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Chicago – Last week, the world woke to the news that Phil Donahue, talk show pioneer in the 1970s and beyond, had passed away at age 88. Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com took an Exclusive Portrait of the talker in 2010, and the Portrait is republished as a contributions memorial to Phil Donahue.

Midwestern at heart, Donahue was born in Cleveland, and found his way to Notre Dame University, where he graduated in 1957. He began his broadcasting career in Cleveland, but his break came as nationwide notice was focused on his interviews, subsequent work as a news anchor in Dayton, Ohio, and as a stringer for the Walter Cronkite-era CBS Evening News. His Dayton radio show “Conversation Piece” early on scored a triple historical talk coup with then presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson and activist leader Malcolm X.

Phil Donahue in Chicagoland, 2010

Photo credit: Joe...

Phil Donahue, a pioneering figure in the world of daytime television, passed away at 88 on August 18, 2024, at his Upper East Side residence in Manhattan.

The legendary talk show host, known for his groundbreaking work on The Phil Donahue Show, succumbed to a long illness, as his family confirmed.

Donahue’s influence on the television industry was profound, as was the fortune he amassed over his illustrious career.

At the time of his death, Phil Donahue’s net worth was estimated to be around $150 million. This considerable fortune was primarily accumulated through his pioneering work in daytime television, particularly with The Phil Donahue Show, which first aired on November 6, 1967.

Originally broadcast from Dayton, Ohio, the show revolutionized the talk show format by introducing a live studio audience and tackling controversial and socially relevant topics long before they were commonly discussed on television.

Donahue’s ability to engage with complex issues like eating disorders,...

Phil Donahue, the celebrated King of Daytime Talk who altered the direction of talk television as host of the syndicated “The Phil Donahue Show” and later the redubbed “Donahue” for nearly three decades, died Sunday evening (August 18) following a long and undisclosed illness. He was 88 and surrounded by family, including his wife of 44 years, the actor, producer, author and social activist Marlo Thomas.

From 1969 when his show was picked up for national syndication until leaving the air in 1996, Donahue presided as the unquestioned pioneer of a type of television discussion that for the first time incorporated studio audience interaction as an intrinsic part of the mix. That audience was predominantly packed with women whose opinions were taken seriously. Both “Phil Donahue” and “Donahue” were by design swathed in controversial, issue-driven topics. He was the first to give voice to gay rights activists, feminists and antiwar protestors as well as abortion rights advocates and opponents.

Phil Donahue, the trailblazing talk show host who revolutionized daytime television, passed away on Sunday night.

Donahue, known as the King of Daytime Talk, died peacefully at home.

He was reportedly with his wife of 44 years, actress Marlo Thomas, and his family, following a long illness, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

His family confirmed the news on Monday, August 19, and requested donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.

Donahue tackled contemporary and often controversial subjects, actively involving his studio audience by moving through the crowd with a microphone.

This approach allowed him to seamlessly integrate their questions and comments into the ongoing discussion, skillfully blending audience interaction with his insightful commentary,

Phil Donahue’s revolutionary career in television

Donahue began his illustrious career in 1967 when he launched The Phil Donahue Show in Dayton, Ohio. The program, later renamed Donahue, quickly gained notoriety...

Another great has been lost: Phil Donahue, daytime TV icon who paved the way for many who came after him, has passed away.

For many 70’s and 80’s babies, Phil was a big part of the TV life, and his death is truly a heartbreak.

His family shared the news on The Today Show on August 19th, along with the cause of his passing at 88.

He leaves quite the legacy behind.

Phil Donahue attends the American Icon Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on May 19, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images) Phil Donahue’s Cause Of Death: Long Illness Took The Talk Show Host

The legendary TV talk show host died on Sunday August 18th, after battling a long illness.

While they didn’t provide further details on his health battle, it sounds like his passing was expected, as was able to pass away...

Phil Donahue, the groundbreaking talk show host who revolutionized daytime television, died on Sunday at his home in New York City after a prolonged illness. He was 88 years old.

Donahue’s innovative approach to television talk shows, which included engaging his studio audience in discussions on controversial topics, paved the way for future hosts and transformed the landscape of daytime programming. His show, The Phil Donahue Show, aired for nearly 30 years from 1967 to 1996.

Born Phillip John Donahue on December 21, 1935, in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his career in broadcasting as a radio and TV news anchor in his home state. His breakthrough came in 1967 when he launched The Phil Donahue Show on Wlwd TV in Dayton, Ohio.

