Friends

DreamWorks TV and producer Steven Spielberg are hoping their latest entry into prime time television lives up to its name. Smash is about the making of a Broadway musical play which involves the life of Marilyn Monroe. But personal conflicts among the cast members prove to be difficult to work with as they deal with the everyday demands of theater life and this musical in particular. Debra Messing stars as Julia Houston who is the co-writer as well as lyrist and song writer on Smash. Messing, formerly seen on Will & Grace, is an award winner with a musical background. Angelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor, The Adams Family) plays Eileen Rand the musical's producer who has to juggle handling a messy divorce along with the difficulty that goes with producing a Broadway musical. Frank Huston, Julia's husband is played by Brian d'Arcy James (Broadway's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) is jealous of Tom Levett (Christian Borle from Broadway's Jesus Christ Superstar), Julia's partner and co-writer of Smash. The actress who finally gets the role of Marilyn is Ivy Lynn played by Megan Hilty from the Broadway production of 9 to 5: The Musical. Plenty of behind the scenes back biting helps keep this production on a bumpy road.

As he championed "the new journalism" in the late sixties, Tom Wolfe suggested no one ever would write anything truly compelling"”fact or fiction"”about the suburbs; he asserted, "There is no life there." During the New Depression, however, the suburbs have gone ghetto, suddenly teeming with life and depravity; and television writers are producing all kinds of compelling stuff about what they have discovered beyond the white picket fences. Witness Showtime's smash-hit "Weeds," the life and times of a "proper" suburban widow keeping-up appearances while she deals more dope than a six-pack of Mexican cartels. As in "The Office," the basic premise for "Weeds" is an import from Great Britain, adapted from the British film Saving Grace which showed a widow and her gardener conspiring to maintain the widow's lifestyle by supplying the locals with their favorite herbal refreshment. Critics frequently compare "Weeds" with American Beauty for its exploitation of the idea "Normal is the face we wear to cover how f***ed-up we are." By contrast with "Desperate Housewives," Nancy Botwin, our entrepreneurial heroine, has far more good reason for desperation than her difficulty achieving orgasm; she has a house, a mortgage, two sons, and a reputation. Since Bonfire of the Vanities tanked and "Weeds" flourished, Tom Wolfe may have to consider the distinct possibility that there is no life in Manhattan.

Owen Wilson stars as a washed-up ex-golf pro who bets everything on a teenage prodigy in Apple TV+'s warmhearted sports comedy. Streaming on Apple TV+.

Follow romance, rivalry and high-stakes drama in Port Charles on ABC's landmark daytime soap General Hospital, airing weekdays.

"A Black Lady Sketch Show" is a television series that debuted on HBO in August 2019. The show is an all-black women's sketch comedy show that features a variety of hilarious and satirical sketches that aim to challenge societal norms and stereotypes. Each episode is comprised of several sketches that range from absurd and silly to biting and thought-provoking.

The Bear is a comedy-drama television series that premiered on Hulu in June 2022. Created by Christopher Storer, the show stars Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Abby Elliott. The first season of the show received critical acclaim for its direction and performances of the cast, leading to nominations for several awards, including Best Comedy Series at the Critics' Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards.