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Entertainment journalist running on fumes of dry shampoo and Coke Zero. Hater of pickles, olives and beets.
Articles by Whitney Friedlander
Audible’s ‘Dracula’ Goes for the Throat
From a bewitching Bela Lugosi traipsing through a Universal Studios soundstage with his trimmed tuxedo and taunting smirk, to a sinewy Cynthia Erivo skulking about a West End theater, fingernails spiked and teeth sparkling white, the titular villain of Bram Stoker’s Dracula has seen many iterations on screens and stages for more than a century.
Audible’s ‘Dracula’ Goes for the Throat
Christina Applegate reveals she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis: "Not happy at all" Christina Applegate announced Tuesday that she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis, more than five years after announcing she had been told she …
Can vampires be family-friendly? The creators of 'Eternally Yours' think so
Joe Wiseman, left, and Joe Port, the co-creators and executive producers of CBS' "Eternally Yours," at the Paramount lot last month.(Christina House / Los Angeles Times) It’s not a particularly egregious throat clearing. It’s not wet with phlegm from a bronchial infection; the kind that makes seatmates on the plane jump for the Purell. Nor is it loud and dry like that of a severely under-caffeinated customer who’s annoyed that the barista is holding up the line to chat with a regular.
Vampires can be funny, too: 5 TV shows that trade horror for camp and comedy
Vampires can be funny, too: 5 TV shows that trade horror for camp and comedy Thu, October 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. UTC Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. "Eternally Yours" isn't the first TV comedy to take a bite out of vampire lore. To be fair, a genre that's given us everything from brooding, sparkling emo kids who play baseball; a stake-wielding teen slayer who can't quit the bad boy; and eccentric sidekicks who feast on bugs is ripe with material for mockery.
From creating 'crack for girls' to superhero TV: The untold history of the CW, 20 years later
Boomers screamed for the Beatles on “Ed Sullivan.” Gen X wanted its MTV. Every generation has its touchstone moments of televised pop culture. For millennials, one such moment arrived in 2006 when the rival broadcast networks UPN and the WB united to launch a super network with programming geared toward audiences too old for Nickelodeon but not fully invested in what Mom or Dad were watching: The CW.
Bob Mackie, Renowned Fashion Designer to Cher, Tina Turner, Carol Burnett and More, Dies at 87 Original
Home TV News Sep 14, 2026 8:57am PT By Whitney Friedlander, Jazz Tangcay Getty Images Bob Mackie, the “Sultan of Sequins” known for creating flamboyant, show-stopping looks for divas like Cher and Diana Ross, died Monday. He was 87. “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Mr. Bob Mackie passed away today,” a statement on his Instagram read. “He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do.
How 'Abbott Elementary' pulled off the Phillies game episode
They say that every trip to watch a ballgame is a different experience: a chance to see stolen bases and home runs; antics from the bleachers that end up on kiss cams and dance cams; fly balls soaring into the stands; or your daily caloric intake from hot dogs and popcorn. This unpredictability can be thrilling for baseball fans. But it seems anxiety-inducing for anyone brave enough to try to use the space to film footage for an actual scripted TV show.
How 'Abbott Elementary' pulled off the Phillies game episode
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How ‘Abbott Elementary’ Pulled Off Its Big Phillies Game Episode Original
Home Artisans Focus Aug 22, 2026 10:05am PT Disney They say that every trip to watch a ballgame is a different experience: a chance to see stolen bases and home runs; antics from the bleachers that end up on kiss cams and dance cams; fly balls soaring into the stands; or your daily caloric intake from hot dogs and popcorn. This unpredictability can be thrilling for baseball fans.
How ‘Abbott Elementary’ Pulled Off Its Big Phillies Game Episode
They say that every trip to watch a ballgame is a different experience: a chance to see stolen bases and home runs; antics from the bleachers that end up on kiss cams and dance cams; fly balls soaring into the stands; or your daily caloric intake from hot dogs and popcorn. This unpredictability can be thrilling for baseball fans. But it seems anxiety-inducing for anyone brave enough to try to use the space to film footage for an actual scripted TV show.
