the alarming opioid crisis it spawned will. Let’s start with the facts: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 44 people died each day in 2020 “from overdoses involving prescription opioids, totaling more than 16,000 deaths.” Additionally, prescription opioids were involved in nearly 24% of all opioid overdose deaths that year, which was a 16% increase in prescription opioid-involved deaths from 2019 to 2020.

Now, on to Painkiller, the miniseries with director Peter Berg and editor Geofrey Hildrew at the helm. The outing is a fictionalized retelling of the origins and aftermath of America’s opioid crisis, shining the spotlight on the victims, perpetrators, and justice-seekers whose lives were forever altered by the birth of OxyContin.

This might be yet another outing that looks so glaringly at billionaire Richard Sackler,...

Just about everything you need to hear from “Painkiller” is conveyed within its familiar yet hard-hitting first hour. There’s an aptly scathing introduction to the Sackler family, starting with Arthur (Clark Gregg), who transformed the pharmaceutical industry through public-facing advertising campaigns, then his nephew/”disciple,” Richard (Matthew Broderick), who followed his uncle’s playbook when pushing OxyContin to the masses. Next there’s Shannon Schaeffer (West Duchovny), a broke college grad who’s recruited by the Sackler’s company, Purdue, to help push their new wonder drug to doctors. Then there’s Glen Kryger (Taylor Kitsch), a loving husband and father who’s prescribed — you guessed it — OxyContin after an on-the-job injury. And finally, providing the framework for all these stories, there’s Edie Flowers (Uzo Aduba), a lawyer at the U.S. Attorney’s office who was among the first to investigate the tragic impact of OxyContin — and...

While Fentanyl now dominates headlines as the drug wreaking havoc on our society, back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was OxyContin that led conversations about the impact of overprescribed opioids. Formulated, produced, marketed and sold by the family-run organization Purdue Pharma, Oxy quickly grew in popularity because it was marketed as a safe, “non-addictive” opioid. Oxy was then pushed onto patients through respected healthcare professionals who were misinformed about the drug and profited greatly from prescribing it.

Barry Meier’s book “Pain Killer” and the New Yorker article “The Family That Built the Empire of Pain,” by Patrick Radden Keefe, documented the rise of OxyContin and the lasting impact it had here in the U.S., and both serve as the foundation for Netflix’s new limited series “Painkiller.” Directed by Peter Berg, the show is a fictionalized account of the opioid epidemic as told from the perspective of the survivors,...

Cults come in many shapes, sizes and forms, not all of them involving a charismatic figurehead, secluded hideaway, or cache of weapons. Sometimes, as in Netflix’s lively new Sackler family takedown Painkiller, the angels of death are short-skirted sales reps, heroin Barbies who scream their heads off at sales “conferences” and seduce doctors with gifts, hefty speaker fees, and, sometimes, sex. They’re paid handsomely, plied with Porsches and luxury apartments, all for spreading the lethal lies that Oxycontin isn’t terribly addictive and doctors are professionally if not...

‘Painkiller‘ is a limited series directed by Peter Berg, and starring Uzo Aduba and Matthew Broderick. The series has premiered on Netflix on August 10th.

It is based on the investigative news articles “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe and “Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic” by Barry Meier.

Premise

This drama delves into the origins and aftermath of the opioid epidemic in America, shedding light on the individuals responsible, the victims affected, and an investigator determined to uncover the truth.

About the Series

Many of us know how the Purdue Pharma / Sackler saga went down. In the six episodes of “Painkiller” we are offered a recount, in fictionalized form, of the events that left the Sackler family in disgrace thanks to the case against Purdue Pharma concerning the pharmaceutical’s pushing of OxyContin into the market,...

‘Painkiller‘ is a limited series directed by Peter Berg, and starring Uzo Aduba and Matthew Broderick. The series has premiered on Netflix on August 10th.

It is based on the investigative news articles “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe and “Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic” by Barry Meier.

Premise

This drama delves into the origins and aftermath of the opioid epidemic in America, shedding light on the individuals responsible, the victims affected, and an investigator determined to uncover the truth.

