Free Republic

Fawlty Towers actress Prunella Scales has died aged 93, her family have confirmed. Scales was best known for playing hotel manager Sybil Fawlty, the long-suffering and domineering wife of Basil - played by John Cleese - in the classic British sitcom. The actress died "peacefully at home in London yesterday", her sons Samuel and Joseph said. They added that she was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died. Cleese paid tribute, describing Scales as "a really wonderful comic actress". He said: "Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect."

The Free Press cofounder is reportedly trying to lure some big names in TV news, as more changes are expected in the CBS newsroom Bret Baier. Anderson Cooper. Scott Jennings. Some of the most prominent — and loudest — voices in TV news are apparently on Bari Weiss’ radar as the Free Press founder tries to make her mark in her first month as CBS News’ editor in chief. As Weiss navigates her first month at CBS News, she’s reportedly considered various household names to revamp some of CBS News’ programming. The talent would ostensibly help Weiss fulfill her mission...

Cue the Sinatra music!On Monday, MSNBC’s parent company Versant — the name of the company consisting of seven cable news channels Comcast no longer wanted to be tied down to — decreed the much-lampooned name-change for the far-left hot take factory to MS NOW would commence on Saturday, November 15, bringing to an end the network that launched on July 15, 1996.Along with the tacky name and cheap-looking logo of a waving flag with two stripes set on a blue or white background, Versant said the marketing campaign behind MS Now would be “Same Mission. New Name.” How exciting.A press...

Spencer Tracy was in relationships with Anna Kashfi (1956), Gene Tierney (1952), Hedy Lamarr (1941 - 1942), Ingrid Bergman (1941), Paulette Goddard (1940), Katharine Hepburn (1940 - 1967), Judy Garland (1939), Joan Crawford (1938), Myrna Loy (1935 - 1936), Loretta Young (1933 - 1934), Pat Paterson (1933), Claire Luce (1930), Joan Bennett (1930), Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland.

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is reportedly keen on poaching conservative commentator Scott Jennings from CNN. The two met at the Tiffany Network’s New York headquarters last week, according to the news site Semafor. The new CBS News boss’ reported overture to Jennings comes during a time of flux at the network. Newly hired CBS News boss Bari Weiss is reportedly keen on poaching conservative commentator Scott Jennings from CNN. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The Post reported on Monday that John Dickerson, co-anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” is leaving the network at the end of the year....

Trump-hating author Stephen King clearly lives in the world of fiction because he proved on Sunday that he cannot distinguish between satire and reality. King and some of his fellow leftists thought they saw an opportunity to dunk on President Trump for a post he allegedly wrote about the World Series match-up between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Here is what Trump supposedly wrote, which had TDS clowns up in arms. No matter who wins, I will refuse to invite either baseball team to my ballroom as they are both run by highly inept officials from...

I don't exactly know where to start with this, so let's dive straight into the headline: This new musical in New York City imagines Holocaust victim Anne Frank as every intersecting woke category under the sun. But here's the catch: It's mocking "wokeness." The production, titled 'Slam Frank,' is a satirical play that exaggerates current cultural trends around inclusivity and identity politics, applying them to one of history's most tragic stories to critique how performative 'wokeness' can distort storytelling. So many recent TV shows, games, and films have flopped because they started preaching to the audience about climate change, capitalism,...

NFL fans became fed up with the Eagles’ “push tush” play on Sunday after Philly QB Jalen Hurts made a fumble that ended up not being ruled a fumble. The Eagles unleashed the play on 4th-and-1 to push Hurts just far enough ahead to gain a first down, but as he surged forward, he lost control of the ball, and it appeared that the New York Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux stripped it from Hurts’ possession. Naturally, the Giants thought they had won control of the ball. Watch: VIDEO AT LINK............ Of course, the refs disagreed. They ruled that Hurts’ forward progress...

Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau took their romance public Saturday night ... the lovebirds went out on a date in Paris, France, to celebrate Katy's 41st birthday. For their first official outing, Katy and Justin took in a cabaret show at the Crazy Horse Paris, where the paparazzi waited in anticipation for them out front. TMZ obtained exclusive video of what happened next ... After the show, the couple walked out of the theater hand-in-hand, and a fan gave Katy a rose and wished her happy birthday. The two then walked to a waiting vehicle as the shutterbugs snapped photos...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - June Lockhart, who became a mother figure for a generation of television viewers whether at home in "Lassie" or up in the stratosphere in "Lost in Space," has died. She was 100. Lockhart died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Santa Monica, family spokesman Lyle Gregory, a friend of 40 years, said Saturday. "She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times everyday," he said. "It was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day." The daughter of prolific character actor...

