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Donald Trump has been back in office for less than one month, and he, Elon Musk, and his senior administration officials have already plunged the nation into an ongoing constitutional crisis and openly performed various brazen acts of lawlessness and gleeful corruption, while threatening to “look at” judges who object to his onslaught against the U.S. Constitution and legal limits on his power.

On Saturday afternoon, during Presidents Day weekend, the twice-impeached president and convicted felon was, to his credit, honest about it: He believes he’s allowed to break any law he wants.

We’re celebrating 50 years of “Saturday Night Live“! All this week, we’re digging into the late-night comedy institution with new stories, including lists, essays, interviews, and more.

There’s an old adage that “context is everything” and while it may not apply to all situations, it certainly rings true when it comes to politics and comedy. Both arenas are designed around performers, sometimes made to look the fool and other times a noble voice of the people, but where one lands always depends on the moment in which a joke or plea is delivered.

This is a fact “Saturday Night Live” has understood well since its inception, with Chevy Chase debuting his impression of then-President Gerald Ford during the show’s first few weeks on air. Chase would appear a few times as Ford in the month after the show’s premiere, but it was during the Christmas episode the character really took form.

Spoilers for "Captain America: Brave New World" follow.

Marvel Studios does not set out to court controversy, which makes "Captain America: Brave New World" such a puzzling film. Similar to previous TV series "Falcon & The Winter Soldier," the movie has a framework that seems inevitably political: Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), a Black man, has chosen to be Captain America, but finds himself at odds with his country and President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford).

Then, the movie preemptively retreats from any message, saying we should trust our politicians, no matter how flawed they are, to follow their better angels in the end — an absurd theme for 2025. Compare how '70s "Captain America" comic writer Steve Englehart made then-President Richard Nixon into a super-villain at the height of the Watergate scandal. That took real conviction, the kind you'll never find in a four-quadrant blockbuster.

The biggest unforced error in "Brave New World...

Sebastian Stan is no stranger to stepping into complex roles, but his latest project might end up giving him the recognition he deserves. Or, it might bring a long-overdue recognition to one of Hollywood’s most legendary actors, Anthony Hopkins. Tied together thanks to their work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stan recently earned a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Donald Trump in the film, The Apprentice.

Sebastian Stan as Edward Lemuel / Guy Moratz in The Different Man | Credits: A24

While Hopkins has been nominated twice for portraying an America president, he has never won an Oscar. Now that Stan has earned a nomination, it is possible that the fellow Marvel star can avenge Hopkin’s Oscar loss.

Sebastian Stan might avenge fellow Marvel-star Anthony Hopkins at the Oscars Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams in Amistad | Credit: DreamWorks Pictures

Portraying a real life figure as...

Plot: A year in the life of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, as they settle into a new life in New York City while associating with the anti-war movement and being targeted by the U.S. government.

Review: If you’re a Beatle-maniac like me, the last couple of years have delivered a virtual treasure trove of new footage centered around the Fab Four. First, there was Peter Jackson’s mammoth effort, Get Back, then the re-release of the long-buried Let It Be documentary, Hulu’s recent Beatles ’64 (which happened to feature one of the late David Lynch’s last on-camera interviews – as he remembered seeing The Beatles in his youth), Paul McCartney’s One Hand Clapping and now One to One: John & Yoko.

While plenty of excellent documentaries have been made about Lennon (such as Imagine: John Lennon), directors Kevin McDonald and Sam Rice-Edwards take a particularly bold approach,...

Bob Dylan and John Lennon spent time together over the years, but he reportedly wasn’t a fan of his wife, Yoko Ono. Early in Lennon and Ono’s relationship, Dylan told George Harrison that she had “bad vibes.” Years after this, Lennon publicly humiliated his wife, and someone put on a lengthy Dylan song to try to cover it up.

A Bob Dylan record played as John Lennon humiliated Yoko Ono

In 1972, Lennon and Ono attended an election watch party at Jerry Rubin’s New York City apartment. When it became apparent that Richard Nixon would win, many of the guests, including Lennon, began to drink their sorrows away. Lennon became so intoxicated that he slipped away to have sex with another party goer — while Ono was still in the apartment.

