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      Jennifer Lopez on 'Marry Me,' Fame and Ben Affleck

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      LOS ANGELES — Of course the fireplace is lit at Jennifer Lopez’s house. It’s a rainy day just a week before Christmas, and her Spanish-style Bel-Air estate is decorated as you would expect: pine garland strewn around the mantle, orange roses on the coffee table, a professionally trimmed Christmas tree in the living room.It’s like a page from a Restoration Hardware catalog, right down to the star herself, dressed in the couture version of the work-from-home uniform: chunky beige sweater, cream sweatpants, blinged-out Timberlands. Her hair is pulled back in a bun and a touch of makeup highlights her impossibly dewy skin. The giant diamond studs affixed to her ears are the one true giveaway of her status as one of the most famous women on the planet.Which makes you wonder, does anything happen by accident in Jennifer Lopez’s life? It’s a question to be pondered especially after her newish boyfriend, Ben Affleck, pops in for a kiss and a whispered conversation near a giant gingerbread house that’s iced with the words “Affleck Lopez Family.”After all, this is a woman who has successfully navigated the treacherous waters of celebrity for close to three decades, endured round after round of public romances and breakups, refashioned herself from dancer to singer to actress to producer. At 52, a time when female stars usually find themselves in an ageist and sexist Hollywood purgatory, she seems to be more relevant than ever.To play a superstar at a vulnerable moment, Lopez said, “I had to remind myself in this movie that this was actually a safe place to let those feelings out.”Chantal Anderson for The New York TimesHer new movie, the sparkly romantic comedy “Marry Me,” long-delayed by the pandemic, opens in theaters and on Peacock on Valentine’s Day weekend. In it, Lopez plays a J.Lo-like superstar trying to negotiate a love life amid the trappings of uber-fame. (Sound familiar?) She will play another bride in “Shotgun Wedding,” due out this summer, before trading the gowns for a role as a deadly assassin in Netflix’s upcoming film “The Mother,” which she planned to finish shooting in the Canary Islands after the Christmas holiday.At some point the streaming service, which last year signed a multiyear deal with Lopez’s company, Nuyorican Productions, will also release a documentary that chronicles the year she turned 50 and all her disparate worlds coalesced: legitimate recognition for her acting in “Hustlers” (she earned her second Golden Globe nomination and a SAG Award nod), her 2019 international concert tour and the halftime show at the 2020 Super Bowl. The year, she said, “when everything I had worked for in movies, music and fashion just started happening.”“Marry Me,” which Lopez began working on years ago with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, her former agent turned producing partner, is in some sense an explanation of what it’s like to exist under Lopez’s spotlight, something she calls “a very specific life.” It is also a high-wire act, a bet that she can revive a genre that’s been left for dead by both the studio system and the rom-com stars of the past.A scene from “Marry Me,” featuring Lopez and Owen Wilson as her love interest.Universal PicturesFor Goldsmith-Thomas, Lopez’s decision to go from “Hustlers,” which upped her cred as a serious actress, to “Marry Me,” which aligns more with her earlier success as a stalwart of the rom-com (“Maid in Manhattan,” “The Wedding Planner”), makes perfect sense. “We loved making ‘Hustlers,’ but that doesn’t mean that’s all we should do,” she said. “She had an opportunity to pull the curtain back and make a film about what it was like to live and to love in a glass bowl, to have your mistakes amplified and crucified across all platforms, and to ultimately find your way in spite of it. Add to that the ability to produce, and perform a soundtrack to that journey, and we’d be fools not to make it.”In “Marry Me” Lopez plays Kat Valdez, a global pop star who intends to marry her boyfriend, also a worldwide sensation (played by the Colombian singer-songwriter Maluma), in front of millions of fans in a televised stunt. Moments before the big “I do,” Valdez discovers he has been cheating on her, calls off the ceremony while onstage and opts to marry the poor schlub in the audience (Owen Wilson) holding a “Marry Me” sign. Think “The Bodyguard” meets “Notting Hill” complete with a soundtrack by Lopez.The movie is both a frothy pop fantasy and a glimpse into a life few are lucky enough to lead. Any obsessive Lopez fan will surely examine it closely for clues into Lopez’s own psyche, specifically how lonely it can be at the top, where the cocoon of entitlement can often feel like a cage. And they won’t be wrong.With “Marry Me,” Lopez returns to rom-coms, a genre that has been left for dead by studios.Chantal Anderson for The New York TimesLopez recalled filming a scene in which her character returns home after the stunt ceremony has gone south, depleted and still in her gown. She turns on Jimmy Fallon, only to see him insult her during his late-night monologue, and she starts to cry. It’s a hint of vulnerability you don’t often see from Lopez and one that took some time for the actress to reach.“Once you’ve gotten burned a few times, you realize, ‘I have to be careful.’ If things are too deep and you put them out there, somebody might step on your heart,” she said, adding an expletive.The film’s director, Kat Coiro, admired Lopez’s quest for perfection. “There is a choreography even in her acting,” she said. Yet for the scene to work, Coiro asked Lopez to repeat it a number of times to break down that veneer. The result feels real, or as real as Lopez will allow herself to be.“I had to remind myself in this movie that this was actually a safe place to let those feelings out,” said Lopez, seated in front of that garlanded fireplace. “They’re making fun of me, that hurts. My instinct was to act like it didn’t.”Lopez has spent decades trying to find that balance between what the public wants from her and what she is willing to give to them. She still loves doing meet-and-greets with fans after concerts. Coiro, for one, was stunned with just how much time she was willing to give them.“She’s so ubiquitous that sometimes she doesn’t get the credit she deserves,” the director said. “I think there’s something of that in this film.” When Kat Valdez “talks about never winning any awards, I think that was a moment that was true to life,” Coiro continued. “She’s been around. She has fans like nobody else, and because of that high profile sometimes she’s not looked at in a certain way.”Five Movies to Watch This WinterCard 1 of 51. “The Power of the Dog”: More

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      Can CNN’s Hiring Spree Get People to Pay for Streaming News?

