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      With ‘We Are Lady Parts,’ Nida Manzoor Rocks On

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      “Silliness is hugely important to me,” said the writer, whose comedy about a Muslim female punk band has won awards and challenged stereotypes.When the writer-director Nida Manzoor began dreaming up Season 2 of “We Are Lady Parts,” the comedy about an all-female Muslim punk band, one of her earliest ideas was a song: “Malala Made Me Do It,” a neo-Western hype track celebrating the activist Malala Yousafzai. And then she had another idea: Maybe she could get Malala, whom she had met briefly at a talk, to star in the video.She wrote Yousafzai a love letter. To Manzoor’s surprise, Yousafzai, who loves comedy, responded. And this is why, in the second episode of the new season of “We Are Lady Parts,” which premieres on Thursday on Peacock, Yousafzai appears on a horse, resplendent in a white cowboy hat, while the band irreverently sings her praises: “Nobel Prize at 17/the baddest bitch you’ve ever seen.”Directing her idol brought on some fan-girl panic. “I was, like, totally not cool,” Manzoor said. “But it was joyful to work with her.”Joy has been an animating force for Manzoor, 34, the assured and wildly original creator of “We Are Lady Parts” and “Polite Society,” a martial arts film about a teenage girl rebelling against her sister’s arranged marriage. In a moment where nearly everything onscreen feels like a reboot, a reprise, a retread, a spinoff, Manzoor’s works (an urban Muslim musical comedy, a surreal teenage eugenics-addled action caper) reliably feel like nothing else, each a microgenre unto itself.“I like to just make the genre smaller and smaller and be the only one in there,” Manzoor said one morning in early May, speaking on a video call from her home in Bristol, England. She wore a blazing orange sweater over a bright green shirt and her affect was by turns giddy, introspective, confiding, resolute. Her work resists generalization — Manzoor resists it, too.In Manzoor’s 2023 martial arts film “Polite Society,” a teenage girl rebels against her sister’s arranged marriage. Parisa Taghizadeh/Focus FeaturesWe 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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      West Wilson is the Breakout Star of “Summer House”

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      West Wilson never thought he’d be spending the summer in a house in the Hamptons, let alone as part of a reality television show. The unemployed former football player from Missouri was about to run out of money following a three-week boys’ trip when he got a call that would change his life.“My severance ended that weekend,” Mr. Wilson, 27, recalled. “I came home and it was like the most depressing Monday of all time.”Mr. Wilson decided to check his voice mail to see if there was something — anything — in there to cheer him up. To his shock, a Bravo producer had left a message. She was interested in possibly casting him on Season 8 of “Summer House,” an unscripted show that follows the lives of a group of New York media workers, influencers and entrepreneurs who share a house in the Hamptons — the last few seasons have been filmed at a mansion in Water Mill — each summer.Though he had never seen “Summer House” and wasn’t a fan of reality TV (except for the occasional “Bachelor” binge), Mr. Wilson had an intuition that it might be right for him. “I just had something in me that was like, just see what this is and call back,” he said. He had recently met a “Summer House” cast member named Lindsay Hubbard at the bar of Lamia’s Fish Market in the East Village. Mr. Wilson was so unprepared to be cast that he didn’t initially make the connection between having met Ms. Hubbard and receiving the call from Bravo. “I was like, ‘Oh I actually know someone on that show’ and they were like, ‘That’s how we found you, you idiot,’” Mr. Wilson said.The son of an OB-GYN and a cattle rancher has been an unlikely hit with viewers. As Joel Kim Booster wrote: “Haven’t liked a straight white guy this much since friggin Bernie Sanders.”Marissa Alper for The New York TimesWe 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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      Harry Hamlin Got Into Gardening Because of ‘The Martian’

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      “If he can do it on Mars,” said the actor, now starring in the cooking show “In the Kitchen With Harry Hamlin,” “I can do it in my backyard.”The actor Harry Hamlin pronounces “Bolognese” the way Italians do, with the final “e” enunciated. His niece, the chef Renee Guilbault, says it like an American, with that last syllable ending in an “s.”But potato, potahto. With “In the Kitchen With Harry Hamlin,” their five-part cooking series on AMC+ and IFC, they find a happy meeting place — including on the subject of the aforementioned pasta sauce, which ignited a squabble on the reality series “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” back when his wife, the actress Lisa Rinna, was one of its cast members.“Everywhere I go, people say two things to me: ‘Oh God, I love your wife’ and ‘Where can I get your sauce?’” said Hamlin, 72, who also stars in “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches,” on a video call. He also discussed space travel, the High Sierras and his grandfather’s Canadian gin-drinking hide-out. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.1Weekly Acting ClassesI’ve been in class my whole career. I chose this profession because it’s impossible to perfect. You can’t become an expert. OK, someone like Meryl Streep, she’s an expert. But I’m going to be a perpetual student. And I learn stuff every week because I’m sort of a character actor stuck in a leading man’s body.2Clean EnergyIt’s the holy grail. It’s how human beings will get their energy for the next 100,000 years, provided that we survive that long.3Hiking the High SierrasIf you’re alone, the animals aren’t afraid of you. The deer come up to you, and the bears don’t run away from you, which can be a problem. So it is quite an amazing experience to trek solo. I go up to 12,000 feet and get to places where even mountain goats would have a hard time getting.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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      ‘Doctor Who’ Episode 4 Recap: Now You See Her