About the Series

Many of us know how the Purdue Pharma / Sackler saga went down. In the six episodes of “Painkiller” we are offered a recount, in fictionalized form, of the events that left the Sackler family in disgrace thanks to the case against Purdue Pharma concerning the pharmaceutical’s pushing of OxyContin into the market,...

Adam McKay’s name is nowhere to be found in the credits for Painkiller, for the very good reason that he had nothing to do with it.

Yet it’s hard not to see his influence all over the Netflix miniseries. It’s there in the restless pacing, in the heavy-handed metaphors, in the choice to have the entire thing narrated by a character who all but reaches out from the screen to grab the audience by the lapels and shake them into action.

And it’s there, too, in the accompanying limitations. Painkiller, created by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harper, presumably intends for all that flash to draw attention to its weighty central narrative about the launch of OxyContin and the ensuing opioid epidemic. But it overshoots that mark. The style is so ostentatious it distracts from the substance, even as it means to hammer home how important that substance really is.

It’s hard to say how “Painkiller,” a fictionalized Netflix limited series based on America’s opioid crisis, would play had one never seen the similarly themed and structured – and vastly superior – 2021 Hulu limited series “Dopesick.”

The new show’s misuse of lead actors Uzo Aduba, who plays a crusading U.S. Attorney’s office investigator, and Matthew Broderick, who plays real-life former Purdue Pharma head Richard Sackler – would be evident either way. So would director Peter Berg’s overuse of early aughts-style rock ‘em sock ‘em shaky camera work, quick edits and blue light.

But “Painkiller” likely would not seem so wholly unnecessary if “Dopesick” did not exist.

Unfolding over six hour-long episodes, “Painkiller” makes compelling points about Purdue, the pharmaceutical company that overhyped the painkilling potential of its drug OxyContin while underplaying its addictive qualities. Characters repeatedly call OxyContin what it is: heroin in candy coating. Such frankness...

In the second episode of Netflix’s Painkiller, two sales representatives (West Duchovny and Dina Shihabi) call in on various doctors’ offices to push a pill that promises to reduce pain and enhance quality of life. Like all good sales reps, they come bearing gifts, among them a cute stuffed toy in the shape of a pill, a recurring motif throughout the series meant to represent danger disguised as something innocuous. The drug in question is OxyContin, and the sales reps work for Purdue Pharma, the company that, under the ownership of the now infamous Sackler family, marketed the opioid to millions of Americans to devastating results.

The plot unfolds as Edie Flowers (Uzo Aduba), a jaded state investigator, recounts her findings to the lawyers trying to build a case against the Sacklers. The series attempts to address every possible angle of the scandal, from the company that created the drug,...

Where to Watch Powered by Painkiller is a Netflix miniseries that takes a fictionalized approach to exploring the events that led to the opioid epidemic in America. The show provides multiple perspectives on the story, including investigators, the Sackler family, drug reps, and those affected by addiction. The cast, led by Uzo Aduba and Clark Gregg, delivers standout performances, bringing authenticity and depth to their characters.

Painkiller is a fictionalized retelling of the events that led to the opioid epidemic in America. The show depicts the origins of OxyContin's invention, the marketing scheme that got so many doctors prescribing it and so many patients addicted to it, and how one family started this chain of events. The miniseries tells this story from the perspectives of investigators, the Sackler family, the drug reps, and the people whose lives were destroyed by OxyContin.

Painkiller stars a powerhouse cast led by Uzo Aduba,...

Calling all Bravoholics! Fans will be able to purchase three-day tickets for the upcoming BravoCon beginning Friday, July 21 at 12 p.m. Et/ 9 a.m. Pt, NBCU announced on Thursday.

Fans who decide to purchase tickets on July 21, will have the choice between the three-day “Bravoholic” general admission and “Future Bravolebrity” VIP tickets for the Las Vegas event.