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      The network’s boss, Jeff Zucker, tries to make up for lost time by signing Chris Wallace, Audie Cornish and Eva Longoria.A couple of months ago, CNN’s forthcoming streaming channel was perceived as little more than a curiosity in the television news business: just another cable dinosaur trying to make the uneasy transition into the digital future.In fact, the plan to start CNN+, which is expected to go live by late March, amounted to a late arrival to the subscription-based streaming party, more than three years after Fox News launched Fox Nation.Then the hirings began.In December, Chris Wallace, Fox News’s most decorated news anchor, said he was leaving his network home of 18 years for CNN+. Next came Audie Cornish, the popular co-host of “All Things Considered” on NPR, who said in January that she was leaving public radio to host a weekly streaming show.Alison Roman, the Instagram star and author of a popular cooking newsletter, will get her own cooking show. Eva Longoria will head to Mexico for a culinary travelogue documentary series. Rex Chapman, the sports podcaster and former basketball player with more than a million Twitter followers, signed on, too.Audie Cornish, the popular co-host of “All Things Considered” on NPR, is leaving public radio to join CNN+.Brad Barket/Getty ImagesThe prominent names represent a tier of talent that had previously been hesitant to commit to a news channel’s streaming service, especially an untested one. Agents and producers have taken notice, as much for the big salaries on offer as for the prospect of a news-based streamer with a range of nonfiction programming, relying on more than the usual political talking heads.“We do want a service that has a wider aperture and is broader than just today’s bleak news,” CNN’s president, Jeff Zucker, said in an interview.Recent Developments at Fox NewsFauci Comments: The Fox News host Jesse Watters used notably violent language in urging a gathering of conservatives to publicly confront Dr. Anthony Fauci.Jan. 6 Texts: Three prominent Fox News hosts — Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Brian Kilmeade — texted Mark Meadows during the Jan. 6 riot urging him to tell Donald Trump to try to stop it.Chris Wallace Departs: The anchor’s announcement that he was leaving Fox News for CNN came as right-wing hosts have increasingly set the channel’s agenda.Contributors Quit: Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes quit the network in protest over Tucker Carlson’s “Patriot Purge” special.He is gambling that CNN+ can entice new viewers — and bring back some old ones. CNN’s traditional broadcast viewership has dropped significantly from a year ago, thanks to a post-Trump slump and waning audience interest, and the network recently fired its top-rated anchor, Chris Cuomo, amid an ethics scandal.Mr. Zucker is turning to a strategy honed during his days as the executive producer of NBC’s “Today” show in the 1990s, mixing hard news with a heavy dose of lifestyle coverage and tips on how to bake a pear cobbler. In marketing materials, CNN+ has urged viewers to “grab a coffee” while flipping on shows promoted as “never finicky” and “the silver lining beyond today’s toughest headlines.”It remains an open question if CNN+ can actually draw the interest — and monthly payments — of viewers already overwhelmed with streaming options. Heavyweight services like Netflix and Hulu have struggled to find success with shows that riff on current events. One Netflix executive conceded in 2019 that topical programming was “a challenge” when it came to on-demand, watch-at-your-own-pace streamers.The Instagram star Alison Roman will host a cooking show on CNN+.Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott for The New York Times. Prop Stylist: Amy Elise Wilson.CNN and Fox News are the two major news networks betting that viewers will pay an extra monthly fee for their digital content.Fox News introduced Fox Nation, a subscription-only streaming service, in November 2018. Like CNN+, it features a mix of shows hosted by familiar hosts (“Tucker Carlson Presents” and Brian Kilmeade’s history program, “What Made America Great”) along with programming from outside the parent network, including a revival of the police show “Cops” and a new program hosted by Piers Morgan.Still, paid services like Fox Nation ($6 a month) and CNN+ (which has not revealed its pricing) carry a higher barrier of entry for TV news content, which is available free of charge elsewhere. Fox Nation has not disclosed its number of subscribers, making its success hard to gauge, though Lachlan Murdoch, the executive chairman of the Fox Corporation, has touted the service to investors.NBC, ABC and CBS are pursuing a different strategy: free streaming news platforms supported by paid advertising. Their digital options predominantly focus on news, not lifestyle programming, and the networks have only recently taken more aggressive steps to expand the programming on offer.On Monday, CBS rebranded its platform as the CBS News Streaming Network and announced new shows inspired by the network’s history, including a program hosted by the anchor Norah O’Donnell with “a 2022 take on the classic Edward R. Murrow interview series.”The Choice From MSNBC, a channel on NBC’s Peacock streaming app, debuted in 2020. Its hosts include Mehdi Hasan, Zerlina Maxwell and, starting later this year, Symone D. Sanders, a former adviser to President Biden. (NBC News also has separate digital offerings for hard news and lifestyle coverage.)Eva Longoria is developing a culinary travelogue documentary series for CNN’s streaming service.Rozette Rago for The New York TimesFor news executives, finding a winning formula in the streaming game is now an urgent priority.Streaming has supplanted cable as the main home delivery system for entertainment, often on the strength of addictive series like “Squid Game.” For a while, though, old-fashioned cable news clung on, with CNN, MSNBC and Fox News attracting record audiences in recent years. In case of emergency — a pandemic, civil unrest, a presidential election, a Capitol riot — viewers still tuned in en masse.After former President Donald J. Trump left office, news ratings nose-dived and cable subscriptions continued to plummet — an estimated four million households dropped their paid TV subscriptions last year, according to the research firm MoffettNathanson.Fox Nation and CNN+ both rely on a business model dependent on paid subscriptions, hence the efforts by both to generate a wide variety of programming.