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Donahue’s format, which encouraged audience participation and tackled sensitive subjects like women’s rights, quickly gained popularity.

Oprah Winfrey is an icon in every definition of the word. Being a legend in the history of daytime television, her programs have single-handedly entertained entire countries of people. She has changed lives and inspired the careers of many. However, it is important to remember that even icons get inspired by those before them.

Oprah Winfrey. Credit: Apple TV+

For Winfrey, Phil Donahue was who inspired her to go into the line of work that she did. While some would stay quiet, she has done no such thing and has been very vocal about how thankful she is to the host for how he affected her. From telling it to his face, to voicing it after his passing.

Oprah Winfrey’s Life Was Changed By Phil Donahue

During a segment of her show, Oprah Winfrey was interviewing Phil Donahue when she decided to stray away from the usual format and...

TV personalities are paying their respects to pioneering talk show host, Phil Donahue.

The late daytime television icon, who hosted more than 6,000 iterations of The Phil Donahue Show from 1967 until 1996, died on Sunday night at his New York City home after suffering from a long illness. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, as well as four children from his previous marriage to Margaret Cooney. His youngest son, James, died in 2014.

Following the news of Donahue’s death, many who have followed his footsteps took to social media to celebrate his legacy.

“There wouldn’t have been an Oprah Show without Phil Donahue being the first to prove that daytime talk and women watching should be taken seriously. He was a pioneer. I’m glad I got to thank him for it. Rest in peace Phil,” wrote Oprah Winfrey.

Sally Jessy Raphael, who rose to fame in...

Phil Donahue, the pioneering daytime TV talk show host who welcomed audience participation and was willing to engage in any topic — from economic theory to adult diaper babies — died on Sunday at his New York City home, The New York Times reports. He was 88.

A representative for the family, Susan Arons, confirmed his death. An exact cause was not given, though the family did say he died after a long illness. Following the announcement, Donahue’s wife, actress Marlo Thomas, thanked friends for the “beautiful messages of love and support...

Phil Donahue, known as the “King of Daytime Talk,” has died at the age of 88. He passed away in his home surrounded by family on Sunday, August 18. To remember the daytime television legend, here is a look at the talk show host’s long, successful career.

A Look Back At Phil Donahue’s Career

The daytime talk show host kickstarted his career in the late 1950s. He got his start on radio and television before pitching his own talk show, The Phil Donahue Show. The show was created in 1967 in Dayton, Ohio. Over the years, he gained credibility for talking about controversial topics. He also took viewers behind bars at the Ohio State Penitentiary in 1971, which gained him a lot of recognition among journalists.

The show’s hour-long broadcast dedicated itself to single issues. Each episode would cover things like abuse in the Catholic Church, race relations, and feminism, all hot topics at the time.

Sad news in the celebrity world as TMZ is reporting that talk show legend, Phil Donahue has passed away at the age of 88.

His family has confirmed this, and his passing was announced during “The Today Show” in the morning of Monday, August 19.

Phil Donahue Was Surrounded By His Family

A statement was shared on The Today Show, written by Donahue’s loved ones, which included his wife of over four decades, Marlo Thomas.

It was said that those closest to him were by his side when he died, which was reportedly the evening of Sunday, August 18.

It was said that Phil’s passing followed a long battle with an illness, and no other information was provided in regard to the cause of his death.

Phil Donahue’s Talk Show Legacy

Donahue hosted The Phil Donahue Show for 29 years and was known as a trailblazer for television talk shows in this format.

The Bold and the Beautiful alum and daytime talk show host Phil Donahue died. The daytime legend was 88 years old.

Rest In Peace

Today reported that Donahue died on Sunday, August 18, following a long illness. He was surrounded by his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, children, and grandchildren, along with his dog, Charlie.

In 1991, Donahue played a TV host in one episode of B&b, which long-time viewers may remember. The host pioneered the modern talk show format, which includes audience participation. He hosted his show, The Phil Donahue Show, and later, Donahue, from 1967 to 1996. For his work, People reported, he won 20 Emmy Awards, 10 as a host, and 10 for the show. The show rebooted briefly on MSNBC from 2002-2003.

President Joe Biden awarded Donahue the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor, last May. He received the medal alongside Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky and actress Michelle Yeoh.

The former Phil Donahue Show host passed away on Sunday night surrounded by his loved ones.Mega

Legendary TV talk show host Phil Donahue has died aged 88.

