Today in Entertainment: Debut of Debbie Reynolds-Carrie Fisher documentary pushed up

(Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day... but the sexiest? That’s new.

At least, that’s what Oprah Winfrey said during her Tuesday appearance on “The Late Show” with host Stephen Colbert. The mighty O was promoting her first cookbook, “Food, Health and Happiness,” and went step by step through her “sexy breakfast” recipe.

“What makes breakfast sexy?” Colbert asked. For this particular recipe, jalapeños added a kick.

The two bantered while whipping up eggs with salsa and avocado. “We have a reluctant tomato,” Colbert said while attempting to make salsa in a food processor. “Which was actually my stripper name when I was younger.”

Winfrey, a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers, also discussed the weight-loss company’s point system. In 2015, Winfrey announced that she bought a 10% stake in Weight Watchers. And last month, Winfrey appeared in two new ads celebrating dropping more than 40 pounds through the program.

But healthy definitely doesn’t mean bland. When Colbert took a bite of the dish, after adding a bit of truffle zest, he had this to say:

“That is extremely sexy, and I’m in a relationship right now.”

(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

Michelle Obama will make her final talk show appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” Jan. 11, arriving on the heels of President Obama’s farewell address in Chicago.

FLOTUS first appeared on “The Tonight Show” in 2014, as a guest on the recurring “Ew!” sketch with Fallon and Will Ferrell. A year later, she returned to bust out her best dance moves for an “Evolution of Mom Dancing” sketch, in honor of her “Let’s Move” campaign.

Obama has been making the television rounds as her time in the White House comes to a close. She recently sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a special interview in which she reflected on the topic of hope.

And President Obama will also be making a final TV appearance on History’s two-hour special, “The 44th President: In His Own Words,” on Jan. 15.

(Theo Wargo / Getty Images)

A few hours before midnight, the West Coast got the warning: Mariah Carey’s New Year’s Eve debacle on ABC was headed this way, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

There were, ahem, technical difficulties.

Those difficulties, on a show that aired live in the EasternTime Zone, left Carey hanging out on stage frustrated and unable to sing as her backup dancers went through the motions around her.

The performance on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” was billed as “the last big performance of 2016 by Mariah Carey,” who in 2005 was the show’s first act to go live from Times Square.

Problems were evident from the start of the set, with Carey unable to hear the music she was supposed to be singing along with. She called for audio technical help.

That help never came.

Ultimately, as the backing track finally ended, the singer turned on a heel, amid a frame of feathers, and booked it offstage as fast as she could in heels that high.

The critics online — where everyone’s a comedian, and some people are quite funny — cut Mariah no slack.

At least Mariah appeared to know how badly it had gone, signing off in true diva fashion and putting a fork in 2016 along with the rest of us.

But in the spirit of a fresh start in 2017, at least a few people found something nice to say.

Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain” will be part of a 24-hour film tribute to Reynolds on TCM on Jan. 27.

(Movie Poster Image Art / Getty Images)

The Debbie Reynolds tributes continue. TCM has announced it will air a 24-hour film tribute to Reynolds starting Jan. 27. The 84-year-old actress died Wednesday, just one day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher.

Reynolds, of course, was known for her breakout role opposite Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor in the 1952 musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” as well as her Academy Award-nominated performance in 1964’s “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

For fans hoping to catch Reynolds on the silver screen, TCM Big Screen Classics and Fathom Events will be hosting nationwide showings of “Singin’ in the Rain” on Jan. 15 and 18 (ticket are available online).

Here is the schedule for TCM’s Debbie Reynolds marathon (all times Pacific):

• 3 a.m.: “It Started With A Kiss” (1959)
• 4:45 a.m.: “Bundle of Joy” (1956)
• 6:30 a.m.: “How the West Was Won” (1963)
• 9:30 a.m.: “The Tender Trap” (1955)
• 11:30 a.m.: “Hit the Deck” (1955)
• 1:30 p.m.: “I Love Melvin” (1953)
• 3 p.m.: “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952)
• 5 p.m.: “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1964)
• 7:30 p.m.: “The Mating Game” (1959)
• 9:30 p.m.: “The Catered Affair” (1956)
• 11:15 p.m.: “The Singing Nun” (1965)
• 1 a.m.: “How Sweet It Is!” (1968)

Theater loves metaphor, so let’s call John Perrin Flynn, the artistic director of the Rogue Machine theater company in L.A., our Ghost of Christmas Future as we face the big question for 2017: As controversial new wage rules kick in for the city’s small theaters, will the local scene thrive or decline?

