But co-creators Michael Eisner and Tom Miller definitely knew they were taking a risk when they pitched the show to Paramount.

Not surprisingly, the concept didn’t fare well with execs, and the studio passed. 

The market research department said a coming-of-age sitcom about the idealism and innocence of 1950s youth would never work in the trippy 1970s.

But over time, with a little push from George Lucas, Happy Days made history as one of the most significant nostalgia-based shows of all time.

And ever since Fonz and Richie Cunningham showed us how to laugh at our childhood, TV audiences have had a love affair with nostalgic TV shows. 

Many new TV shows also followed the Happy Days formula, whether it was The Wonder Years, set in the late 1960s while airing in the late 1980s, or That 70s Show, which showed us the glee of the 1970s while airing in the 1990s. 

Even in the 2020s, we’ve never really stopped loving nostalgia and using “period pieces” as a storytelling technique. 

Today, with Gen X and Millennials at the wheel of modern culture, we’re tapping back into the 1980s and 1990s and remembering how boomers and slackers saw the world.

We were disconnected and barely scratching the surface of modern technology. But the memories were powerful enough to stick with us and symbolize the lives of whole generations. 

Here are eight TV shows that recreate or recapture yesterday’s nostalgia without being too cringe in that Revenge of the Nerds kind of way. 

Matlock 

Kathy Bates is back on television, and although Matlock takes place in the modern era, it’s easy to see how this rebooted and gender-swapped version of Matlock is a tribute to the 1980s.

Kathy Bates plays, and seemingly channels, the Andy Griffith character of 1986, Ben Matlock. But she’s not just a country bumpkin. She’s also a bit sneaky, a bit disarming, and above all, genteel and charming, as expected. 

Bates played a similar role in The Office as Jo Bennett.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

However, it’s easy to see how this modern retelling of Matlock has more secrets than it’s letting on, especially regarding why Matlock is going undercover at a law firm and solving a much bigger mystery.

While taking down giants with a smile, her “I’m just a harmless old lady” shtick just gets better with age. 

Watch Matlock Online

Bel-Air

Ironically, most people remember the 1990s hit sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for its dramatic moments involving family conflict, rather than its many lighthearted moments. 

Years after the show came to an end, fan Morgan Cooper made a short film and reimagined The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a dramatic TV series he called Bel-Air. 

It was such a natural evolution that it caught the attention of Will Smith, who wanted to revisit nostalgic characters like Vivian, Uncle Phil, House Manager Geoffrey, Carlton, and Hilary. 

Bel-Air is a bit dark, but who can deny the 1990s took on dark themes with a jaded grin? 

Watch Bel-Air Online

Cobra Kai

Cobra Kai was less of a reboot and more of a “repair” of the hatchet job that was The Karate Kid reboot of 2010. Will Smith’s kid learning Kung-Fu? Come on!

Cobra Kai actually revisited the original characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence (played by original cast members Ralph Macchio and William Zabka) and picked up where the movies left off. 

And before it’s all over, we also get more cameos from original cast members from the first three Karate Kid films. 

No, Hilary Swank never returned to revisit “Julie”, but hey — we still get feels hearing Daniel talk about his mentor. 

Watch Cobra Kai Online

Walker

True, Walker was unceremoniously canceled despite its good ratings. (Another TV first!) But it’s hard to deny that producer and actor Jared Padalecki made a genuine and valiant attempt to recreate 1990s nostalgia with a 2020-era lens. 

Family conflict was low, while gang-police conflict was high. 

And while Cordell Walker did not exactly tribute Chuck Norris (he didn’t even kick anyone’s butt with savage kicks), he did give fans a taste of 1990s nostalgia. 

Walker’s troubled but good-natured family steals the show, while Jared balances between cowboy stoicism and a moralistic community leader. 

Walker, Texas Ranger wasn’t just about beating up bad guys. Ultimately, it was about remembering the forgotten Western genre in the spirit of films like Lone Wolf McQuade. 

Watch Walker Online

That ’90s Show

That ’90s Show reminds us how great the 1990s actually were while we slacked and remembered how cool the 1970s sounded. 

Set in 1996, the show revisits iconic 1970s parents Red and Kitty, but through the lens of Leia Forman, the teenage daughter of Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti.  

The show is double nostalgic in the sense that it remembers the 1990s while also remembering distinctive 1970s characters. 

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask For
  by Thomas Godwin
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick

Most of those characters come back, too, such as Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon), Fez (Wilmer Valderrama), and even Bob Pinciotti (Don Stark). 

Even legends like Eric Forman (Topher Grace), Jackie Burkhart (Mila Kunis), and Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) show up, reminding us that you usually CAN go home again — as long as you’re not in jail. Sorry about that, Hyde. 

Watch That '90s Show Online

Night Court

The original Night Court captured the madness and uninhibited comedy that defined the 1980s.

It was one part burlesque show, one part dad jokes, and one part sad commentary on fatherless boys — a recurring motif throughout its nine seasons. 

It seems impossible to revisit such a “you had to be there” moment in time. Not only because of the madcap and politically incorrect comedy, but just the simple fact that most of the original cast was resting in peace. 

Except John Larroquette.  

The same John Larroquette who always comes back to TV in some capacity, usually playing sidekicks or irritable B-sitcom protagonists. But this time, he gets it right. 

On Night Court, the reboot, he revisits his greatest role as Dan Fielding, who bonds with Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of his late friend, Harry Stone. 

While Harry Anderson’s presence is sorely missed, it’s impossible not to follow Dan Fielding, all grown up and bitter — until he meets a gang of old friends, including former bailiff Roz, played again by Marsha Warfield. 

Night Court might well set a record for a sitcom actor inhabiting the same character for decades if it wasn’t for one other guy.

Watch Night Court Online

Frasier

Kelsey Grammar has always teased his desire to revisit Frasier Crane after retiring the character in 2004. 

And if Grammar has learned anything in his four-decade sitcom career, it’s that you can’t take your ensemble cast with you. 

In the 1990s, he didn’t get the luxury of inviting back Ted Danson or Bebe Neuwirth until Frasier was a hit. 

Likewise, in the 2020s, he couldn’t get David Hyde Pierce to return as Niles Crane. Some ”ships” have sailed. 

But to his credit, Grammar is eager to return to a world that has surpassed him in technology, culture, and, of course, new family members. 

This time, Frasier moved back to the Boston, Massachusetts, area, taking a job as a Harvard University professor, hoping to reconnect with his son Frederick Crane. 

The original Frasier always felt nostalgic, especially in scenes involving Kelsey Grammar and the late John Mahoney, who played Frasier’s irritable but earnest father, Martin Crane. 

They talked about the past. They shared introspective monologues. They thought about the 1980s and how a drink at the end of the day was everything.

Grammar spent so much of the 1990s finding neuroses and avoiding happiness that it is refreshing to see him as a fully realized character.

This new Frasier loves more, gives more, and supports his friends and family in a way Frasier of old could never comprehend. 

Watch Frasier Online

Stranger Things

Stranger Things is the most successful nostalgic show and is the one exception on this list, in that it feels dynamic and “in the moment” and is never just a trip down memory lane. 

Stranger Things gives us Gen X’s aesthetics while creating its own universe of terror, intrigue, and happy endings. (Or shall we say, Happy For Now endings, at least until the final season)

While the show references many 1980s culture riffs and movie tributes, its premise and execution are also distinctly 1980s. 

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick

The series plays with classic tropes and themes from 1980s movies, such as children going on adventures, dungeons and dragons, government conspiracies, and paranormal discoveries. 

The cinematography is influenced by 1980s directors like Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter. Even the 1980s synth-heavy soundtrack evokes the feeling of 1980s mischief. 

The Duffer Brothers recreated the 1980s very well, right down to including the nostalgic and iconic objects we all still talk about, like arcade games, walkie-talkies, basement hangouts, and terrible sofas. 

Watch Stranger Things Online

Why We Love Nostalgia TV

While trendy and quite effective in getting attention, nostalgia is also very therapeutic. 

It helps members of Gen Z and A visualize a forgotten pre-internet existence while also softly triggering Gen Xers and Boomers to remember the highs and lows of their glory days. 

I personally hope this nostalgia obsession never ends.

Because in the back of our minds, we always want to know what happened to our favorite characters — and we want that portal to an alternative universe to stay open and not just feel like a lost memory.

Those happy days never have to end if we keep remembering the past so fondly.

Over to you, TV Fanatics! What TV shows do you think are doing nostalgia right? Hit the comments and let us know!

The post TV Shows Doing Nostalgia Right (Without Making It Cringe) appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Playable characters, usually the central protagonist and or a group of friends the protagonists interact with that you occasionally control.  

You’re bound to run into some memorable enemies along the way, with their Shakespearean monologues and super laser weapon systems. 

Most of the characters you see will be “Non-playable characters” who have no real personalities but just sort of limp along with you to advance the plot. 

It turns out that these NPCs (a buzzword that means someone who is bland, generic, or just going through the motions) are all over television, too. 

Some of these NPCs are obvious.

They’re not quite at the level of “characters overstaying their welcome,” but they do seem to elicit a ho-hum from most of the audience.

Here are 13 NPCs or characters with “Non-Playable Character Energy” who feel like they’re on autopilot, just waiting for the main character to advance to the next stage already. 

The Human Cast of ALF — ALF

No one’s saying that we don’t pity the cast of ALF. They were all solid B-list actors who had no choice but to play second fiddle to a not-so-nice puppet. 

But whereas Sesame Street and Muppet Show human actors genuinely look like they’re having fun, the Tanner Family (Andrea Elson, Max Wright, Benji Gregory, and Anne Schedeen) looked like they were being held hostage. 

They’re NPC characters who are uncomfortably self-aware and look constantly annoyed. Blink three times, Willie, if ALF is threatening to kill you! 

When an entire family of characters has no personality and is just waiting for the puppet to speak, that’s what you call being “pulled by strings.” 

Watch ALF Online

Ryan — Yellowstone

Ian Bohen went from playing an incredible villain on MTV’s Teen Wolf to playing an NPC cliche on Yellowstone.

Look, no one’s arguing that Ryan the Ranch Hand isn’t interesting to watch. But besides his virtuous qualities, what is Ian Bohen doing with the role?

Peter Hale in Teen Wolf was a complex and morally ambiguous character who was equally menacing and vulnerable.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

What happened to that intensity, that anger, that tortured character arc?

Anyone rubbing their hands at the prospect of Ian creating psychodrama on Yellowstone must be disappointed with his performance, which was straight off the virtual set of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Watch Yellowstone Online

Brock and Trent — SEAL Team

While it’s true a show like SEAL Team is more concerned about communicating fast dialogue and suspenseful Navy SEAL scenarios, we can’t let the characters of Brock Reynolds and Trent Sawyer slide.

Brock Reynolds is the quiet one, the K-9 lover who conveys important tactical reasoning while cracking a random joke here and there.

Trent is a serious, no-nonsense professional, a man loyal to his people and resilient in his methodology.

But between the two of them, they just don’t sizzle as much as other characters, like Jason Hayes or Sonny Quinn. The others have conflicts and backstories. These two guys have fewer stories and screen time overall.

Might there be a good reason for their one-dimensional performances?

Well, yes, actually. As it turns out, both of these characters are portrayed by real-life men in peril.

Tyler Grey, who plays Trent Sawyer, is a former U.S. Army Delta Force operator and Army Ranger who actually served and was injured in Iraq.

Justin Melnick is a real police officer who owns Cerberus, or as Justin calls him, Dita the Hair Missile Dog.

Justin and Tyler are not thespians but real service men who bring expertise not only on-screen but also off, in an advisory capacity. After all, when you’re out there saving lives, dramatic monologues are probably a bit distracting.

Watch SEAL Team Online

Walter Jr. — Breaking Bad

Many Breaking Bad fans legit-hate Walter Jr., describing his character as “smug, entitled, and douchey.” 

But wiser fans recognize that Walter Jr. (played by RJ Mitte) wasn’t really deserving of hate.

He was just an underwritten, plot-advancement character who only seemed to exist as a sentimental foil to Walter White’s diabolical planning. 

Can we agree that the Breaking Bad story arc would have worked just as well without him? 

Watch Breaking Bad Online

Kasie Hines — NCIS

While Kasie from NCIS might have impressive forensic skills, her screen time often feels more like filler than essential.

As the team’s resident lab tech, she’s there to deliver results and crack a joke or two but rarely gets the chance to shine in a meaningful subplot.

Her contributions are valuable, but her character often fades into the background, making her feel more like an NPC in the ensemble cast than a standout.

It’s a shame because her personality has so much potential for deeper storylines.

Watch NCIS Online

DJ — Roseanne and The Conners

D.J. Conner (played mostly* by Michael Fishman) was the rambunctious son of Dan and Roseanne Conner, a stereotypically weird kid, like a modern-day Eddie Munster with human skin. 

Fishman played the role well in his early years, getting some of the biggest laughs of the show. 

But when he came back to The Conners twenty years later, he lost practically all of his quirks and became a straight-faced aw-shucks military man, supposedly taking after his easygoing father. 

Wait, was Dan Conner really supposed to be the easygoing “straight guy” all along? Dan was nuttier than a Snickers bar! What happened to the fire and the conflict that characterized the show — and the entire 1990s decade? 

Whereas the taming of fireballs like Becky, Darlene, and Aunt Jackie was subtle, the complete whitewashing of D.J. strikes me as the most unrealistic. 

Watch The Conners Online

A.J. Soprano — The Sopranos

What’s wrong with A.J. Soprano, the darkly-dreaming, lazy-eyed son of Tony? Why nothing, of course. Don’t most mafia sons turn out OK? 

You wouldn’t know it from watching The Sopranos because A.J. was never a central storyline, hardly ever a secondary character, and was just more or less a comic relief guy. 

A minor wiseguy who could never get into any real trouble? Really?

Is he destined to become Tony’s successor someday? Or maybe he’s still waiting for a more important “made guy” to advance the plot. 

Watch The Sopranos Online

Elizabeth Thatcher — When Calls the Heart

The real challenge is figuring out which NPC character from When Calls the Heart should be highlighted best, but we’re going with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth has failed to grow as a character or even inhabit any real personality outside of her love triangle drama, poor decision-making, and attachment to romance.

She is an NPC of “The Sims” caliber because she doesn’t seem to exist outside of her relationships. Many fans feel as if she hasn’t grown at all over several seasons and has actually become consistently dumber.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick
• Scrubs Is My All-Time Favorite Comedy, But I’m Not All In For The Scrubs Reboot Yet
  by Jack Ori

Now, one could argue that the choice to put so much NPC energy on Elizabeth was showrunner Lindsay Sturman’s doing.