“[T]he upshot was that John had indeed hit it off with some girl at the party and had...

Vice President Kamala Harris today will have the task of announcing the certification of the winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump.

Coming on the fourth anniversary of the Trump-fueled riot and storming of the U.S. Capitol, Harris in a new video presented an implicit contrast to the way that she is handling her constitutional duty.

“The peaceful transfer of power is one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy,” Harris said. “As much as any other principle, it is what distinguishes our system of government from monarchy or tyranny.

“Today at the United States Capitol, I will perform my constitutional duty as vice president of the United States to certify the results of the 2024 election. This duty is a sacred obligation, one I will uphold, guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution, and my unwavering faith in the American people.”

The electoral vote result was...

I’ve always avoided New Year’s resolutions, but this week I happened to recall one that was brief but resolute: I resolved to quit Hollywood.

And I did. Almost.

That decision seems relevant today for reasons that require a bit of history. Consider January 1975, 50 years ago: It was a Hollywood moment that was the opposite of the present, both in numbers and nuance. It was a great time to be around – and not to be.

The audience was expanding and was determined to get scared: Jaws was a smash. But millions also were welcoming the weirdities of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. TV fans were puzzled over something new called SNL, and music fans continued to discover Elton John (still are).

As box office kept growing, opportunity was abundant. Words like “downsizing” or “contracting” were still unknown.

There were hints of quantum change, but just hints: The Hollywood...

Watchmen remains one of DC Comics’s most iconic intellectual properties. It’s seen its share of television and film adaptations, sometimes to polarizing degrees. DC even brought the series to retcon its superhero universe with the crossover event, Doomsday Clock.

Needless to say, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s participation in the superhero medium has been widely profitable. I still remember the hype fans had before going into Zack Snyder’s 2008 film adaptation. There’s a lot of love for this story of a broken-up team in a volatile world.

It’s since been classified as an outstanding work in comic book history, so much so that it’s been lauded by literary crowds. Many often consider it the moment “when comic books grew up.” While Chris Claremont told mature stories with the X-Men in the early 1980s and other comics would periodically touch on serious subjects, Watchmen was a turning point.

One of the first signs that Jimmy Carter was not your average politician came in January 1974. Already a Bob Dylan fan, the then-governor of Georgia was in the audience at Atlanta’s Omni Coliseum to see Bob Dylan and the Band on their historic tour. Afterward, the musicians, promoter Bill Graham, and a few local music-biz associates were driven (accompanied by state troopers) to the governor’s mansion for an after-show gathering.

In the years that followed — both during his White House run and subsequent presidency — Carter confirmed his music-fan...

On June 20, 1979, President Jimmy Carter invited reporters up to the White House roof for a ceremony to inaugurate the installation of 32 solar water-heating panels. America was in the midst of an energy freak-out, with long lines at gas stations and not-crazy fear that the U.S. economy was going to be starved by its dependence on foreign oil. And Carter was paying the price: his approval rating was 28 percent, the lowest of his presidency. On that summer day, Carter acknowledged that “some few Americans have reached a state of panic.

Jimmy Carter, former United States President, has died at the age of 100. His family confirmed he passed away in his home in Georgia.

Carter was a peanut farmer who became the 39th U.S. President after the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal. A one-term American President, he moved on to become a global humanitarian, positively impacting the lives of many.

President Jimmy Carter’s White House Legacy

Carter passed away on Sunday, December 29, over a year after being admitted to a hospice in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. The small town was where he and his wife, Rosalynn (who passed away at the age of 96 in November 2023), spent most of their lives.

Carter was a Navy officer, businessman, author, woodworker, evangelist, philanthropist, as well as a politician. Deep in his faith, Carter once said, “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can,...

Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100.

The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said.

“Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center simply said in posting about Carter’s death on the social media platform X.

Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office.

Jimmy Carter, who followed a principled yet tumultuous single term in the White House with a post-presidency dedicated to human rights and peace advocacy, died this afternoon in his hometown Plains, Ga., The Carter Center said.

The nonprofit organization said there would be public observances in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., as well as a private interment in Plains, Ga. The final arrangements of a state funeral are still pending.