It’s a question that has hovered since April 2015, when Actors’ Equity Assn. passed the 99-Seat Agreement for local companies performing in Los Angeles County theaters with fewer than 100 seats. The change prompts small companies to increase actor pay from a tiered stipend system (often $7 to $25 per performance) to a minimum hourly wage for all work, including rehearsals as well as time spent on set for performances.

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(George Frey / AP)

A member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has resigned because of the group’s decision to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The singer, Jan Chamberlin, shared her resignation letter on Facebook on Thursday explaining that she felt “betrayed” and that she “simply cannot continue with the recent turn of events.”

“Since ‘the announcement,’ I have spent several sleepless nights and days in turmoil and agony,” wrote Chamberlin. “I have reflected carefully on both sides of the issue, prayed a lot, talked with family and friends, and searched my soul.”

Chamberlin, who said she has been with the choir for five years, explained that sitting out the inaugural performance was not enough.

“Looking from the outside in, it will appear that Choir is endorsing tyranny and fascism by singing for this man,” said Chamberlin, which she believes would damage the choir’s image and networking.

Chamberlin echoes the sentiments of more than 21,000 people who have signed an online petition disagreeing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s decision to perform at the inauguration. According to the organizer of the campaign, most of the signatures are from members of the Mormon church.

“I hope that we and many others will work together with greater diligence and awareness to calmly and bravely work together to defend our freedoms and our rights for our families, our friends, and our fellow citizens,” Chamberlin added in her letter. “I hope we can throw off the labels and really listen to each other with respect, love, compassion, and a true desire to bring our energies and souls together in solving the difficult problems that lie in our wake.”

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has previously performed at the inaugurations of Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson (1965), Richard M. Nixon (1969), Ronald Reagan (1981), George H.W. Bush (1989) and George W. Bush (2001).

Read Chamberlin’s full message here.

In the wake of the tragic deaths of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher this week, HBO announced Friday that it has pushed up the debut of the mother-daughter documentary “Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds” to Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

HBO describes the film, which had showings at several film festivals including Cannes and Telluride, as “an intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty in all its eccentricity.” It chronicles the complex relationship between the dynamic duo, who lived next door to each other in the same Beverly Hills compound.

Read MoreRELATED: ‘Bright Lights’ peels back the curtain on Carrie Fisher’s legendary Hollywood family

From the coverage of the big ball dropping above an overcrowded Times Square to the N.Y.E.L.A. celebration scheduled for Grand Park downtown, there are plenty of festive means to see off 2016.

But for all your end-of-year plans that may not involve forced toasts and funny hats, television has you covered with a variety of programming marathons to keep your spirits up. Follow the link below for a rundown of some ways to wait out — or avoid entirely — the start of any party plans you may have to greet 2017.

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Steve Martin and Carrie Fisher.

(Casey Curry / Invision / AP; Chris Pizzello / AP)

Friends and fans alike took to social media to mourn Carrie Fisher’s death on Tuesday, including Steve Martin, who shared a message over Twitter. But Martin deleted his tweet soon after accusations that it was sexist.

“When I was a young man, Carrie Fisher was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. She turned out to be witty and bright as well,” Martin wrote.

Some called out Martin for focusing on her physical appearance, a topic Fisher spoke out against throughout her career. Others noted that Fisher likely wanted to be remembered for more than just being pretty.

After the tribute had been deleted, a contingent of supporters jumped to Martin’s defense, while others surmised that Fisher likely would have laughed about the matter.

Fisher, of course, was outspoken in her feminism, especially in regards to her legacy as Princess Leia. She did not hesitate to call people out on their perceptions and sexualization of the character.

Then again, Fisher herself reduced Martin to a one-night stand in a 1999 interview she conducted with the actor for The Times. “I slept with Steve Martin once and once only, 20-some years ago. And I interviewed Steve Martin once and once only, 20-some days ago,” she began the piece. “You do the math.”

“This interview will be the last in the series I did in my upcoming book, titled ‘Famous Men I Have Slept With So I Could Interview Them Later,’ due out in the fall for Simon & Schuster,” Fisher added.

Black Chyna and Rob Kardashian.

(Greg Doherty / Getty)

Rob Kardashian was reportedly hospitalized overnight after a diabetes flareup Wednesday but was released Thursday morning.

The 29-year-old “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star was not feeling well Wednesday and checked himself into a hospital after realizing his symptoms were diabetes-related, according to People.

TMZ reported that Blac Chyna and Kris Jenner rushed to the hospital to join him in the emergency room Wednesday night.