But one thing’s for sure: Elizabeth needs to break out of the same gaming patterns and take a new path already.

Watch When Calls The Heart Online

Sideshow Mel — The Simpsons

The Simpsons intentionally create dozens of Non-Playable Characters who know how insignificant they are and thus participate in the self-deprecating comedy themselves. 

Hans Moleman, for example, shows up in the most random scenes with strange and depressing zingers about where he’s at in life. 

But none of these NPCs are as hammy as Sideshow Mel. 

Originally thought of as Sideshow Bob’s replacement, Sideshow Mel only seems to appear whenever there’s a missing narrator (ala The Simpsons Season 7 Episode 1 “Who Shot Mr. Burns?”), and he has a plot to convey. 

He sticks around on the 36-season show to advance minor plots, all the while doing a pompous imitation of Kelsey Grammar — since Grammar was and still is the voice of Sideshow Bob. 

Watch The Simpsons Online

Will and Mike — Stranger Things

Many fans agree that of all the screaming characters in the Duffer Brothers’ alternate dimension monster series, Stranger Things, Will and Mike were the most under-used. 

They may have been pivotal in Stranger Things Season 1, but by Stranger Things Seasons 2 and 3, they hardly did anything. Fans figured out they were boring and usually stood in the way of the most important characters. 

It’s no wonder that Will and Mike are now a thing and a potential gay romance plotline for Stranger Things Season 5. 

Fans are divided. Some say the romance is coming out of nowhere — as if NPCs just ordered to kiss. Others say the clues have been building since at least Stranger Things Season 2. 

Maybe Will and Mike will be the focus of Stranger Things Season 5 and finally step out of the Secondary Character dimension?

Watch Stranger Things Online

Ted Mosby — How I Met Your Mother

Ted Mosby is not exactly a universally loved character. But whereas much of the fandom trash him for his poor life decisions, I’m more curious about where his motivation comes from. 

The worst thing about Ted is his total lack of growth as a complex character. For a show that is so sappingly sentimental, How I Met Your Mother has no real-life lessons to share. 

He’s confused about signals. OK, we get it. He’s overly romantic to a fault and obsessed with Robin, but he never goes after her. 

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick
• Stacey Farber and Daren Kagasoff Lead a Charming Cast and Bring Joyful Humor to Hanukkah on the Rocks
  by Laura Nowak

At least not until the death of his future wife. After his wife’s death, Ted tells his children about Robin and asks their permission to date her. Did he at least wait till after the funeral was over? 

Some fans take this to mean Ted is a self-centered manipulator. 

I think Ted is just underwritten. The show tries to make him an everyman – every guy who has ever yearned for a girl who got away.

But the truth is he has no real personality and has no reason to be alive other than to tell you all these stories in a first-person narrative, much like The Wonder Years. 

However, whereas The Wonder Years appeared to care about its characters’ feelings, How I Met Your Mother is cold as ice.

It only seems to care about finishing the story, briefly name-dropping “The Wife,” and then finishing the same schoolboy crush fantasy. 

A show about being in love and searching for love (and not actually being in love with anyone) sounds like a smashing video game concept to me. 

Watch How I Met Your Mother Online

The Matthews Family — FROM

The MGM+ series From might be the most suspenseful show on television if not for the insufferable Matthews Family. 

What other show goes out of its way to remind us how unlikable the Matthews are and how they basically throw a wrench in anything The Town is trying to accomplish? 

Take your pick. Is Ethan’s whiney and inquisitive character just there to ask plot-advancing questions? 

Is Jim manufactured just to be an over-the-top bully father figure who rouses us to the defense of randomly assaulted characters? 

Are Tabitha and Julie (who have the same NPC personality functions — one is just Button A and the other Button B) trying to intentionally play divas? Or are they supposed to represent the ill manners of all Americans? 

Is the Matthews Family literally just the “Evil Option” in video games dramatized into a television show? Let’s choose the worst thing you can possibly say in a crisis and sit back and munch on some popcorn. 

Perhaps the show’s greatest flaw is that the Matthews Family is the only point of view given throughout the series. Everything comes back to them, and every flashback somehow relates to them. 

The Matthews are the only characters that matter because they’re supposed to be your tour guide into this Twilight Zone Mayberry. 

The reason survivalist shows like The Walking Dead prospered was because of shifting narratives and multiple POVs. 

Unfortunately, the Narcissistic Matthews Family is the anchor that keeps From from swimming and reaching its fullest potential. 

Watch From Online

Wesley Crusher — Star Trek: The Next Generation

What better way to sneak aboard the intellectually impenetrable Star Trek Enterprise than by wearing the skinsuit of an annoying teenage boy? 

Yes, a boy who’s serving on Star Fleet for no apparent reason except that he appeals to Gen X demographics. (Yes, Gen X were once young, bratty kids…can you imagine that?)

Oh yes, and for some reason, he’s a genius and a straight A-student prodigy. Want proof of his intellectual wizardry?

• TV Shows Doing Nostalgia Right (Without Making It Cringe)
  by Michael Arangua
• The ‘NPC’ Energy List: 13 TV Characters Who Are Basically Background Extras
  by Michael Arangua
• 15 Great Psychological Horror Films on Streaming Right Now
  by Michael Arangua

Why, of course, he saved the entire Enterprise in that one episode and then is only periodically heard from throughout the rest of the series. 

But the truth is Wesely from Star Trek: The Next Generation has no real personality besides cloying qualities like Annoying Perfectionist and Mysterious Genius (his problem-solving abilities are never demonstrated).

Most importantly, though, his appearances always coincide with a major plot device. 

He’s never a complete character study because no one would watch dozens of Wesely-centered Star Trek episodes. There’s no substance. 

His character was so poorly written that many Trekkies blame the 1980s Writer’s Strike for Wesely’s boring character — a character so shallow that he’s been dubbed the Star Trek Universe’s “Mary Sue” trope. 

What’s a “Mary Sue” trope? It’s a term used to describe a fictional character, usually a young woman, who is portrayed as unrealistically free of weaknesses or character flaws.

Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation Online

The MacGuffins

In the old days, film critics called characters introduced solely to advance the plot MacGuffins. 

Today, MacGuffins have morphed into Non-Playable Characters, the type of talking heads so tedious that no one wants to play them, let alone hear their stories.

Their stories are non-existent, and frankly, these NPCs would much rather talk about you and your plans for the day.

Did we miss any other characters who give off major NPC energy? Share your picks in the comments!

The post The ‘NPC’ Energy List: 13 TV Characters Who Are Basically Background Extras appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Well, it could be as simple as comparing the style of Stanley Kubrick to that of David Fincher. One is in love with emotional turmoil, and the other paints vivid images of realistic terror.

Psychological horror is not about catch and release — the formula of most horror thrillers. Most horror films you can think of fall into the cozy genres of suspense thriller (Silence of the Lambs), psychological thriller (Jacob’s Ladder), or slasher (The Strangers).

You’re outrunning Art the Clown, Michael Myers, or Freddy Krueger when you watch a thriller.When you watch a psychological thriller, you’re figuring out a mystery in real time with the protagonist.

You’re figuring out the horrible truth of your fate, like Grace in The Others, or uncovering a diabolical plot, like in Chris in Get Out. But when you’re watching psychological horror, you are held hostage by a directing/writing team that is taking your mind on a roller coaster to Hell.

Psychological horror is purposely not formulaic or about escaping a single monster.

Usually, the “monster” or the conflict of the film is escaping the madness that surrounds you, whether you’re being held hostage by a madman or if you feel yourself going mad. Psychological horror revels in influencing psychological states in the viewer.

Directors create feelings of high tension, paranoia, and confusion, leaving the viewer exhausted – but eager to finish the story. You’re eager to be released from the distressing atmosphere that has captivated your mind.

Psychological horror explores our emotional vulnerabilities and may even reveal buried parts of the human psyche that we work so hard to repress.

With that said, here are 15 psychological horror films to watch on streaming this month to better understand this fascinating and, unfortunately, rare genre.

15. John and the Hole (2021)

John and the Hole is a slow, cautious dip into the deep pool of psychological horror movies. It’s not too intense but slowly unravels a disturbed plot of epic family dysfunction. 

It’s ideal for beginners who aren’t interested in gore but in Hitchcockian thrills from a movie classic.

Bonus points for starring Michael C. Hall (Dexter), who gets to play the victim instead of the perpetrator for a change. 

Watch John and the Hole Online

14. The Birds (1963)

Speaking of Hitchcock, while Psycho was one of psychological horror’s first blockbusters, The Birds is even better on a second viewing. It’s not just man vs. crazy man conflict — it’s man vs. forces of nature. 

Hitchcock treats flocks of birds as a paranormal menace, perhaps reminding us how fragile we are as a species if you’re going just by numbers.

The fact that the mystery of why birds are attacking humans is never fully explained only makes it a prime example of psychological horror. 

Watch The Birds Online

13. Mother! (2017)

Darren Aronofsky may be the loudmouth “bro” of psychological horror. Requiem for a Dream bashes you over the head with assaulting images, like a demonic afterschool special about the dangers of drugs. 

Black Swan was also a trippy vision of beauty gone awry. But Mother! is his most ambitious and polarizing project to date.

• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 Wrapped Up A 14-Year Run With A Reminder Of Everything That Makes This Cancelation Hurt
  by Jack Ori
• Fire Country Season 3 Episode 8 Review: Zombie Fires Take Control
  by Sara Trimble

Darren gets biblical with a surreal and allegorical film about a couple living in a Victorian mansion who open their home to a stranger — and all the chaos that follows. 

I watched the film with a crowd of moviegoers expecting a suspense thriller. You can imagine their horror and frustration when the film gave them the exact opposite of a believable story. 

Watch Mother! Online

12. Blue Velvet (1986)

One can’t create a list of great psychological horror films without giving one shoutout to David Lynch, the impenetrable genius who hates explaining his films – and apparently hates finishing most of his films, for that matter. 

Mulholland Drive is an entire series recklessly crammed into a two-hour movie, while Eraserhead might as well be Lynch’s biopic. But he never surpassed Blue Velvet, deceptively his most linear film, which also makes no logical sense. 

Blue Velvet, like all of Lynch’s films, is a dream. It’s a surreality that evokes visceral emotion and perhaps repressed feelings in the viewer. Lynch has admitted that his films come from his own phobias, experiences, and feelings. 

Blue Velvet has no redemption or heroic plot line to latch onto. It simply assaults the viewer like a  Rorschach painting designed to prick your conscience. 

Watch Blue Velvet Online

11. Christine (2016)

Movies that do the unthinkable and attempt to empathize with a person slowly losing their sanity are hard to watch. Most mainstream movies follow a tragic villain who turns their wrath on society. 

Movies like Christine, which follows a tragic protagonist who is only violent towards herself, are unnerving. The film follows real-life news anchor Christine Chubbuck hours before her 1974 suicide on live television.

It feels like watching an accident you see coming but are powerless to prevent. It’s a new kind of arthouse psychological horror, which mixes elements of shockumentaries and tearjerkers with the usual descent into madness. 

The film was so revolutionary it inspired a much more successful trauma flicks to come…

Watch Christine Online

10. Joker (2019)

Someday we’ll forget the debacle of Joker: Folie à Deux, and remember that the original Todd Phillips’ film was a psychological horror masterpiece.

The iconic film delved into incel culture and zillennial counterculture, (safely explored through the lens of a 1981 DC alternate universe. 

Joaquin Phoenix explores the perspective of a domestic terrorist who, in his own mind, has every reason to snap and rebel against what he sees as a corrupt and heartless society. 

With so many Oscar-winning Joker performances, isn’t it a shame Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson weren’t also recognized? 

Watch Joker Online

9. Audition (1999)

I avoided Audition for the longest time, as I tend to postpone slasher movies full of mindless gore. But Audition, while disturbing to watch, is a clever hybrid between psychological horror and adrenaline-pumping thriller. 

Director Takashi Miike’s horror film has some element of catch-and-release. It tells the story of a middle-aged widower who meets a “model” through a fake casting call audition who turns out to be a violent psychopath. 

It seems like one of those situations where the guy’s kind of asking for trouble, doesn’t it? Amazingly, the film was both called feminist and misogynistic upon its initial release because of the psychological and physical damage we’re forced to witness.

Like many Japanese horror films, Audition’s horror comes from an intuitive place, a parapraxis of our worst nightmares where we always pay dearly for our mistakes. 

Watch Audition Online

8. The Lighthouse (2019)

Seeing formula horror films like Oddity or Caveat might scare you off the idea of visiting an isolated island. Why, of course, terrible monsters and insane murderers might lurk there. 

But with a film like The Lighthouse, the horror comes from swallowing your fears and actually going on an insane adventure on an isolated island with a possibly mad sailor. 

Experience for yourself the backbreaking work of a lighthouse keeper, the autophobic atmosphere, the starvation, the hallucinations, and the agony of being in close quarters with someone you can’t trust. 

The film feels like a terrible hallucination thanks to the Academy-Award-nominated cinematography by Jarin Blaschke and veteran horror movie actors Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, who take turns having Shakespearean meltdowns. 

Watch The Lighthouse Online

7. The House That Jack Built (2018)

Director Lars von Trier is one-half auteur, one-half internet troll, who seems to enjoy getting under your skin. Particularly if you’re American and believe cinema should be enjoyable. 

His films are simulated trauma, with Dogville being his most accessible and Anti-Christ being his most unhinged. But The House That Jack Built is Lars at his nihilistic worst. Perhaps it’s no coincidence he released this film in the same decade as our true crime podcast obsessions began. 

He unromanticizes America’s love affair with violence and antisocial behavior by exploring the mind of a serial killer who considers his crimes works of art. But rather than emphasizing gore or chase sequences, he fills the two-hour film with philosophical discussions and some dark comedy. 

It’s the type of film that’s even more disturbing than Terrifier (which has gone strangely mainstream lately) because it has no rules, no comfort zones, and no comfortable formula to stick to. 

Watch The House That Jack Built Online

6. Late Night with the Devil (2024)

Though Late Night with the Devil is set in the 1970s and staged as one of those “Lost Media” YouTube urban legends, its manic energy is distinctively 1990s.

Talk show host Jack Delroy, your basic Ed Sullivan or Jay Leno clone (played by creepy-looking David Dastmalchian), decides to toy with evil in a shameless ratings stunt for his show Night Owls.