“A subscriber every month only has to find one thing that they want,” Mr. Zucker said in the interview. “We don’t need the subscriber to be interested in everything we’re offering, but they need to be interested in something.”Mr. Zucker said CNN+ was aiming at three buckets of potential subscribers. He is seeking to entice loyal CNN viewers into paying for streaming programs featuring hosts familiar from the cable channel: Anderson Cooper will have two, including one on parenting; Fareed Zakaria is helming a show examining historical events; and Jake Tapper will host “Jake Tapper’s Book Club,” in which he interviews authors.The other would-be subscribers, Mr. Zucker said, are news and documentary fans who want more nonfiction television, as well as younger people who don’t pay for cable.CNN, though, is not ignoring the needs of its flagship cable network, which ranked third last year behind Fox News and MSNBC in total audience.Mr. Zucker recently reached out to representatives for Gayle King, the star CBS News anchor, about the prospect of her taking over the weekday 9 p.m. hour on CNN, said two people with knowledge of the approach. CNN has not named a permanent anchor for the prime-time slot since Mr. Cuomo was fired in December after revelations that he assisted with the efforts of his brother, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, to fend off sexual harassment allegations.CNN’s president, Jeff Zucker, is gambling that the network can entice new viewers and bring back some old ones with its streaming platform.Krista Schlueter for The New York TimesCNN+ is also expected to include the breaking news and political coverage that CNN viewers are accustomed to — a feature that could pose difficulties for the network down the road. CNN commands a high price from cable distributors, who may cry foul if CNN+ includes too much news programming that potentially competes with the cable offering. For instance, Wolf Blitzer, the host of “The Situation Room” on CNN at 6 p.m., will also appear on CNN+ to anchor a “traditional evening news show with a sleek, modern twist.”CNN’s parent company, WarnerMedia, which is on the verge of a megamerger with Discovery Inc., appears willing to take the risk. The company is placing a significant financial bet on CNN+, budgeting for 500 additional employees, including producers, reporters, engineers and programmers, said Andrew Morse, CNN’s chief digital officer. The company is also renting an additional floor of its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan to accommodate the hires.“What we’re building at CNN+ is not a side hustle,” Mr. Morse said. More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to HBO, Hulu, Apple TV+ and More in January

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      Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of January’s most promising new titles.(Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)Danny McBride as the debauched eldest son of a megachurch pastor in “The Righteous Gemstones.”HBO MaxNew to HBO Max‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Season 2Starts streaming: Jan. 9With “Succession” and “Yellowstone” both on hiatus, fans of stories about larger-than-life businessmen and their deeply damaged offspring can redirect their attention to the second season of HBO’s pitch-black social satire “The Righteous Gemstones.” Danny McBride, who also created the series, stars as Jesse, the eldest son of Eli Gemstone (John Goodman), an evangelical pastor leading a thriving megachurch. Season 1 dealt with a series of scandals that rocked the Gemstones, widening the divisions between the libertine Jesse and his two siblings, the unpredictable Judy (Edi Patterson) and the pious Kelvin (Adam DeVine). Expect these new episodes to build on what McBride and his team did with their first run, which mercilessly mocked a family of pompous, hypocritical Southern preachers and established the complex history that provides context for their corruption.‘Peacemaker’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 13Before the writer and director James Gunn made the blockbusters “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “The Suicide Squad,” he worked on two low-budget, subversive superhero movies: “The Specials” and “Super.” Gunn’s new TV series, “Peacemaker,” is ostensibly a spinoff of “The Suicide Squad,” following the dimwitted, hyper-macho antihero Christopher Smith (John Cena) as he starts working with an eclectic splinter group of rogue government operatives. The spirit of “Peacemaker,” however, is more aligned with Gunn’s earlier, grubbier films, which make crime and crime-fighting alike seem like warped endeavors, suffused with a strange melancholy. Equal parts violent and comic, the show explores the psyches of the men and women who dabble in costumed adventuring.