Category: TV

Luke Hemsworth did not see HBO’s cancellation of Westworld coming, but is taking a philosophical approach to the fate of the dystopian sci-fi series.

Speaking to ET, at the premiere of his brother Chris Hemsworth’s new Disney+ series Limitless, he said: “You hope these things go forever, but everyone’s got their own reasons. “I’m very thankful for my part in that series and that journey was a big part of my life, but it was disappointing.”

Adding to that disappointment, Hemsworth received the news on his 42^nd birthday. “I was like, ‘F**k! Dammit!’,”he said.

Hemsworth played Ashley Stubbs, head of the security force at the Westworld parks, for all four seasons, starring opposite the likes of Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright and Ed Harris.

HBO scrapped the show earlier this month following the conclusion of the fourth season in August.

“The idea right from the start was to go full circle and come back to be about loops, to be about human beings and robots being stuck in that trajectory,” he said. “Unfortunately, we get cut off, but it’s the nature of the world. You can’t get depressed about it. You move on and it opens up new doors.”

Bad Robot’s Westworld, from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, was an adaptation of the 1973 Michael Crichton film. During its run, it scored nine Primetime Emmy wins and 54 noms. It follows a world in which the rich frequent giant themed amusement parks populated by android ‘hosts’ they can kill and have sex with without repercussions. The robots later become aware of their situation and break out of the parks before blending into the real world and causing havoc as they go.

As the January 6 Committee continues to interview people before it wraps its investigation at the end of the year, one person whose testimony it has long sought says he will not cooperate.

“Do you intend to ever sit and answer questions – written, in person – for the January 6th Committee?” CBS News’ Margaret Brennan asked Mike Pence in a new interview as the former Vice President makes the rounds promoting a new book.

Pence was, at first, evasive.

“I shared my heart and I shared my story in this book,” Pence told Brennan. “We’ll continue to speak openly about it, I expect to some degree for the rest of my life. But from the time that January 6th was formed, and every member was appointed by the Democrat Speaker of the House, I was concerned.”

In fact, Democrats rejected two of the five lawmakers offered by Republican leadership. That created a standoff as GOP leadership then refused to participate. There are, of course, two Republicans on the panel: Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

“I served for 12 years in the Congress,” Pence continued. “It’s inconceivable to me that one party would appoint every member of a committee in Congress. That’s antithetical to the whole idea of the committee system. That being said, I never stood in the way of senior members of my team cooperating with the committee and testifying.”

The former VP then answered more directly.

“Congress has no right to my testimony. We have a separation of powers under the Constitution of the United States and I believe it would establish a terrible precedent for the Congress to summon a vice president of the United States to speak about deliberations that took place at the White House.”

Brennan pressed for a definitive answer. “So you’re closing the door on that entirely?”

Pence responded, “I’m closing the door on that, but I must say again the partisan nature of the January 6th committee has been a disappointment to me.”

On thing that did not disappoint him was the Trump Administration’s record. Asked if he thinks there is danger in another Trump presidency Pence replied, “I’ll always be proud of the record of the administration.”

The first excerpts of Brennan’s Face the Nation interview with Pence will air today on CBS News Streaming’s Red & Blue at 5 PM, ET and on tonight’s CBS Evening News at 6:30 p.m. ET. The full interview will air Sunday on Face the Nation.

Dan Lembo, who competed on the 21st season of Survivor in 2010, has died. Lembo’s passing at age 75 occurred on September 3 at his home in Manhattan; a cause of death has not been provided. 

Lembo was 63 when he appeared on Survivor: Nicaragua. Well-liked by fellow participants, he endured until the final five, being voted out on Day 37.

After being eliminated, he told People, “I didn’t play Survivor for money. I wanted the adventure. I’m the type of guy who sees a challenge and thinks, ‘I could do that.’ So I wanted to be part of this crazy game — and I did pretty well, I’d say! I made it really far.”

On his show profile, Lembo’s claim to fame was “raising two sons and my career” while his reason for being on Survivor was “my ego (and for fun).”