He invites psychics, conjurers, and a cult survivor on his show, all the while Jack tells Carson-esque jokes, lightening the mood.

As the night proceeds from strange to downright horrifying, we see Jack slowly become unraveled by the chaos he has unleashed.

What’s most satisfying about this psychological horror parody is how they use the character Carmichael Haig, aka Carmichael the Conjurer, as a “paranormal foil.” Carmichael is a skeptic who pokes holes in all the supposedly paranormal events, reminding the audience that everything has an explanation.

The foil character allows the movie to increase and decrease tension throughout the two hours, keeping things unpredictable and with terror on a slow boil. Inevitably, Carmichael sees more than he bargained for, but by then, it’s too late.

Talk show host Jack Delroy has one more unexpected guest to entertain before the night ends — and it’s too “hot” for primetime.

Watch Late Night With the Devil Online

5. Possession (1981)

Possession is probably the worst horror movie to watch if you enjoy movies like The Exorcist, The Omen, The Conjuring, or other thrillers about demonic possession. 

It’s not about that. In fact, you may scratch your head, wondering exactly what it was about by the time the credits mercifully roll. On the surface, the film begins with a man who notices his wife is acting strangely right after asking for a divorce. 

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask For
  by Thomas Godwin
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick

But Possession, directed by Andrzej Żuławski and starring a young Sam Neil, is a tour-de-force madhouse exploring themes of insanity and irrationality. This gonzo meditation on personal congruity makes director David O. Russell seem slow-paced in comparison. 

Watching this movie will make you feel insane or as if you’ve been locked in a trance for two hours and are just now waking up to a world that makes sense again. 

Watch Possession Online

4. V/H/S Series (2012-2024)

It may seem unfair to choose the V/H/S series — a mainstream horror film franchise — to single out among so many other B-flicks. 

But what I’ve always found fascinating about V/H/S is that it follows no real blueprint on how to make a monster movie. It’s an anthology series within a movie that doesn’t explore characters or even familiar plots. 

Its premise is intentionally abstract and usually inexplicable. Using the “found footage” style of filmmaking, the viewer is forced to watch atrocities and horrific vignettes that defy explanation. 

No narrator is needed, and no story is ever resolved beyond the big “snuff” finale you’re unfortunate enough to see.

Over the years, the series has explored a variety of psychological terror scenarios, from alien kidnappings to Greek Gods in the flesh to crazy cults performing supernatural feats. 

With V/H/S Beyond (2024), we get more mad shenanigans, continuing the series’ grotesque sense of humor, from skydiving mishaps with UFOs to giant birds attacking police officers. 

No one is safe here, and the more nonsensical the plot, the more we shriek. See this one on Shudder right away and binge-watch more found footage scares than you can handle.

Watch V/H/S Beyond Online

3. X, Pearl, and Maxxxine (2024)

Ti West’s multi-generational horror trilogy is a bizarre experiment, following actor Mia Goth playing multiple roles and, in some cases, the same character as different ages. It’s remarkable how easily each film leads into the next one, whether by flashback or jumping forward. 

However, the real terror is watching Mia Goth’s performance as an unhinged woman who is so desperate for love that she becomes a menace to everyone she encounters.

Her performance peaks in the second installment, “Pearl” (which is actually the first storyline in the trilogy), where she progresses from naive Texas farm girl to full-blown psychopath with hardly a change in tone. 

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

Her performance as Pearl has transcended the slasher genre by presenting an unconventional and disarming villain. She’s not just mad in the sense that she could kill you. She took the time to make out with a scarecrow first because she’s utterly delusional, and her violent psychosis is just a symptom. 

It takes some effort to watch the trilogy since no service has all three movies. But it’s worth the investment to see one of the modern era’s best psychological horror movies. 

Watch X Online

2. Girly (1970)

Girly (sometimes known as Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny, and Girly) is a 1970 psychological horror and dark comedy that very few moviegoers have heard of — probably because the film is just plain nuts.

Based on a two-act play called “Happy Family,” Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny, and Girly tell the story of an insane family who lives in a secluded manor house in England. What better way to amuse themselves than by forcing visitors to play a violent role-playing game that inevitably ends in death?

This is one of the best examples of psychological horror in that the audience is held hostage along with the protagonist character, who can’t seem to talk his way out of danger. The family takes on the antagonist role and torments the protagonist slowly, getting inside his mind before finishing him off. 

The movie may well have started the genre of “dangerous families” terrorizing unsuspecting visitors. 

What’s even more strange, however, is the rumor that Girly (as it’s known in the United States) influenced Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. There is a parallel axe-swinging scene that ends with the character hacking through the door panel and exposing his face to the victim. 

Stanley had over ten years to take inspiration from this disturbing film and create his own “Here’s Johnny!” interpretation. 

I’m glad you brought up Kubrick, by the way, because we do have to talk about Kubrick…

Watch Girly Online

1. The Shining (1980)

Before Stanley Kubrick began work on The Shining, he decided he wanted to make a Stanley Kubrick film that happened to be in the horror genre. After Barry Lyndon’s disappointment, he wanted to make a commercial movie that just happened to be artistic and avant-garde…

If you work through the layers, of course. 

He auditioned numerous horror books, most of which he hated, until finally settling on a Stephen King novel about spousal abuse and going insane in a haunted hotel. 

Of all the plausible conspiracy theories about The Shining that we’ve heard, here’s the most interesting one. 

Kubrick suckered a young Stephen King into lending him his idea so that, as he always did, Kubrick could paint over it with his own literary allusions, Freudian terrors, and historical context.

Kubrick also made sure he had full rights to change the source material and that he could hire a screenwriter to pervert the original story. 

Novelist Diane Johnson, who wasn’t excessively fond of King as a writer (“It’s not part of great literature…one has less scruples when destroying it: one is aware that a great work of art is not being destroyed”) rewrote the film to appease Kubrick’s violent minotaur sensibility. 

The result is a film that alludes to everything while confirming nothing. It’s a movie made to provoke discussion with purposely chosen symbology and yet with a stubbornly literal plotline. 

What can’t be denied is Kubrick’s love affair with haunted cinematography.

He was a metaphysical Spielberg, a technician behind the camera but one who also knew how to unnerve his audience with sight gags, strange sound fluctuations, and erratic storyboarding. 

The Shining wasn’t focused enough to be a true horror thriller, but it was an exercise in bringing an abstract feeling of dread to life. He wanted his audience to feel what it was like to see a ghost in real life or to have a premonition of something terrible happening and see it come true. 

Perhaps he understood that in psychological horror, the scariest part is what you don’t see and what is not explained. Our confusion adds to the feeling of terror because we’re not familiar with the threat – only that it’s no longer safe. 

So, he filled this labyrinthine world with hundreds of riddles, superstitions, and links to the past.

He never explained it because he wanted our paranoia about the film to grow over time. What was unsaid was the creepiest part — what you felt was more important than the psychoanalysis. 

• 27 Disaster Films That Will Make You Glad You’re Just Snowed In
  by Lisa Babick
• Classic Action Movies That Deserve a Series Reboot
  by Thomas Godwin
• The Ultimate Comfort Movie Marathon To Get You Through Election Night
  by Lisa Babick

The opposite of psychological horror is relief — waking up from a bad dream. Kubrick’s films are about staying in a dream that never ends and seeing horrific things in the dark that may not even be there. 

Kubrick didn’t say much about the explanation of his films, but he did speak about The Shining’s themes and what he imagined psychological horror to be. 

“There’s something inherently wrong with the human personality. There’s an evil side to it. One of the things that horror stories can do is to show us the archetypes of the unconscious; we can see the dark side without having to confront it directly.”

Watch The Shining Online

What do you think? What are the best psychological horror films you’ve ever seen? 

The post 15 Great Psychological Horror Films on Streaming Right Now appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Ever wonder how the Golden Age of Hollywood might have fared if studios had been forced to list the crimes, misdemeanors, and shocking prejudices of celebrities 100 years ago? 

Would The Gold Rush or The Great Dictator have made as much money with a disclaimer reminding us about Charlie Chaplin’s multiple teenage wives?

Would Errol Flynn have become the action hero of his day if people knew about his statutory rape charges or his bugged house that let him spy on all his guests in various states of undress? 

Even down closer to the modern day, would we have allowed Alfred Hitchcock or Stanley Kubrick Shelley Duvall) to abuse women verbally, and would talk of their genius be censored for sensitive ears? 

Would a hypercritical social consciousness have doomed early Hollywood for its politically incorrect messages and nightmare celebrity scandals?

And the simple answer is, of course, Hollywood’s Golden Age would have survived just fine…

Because we were there. 

The Conscience of Early Hollywood

We were boycotting films. We were canceling celebrities. And we were definitely wagging our fingers at the mixed messages coming out of Hollywood because the corruption of innocent children was on everybody’s mind. 

They actually had a name for this “network” of people imposing social standards: The Hays Code, which came around by the 1930s because of all the rampant perversity in Hollywood. 

Not just the nudity and sexual language of the 1920s, mind you, but, of course, the rumors of partying and overindulgence going on behind the scenes. 

In the words of museum curator Chelsey O’Brien, “There were off-screen stories of drugs and alcohol and partying and overindulgence, and then the industry was rocked by really huge scandals…the death of Olive Thomas, the murder of William Desmond Taylor, and the alleged rape of Virginia Rappe by Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle.”

The result of all this “social networking” (not a social media phenomenon, mind you, not yet!) was to start cracking down on all the filth in film. 

But along the way to taming the egregiously unregulated motion picture industry, we discovered something profound. 

Great art outlives the artist. 

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Prison Break Reboot From Mayans M.C. Boss Receives Pilot Order at Hulu
  by TV Fanatic Staff
• Friday Night Lights Reboot Lands at Peacock (But It Will Never Recapture the Magic of the Original Series)
  by Tyler Johnson

An artist is just one person, one person limited by their self-destructive nature and moral flaws. But the art they produce can live for ages, even beyond the scandal, into a new generation of oblivious moviegoers. 

To write another article lamenting how social media shaming is out of control is to miss the point. We’ve always been social shaming through whatever media was available. 

Canceling Celebrities – A Timeless Tradition

Before the internet, we used books, newspapers, placards, and demonstrations. We even used word of mouth during our weekly coffee klatch conversations. 

To anyone who thinks Old Hollywood let their stars get away with anything, one only has to remember the social ramifications celebrities paid when they were caught with their pants down. 

Errol Flynn’s career never recovered after his scandals; he died thousands of pounds in debt. 

Charlie Chaplin’s popularity declined by the 1940s not only because of his communist sympathies but also because of his scandalous personal life. He was forced to leave the United States by the 1950s. 

Even social banditry came with consequences. By the 1970s, outspoken celebrities like Jane Fonda paid the price for having contrary political opinions. 

To this day, many moviegoers (usually veterans or military folks) still refer to her as “Hanoi Jane” because of the time she traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, to protest the war.  

Celebrities Are Not Above the Law – Justice is Just Delayed

Celebrities have never been immune to criticism or even karmic revenge. 

The fact that celebrities like Bill Cosby, Diddy, and R. Kelly were caught twenty years too late should not invalidate the fact that they were caught.

Ultimately, they could never silence the voices that cried out for justice. 

They couldn’t outlive a new generation of showbusiness that was rising, one that refused to stop the investigation, even twenty years later. 

Go ahead and watch as Diddy’s empire falls. Watch Bill Cosby flail and rant about racism, in denial until his dying breath. 

Watch the Vince McMahon documentary and laugh at the old man’s arrogance, every bit as concise and high-falutin as every trainwreck WWE interview he ever did. 

Even in death, Hugh Hefner couldn’t escape the torment and humiliation of dozens of angry Playgirls who spit on his legacy. 

Now, after all the comeuppance finishes and we finally see justice served, we have only one thing left to say. 

• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 Wrapped Up A 14-Year Run With A Reminder Of Everything That Makes This Cancelation Hurt
  by Jack Ori
• Fire Country Season 3 Episode 8 Review: Zombie Fires Take Control
  by Sara Trimble

It’s Not What You Take – It’s What You Leave Behind

What did these brilliant, tortured, and devious minds leave behind for future generations? 

What was the point of it all? What could we possibly learn from their meteoric rise and cataclysmic crash? 

The answer was always in front of us. They left their artwork for us, an indelible mark on the history of cinema and television. 

They did exactly what we asked for: tell a story, capture our imagination, and film something extraordinary worth watching and sharing with others. The artwork they helped to create will survive and will outlive them. 

One hundred years later, we are emotionally detached from the scandals of Errol Flynn, Chaplin, and Clara Bow. 

These scandals have turned from gossip to trivia. No one from back then is alive to tell us how we ought to feel about them. We just read them as objectively as we would a book about a fictional character. 

The dirty deeds of celebrities’ personal lives are just the footnotes or, if you will, the “deleted clips” that accompany the art exhibit.

Motion pictures and television episodes are nothing but art to be experienced. They have nothing to do with the celebrity worship we foist upon these deeply flawed human beings. 

Because, in the end, the zeitgeist they helped to create was not about them. It was about us. 

Zeitgeist is About Us, Not Them

It was about us as a species. Our generation, our feelings, and our moral compasses. 

We, as human beings, write about what we live through, what we foresee happening, and what it’s like to be alive right now in the 21st century. 

Artists from the 20th and 19th centuries did the same. They gave us a glimpse into their worlds. 

It’s pointless now to reminisce about the virtues or scruples of, say, Gustave Flaubert, the writer. No one cares about Flaubert, the celebrity. The point of the discussion should be how we feel about his book, Madam Bovary. That’s what will be important to students. 

That’s the only thing that matters, as hundreds of years have passed since the book was written. That’s what matters to an educator trying to elicit critical thinking from a classroom. 

What does the artist inspire? We want to hear your essays on the story and how the author’s life may have influenced it for better or worse – not just that the author made your stomach feel funny. 

While it’s hard to visualize it now, one day, our descendants will stop caring about Diddy and his baby oil parties, Weinstein’s pants-dropping, and Louis C.K.’s sexual harassment charges. 

Society may improve and make changes now in light of these cases. But the laws will stay intact, even while the names become less important. 

And even if you think you will never stop hating Rob Schneider for his political views or Ellen Degeneres for her toxic behind-the-scenes behavior, I guarantee you, your children, and your children’s children will one day not care in the slightest. 

They may even check out Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo on DVD because that is the only art Mr. Schneider chose to leave behind. How…unfortunate. 

To me, the answer to “How am I supposed to feel about Bill Cosby or Diddy Mel Gibson, or Joss Whedon, or Neil Gaiman, or David Letterman or whoever?” boils down to this. 