‘The Gilded Age’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 24The “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes turns his attention to 1880s New York City with his long-in-development “The Gilded Age,” another opulent melodrama about the mores and machinations of high-society types and their poorer relations and servants. The star-studded cast includes Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon as eccentric sisters who take in their bankrupt niece (Louisa Jacobson); Denée Benton as an aspiring writer defying the racial stereotypes of the age; and Carrie Coon as a shrewd social climber married to a nouveau riche tycoon (Morgan Spector). Those are just a few of the dozens of characters Fellowes weaves through stories of romance, politics, resentments, betrayals and the social upheaval that defined the end of the 19th century.Also arriving:Jan. 1“Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts”Jan. 7“Search Party” Season 5Jan. 9“Euphoria” Season 2Jan. 16“Somebody Somewhere”Denzel Washington as Macbeth in “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”Apple TV+New to Apple TV+‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’Starts streaming: Jan. 14The latest big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s Scottish play marks the solo feature-filmmaking debut of Joel Coen, working without his longtime creative partner and brother, Ethan Coen. Denzel Washington takes on the role of the ambitious Lord Macbeth, while Frances McDormand plays his wife, who encourages him to do whatever he must — even commit murder and destroy families — to seize power. Kathryn Hunter gives a striking performance as a trio of prophetic witches, playing them as unnervingly alien. The acting is terrific across the board, and the direction is as visually dynamic and snappily paced as Coens classics like “Miller’s Crossing” and “Fargo.”Also arriving:Jan. 7“El Deafo”Jan. 21“Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock”“Servant” Season 3Jan. 28“The Afterparty”Amir Jadidi as a down-on-his-luck Iranian businessman in “A Hero.”Amirhossein Shojaei/Amazon StudiosNew to Prime Video‘A Hero’Starts streaming: Jan. 21The two-time Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi has made one of his best movies yet with “A Hero,” a gripping morality play that persistently subverts its audience’s expectations. Amir Jadidi plays Rahim, a luckless but likable entrepreneur who has been unemployed and stuck in a debtors’ prison since a business deal that went awry. When his girlfriend finds a purse containing gold coins, a furloughed Rahim decides to return it, and the resulting good publicity initially turns his fortunes around. But the seemingly selfless act also raises questions about his real motivations and the circumstances of the discovery. As the scrutiny intensifies, Rahim scrambles to cover his tracks, in what becomes a riveting story about a good person making terrible choices for the right reasons.Also arriving:Jan. 7“The Tender Bar”Jan. 14“Do, Re & Mi”“Hotel Transylvania: Transformania”Jan. 21“As We See It” Season 1Jan. 28“Needle in a Timestack”Hilary Duff and Francia Raisa in “How I Met Your Father.”Patrick Wymore/HuluNew to Hulu‘I’m Your Man’Starts streaming: Jan. 11In this German science-fiction romance, Dan Stevens plays “Tom,” a realistic humanoid robot companion being given a three-week trial by Alma (Maren Eggert), a lonely archaeologist who resents the assignment — even though Tom has been specifically engineered to make her happy. The charming Stevens is a superb choice to play an idealized version of an attractive, attentive gentleman. But “I’m Your Man” director Maria Schrader (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jan Schomburg) is ultimately more interested in Alma, whose personal life and career have both been defined by her thwarted desires. This is a thoughtful drama about humanity’s yearning to let machines provide for our needs — and how that dream can only be realized if people can articulate what they really want.‘How I Met Your Father’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 18This gender-flipped follow-up to the hit 2000s sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” has been in the works since 2013, going through multiple creative teams. The extended gestation may have been benefited “How I Met Your Father” head writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, allowing them to bring the series more in line with the expectations of 2020s audiences — primarily by including more cultural diversity. Hilary Duff stars as a lovesick modern-day New Yorker named Sophie, while Kim Cattrall plays Sophie in the future, looking back at the days when she was trying to figure out which of the handful of men in her social circle might be her perfect match. The new show’s approach hews close to the original, using an old-fashioned sitcom style as it follows a bunch of bright and optimistic young people, stumbling through the early stages of adulthood.Also arriving:Jan. 1“Falling for Figaro”Jan. 3“The Year of the Everlasting Storm”Jan. 7“Pharma Bro”Jan. 10“Ailey”“Black Bear”“The Golden Palace” Season 1Jan. 13“Madagascar: A Little Wild” Season 6Jan. 14“Bergman Island”“Sex Appeal”Jan. 17“Georgetown”Jan. 20“The Estate”Jan. 27“Mayday”Jan. 30“Small Engine Repair”Josh Gad and Isla Fisher in “Wolf Like Me.”Mark Rogers/PeacockNew to Peacock‘Wolf Like Me’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 13In this Australian romantic dramedy, Josh Gad plays a widowed father named Gary who has a chance encounter with an advice columnist named Mary (Isla Fisher) and feels the kind of personal connection he hasn’t known since his wife died. Mary likes Gary, too, but she has a big, scary secret that makes it hard for her to stay with any man for long. “Wolf Like Me” was written and directed by Abe Forsythe, whose 2019 horror comedy “Little Monsters” (also starring Gad) blended bloody zombie attacks into a relatively grounded story about people coping with everyday personal problems. This six-episode series is similarly genre-bending, injecting suspense and even a hint of the supernatural into a character study of a lost, lonely man, seeking companionship for himself and his child.Also arriving:Jan. 14“Use of Force: The Policing of Black America”Jan. 20“Supernatural Academy” Season 1“True Story with Ed & Randall” Season 1 More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, HBO, Hulu and More in December