According to his obituary, Daniel Louis Lembo was born in Brooklyn on  November 7, 1946. He attended New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst and continued his education at Brooklyn College, graduating in 1969. He went on to be a real estate executive. 

He is described by his loved ones as “a charismatic, larger-than-life, outgoing bon vivant” who “loved nothing more than spending time with his children and friends – new and old. On weekends he enjoyed softball in Bridgehampton with friends. Daniel will be remembered as a friend to all and a father to two.”

Lembo is survived by his sons, Matthew and Michael, their spouses, five grandchildren and former wife Barbara.

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, Topic Studios has secured the rights to Amanda Montell’s book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism for adaptation as a television docuseries.

Published by Harper Wave in June of 2021, Montell’s second book, following Wordslut, dissects how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. 

The docuseries will be a powerful and timely deep dive into how cults maintain their power, per producers. According to Montell, whose own father escaped from a cult as a teenager, “we’ve been thinking about cults in completely the wrong way. While there have long been dark, dangerous cults (such as the Manson Family), fanatical groups actually fall along a spectrum, from Heaven’s Gate all the way to SoulCycle and Taylor Swift stans. Using an incisive, compelling and often funny tone, Cultish will unpack what cult influence looks, sounds, and feels like, and how it imbues our everyday lives.”

The project will be shepherded by Topic Studios’ VP of Nonfiction, Christine Connor. Carly Hugo and Matt Parker of Loveless brought the project to Topic Studios. Connor and Michael Bloom are executive producing for Topic Studios, along with Hugo and Parker.

Cultish was named a best book of 2021 by NPR, and was a Goodreads Choice Awards top 5 finalist.

“We’re thrilled to be working both with Amanda, whose wit and insight is exactly what this fascinating subject matter needs, and also with Loveless, whose creativity is matched only by their smarts and ingenuity,” said Connor.

“I learned from my dad to notice ‘cultish’ influence all over the zeitgeist,” said Montell. “In my book I wrote about the language, but that’s only one piece of the puzzle. I can’t wait to explore other ingredients in the cultish recipe, how they show up in our everyday lives, but also how they might help me understand my own family story. It’s going to be a fun, enlightening ride that leaves everyone convinced they’re in a ‘cult’ of some kind,” said Montell.

Topic Studios also is behind Chris Smith’s Emmy-winning surfing series 100 Foot Wave, which has been renewed for a second season on HBO; three-part series Nuclear Family from Ry Russo-Young, also from HBO; Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry’s Attica on Showtime and Lizzie Gottlieb’s Turn Every Page, about literary legends Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, recently acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and in theaters December 30.

French director Julia Ducournau is at the Marrakech International Film Festival this week where she will talk about her career and work to date in an In Conversation event on Tuesday.

The Morocco trip comes close to a year after a momentous 2021 for the filmmaker in which she won the Cannes Palme d’Or for her genre and gender-bending second film Titane, becoming only the second woman to do so after Jane Campion in the history of the festival.

The feature went on to enjoy a buzzy career in the international film festival circuit, receiving an enthusiastic reception at the New York Film and London film festivals among others, and made a strong showing at the speciality box office in the U.S. for Neon. It was also selected as France’s entry to the best international film but did not make it onto the shortlists. 

Having spent this summer filming two episodes of the Apple TV+ series The New Look, starring Ben Mendelsohn as Christian Dior and Juliette Binoche as Coco Chanel, she is now gearing up to participate in France’s Villa Albertine artist residency program in New York.

Deadline caught up with the director in the gardens of Marrakech’s Mamounia Hotel ahead of her In Conversation talk. 

DEADLINE: How have you been decompressing after your eventful 2021?

JULIA DUCOURNAU: I was shooting a TV show the whole summer that’s not mine, The New Look for Apple. I directed two episodes. It meant I was on set which is great. I do this because I am writing right now, but if you just write and you never set foot on a set for three, or four years, that’s horrendous. So it’s good to hop on a project like that. Now I am back to writing.