RadarOnline.com can reveal Donahue, who first reinvented the TV talk show format as the host of The Phil Donahue Show in the 1960s and beyond, passed away on Sunday night at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan following a long illness.

Donahue's family confirmed his death in a touching statement on Monday morning.Mega

His family said in a statement: "Donahue died at his home surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie."

Donahue pioneered the modern format of issue-based daytime talk shows – and was the first to add the staple of audience participation – when The Phil Donahue Show first premiered in November 1967.

His show...

People.com has just reported that daytime talk show host icon Phil Donahue has passed away at the age of 88. In a statement provided by his family, they confirmed that Donahue had “died in his home surrounded by his family including his wife of 44 years — actress Marlo Thomas — as well as his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie.” The statement also confirmed that he had “passed away peacefully following a long illness.” The family also requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.

Those of you who grew up in the 90s probably caught the tail-end of his famous talk show Donahue, which he created and hosted as it evolved from the local series The Phil Donahue Show from Dayton, Ohio, in 1967 to the New York City institution, which concluded in...

The iconic television talk show host Phil Donahue, who was the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show (later known simply as Donahue), has died. He was 88. As reported by Today, Donahue’s family confirmed the star passed away peacefully on Sunday night (August 18) following a long illness. He was said to have died at home surrounded by his family, “including his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren, and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie.” Donahue’s family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund. Born on December 21, 1935, in Cleveland, Ohio, Donahue began his broadcasting career in 1957 as a production assistant at Kyw radio and television based in Cleveland. After graduating, he became program director for Wabj radio in Adrian, Michigan, before moving on to become a stringer for the CBS Evening News and,...

Phil Donahue, whose “The Phil Donahue Show” created the blueprint for highly caffeinated, issues-based daytime TV talk shows in its nearly 30-year syndicated run, has died, his family confirmed to “The Today Show” on Monday. He was 88.

The pioneering “Phil Donahue Show” first aired in 1969, was renamed “Donahue” five years later and ran for 29 years. The host’s penchant for energetically moving among the studio audience, soliciting opinions with a microphone in hand, would inspire even wilder formats from more tabloid-focused imitators like Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Maury Povich and, yes, Oprah Winfrey, who credits Donahue as her inspiration.

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As his acolytes ratcheted up the circus atmosphere, Donahue’s frenetic, audience-participation style began to look downright civilized by comparison, and the show ended in 1996. But Donahue was much more than just a talk-show host and kept busy after...

Phil Donahue, the legendary television host, has passed away at the age of 88.

His family announced the news on the Today show, sharing he passed on Sunday (August 18) after a long illness. He died at home surrounded by family, including his wife of over 4 decades Marlo Thomas, his kids, grandkids, and his dog Charlie.

Head inside to find out more…

You may recognize him from his talk show The Phil Donahue Show, which began airing nationally back in 1969. It was later rebranded Donahue, where it ran nationally until 1996. Over the course of his lengthy talk show career, he earned nine Daytime Emmy Awards, 21 total nominations and a primetime Emmy for his special, Donahue and Kids.

Our thoughts are with Phil Donahue‘s friends, family, and loved ones during this difficult time. Rip.

Phil Donahue, the longtime host of the trend-setting TV talk show The Phil Donahue Show, died Sunday evening following a long illness, surrounded by family including his longtime wife, actor Marlo Thomas.. He was 88.

His death was announced on The Today Show this morning. Today shared a statement from Donahue’s family.

Calling Donahue “a daytime staple” who pioneered a format that had been replicated by others, Today hosts noted that Donahue had been presented a Medal of Honor by President Joe Biden just this summer.

Donahue was married to Thomas for more than 40 years, having met when the That Girl star met Donahue when she was a guest on his talk show.

The family statement reads, “Groundbreaking TV talk show journalist Phil Donahue died Sunday night at home surrounded by his wife of 44 years Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved Golden Retriever Charlie. Donahue was...

Phil Donahue, the talk show innovator who changed the conversation and the course of daytime television with the weekday program he hosted for nearly three decades, has died. He was 88.

Donahue died Sunday night at his New York City home following a long illness, his family announced.

Survivors include his wife of 44 years, That Girl star Marlo Thomas. They met when she was a guest on his show — he was a divorced single father living with and raising his four sons at the time — before marrying in May 1980.

