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      New Horror TV Shows to Stream This Halloween: ‘Teacup,’ ‘Uzumaki’ and More

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      This year’s horror series take us to damned villages, cursed towns and countries fallen into anarchy.This selection of shows from October’s annual parade of horror series will take you on a tour of places where the world appears to be out of control: a South Korea going through a religious frenzy, a Georgia farm under attack, a bucolic English village visited by aliens, a Japanese seaside town haunted by spirals. Just keep telling yourself it’s fiction.‘Hellbound’Based on an online cartoon, this Korean series on Netflix has a comic-book hook, repeated a time or two per episode: A trio of towering, golem-like figures materialize, heralded by cracks of thunder, and roast a human who has been identified as a sinner. This usually involves a lot of smashing and tossing about of people and vehicles. These scenes are kinetically satisfying — it is a Korean production, after all — and there’s something counter-intuitively adorable about the silent, hulking reapers. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho of the “Train to Busan” zombie films, “Hellbound,” whose second season premiered last week, is a solidly constructed supernatural thriller, with well-choreographed action that often features a tight-lipped lawyer (Kim Hyun-joo) who gets more use out of her police baton than her legal training.The bam-pow does not dominate the show, however. The screenwriter Choi Gyu-seok, adapting Yeon’s 2002 webtoon, focuses less on explaining the supernatural happenings than on portraying a society’s reactions to a terrifying rip in reality. Those responses are bad and badder, running from coercive religious fanaticism to cathartic, mordant anarchy — parallels to current trends around the world are almost certainly intentional — while a few contrarians fight for rationality and free will.The drama of ideas is talky and pitched between comic book and Philosophy 101, but there is enough inventiveness and feeling in the storytelling to keep you attuned to the show’s evocation of a world quickly going mad.‘The Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned’When this mini-series premiered in Britain two years ago, it had the same title as the John Wyndham novel on which it is loosely based, “The Midwich Cuckoos.” For its American release, Acorn TV and Sundance Now (both will have the third of seven episodes on Thursday) tacked on the name of the cult-favorite 1960 film adaptation, “Village of the Damned.” The series is a solid, watchable piece of work, though it might have been better if they hadn’t reminded us of the chilling, compact, highly satisfying movie.The story, if you are unfamiliar, begins with everyone in a British village blacking out; shortly after, every woman of childbearing age finds herself pregnant. The resulting children, as you might guess, are a scary bunch, with powers of mind control that represent an extinction-level threat. “The Midwich Cuckoos” handles the science-fiction aspects capably, and like the film, it has its share of quietly creepy moments. Filling out the expanded running time with a lot of agonizing about motherhood and parenting, though, feels a little precious when the story is about aliens getting Earth women pregnant. Focus!We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jon Stewart Fears Madison Square Garden Will Never Be the Same

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      After Donald Trump’s rally, Stewart showed an image of Billy Joel and asked, “How dare they desecrate the stage that the Piano Man has consecrated?”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.‘The Clueless Klux Klan’On Monday’s “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart showed a montage of speakers from the weekend’s Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, including those who called Kamala Harris the devil and the Antichrist and said she had “pimp handlers.” Tucker Carlson called her “Samoan-Malaysian-low-I.Q.” and issued a high-pitched cackle.“Now, generally, that’s a lineup that you see outside Madison Square Garden yelling at strangers as they try to get inside Madison Square Garden,” Stewart said.“And let me just say, how dare they desecrate the stage that the Piano Man has consecrated?” — JON STEWART, showing an image of Billy Joel“Former President Trump held a rally yesterday at Madison Square Garden in front of a crowd of 20,000 people, and it was the most vitriolic, rage-filled group of white people in that building since the last Rangers game.” — SETH MEYERS“Everyone was on the edge of their seat waiting for the Menendez brothers to come out.” — JIMMY FALLON“The Clueless Klux Klan showed up in force for what I think may have been the nuttiest Trump event of all time.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Trump’s rally was described as unhinged, crude and racist — as opposed to the stable, polite and tolerant Trump rallies we’re accustomed to.” — JIMMY FALLONThe Punchiest Punchlines (Hulkster Edition)“That is just sad, to see an old man like that. We’ve all had that moment, when you have to look at your grandpa and say, ‘Peepaw, it’s just not safe anymore. We’re going to have to take away the keys to your shirt.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT, after showing a clip of Hulk Hogan struggling to tear his shirt off at the Trump rally“You know you’re getting old when you lose a wrestling match to your tank top.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“I warned him not to wear the Beefy T, but nobody listens.” — JIMMY KIMMELWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Role in Jan. 6 Riot