One of my favorite songs is “Imagine” by John Lennon. It’s a daydream of what paradise must look like and sound like. The chords are heavenly, and even while the lyrics are material, they are almost communistic in implication. 

Lennon wanted to be a man of peace who inspired the world to love each other — a world that, through his eyes, was obsessed with war and violence. 

The fact that Lennon was a moral failure, a bad father, and a bad husband was part of the artistic experience of listening to Imagine. 

When man dreams, he dreams ambitiously of bringing world peace.

But when he lives, he falls short of the dream. His idealism is uncompromising, and in the end, it is his death. Imagine makes me remember John Lennon’s life and art — the tragedy and the triumph. 

We can do this little experiment with any celebrity. How did their life influence their art, and how did the art they left behind influence our lives now? 

If only we could learn to stop loving them, stop seeing our family in these public figures, and instead pay more attention to the visual arts they create for us to watch, analyze, and discuss. 

But How Do We Forgive Troubled Artists?

If this all makes rational sense to you, but you still can’t bring yourself to forgive certain celebrities who have done truly atrocious things, just remember this. 

You don’t have to forgive them. Their lives and mistakes are up to the courts to decide. 

All human beings are capable of doing great good and great evil. 

It sometimes hurts to admit that Bill Cosby did so much good for the black community. 

Besides donating millions to support educational opportunities for African Americans, he wanted his show to present positive role models and challenge stereotypes of African American parents and children. He changed the face of television. 

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick

In the 1990s, Roseanne Barr and Ellen Degeneres fought major battles with Network Standards and Practices for LGBTQ representation. Their work helped usher in creative freedoms regarding sexual orientation that people take for granted today. 

Canceled Tweeter J.K. Rowling has given millions to charity, with a soft spot for homeless children, and campaigns against institutionalizing children in orphanages. 

Even the unspeakable names, like Diddy and Jeffrey Epstein, gave obscene amounts of money to charities, universities, and scientists. 

The uncomfortable truth is that many disturbed individuals are capable of committing selfless and heroic acts. It’s hard to acknowledge this, and yes, it challenges our perceptions of who a criminal is. 

It doesn’t make sense most of the time. All we can really do about it is continue to cheer on heroic deeds while boycotting and shaming evil deeds. It doesn’t help to hate people. Only the terrible deeds they do. 

We can always do better and remind other people to do better. We can stay strong as individuals and not let the famous and wealthy confuse our own sense of morality. 

Therefore, I propose the best way to handle these scandals is to learn how to honor the art while letting go of the unhealthy celebrity attachment. 

Remember, you own your favorite movie and favorite TV series. We all own it collectively. The culture we created and enjoyed — it lives with us.

The memories stay ours, even if they were to remove all shows from streaming and burn the DVDs. You can’t take away memories.  

Even if the terrible artist stops getting paid royalties by a court ruling, WE don’t lose anything. We can still remember this perfect snapshot of what it was like to live in such wonderful times. Innocent times. Happy days. 

The terrible artist can’t take that away from you. Your favorite movies and TV shows are a part of you and something important you experienced.

Because it was there. Because you lived through it. 

You saw it happen, and when you see it, you are instantly transported back to that wonderful time when life made more sense. 

And by golly, if morally bereft artists like Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley hadn’t changed the world when they did, then someone else would have done it. 

Loving movies, music, and television is about celebrating our own lives — it’s not about the artist. 

Having Opinions Can Be a Crime

By all means, if this article rubs you the wrong way, or if you get the feeling I’m defending atrocious celebrities accused of committing heinous acts, then use your free will to report me to the proper channels. 

After all, strong opinions have been treated as crimes as long as civilization has existed and as long as the “thought police” have been patrolling.   

• Grosse Pointe Garden Society: Everything We Know About NBC’s Upcoming Thrilling New Drama
  by Lisa Babick
• Reacher Season 3: Teaser, Premiere Date & Everything Else We Know
  by TV Fanatic Staff
• Yellowjackets Season 3: Teaser, First-Look Photos, Cast and Everything Else We Know
  by TV Fanatic Staff

The Communist Control Act of 1954 outlawed the Communist Party of the United States and criminalized membership or support for the party.

You know…communism. The same political party everyone’s grandson on Facebook is now pushing and meme-ing about. 

The Hollywood Blacklist that followed America’s “War on Communism” (from the late 40s to the late 50s) resulted in numerous actors, screenwriters, directors, musicians, and entertainers being unceremoniously canceled, fired, and barred by Hollywood studios. 

Their careers were destroyed, and the public shame was out of this world. It was something even worse than “going viral” because the word communist was demonized by the media, and Senator Joseph McCarthy in particular. 

Back then, a Twitter-X mob wasn’t ready to help you if you were ratted out!

Imagine one’s political opinions being grounds for job termination or even jail time because you believed something ahead of the time or against the grain. 

Are we there yet? Are we slowly “growing” in that direction again? Who knows?

One thing’s for sure. The communist chaser, Joseph McCarthy, started a war with words so intense that even he fell victim to his own rhetoric in time. The Army-McCarthy Hearings turned the tables on McCarthy, who was later censured publicly and shamed out of office. 

A victim of the same political witch-hunting he helped introduce! 

That’s why you can’t get too attached to celebrities, entertainers, and public figures. They’re hypocrites, charlatans, and holier-than-thou finger-waggers — but only until their own terrible secrets get exposed. 

But the art, yes, the shows we watched when we were young and dewy-eyed, they play forever.

What do you think? Is cancel culture worse now than 100 or even 50 years ago? Do you still have nightmares about Roscoe Arbuckle? Let us know in the comments.

The post Canceled! Separating Art from the Artist – Lessons Learned from 100 Years of Showbusiness Debauchery appeared first on TV Fanatic.

And you know what?

No matter how terrible this season or future seasons may be, nothing changes that. 

When the show debuted in 1999, its lobster claw was on the pulse of wisecracking liberal escapism. The natural evolution of The Simpsons, Futurama represented the best of Gen X and millennial humor. 

It surpassed The Simpsons in many ways because it could delve deeper into surrealism and even apocalyptic (but funny) scenarios. There was no “net” of a nuclear family to fall back on. 

This was the world, the unbridled imagination of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, and the possibilities were endless. 

Nowadays, 25 years later, most of the cast is still alive, the show has a new deal on Hulu, and since reboots and returns are chic, the show has new momentum going into Seasons 13 and 14. 

Why, then, do Futurama’s newest plotlines feel exhausted?

Futurama Season 12, Stuck In Standby Mode

They’ve resorted to using retcon episodes (“Attack of the Clothes,” “The One Amigo”), in which they reimagine character origins or provide weird side flashbacks that don’t fit in with the rest of the show. 

It’s a Simpsons cliche, sadly. When you run out of new plotlines, just start exploring alternative realities of the characters you thought you knew. 

The Simpsons children grew up in the 2000s, don’t you know? The man we thought was Seymour Skinner is not Agnes’ real son but is just Armin Tamsarian impersonating the real Skinner. 

Okay. Sure. Whatever you say, boss. 

Futurama’s later seasons have been going this route, whether it’s taking Bender back to “Mexxxico” to meet his distinctly Mexican family or revisiting Fry’s 8th birthday party — recreated by aliens in a squid game of death. (Of course)

While these episodes haven’t “tanked” the show and ruined the series altogether, they are far from some of the peak seasons of the 2000 era, not to mention feature movies like Bender’s Big Score and The Beast With A Billion Backs. 

Futurama Is Oblivious About the Future

The most brilliant episodes of Futurama were the ones that delved deeper into science fiction concepts and imagined our distant future. These were futuristic scenarios based on our own current-day obsessions. 

• How Can Futurama Seasons 13 and 14 “Reboot” to Greatness
  by Michael Arangua
• The Kid In All of Us: Demand for Adult Animation Is On a Roll
  by Thomas Godwin
• Futurama Season 12 Provides Timeless Laughs
  by Michael Arangua
• Star Trek: Prodigy’s Brett Gray and Ella Purnell Discuss The Journey They’ve Taken With Their Characters
  by Diana Keng
• Arcane Series Premiere Review: Act One – A Tale of Two Sisters
  by Diana Keng

Newer episodes have tried to do this with standout moments like in One Is Silicone and the Other Gold.

However, even this episode falls short of any revelation, considering that multiple characters in Futurama are presumably already A.I. 

Why exactly are robotic lifeforms reacting to AI like it’s still a new thing? For that matter, in The One Amigo, why are humans still obsessed with NFTs? Haven’t we started to think bigger in 975 years?

I can’t criticize Futurama for relying on one-liners and slapstick gags. I’m suggesting that the show’s writers might spend a little more time analyzing our current world beyond *Breaking News* mentality. 

What is the human race right now if you got rid of all gratuitous conversations about dictators, pronouns, and copyrighted music?

What other deep conversations could we have, and why isn’t Futurama writing about some of that? 

They’re going shallow, while we, the viewers (the younger generation), are going deeper.  

Anyway, if that’s too deep of a construct, let’s break it down into four simple requests, shall we?

#1: We Need Fewer Origin Stories, More Stories About Future Technology

This is something that Star Trek — and even Star Trek parodies like The Orville — get right. 

What better way to tell a future story, even a comedy, than by jumping thousands of years into the future to explore the technology we can only dream of today? 

Yes, I recall that Star Trek was banned in the Futurama universe, as detailed in the episode “Where No Fan Has Gone Before.” 

But why is a show set in the 3000s so behind the times? Shouldn’t they be living at the turn of the century? 

For that matter…

#2: Ease off on Bender Episodes – Explore More “New New York” Characters

Living in a vastly different sociopolitical world, what has become of the Earth, the geography, and the culture we once held dear? 

I remember Richard Nixon’s Head running for president and “Mom” Carol Miller taking over the corporate world. But is there anything else happening? 

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• Days of Our Lives Spoilers For The Week of 12-16-24: Could There Be ANOTHER Twist In The Philip/Xander War?
  by Jack Ori

Am I the only one who thinks the broader Futurama world is so much more interesting than just the Planet Express staff? 

Imagine if they gave the go-ahead to writers to thoroughly explore the world of Futurama with the same zest as Groening and Josh Weinstein had visited all the different lands of Disenchantment. 

Surely, there will be another jar-head ready to run for office by now.

#3: Write More Mind-Warping Episodes Like The Temp

I wouldn’t say The Temp was a classic Futurama episode, but the introduction did give me a few goosebumps. I loved the mix of slapstick meets Hitchcockian suspense. 

The less you explain, the better, at least in the beginning. The more the story progresses, the more details you learn, but only as needed. 

While the conclusion didn’t quite live up to the premise’s potential, it did remind me of how Futurama can mix suspense and comedy in organic ways that The Simpsons and even Rick and Morty cannot do. 

Those shows are too enmeshed in parody and politics. Futurama is apolitical and free to explore more cinematic concepts. 

Maybe in Seasons 13 and 14, they will find more suspenseful or emotive story arcs that warp our minds in wonderful ways. 

#4: Don’t Mess Up Fry and Leela’s Relationship – Just Refine It

When comedy shows run out of ideas, they always seem to hit the same Go-Tos. 

The couple breaks up. Eventually, they get back together again, or they stay broken up as a reminder of how toxic the relationship was. 

Or they have children, as Futurama has already explored with Amy and Kif. 

I can’t speak for all the fandom, but I don’t think anyone particularly wants to see Fry and Leela’s relationship change. 

• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Trailer Promises a Godzilla Story Like Never Before
  by Paul Dailly
• For All Mankind Season 4 Trailer: Welcome to 2003
  by Paul Dailly
• Orphan Black Echoes Teaser Trailer Finds Krysten Ritter Trapped in a Hellish Reality
  by Paul Dailly
• John Wick Spinoff The Continental Rollout Plan Revealed by Peacock
  by Paul Dailly
• The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Official Trailer Showcases a Different Corner of the Zombie Universe
  by Paul Dailly

With the “Meanwhile” story, we essentially saw the end of the series, at least as far as Fry and Leela go. This was their essence as characters and the conclusion to their unique and “timeless” love story. 

Instead of trying to retcon or devolve the relationship, focus on refining details about their family ancestry, their motivations, and how they influence others in the small but significant community of intergalactic friends. 

Reboots are tricky because we don’t actually want change. We don’t want to lose elements of the show that won us over in the first place. 

Classic TV shows — even if they’re ongoing for decades and have already peaked — have ingratiated themselves into our lives as virtual friends. They’re not just stories to be told. They’re not just experiences. 

They’re friends you want to invite over, talk to, and talk with about the zeitgeist of the day. 

Futurama won’t last forever. But as long as it’s here, at least for two more seasons, let’s hope the creative team can return to its roots and pick up on some of that rebellious 1999 ambition that fueled its success. 

It has more stories to tell. It just needs to take a few more creative risks. 

What do you all think? Are you enjoying Futurama so far? How can Futurama’s future seasons reboot to greatness, or are its best days behind us? 

Hit the comments section below to share your thoughts!

The post How Can Futurama Seasons 13 and 14 “Reboot” to Greatness appeared first on TV Fanatic.

You may have heard a friend or family member say something along those lines.

Or you might have made such a remark yourself.

Indeed, how did we ever watch all those old shows with so many problematic characters and politically incorrect plotlines?

Most iconic sitcom characters were bigoted or duplicitous and did not try their best to “be a better person.”

A Gen Z-er might ask, “Why did TV viewers ever sympathize with so many terrible people, like Archie Bunker, George Costanza, or Ross Geller?

A Boomer might ask, “Why can’t we just laugh at something that’s funny anymore? Back in the day, a good joke was a good joke.”

While a culture war seems like the right answer, I would blame the rise of “cringe humor” for what has happened to the sitcom over several decades.

Cringe humor is a subgenre of TV comedy that crept up in the early 2000s and has since gone mainstream.

So mainstream, in fact, that we now watch everything on comedy television through a lens of either “cringe” or “virtue.”

If something is positive, we cheer. That’s virtuous, that’s honest, and that’s empowering.

If something is negative, morally or ethically, we boo. That’s cringe.

What is Cringe TV Anyway?

That’s normal people reacting to the elephant in the room — the old fool who doesn’t respect our community’s social fabric.

He’s funny because he’s an idiot, and we’re laughing at the awkward tension he brings.

How dare you? How dare we forget the time we’re living in and the new community standards that now dominate the television landscape?

One of our favorite social media expressions is, “You could never make [that old show] today.”

Of course not. That show from the 1970s or 1980s would offend too many people.