Chip Carter, his son, said in a statement: “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love. My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”

At 100, Carter — who was born on Oct.

On the morning of December 10, a rare thick white fog enveloped Washington, D.C., creating an ominous tenor for the day. As I disembarked from the metro at Union Station, I followed a group of young Capitol Hill staffers up the hill and into the gloom. Some broke off to enter congressional offices or the U.S. Capitol building. I was one of just a handful of people who headed on to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado.

Every year, people turn up the volume on Christmas songs to cheerfully celebrate the holiday season. The tunes touch on topics like family, love, gifts, and togetherness. Many Christmas songs turn away from the warmth of the holiday, however. Here are seven songs for when you want to embrace the bluer shades of the season.

‘That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!’ by Sufjan Stevens

Many of the songs in Sufjan Stevens’ extensive Songs For Christmas have a level of melancholy to them. Lyrically, “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever” leans into the heartbreak. In the song, Stevens writes of memories of sledding, but the second verse brings out a very different side to the holiday.

“Our father yells, throwing the gifts in the wood stove, wood stove / My sister runs away, taking her books to the schoolyard, schoolyard,” he sings.

The song ends on a grim note.

“Silent night, holy...

Erik Nelson creates a tapestry of fame and purpose in Daytime Revolution, capturing a fleeting yet important moment in 1972 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared on the platform of The Mike Douglas Show.

Here, the banal fabric of daytime television was converted into a canvas for radical discourse, a space where the personal became political, and entertainment became a tool for change.

Nelson’s documentary is more than just a recital of events; it is a philosophical investigation into how celebrity may serve as a Trojan horse for ideas that challenge the existing quo.

The film alternates between archive material and intimate interviews, contrasting light and shadow, with laughter and activism coexisting. It invites us to ponder if the brilliant lights of celebrity can reveal the darkest corners of societal complacency or if they simply cast longer shadows.

Shadows of Dissent: The Socio-Political Landscape of the Early 1970s

The...

In 1974—the year Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of Watergate, and just one year after the United States withdrew from the Vietnam War, having wasted 19 years, five months, four weeks, one day, and nearly 60,000 American lives—confidence in and trust of the United States government was in a shambles.

Police dramas were flourishing in the 1970s (and later parodied in the 1980s) thanks to "Dragnet" when television writer Robert L. Collins hit upon what counted as a genius notion at the tail end of the Richard M. Nixon administration: what if instead of "policeman," "policewoman?" NBC said "Show us," and Collins responded with the buzzy "Police Woman" starring Angie Dickinson as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson.

"Police Woman" was about as progressive as you could expect from an hour-long network drama in the '70s when it was rare for a drama of any genre to be headed up by a woman. Once a week, Dickinson struck a quasi-feminist figure as an ultra-capable officer of the law with a penchant for dressing in tight-fitting shirts in pants. At least once she went undercover in a swimsuit. And as she complained to the press years later, the writers liked to have...

In Part 1 of this 2-part article, “Secret Zoo” was a recommended film for your watch list. Here is the second family-friendly flick you might enjoy. Watch on Viki or free with ads on Tubi TV. (2) “Mr. Zoo: The Missing VIP” Storyline: In “Mr. Zoo: The Missing VIP”, it is the 25th-anniversary celebration between South Korea and China. VIP stands for Very Important Panda. Did you know that Mao Zedong sent a panda bear to the USA as a gift? After President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972, Mao gifted two giant pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, to the United States as a symbol of friendship and diplomacy. Since then the panda has played a significant role in “panda diplomacy.” To continue to promote friendly relations between South Korea and China a Special Envoy is being sent for the celebration and Nis agents must be assigned for security reasons to guard and protect the envoy.

Americans likely know David Frost best as the TV host who took on Richard Nixon in the landmark interview that served as the basis for Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon — a film that earned rave reviews from everybody except those who went in thinking it was a sequel to Michael Keaton’s harmonica-playing snowman movie.

Frost also had a huge impact on the comedy world, thanks to his 1960s satirical news program The Frost Report, which, along with the Frost-hosted That Was the Week That Was, inarguably paved the way for future news parodies such as The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update.”