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      The actor, Jay Johnston, pleaded guilty in July to obstructing police during the riots at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to prosecutors.Jay Johnston, a comedian and actor who voiced Jimmy Pesto Sr. on the Fox sitcom “Bob’s Burgers,” was sentenced to a year and a day in prison over his involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Mr. Johnston, 55, pleaded guilty in July to a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement after reaching a plea agreement that dropped three other charges originally brought against him. The actor was arrested in June 2023 in California with the help of internet sleuths who identified Mr. Johnston after the F.B.I. posted photos of him at the Capitol during the riot. Three other people who know Mr. Johnston also identified him.While Mr. Johnston is best known for his role in “Bob’s Burgers,” he was a regular on the 1990s sketch comedy show, “Mr. Show with Bob and David,” as well as on “The Sarah Silverman Program.” He has mostly starred in comedies on television and in movies.He will be on supervised release for two years after his yearlong prison sentence, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia. U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols also ordered Mr. Johnston to pay a $2,000 fine.Authorities said that when rioters broke through police barricades, Mr. Johnston continued to get closer to the police line. Security footage showed that he had helped push others up against police officers who were pinned against a door near the tunnel entrance of the Capitol building, prosecutors said.Mr. Johnston also filmed the crowds throughout the day on his phone, according to the news release. A person who knows Mr. Johnston showed investigators a text message that he had sent in which he admitted to having been at the Capitol.“The news has presented it as an attack,” the message stated, according to court documents. “It actually wasn’t. Thought it kind of turned into that. It was a mess. Got maced and tear gassed and I found it quite untastic.”Investigators also found that he had booked flights to arrive in Washington on Jan. 4, 2021, and to return to Los Angeles three days later.Mr. Johnston is one of more than 1,500 people who have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, according to the Justice Department. More

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      Why Trump Uses Comics Like Tony Hinchcliffe to Spread His Message

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      Like the former president, these stand-ups loathe the news media, delight in transgression and harbor a deep-seated love of cruel insult jokes.The stand-up of Tony Hinchcliffe, a popular insult comic, became an immediate issue in the presidential campaign on Sunday after his racist lines at a Donald J. Trump rally earned immediate blowback and criticism from, among others, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Tim Walz.As Hinchcliffe has done in the past when embroiled in controversy, he doubled down. On X, he wrote that Walz had found the time to “analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist.” Walz didn’t do that. But to the extent that there was a relevant context to Hinchcliffe’s dopey, trolling punchlines, it’s this: They were delivered at a Trump campaign event nine days before the election.There was a time not long ago when people wondered why there weren’t more conservative comedians or why there wasn’t a right-wing version of “The Daily Show.” These questions have always been a little naïve. Comedy has long had a conservative streak, and anyone who ever attended middle school knows that jokes can be as effective at reaffirming the status quo as challenging it.But comedy has become more partisan over the years; late-night TV’s move from neutral Johnny Carson to anti-Trump hosts is only one example. In this election, a forceful new Trump-friendly contingent has emerged, one dominated by male comics, many from Joe Rogan’s orbit. Whereas the biggest names in pop music have come out aggressively for Vice President Kamala Harris, the artists who have provided the most support for Trump have been comedians.Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have made comedy podcasts a regular stop, aiming to win over young male voters dissatisfied with mainstream news outlets. Just in the past week, Vance has appeared on the podcasts of Tim Dillon, a satirical comic who specializes in booming nihilistic rants, and the oddly poetic, bro-ish comic Theo Von. After much public speculation over whether Trump would be invited to sit down with Rogan — the most popular comedy podcaster and the one who gave a boost to many of these comics — it happened. (Trump has also appeared on podcasts with Von and with the New York standup Andrew Schulz, a podcaster so popular he headlined Madison Square Garden this year.)This doesn’t even count Greg Gutfeld, who as Fox’s highly rated right-wing answer to late night has had Trump on as well.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jon Stewart Extends ‘Daily Show’ Run Through 2025

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      Stewart, who returned to the show in February as a host on Monday nights, originally planned to work through the presidential election.Jon Stewart is sticking around. After nearly nine months with Stewart back at the desk of “The Daily Show,” Comedy Central announced on Monday that he would continue to host the show on Monday nights through 2025.Stewart, who regularly won Emmys while hosting the Comedy Central show full-time from 1999 to 2015, was originally expected to host through the 2024 presidential election.“I’ve truly enjoyed being back working with the incredible team at ‘The Daily Show’ and Comedy Central,” Stewart, 61, said in a statement. “I was really hoping they’d allow me to do every other Monday, but I’ll just have to suck it up.”In addition to continuing his hosting duties one night a week, Stewart will also continue to serve as an executive producer.“Jon’s incisive intellect and sharp wit make him one of the most important voices in political and cultural commentary today,” Chris McCarthy, a senior executive at Paramount, Comedy Central’s parent company, said in the statement. “His ability to cut through the noise and deliver cleareyed insights is exactly what we need.”In September, “The Daily Show” won an Emmy for best talk series. “You have made an old man very happy,” Stewart said in the acceptance speech. “It has really made my Mondays.”A rotating lineup of hosts — including Desi Lydic, Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta and Jordan Klepper — will continue to anchor the rest of the week. “The Daily Show” has been without a permanent host since Trevor Noah stepped down in late 2022. More