The annual convention will relocate for the 2023 event and take place from Nov. 3-5 at Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip. Fans will have the opportunity to attend over 60 live events that will host their favorite cast members, from several Bravo franchises including “The Real Housewives,” “Vanderpump Rules,” “Below Deck,” “Southern Charm,” “Summer House” and “Winter House.” In between attending live events, fans will have the opportunity to shop around the Bravo Bazaar, attend VIP talent meet and greets and participate in immersive activations.

In addition to panels with the casts, fans...

Painkiller finally has its arrival date. The limited drama was first announced by Netflix in 2021 with the reveal of its cast. Six episodes were produced for the series, which arrives on August 10th.

Starring Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, Dina Shihabi, West Duchovny, John Rothman, Clark Gregg, Jack Mulhern, Sam Anderson, Ana Cruz Kayne, Brian Markinson, Noah Harpster, John Ales, Johnny Sneed, Tyler Ritter, and Carolina Bartczak, the series tells the story of the opioid crisis.Read More…...

The trailer for Netflix’s new limited series “Painkiller” has arrived.

Inspired by real events based on America’s opioid crisis, the look-ahead clip sees an investigator with the US attorney’s office (Uzo Aduba) look into “how something so legally prescribed could be killing so many people.”

Read More: Uzo Aduba Expecting Her First Child With Husband Robert Sweeting: ‘I Am Beyond Excited’

Uzo Aduba as Edie in episode 102 of “Painkiller”. — Photo: Keri Anderson/Netflix

The official synopsis reads: “A fictionalized retelling of events, ‘Painkiller’ is a scripted limited series that explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin.”

Taylor Kitsch as Glen Kryger, Carolina Bartczak as Lily Kryger in episode 101 of “Painkiller”. — Photo: Keri Anderson/Netflix West Duchovny as Shannon Shaeffer in episode...

Netflix has dropped the official trailer for the new series Painkiller. Starring Matthew Broderick and Uzo Aduba, the series is inspired by the real-life opioid crisis that has plagued America in recent years. The limited series will premiere on Netflix on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. For now, you can get a sneak peek at the show by watching the brand new trailer below.

Per the synopsis, Painkiller is a fictionalized retelling of events that "explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin. [It is an] examination of crime, accountability, and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans."

Painkiller is based on the book Pain Killer by Barry Meier and the New Yorker Magazine article "The Family That Built the Empire of Pain" by Patrick Radden Keefe. The...

There’s a thin line between pain and pleasure, and if you’re not careful, people looking to get rich off your threshold will take advantage. Netflix‘s new Painkiller trailer looks at the ongoing opioid crisis, with the war between medicine and money raging like roaring wildfire in certain parts of the world. According to Netflix, Painkiller presents a 6-episode series exploring the “how” and the “who” of the epidemic.

Here’s the official synopsis for Painkiller:

A fictionalized retelling of events, Painkiller is a scripted limited series that explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin. An examination of crime, accountability, and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans, Painkiller is based on the book “Pain Killer” by Barry Meier...

The national opioid crisis has inspired a new series that hopes to lead to change. On Tuesday, Netflix released the trailer for Painkiller, a six-episode fictional series inspired by the real events that led to the rise of Purdue Pharma and Oxycontin.

Uzo Aduba plays the lead prosecutor Edie Flowers, who works to take down Purdue Pharma, as her character accuses the company of “doing the same as every crack dealer in America, but they’re getting rewarded for it.”

The trailer follows Matthew Broderick in the role of Purdue...

"The more you prescribe, the more you'll help." Netflix has revealed a trailer for their series Painkiller, a scripted account about the origins of the opioid crisis in America. The series is directed by Pete Berg, yes that Pete Berg, director of the movies Friday Night Lights, Hancock, Battleship, Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Patriots Day. Over its six episodes, Painkiller sets out to unpack the "how" and "who" of the epidemic. "This is the origin story of the collision between medicine and money that allowed it to happen. One of the many things that I thought was missing [from the conversation] was the introduction of the drug into mainstream medicine. How Arthur Sackler, this psychiatrist... who specialized in lobotomies, started to realize that the future was in pills — specifically in advertising pills. Whoever could market their drug better was going to make the most money." The tone of the series acts as...