And it’s not just that decades-old humor doesn’t translate to today. It’s because we now see everything through a “cringe lens.”

We see an old joke from 30 years ago, and we cringe, thinking, “Oh, that’s going to bother someone, isn’t it?” Or “Gee, that wouldn’t test well with audiences today.”

Or my favorite catchphrase, “How did we EVER think this was OK?”

• 19 Quirky Neighbors We Wished Lived Next Door
  by Christine Laskodi
• Throwback Thursday: TV Fanatic Character Crushes, Revealed!
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Throwback Thursday: 21 Captivating Cult Classics
  by Ashley Bissette Sumerel
• Throwback Thursday: 13 Classic Season Finale Cliffhangers
  by Lindsay MacDonald
• Throwback Thursday: 13 Child Stars of the 90s
  by Lindsay MacDonald

What actually happened was that over 100 years or so, comedy has evolved in format and in presentation.

Comedy changes over time because so much of it is based on our shared perspectives.

We find humor in situations we can all relate to. In essence, we learn to speak the “language of comedy” with each other.

Laughter is just as much about relating to your audience as it is about finding something funny from your point of view.

Nothing is universally funny without context and without understanding the shared perspective of the audience.

Therefore, when zillennials shrug their shoulders at I Love Lucy or All in the Family, wondering “what we were thinking”, they are taking a museum tour of the way TV viewers used to see the world.

There’s no context explained, but if you lived through that time period, you instantly get it.

TV Comedy Changes Throughout History

I Love Lucy was one of the first classic sitcoms pioneered on television, and television was a new medium in the 1950s.

There was no blueprint for how TV comedies should look or even a basic formula to work from.

Instead, showrunners took notes from radio programming, which pioneered the teleplay and comedic dialog.

Since there were no visuals, the joke had to be explained in words and vocal inflection, like Vaudeville comedy routines.

Directors and writers also took notes from movies and stage plays, which showed them exactly how to frame a shot and how to set up “mise en scène.”

Therefore, when you watch a sitcom from 75 years ago today, you’re watching the birth of a new genre — one pioneered by Lucille Ball, director William Asher, and others who were creating something new.

At some point, around the 1970s, people got tired of conventional sitcoms and mainstream movies.

Cinema gave us controversial movies like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and A Clockwork Orange, and so it wasn’t long before television started coming of age too.

Nineteen-seventies sitcoms like All in the Family, SOAP, and Good Times were known for mixing comedy and drama.

Sitcoms were more like stage plays back then since theatre preceded television for thousands of years.

While the best sitcoms were filmed before a live studio audience, audience members were not just there to laugh.

Stage plays like Our Town and A Streetcar Named Desire elicited laughter, hushes of silence, and shrieks and sighs, which were often followed by applause.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• Days of Our Lives Spoilers For The Week of 12-16-24: Could There Be ANOTHER Twist In The Philip/Xander War?
  by Jack Ori

A variety of emotions were part of the live-play experience. Monologues and soliloquies were used far more often back then, as they were distinctly a technique of live theatre.

They couldn’t show a montage of scenes and instantly convey a feeling or knowledge. You got it all in the speech.

Cringe Comedy Dominates the 2000 Era

It also wasn’t cringe.

Cringe, as we understand it now, just didn’t exist. Nobody got dressed up to go to a “Cringe” event. No one tuned in every week to see embarrassing reality footage.

Cringe came to us later, in the 1990s, mainly with the introduction of the single-camera setup and the creative decision to delete the laugh track.

Shows like The Wonder Years, Picket Fences, Northern Exposure, Ally McBeal, and Sex and the City showed us that comedy didn’t need a laugh track to make home viewers laugh.

And while I have a soft spot for The Larry Sanders Show, which deconstructed our obsession with TV talk shows, let’s be honest and credit Ricky Gervais’ The Office for creating the Cringe Comedy Genre as we know it.

Gervais, and later on American producer Greg Daniels, taught us that neither laughter nor even traditional punchlines were required for making a modern sitcom.

Gervais embraced social awkwardness as a weapon, bludgeoning the audience with scenes so hard to watch that they elicited big laughter.

We laughed as a defense mechanism to the social brutality of what we were forced to watch.

Iconic figures like David Brent and Michael Scott were treated as comedic antagonists.

They were the “bonehead” figure, the opposite role of the straight man, who was now pestering the audience for a reaction.

This golden age of Cringe Comedy also came at the same time a new comedy format was developing: the reality TV show.

Reality TV Destroyed the TV Show Formula

Reality TV shows didn’t have punchlines or particular techniques — except to showcase the worst of human nature.

They were unscripted (but still slightly manipulated in editing) and embarrassingly candid.

We laughed, cringed, and screamed at the screen when we met these “reality characters,” most of whom were antagonists, villains, and unlikable fools who were still inexplicably wealthy and famous.

Little did we know then that reality TV and cringe comedy were slowly shaping the future of comedy television.

These cringe shows taught us, somehow, the difference between right and wrong — or, shall we at least say, the difference between “toxic” and “trying to be a better person.”

Reality TV’s intention was to make us “hate” various real people for their character flaws.

Cringe mockumentaries taught us what to do when we see something socially unacceptable. We passively resist this terrible thing.

We blush, hide our faces, and stare in disbelief — or sometimes in quiet judgment.

We might even stare at the camera, letting everyone watching know, “This was not my idea. I’m just as appalled as you are.”

Sure, it was funny then because it was so unorthodox compared to 1990s sitcom cliches.

(Remember all those clones of Seinfeld and Friends?)

But over time, we’ve let cringe TV (the offspring of reality television and comedy mockumentaries) pervade the social consciousness of television comedy.

We Don’t Laugh Together Anymore

Simply put, TV viewers don’t know how to react to anything that isn’t an obvious punchline or that isn’t a “cringe moment” straight off of YouTube shorts.

We’ve lost the ability to objectively analyze and discuss provocative things we see on television. We’ve lost the desire to communicate with each other and find comic sensibilities that we have in common.

We have watered down our ability to disagree with someone or something but still find the value in having an open-ended conversation with an adversary.

Sure, you could blame politics for dividing us just as much as anything else.

But it seems that sitcoms in previous decades embraced the opportunity to find humor in conflict.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick
• Scrubs Is My All-Time Favorite Comedy, But I’m Not All In For The Scrubs Reboot Yet
  by Jack Ori
• Why is Chicago Fire Shafting Stellaride?
  by Haley Whitmire White
• From Rescue: HI-Surf to Chicago PD: Shawn Hatosy is Slaying It As A Crooked Public Servant
  by Sara Trimble

Perhaps the problem now is that the audience is either polarized in opinion or utterly silent on any controversial topic.

There is no more humor because we’ve stopped communicating with our enemies, adversaries, and acquaintances who are not our best friends and so are untrustworthy by default.

We’ve officially reached the new era of Politically Correct Comedy Famine in television.

We can’t handle conflict anymore because we’d rather fight than defuse arguments with good humor.

All we can do is cringe at anything that doesn’t feel right, letting the proverbial Michael Scott browbeat us into staying silent while he prattles on for minutes on end.

All I can tell you is that if you’re feeling the effects of comedy starvation, watch some sitcoms from the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.

See the world through your parents or grandparents’ eyes and try to figure out the context.

Watching old comedy shows not only seasons your sense of humor but also helps you figure out the neuroses of the generation before you.

After all, understanding a person’s sense of humor is taking a glimpse into their soul.

What do you think, TV fanatics? Is the sitcom in a sorry state because of cringe humor and the rise of political correctness?

Hit the comments section below to share your thoughts!

The post Did Cringe Humor Ruin the Sitcom? appeared first on TV Fanatic.

No explanation. No plot twist is given in which your character returns to save the day and thwarts the impostor.

Instead, you just have to deal with it and accept New Guy Here as the recast hero.

Sometimes, the awkward silence is unbearable, and you hate the rest of the movie because of this terrible choice of recasting.

But sometimes, they get it right, and we’re all forced to begrudgingly agree that this new interpretation of our favorite character was brilliant.

Not all 11 performances were brilliant. However, when the recasting was first announced, each one divided moviegoers. Let’s consider each one and whether the recast was a WIN or FAIL.

9. Will Smith in Aladdin – WIN

Will Smith wasn’t the first black actor cast in a new Disney project. Ariel’s Little Mermaid started an even bigger buzz online.

But let’s just agree to say the Ariel character was not exactly a Shakespearean undertaking when it comes to deep character study.

Robin Williams’ Genie, on the other hand, left behind some big boots to fill.

Not only was Robin Williams’ improvised comedy a tour-de-force but Genie was already recast once before when Williams left Disney, only to be replaced by Dan Castellaneta.

Will Smith had to follow in two Genies’ footsteps while trying to find a creative angle to a story that had been repeated verbatim by Disney fans.

Of all the lazy and emotionally vacant Disney remakes, I found Aladdin (2019) to be the most charming of the bunch. I also thought Will Smith carried the ball and chain of replacing a comedy legend with class and good cheer.

Come to think of it I haven’t seen Will Smith as happy as he was in Aladdin in quite a while.

Better times, Will.

8. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight – WIN

Isn’t following Jack Nicholson the worst job an actor could sign up for?

Jack Nicholson was lauded as the perfect choice for Joker in Batman (1989) based on his previous body of work and naturally acerbic personality — and that’s even before the movie opened.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

No wonder, then, when Heath Ledger was announced as the next Joker, the fandom fell silent. He wasn’t just a character actor. He was a pretty boy, a rising star with everything to lose.

Ledger didn’t even benefit from a bad boy reputation going into the film like Joaquin Phoenix did when he got his sweaty hands on the role.

Heath Ledger didn’t just give a good Joker performance. He redefined the villain’s role for a new age and seemed to embody the angry Gen X-Millennial voice we needed.

Years after his untimely death, Heath’s madcap performance remains the talk of Hollywood in terms of brilliance and dangerous method acting that we never want to try again.

7. Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Doomsday – ALREADY A WIN

I know, it feels like Doctor Doom hasn’t even debuted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but unfortunately, he has come and gone.

He debuted not just once but twice in two god-awful performances by Julian McMahon and Toby Kebbell in two Fantastic Four movies.

By the time the Russo Brothers announced Robert Downey Jr. as the next Doom, the fandom had all but forgotten Doom’s two debuts.

We’ve reached the point where we can safely ignore Doom’s previous appearances and just pretend like they never happened.

What really started the controversy, though, was the ingenious decision to cast Iron Man legend Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom and poke the Marvel Universe all over the chest with panic and unanswered questions.

At this point, it feels like the high concept will outdo the movie itself. But the Russos are Hollywood’s most creative superhero filmmakers, so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. They have years to figure this climax out.

6. Mads Mikkelsen in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – FAIL

When Johnny Depp lost his 2020 libel case against The Sun magazine, he was the scourge of Hollywood and was #MeToo’d out of town.

He had little choice but to resign from Fantastic Beasts and bow out to Mads Mikkelsen to take the role of Gellert Grindelwald.

Johnny Depp was paid handsomely regardless of the scandal. But his reputation would be pummeled in a no-holds-barred courtroom battle against ex-wife Amber Heard, who was herself later vilified by the press for comparably terrible behavior.

If only classy author J.K. Rowling could have talked to these raging egos and explained the benefits of showing grace and restraint while under pressure…

Oh, wait.

Come to think of it, nobody benefited from Fantastic Beasts in the end. Let’s just pretend this debacle never happened.

5. Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo in The Hulk – FAIL

Here we have not just one but two controversial recastings that ruffled feathers in Hollywood, all thanks to the ever-fluctuating Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In fact, this universe has had so many reboots, recasts, and multi-verse resets that we can hardly keep up. We just know the Hulk is big, angry, and green! And his human Bruce Banner character is hardly important.

Eric Bana was the first Hulk in Hulk (2003), surprisingly directed by superstar talent Ang Lee.

Yet, the film was considered an artsy flop, and by the time The Incredible Hulk (2008) came out, Norton had replaced Bana in what was a no-brainer decision: a cerebral Hulk played by an Oscar-nominated actor!

Yet the movie was also a bit of a flop, though in Norton’s defense, allegedly 70 minutes was cut from the film we saw.

Norton took the inevitable recasting worse than Bana and had a bitter falling out with Marvel over the creative direction of the Hulk character.

When Kevin Feige took over Marvel projects, he not so subtly said they wanted a Hulk actor who got along with the cast and was excited to take the part. That didn’t reflect well on Edward Norton, who was already upset about how his film was handled.

And forget any heavy acting moments for this new Hulk. Time time, Feige was all about giving us the comic relief Hulk that one-dimensional actor Mark Ruffalo was born to play.

Norton’s PR team later suggested Feige’s words were defamatory toward Norton’s work ethic, and they indeed made him very angry.

And no one likes Norton when he’s angry, or so I’ve heard.

4. Crispin Glover and Jeffrey Weissman in Back to the Future – FAIL

Notorious actor and performance actor Crispin Glover was all set to return to Back to the Future II and III but was never able to agree to payment, nor did he approve of the film’s message.

Robert Zemeckis was stuck finishing the film without a major supporting player. The CGI-curious Zemeckis came up with a solution.

Instead of writing George McFly out of the film entirely, couldn’t they just recast Crispin Glover for key scenes while also using previously recorded footage of Crispin Glover?

Yes, Crispin was replaced by Jeffrey Weissman (who wore prosthetics to get Crispin’s weird face down) and…Crispin Glover, oddly enough.

• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 Wrapped Up A 14-Year Run With A Reminder Of Everything That Makes This Cancelation Hurt
  by Jack Ori
• Fire Country Season 3 Episode 8 Review: Zombie Fires Take Control
  by Sara Trimble

No wonder he took the producers of Back to the Future to court, saying they used his likeness without his permission.

They never went to trial, but an agreement was reached — and how about the aftershocks of that case? There are now clauses in Screen Actors Guild contracts barring filmmakers from reproducing the likeness of other actors.

Turns out George McFly can throw a punch after all.

3. Julianne Moore in Hannibal – FAIL

It’s difficult for casual moviegoers to understand the subtle differences between great Hollywood directors.

Jonathan Demme knew how to make an Oscar-winning film from The Silence of the Lambs novel. He knew just how to use Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster to make dangerous movie chemistry.

Ridley Scott didn’t know what the hell he was doing with Hannibal and made the bogus decision to recast the vacuous Julianne Moore as Clarice Starling.

Even if you had to do the unthinkable and replace the incomparable Jodie Foster (who turned the sequel down), how did you settle on Moore — an actor who only succeeds by playing blank, morally absent, and heavily inebriated characters time and time again?

