Deadline’s Strike Talk Podcast: Billy Ray, John Ptak & Marc Evans Discuss How Fear, Chasing Tentpoles And Netflix’s Volume Game Has Neutered Studio Quality Controls That Reaped Great Films

It’s unlikely the U.S. Supreme Court would have adopted a code of ethics, as it did this week, without a series of revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas and his appetite for first-class vacations paid for by a wealthy Republican friend. Consider it another example of Thomas’ influence on the Court. 

So the good news is that the half year double strike that ground Hollywood to a halt is over. The bad news is Billy Ray has just about come to the end of the road on Deadline Strike Talk, which to our mind has been superb and a light in the darkness. He will do one more episode or two to wrap up the lessons we hopefully learned from this labor discord, and then we will beg him to keep a podcast presence with Deadline. In sober and intelligent tones, and with a superb roster of guests, he has helped create an understanding of the intricacies, forces and history that went into the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The hope is he, and his initial co-pilot Todd Garner, will want to continue together or separately an inside baseball dialogue with the industry that Deadline serves. That is a conversation for another day. Here, Billy Ray discusses the settlement that puts the industry back to work. And he is joined by California State Senators Anthony Portantino and Dave Min to discuss the role of state government in supporting the labor movement.

Blake Shelton recalls Billy Ray Cyrus giving him a tough love pep talk before he made his first TV appearance more than 20 years ago. The "God’s Country" singer said he was "scared to death" in 2001 when he was asked by CMA Awards organizers if he would appear on the show and do a commercial bumper in which he'd tease who was coming up and sing about 20 seconds of his song "Austin." Shelton told Jimmy Kimmel Wednesday that while he stood in the wings, Cyrus exited the stage after presenting an award, introduced himself and asked Shelton if he was all right. "And I go, ’Man, I’m scared to death.

Jace Evans is back to a better place in his life — now that he’s far away from his mother and her scary husband. The 14-year-old now has zero contact with Jenelle Evans or his stepdad in the weeks after David Eason was charged with child abuse for an incident involving the teen.

At 1 First Street in Northeast Washington stands the columned U.S. Supreme Court building, an imposing marble edifice where the most essential constitutional questions are adjudicated. Across generations, Americans held the institution in the highest regard. But not anymore.

Michael J. Fox has always been willing to face long odds. To look the impossible in the face and say, bring it on. Now he’s looking down the road at the final challenge, and he’s as brave as ever.

Cristiano Ronaldo could make a sensational WWE debut in Saudi Arabia, according to reports.

In his 27th installment of Deadline Strike Talk, Billy Ray leans into the need for labor and studios to realize they must be partners willing to compromise, for this business to get past the strikes and rebound in the coming years. To illustrate the need to be changeable, Ray harkens back to his own 2003 directorial debut, Shattered Glass. He catches up with three vital collaborators who made invaluable contributions to the celebrated film — Mandy Walker, Jeff Ford, and Adam Merims — to discuss what has happened to our business since.

Since launching in beta in the U.S. in 2015, the horror-focused streaming service Shudder has developed a unique reputation for quality in streaming, even as its parent company AMC Networks has grappled with the same financial ills affecting the landscape at large.

North Korea. Your house is on fire. What do you try to rescue first? Your kids? Your pet? No, the first thing you reach for is the portrait of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-un and his father and grandfather that is hanging on your wall, as mandated by the authoritarian government. Everything else can wait. 

Professional hockey player Adam Johnson has died after a “freak accident” that happened in the middle of a hockey game in Sheffield, England on Saturday night.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Progress has been made toward ending the SAG-AFTRA strike in recent days, but “a lot” of issues are still on the table, the union’s chief negotiator said Monday morning. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator and executive director of the guild, made an appearance at the Disney picket lines. In an interview outside the studio gates, he would not hazard a guess as to when the strike will be over.

Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose are revealing how they met!

Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans' husband, David Eason, has been charged with child abuse involving his 14 year old stepson Jace.This follows a child neglect investigation that started earlier this month involving both Jenelle and David.The investigation kicked off after Jenelle, a former reality star, reported her son missing for the third time. In September, it was reported that Jace had escaped through a window at home and ran into the woods. Jace later told police that his stepdad, David, had hurt him.

John Stamos is opening up about being labeled a playboy when he was younger.

Week 25 of Deadline’s Strike Talk podcast comes amid a tough time on the negotiations front between SAG-AFTRA and the studios. No formal talks have taken place or have even been scheduled since October 11, when bargaining was suspended amid the latest impasse.

BreAnna Bell There’s been another showrunner shakeup in the “Law & Order” universe. John Shiban has been named new showrunner of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” ahead of the show’s Season 4 premiere marking the seventh showrunner to steer the series. The series is set to air in midseason.

Documentary filmmaking legend Errol Morris has built his extraordinary reputation on two principle foundations: what might be called dramatizations (he rejects the terms reenactments or recreations) and interviews of incredible insight and verve. He has conversed with a fascinating array of people — Robert McNamara, Donald Rumsfeld, Steve Bannon, owners of pet cemeteries, a woman accused of kidnapping and raping a Mormon missionary, to name a few.

MasterChef: The Professionals returns for its 15th year and judge Monica Galetti is back too.The Kiwi chef took a break last year to focus on her family and restaurant, but says that entering the TV kitchen once again was a “joyous” experience. “I missed it, it’s just wonderful to be back with good friends that I’ve known for many years and to discover new talent,” she says. Monica will be reuniting with long-time judges Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Minutes before “Saturday Night Live” was set to kick off Season 49 inside Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the show’s production team — led, of course, by executive producer Lorne Michaels — received word that two special guests were on their way. According to a source, that was when they learned that Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who were in New York City, wanted to drop by the show.