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      Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of December’s most promising new titles.(Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen in “The Book of Boba Fett.”Disney+New to Disney+‘The Rescue’Starts streaming: Dec. 3In “The Rescue,” the documentary filmmaking team of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin — who won an Oscar for their film “Free Solo” — tell the stories of the skilled divers who worked to save a dozen young Thai soccer players trapped in a flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave in the summer of 2018. The rescue operation drew volunteers from around the world and was covered in-depth by the broadcast and print media. Vasarhelyi and Chin incorporate some of that coverage into “The Rescue,” alongside new interviews with the rescue team, for a fuller view into what happened. But their primary focus is on what the divers experienced as they tried to puzzle out how to navigate through underground passages and how to extract survivors. The P.O.V. footage the divers shot themselves is often harrowing, capturing the claustrophobic pressure and the sense of panic that sets in when the waters rise.‘The Book of Boba Fett’Starts streaming: Dec. 29There are no new “The Mandalorian” episodes until 2022, so fans of the “Star Wars” universe’s bounty-hunter subculture will have to rely on this spinoff series to tide them over. Temuera Morrison reprises his role as Boba Fett, a storied mercenary who, alongside his colleague Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), comes out of hiding and attempts to reestablish himself as someone to be feared and respected in the criminal underworld. A lot of the “Mandalorian” creative team also worked on “The Book of Boba Fett,” as did some of the supporting cast. This promises to be another action-packed throwback adventure series, exploring the difficult lives and the complicated ethical codes of characters whose jobs demand danger and violence.Also arriving:Dec. 3“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”Dec. 8“Welcome to Earth”Dec. 15“Foodtastic,” Season 1Dec. 17“Arendelle Castle Yule Log: Cut Paper Edition”From left, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”Prashant Gupta/FXXNew to Hulu‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’ Season 15Starts streaming: Dec. 2The longest-running sitcom in television history returns for a new season. As usual, it will combine the show’s lowlife high jinks with some episodes that directly engage with what’s going on in the world today. For example, the season’s first episode is about how the gang at Paddy’s Pub — Mac, Charlie, Dennis, Dee and Frank — try to make money off the pandemic. And episode two comments on the sometimes reckless political incorrectness of some older “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” jokes. The series continues on from there, filtering reality through the skewed perspective of characters who hardly every change, even as society keeps shifting all around them.Also arriving:Dec. 1“Candified: Home for the Holidays,” Season 1Dec. 2“Godfather of Harlem,” Season 1Dec. 3“The New York Times Presents: To Live and Die in Alabama”“PEN15,” Season 2, Part 2“Trolls: Holiday in Harmony”Dec. 9“Bloods,” Season 1“Creamerie,” Season 1“Swan Song”Dec. 10“Crossing Swords,” Season 2Dec. 16“Dead Asleep”Dec. 17“Mother/Android”Dec. 23“Dragons: The Nine Realms” Season 1Dec. 26“Letterkenny” Season 10Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in “Being the Ricardos.”GLEN WILSON/AmazonNew to Amazon‘Being the Ricardos’Starts streaming: Dec. 21The writer-director Aaron Sorkin follows up his American history lesson “The Trial of the Chicago 7” with another look back into our cultural past, this time exploring the world of television in its infancy as a mass medium. In “Being the Ricardos,” Nicole Kidman plays Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem plays Desi Arnaz during one week of production on the groundbreaking 1950s sitcom “I Love Lucy.” The setup frames a larger study of the celebrity couple’s tumultuous romantic, creative and business partnership. Expect to hear plenty of Sorkin’s rapid-fire dialogue, applied to a backstage melodrama with echoes of his TV series “Sports Night” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.”Also arriving:Dec. 3“Harlem”Dec. 9“The Ferragnez”Dec. 10“Encounter”“The Expanse,” Season 6Dec. 17“With Love”Dec. 23“Yearly Departed”New to HBO Max“Listening to Kenny G”Starts streaming: Dec. 2The “Music Box” docuseries debuts three new films on HBO this month, including “Mr. Saturday Night” (about the swaggering industry impresario Robert Stigwood) and “Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss” (about the rapper’s short life and influential career). But the movie likely to draw the most attention is Penny Lane’s slyly provocative “Listening to Kenny G.” This comprehensive biography of the wildly successful and deeply divisive pop-jazz saxophonist Kenneth Gorelick — made with his full participation — doubles as a sincere consideration of why some people love Kenny G’s music and why some