The Cleveland native hosted more than 6,000 iterations of The Phil Donahue Show, from the first, broadcast from a Dayton, Ohio station on Nov. 7, 1967, through the last, seen nationwide on syndication via Multimedia Entertainment, on Sept. 13, 1996.

Donahue addressed contemporary and controversial topics and invited his studio audience to participate, carrying his microphone into the crowd. He became adept at interweaving their questions and...

Successful national talk show host Phil Donahue, who entertained, challenged and informed two generations of daytime television viewers, died on Sunday night following a long illness, Variety has confirmed. He was 88.

The news of his death was first announced Monday morning on the “Today” show. “Groundbreaking TV talk show journalist Phil Donahue died Sunday night at home surrounded by his wife of 44 years Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever Charlie,” his family said in a statement. “Donahue was 88 years old and passed away peacefully following a long illness.”

The pioneering, issue-oriented “The Phil Donahue Show” was picked up for national syndication in 1969, was redubbed “Donahue” in 1974 and eventually reached more than 200 stations across the country. It ran until 1996, when the daytime talkshow landscape had changed radically into a tabloid circus and competitors including Oprah Winfrey had drawn away his female viewership. While Donahue was...

The 1970s– an era of “unrest and mistrust, fear and violence,” says the opening minutes of Colin and Cameron Cairnes’ Late Night with the Devil, accurately reflecting the viewpoint of the burgeoning moral panic of the time. Fear mongering-ish as that sounds, after a decade of Christianity in crisis mode– including a 1966 Times cover asking, “Is God Dead?”– and the “Satanic” cult murders by the Manson Family in 1969, the ’70s were a time of peak (at least until then) obsession with all things occult, planting the seeds and ultimately leading to what would be known as the full-blown Satanic Panic in the decade to follow. The devil was believed to be real, and he was to be feared, expelled, and/or worshiped– in real life and reflected in dozens and dozens of horror films and countless categories of other media within that era.

Late Night with the Devil toys with all this,...

Ron Weiner, a television director at WGN Chicago for 25 years and three-time Daytime Emmy-winning director for talkshow “Donahue,” died on March 18 in Baltimore, Md. He was 93.

Weiner directed shows including “Donahue,” “An Evening With B.B. King,” “Garfield Goose and Friends” and produced “Bozo’s Circus.” He was nominated for four Emmys and won three for “Donahue.”

Weiner’s began his career in television in 1956 when he landed a job as a prop man at the Chicago Tribune-owned WGN Television. He joined the technical staff and worked his way up to WGN staff director by 1960. Weiner then directed several programs in WGN’s schedule, from the sign-on routine to news, children’s programs, interview shows, and broadcasts of Cubs games and other sports events.

After the success of “Donahue,” Weiner worked on talk shows and pilot productions for Tribune Broadcasting. There, he directed “How to Be a No-Limit Person” with Wayne Dyer...

What would you do if you found your doppelganger in the wild? That’s the question that opens the Netflix thriller series Triptych. When forensics agent Becca Fuentes arrives at a crime scene to find the dead perpetrator, Aleida Trujano shares her birthday and face, she’s sent down a twisty path toward the truth. Along the way, she’s helped by stripper Tamara, who also mysteriously has the same face and birthday as Becca. With the realization that she and the other two women are triplets separated at birth, Becca and Tamara set out to solve the mystery around their lineage and the sinister forces that conspired to tear the family apart.

While the Netflix show takes a turn toward the fantastic, the basic story of Triptych is, as the opening suggests, based on the true story of real scientific experiments conducted in New York in the 1960s and '70s.

Legendary talk show host Jerry Springer has died at age 79. Springer's eponymous "Jerry Springer" show became a sensation in the 1990s, often criticized and praised in equal measure for bringing taboo topics to daytime TV. In a statement to Popsugar, Springer's family confirmed that the host died "peacefully" at home in suburban Chicago.

"Jerry's ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word," the family's spokesperson said. "He's irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart, and humor will live on."

Before his time as talk show royalty, Springer was a lawyer and politician. He had an unsuccessful congressional bid in 1970 but was elected to the Cincinnati City Council in 1971. In 1977, he was chosen by the council to...

Jerry Springer, the controversial and influential talk-show host who fused chaos and entertainment while showcasing the underbelly of America on daytime television, died Thursday at the age of 79.

Springer’s family confirmed his death in a statement to Rolling Stone, noting that he died peacefully at his home in the suburbs of Chicago; while no cause of death was provided, it was reported recently that Springer had been diagnosed with cancer.

“Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried, whether that was politics,...