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      A strong episode focuses on Ruby, the Doctor’s companion, and the mysterious older woman who starts following her from a distance.Season 1, Episode 4: ‘73 Yards’Let’s get the easy bit out of the way. “73 Yards” is not just the best episode of the season so far, but also the strongest story “Doctor Who” has produced in years — despite the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) hardly featuring.That’s not to say the decade-spanning story’s success depends on Gatwa’s absence. Yes, Episode 4 gives Millie Gibson space to break out of her companion role for the first time, and she gives a nuanced performance well beyond her 19 years.But it’s Russell T Davies’s ambitious, unpredictable script that will ensure a place for “73 Yards” in the Whoniverse history books. The episode constantly wrong-foots viewers, plays with folk stories and horror tropes, and finds a genuinely terrifying villain in a nuclear-warmongering politician.“We are in Wales. Spectacular!” shouts the Doctor as the TARDIS materializes on a craggy cliff face. For international viewers, it’s a swift introduction to a nation that has long been associated with “Doctor Who”: Davies is Welsh, and the show is a former BBC Wales production.In a seemingly throwaway comment, the Doctor mentions a future prime minister, a Welshman named Roger ap Gwilliam, who will lead Britain to “the brink of nuclear war” in the 2040s. “Sorry, spoilers,” he says, shooting Ruby a smile.The Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, and Ruby start the episode on a cliff in Wales.Bad Wolf/BBC StudiosWe 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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      Where New Yorkers Start Being Polite and Stop Getting Real

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      The Portal, a video art installation connecting the city with Dublin, is open again, now with safeguards. But does changing the rules change the artwork?At 2:45 p.m. on a sunny Wednesday in a plaza near the Flatiron Building, a crowd of a few dozen was watching, and appearing in, New York City’s most infamous new reality show.On a round video screen, encased in a porthole-like structure behind a railing, they could see a livestream of onlookers across the Atlantic, in the center of Dublin. “They can see you just like you see them!” a staff member minding the exhibit told the crowd.Therein lay the attraction, and the problem. The Portal, a two-way-video art installation, opened on May 8, then promptly closed down on May 14, because of “inappropriate behavior.”On the American side, an OnlyFans model had flashed her breasts at Dublin, a stunt that, she later said, netted her a boost in subscribers worth tens of thousands of dollars. From the Irish side, people displayed images of swastikas and of the 2001 World Trade Center attack. The transgressions went viral, not the sort of global connection and sharing that the organizers were hoping for.Who, besides everyone, would have thought that some people would behave badly given access to a public live camera? When the Portal reopened on May 19, it had new hours — 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. New York time — and new safeguards, including a “proximity-based solution” that would blur the livestream if anyone or anything got too close.Today, the crowd was keeping it on, keeping it all on. At least on this side of the ocean. Onscreen in Dublin, a pair of high-spirited lads lifted their shirts and exposed their bellies to America. In a few minutes they graduated to full topless, whirling their shirts over their heads, before they were seemingly encouraged to leave by security.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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      ‘Zarqa’ Is a Madcap Canadian Comedy

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      This new YouTube sitcom from the creator of “Little Mosque on the Prairie” follows a divorced Muslim mother trying to pull one over on her ex.The Canadian sitcom “Little Mosque on the Prairie” premiered in 2007 and centered on a small Muslim community in a fictional Saskatchewan town. It ran for 91 episodes over six seasons, eventually showing around the world (it is streaming on Freevee, the Roku Channel and Tubi). Now its creator, Zarqa Nawaz, has a new short-form comedy with a narrower focus but a similar cartoony vibe.“Zarqa,” created by and starring Nawaz, is on YouTube and follows a divorced Muslim mother in Regina, Saskatchewan. In the opening moments of the show, she learns on social media that her ex-husband is marrying a younger woman — a white yoga instructor. Zarqa panics and posts that she is dating a white brain surgeon, which she is not, and the shenanigans are afoot.She begins a contrived romance with a pasty neurosurgeon, Brian (Rob van Meenen), though neither of them can tell if they’re actually interested in each other or just in pulling one over on everyone else. Zarqa wants to show off at her ex’s wedding, and Brian gets a rush from freaking out his tightly-wound, racist parents. Adding to the rom-com of it all, Zarqa is surprised and delighted to learn an old college flame (Rizwan Manji) has been appointed as the new imam at her mosque — and wouldn’t you know, her ex (Anand Rajaram) might be having cold feet.“Zarqa” has a madcap urgency to it, partly because the episodes are barely 10 minutes long and partly because of Zarqa, who is brusque and driven and tends to stir up drama. Her grown son recoils from some of her antics but reminds himself, “We don’t say ‘crazy’ anymore.” Her parents lament that she is “a double D: divorced and difficult.”Both “Zarqa” and “Little Mosque on the Prairie” have an exaggerated sitcom style; most characters repeat one behavior and express one idea, which sometimes can make both series feel a little like kids shows with grown-ups in them. On “Mosque,” the central theme was the perceived differences — and lo, the similarities — between Muslims and non-Muslims. On “Zarqa,” the focus is on race. “I sell white people brown-people things,” Zarqa tells Brian.The jokes and observations in “Zarqa” are pretty mild, but the story is fun, and it is told with endearing warmth and energy. So far all six episodes of Season 1 and some of Season 2 are on the CBC’s YouTube channel, with the rest arriving shortly. More