think it is pandering schmaltz. Gorelick is a disarming interview subject, willing to defend himself but seemingly unconcerned about his critical reputation. It’s the critics featured in the documentary that add the most, as they wrestle honestly with the long-term effects — positive and negative — of middle-of-the-road popular music.Also arriving:Dec. 1“Adrienne”Dec. 2“Perfect Life”“Santa Inc”Dec. 5“Beforeigners”Dec. 6“Landscapers”Dec. 7“The Slow Hustle”Dec. 9“And Just Like That …”“Mr. Saturday Night”Dec. 13“Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street”Dec. 16“Finding Magic Mike”“Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss”“Station Eleven”Dec. 22“The Matrix Resurrections”New to Paramount+“1883”Starts streaming: Dec. 19Given that the modern western drama “Yellowstone” is one of the most-watched series on cable and streaming right now, it was probably inevitable that Paramount and the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan, would try to expand the franchise. Sheridan — an accomplished writer, director and producer whose credits include the likes of “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water” — ventures back to the late 19th century to follow a grizzled adventurer (played by Sam Elliott) as he helps a pioneer couple (played by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) find their way to Montana. There, they’ll establish the Dutton ranch that is the main setting of “Yellowstone” — though not without plenty of the obstacles and soul-searching that make the parent show so compelling.Also arriving:Dec. 2“Queen of the Universe”Dec. 23“Reno 911: The Hunt for QAnon”New to Peacock“Baking It”Starts streaming: Dec. 2The team behind the heartwarming reality competition show “Making It” offers as unique twist on the bake-off, in a series in which two-person teams cook in a homey kitchen and try to impress a judging panel of four opinionated grandmas. Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg are the “Baking It” hosts, serving up playful banter and earnest support as contestants produce creative and delicious treats. The drama level is kept purposefully low, leaving room for lots of good holiday vibes.“MacGruber”Starts streaming: Dec. 16The comedian Will Forte and the “Saturday Night Live” writer-directors Jorma Taccone and John Solomon introduced the resourceful but easily distracted special agent MacGruber (played by Forte) in a series of “SNL” sketches that began in 2007. They spun the character off into a strange 2010 movie that has a fiercely devoted cult of fans; now they’re bringing MacGruber back to TV as a serialized action-adventure spoof, with the hero returning to work after a decade in prison. Kristen Wiig comes back as the superspy’s sidekick, for straight-faced, absurdist riffs on over-the-top ’80s and ’90s international thrillers.Also arriving:Dec. 4“Siwas Dance Pop Revolution”Dec. 9“The Housewives of the North Pole”Dec. 23“Vigil” More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, HBO, Hulu and More in September

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      Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our favorites for September.Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of September’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)New to Amazon Prime VideoBilly Bob Thornton in “Goliath.”Greg Lewis/Amazon Prime Video‘Goliath’ Season 4Starts streaming: Sept. 24Billy Bob Thornton says goodbye to one of the best characters of his career with the fourth and final season of “Goliath,” a California legal drama inspired by film noir. Thornton has spent three seasons playing Billy McBride, a formerly high-powered and high-living lawyer who crashed hard and has since been trying to redeem himself, one seemingly unwinnable case at a time. For this last run of episodes, Billy finds himself in San Francisco, fighting his mental, physical and emotional frailties while helping a big-time law firm earn a potential billion-dollar settlement against some opioid-peddling pharmaceutical companies. Once again, an ace supporting cast (including the series regular Nina Arianda and the newcomers Bruce Dern, Jena Malone, J.K. Simmons and Elias Koteas) works magnificently to deliver a moody and complex mystery with juicy twists.Also arriving:Sept. 3“Cinderella”Sept. 10“LuLaRich”“Pretty Hard Cases”“The Voyeurs”Sept. 17“Do, Re & Mi”“Everyone’s Talking About Jamie”“The Mad Women’s Ball”New to Apple TV+Jared Harris in a scene from “Foundation.”Helen Sloan/Apple TV+‘Come From Away’Starts streaming: Sept. 10Two national tragedies — the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic — play a role in this recording of the Tony-winning musical “Come From Away,” shot in a Broadway theater earlier this year in front of a specially selected live audience of emergency responders, health care workers and 9/11 survivors. The show is a tuneful and impressionistic document of a true story from that day, describing the moments of kindness and connection that happened when the friendly Canadian small town of Gander, in Newfoundland, took care of over 7,000 passengers from planes diverted to its airport. Both an imaginative piece of journalism and an emotional recollection of a difficult time, “Come From Away” is a cathartic entertainment, tempering heartbreak with hope.