DEADLINE: How is it directing other people’s material? 

DUCOURNAU: I’ve done it on other things, such as M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant. Directing is also a way of telling a story and it’s not that different from writing, it’s just you have other tools. As long as I relate and the characters talk to me and I believe I can film them with love, I can do it.

DEADLINE: What drew you to The New Look?

DUCOURNAU: Many things. it is created by Todd A. Kessler. He played a bit part. He is very convincing and a very sensitive person, which I appreciate. The two leads are two actors I wanted to work with, Juliette Binoche and Ben Mendelsohn. I was really fucking happy about that. It was awesome. When you have actors like this, you feel like you’ve struck gold. I’m not saying it’s easy but they allow themselves to go far, to take risks. 

DEADLINE: The series is very different from your genre-led works Raw and Titane?

DUCOURNAU: I don’t need genre or horror to be involved in order for me to relate to a story or a character and to have ideas to portray these emotions. It’s just characters, whether there is genre or not.

DEADLINE: I read that you’re doing a residency in the U.S. with the French Villa Albertine program, what does that involve?

DUCOURNAU: In 2023, I’ll go to SXSW and then afterwards I’m going to New York for three months for the residency

DEADLINE: The blurb on the Villa Albertine website says that you will be investigating the world of skin surgery at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A, and meeting with tattoo artists from the NY Empire State Tattoo Expo. Is that still correct?

DUCOURNAU: No, it’s a hospital in New York. The most famous one.

DEADLINE: Can you give a bit more detail? 

DUCOURNAU: I can’t talk about it [laughs]. The profile is misleading on purpose. I’m kind of mischievous about this sort of thing. I don’t know if you remember before Cannes, Titane had been finished for quite a few months, but the synopsis I gave to Cannes was the definition of what titanium is. I’m a pain in the arse for that. I never say anything

DEADLINE: Will the residency result in a piece of work?

DUCOURNAU: No. Villa Albertine is a writing residency like Villa Medici in Rome, which I did for Raw. They have various residencies across the U.S. and I chose New York. Basically, it’s for research. I’ll go there [to the hospital], I’ll meet people and I’ll write. I won’t only be spending time at the hospital. There are various other environments I have to explore but it doesn’t mean it [the next film] will take place in New York. 

DEADLINE: Going back to Titane, the film was snubbed in France’s César awards earlier this year, after it failed to be nominated in the best film category. It was the first time a French Palme d’Or has not made it into category in the history of the prizes. How did you feel about that?

DUCOURNAU: I didn’t expect anything, which is great because I didn’t want to go up and make a speech on the stage, which is very frightening. Why wasn’t I surprised? Because I know the sorts of films that are normally awarded and Titane didn’t fit the mould at all.

I assumed that for people who didn’t like my film in the first place, the Palme d’Or must have made them irate. I don’t know, it’s just not something that is surprising to me as a French person. I have a bigger fan base in the U.S., for example, which is amazing. 

It’s just cultural.  I know my country and its cultural likes and dislikes. The first thing, as you know, is that genre is not very developed in France.

DEADLINE: On that basis, do you think you’ll eventually move into English-language feature filmmaking? Is that an ambition?

DUCOURNAU: It’s not really an ambition as far as career is concerned. It’s really that I feel easy writing in English. it comes very easily to me. There is more action in the English language. It’s more straightforward, it’s a very visual language, which works very well with screenwriting. But with my next project, I don’t know yet. It could go one way or the other but I will definitely at one point write something in English.

DEADLINE: But it feels like you feel comfortable in the U.S. and like spending time there.

DUCOURNAU: Yeah, I have a great team with Neon, honestly. I really like them but again there is a thing for genre, which is so much more rooted in the culture than in France. People ask me less to explain myself, in terms of what I’m doing and why I am doing something in a certain way. That’s nice. 

DEADLINE: At the time of Titane’s release in 2021, you talked a lot about the mental and emotional pain you went through to write the screenplay after your 2016 feature debut Raw. Do you think your next film is going to be as tough to get down on the page?