How ‘Abbott Elementary’ Pulled Off Its Big Phillies Game Episode
1 hour ago From brands like Aerosoles, Steve Madden, and Madewell. My mother’s advice to figure out if something was a fleeting trend or a worthwhile investment was to wait two weeks. If you spent that entire time thinking about the item, it won’t end up collecting dust. If you forgot about it then, …
Viva Las Vegas! How TV is tossing out old cliches to show a new side of Sin City
It's bright. It's superficial. It's loud. It's hot. It's expensive. It's a 24-hour debauched party if you happen to be a young, pretty person. So many of the stereotypes people have about Los Angeles are shared with Las Vegas. And, ironically, those images exist largely because of the ways that Nevada's biggest city is portrayed in Hollywood movies and TV series. Kim Spurgeon, the director of filming commission Film Nevada, has come to expect it. "I take the line of all press is good press," she says.
How Mark Ruffalo’s ‘Task’ Monologue Became the Heart of the Emmy-Nominated HBO Drama Original
Home TV Focus Aug 6, 2026 11:35am PT HBO One of the unofficial rules of prestige television is that the penultimate episode is for the mess and the finale is for the cleanup. This is particularly true for limited series — or any series with ambiguous renewals. And “Task,” creator Brad Ingelsby’s Emmy-nominated HBO drama about the murky gray waters between avenging and forgiveness, followed both of those rules.
L.A.’s Most Exclusive Clubs Are Book Clubs
Whitney Friedlander is based in L.A. and writes about entertainment and culture. She wrote most recently for The Ankler about Hollywood’s panic over Gen Z TV. The Ankler started summer by asking 100 notables for reading recommendations — leading to a list as lively and varied as the big names who contributed. Ankler deputy editor Christopher Rosen continued our series with a brave confession: Like many American men, he hasn’t finished a book in decades.
Let’s All Learn From Odysseus’ Many, Many Questionable Choices
Never take the scenic route home. Warning: Spoilers ahead for the plot of The Odyssey. Gotta hand it to Odysseus — having a bunch of soldiers hide inside a giant horse to infiltrate Troy worked out beautifully. But as writer-director Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster The Odysseymakes a point of emphasizing, the legendary Greek general from Homer’s ancient epic (portrayed in the film by Matt Damon) also made a lot of extremely avoidable mistakes.
Racial and class diversity in TV and films can help children challenge biases, study finds
Television creatives and executives have pledged to increase racial diversity on and off screen for years. But whether it makes a difference in viewers' actual feelings and reactions toward race and class has long been a question. A new report, published Monday in the journal American Psychologist by the American Psychological Assn., indicates that it does.
Jessica Knoll's new sexy thriller proves why she is the queen of dark beach reads
Writer and author Jessica Knoll in New York on June 30, 2026. (Evelyn Freja / For The Times) Bestselling author Jessica Knoll's protagonists mostly follow a specific pattern: They are women who have learned Not. To. Flinch. And, apparently, neither does Knoll. Talking over Zoom about her fourth novel, the erotic thriller "Helpless," which is out this month, the author is blunt about the challenges it took to complete the book. "It takes a lot of skill to write good sex," Knoll says.
5 adult animation series that tackle serious subjects without missing a beat
If you want personal stories of survival, family trauma or just how to get over a breakup, look no further than adult animation. Even better: Sometimes these shows do all that and are still funny. We've rounded up some of this season's best examples in the genre.
Funny women in dark shows rule TV
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Walk on the Wild Side: Comedy Series Like ‘Matlock’ and ‘The ’Burbs’ Star Funny Women in Dark Situations Original
Home TV Features Jun 14, 2026 12:30pm PT Bill Inoshita/CBS; Elizabeth Morris/Peacock In BritBox’s “Riot Women,” they’re forming a rock band. In Peacock’s “The ’Burbs” and Netflix’s “How to Get to Heaven From Belfast,” they’re meddling in criminal investigations and uncovering dark secrets. In Netflix’s “The Hunting Wives,” they’re the ones causing crimes and trying to keep them hidden.