‘Foundation’ Season 1Starts streaming: Sept. 24One of the most influential science-fiction franchises of all time, Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” is as relevant today as it was when the original trilogy of books was written in the 1940s and ’50s. The long-in-development, flashy-looking TV version embraces the modern parallels. Jared Harris plays the brilliant mathematician Hari Seldon, who has crunched the numbers and has determined that the millennia-old galactic empire is due for an irreversible collapse in a few centuries, leading to 30,000 years of chaos. But that chaos could be reduced to a mere 1,000 years if society took immediate steps to preserve its knowledge and culture. The show’s creators, David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman, tell a story that spans multiple planets and decades but is ultimately about how ordinary human weaknesses and fears sometimes keep us from realizing our grandest ambitions.Also arriving:Sept. 17“The Morning Show” Season 2New to Disney+From left, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Mapuana Makia in a scene from “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.”Karen Neal/Disney‘Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.’ Season 1Starts streaming: Sept. 8This remake of the ’90s family dramedy “Doogie Howser, M.D.” moves the action from Los Angeles to Hawaii and changes the protagonist from a teenage boy to a teenage girl (played by the Disney Channel favorite Peyton Elizabeth Lee). But the premise remains the same: What if a child genius finished college and medical school early and became a licensed doctor by age 16? Like the original, this new “Doogie” is a coming-of-age story about a precocious kid, who discovers that knowing a lot about how to fix human bodies hasn’t wholly prepared her for the more adult problems of romantic heartbreak and workplace woes.Also arriving:Sept. 1“Dug Days” Season 1Sept. 3“Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles”Sept. 22“Star Wars: Visions” Season 1New to HBO MaxOscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain in the HBO remake of the Ingmar Bergman series “Scenes From a Marriage.”Jojo Whilden/HBO‘Scenes From a Marriage’Starts streaming: Sept. 12Based on the acclaimed 1973 TV mini-series from Ingmar Bergman, “Scenes From a Marriage” stars Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac as a seemingly content upper-middle-class couple whose relationship begins to splinter when the circumstances in their lives prompt them to scrutinize what they have. Written by the playwright Amy Herzog and the writer-producer-director Hagai Levi (best-known for the original Israeli version of the show that became HBO’s “In Treatment”), this new “Scenes” follows the arc of Bergman’s original story while taking into account what has changed in the past 50 years of gender dynamics. Chastain and Isaac anchor the series, playing a husband and wife who still love and appreciate each other but who have outgrown their old expectations.Also arriving:Sept. 2“Adventure Time: Distant Lands — Wizard City”Sept. 10“Malignant”Sept. 15“A la Calle”Sept. 17“Cry Macho”Sept. 23“Ahir Shah: Dots”“Doom Patrol” Season 3Sept. 26“Nuclear Family”Sept. 30“The Way Down”New to HuluKayvan Novak as Nandor in a scene from Season 3 of “What We Do in the Shadows.”Russ Martin/FX‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Season 3Starts streaming: Sept. 3This hilarious horror mockumentary had a great run last year, with the cast and writers expanding on the show’s initial concept: a Staten Island version of the 2014 New Zealand movie about bickering vampire roommates. “What We Do in the Shadows” is still an episodic sitcom, with each chapter telling its own story. But the larger arc that started to develop in Season 2 continues in Season 3 as this band of slacker bloodsuckers and their shrewd human assistant Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) find themselves presented with new opportunities. Although the characters have richer back stories now — filled with bizarre, centuries-old grudges — this show’s primary asset is still its performances, as some very funny actors react with deadpan irritation at the paranormal craziness surrounding them.‘Y: The Last Man’ Season 1Starts streaming: Sept. 13For over a decade, the Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra comic book series “Y: The Last Man” has been in development for a screen adaptation — first for the movies and then for TV. There’s a good reason the project’s producers have been so persistent: “Y” has an irresistibly juicy premise, depicting a society where an apocalyptic event has killed every mammal with a Y chromosome on Earth except for one. The comics are also filled with memorable characters and thrilling plot twists. This version retains both the grabby story and the fascinatingly eclectic cast — including the title hero, Yorick Brown (Ben Schnetzer). But the series’s head writer, Eliza Clark, has also updated the original’s exploration of gender roles.Also arriving:Sept. 2“Trolls: TrollsTopia” Season 4Sept. 3“The D’Amelio Show” Season 1Sept. 8“Wu-Tang: An American Saga” Season 2Sept. 10“The Killing of Two Lovers”Sept. 16“The Premise” Season 1“Riders of Justice”“Stalker”Sept. 29“Minor Premise”New to PeacockFrom left, Sumalee Montano, Ashley Zukerman and Rick Gonzalez in a scene from “Dan Brown’s the Lost Symbol.”Rafy/Peacock‘Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol’Starts streaming: Sept. 16“The Lost Symbol” is the third novel in Dan Brown’s popular series of books about Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor who specializes in symbology and classical art — and who often ends up using his know-how to help the authorities crack the secret codes underlying international conspiracies. Tom Hanks has played Langdon in the movie versions of Brown’s stories. Ashley Zukerman has taken on the role for a TV adaptation that is meant to serve as an entry point for newcomers. As with the books and the films, this version is a complicated tale of good versus evil, featuring a lot of scenes of smart folks solving ancient puzzles in dark and dangerous chambers.Also arriving:Sept. 2“A.P. Bio” Season 4 More