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      The Mysterious ‘Ketamine Queen’ at the Center of the Matthew Perry Case

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      One year after Mr. Perry’s death, Jasveen Sangha is in jail awaiting trial on charges that she sold him the ketamine that killed him.A few weeks after Matthew Perry was discovered floating facedown in a hot tub, the woman who prosecutors say supplied the ketamine that killed the actor was indulging in afternoon tea at a five-star hotel in Japan and taking mirror selfies while modeling a kimono. Several months later, she posted highlights from a trip to Mexico, where she enjoyed caviar at the airport, sitting poolside at the beach and admiring a drink within a coconut.The woman, Jasveen Sangha, liked to share images of a glamorous life on social media, of herself rubbing elbows with celebrities and traveling around the world to Spain, China and Dubai.But her home was a midrise building for the aspiring upper class in North Hollywood, an unglamorous space in an unremarkable part of town. It was there, prosecutors say, that Ms. Sangha manufactured, stored and distributed illegal drugs for at least five years, including those connected to the deaths of Mr. Perry and another man.When the authorities raided Ms. Sangha’s fourth-floor apartment in March, they said they found cocaine, 79 vials of ketamine and three pounds of orange pills containing methamphetamine. Prosecutors emphasized in court documents that customers knew her as the “Ketamine Queen.” Ms. Sangha in a photo taken from her Instagram account.“Given the volume of drugs defendant sold, there are likely more victims,” they wrote in court documents.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What’s on TV This Week: ‘Grotesquerie’ and Halloween Movies

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      FX airs the finale of Ryan Murphy’s latest show. And various channels celebrate the spooky frights and delights of the holiday.For those who still enjoy a cable subscription, here is a selection of cable and network TV shows, movies and specials that broadcast this week, Oct. 28-Nov. 3 Details and times are subject to change.MondaySMILE (2022) 8 p.m. on MTV. If you plan to catch “Smile 2” in theaters, it might be good to refresh your memory with the original. This film follows Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) and her patient (Caitlin Stasey), who believes she is being followed by an evil entity that forces people to smile. Leave it to a psychological thriller to make something that is usually joyful into something terrifying.A still from “American Dad.”Courtesy of Fox.AMERICAN DAD 10 p.m. on TBS. This show, which began in 2005, is back with guest stars such as Kevin Bacon, Michael Imperioli and Leslie Jones. The story will focus on the fictional town of Langley Falls and its boardwalk reopening.TuesdayCITIZEN NATION 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). This documentary series shadows teenagers across the United States who are taking part in a civics competition. The cameras follows the Gen Zers as they make their way through regional and state competitions in the form of congressional hearings, with the ultimate goal of a championship win in Washington.WednesdayGROTESQUERIE 10 p.m. on FX. For the last month, the majority of my TikTok page has consisted of edits of Nicholas Alexander Chavez in two different Ryan Murphy shows — either as Lyle Menendez in “Monsters” on Netflix or as Father Charlie Mayhew in “Grotesquerie.,” and it’s easy to see why. The twisty series follows Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash), a detective, as she works with Megan Duval (Micaela Diamond), a nun and journalist, to solve the horrible crimes happening in the community.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Hysteria!,’ ‘Stranger Things’ and the Satanic Panic That Never Goes Away

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      Five years ago, the television writer Matthew Scott Kane sold “Hysteria!,” a scripted drama that takes place in the late 1980s. The series was inspired in part by the tumult of misinformation he found online and in the media of the late 2010s. Shows like these take time to make, and Kane worried the idea would pass its best-by date.“I kept thinking, man, I don’t know if this is going to feel relevant,” he said in a recent interview.“Hysteria!” which premiered on Peacock on Oct. 18, is set in a small Michigan town in the grip of the so-called satanic panic of the 1980s and early 1990s, an episode of mass hysteria which imagined that a cross-country network of satanic cults was engaged in ritual abuse, animal sacrifice and infanticide. In the pilot, a high school football star is discovered dead. Suspicion turns to several of his classmates, members of a heavy metal band that exploits satanic imagery.The aesthetics of “Hysteria!” — the wallpaper, the jeans, the popular music — are distinctly ’80s. But the impulse to displace social anxieties onto perceived groups of outsiders is as American as apple pie. (Are those apples poisoned? Do they have razor blades inside?) And in a culture of heightened political rhetoric and pervasive misinformation, as apparent now as it was five years ago, the distance between the satanic panic and current conspiracy theories — QAnon, say, or the supposed grooming of children by queer people — is a short one, barely the length of a suburban lawn.Recent works of fiction — “Hysteria!”; the novel “Rainbow Black”; the fourth season of “Stranger Things”; the film “Late Night With the Devil” — all treat the satanic panic as a discrete historical event. But they also suggest how the panic’s concerns resonate in the present. As it turns out, Americans are still panicking. We may always be panicking.“Hysteria!,” a new Peacock show set during the satanic panic, features an attempted exorcism. Mark Hill/PeacockWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More