In December 2015, Kardashian was hospitalized and diagnosed with diabetes but declared earlier this year that he was “completely free” of the disease. Kardashian also credited Chyna for helping him to focus on his health.

Kardashian and Chyna recently welcomed their first child, daughter Dream Renee Kardashian, but have since hit a rough patch, including a brief (but public) split. The strain in their relationship has reportedly caused Kardashian to slip back to old, unhealthy habits.

Kardashian left the hospital Thursday morning, according to TMZ.

President-elect Donald Trump and Kanye West

(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

Brangelina broke up. Kim Kardashian dropped off social media. Hollywood lost the election. In a year when the seemingly impossible became reality on a very regular basis, the celebrity-scape hardly knew what hit it.

Here are 10 of the most buzzed-about celeb stories from 2016.

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Jay Cotton Jr., 4, of Whittier, sits on his father Jay Cotton’s shoulders during a lightsaber vigil for “Star Wars” actress Carrie Fisher held in Downtown Disney.

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Memorials for Carrie Fisher -- who died on Tuesday -- are ramping up as Downtown Disney in Anaheim hosted a lightsaber vigil, screenings are planned at multiple Alamo Drafthouse theaters and a tribute parade is in the works in New Orleans.

The Downtown Disney event drew about 100 people who, with lightsabers raised, honored the memory of Fisher. The 501st Legion of “Star Wars” fans is already working to put on a big demostration at Star Wars Celebration in April, with other events in the early stages of planning.

Other lightsaber vigils and screenings of Fisher’s non-“Star Wars” hits -- “When Harry Met Sally,” “The Blues Brothers” and even “The ‘Burbs” -- will take place in multiple locations for Drafthouse denizens in Texas, Virginia and Nebraska. The first of which is Wednesday night at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin and numerous other locations in Texas. There is a list below of the places and screenings.

On Friday, the Leijorettes, a squad of more than 100 costumed Princess Leias, are expected to lead the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus Carnival marching group in a tribute parade in New Orleans honoring Fisher. Chewbacchus, one of the fastest-growing Mardi Gras organizations, was inspired by the “Star Wars” franchise. The gathering is still finalizing permits for the march, and a Facebook page has been set up to get further details about the event.

Other Drafthouse locations and activities:

-- Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar (Austin, Texas) is holding a lightsaber vigil Wednesday, which started at 6:30 p.m. (you can read more about what that will entail here).

-- The Winchester Alamo Drafthouse (Winchester, Va.) will hold a screening of “When Harry Met Sally” Saturday at 10 p.m., and a memorial event will be launched that screening.

-- The Drafthouse in Omaha will be holding two in memoriam screenings: “The Burbs” (Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m.) and “When Harry Met Sally” (Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.). Tickets to both of those screenings will be on sale soon.

-- Non-Austin Drafthouse locations in Texas (New Braunfels, Stone Oak, Park North, Westlakes, and Laredo) are holding lightsaber vigils Wednesday that started at 6:30 p.m. Houston’s Mason Park location will hold a lightsaber vigil at 6:45 p.m. Friday, and the Lubbock location will be holding its lightsaber vigil Friday as well, at 7 p.m.

-- Additionally, Park North (San Antonio), Laredo and Market Place (New Braunfels) locations will be holding free memorial screenings of “The Blues Brothers” throughout the weekend. These theaters will be accepting donations before and after the show to DBSA San Antonio, a nonprofit support group for people with mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and depression (learn more about DBSA at www.dbsalliance.org).

UPDATE: Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, mother of Carrie Fisher, passes away the day after her daughter

The reaction to the death of Debbie Reynolds was swift on social media, with most commenting on the timing of her passing, just a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher died.

Debbie Reynolds’ life was the stuff of movie legend, from her start as an ingenue playing opposite Gene Kelly in the classic 1952 musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” to her part in one of Hollywood’s most notorious scandals.

And her death Wednesday at the age of 84 had the kind of tragic story line Hollywood made famous, coming only one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher, died at the age of 60.

Reynolds’ son Todd told media outlets that his mother was under stress over the death of her daughter and suffered a stroke at her home at about noon. Reynolds told him she missed her daughter and wanted to be with her.

On Tuesday, Reynolds had posted a statement on Facebook about the outpouring of grief about her daughter’s unexpected death. Fisher, a well-known actress and author in her own right, died four days after suffering a cardiac incident on a flight from London back to Los Angeles.

“Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter,” she wrote. “I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop. Love Carries Mother.”