Emilia Clarke & Haley Lu Richardson's spy show is award-worthy
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Spies on the Rise: With Slick Performances From Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson, ‘Ponies’ Deserves Emmys Love Original
Home TV Awards Jun 14, 2026 10:15am PT Katalin Vermes/PEACOCK It’s hard out there for television’s fictional female spies. They’ve got to be just as smart, cunning and one-step ahead as their male counterparts. Plus, they usually must do it in heels. Sadly, the TV Academy has a hard time taking notice of this.
My Dad’s Annoying. I’m Annoying. How Do I Save My Daughter From Being Annoying?
A big swirling bucket of the latest rumors, celebrity news and Hollywood gossip. The premier celebrity gossip app. The only apps that gives you a comprehensive real time celeb news stream. Gossip Bucket aggregates and streams the latest gossip news and headlines from the top sources in one place.
My Dad’s Annoying. I’m Annoying. How Do I Save My Kid From Being Annoying?
Photo-Illustration: The Cut; Photos: Courtesy of Subject My father is the type of person who doesn’t understand why it’s rude to say that his daughter, a freelance journalist, doesn’t have a job. He pronounces my friend’s ex-husband’s name “Hubert” with a French accent even though he is aware that Hubert is not French and does not say his name that way.
What Does It Mean to Say You’re ‘Ugly’?
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Sabrina Weiss “I avoid the mirror,” Stephanie Fairyington, author of Ugly: A Letter to My Daughter, says when I tell her I have trouble leaving a public-restroom stall without first checking my appearance in a makeup compact. “I’m always amazed when I see women and they’re brushing their hair and looking at themselves directly in the mirror, putting on lipstick.
Can Megan Stalter Just Be Serious for a Second?
It’s a masterful marketing stunt that keeps her front-and-center of the zeitgeist but also lets her fanbase in on the joke. “My favorite kinds of comedy,” Stalter tells me, “is not knowing where the bit ends. I like to explore that and, like, to create experiences and feeling.” She adds: “If I'm on stage, I want, at times, people to be like, ‘Wait.
Megan Stalter Reveals Why She's Been Trolling Jacob Elordi
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Berriez top, skirt; custom Bb Simon belt; Courrèges shoes; Loren Stewart earrings. | Credit: Joelle Grace Taylor In the weeks leading up to, and then during the fifth and final season of Hacks, Meg Stalter has run her own kind of Kaufman-esque publicity tour for both the Emmy-winning show and her personal brand.
Rooster’s Danielle Deadwyler on Switching to Comedy: ‘It Feels Good to Swerve’ Original
Articles about Danielle Deadwyler tend to talk about her eyes; specifically her fascinating ability as an actor to train them at her subject or the camera and let the audience know that she’s giving the business without saying a single word. Ebony magazine even made a list of their favorite times the actress read people with her gaze.
Rooster’s Danielle Deadwyler on Switching to Comedy: ‘It Feels Good to Swerve’
5 hours ago Shoppers say they get “lots of compliments” when they wear it. Whenever a new award show hits, tons of discourse about the makeup and outfits that celebs wear fill my social media feed. I like to see what foundation they’re wearing, but I love to see what perfume they're wearing. While this is often …
Best Moments From the 2026 Oscars
Conan O’Brien hosts the 98th Oscars®. Trae Patton / The Academy The comedy-drama One Battle After Another may have taken home the top prize of the night, but the 2026 Oscars ceremony itself went off without much of a fight.