Netflix this morning dropped the official trailer for the six-part limited series “Painkiller” starring Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, Dana Shihabi and West Duchovny that premieres August 10 on the streamer. The scripted series – inspired by real events and based on the book “Pain Killer” by Barry Meier and the New Yorker magazine article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe, both of whom are consultants on the series – surrounds America’s opioid crisis and the Sackler family. All six installments are directed by two-time Emmy nominee Pete Berg, who also serves as an executive producer. See the official trailer above.

The series will highlight “the stories of the perpetrators, victims and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin.” “Painkillers” also examines “the crime, accountability and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans.” Writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and...

Uzo Aduba shot to stardom ten years ago for her work as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on Netflix's groundbreaking drama Orange is the New Black.

The role won Aduba countless awards, and now, the star is reteaming with Netflix for a fictionalized retelling of the opioid crisis that plagues the U.S.

Netflix went public with the official trailer and premiere date for the series on Tuesday morning, and it looks to be another phenomenal performance from Aduba.

The series is set to premiere its entire six-episode-run in Netflix territories around the globe on August 10.

On the casting news front, the series is stacked.

Aduba's Edie goes up against Matthew Broderick's take on Richard Sackler, and let's just say the pair are very different, which adds to the dynamic the two stars bring to the show.

The cast includes Sam Anderson as Raymond Sackler, Taylor Kitsch as Glen Kryger,...

It’s Matthew Broderick like you’ve never seen him (and never wanted to see him) before.

The actor takes center stage in Netflix’s just-released trailer for Painkiller, a six-episode limited series about the origins of America’s opioid crisis, looming large as a key figure in the rise of OxyContin.

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Described...

Painkiller, Netflix’s anticipated and upcoming new limited series about the U.S. opioid crisis, has dropped its first trailer.

The six-episode series releasing Aug. 10 from the EP team of Eric Newman (Narcos, True Story) and director Pete Berg (Friday Night Lights, Spenser Confidential) is inspired by real events amid the country’s opioid crisis and features a cast including Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch (marking a Fnl reunion with Berg), Dina Shihabi, West Duchovny and John Rothman.

Alex Gibney (The Crime of the Century, Going Clear) also executive produces with creators, showrunners and writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood).

The trailer introduces Aduba’s character as Edie, the investigator leading the case against Purdue Pharma, with Broderick playing Richard Sackler, a scion of the billionaire family that controls Purdue and a senior executive at the company.

Sackler explains that human behavior is...

Netflix’s upcoming limited series “Painkiller” is lifting the veil on America’s opioid crisis, investigating the role of one family in making OxyContin “the No. 1 opioid in the country.”

“All of human behavior is essentially comprised of two things: run from pain, run toward pleasure; pain, pleasure,” Matthew Broderick’s Richard Sackler said in the series’ official trailer. “If we place ourselves right there between pain and pleasure, we will never have to worry about money again.”

As the Sackler dynasty’s Purdue Pharma recruits a batch of fresh-faced sales workers who they claim will convince doctors to “take pain seriously,” an investor from the U.S. attorneys office (Uzo Aduba) is determined to take the family responsible for countless deaths down.

“You lie, you hurt people, you go down,” Aduba said. “They are doing the exact same thing as crack dealers but they are getting rewarded it.”

Also...

New York City Mayor Eric Adams with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro on the opening night of the 22nd edition of the Tribeca Film Festival before the screening of Nenad Cicin-Sain’s Kiss the Future, edited by Eric Burton Photo: Arturo Holmes, Getty Images

Tribeca co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal attended with Brendan Fraser (Oscar-winner for Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale), Shirin Neshat, West Duchovny, Elvira Lind, Alfredo Jaar, Patty Jenkins, Mark Ruffalo, and Peter Coyote the Opening Night Gala of the 22nd edition of the Tribeca Film Festival screening of Nenad Cicin-Sain’s terrific documentary Kiss The Future, which includes on-camera interviews with U2 members Bono, The Edge, and Adam Clayton, plus Bill Clinton, Christiane Amanpour, Enes Zlatar (Sikter), Srdan Gino Jevdević (Kulture Shock), Vesna Andree Zaimović (journalist), and Senad Zaimović (editor-in-chief of Rat Art).