The Frost Report’s supporting cast included Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett (who later starred in The Two Ronnies) as well as a young performer named John Cleese. The show’s writing staff also included future Monty Python members Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and Terry Jones.

“It’s very scary.”

In separate interviews, three veteran nonprofit executives used the same phrase to describe the future of public media in the United States under the next Trump Administration. While agencies are currently funded through 2025, the attacks are fierce.

The GOP Is Out for Blood

In April, president-elect Donald Trump called National Public Radio (NPR) “a liberal disinformation machine” and vowed to never give it a penny while Congressman Scott Perry (R-pa) introduced the “No Propaganda Act,” a bill that aims to prohibit federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (Cpb). Senator Ted Cruz (R-tx) called the Cpb “complicit in perpetuating political bias.”

Three weeks ago, Department of Government Efficiency co-heads Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy joined the fray, calling for an end to federal funding to the Cpb in the Wall Street Journal.

This isn’t new, of course.

Conservative politicians have tried to destroy public...

This year’s presidential election was a historic one for weed, with both major presidential candidates endorsing marijuana legalization for the first time ever. Kamala Harris said that she would legalize adult-use cannabis at the federal level. At the same time, Donald Trump announced that he was backing Florida’s Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational weed in the state (despite majority support, the measure did not receive the required 60 percent voting threshold in the November election).

At this stage, federal legalization seems all but inevitable. Last May, President Biden...

President Joe Biden’s pardon for Hunter, his sole surviving son, was a symphony missing a crucial note: “I changed my mind.”

The pardon was a moment of paternal grace that took me aback — not because of the act itself but rather what was left unsaid. Presidential history boasts far more contentious pardons: George H. W. Bush pardoned former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and five others for secretly selling arms to Iran during an embargo. Bill Clinton pardoned disgraced financier Marc Rich. Donald Trump pardoned political allies who might...

“Beatles ‘64” wants to hold your hand.

The latest Beatles documentary specifically focuses on the 1964 arrival of the lovely lads from Liverpool in America. This includes their zeitgeist-capturing performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and their first live concert in the United States, held at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C.

But how can you watch the latest documentary on the Fab Four? Read on to find out.

When does “Beatles ‘64” come out?

“Beatles ‘64” premieres exclusively on Disney+ on Nov. 29.

Is “Beatles ‘64” streaming or in theaters?

The new documentary is only available on Disney+. Sure, it would be pretty fun to watch “Beatles ‘64” in a crowded movie theater, with people reacting to the band today like they had back then. But alas, it is impossible.

Who is in “Beatles ’64?”

There are new interviews with surviving Beatles members Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney; there are...

The 55th installment of the DC Universe Original Animated Films and the first of a two-parter, “Watchmen: Chapter 1,” is the direct adaptation of the first six issues of the seminal graphic novel Watchmen, written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons, and colored by John Higgins. The animated film is directed by Brandon Vietti (Batman: Under the Red Hood) and adapted by J. Michael Straczynski (showrunner of Babylon 5).

Watchmen: Chapter 1 (2024) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:

Setting

Considering that this is a faithful adaptation of the graphic novel, the setting of the movie remains the same as well. An alternate reality was the United States of America in the 1980s, where the presence of costumed vigilantes or superheroes would begin to produce a point of divergence in 1938. The most significant divergence to have occurred in the Vietnam War, which resulted in a victory for the American forces in 1971 due to the presence of Doctor Manhattan.

Nearly four decades after its stunning premiere, Watchmen continues to evolve through creative adaptations. Watchmen Chapter II’s most recent release is a groundbreaking animated experience that promises the most authentic portrayal of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ renowned graphic novel.

This two-part animated series, directed by Brandon Vietti and written by J. Michael Straczynski, provides a fresh perspective while keeping the source material’s profound philosophical substance. Set in an alternate 1985, where costumed heroes have rewritten history, the film strikes a delicate balance between narrative depth and visual storytelling.

Watchmen Chapter II is a comprehensive animated adaptation set in a universe where Richard Nixon stays president and nuclear conflict is a constant concern. The film differentiates itself by remaining remarkably faithful to the original graphic novel and employing a distinct animation style that clearly references Dave Gibbons’ artwork.