Why a father of five is telling Judy Blume's revealing life story
Judy Blume, pictured in 1985, remains America's doyenne of fiction for young readers. (Charles Knoblock / Associated Press) One of the biggest takeaways from the biography “Judy Blume: A Life” may not be in the story itself but in its author. Because of her frank talk about puberty and sexual awakenings, Blume’s work is usually associated with young female readers. Her biographer, Mark Oppenheimer, is a middle-aged father of five.
Seeing Red: What 'Baywatch' Hopefuls Wore to the Reboot's Casting Call Original
Credit: Maiwenn Raoult If you came to Mothers Beach in Marina Del Rey, California, on February 18, you would have witnessed an anomaly on what was otherwise a random winter workday in Southern California: a sea of red spandex and suntan-oiled bodies, thousands of beautiful people peacocking around the sands in the hopes of catching the right person’s eye. Like so many other aspects that create the allure of Los Angeles, this was a lie sold by Hollywood.
Scrubs Is Back
Noah Wyle found an unexpected ally last year when his medical show The Pitt broke out as a buzzy drama touted for its realistic portrayal of hospital life: Zach Braff. The star of the beloved medical comedy Scrubs slid into Wyle's DMs to congratulate him.
James Van Der Beek was always in on the joke
What made the WB’s “Dawson’s Creek” work so well was that it was a teen drama that took teenagers seriously, while also having fun at the fact that not a single one of its four lead characters talked like teenagers (or even most humans), what with their SAT-caliber vocabularies and deep understanding of arts and culture.
Sophie in 'Bridgerton' Would Have Agreed to Be Benedict's Mistress-Here's Why Original
Netflix’s sudsy Regency Era relationship drama Bridgerton, about the goings on (or goings in) of the titular large and wealthy family and other members of the high society known as the ton,has always been one that celebrates female sexual empowerment.
The most eye-catching looks from the Grammy Awards, from Chappell Roan to Olivia Dean
Whitney Friedlander Mon, 2 February 2026 at 10:21 am UTC 3 min read Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Stars including Olivia Dean and Sabrina Carpenter hit the red carpet at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday. Here are some of the most eye-catching looks from on the red carpet and inside the premiere ceremony before the main show.
How Awards Season Contenders Dare to Get Real About the Struggles of Motherhood Original
Parenting doesn’t come with a user manual and there’s never going to be a perfect solution to every situation. But this award season is full of films with mothers who make decisions and sacrifices that will be debated well beyond WhatsApp chats, school drop offs and personal therapy sessions. Is the decision that Teyana Taylor’s “One Battle After Another” revolutionary activist Perfidia Beverly Hills makes to go on the lam and abandon her young child an act of selfishness and self-preservation?
We're in the Eras tour of podcasting
(Los Angeles Times; Photo via Getty Images) On Dec. 4, Amy Poehler hosted a live recording of her less-than-a-year-old podcast, “Good Hang,” at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. The crowd wasn’t just packed, it was fully engaged and cheered for pretty much anything (even Poehler’s admission that she’d forgotten the start time of the show). This is important because, as one of her guests, comedian Ron Funches, pointed out, “Don’t they know podcasts are free?
‘Gilmore Girls’ Fans Get the Ultimate Real-Life Hallmark Movie
If Hallmark holiday movies are the reverse-Truman Show—the protagonist escapes the independence of the big, wide world to return to the protective, if stifling, comfort of living in a snowglobe—then Gilmore Girls is a look at what everyone else in that quaint, fictitious town has going on in their lives.
‘Gilmore Girls’ Fans Get the Ultimate Real-Life Hallmark Movie
photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images If Hallmark holiday movies are the reverse-Truman Show—the protagonist escapes the independence of the big, wide world to return to the protective, if stifling, comfort of living in a snowglobe—then Gilmore Girls is a look at what everyone else in that quaint, fictitious town has going on in their lives.