DUCOURNAU: It’s not easier and I’m not sure the Palme d’Or is helping, you know [laughs]. It’s a massive event. You try to detach yourself from it, you have to detach yourself from it, you have to, otherwise, you don’t do anything. It [writing] will always be agony for sure. 

It’s really funny because I was talking with a lot of directors here and I think it’s always the case but some people genuinely dislike it. I find pleasure in this discomfort. I think I have a very masochistic approach to writing. The harder it is, the more pleasurable it is, because you feel you’re really, really going fucking deep in yourself. 

DEADLINE: You’ve just directed episodes of The New Look. Did you get a rush of other offers after winning the Palme d’Or for Titane?

DUCOURNAU: Yes, it was already a bit the case with Raw, but to a larger extent. I have a very good agent in France, Valéry Guibal from Film Talents. He filters a lot and prevents me from being overwhelmed. I set my own priorities and my priority now is my next film.

DEADLINE: Do you have a U.S. agent? 

DUCOURNAU: For now, no. I think it will come naturally when I have an English-speaking project. Then it would be normal to have an L.A.-based agent.

Yellowstone, no surprise, was a welcome sight for those who missed the Duttons. Sunday’s fifth-season premiere on Paramount Network posted double-digit gains in all demos, particularly among young adults, according to Nielsen results.

The episode that depicted John Dutton (Kevin Costner) being sworn in as governor was up 52% in adults 18-34 (2.53 Live+Same Day vs. 1.67) compared with the Season 4 premiere, and up 22% in adults 18-49 (3.96 L+SD vs. 3.26). It was also up 13% in adults 25-54 (5.48 L+SD vs. 4.85) and 10% in total viewers (8.8 million vs. 8 million).

The episode was also simulcast over CMT, TV Land and Pop on premiere night. As a result, more than 12 million viewers tuned in across all the platforms. There were double-digit gains in all the key adult demos, as well.

The episode kicked off with a reluctant Dutton taking on a new role in government — something he and his daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) aren’t relishing. “They are both incredibly reluctant to be there,” Reilly told Deadline. “I don’t think either one of them have any interest in this world. However, and it is a big one, Beth understands, as does John, that this is necessary in order to shut down the building of the airport. And the only way that they can enforce real change is for him to become governor. To see John and Beth in this position of power, perhaps squirming in it, it’s not how they play. They’re dirty in the way they do their dealings in business and now they’re having to toe the line a little bit and do things properly. It’s quite fun to see Beth not quite able to manage that.”

From MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, Yellowstone is from Taylor Sheridan (Wind River, Hell or High Water and Sicario) and John Linson. Executive producers include Linson, Art Linson, Sheridan, Costner, David C. Glasser, Bob Yari and Stephen Kay.

EXCLUSIVE: YouTuber and Strictly Come Dancing finalist Joe Sugg is among the talent signed up to appear at the TellyCast Digital Content Forum in London later this month.

Online UK star Sugg recently launched Final Straw Productions and has branched out into acting, after finding fame online, where his YouTube channels have nearly 13 million subscribers. He appeared in the 2018 season of BBC One’s Saturday night show Strictly and is headed to the UK event, which takes place on November 30.

He’ll be appearing alongside execs from Meta, Snap, Channel 4, ITVX and BBC Studios, plus new UTA EMEA brand clients exec Samantha Glynne, whose move from Fremantle Deadline recently revealed, and the manager of social media stars The Sidemen at the event, which takes place at BFI Southbank, home of the London Film Festival. The conference focuses on digital-first content and is being held for the first time by well-known industry PR Justin Crosby of Boom Dialogue.

BBC Studios has signed up as lead sponsor and several of its execs will be appearing, including Head of Digital Development Chris Allen and Vice President of Digital Programming Athena Witter, and BBC Studios Productions Head of Branded Entertainment Kate Norum and Director, Digital and Business Development Helen Pendlebury. BBC Head of History Richard Seatter is also appearing.