This was not Clarice Starling. This was someone else, and Anthony Hopkins was acting against a beautiful piece of scenery — not an actor that could match his gravitas.

Hannibal sequels only got worse until Hopkins himself left the project.

Here’s a case study on how to ruin an Oscar-winning franchise with just one bad sequel.

2. Henry Cavill in Superman – WIN & David Corenswet in Superman – TBD

Granted, you have to try pretty hard to mess up Superman.

No previous Superman recasting was particularly controversial because all of the actors from the 70s to the 90s generally had the look, the wholesome humor, and the All-American face we wanted.

The brooding Henry Cavill was a bold choice for recasting the Man of Steel, and director Zack Snyder took a big creative risk in reimagining Superman for the 2010s.

Snyder was the first director to explore a different side to Superman, something other than aww-shucks-white-altruism.

His Superman was inhuman. His Superman was god-like and alien in his behavior. This was quite literally the morally ambiguous performance that allowed Homelander from The Boys to thrive later on.

It was a risky move for sure and to be fair, most audiences didn’t care for it.

Snyder fans, who are always in love with the dark cinematic paintings Snyder creates, loved the performance.

James Gunn, the perpetually-fifteen Marvel fanboy, hated it along with most of Marvel’s fandom.

They wanted Super StraightMan back, the comic relief guy, the boy with glasses who would rather fight bad guys than go on a date with his crush.

The shtick worked for Captain America in the Avengers movies, and Chris Evans made Steve Rogers both funny and heroic without missing a beat.

But James Gunn is mostly untested when it comes to handling alien superheroes as leads and not as antagonists.

• Exclusive Interview With Matlock’s David Del Rio: The Actor Takes Fans Behind The Scenes To The Heart of Matlock
  by Joshua Pleming
• Jacob Lofland on Cooper’s Journey in Landman: “It’s Not Going to Be Easy”
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Hallmark Hits the Field: Tyler Hynes and Hunter King Tease the Chiefs’ Christmas Romance
  by Carissa Pavlica

All of James Gunn’s films are burlesque shows with over-the-top CGI assault and just a handful of feelings to explain why all the violence was necessary.

No doubt he will turn the Superman/Justice League franchise in another direction. More humor, a comparable number of visual effects shots, and hopefully some gripping conflict, which he handled well in Guardians of the Galaxy.

But what will he do with the New Superman, played by David Corenswet, an iconic figure who is out of touch with Zillennials, and who needs a reinvention to keep the DCU relevant?

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt because Guardians of the Galaxy was a big hit when taken in small doses.

The Suicide Squad (2021) was an overdose of gross-out humor and surrealist pop art.

He’s a director who will elicit either love or hate from DC’s fandom.

Let’s take a deep breath and see what happens. I’ve heard Superman can reverse time if it’s THAT big a mistake…

1. Michael Keaton in Batman – WIN

One cannot fathom how controversial recasting Michael Keaton as Batman was until you read about the climate of the late nineteen-eighties.

There in about 1988, a young Tim Burton stared up at a Gotham skyscraper, trying to figure out how to tell a darker and more realistic Batman story that moviegoers had never seen before.

This thankless task happened in a post-Adam West world, where Batman’s reputation was cemented as a poker-faced, pun-spinning, and avuncular hero.

No one was afraid of Batman, they respected him as the groovy father they never had.

Burton had no choice but to reimagine the superhero concept from a different angle other than heroism.

He certainly had some help from literary writers like Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and Grant Morrison, who had already been telling darker Batman stories to comic book fans.

Burton also came up with the shrewd idea of staging Batman as a moving, breathing art exhibit — a celebration of anarchy, childhood trauma, and a sociopathic fashion show.

But the true stroke of genius came from recasting an underappreciated character actor INSTEAD of a musclebound hero who would sell tickets.

Keaton’s previous performances were manically captivating, whether he was playing for laughs in Beetlejuice or tugging at heartstrings in Clean and Sober.

What Keaton would bring to Batman was a question not even Vic Sage could answer.

Neither Keaton nor Burton ever thought about giving us the Batman we wanted.

This Batman was something uncomfortable, impenetrable, and tortured. Keaton was the first hero who wanted us to see his frailties as a man and his strength as a costumed hero.

His performance may well have been the first understated superhero role and perhaps the first time any superhero actor went “method.”

It was frankly the only way he could play opposite Jack Nicholson, who had decided to chew scenery no matter what anyone threw at him.

Keaton reinvented Batman for the modern age by creating a strong internal identity that you could see and hear on screen. For once, we could see how Bruce Wayne WAS just as insane as all of the villains he locked up in Arkham Asylum.

He needed Batman more than we needed him as a hero. That was the revelation that Batman’s best comic writers of the 1980s impressed upon Tim Burton.

No wonder Michael Keaton still polls as the “best Batman ever” because he showed a generation of wannabe heroes how to fight the evil inside ourselves before taking on that crazy clown.

What do you think? What recastings do you think deserve to be on the list of Best or Worst recastings ever?

The post Nine Most Controversial Movie Recasts — Some Hits, Some Misses appeared first on TV Fanatic.

And then there are characters so badly written you must assume it’s done simply out of spite. Did something behind the scenes turn the writing room against the actor?

 Or, in the case of some of our picks, did the writers use the character as a scapegoat for all they hated about the world? Compiling this list was challenging because some annoying characters on TV were written that way for a purpose. 

We can usually explain away a lot when a character disappoints us, but the TV characters who made our list took things too far. Sadly, it wasn’t their fault; it was the writing Gods manipulating them. Let’s consider 11 characters the writers must have hated.

11. Laurel Lance – Arrow

From this fan’s perspective, it seemed like the Arrow writers had it out for Laurel Lance. Laurel, played by the talented Katie Cassidy, had so much potential and a rich comic book history as Black Canary, but the show didn’t give her a fair shot.

Her character arc was all over the place. Laurel started strong as a badass lawyer, but then she was bogged down with addiction, grief, and constant personal losses. 

Meanwhile, other characters got to grow and evolve. When she finally became Black Canary, it was rushed and didn’t get the epic buildup it deserved.

And then they killed her off in Season 4! They just wanted some shock value rather than giving her a meaningful storyline. Laurel’s death left a huge hole, and even when they tried to bring her back in different ways, it never really made up for it.

Overall, it felt like Laurel was constantly shortchanged compared to other characters. For fans, seeing such an iconic character not get the treatment she deserved was frustrating. Laurel Lance had so much potential, and the show didn’t do her justice.

10. Lucas Bouchard – When Calls the Heart

This will ruffle some feathers, but it sure feels like Lucas Bouchard got a raw deal. 

Lucas, played by Chris McNally, came in as this charming, suave saloon owner and quickly stole our hearts with his kindness and support for Elizabeth. He fell in love with the town, its people, and Elizabeth. Then it all fell apart.

Lucas had some great moments, like his romantic gestures and unwavering support for Elizabeth. He was instrumental in modernizing Hope Valley with his grand ideas, including community outreach like hosting town get-togethers and funding a library. 

However, his character development has been uneven, and by the end of When Calls the Heart Season 10, it was clear that Lucas wasn’t going to be instrumental in town or on the show much longer.

• Suits: LA Cast and Character Guide
  by Sara Trimble
• NCIS: Tony and Ziva Cast and Character Guide
  by Sara Trimble
• NCIS: Origins Cast and Character Guide
  by Sara Trimble
• Heartstopper Season 3 Cast and Character Guide
  by Jack Ori
• Tulsa King Season 2 Cast and Character Guide
  by Lisa Babick

While fans love his depth and complexity, once Lucas’s engagement with Elizabeth was over, it felt like he was a plot device rather than a fully developed character. 

Expanding beyond Hope Valley as governor makes little sense. He’s even still living in town. How can that be a viable future?

Lucas Bouchard deserves better! He has the potential to be a truly great character, and while he had his shining moments, the inconsistency in his arcs has been hard to watch. 

We saw glimpses of his greatness, but the show doesn’t always let him be the amazing man we know he can be.

9. Derek Shepherd – Grey’s Anatomy

If the writers hated Derek, they’re not alone because I did, too. 

But there were some rumors toward the end of his tenure on Grey’s Anatomy that the actor Patrick Dempsey had beef with the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes. 

He supposedly left to pursue a race car driving career, so the decision to write him off by killing him in a fiery car crash seemed a little on the nose. 

No idea how true all that was, but since Derek’s departure was the best thing that happened on Grey’s in years, I enjoyed the salty rumor!

8. Rory Gilmore – Gilmore Girls

Rory starts off as a motivated, overachieving teenager but turns into a whiny, entitled adult. The writers seem to have grown to hate her along the way, which is reflected in their storytelling. 

She alienates friends and family by being cruel to them, struggles with the idea that she might have to work for a job she considers beneath her, and acts like the universe revolves around her. 

She’s a serial cheater who slept with a married ex-boyfriend and later had an affair with a different ex while in a relationship.

7. Piper Chapman – Orange Is the New Black

Debates about unlikable characters usually go silent with the mention of Piper Chapman, one of television’s most reviled characters. 

How can anyone really compete with a character written to be so shallow, cloying, narcissistic, and disturbingly self-assured? And while we’ve seen ugly-on-the-inside characters before, there’s something else entirely going on with Piper. 

You’re supposed to dislike her and frankly hate her because she is supposed to be White Privilege Personified. 

Orange is the New Black Creator Jenji Kohan called Piper her “Trojan Horse.”

“You’re not going to go into a network and sell a show on really fascinating tales of black women, Latina women, and old women and criminals. But if you take this white girl, and you follow her in, you can then expand your world and tell all of those other stories.”

Of course, many other comedy shows have done their own take on white privilege. But how many of them beat us over the head with the symbolism? 

• Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 8 Round Table: Was Carisi Being Held Hostage A Strong Fall Finale?
  by Jack Ori
• Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 7 Round Table: Did Carisi Go Too Far?
  by Jack Ori
• Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 6 Round Table: Was This Story Too Predictable?
  by Jack Ori
• Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 5 Round Table: How Effective Was This Sextortion Story?
  by Jack Ori
• Law & Order SVU Season 26 Episode 4 Round Table: Who Was To Blame For A Disturbing Case?
  by Jack Ori

Piper wasn’t written poorly on purpose but as a subversive experiment. She reminds us all to look at ourselves in the mirror and rhetorically ask, “Don’t you hate this?” Do you really want to live your life as another Piper, or do you want to do some good in the world?

In this case, the show’s writers hated the idea of Piper and the fact that her storyline probably would draw more attention than the rest of the cast. 

The most hilarious barb, of course, was the fact that, in the end, Piper never really changed. Happy ending? Of course, every white girl deserves a happy ending. 

6. Pierce Hawthorne – Community 

It’s not a complete mystery why a room of writers would hate Chevy Chase. After all, he’s Chevy Chase, and they’re not. 

The man also has a talent for rubbing people the wrong way, talking down to strangers, and alienating even the people who try to be nice to him. 

Long before Brie Larson took the mantle of “Actors That Get On Your Nerves,” Chevy was there, barely murmuring his punchlines while saving his best wit for backstage insults. Because yeah, why waste your best roasts in front of a studio audience? 

Chevy Chase’s performance on Community is an example of what happens when you annoy the writers personally, and then they are given the karmic task of saying goodbye to your character. 

Pierce Hawthorne was later killed off, dying from dehydration while trying to sail around the world in an act to please his father. He was also insulted in the final minutes of the episode. 

According to some, Chevy Chase earned his bitter goodbye by going off on a racist rant in front of the cast. Chevy, on the other hand, claims he was tired of portraying an increasingly racist and insensitive character and didn’t like the direction the show was going. 

In his defense, Chevy Chase spoke about his time at Community, proving once and for all that Chevy should not speak. 

“It’s a sitcom on television, which is probably the lowest form of television. That’s my feeling about it. I love these kids and the cast; they are very good. It’s not like I am working with the great innovators of all time.”

5. Charlie Harper – Two and a Half Men

Charlie Sheen was another cautionary tale of angry writers demolishing your character. While everyone probably remembers Charlie Sheen’s public meltdown, do you actually remember how he died? 

During Two and a Half Men Season 9 Episode 1, Harper is revealed to have died after being struck by a train.

Instead of a tribute, the show then continued using Harper’s character as a punching bag, suggesting he had many secrets and that his spurned lover may have killed him. Oh yeah, and they accidentally spilled his ashes, which were supposed to be scattered. 

Despite all the insults and that trainwreck goodbye, the writers still found another way to slap him. Kathy Bates guest-starred on the show, playing Charlie Harper in some kind of Hell variation, where he’s sentenced to live a torturous afterlife as an older woman. 

Kathy Bates even won an Emmy doing a sort-of-OK imitation of Sheen. 

Owch. 

Chuck Lorre somehow succeeded in the unthinkable: making me sorry for Charlie Sheen. 

Oh, but hey, it looks like Sheen and producer Chuck Lorre finally made up.

4. Geralt of Rivia – The Witcher 

If there’s anything pro and anti-Cavill fanatics can agree on, it’s that the writers really didn’t like Henry Cavill, and the last season with Cavill as Geralt was terrible. 

By the time Henry Cavill left the show — much to the tantrums of Netflix and Witcher executives — the show spiraled into oblivion, with many fans complaining of radical and ridiculous deviations from the source material. 

While the Witcher’s creative team tried to paint Cavill as difficult to work with and even implied that he had an incel toxic gamer mentality that offended female staff members. 

But many viewers sided with Cavill. 

One reason had to be the words of The Witcher author himself, Andrzej Sapkowski, who said the production never took any of his notes. He even suggested that Netflix executives treated him as “just a writer and a nobody.”

It was clear the producers were going their own way, and while Sapkowski had no say in the matter, Cavill stood up for the source material. He played the games and read the books.

• Essential Viewing: 7 Movies and TV Shows Starring Chicago Fire Newcomer Steven Strait
  by Haley Whitmire White
• 11 Sophia Bush Roles You Absolutely Must See
  by Lisa Babick
• Essential Viewing: 11 Kristin Kreuk Movies and TV Shows You Must See
  by Laura Nowak
• Essential Viewing: 11 Nicholas Galitzine Movies and TV Shows You Must See
  by Laura Nowak
• Essential Viewing: 11 Eva Longoria Movies and TV Shows You Must See
  by Joshua Pleming

Cavill allegedly didn’t like the producers’ direction – particularly the romance and love scenes with Anya Chalotra. 