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      ‘The Daily Show’ Skewers Samuel Alito Over Another Provocative Flag

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      “Did this guy get a two-for-one deal at the MAGA flag store?” Michael Kosta said of the Supreme Court justice on Thursday’s “The Daily Show.”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.Flagging RightDays after reports surfaced of an inverted U.S. flag being flown outside his home around the time of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is facing criticism for flying a second flag associated with that riot, this one at his vacation home in New Jersey last summer.“Another flag? Did this guy get a two-for-one deal at the MAGA flag store?” Michael Kosta joked on “The Daily Show.”“That’s right, a second flag at a second home. Alito’s second wife better watch her back.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“But if you’re upset about this, the good news is the Supreme Court has a code of ethics. Now, the bad news is they wrote that code of ethics, and they don’t follow it.” — MICHAEL KOSTAThe Punchiest Punchlines (Daily Habits Edition)“Daily pot smokers are beating daily alcohol drinkers in the race to see who can escape their sad lives more quickly.” — MICHAEL KOSTA“Some may be surprised by this, but as a New Yorker, I am not. I smoke weed every single day, whether I want to or not on the sidewalk, literally everywhere I go.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Now remember, this is daily or near-daily use because, in overall numbers, alcohol is more widely used. So, congratulations, weekend binge drinkers, you still have the biggest problem.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“This news has alcohol makers worried. They’ve changed their standard disclaimer from ‘Please drink responsibly’ to ‘Please drink.’” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth Watching“The Garfield Movie” star Chris Pratt and Jimmy Fallon played a game of lasagna cornhole on Thursday’s “Tonight Show.”Also, Check This OutTemilade Openiyi, better known as Tems. “You can control what you do, but you can’t control how life lifes,” she said after recently experiencing an earthquake.Erik Carter for The New York TimesAfter working with Beyoncé, Drake, and Rihanna, the Nigerian Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter and producer Tems will release her debut album in June. More

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      Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Republicans for Crying Wolf

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      President Biden “sent an elite team of ultraliberal F.B.I. agents to assassinate Donald Trump, but somehow he slipped out the back door,” Kimmel joked on Wednesday.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.Losing the PlotNewly unsealed files from the F.B.I. search of Mar-a-Lago in 2022 showed that agents were authorized to use deadly force if necessary.“Which is standard operating procedure, whenever the F.B.I. execute a search warrant,” Jimmy Kimmel noted on Wednesday, “but in the MAGA-verse, it is a plot to kill Donald Trump.”Conservatives reacted with outrage to what some have called an assassination attempt, with Trump writing in a campaign email, “Joe Biden was locked and loaded ready to take me out and put my family in danger.”“I always thought of Biden as a doddering old man, but Donald Trump makes him look like one of The Expendables.” — MICHAEL KOSTA“‘Locked and loaded’? ‘Ready to take me out’? I’ve never heard Joe Biden sound so [expletive] cool in my life.” — MICHAEL KOSTA“The diabolical mastermind Joe Biden sent an elite team of ultraliberal F.B.I. agents to assassinate Donald Trump, but somehow he slipped out the back door. Somehow, they missed the fact that the loudest and most famous man in America and all 15 of his Secret Service agents were in New Jersey at the time that they raided Mar-a-Lago.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Trump’s Bedroom Edition)“Well, speaking of the former president, according to a new report, Trump’s attorneys found classified documents in his bedroom four months after the F.B.I. searched Mar-a-Lago. The lawyers knew Trump was hiding something when they saw a box labeled ‘books.’” — JIMMY FALLON“Oh, my God, the only thing more shocking to find in Donald Trump’s bedroom would be a current wife.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Now, to be fair, Trump rarely goes into his bedroom. As we’ve recently learned, he does most of his sleeping in court.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingJay Pharoah performed diss raps in the style of Shaquille O’Neal, 50 Cent, Katt Williams and more on Wednesday’s “Tonight Show.”What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightThe musician and “The Voice” star John Legend will appear on Thursday’s “Daily Show.”Also, Check This OutOn his 41st  wedding anniversary, the actor Peter Gallagher talks about happy matrimony.Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images For NetflixThe actor Peter Gallagher discussed his four-decades-long marriage to Paula Harwood on this week’s Modern Love Podcast. More