Along with several sessions across the day, the event will give delegates the opportunity to network with producers, networks, platforms, brands, media agencies, industry bodies and media. Session topics include focuses on social publishers, platforms, building IP through podcasts, brand-funded social content and AVoD originals.

Deadline is an event partner, along with Pact, Edinburgh TV Festival Quintus Studios, After Party Studios, metaverse platform MContent and post production specialist Racoon. 

Also notably appearing are Creatorville and Barcroft Studios founder Sam Barcroft, Channel 4’s Laura Marks and Tom Pullen, Meta Strategic Media Partnerships exec Dan Biddle, Pinterest original content exec Ash Greenwood, Snap Head of UK Partnerships Lucy Luke, ITVX Managing Editor Craig Morris, Wall of Entertainment Managing Director Taf Makopa, former YouTube EMEA commissioner Luke Hyams and Future Studios Chief Creative Officer John Farrar.

“The digital content sector is a hotbed of innovation and creativity and we’re delighted to be creating TellyCast Digital Content Forum sponsored by BBC Studios as a platform for companies across the industry to gather, share and discover the new opportunities in this burgeoning sector,” said TellyCast host and event producer Crosby.

John Madden, the ex-coach and broadcaster who became synonymous with Thanksgiving thanks to his turkey leg awards to star players, will be honored by the NFL this year with several commemorative features.

With his telestrator and his penchant for yelling “Boom!” after a big play, Madden was as much a part of the Thanksgiving holiday as a family gathering.

Madden died at age 85 last year, and the National Football League is going to reflect on his lasting contributions with the “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration.” The league hopes for the event to mark the start of another holiday tradition, offering special Madden segments on the day’s broadcasts by CBS, Fox, and NBC.

Madden was more than a broadcaster. He was also a Pro Football Hall of Fame member as the former coach of the Oakland Raiders. From there, he moved to broadcasting, where his exuberant style made every game interesting. He soon became a popular pitchman in various ads, and lent his name to the hugely successful Madden NFL video game franchise.

“No one cared more or contributed more to our game than John Madden,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Honoring his memory and impact on the NFL is important and Thanksgiving Day brings all of the elements significant to John to life — family, football, food and fun.”

Madden will be featured in a video discussing Thanksgiving and the holiday’s relationship to football as the lead-in to the three games that day: Buffalo at Detroit on CBS, the Giants at Dallas on Fox, and New England at Minnesota on NBC. Madden worked for all three networks, including 20 games on Thanksgiving.

The tradition of a turkey leg given to the big game’s stars began in 1989 with a lone leg awarded. The next year, Madden gave legs to Dallas Cowboys stars Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman, and said that he wished he had more for the offensive linemen. A barbecue owner in Texas heard that and created an artificial six-legged turkey.

For this year’s games, the “Madden Player of the Game” will have a $10,000 donation made in their name by the NFL Foundation to the youth or high school football program of their choice.

There will also be “John Madden Thanksgiving” logos on the 25-yard lines and a sticker on the back of each helmet featuring an image of Madden with his fist up in the air.

Back from a commercial break, Dave Chappelle returned to the Saturday Night Live stage to address the audience and asked if they were watching House of the Dragon before introducing a spoof sneak peek of the HBO series – with some help from some of his Chappelle’s Show characters.

“I am the biggest Game of Thrones fan, I love the new show,” he said. “And I gotta tell you, I love that they are including Black characters but, to be honest, the Black characters — they take me out a little bit with the old time accents, it’s a little jarring like where are these people from.”

Chappelle then says that Lorne Michaels got a hold of an exclusive sneak peek of Season 2 of the show and introduced a previously recorded sketch.

Chappelle’s Show regulars Silky Johnson, Tyrone Biggums and Rick James all showed up alongside original cast member Donnell Rawlings.

Chloe Fineman played Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Michael Longfellow played Prince Daemon Targaryen. Kenan Thompson was introduced as Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, and when asked where he came from he jokingly said, “The Matrix.”