Jerry Springer, the former Cincinnati news anchor and mayor who came to preside over the controversial and extremely profitable talk show bearing his name, has died. He was 79.

According to NBC affiliate Wlwt, where he once worked as a news anchor, Springer died peacefully Thursday at his home in the Chicago suburbs.

“The Jerry Springer Show” began its multi-decade run in 1991 and, in 1998 at the height of its popularity, beat “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in the ratings, drawing 12 million viewers.

Like Geraldo Rivera, Springer signed on for a show that he thought seemed like the logical next step in his journalism career — a show not unlike “Donahue” that would take a serious look at a variety of important issues. But as with “Geraldo,” the pressure to score big in the ratings pretty quickly meant appealing to the lowest common denominator — Springer and his new producer, Richard Dominick, who’d worked at the Weekly World News,...

John Wayne gets a bit of a bad rap as an actor. Yes, he mostly made star vehicles after his breakthrough performance in John Wayne's "Stagecoach," but he was willing to challenge himself (and his audience) by playing unlikable protagonists in Howard Hawks' "Red River" and Ford's "The Searchers." He had an acute understanding of film acting, and, according to Ron Howard, could make minor adjustments on the fly that would turn an otherwise ordinary scene into a classic Wayne moment.

But did anyone want to see John Wayne play King Lear on Broadway? Not particularly. At least, not because they thought it would be good.

Wayne was not a classically trained actor. He found his way to motion pictures because Tom Mix owed a favor to legendary USC football coach Howard Jones. When Wayne was forced to quit the team, Mix and Ford brought the young man into their extended company.

Andrew V. McLaglan's 1963 film "McLintock!" is a loose Western adaptation of William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" (c. 1592), a problematic play to say the least. The story of Shakespeare's play involves a willful and bitter young woman named Kate who refuses to settle down and get married. This upsets Kate's younger sister Bianca, as she will not be permitted to marry until Kate is married. A man named Petruchio is hired to, as the title says, tame the shrew, transforming an outspoken and willful woman into a dutiful wife. By the end, he does. One can easily see the play's misogynist leanings. Critically speaking, one might be able to see a satire at play, however. Or perhaps it's merely sexist. 

"McLintock!" is equally tetchy, with John Wayne playing the Petruchio role, and Maureen O'Hara playing Kate. The story was altered somewhat to explain that Kate and Petrucho, called G.

When it comes to classic collaborations between actors and directors, few can compete with John Ford and John Wayne. The two made movies together for most of their working careers. Even though Ford had a complicated working relationship with Wayne according to most accounts, bullying and belittling him when the cameras were off, they shared a great affection for each other between movies. And at their best, those movies are unbeatable.

Ford had a bit of a reputation for his behavior on sets, coming from his tendency to yell or roughhouse. If Ford could be a bit of a heel on set, a tyrannical bully with a megaphone, he was beloved to many of his longtime actors, the wide-ranging community that became known as the John Ford Stock Company. In many ways, his behavior was probably excused as a lot of masculine ribbing, men ridiculing each other in the tradition...

The end was in sight for John Wayne when he took the part of aging gunfighter J.B. Books in Don Siegel's 1976 Western "The Shootist." He was only 69, but the quintessential American movie star hadn't been nice to his body. Decades of drinking and smoking had taken their toll. He'd lost a lung and a couple of ribs to cancer in the 1960s, but had evidently been in remission since. Still, his energy was flagging. He'd struggled throughout the filming of "Rooster Coburn," and was being asked to literally hop back on a horse in the elevated altitude of Carson City, Nevada. He had not been diagnosed with a return of the cancer that would kill him three years later, but The Duke looked a deathly shadow of his former, swaggering self.

Culturally, there was a sense that people should celebrate Wayne while he was still around (for those willing...

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If Luke Macfarlane had to describe his career so far, he would call it “chaos theory.” In 2005, shortly after graduating from Juilliard, he was cast in Over There, an FX series created by the late, great Steven Bochco, a gig that the young actor was certain would make him a TV star. “I really thought that was going to be the moment,” he says of the series that lasted one season.

Luckily, ABC’s Brothers & Sisters soon came calling. Macfarlane was cast in what was supposed to be a six-episode arc, but the role ran for nearly 100 — and he still considers it his most well-known. He played the love interest and eventual husband of Matthew Rhys’ character during a time when same-sex couples were an extreme rarity onscreen; Macfarlane himself came out during his tenure on the drama.