Eric Burton with Anne-Katrin Titze on the multicultural diversity in Sarajevo:...

Warning: Spoilers for the season 1 finale of Saint X.After a season full of twists, the Saint X finale is now available to stream on Hulu and offers the answers and sense of closure viewers have been waiting for. Emily's plan to exploit Clive for information inevitably unravels the more she connects with him throughout the show's 8 episodes and leads to an unexpected friendship. Once Clive realizes that Emily is actually Claire, the sister of Alison Thomas, he reveals everything in exchange for her disappearing from his life for good. Not only was Clive uninvolved in Alison's accidental death, but his relationship with Edwin runs much deeper than the audience was originally led to believe.

The show's final moments include a series of emotional flashbacks between the two, as Clive sits by his former friend's bedside and lets go of the past once and for all. Josh Bonzie plays Clive...

The Tribeca Film Festival has announced the 2023 jury members in the 15 different competition categories for this year’s event. Those categories include film, immersive “storyscapes,” games, audio storytelling and more. Among the jury members are Brendan Fraser, Stephanie Hsu, Zoey Deutch, Dianna Agron, Zazie Beetz, Kate Siegel, Mark Duplass, Stephen Kay, Nina Dobrev, Clea DuVall, Piper Perabo, Chance the Rapper, Noah Centineo, Jeremy O. Harris, Andrew Ahn and Chloe Grace Moretz.

Alongside the competitive awards, the fest will present the Nora Ephron Award — created to honor the spirit and vision of the legendary filmmaker and writer. The winning films, projects, filmmakers, storytellers, and actors in each category will be announced at the Tribeca Festival ceremony on June 15th.

“We are thrilled to announce the jury for the 2023 Tribeca Festival,” said Tribeca Festival Executive Vice President of Artist Relations and Special Events Nancy Lefkowitz. “The diversity of perspectives and experiences across...

This article contains spoilers for all episodes of Saint X.

Saint X will truly have audiences guessing until the very last moments. The series, which is adapted from Alexis Schaitkin’s novel, is told through multiple timelines with our main characters and after eight episodes, we finally have the truth that Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and audiences have been seeking in the finale, “Faraway.”

Throughout, we have seen how Alison’s (West Duchovny) mysterious death during a Caribbean vacation with her family has ruined the lives of multiple people, who are still struggling with the trauma of what happened to this day. Emily’s search for the truth leads us all down a rabbit hole, but we learn that closure can only go so far, even when the answers are given to you.

What Happened Between Gogo and Edwin?

We find out that the real reason Edwin (Jayden Elijah) wanted to...

Oliver (Martin Short), Charles (Steve Martin) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ season 2 (Photo by: Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

New seasons of Only Murders in the Building, The Kardashians, and This Fool will premiere this summer on Hulu. The streaming service released premiere dates and plot descriptions for its summer 2023 programming lineup, which includes the return – after a decade-long break – of the popular animated comedy Futurama.

Hulu’s roster of new films joining the streaming service this summer includes White Men Can’t Jump (the remake) and Flamin’ Hot, the directorial debut of Eva Longoria. Hulu’s also set summer premiere dates for the documentaries Queenmaker: The Making of An It Girl, The Jewel Thief, Anthem, The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing, and Vanderpump, and Jelly Roll: Save Me.

Hulu’S Summer 2023 Series:

How I Met Your Father

Premiere Date: May 23, 2023 (One episode weekly)

Finale date: July 11, 2023 (Two episode...