Many people ease into Halloween by watching a scary movie or two. They might be classicists and opt for Universal horror like James Whale's Frankenstein films or Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula. Gentle souls might opt for a haunted romance like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, while cineastes will choose Kubrick's The Shining or William Friedkin's The Exorcist. Millennials who think they invented irony will go straight to the Scream franchise or horror comedies like Zombieland or Shaun of the Dead. I want to take you to hell. More specifically a Japanese hell, as imagined in Nobuo Nakagawa's cult classic Jigoku,...

June Lockhart, a popular actress of the 1950s and ’60s known for her roles in “Lost In Space,” “Lassie” and “Meet Me in St. Louis,” died of natural causes on Oct. 23 in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 100. Lockhart became known for her performances as Timmy’s foster mother, Ruth Martin, on the CBS series “Lassie” from 1958 to 1964. She took over from Cloris Leachman as the Martin family moved on to the famous collie’s farm and became foster parents to both the orphaned Timmy and Lassie. She then starred as Dr. Maureen Robinson on the CBS series “Lost...

The Hollywood writer’s union is raising the alarm over the possible merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance, saying that such a merger would be a “disaster,” but President Donald Trump says he is all for the plan. On Thursday, the Writers Guild of America put out a statement warning about the proposed merger, according to The Wrap. “Merger after merger in the media industry has harmed workers, diminished competition and free speech, and wasted hundreds of billions of dollars better invested in organic growth. Combining Warner Bros. with Paramount or another major studio or streamer would be a...

According to the Washington Post, “horror is now the fastest-rising film genre, having doubled its market share from 4.87 percent in 2013 to 10.08 percent in 2023.” ...One reason there have been so many new horror releases is that horror films have a huge profit margin. That is, they’re cheap to make and, currently, result in large payouts. “Because it can be made with no stars, small budgets and limited special effects, the genre is built for success,” writes the Washington Post. ...Horror is a genre that people want to view in theaters. In the age of streaming, cinema has...

Veteran CNN broadcaster Christiane Amanpour has revealed that she has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer for the third time. Amanpour, 67, revealed her diagnosis on the Changing the Ovarian Cancer Story podcast on Thursday, but said it is 'being very well managed'. 'I obviously had all of the relevant organs removed, but it came back a couple times in a lymph node,' she told host Hannah Vaughan Jones. Amanpour's oncologist explained that she has a rare type of ovarian cancer that makes up less than 10 per cent of cases. 'Most women, by the time they get a diagnosis, might...

The new editor-in-chief of CBS News wants Fox News anchor Bret Baier to helm the channel's flagship evening news program, network sources have revealed. Bari Weiss floated The Special Report star's name along with several others during high-level talks meant to find a fresh face for the broadcaster after Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson stepped in for Norah O'Donnell in January, insiders told Status. Ratings for CBS Evening News have dropped from 4.8 million to 4.1million since. Weiss, 41, has begun 'quietly canvassing' the industry as a result, sources said. The news comes after Weiss was minted as CBS News'...

In another big and bold move from the new Paramount regime following the Skydance merger, the studio is in final negotiations to board Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, with Johnny Depp set to star and Ti West on board to direct. Andrea Riseborough has also signed on, with the studio dating the film for November 13, 2026. Nathaniel Halpern penned the script with Emma Watts producing. The classic Charles Dickens story has seen its fair share of retellings over the years with its tale of an elderly miser visited by the ghost of his former business partner and the spirits of...

Fool's Ball, Week Eight Your home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

The Walt Disney company has suffered some of its worst popularity numbers since 2020, according to a new report on Internet search results. The results are seen in Google’s Trends analysis which calculates the number of times a topic is searched and compares this year’s trends to previous totals. When applied to major theme parks — of which Disney’s various attractions are a huge part — the numbers show that more than half of the Mouse House’s parks have seen a fall in popularity of Internet searches. The trends were highlighted by Forbes magazine, which noted that an Internet search...

Bryant Gumbel is currently hospitalized in NYC after some sort of "medical emergency" ... TMZ has learned. Sources with direct knowledge tell us, the former "Today" cohost was transported Monday, just after 9 PM, from his Manhattan apartment building. We're told first responders had Bryant on a gurney, as they left the building and took him to a nearby hospital where he remains as of Tuesday afternoon. It's unclear what happened to the 77-year-old broadcasting legend, but we know he is still getting treatment. We've reached out to his reps for comment ... so far, no word back. We spoke...