Reynolds’ singing and dancing in “Singin’ in the Rain” and other musicals and frothy entertainment turned her into America’s Sweetheart and a potent box office star for years. She became famous near the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood and was a link to the great studio era.

And like the stalwart heroines she played, Reynolds never quit. She continued performing for the rest of her life on screen and stage, including a one-woman revue highlighting her remarkable life on screen and off. She was also a major collector of Hollywood memorabilia.

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Debbie Reynolds

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

UPDATE: Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, mother of Carrie Fisher, passes away the day after her daughter

Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds was rushed to a hospital Wednesday after falling ill, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Times.

The emergency comes a day after Reynolds’ daughter, actress and author Carrie Fisher, died after a heart episode on a flight from London to Los Angeles.

Read MorePHOTOS: Debbie Reynolds: Career in photos

(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

With just a few days remaining in the year, one man has decided to make it his mission to protect Betty White from 2016’s evil ways.

It’s no secret it has been a rough year in terms of celebrity losses. From David Bowie and Alan Rickman in January to George Michael and Carrie Fisher in recent days, many high-profile, generation-defining stars have died in 2016. Prince, Florence Henderson, Gwen Ifill, Leonard Cohen, Gene Wilder, Alan Thicke and Muhammad Ali are just some of the notable figures we’ve lost over the last 12 months.

But as far as Demetrios Hrysikos is concerned, our nation’s beloved grandmother will not be among them. On Tuesday, the South Carolina resident launched a crowdfunding campaign to protect the 94-year-old White, and promptly reached his $2,000 goal. (Within nearly 24 hours, 276 people had contributed abouty $2,900.)

“If she’s OK with it, I will fly to where ever Betty White is and keep her safe till Jan 1 , 2017.” Hrysikos promised on the GoFundMe page.

Known for her roles on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls,” White’s recent credits include starring in the series “Hot in Cleveland” as well as a guest spot on “Bones.”

In the event that White would prefer not to have “a strange Greek standing guard outside her door,” Hrysikos said all proceeds from the fundraiser will be donated to the Spartanburg Little Theatre.

“2016 has taken so many great artists, and SLT helps support and nurture new budding talent in our town,” Hrysikos explained in an update on GoFundMe. “I’d like to think that Betty, Carrie [Fisher], and [David] Bowie would be happy with any proceeds going to that cause, which I assure you it will!”

Not everyone was buying Hrysikos’ generosity, though. “Such a scam. Donate to the theatre directly if you want to,” one detractor wrote on the GoFundMe page.

But others defended the seemingly random act of kindness. As another commenter put it, “If I had the funds, I would donate just based on the fact that this wonderful man made me laugh during what is obviously one of the worst years.”

Are Drake and Jennifer Lopez dating? Perhaps.

What is certain is that Lopez and Drake shared the same photo showing them cozied up on Instagram on Tuesday night. Neither star captioned the photo, leaving fans to speculate about the nature of their relationship.

The snapshot has sparked new innuendo about their potential romance, which first started making the rounds earlier this month when Drake attended one of Lopez’s Las Vegas shows.

The two also commemorated that occasion by sharing a matching Instagram selfie, with Drake including a heart-eyed emoji in his caption. Fans who stumbled on the photo were left to decide whether this was professional admiration or a subtle confession of his true feelings.

The 30-year old rapper was then spotted at Lopez’s show the following week, before the 47-year old singer and actress apparently joined him in West Hollywood for a private dinner (with 20 or so other people).

Though neither Drake nor Lopez have actually confirmed (or denied) rumors, eagle-eyed social media watchers have noticed that Rihanna has stopped following both stars on Instagram since the speculation first ignited.

Lopez shared some thoughts in her Christmas message to fans over on Instagram.

“This year I can honestly say my heart is full,” wrote Lopez. “This year had its ups and downs, but as I sit here in my living room ... I feel surrounded by love and overflowing with gratitude for the many new blessings in my life!”

Earlier this year Lopez split from her longtime beau, Casper Smart.

Carrie Fisher, then 26, and Paul Simon, 41, in 1983 after being wed in a private ceremony.

(Mario Suriani / Associated Press)

By most accounts, particularly in Peter Ames Carlin’s new biography, “Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon,” the iconic musician had a topsy-turvy relationship with Carrie Fisher, his onetime flame whom he married in 1983 and divorced less than a year later.

On and off, Simon and Fisher were together for more than a decade, and in her 2008 memoir “Wishful Drinking,” Fisher claimed her former husband had written a number of songs about her, including “She Moves On.” Their romance is also the subject of “Hearts and Bones,” and Fisher appeared in the video for Simon’s “Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War” (see below).