When Daemon presumes that Corlys has been at sea for a long time he says, “Of course, this is where my people are most comfortable — the ocean. We especially love being on ships, don’t have any concerns with ships or what might happen to us on ships.”

King Viserys Targaryen, played by James Austin Johnson, then makes an appearance saying that his leprosy infection was “nothing, just a little cough, my skin melted and my eye fell.”

Lord Corlys Velaryon then introduces “new allies” with Chappelle playing one of the characters and quickly spotting King Viserys’ condition. He then spots his cousin, who is played by Ice-T, who has a guest spot. Chappelle’s character tells Ice-T’s that he looks like E.T. when they dressed him up for Halloween.

More “allies” started appearing with Chappelle showing his range and playing the different characters showing up.

Watch the House of the Dragon spoof in the video above.

A celebrity-studded crowd gathered in the Atlanta Hawks home arena Friday to remember slain rapper Takeoff, a member of the hip-hop trio Migos.

Takeoff, born Kirsnick Khari Ball, was shot and killed earlier this month outside a Houston bowling alley.

The surviving members of Migos, Takeoff uncle Quavo and cousin Offset, were part of a crowd that included Justin Bieber, Cardi B, Yolanda Adams, CeeLo Green, and Teyana Taylor.

Drake delivered a eulogy comparing himself and Migos to the Rat Pack. Bieber (who did an acoustic version of his song “Ghost”) and Chloe Bailey had musical performances in Takeoff’s memory.

A social media clip of Drake’s eulogy saw him hail Takeoff as “Forever balanced. Whenever he would take his shades off, he had this thing about him that I loved – no matter what was going on around us he was, like, always kinda squinting, but like his eyes were wide open.”

Video of Quavo’s eulogy has circulated on social media. He said Takeoff had “been by my side, looking up at me with them eyes, same eyes you got as you got as my sister, waiting on me to make the next move, then you followed up right behind me. You always made sure I did it first so you could do it right with me.”

Quavo, just three years Takeoff’s senior, continued, “You never competed with me. We was always on the same team, ‘cause you hated playing against me ‘cause I always played too hard or too rough. And I could hear Momma saying: “Not too rough, son,” ‘cause I ain’t like to lose.”

Offset memorialized his cousin, whom he credited with having “changed the culture of music forever.” He was frequently overcome with emotion.

Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas, whose record label launched Migos, also gave speeches, as did Takeoff’s mother and siblings. 

According to local Houston, Texas news reports, Takeoff was at the 810 Billiards & Bowling establishment with his Quavo when the shooting started around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police initially confirmed only that the two musicians were among the more than 40 people at the entertainment hall, and that one man had suffered a gunshot wound to the head or neck.

Houston police later confirmed that Takeoff had died at the scene. Two other people suffered apparently non-life-threatening injuries; Quavo was not injured.

Houston’s KTRK described the event as a private party with about 40 to 50 people in attendance was being held until 1 a.m., but that the party carried over until about 2 a.m.

Migos launched its career in in 2008 when the three rappers from Lawrenceville, Georgia — in addition to Takeoff and Quavo, the group included cousin Kiari Kendrell Cephus, who goes by the stage name Offset.

The trio released the single “Versace” in 2013, taken from their mixtape Y.R.N., and followed up with singles “Fight Night” (2014) and “Look at My Dab” (2015). They reached their widest success with four Billboard Hot 100 top 10 entries “Bad and Boujee” featuring Lil Uzi Vert (2016), “MotorSport” with Nicki Minaj and Cardi B (2017), “Stir Fry” (2018) and “Walk It Talk It” featuring Drake (2018).

The trio released its debut album Yung Rich Nation in 2015.

In 2016, the group made an appearance as a fictionalized version of itself in the first-season episode “Go For Broke” of the TV series Atlanta. Several albums followed, though most recently group member Offset had been performing solo material.

The White House was said to be “giddy and gleeful” in the wake of Election Night’s surprisingly strong showing by Democrats. But the administration has nothing on the mood of Bill Maher, as exhibited on Friday’s Real Time.