A Guide to the Kids Who Are the Breakout Stars of Awards Season
Forget Nicole Kidman and her seal claps, Warren Beatty and his envelope gaffe, or Kieran Culkin and Robert Downey Jr. with their acceptance roasts speeches. The true fun of award season will always be the theater kids who are still actually kids. Think Quvenzhané Wallis. Jacob Tremblay. Anna Paquin. Haley Joel Osment. Brooklynn Kimberly Prince.
A Guide to the Kids Who Are the Breakout Stars of Awards Season
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty/Focus Features/Warner Bros./Universal Forget Nicole Kidman and her seal claps, Warren Beatty and his envelope gaffe, or Kieran Culkin and Robert Downey Jr. with their acceptance roasts speeches. The true fun of award season will always be the theater kids who are still actually kids. Think Quvenzhané Wallis. Jacob Tremblay. Anna Paquin. Haley Joel Osment. Brooklynn Kimberly Prince.
Gen Z Is Huge. Their TV Shows Are Tiny. And Hollywood Is Panicking
Whitney Friedlander is based in L.A. and writes about entertainment and culture for the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Cosmopolitan, The Cut, The Washington Post and others. HBO’s I Love LAis the kind of comedy the brand does best: a clickbaity show about a niche demo that’s bound to get headlines and awards coverage, if not broad viewership. Variety put creator-star Rachel Sennott on its cover ahead of the show’s Nov.
One to One: John & Yoko’ Draws Stark Similarities Between Political and Social Unrest in the ‘90s With That of Today Original
A war no one really knows how to stop is raging, causing protests on college campuses and at the White House. People with disabilities are neglected by underfunded and ill-equipped resources. Activists are arrested on trumped-up charges. A Black woman runs for president. A politician is shot in front of supporters. And in the early 1970s, two of the most famous musicians in the world learned about a lot of it from a TV in their cozy, two-bedroom love nest in New York City’s West Village.
Why is Gen Z wistful for the late 2000s already?
No sooner have we recovered from melomaniacs’ rekindled excitement over bands like the Lumineers and other “stomp, clap, hey” indie rock music of the late 2000s and early aughts than society must ready its takes on another pop culture staple from that era. This one too is about brooding men with an inner glow. Lionsgate is rereleasing its blockbuster “Twilight” movie series, which ran from 2008 to 2012, in theaters beginning Oct. 29.
Why is Gen Z wistful for the late 2000s already?
Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven World Series, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in an epic game lasting more than six-and-a-half hours. It was the joint longest postseason game in Major League …
Why nostalgia for late 2000s is already here
Los Angeles Times | October 28, 2025 Gen Z is wistful for a not-too-distant past. Experts explain the factors behind it. No sooner have we recovered from melomaniacs’ rekindled excitement over bands like the Lumineers and other “stomp, clap, hey” indie rock music of the late 2000s and early aughts than society must ready its takes on another pop culture staple from that era. This one too is about brooding men with an inner glow.
Nobody Wants This Is Somehow Both Boring and Obnoxious in Season 2
You know when people first get into a new relationship and it’s all they can talk about? How every little detail or minor inconvenience is worth assessing with friends and family, whether they want to or not? Because no matter how boring the couple is, there is just something kind of thrilling about new love? And you know when that relationship has gone on a little bit and the sparkle has given way to ordinary?
The Sense & Sensibilities of Audible’s 'Pride & Prejudice' Adaptation
So much of the most well-known adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudicework because of the visuals: the hand flex, the wet white shirt, the general brooding. But Audible’s recently released audio-only adaptation exhilarates the sounds; a Dove chocolate bar commercial of stillness and escapism crammed into noise-cancelling earbuds.
2025 Fall\/Winter TV Preview
This fall and winter’s TV slate will be saying goodbye to the old with the departure of Netflix’s sci-fi favorite Stranger Things beginning November 26 and Peacock’s young-adult focused Bel-Air on November 24. It will also be welcoming in some new, but familiar, names when HBO Max’s prequel series It: Welcome to Derry and AMC’s latest Anne Rice adaptation, Talamasca: The Secret Order, both premiere October 26.
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