This research will examine the animated adaptation’s narrative strategy, visual execution,...

Contemporary interviews and amazing archive footage combine in a sublime snapshot of the band’s whirlwind first US visit

The Beatles’ breaking of America – that mythic, ecstatic moment which restored Britain’s postwar pride and became an enduring cornerstone of our soft power self-respect – is the subject of this absorbing documentary from director David Tedeschi; Martin Scorsese is a producer and interviews Ringo himself in the present day, with Paul speaking to camera separately. It also uses the intimate hotel-room and backstage footage shot at the time by the Maysles brothers, Albert and David.

The film is a record of the band’s arrival in New York in 1964, and their legendary live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the host resembling a wary, jowly Richard Nixon. Craig Brown’s book One Two Three Four points out that the Beatles’ appearance on the show followed an interminable succession of forgotten support acts who,...

Pamela Hayden, who for 35 years has voiced Bart’s best friend Milhouse (and many other characters) on Fox’s The Simpsons, is retiring from character voice work and will last be heard in this Sunday’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode, airing at 8/7c.

Watch a tribute from the long-running ‘toon’s producers, above.

More from TVLineEuphoria: Storm Reid Confirms She Won't Be Back as Gia for Season 3Suits Star Gabriel Macht Books Arc on NBC Spinoff - Watch Teaser VideoWill Trent Adds Scott Foley as Love Interest for [Spoiler] in Season 3

“The time has come for me to hang up my microphone,...

Everything’s not coming up Milhouse, it seems.

Pamela Hayden, who has voiced iconic Simpsons characters including Milhouse and Jimbo Jones, is retiring from the show after 35 years.

Hayden will voice her last episode – Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes – on Sunday, November 24.

In addition to Bart’s best friend Milhouse Van Houten and bully Jimbo Jones, over the years, Hayden has voiced secondary characters including Ned Flanders’ son Rod, Chief Wiggum’s wife and Ralph Wiggum’s mother Sarah and Lisa Simpson’s friend Janey Powell.

The Simpsons, which launched on Fox in December 1989, will now start casting for her characters.

Hayden said, “The time has come for me to hang up my microphone, but how do I say goodbye to The Simpsons?……not easily. It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show, and to...

As millions of viewers and host Regis Philbin looked on, John Carpenter rocketed to the top question of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire across two nights of gameplay. And on November 19, 1999, he became the ABC game show’s first million-dollar winner. On that last question, he finally used a lifeline — not for a hint but for a gloat. “Uh, hi, Dad. I don’t really need your help,” Carpenter said after ringing up his father. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to win the million dollars.” And that’s exactly what he did, correctly identifying Richard Nixon as the U.S. president who appeared on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. The win and — the lifeline flex — made the then-31-year-old from Hamden, Connecticut, a national hero. That’s no small feat for a guy who works for the Internal Revenue Service. “It was a spur of the moment thing.

“The Bibi Files,” directed by Alexis Bloom, is an extraordinary and essential documentary. It follows the corruption scandal that has engulfed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu like a toxic cloud. More than that, though, it’s about how the accusations he’s been trying to squirm out from under since 2019, when he was first indicted on charges of bribery and fraud, have changed his identity as a politician.

The film makes a powerful case that Netanyahu’s alliance with the far-right fringe of Israeli politics, which has culminated in his grotesque compulsion to prolong the massacre in Gaza with no end in sight, has been driven almost entirely by his attempt to evade the charges against him. As long as the war goes on, it becomes his excuse to stay in office. Underneath it all, the documentary argues that Netanyahu is terrified of being toppled and imprisoned, to the point...

“The best antidote for a bad election is a good movie,” Richard M. Nixon once proclaimed, and for many filmgoers this week Conclave helped blot out the political noise. A papal thriller with a shock ending, Conclave’s impact again raises the question of whether serious adult fare can again command a strong market niche.

The setting of Conclave is itself a departure: The Pope is dead. The Vatican’s prayerfully powerful College of Cardinals is locked in its sanctorum, weathering intrigues about a potential new leader.

Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), a regally robed cardinal, Ralph Fiennes, struggles to sustain calm in the face of sexual and political challenges raised by Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, among others.