A week after a downbeat Maher was ready to throw shovels of dirt on America while anticipating its demise at Republican hands, the comedian returned in a jubliant mood. “I haven’t had a text from Joe Biden in three days,” he said in his warmup. “I feel like he’s ghosted me.”

Maher seemed amazed at the turn in fortunes, noting that Pennsylvania may have been the biggest surprise. That’s the state where the polished Dr. Mehmet Oz “lost to a guy who dresses like the airline lost his luggage.”

Noting that ex-President Donald Trump is suffering a backlash, with many now touting the 2024 prospects of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Maher jabbed, “Trump finally knows what it’s like to be traded in for a younger model.”

The talk turned serious with Maher’s first guest, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who comfortably won a second term on Tuesday. Pointing out Polis’s successes with handling the pandemic and other issues, Maher tried to subtly steer Polis into an admission that he’s thinking of running for president in 2024. The veteran politician wouldn’t fall into the trap, saying he’s happy with the job he has.

The panel discussion brought together chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News and coauthor of Peril, Robert Costa, and Democratic Congressman representing California’s 17th district and author of Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work For All Of Us,” Ro Khanna.

Maher admitted his relief at the top. “The election was like a colonostomy. I was expecting it to be unbearable, and it really wasn’t that bad.”

The panelists were eager to speculate on why that happened. Khanna claimed the closer results were because “it was not like Republicans had a great plan for inflation.”

Costa claimed former President Donald Trump was in “self-destruct mode” at the results. Maher wouldn’t bite, nothing he’s seen a lot of horror movies. “I’ve seen Jason come back from the grave too many times.”

Both panelists refused to concede that DeSantis was impressive with his huge Florida victory. Maher tried to reason with them. “The reason why I think DeSantis is strong – he can do the performance art to the base – but he can be a normal governor.”

Khanna wasn’t buying it. “What he did with Disney was dangerous.” He added that any Republican plans to go after the Biden family or otherwise pay back the Democrats for their persecution of Trump on Russia or Jan. 6th would be wrong. “What people want is for folks to solve their problems.”

Maher tried to get his panelists to admit that most voters saw Biden as a “temp” office holder, a sheriff who came into town and got rid of Black Bart (i.e., Trump), and now should ride into the sunset.

The panelists refused to hear it. “He’s (Biden) doing it out of real patriotism.” Costa insisted that Biden would have “a clear path” if he decided to run again in 2024, something Maher scoffed at.

In his “New Rules” editorial, Maher wondered why we know so much about Donald Trump’s love life in his pre-presidential days, but nothing since, despite the hundreds of tell-all books that have emerged.

Dismissing Trump’s wife, Melania, Maher wondered out loud that we know so much about his issues, down to the shape of his penis. Yet no word on infidelity.

Could it be that he’s unable to perform, Maher asked?

I feel for you if that’s the case, Maher said. But he noted, “I know you’re thinking about running again. No one wants a limp dick in the White House.”

New episodes of Behind the Music featuring Jennifer Lopez, Boy George, Jason Aldean and Remy Ma are coming to Paramount+.

The new installments of the documentary series will hit the streamer on November 29. Additionally, even remastered episodes spotlighting Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, Gloria Estefan, Hootie & the Blowfish, Mötley Crüe, Pink and TLC will drop the same day.

A trailer released Friday gives a glimpse into what can be expected from each of the four new episodes — including Aldean opening up about the shooting during his set at the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017.

Here are the loglines for the new episodes:

For 14 seasons, Behind the Music has provided an intimate look into the personal lives of pop music’s greatest and most influential artists. Since moving to Paramount+, the series has gone behind the scenes into the lives of stars like Bret Michaels, Busta Rhymes, Duran Duran, Fat Joe, Huey Lewis, LL Cool J, New Kids on the Block and Ricky Martin.

The series is executive produced by Bruce Gillmer, Jennifer Demme and Michael Maniaci for MTV Entertainment Studios. Mark Ford and Alex Castino executive produce for Creature Films, alongside Tara Long for Entertainment One.