New reality show “Drag Me To Dinner” will make its debut on Hulu on May 31. In each episode, two teams of drag queens will compete to see who can throw the most fabulous dinner party. The champion will be crowned by judges Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka, drag superstar Bianca Del Rio, and Haneefah Wood. Harris and husband Burtka — who is an actor and cookbook author — serve as executive producers. Actor, comedian, and drag king Murray Hill will host the series.

Watch the “Drag Me To Dinner” trailer: 30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com

The final season of “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” will premiere on Prime Video on July 14. The popular spy series stars John Krasinski who has graduated from spy to deputy director of the CIA. The fourth season will see Clancy’s iconic character cope with drug cartels, terrorist organizations, a series of suspicious black ops, and a domestic conspiracy.

Netflix has another limited series on tap for later this year, and it's sure to be one of the most talked-about shows of the year.

The streaming service on Monday dropped the first look photos and premiere date for Painkiller.

The highly-anticipated drama touches down on Thursday, August 10.

Netflix stresses that the series is "a fictionalized retelling of events."

Painkiller "explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin."

"An examination of crime, accountability, and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans, Painkiller is based on the book Pain Killer by Barry Meier and the New Yorker Magazine article 'The Family That Built the Empire of Pain' by Patrick Radden Keefe."

The series is executive produced by Eric Newman, Pete Berg, Alex Gibney,...

Netflix has just released an exclusive first look at the new limited series drama that’s due to hit the service later this summer. Painkiller features an all-star cast and deals with one of the many crises that currently plagues our world — the opioid epidemic. The series will feature six episodes that clock in at an hour an episode. It stars an ensemble that includes Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, Dina Shihabi, West Duchovny, and John Rothman.

The official synopsis from Netflix reads,

“A fictionalized retelling of events, Painkiller is a scripted limited series that explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin. An examination of crime, accountability, and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans, Painkiller is based on the...

The Netflix six-part limited series “Painkiller” starring Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, Dana Shihabi and West Duchovny will premiere August 10 on the streamer, it was announced this morning. The scripted series – inspired by real events and based on the book “Pain Killer” by Barry Meier and the New Yorker magazine article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe, both of whom are consultants on the series – surrounds America’s opioid epidemic and the Sackler family. All six installments are directed by two-time Emmy nominee Peter Berg, who also serves as an executive producer.

The series will highlight “the stories of the perpetrators, victims and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin.” “Painkillers” also examines “the crime, accountability and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans.” Writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster are the creators/showrunners, while...

Matthew Broderick and Uzo Aduba are teaming up in Netflix’s limited series Painkiller, which will make its debut on Thursday, Aug. 10, the streamer announced Monday.

According to the official synopsis, Painkiller is a fictionalized retelling of events “that explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin.” The series serves as “an examination of crime, accountability, and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans.”

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Netflix has unveiled the first look images for “Painkiller,” a new series that explores the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America through a fictional retelling of events.

The six-part limited series, which stars Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, Dina Shihabi, John Rothman and West Duchovny, will premiere on Netflix Aug. 10.

Billed as an “examination of crime, accountability, and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans,” the series will spotlight stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin,” per the official logline.

Courtesy of Keri Anderson/Netflix

The scripted series is based on the book of the same name by Barry Meier as well as Patrick Radden Keefe’s article in the New Yorker Magazine titled “The Family That Built the Empire of Pain,” which exposes the Sackler Dynasty’s pivotal role in the opioid epidemic.

We’re hooked on this psychological drama/mystery about the decades-old cold case of free-spirited first-year college student Alison Thomas (West Duchovny) who vanished while vacationing with her family on an idyllic Caribbean Island, Saint X. Twenty years later, her younger sister Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a documentary editor, is determined to find out what happened, which worries her parents, Mia (Betsy Brandt) and Bill (Michael Park). The thriller unfolds in a mix of flashbacks to Alison’s final days, and Emily’s present-day hunt for answers. “It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” Brandt says. “On the island, there’s a little bit of a whodunit. You see a cast of characters and everybody’s a suspect. The 20-year jump was something that so interested me. To see this couple, and this woman, pick up the pieces and keep living her life… you have to make a choice every day...