The Focus Features unit of Comcast once provided a major dent in...

There is a long history in theater of the "one man show," in which a single performer must hold the attention of the audience for the entire runtime. Sometimes they play more than one character, sometimes they play just one character, but they are always the focus. Over the years, cinema has created its own version of the one man show, where only one actor appears onscreen for the majority of the runtime. Occasionally we might hear someone offscreen or in voiceover or get a quick flashback with other actors, but for the vast majority of the movie, we're stuck looking at just one face. That takes some serious skill to pull off, no matter how good-looking the face might be. 

Here I've collected and ranked 10 of the best films featuring only one actor, ranging across the years and several different genres. I did not include comedy specials like Bo...

It has long been a topic of criticism within the shonen anime and manga landscape, in particular, the ‘Big 3’, claiming they often objectify and sexualize their female characters! This generic approach has been quite successful though, as most of the audiences are still male. So it has naturally been accepted and almost became a part of the genre.

Rangiku from the Bleach series | Credits: Studio Pierrot

That is until the recent developments in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, that have taken this trope in an unexpected direction. With provocative and sensual scenes featuring a male cast, especially Aizen in this case, the series seems to have stunned everyone. This has certainly sparked some new debates and raised important questions on gender representation in the anime and manga medium.

Aizen’s Uncanny Expression In a Particular Scene Got The Male Bleach Fans Disgusted! Sosuke Aizen | Credits: Studio Pierrot

The Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood...

Well, if you’re reading this, it means that you’ve survived yet another presidential election.

You might be thrilled with last night’s results, or you might be banging your head against a wall, wondering how you’re gonna survive the next four years.

Either way, at least we can all take solace in the fact that the quadrennial barrage of panhandling text messages has now come to an end.

(Dreamworks Pictures/20th Century Fox)

And now that you can once again turn on your TV without being bombarded by mudslinging political ads, what better time to revisit some of the best presidential biopics?

Politicians and pollsters might tell you they know what the future holds, but that picture is always a murky one.

Thankfully, we can always look to America’s past for encouraging reminders of challenges we’ve overcome and the heroes who have risen to the occasion.

The hosts of “The View” have been longtime critics of Donald Trump, but on Wednesday morning, they were still “optimistic” about the country even under his second term — albeit “profoundly disturbed.”

To kick off the first post-election episode, the ABC hosts came dancing onto stage, seemingly in good spirits. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg even joked with the table and audience, asking if anyone did anything interesting yesterday.

Of course, she quickly dropped the joke and went straight to her co-hosts for their reactions on a convicted felon getting re-elected. First up was Joy Behar, who was arguably the most stressed of the group before the election, yet unexpectedly hopeful.

.@JoyVBehar: "My takeaway is that the system worked. We live in a democracy. People spoke. This is what people wanted. I vehemently disagree with the decision Americans made, but I feel very, very hopeful that we have a democratic system in this country.

Comedy has had a substantial impact on this year’s presidential election discourse, as evidenced by Kamala Harris’ recent Saturday Night Live cameo, Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist Trump rally jokes and, most recently, an endorsement from one of the supporting cast members of Newsradio (Andy Dick’s silence is deafening).

But this isn’t the first time that the worlds of comedy and politics have overlapped during a presidential election. In fact, it’s been argued that a TV comedy was responsible for helping elect one of the shittiest presidents of all-time: Richard Milhous Nixon.

As any Boomer will tell you, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In was a freewheeling sketch series that paired the absurdity of the vaudeville era with the contemporary politics of the late 1960s counterculture movement. It was very much the hippie aesthetic packaged and sold for mass consumption. It also helped launch the careers of Lily Tomlin and Goldie Hawn.

Hollywood has been borderline obsessed with Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal for over half a century. Plenty of presidents or watershed legislative decisions have gotten adaptations, but given the recency of his crimes, Nixon is on another level. There have been 24 feature films centered on Nixon and/or Watergate, and that's not including the recent influx of prestige miniseries like 2023's "The White House Plumbers" about Nixon's political saboteurs, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy or 2022's "Gaslit," the Julia Roberts-starring series about Martha Mitchell, the wife of Nixon's at-the-time United States Attorney General.