Now, more than a decade later,...

Sherri Shepherd will debut her own talk show next week. It’s a job she’s been preparing for her entire life — long before she was a co-host on “The View.”

“It’s something that I used to dream about when I was a little girl. I would line up my Teddy bears with my Barbie dolls and I have a toilet paper roll and I would put them on chairs,” Shepherd tells Variety. Growing up, Shepherd would watch “The Phil Donahue Show” and Dinah Shore’s syndicated daytime talker with her grandmother. Later in life, she looked at Oprah and Sally Jessy Raphael as chat show inspirations. Now, she’s hoping to have a similar effect on her own viewers.

“It is so important that people see a representation of themselves. I didn’t get to see a lot of Black women on TV growing up,” says Shepherd, who...

Click here to read the full article.

The rom-com is a genre that leans into the restoration of order. No matter how messy things are when we start, by the end of a tiny 90 minutes, we can count on the boy getting the girl or the girl getting the boy or — as things get more progressive — the gender/gender identity/sexual orientation combination of your choosing, provided that we reach “happiness.” It’s a genre that’s satisfying, but the potential for dull inevitability has encouraged storytellers to subvert expectations, upping the stakes on the screwball antics and challenging our notions of what “happy” endings even look like.

The rise of more close-ended stories on the small screen has been particularly fertile ground for rom-com subversion, with results ranging from brilliant (Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World) to forgettable (Hulu’s Four Weddings and a Funeral) to ambitious...

Kelly Clarkson won Best Entertainment Talk Show Host at the 2020 Daytime Emmys for “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” and this year the series took off with eight bids in the first round of nominations, which were announced on May 25. Not only is she likely to win for hosting again according to the combined predictions of Gold Derby users so far, she’s favored to take Best Entertainment Talk Show as well. With “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” ending its run in 2022, is this the start of a new talk show dynasty in daytime?

Over the years the Daytime Emmys have usually been dominated by one talk show personality or another. “Donahue” won six times in nine years between 1978 and 1986. Then “The Oprah Winfrey Show” came along and prevailed nine times between 1987 and 1997, losing only twice during that period. “Oprah” remained on the air for more than a decade after that but Winfrey...

Like so many other women, I have uttered the phrase, “I’m not a feminist, but …” When I was younger, the word had been politicized to mean so many other things — man-hater, ballbuster, b—h. A friend of mine cured me of my ignorance, and by the ’90s I was a proud feminist reading Susan Faludi’s “Backlash” and listening to riot grrrl bands. I was vaguely aware of Phyllis Schlafly, but when I saw a segment about her in a PBS documentary, during the summer before the 2016 election, I began to think about telling the story of the fight over the Equal Rights Amendment.

There have been many projects about the women’s movement, but none from the perspective of its spoiler. We began this project, “Mrs. America,” with the idea that our nation was on the brink of having its first female president. There is a direct link...

Here at Et, we’re obsessed with a lot of things -- and this is what we’re most excited about this week:

Why We’re Obsessed With Cardi B

The odds of relative newcomer Cardi B dethroning Taylor Swift’s pop juggernaut, “Look What You Made Me Do,” from the top of the Billboard Hot 100 seemed stacked against her. And yet, as fate would have it, the New York rapper’s infectious debut single, “Bodak Yellow,” has finally landed at No. 1, making the 24-year-old the first solo female hip-hop artist to top the chart since Lauryn Hill in 1998 with “Doo Wop (That Thing).” Her quick ascent is especially impressive considering Cardi has never had a chart presence before “Bodak Yellow.” Now, all eyes are on the former Love & Hip Hop: New York star as fellow artists, including Swift herself, Nicki Minaj and Missy Elliott, have all shown support. But more than anything, it’s hard...

Phil Donahue has never been known to be much of a conservative, politically speaking. But on Sunday’s “Reliable Sources,” he bestowed a compliment on President Trump – likening him to the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. The TV icon told CNN’s Brian Stelter that if “The Phil Donahue Show” was still on the air, he’d be first in line to interview Trump. “It’s counter-intuitive not to,” Donahue said. “As you know, the coin of our realm is the size of our audience. If we don’t draw a crowd, next week we will be parking cars.

Carrie Fisher’s death at 60 years old on Tuesday sent shockwaves through Hollywood, as fans and actors alike reacted to the news of her passing.

“We just lost a great ally for mental health and addiction,” Margaret Cho wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “Be strong, be as strong as she'd want you to be.” Cho’s tweet was one of many to recognize the void in mental health advocacy created in the wake of Fisher’s death.