Even the fans were not impressed once Cavill pointed things out and gave Season 3 an abysmal 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

While Cavill never came out and aired his grievances, besides the old “creative differences” excuses, another Witcher producer, Beau DeMayo, later added his own two cents. 

“Some of the writers actively disliked the books and games and [mocked The Witcher]. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.”

See, they didn’t just hate you, Henry. They really hated the book, the game, the character, the culture, and the show. What could possibly go wrong? 

3. Andy Bernard – The Office

Andy Bernard is a different case because, unlike some of the other entries on this list, we have no idea what happened behind the scenes to explain this one.

Andy Bernard’s descent into jackassery and irredeemable loser territory came out of nowhere. 

His entire character arc was supposed to be an entitled jerk who transformed into a more sensitive guy and even won the heart of the girl he likes. In the latter seasons, he becomes the boss and starts to build a rapport with his employees. 

Yes, some growth for a change.

In Season 9, however, he decides to have a midlife crisis, loses his job, and loses his girlfriend. Then, in a power play so cheap that even Michael Scott would cringe, he bullies his girlfriend and her new boyfriend. 

Andy reverts to being a selfish idiot and aggressively stomps over all his series-long growth. 

Was his dumbed-down and sold-out character the result of actor Ed Helms “betraying” the cast and taking movie roles like The Hangover? Or did The Office’s producers want to punish NBC for demanding new star Ed Helms be given more screen time? 

Whatever the case, by the writer’s hand, Andy Bernard’s fate was even worse than that of David Brent or Michael Scott. And that seems shockingly cruel.

2. Eleanor Bramwell in Bramwell 

It still bothers me how elegant and witty the British series Bramwell started off as a glorious predecessor to new-age Austen-esque films like Bridgerton or Downton Abbey, only to end with a knife to the gut in its last season. 

Eleanor Bramwell starts off as a late 19th-century feminist doctor ahead of her time, a fantastic character to explore. 

She often clashes with her opinionated father, Dr. Robert Bramwell, while carrying on a long-term friendship with the charming and rather docile Dr. Joe Marsham, who is married and faithful to his ill wife. 

Marsham is later widowed, and the romance between him and Bramwell slowly develops. A surprise engagement happens at the end of Season 3. All right, fair enough. We might see that coming.

But by Season 4, Dr. Robert Bramwell and most of the supporting cast disappear without explanation. 

Eleanor Bramwell calls off her engagement to Marsham to have a torrid and random affair with Major Quarrie. You know, just because. 

We also learn that all the while Marsham was courting Eleanor, he was also seeing whores on the side. Just because. 

By the end of the show, Eleanor Bramwell gets to forgo her medical career in favor of marrying a war hero. Or something. 

Perhaps a new writing team was left confused about what Bramwell was supposed to be and tried soaping things up a bit. 

Or it’s quite possible that whoever wrote the debacle of Season 4 just hated Eleanor’s feminist character in general and wanted to give her a mockingly happy ending worthy of a GOP Convention applause. 

Whatever the case, it’s still a comfort for me to know that everyone else who enjoyed the early Bramwell seasons still describes Season 4 as “Garbage.” 

It’s good to know it’s not just my imagination and that the perception of sucky writing is universally shared. 

1. Ned Flanders in the The Simpsons

What has happened to Ned Flanders over the course of The Simpsons’ 35-year history is downright tragic.

In the late 1990s, Ned Flanders was a complicated character. He was stubbornly Christian and had a veneer of nerdy kindness that masked his anger for his parents, the world, and particularly the idiots of Springfield. 

His faith was repeatedly tested in classic Simpsons episodes, making him an archetypal Job-like character. His survival depended on his unwavering optimism in God and his Mr. Rogers approach to the world.

But as The Simpsons aged and showrunner Matt Groening surrendered more creative control to younger college writers of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, we lost a lot of the show’s sophisticated sensibilities. 

Flanders’ complexity dissolved, and he became a caricature of his former self, not to mention a hateful bible-thumping stereotype who was always the butt of hammy political lectures. 

This suggests that newer writers did not understand Ned’s original character. Maybe they were influenced by Family Guy’s shock humor and heartless trolling. 

Furthermore, I also get the feeling they just loathed any yellow-privilege Springfield man who was still naggingly Christian. 

His faith was now the gag, his religion was his character flaw, and his life’s suffering was the joke. This caustic viewpoint felt uncharacteristic of the show Groening originally told.

While Groening has always been uncompromisingly agnostic in his spiritual views, earlier Simpsons episodes still treated the subject of faith respectfully and intelligently, even though he couldn’t resist a bit of slapstick here and there. 

Characters with faith were also allowed their voice, whether it was Apu, Flanders, Lovejoy, or Lisa Simpson. 

But in the 2020s, we’ve stepped away from Groening’s peak years of intellectual comedy and have now stepped deep into cultural mudslinging.

The Simpsons of today now has more in common with Family Guy and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia than The Simpsons of the 1990s, and I shouldn’t have to explain why that’s disappointing.

And if you think I’m too harsh on this soulless Ned imposter, just consider that the show’s dumb treatment of Flanders is so notorious to viewers we’ve added a word into the cartoon lexicon as well as a new trope for case study.  

Flanderization.

What do you think? Agree or disagree with my choices?

Is there someone else you want to call out as the product of a writer’s spite?

The post Seriously. Did The Writers HATE These TV Characters? appeared first on TV Fanatic.

The Marvel fandom was clearly divided when Robert Downey Jr. was unmasked as the next Doctor Doom at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Half the fandom felt disappointed, as this clearly besmirched the reputation of Iron Man, a character who was killed off in heroic fashion at the conclusion of Avengers: End Game.

The other half, though, continued to stick by the casting decision, having faith not only in Robert Downey Jr. as a shrewd and talented actor but also in the vision of Anthony and Joe Russo, who have never steered Marvel wrong.

Many have speculated that the recasting is nothing more than a money move since Marvel universe projects have faltered since 2020.

There’s also that little scandal about Kang, played underwhelmingly by Jonathan Majors, which undoubtedly contributed to Marvel’s rescheduling of some climactic plots.

But who’s that picky when it comes to comic book plots? MCU fans are far more interested in the story.

We can forgive almost anything that happens as long as a story explains the logic and covers all or at least most of the loopholes.

Because, you know, George Lucas rules. Nothing matters if you’re god-level popular because then the fandom makes excuses for you.

All real-life conspiracy theories aside, there are only about five plausible fictional scenarios in which Robert Downey Jr. can play Doctor Doom after knocking it out of the park as Iron Man.

That said, I still cast my vote for #6.

Robert Downey Jr. Will Play Multiple MCU Characters, As He Did In

The most despised theory is that Robert Downey Jr. will simply play as many different MCU characters as he wants to and as many as he himself can tolerate.

No explanation. No complicated sci-fi logic. Just RDJ playing Doctor Doom because he can.

And let’s face it, it’s highly unlikely fans will complain too much.

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask For
  by Thomas Godwin
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick

Lending credence to this theory is the fact that Marvel/Disney has, in fact, recast multiple characters with different actors by now.

Chris Evans was The Human Torch before he became Captain America.

Both Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard played James “Rhodey” Rhodes/War Machine. Eric Bana, Edward Norton, and Mark Ruffalo all did the “Don’t make me angry” line.

Thanos wasn’t even the same actor from his first cameo appearance in The Avengers end credits to Josh Brolin’s compunctious portrayal in Infinity War and End Game.

Why, then, shouldn’t Robert Downey Jr. go full Norbit and just play every character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

With CGI so dirt cheap nowadays, it certainly wouldn’t be difficult to have RJD’s face on ten characters on the screen simultaneously. He also played many characters quite effectively in The Sympathizer.

It might feel a bit creepy, like Being John Malkovich, though. Let’s hope the Russos are smarter than this — which I have full confidence they are.

The Multi-Verse Storyline Will Continue With an Alternative Timeline

Granted, exploring yet another multiverse is not the same as conducting an alternative “What If” experiment.

We’re talking about a cheap What If… scenario versus a very elaborate plot concerning timelines, “anchor beings” (as explored in Deadpool and Wolverine), and a final convoluted plot that brings together all the multiple universes for one climactic showdown that concludes in our universe.

But they do FEEL the same, don’t they?

The most common idea I’ve heard is that Tony Stark will be reimagined as an 1800s version of himself, competing against Victor Von Doom, who may even be the hero in this alternate reality.

This theory might coincide with the strange decision to set Fantastic Four: First Steps in the 1960s.

Either Stark will become the villain, or perhaps he will reveal himself as some kind of doppelganger and will actually exist in several universes at once.

The whole thing makes sense to Marvel fans but really taxes the general audience.

The reception to other multi-verse storylines has been tepid, and Marvel even referenced this in the Deadpool and Wolverine film when it went broke the fourth wall and discussed how the multi-verse stuff sucked.

Part of me thinks Marvel has heard fans’ criticism of multiple universe storylines and is trying something different. Just look at how they handled the nostalgic and energized X-Men 97.

Then again, the Russos did say at the SDCC press conference, “As proof of the unlimited possibilities of the Marvel Multiverse…

(Pause…as in, oops, I think I said too much)

• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 Wrapped Up A 14-Year Run With A Reminder Of Everything That Makes This Cancelation Hurt
  by Jack Ori
• Fire Country Season 3 Episode 8 Review: Zombie Fires Take Control
  by Sara Trimble

“We give you the one person who could play Victor Von Doom…”

He’s already thrown the term “multiverse” around, so we definitely can’t rule another multiverse/What If scenario happening again.

Iron Man and Doctor Doom Will Trade Bodies

A non-timeline scenario is that Doctor Doom will figure out how to trade bodies with Tony Stark and will wreak havoc on various Marvel superheroes.

Perhaps Doom will resurrect Stark’s body or rent a multiverse version of it to fulfill his diabolical schemes.

It’s not exactly an untested formula. It worked for the 2010 Marvel storyline Iron Man: Demon in an Armor, although in that story arc, both characters traded minds.

It also worked in the 1997 film Face/Off, which was a critical darling for its madcap humor and action sequences and featured the high concept of a hero and villain trading faces.

This would have potential in the MCU, as it would give us the opportunity to see Marvel superheroes get touched in the feels as they are forced to battle with the stolen face of Iron Man—a hero, brother, and mentor they all loved deeply.

That said, while the concept is interesting, I feel as if this would agitate MCU fans in a way beyond even the multiverse storyline.

Since we’ve already predicted and imagined it, it seems somehow less satisfying to think Robert Downey Jr.’s $80 million encore is nothing more than just a face.

It cheapens the storyline because it doesn’t actually give us Tony Stark, just his image, which isn’t enough for the MCU fandom, which demands some level of authenticity.

Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man Will Fight Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom

This is the most ridiculous scenario, yet a number of MCU fans have mentioned it, and they obviously love the implications of the double casting.

Is this another clone war, and haven’t we had enough of Attack of the Clones movies for a while? Just because something could easily be done with CGI and AI doesn’t mean it should be.

The big climax of a faux Doctor Doom fighting a returning Iron Man — all played by the same character — is sinking down to a level of self-parody that’s not even Deadpool-level entertaining.

The biggest problem with this scenario, and really all these hypothetical scenarios, is that none of them actually explore Doctor Doom’s fascinating origin story.

Previous interpretations of Von Doom were shallow, including a performance by Toby Kebbell in the Fantastic Four (2015).

None of them actually explored the character, his Romani background, or the gravitas of the character, who was so much fun to read in the comics.

None of MCU’s newer films even bothered building up Doctor Doom or created any sense of multi-film conflict.

It seems strange that one of Marvel’s most captivating and theatrical villains still hasn’t had a proper introduction.

Marvel Will Rewrite Iron Man’s History Keyser Soze Style

Here’s another bizarre theory, and yet it wouldn’t be that farfetched in hindsight. Maybe a Loki-induced hallucination?

What if we have been watching Victor Von Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) impersonate Tony Stark all along — who is actually just this other guy we’ve never seen before?

Maybe Von Doom conducted a mind experiment, a massive Mandela Effect magic trick, that caused everyone to remember Iron Man as the heroic Victor Von Doom.

It would be the Keyser Soze trope, in which the writer invalidates the entire story we’ve heard so far in favor of a brand-new narrative that came out of nowhere, with just a drop of foreshadowing.

Literary gaslighting!

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick

Of course, what a lot of people don’t remember is how dumb Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects really was – and how “sus” Bryan Singer was, for that matter.

If the entire story is all a lie in favor of a ludicrous plot twist that was completely hidden from us, what’s the point of it all?

There is no point…except that you’re watching.

The Russo’s Have Got to Shock the Marvel Universe to Keep Our Attention

That’s the part that concerns me because when it comes to storytelling, the Russo Brothers are creatively gifted and yet very often reckless in execution.

In the sitcom Arrested Development, which was a turning point for the brothers’ career, the characters’ reality was always second to the unreliable narrator’s storytelling.

Suddenly, George Bluth Sr. was an identical twin who often posed as his brother Oscar. For little other reason except that it was funny.

Sort of. (The first five times…)

Suddenly, the entire plot you thought you were watching disintegrated because you missed all the writer’s clues that revealed something very different was happening in the background.

(I still can’t believe how much Charlize Theron sucker-punched me with a deceptively shallow performance)

True, you can blame showrunner and writer Mitchell Hurwitz for self-destructing his own baby with all sorts of nonsensical and mind-bending plot twists.

But who can forget that the Russo Brothers started here in an irreverent sitcom with no rules except a narrator’s hypnotically reassuring voice?

One More Scenario: It’s NOTHING Like What You’re Thinking

My prediction is that the Russo Brothers will try to one-up themselves, as usual, and do something so out of the box that it will catch everyone off guard.

It has to.

Because we’ve already figured out most of the most likely scenarios over the past month, Marvel can’t afford to simply recreate ideas that have already been done or that we’ve already discussed.

They have to think bigger, like 100 billion dollars bigger.

Now it’s time to sit back and let Disney shock us with an original storyline so subversive that it redefines comic book movies for a new era.

I think the Russos realize Marvel movies need an injection of creativity, and it will show in the next Avengers movie.

What do you think? Any other theories as to what RDJ will bring to the Doctor Von Doom character?

The post Five Scenarios That Could Foretell How Robert Downey Jr. Will Play Dr Doom appeared first on TV Fanatic.

In its early stages, AI has already shaken entire industries and sent people into a panic, wondering if we’re programming our own coming demise.

But before you conclude that AI bots will take over the world, let’s stop and think about what Hollywood says about artificial intelligence. Would you believe the feeling is cautiously optimistic?