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      Universal Pictures Spends Big for New 'Exorcist' Trilogy

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      The deal, expected to be announced this week, is for more than $400 million and is a direct response to the streaming giants that are upending the film industry’s economics.LOS ANGELES — Heads are spinning in Hollywood: Universal Pictures and its streaming-service cousin have closed a $400 million-plus megadeal to buy a new “Exorcist” trilogy, signaling a sudden willingness to compete head-on with the technology giants that are upending entertainment industry economics.Donna Langley, the film studio’s chairwoman, teamed with Peacock, NBCUniversal’s fledgling streaming service, to make the purchase, which is expected to be announced this week, according to three people briefed on the matter. These people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the still-private deal, said the price was in the vicinity of the $465 million that Netflix paid in March for two sequels to the 2019 whodunit “Knives Out.”Universal had no immediate comment.The “Knives Out” and “Exorcist” deals — both negotiated by Bryan Lourd, the Creative Artists superagent — solidify a new streaming gold rush. The eye-popping talent paydays of 2017 and 2018, when Netflix scooped up big-name television creators, have migrated to the film world.The proliferation of streaming services and their scramble for subscribers has driven up prices for established film properties and filmmakers. At the same time, traditional movie companies are under more pressure than ever to control those same creative assets; moviegoing has been severely disrupted by the pandemic and may never fully recover.Linda Blair as the possessed Regan in the original “Exorcist,” which was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture.Warner Bros. Entertainment, via Associated PressIt is surprising, however, that Universal and Peacock have come to the table in such a major way. NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast, has started to devote more resources to the little-watched Peacock. Programming from the Tokyo Olympics is available on the service, for instance. But Hollywood has heretofore viewed the year-old Peacock as unwilling to compete for top-tier movie deals.Universal’s decision to revisit “The Exorcist” is striking in and of itself. The R-rated 1973 film about a baffled mother (Ellen Burstyn) and her demonically possessed daughter (Linda Blair) was a global box office sensation — “the biggest thing to hit the industry since Mary Pickford, popcorn, pornography and ‘The Godfather,’” as Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times in 1974. It has become a cultural touchstone, the type of film that fans and critics guard as sacrosanct.Universal is not remaking “The Exorcist,” which was directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay that William Peter Blatty adapted from his own novel. But the studio will, for the first time, return the Oscar-winning Ms. Burstyn to the franchise. (Two forgettable “Exorcist” sequels and a prequel were made without her between 1977 and 2004.) Joining her will be Leslie Odom Jr., a Tony winner for “Hamilton” on Broadway and a double Oscar nominee for “One Night in Miami.” He will play the father of a possessed child. Desperate for help, he tracks down Ms. Burstyn’s character.Suffice it to say, Satan is not thrilled to see her again.David Gordon Green, known for Universal’s blockbuster 2018 reboot of the “Halloween” horror franchise, will direct the new “Exorcist” films and serve as a screenwriter. The horror impresario Jason Blum (“Get Out,” the “Purge” series) is among the producers, along with David Robinson, whose company, the independent Morgan Creek Entertainment, has held the “Exorcist” movie rights. The Blumhouse film executive Couper Samuelson is among the executive producers. (Blumhouse has a first-look deal with Universal.)The first film in the trilogy is expected to arrive in theaters in late 2023. Under the terms of the deal, the second and third films could debut on Peacock, according to one of the people briefed on the matter.Donna Langley, Universal’s chairwoman, and the horror maestro Jason Blum, who will help produce the new trilogy.Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for CinemaconIn a business sense, the deal reflects the boldness of Ms. Langley, chairwoman of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. In the wake of the pandemic, which brought movie production to a halt, she led an effort to develop safety protocols to get the assembly lines moving again. In the case of “Exorcist,” she led a push inside NBCUniversal to pull off the big-money deal.The cost of the package is so high because Ms. Langley and her deals maven, Jimmy Horowitz, did not play by Hollywood’s old economic rules; they took a risk and played by new ones — those used by streaming insurgents like Netflix, Amazon and Apple to outbid traditional film companies, at least until now.The old model, the one that studios have used for decades to make high-profile film deals, involves paying fees upfront and then sharing a portion of the revenue from ticket sales, DVD purchases and television rerun licensing around the world. The bigger the hit, the bigger the “back end” paydays for certain talent partners.The streaming giants have done it differently. They pay more upfront — usually much, much more — in lieu of any back-end payments, which gives them complete control over future revenue. It means that talent partners get paid as if their projects are hits before they are released (or even made). The risk for talent: If their projects become monster hits, they do not get a piece of the windfall. More