The longtime actress, famous for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, was also a celebrated writer and advocate, who used her celebrity status to create awareness for mental health issues and addiction.

“I’ve been in therapy since I was 15 years old,” Fisher frankly told Et, later revealing to The Guardian that therapy was “my only serious relationship.”

More: Stars React to Carrie Fisher's Death

In fact, Fisher’s brutal honesty became a trademark of her interviews...

On Sunday, Gene Wilder died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 83. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman confirmed the news in a statement. "He was eighty-three and passed holding our hands with the same tenderness and love he exhibited as long as I can remember. As our hands clutched and he performed one last breath, the music speaker, which was set to random, began to blare out one of his favorites: Ella Fitzgerald. There is a picture of he and Ella meeting at a London Bistro some years ago that are among each of our cherished possessions. She was singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,...

On Sunday, Gene Wilder died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 83. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman confirmed the news in a statement. "He was eighty-three and passed holding our hands with the same tenderness and love he exhibited as long as I can remember. As our hands clutched and he performed one last breath, the music speaker, which was set to random, began to blare out one of his favorites: Ella Fitzgerald. There is a picture of he and Ella meeting at a London Bistro some years ago that are among each of our cherished possessions. She was singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,...

Full list of 2015 San Francisco Film Critics winners and nominations Marlon Riggs Award (“for courage & innovation in the Bay Area film community”). Frank Lee. “For his lifelong dedication to film culture in San Francisco – in particular his twenty-plus-year film stewardship of the 4 Star Theatre in the tradition of the family-run independent art house and his attention to Hong Kong film, both marked by his astute taste and knowledge.” Special Mention (“for underappreciated independent cinema”). The Forbidden Room. “Guy Maddin's haunted scream, full of artfully recreated, vinegar-eaten celluloid, is a rat's nest of affairs too strange to recall and too troubling to forget.” Best Cinematography The Assassin, Ping Bing Lee. Carol, Edward Lachman. * Mad Max: Fury Road, John Seale. The Revenant, Emmanuel Lubezski. Sicario, Roger Deakins. Best Editing The Big Short, Hank Corwin. Love & Mercy, Dino Jonsater. * Mad Max: Fury Road, Jason Ballantine; Margaret Sixel. The Revenant, Stephen Mirrione. Sicario,...

Even people who never watched the original run of Dallas probably know that one of the series' major plotlines can be summed up in three simple words: "Who shot J.R.?" In the final moments of the show's third season finale, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), the show's scheming villain but also arguably its central character, was seen getting shot by an offscreen assailant.

Fans had to wait until the fourth season premiere to find out if J.R. had even survived. What some might not remember – and what was key to the "Who shot J.R.?" mystery becoming a...

July 25, 1980. That was the day Dressed to Kill opened in theaters across the country, and it marked the first of countless times I would see the movie projected on a big screen, on a drive-in screen, panned and scanned for home video, even interrupted and cut to ribbons for network TV. But I’ll never forget seeing it that first time, in a cavernous old movie palace in downtown Eugene, Oregon, its lush, complex, violently dynamic and meticulously choreographed images, all set to a Pino Donaggio score which reflected precisely those same qualities, thrilling me to my core. I left that theater buzzing, even if at first I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about the movie-- it took me a few days and another screening or two to decide that the outraged cries of Hitchcock plagiarism coming from some circles were unwarranted. For me, Dressed to Kill is...

A warm but never schmaltzy, perfectly formed family sitcom with no weak links in its cast, here's why you should watch The Middle...

Family sitcoms aren’t exactly thin on the ground, so finding a new spin on the format is always going to take some work. Originally intended as a vehicle for Ricki Lake, The Middle is a case in point. After several years in development, it finally aired in autumn 2009 with a new lead: Patricia Heaton, one of the stars of hugely popular show Everybody Loves Raymond. Writers Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline had previously been responsible for Roseanne, so the track records of all involved boded well for the series’ prospects. Six seasons later – with a seventh confirmed in May – expectations have well and truly been proved correct.

The Middle is a warm, beautifully performed and acutely observed portrait of a family struggling to cope with the...

By Phil Donahue

The Hollywood Reporter

Phil Donahue hosted the syndicated talk show, Donahue, for 29 years. He now lives in New York with his wife, Marlo Thomas.