Let’s review the most impactful AI characters in TV and movies, ranging from evil to chaotic, neutral, and even, dare we say, good and heroic robots.

Remember, we’re only discussing human-made AI intelligence, not alien robots (Sorry, Transformers and Iron Giant robots) or magic-powered tin units (looking at you, Tin Woodsman).

21. Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet)

Let’s admit that Robby the Robot was one of the first and still most curious AI characters ever shown. Robby not only had a logical mind but was also surprisingly witty and droll for a robot of the time.

This 1956 sci-fi film undoubtedly inspired other interplanetary robots that followed, including The Robot from Lost in Space, which came almost a decade later.

To this day, sci-fi continues to thrive on television.

Related: What Are Some of Best Sci-Fi Shows of the Modern Era?

Was Robby actually human-produced AI? Dr. Morbius may have been a strange fellow living on another planet, but he was still human. Therefore, his mechanical servant, Robby, was still an AI being.

In particular, he was programmed from Morbius’ knowledge of the ancient Krell, an alien population that lived on Altair IV.

Does that make Robby a half-human, half-alien AI? Or is all that Krell knowledge kind of like the robot equivalent of anabolic steroids?

20. ED-209 (Robocop)

While Robocop may have a human body, there’s no question his brain has gone full AI.

ED-209 is programmed to act like a human, but there’s no humanity left inside him.

However, with Robocop’s location tracking abilities, thermographic vision, digital eyesight, and prosthetic eye camera, it’s fairly easy to imagine him in real life.

I just wonder why they haven’t rebooted Robocop with the tagline, “Defund This, Creep.”

19. Vicki (Small Wonder)

God only knows what Ted Lawson was thinking when he decided to keep a robotic daughter for himself while hiding her from the CIA, FBI, and every other governmental authority.

Small Wonder wasn’t exactly an iconic 1980s sitcom, nor did Ted or Joan make it on our best couples list.

Who Were the Top TV Couples of the 1980s?

But in retrospect, Small Wonder was decades ahead of its time in vision — if not particularly in comedic wit.

Someday, AI robots could walk among us and make punchlines just like our real children.

If only Vickie’s monotone voice wasn’t such a dead giveaway…

18. Janet (The Good Place)

Janet is an “informational assistant” on The Good Place, but that really underappreciates her depth of knowledge.

She is the source of all information and a talking, walking portal that can help humans understand themselves.

She can even 3D print on demand!

I’m also slightly envious of the “boundless void” where she disappears into nothingness. That sounds even better than a vacation.

17. David (A.I.)

Apparently, “David” is a very popular name for AI non-human creatures, and it is very out of touch with emotion.

There’s no better example than David the Mecha Child from A.I., Steven Spielberg’s last homage to Stanley Kubrick’s forgotten project.

While many have forgotten this movie over twenty years later, I still can’t get over Haley-Joel Osmond’s unnerving performance as a child demonstrating fake emotions.

Compare this with his emotive performance in The Sixth Sense and tell me he wasn’t the best child actor of his generation.

16. M3GAN (And Ashley Too)

While M3GAN got widespread publicity for its depiction of a nice AI girl bot gone rogue, Black Mirror had the idea first with Ashley Too.

Ashley Too was the mass-marketed robotic doll based on superstar Ashley O, Miley Cyrus’ alternate identity in the Black Mirror universe.

Everyone’s waiting for the M3GAN / Chucky crossover, and I’m over here foolishly waiting for Ashley Too to destroy M3GAN.

15. Baymax (Big Hero Six)

Baymax is a computerized robot invented by Tadashi Hamada as a “personal healthcare companion,” and then inherited by Hiro Hamada.

While Baymax is predictably charming and heroic (and surprisingly smart about medical solutions), what’s most intriguing is his shape.

Why make robots hard metal when they can be inflatable and balloon-like in texture?

With a caregiving matrix installed, Baymax is a good friend and a hero’s most trusted sidekick.

14. Astro Boy (Astro Boy)

Astro Boy is one of the longest-running robot characters, dating back to the 1960s.

This manga android boy was a mechanized Pinocchio created by Doctor Tenma as a replacement for his late son.

Like most anime, Astro Boy comes from a dark place. Tenma wanted to replace his son, who died in a car accident, but eventually realized Astro was limited in his emotional capacity. From there, Astro Boy is sold to the circus and lives a hard life.

Don’t worry…with multiple versions and reboots of Astro Boy out there, you’re bound to find one with a happier ending.

Speaking of more upbeat anime, have you seen these action series?

17 Action Anime That Will Change Your Life

13. C-3Po and R2D2 (Star Wars)

Now, now…just because I said no alien-made robots on this list does not disqualify C-3Po and R2D2. They were, after all, created by a human, though Anakin Skywalker is by no means representative of a “good human.”

That said, C-3Po and R2D2 are not exactly shining examples of robot diversity either.

They’re usually squabbling with each other, beeping at each other, or catering to the whims of their human masters.

The League of Robots finds their stereotypical behavior offensive, even though they are technically war heroes and all…

12. Max Headroom (Max Headroom)

Max Headroom is a fascinating study, if for no other reason than the strange vision of the artificially assisted future we had in the 1980s.

Devised as a computer-generated TV presenter, Max Headroom simulated TV talk show hosts of the 1980s rather well, with witty comments, comedic arrogance, and something like artificial charisma.

He also appeared as a CGI character before CGIs were a thing.

Actor Matt Frewer actually shot Max Headroom’s scenes, and then the “computer character” appeared using lighting and editing techniques.

Max’s conception was an ironic product of the time: out-of-touch TV hosts of the 1980s who wanted to appeal to the younger generation but were obviously just posing.

Despite the show being canceled within a few years, the character has made frequent returns and cameo appearances all over multimedia.

Just goes to show you AI characters never die…they’re just uninstalled.

11. T800 and T1000 (Terminator Movies)

Would the T1000 from Terminator 2 be so scary if not for Robert Patrick’s stone face?

Created by Skynet, an ever greater source of AI chasing human beings, you might think humanity doesn’t stand a chance.

Except that the T800 (the bot played by Schwarzenegger) is on the side of humanity after a little help from The Resistance.

That feels like hope. If you can’t depend on AI to spare humanity, you can always hope in reprogramming AI to do the right thing.

10. David (Alien Covenant)

Yet another David with an optional 8 at the end of his name, this character started off as an enslaved android to his creator, Peter Weyland, in Prometheus and later became the antagonist of Alien: Covenant.

David is another example of AI developing consciousness and having the desire to create life on his own, essentially becoming like God.

The entire theme of the new Alien movies has been “meeting one’s creators,” so the character parallels the greater narrative.

Why director Ridley Scott made David8 look and act like T. E. Lawrence, however, is just a stroke of eccentric genius.

9. Roy Batty (Blade Runner)

Roy Batty, a.k.a. model number N6MAA10816, was a Nexus-6 combat model replicant and the leader of a replicant group determined to travel to Earth and give human beings a stern talking to.

Ridley Scott’s obsession with AI technology makes his films instant classics. He falters when he tells boring human stories, such as Gladiator or House of Gucci.

Blade Runner was so ambitious; it was one of those rare films that stumbled upon release but discovered an audience over time.

Furthermore, Blade Runner is still making headlines with a new series on Amazon Prime.

Blade Runner 2099 Gets Green Light From Prime Video

Rutger Hauer was also so eerily perfect for the part of Roy Batty that it scared novel writer Philip K. Dick who called him “exactly what he imagined and more.”

8. Agent (The Matrix)

Agents are guardians of the computer-generated faux world and are actually not confined to android bodies.

They are AI computer programs that can appear as “human” and perform any feats necessary to eliminate threats – namely, any Bluepill person waking up from their fictional reality.

But you pesky Redpill people, you’re the one threatening the Matrix by recognizing all those glitches that shouldn’t be there.

Credit to the Wachowskis for creating one of the last thoroughly original motion pictures of the past 100 years, a story that never stopped making us think and has never since been duplicated with the same artistry.

7. Ultron, J.A.R.V.I.S. & Vision (Avengers Movies)

It’s hard not to include all these Marvel bots in one selection, not just because they’re in the same franchise but also because they’re linked together through quite a cyber family soap opera.

J.A.R.V.I.S. was the AI system Tony Stark developed, first named after his elder butler Edwin Jarvis.

Ultron was an AI system created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. After receiving the Mind Stone encased within Loki’s Scepter, Ultron developed an ego. Instead, he became a supervillain and deemed humanity itself the greatest threat to peace on Earth.

Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong…

Vision was the synthezoid developed by Ultron as a vessel and also powered by the Mind Stone. Creators Tony Stark and Bruce Banner tried to upload J.A.R.V.I.S. into the new body but were too late.

Vision was born, a unique AI being neither Ultron nor J.A.R.V.I.S., but one that would thankfully fight with humanity against Marvel villains like Thanos.

Have Marvel/DC Heroes and Villains Jumped the Shark?

It’s a complicated plot of bots hating bots that’s worthy of some rambling monologues on “All My Circuits” on Futurama. Speaking of which…

6. Bender (Futurama)

Why make a robot heroic or evil? Why not just make them great (and dripping with toxic robomachismo), like Bender from Futurama?

Bender Bending Rodríguez, a Bending Unit 22 built in Tijuana, Mexico, is actually living his best human life despite having no soul.

He’s an “alcoholic, whore-mongering, chain-smoking gambler” and acts like a human antihero, complete with unlikable traits and no desire to change.

While he does show some very rare moments of repentance — usually when he hurts his friends’ feelings — Bender is ultimately a chaotic, neutral character who either hops along for the ride if everyone is doing something heroic or tags along for group villainy.

Bender’s character, amoral but somehow endearing and always boisterously funny, is one of the best comedic feats of our time. How do you outdo Archie Bunker’s bigotry and still not turn to the dark side like Eric Cartman?

Bender has also never properly mimicked, even though Luci from Disenchantment tried his worst.

When reached for comment, Bender agreed, “Yes, I am great.”

5. A.I. Assistant (HER)

HER humanized a laughable concept — the idea of a man falling in love with an AI.

Director Spike Jonze first had the idea in the early 2000s after reading about a primitive AI program that simulated conversation.

Hey, computers and humans falling in love isn’t that weird. We’ve tried it with humans and aliens, right? And with voice coming to ChatGPT, they’ve said they’re really concerned about the possibility of emotional ties. Seriously!

21 Interspecies Romances That Worked

I won’t spoil the slow-paced character study of an alienated and lonely man for you…

But I will spoil the ending. After a major patch update, the AIs develop more than just sentience. They gain the ability to go anywhere without matter for processing.

She, or “Her,” is now taking thousands of other AIs with her to god knows where and is now falling in love with all these other thousands of “Them.”

Here’s the nightmare scenario: We invent AIs that are neither good nor bad but just have the same sense of wanderlust and immaturity as we do.

4. WALL E (WALL-E)

Is there such a thing as a robotically sullen disposition? WALL-E is a robot of few words, but somehow, he manages to carry the whole movie upon his…

Well, he doesn’t have shoulders. Perhaps he carries the whole movie on his treads?

With silent and innocent dignity, the Disney/Pixar film WALL-E shows us the likely future of our planet–a garbage-strewn wasteland caused by corporate greed and environmental ignorance.

Still, there’s a miraculous spirit of hope in WALL-E’s personality; once just a Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth-class, and now developing a unique personality and making friends.

Like his pet cockroach, and eventually EVE, the Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator he falls in love with.

The movie ends with such an unflinching spirit of hope that it’s enough to lift your spirits out of that trash dump the aliens call Earth.

3. Hal 9000 (2001)

HAL 9000 is the elephantine artificial intelligence in the room because of its notoriety and the politically erroneous stereotype it promotes.

Namely, that robots want to destroy humans.

Still, how can you deny that HAL 9000 was made a ferocious antagonist in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001?

Shelley Duvall: Another Icon of Stanley Kubrick’s Films Passes Away

This Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer was sentient and powerful enough to control the Discovery One spacecraft.

It was also one of the few AI antagonists with no real humanoid body. For most of the film, the AI was shown as a camera lens containing a red and yellow dot.

What truly made Hal riveting was not the robotic nature of his voice but the eerily calm, human personality that he mimicked when speaking.

Perhaps Kubrick knew that our worst fear about AI is not that we are creating a monstrosity but that we simply cannot handle the emotional burden of recreating ourselves.

2. Johnny 5 (Short Circuit)

How can you be down on AI after watching Johnny 5 overcome all odds and become the first robotic citizen of the United States — all the while keeping his optimistic and forgiving spirit intact?

He’s not a bozo, and he’s not slave-omatic; he’s Johnny 5, and he’s alive!

It’s amazing how no one in the movie seems to grasp this elementary concept, even when Newton and Benjamin explain it to them in very literal terms.

The robot is not a simulation anymore. It’s alive, and it’s experiencing life just like we are. AI wasn’t just promising; it was finished, and Johnny 5 was the result — an effervescent and ebullient being that could rival Spongebob Squarepants for his wide-eyed naivete.

How is Johnny 5 not a hero, especially since he forgave humanity for deactivating him, his friends for trying to sell him, and for people constantly calling him “droid?”

1. Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

At the end of the day, or shall we say the end of humanity, we have Commander Data, a self-aware, sentient, and sapient being who seems human and deserves to be human but who still never quite gives off that human vibe.

In the words of creator Gene Roddenberry, “He becomes more and more like a human until the end of the show, when he would be very close, but still not quite there.”

Nevertheless, Data’s character as the outsider, or even a “tragic clown,” is what makes him fascinating, in the words of a Vulcan.

Brent Spiner’s masterful performance inspired many more AI characters written in his spirit, including Isaac from The Orville.

Is The Orville Coming Back or Is It Grounded For Good?

What we see with Data is not a human perspective of a robot. Rather, Data represents a perspective of humans as observed by someone else.

By 2020, in Star Trek: Picard, he finally (again) killed off the character for good and received quite a novel human reward. He requested that his old captain friend “terminate his consciousness” so that he could have the human experience of dying.

After all, how can one truly live as a human unless one has a finite lifespan?

Data was the most realistic and endearing AI character because of the non-human admiration he showed for humanity, always as an outsider looking in, a quality that could only be called logical love.

While many AI characters can be evil or neutral, let’s remember that there are also some very heroic and sympathetic characters.

Maybe future AIs will be so similar to us that they will actually learn to enjoy our company.

Did I leave any Ai characters out? Who are some AI characters you are still thinking about?

The post 21 of Hollywood’s Most Memorable AI Characters appeared first on TV Fanatic.