Did ‘The Rings of Power’ Fumble Its Release, or Just Set Itself Up for Success in Season 2? An Investigation

EXCLUSIVE: Grantham Coleman is joining the Starz family.

Caroline Framke Chief TV Critic It’s not an exaggeration to say that the world in which “Inside Amy Schumer” once existed no longer exists. Premiering in 2013 right as TV criticism and chatter was finding its internet foothold (for better and for worse), Schumer’s sardonic sketch series took pleasure in twisting second-wave #feminist rhetoric into a pretzel, pushing the bounds of “good taste,” and wryly skewering the comedian at its center as a hopelessly “unfuckable” woman who, depending on the day, either cared too much or couldn’t give less of a damn. At its most pointed, “Inside Amy Schumer” rooted around in the detritus of society’s standards with enviable precision; at its dullest, it gave in to lampooning the same stereotypes that comedy’s been hammering for decades under the guise of Schumer playing a caricature of herself. Ending in June 2016, however, also meant that the show narrowly escaped the waves of liberal white women’s anger following Donald Trump’s electoral victory, at which point it might’ve become something else completely. 

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Opening statements began on Wednesday in a civil trial against Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis, who has been accused of raping a publicist nearly a decade ago.  Haleigh Breest, who filed a lawsuit against Haggis in 2017, alleges that the screenwriter and director forced her to perform oral sex and then raped her after she reluctantly agreed to have a drink at his Soho apartment following a movie premiere. Her attorneys asserted to jurors that the director used his fame and position in Hollywood to pressure Breest, who was 26 at the time. “The defendant, Paul Haggis, is a famous movie director and screenwriter. He’s won two Oscars. He’s talented. He’s powerful. He’s also manipulative,” the plaintiff’s lawyer Zoe Salzman told the jurors in a Lower Manhattan courtroom. “The evidence in this case will show Mr. Haggis used his storytelling skills and fame to prey on, manipulate and attack vulnerable young women in the film industry.”

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Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix wants to make it as simple as possible for people who have been using someone else’s account — possibly in violation of the company’s terms of use — to set up a separate paid membership. On Monday, Netflix is launching Profile Transfer, a feature that lets anyone on an existing account migrate their profile to a brand-new account while preserving all of their personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games and other settings. Profile Transfer, which Netflix says has been “much requested” by customers, will roll out to all members worldwide starting Monday. Users will be notified by email when Profile Transfer becomes available on their account.

Zack Sharf Seth Green is the latest actor to come forward with a story accusing Bill Murray of inappropriate behavior. The Robot Chick co-creator and “Austin Powers” actor revealed on the “Good Mythical Morning” YouTube show (via Uproxx) that he was only nine years old when he had a physical altercation with Murray backstage at “Saturday Night Live.” “When I was nine years old, I did a spot on ‘Saturday Night Live’ when Mary Gross was one of the on-the-scene anchor people for the news, and she did a whole thing about what kids think about the Christmas holiday,” Green said, adding that he killed time backstage by watching television. Murray was the host of that particular “SNL” episode.

An uncomfortable moment. Scarlett Johansson recalled her costar Joaquin Phoenix’s reaction to her “bizarre” orgasm scene in their 2013 film Her.

The first season of “The Rings of Power” has officially come to a close with an “unexpected” finale as the “Lord of the Rings” prequel series explores the lives and events that took place thousands of years before J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy of books (and subsequent films). And along the way, audiences learned how Mordor was created, that the elves were in danger of dying, and there were plenty of signs that evil was, in fact, reemerging.

has officially come to a close with an “unexpected” finale as the prequel series explores the lives and events that took place thousands of years before J. R.

When we created this list six years ago, we were determined to recognize the new faces of storytellers, executives and entrepreneurs who were reinventing New York. A lot has changed since then, but the city’s can-do spirit is as potent as ever.

Outlander fans were thrilled to bits as the show announced a series of faces that would be returning for season seven but it appears that one cast member has been replaced.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” concludes its inaugural season, Amazon Prime Video debuted a fiery new trailer for the season finale that promises “all will be revealed.”  The trailer — which first screened at New York Comic-Con on Friday, as part of Prime Video’s panel for “The Rings of Power” — was light on new footage from the finale, save for a telling glimpse at what appears to be Celebrimbor’s forge, where the titular Rings of Power will eventually be created. Otherwise, the trailer recaps many of the biggest developments through the first season, while promising that while Mordor is rising, at lease some heroes “will fall” — and Sauron’s true identity will finally be revealed.

In her return to her Spotify podcast, Archetypes, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan Markle takes on one of the most prominent stereotypes of Asian women on screen: The Dragon Lady.

Jennifer Salke entered the Second Age in London. The head of Amazon Studios spent the 72 hours leading up to the launch of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” in a whirlwind, traveling from the series’ global premiere event in London’s Leicester Square to her Manhattan apartment to watch the early returns arrive via reports from Amazon’s formidable consumer research department. The “Rings” team was exhausted, having had no chance to recover from the grueling worldwide promotional campaign for the Amazon Prime Video series that is an enormous bet for the tech giant, being the most expensive television series ever produced. For most of launch day, Sept. 1, Salke and key members of her executive team, many members of the large ensemble cast and executive producers J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay and Lindsey Weber gathered together for hours in virtual “war rooms,” bone tired but energized, to wait for the world’s reaction.