I was born in 1990, which means my understanding of Nixon until, say, my junior year of high school, was what I had absorbed from pop culture. My introduction to Nixon's resignation speech was when it played over the radio in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and I learned about all of his specific...

Of all the comedy subgenres, the political comedy is probably the hardest to nail down. What, exactly, constitutes a political comedy? Is it a movie set in the world of politics? It is just a movie that has political commentary? And what’s the difference between a political comedy and a political satire? Is one meaner in its humor than the other?

In order to make a list of the 20 best political comedies, I had to figure out answers to these questions. And that meant making some tough choices, like any good elected official. And what I decided was to be pretty strict in my definition of what counts. There are so many good films that are often called political comedies — Four Lions, Borat, numerous war movies — but for my purposes, a film had to feature politicians, world leaders or at the very least some folks who were running for something,...

Millions of people are emotionally invested in classic rock. Glenn Frey said one of The Eagles’ songs caused “mass hysteria” in Japan. He didn’t seem to mean that literally. He also made other claims about the track that seem dubious.

The Eagles made an album of songs influenced by disco and political unrest

During a 2003 interview with The Uncool, Don Henley discussed what his band was thinking when they crafted the album One of These Nights. “We like to call it our ‘Satanic country-rock period,'” the “Boys of Summer” singer said. “Because it was a dark time, both politically and musically, in America. There was turmoil in Washington and disco music was starting to take off.” Frey may have been referring to the Watergate scandals and the ensuing controversies, including Gerald Ford’s decision to pardon Richard Nixon. He may also have been referring to the tail end of the Vietnam War.

Teri Garr has sadly passed away at the age of 79, but she left behind an incredible body of work that includes some of the greatest (and funniest) movies ever made. Before Garr retired from acting in 2011, she had enjoyed a long and prosperous career. She appeared in a wide range of films and TV shows and amassed a trophy cases worth of accolades. Throughout her storied career, Garr received an Academy Award nomination and a BAFTA Award nomination (both for the timeless 80s comedy Tootsie), and won a National Board of Review Award.

Before Garr passed away, she worked with Mel Brooks on one of the best comedies of all time, she worked with Steven Spielberg on one of the best science fiction movies of all time, and she played Phoebes birth mother in Friends. Renowned New Yorker critic Pauline Kael described Garr as the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on...

Since its beginning in 1975, Saturday Night Live has excelled at political impressions. They've been around for every Presidential election for decades, not to mention scores of political figures who have come and gone. Sometimes, you get an actor doing an okay impression, but other times, SNL crafts an impression so huge that it becomes a national sensation.

The best impressions are so famous that they can overwhelm the actual political figure being lampooned. Often, these politicians will pop up on SNL to confront their imposter and give them a stamp of approval. Not all of them are top-notch (their various takes on Donald Trump have been tricky), but these rank as the best SNL political impersonations over the last 50 years, and how you can always count on the show to nail some hilarious takes on famous political figures past and present.

Honorable mentions: Dan Aykroyd as Jimmy Carter, Jon Lovitz as Mike Dukakis,...

Exclusive: Veteran actor Mykelti Williamson has signed with More Medavoy Management for representation.

Known for his iconic role as Bubba in the Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, Williamson will next be seen in the Amazon feature Unstoppable, alongside Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez, produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. He most recently wrapped director Jon Avnet’s feature The Last Rodeo in the lead role of Charlie Williams – a former bull rider and bullfighter who steps back in the ring one more time. He’ll also appear in the Apple TV+ series Bonneville, opposite David Oyelowo.

His recent film credits include Mark Amin-directed Emperor, Butter with Mira Sorvino and The 24th, based on the historic Houston Riot of 1917, directed by Oscar winner Kevin Willimott.

Williamson also appeared in Blumhouse’s Don’t Let Go, directed by Jacob Estes and opposite David Oyelowo, Alfred Molina, and Brian Tyree Henry, as well as Saint Judy with Michelle Monaghan,...

In 1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono attended a party to watch the presidential election results. As it became increasingly clear that Richard Nixon would emerge victorious, Lennon grew drunker and drunker in an attempt to cope. By the end of the night, he was reportedly cheating on Ono in an extremely obvious manner. While Ono later said she could forgive him, she said she would not forget what he’d done to her.

Yoko Ono realized her marriage to John Lennon would not be the same after a party

In 1972, Lennon and Ono went to Jerry Rubin’s apartment to await the results of the presidential election between Nixon and George McGovern. The mood shifted unpleasantly as the night wore on, and, at one point, Lennon slipped away to have “loud, raucous” sex with another party guest. Through all of this, Ono and the other guests sat in mortified silence.

John Lennon was truly a mystery in the eyes of his fans. In some ways, maybe it might have been better if the mystery had been kept up. As more people discover about The Beatles singer’s personal life, the more they wish they hadn’t. Nevertheless, his relationship with Yoko Ono was of special interest to the public and still is.

The Beatles | image: BBC Archive

Lennon allegedly unapologetically cheated on almost all of his relationships, and his relationship with Ono was also no different. But one specific incident that came to light in We All Shine On: John, Yoko & Me had people especially shocked.

John Lennon Openly Cheated on His Wife, Yoko Ono!

A close personal friend of the rock star couple, Yoko Ono and the myth, the legend John Lennon, published a book recently called We All Shine On: John, Yoko & Me, and it shows quite a...

Tom Jarriel, a former anchor and correspondent for ABC News who became a mainstay on the newsmagazine 20/20, has died. He was 89.

Jarriel’s family announced his death on Thursday, ABC News reported.

Jarriel joined the network in 1965, covering the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and later the Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford administrations as chief White House correspondent.

He later anchored the network’s weekend newscast and was a correspondent on 20/20, the network’s newsmagazine that was introduced in 1978.

Per ABC, Jarriel won six Emmy awards for his reporting for the show. He called a report on children in Romanian orphanages “the great, defining moment of my career,” the network said.

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Geraldo Rivera, who also was a correspondent for the show, posted on X, “He was an excellent, award winning reporter and gracious colleague on 20/20, a true gentleman.”

Jarriel is survived by his wife, Joan; and three sons.

The Pope is dead. For years, his Holiness had helped to move the Catholic church toward modernity and serving its constituents in a manner befitting the 21st century. Now, however, “the throne of the Holy See is vacant,” and a group of high-ranking cardinals — some of whom called the figurehead a friend, others who bitterly fought him on every issue — must assemble in Rome and elect one of their own to fill that void. They will be sequestered and meet every day until a worthy soul (or at the very least,...

Elvis Presley was a major source of inspiration for John Lennon. He, like many other artists in his generation, heard “Heartbreak Hotel” and felt as if his life had changed. When he was a famous musician in his own right, Elvis agreed to meet with the band. While The Beatles walked away from the meeting feeling slightly disappointed, Elvis reportedly began to foster a simmering hatred toward Lennon.

Elvis Presley resented something John Lennon said when they met

In 1965, The Beatles finally had the opportunity to meet Elvis. They drove to Graceland and spent the night playing music with Elvis. Journalist Chris Hutchins said Lennon had long been asking him to set up the meeting, but things went awry between him and Elvis almost immediately.

Elvis Presley | Bettmann/Contributor via Getty

“John had annoyed Presley by making his anti-war feelings known the moment he stepped into the massive lounge and...

John Lennon and Yoko Ono got together while he was still married to his first wife, Cynthia Lennon. He cheated brazenly during his relationship with Cynthia. While he claimed he had a deeper connection with Ono, he reportedly was still unfaithful. A friend of both Lennon and Ono said Lennon once cheated on Ono extremely publicly while she and other party guests sat in stunned silence.

John Lennon openly cheated on Yoko Ono at a party

In 1972, Lennon and Ono attended a party at anti-war activist Jerry Rubin’s apartment. They were waiting on the results of the presidential election between Richard Nixon and George McGovern.

As the night wore on — and Nixon began to emerge as the victor — Lennon began drinking heavily. At some point, Lennon slipped away and had “loud, raucous sex” with another woman.

“Throughout it all,” the couple’s friend Elliot Mintz wrote in We All Shine On.