Vivian Maier was hiding a secret. I met her in a Chicago diner in the late ’70s and hired her. She was our nanny. Decades later, over 150,000 photographs were discovered in storage lockers, the work of a brilliant but unknown artist. That secret genius was Vivian, our nanny, now considered one of the great photographers of the 20th century. The Oscar-nominated documentary Finding Vivian Maier tells this story and not only is it a great film, it is a film that will be watched for years to come.

Read the rest of this entry…...

By now you've heard the news: "Twin Peaks" is officially coming back for a third season, and will be directed by David Lynch. The caveat? You'll have to wait until 2016 to see it. So what can you do until then? Well, you can take the weirdest possible trip back in time, and watch this 1990 episode of "Donahue," featuring the cast of the show. Watch Peggy Lipton, Piper Laurie, Dana Ashbrook, Madchen Amick, Eric DaRe (that hair!), Sheryl Lee and series co-creator Mark Frost as they interact with a completely amped up Phil Donahue. It's not only hilarious, but also a reminder of how integrated into the mainstream David Lynch was by that point. To this day, there's no other Lynch project that managed to thrill housewives. Indeed, at the time of this "Donahue" taping coming before the finale of season one, it was all anyone could talk about. Check it...

When mixing black and white movie characters as either friends or foes on the big screen should not produce any gray areas at all. Whether amiable or adversarial the pairing of interracial tandems makes for an interesting sociological study in cinema where tension, togetherness, stereotypical profiling and mutual or reluctant acceptance makes for some captivating film fodder.

Sure, in many ways it is an overused cliched in the movies to produce racial tandems for the sake of the entertainment to allow the creative juices to overflow. In Salt and Pepper: Top 10 Black and White Movie Tandems we will take a look at various “salt and pepper” teams as they come together in the name of law and justice, hostile necessity, friendly frivolity or professional attachment to bring movie audiences a sense of adventure and curiosity in the name of comedic or dramatic license. Maybe you have your favorite cultural...

Top 10 Ryan Lambie 22 Jan 2014 - 05:51

Like any awards ceremony, the Razzies can sometimes make some bizarre decisions. Here's our pick of 10 mystifying nominations...

Established in 1981, the Golden Raspberry Awards have grown from a tiny ceremony hosted in founder John Jb Wilson's living room into their own Hollywood institution. Intended as an antidote to the self-congratulation and glitz of awards season fixtures like the Oscars or the Golden Globes, the Razzies aim to single out the worst films, screenplays and performances of the preceding year, serving up an irreverent parody of Hollywood's vanity and excess.

Sometimes, the Razzie choices aren't too far off the mark. Few would argue against Battlefield Earth's 2000 win for Worst Picture, or that the impenetrably murky The Last Airbender didn't deserve the amusingly-titled award for Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D.

There have been some really worthwhile categories on occasion, too, like Worst Movie Trends of the Year,...

The 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is on Nov. 22, and TV programming related to the anniversary will be hard to escape all month long.

Here's a rundown of some of the specials, movies and other retrospectives on JFK and his death that are airing in November. All times Eastern.

Friday, Nov. 8

"JFK: The Lost Bullet" (Nat Geo, 7 p.m.): Using remastered home movies from the scene of the Kennedy assassination, this hour-long special looks for evidence that may have been missed in earlier viewings.

"JFK: The Final Hours" (Nat Geo, 8 p.m.): Actor Bill Paxton, who as an 8-year-old saw Kennedy deliver one of his final speeches in Fort Worth, Texas, on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, hosts this two-hour documentary retracing the final day of JFK's life via accounts of those who were with him.

"JFK: The Smoking Gun" (Reelz, 8 p.m.):...

On Sunday, November 3rd the investigative documentary JFK: The Smoking Gun premieres on Reelz. This special television event details the extensive investigations of the Kennedy assassination that were conducted by ballistics expert Howard Donahue and veteran detective Colin McLaren. Though the conclusions they each came to were stunning, it turns out that the theory presented is remarkably simple, straightforward, and sure to convince almost anyone. In honor of the premiere of JFK: The Smoking Gun, we're releasing Kennedy-related trivia questions, clues, and tidbits regularly from now until the premiere. Keep up with the clues, and you'll have the inside scoop when the truth is revealed.

One of the JFK conspiracy theories that makes the rounds suggests that Lee Harvey Oswald was manipulated by mind-control experts and “programmed” to kill President Kennedy. People who crafted this theory were likely inspired by a 1962 flick that featured Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury and a...