“If you can get Paul Simon to write a song about you, do it,” she wrote in “Wishful Drinking.” “Because he is so brilliant at it.”

UPDATE: Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, mother of Carrie Fisher, passes away the day after her daughter

On Wednesday morning, Simon tweeted a short statement on Fisher’s sudden passing on Dec. 27, keeping his sentiments short but sweet.

The largest contingent of “Star Wars” fans in the world, the 501st Legion or Vader’s Fist, joined others in grieving from the loss of Carrie Fisher, who died at 60 after suffering a cardiac incident on a flight from London.

The charitable cosplay group posted on their Facebook page saying: “The Empire may have captured the Princess, but the Princess captured our hearts.“

UPDATE: Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, mother of Carrie Fisher, passes away the day after her daughter

Already, memorials are being planned for Fisher. The ladies of the Rebel Legion, the 501st’s sister organization, are already organizing a memorial to be held during Star Wars Celebration in Orlando next April. They plan “to have as many of our ladies dressed as Princess Leia as possible,” said Shana Rich, a member of the public relations team for the 501st Legion.

The group does have splinter units worldwide, so events being planned are coming in slowly. In Colorado, members of the local chapters of the 501st and Rebel Legion are holding a public vigil Wednesday night from 5 p.m. to 7p.m. (Mountain Time) at Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver.

Carrie Fisher at the red-carpet premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in Hollywood.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Last year, months before “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” officially reunited the original cast and crew of the Millennium Falcon, there was a small disturbance in the Force. A disgruntled father on the East Coast, outraged over an action figure depicting Princess Leia in her infamous “slave” bikini costume, had denounced the toy as “inappropriate,” sparking a heated debate among fans and critics about the political implications of the outfit.

UPDATE: Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, mother of Carrie Fisher, passes away the day after her daughter

The woman behind the bikini, actress Carrie Fisher, answered the controversy in typical frank Fisher fashion. “The character is wearing that outfit not because she’s chosen to wear it. She’s been forced to wear it. She’s a prisoner of a giant testicle who has a lot of saliva going on. She does not want to wear that thing and it’s ultimately that chain, which you’re now indicating is some sort of accessory to S&M, that is used to kill the giant saliva testicle.… That’s asinine.”

And just like that, Fisher reclaimed the “slave Leia” look for feminism.

Converting a Frank Frazetta-inspired, barely-there metal two-piece into a flag for female empowerment was just one small example of Fisher’s ability to change the narrative in Hollywood — a career-turned-calling that tragically ended with her death Tuesday

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Out on the Internet, along with the many heart-touching tributes to Carrie Fisher, photographs of her as Leia Organa, either as princess (the original trilogy) or general (from “The Force Awakens”) and with her beloved French bulldog Gary, there’s another picture, originally placed there by cinema documentarian Will McCrabb, showing a page of the script of “The Empire Strikes Back.” On the script are several edits, in red pen, condensing and improving the script. McCrabb said the hand that put the edits there was Carrie Fisher’s, noting on Twitter that Fisher herself confirmed it to him.

Is he correct? The edits might have been made by Irwin Kershner, “Empire’s” director, instead. At the time — 1979 — Fisher would have been 22 years old. Yet here she was, looking at a script written by Lawrence Kasdan, who would go on to several screenwriting Oscar nominations, and Leigh Brackett, Howard Hawks’ secret screenwriting weapon and one of the great science fiction writers of her time, and thinking “this needs some fixing.” And then getting out her pen and doing just that.

Whoever made the edits wasn’t wrong. At least some of the edits to the scene (in which Leia, Han and Chewbacca plot a course to visit Lando Calrissian) made it to the final cut of the film. Simpler, tighter, better — and with the rhythm of speech rather than exposition (science fiction, forever the genre of people explaining things to other people). Carrie Fisher played a galactic princess, but she had a working writer’s gift for understanding how people talk, and how language works. At 22.

Read MoreUPDATE: Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, mother of Carrie Fisher, passes away the day after her daughter

In the hours after the death of Carrie Fisher on Tuesday, the “Today” show released a 1977 video of Gene Shalit interviewing the fresh-faced cast of the original “Star Wars” just after it debuted in theaters. (See below.) Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Fisher, who was then just 20, told Shalit that they were still at the point in their careers where they could show up unnoticed at movie theaters and watch “Star Wars” with paying audiences.

“It’s easy,” Fisher said.

But she did describe one encounter when she didn’t get away unrecognized, a precursor of the fandom that would grow exponentially with each new installment of the saga.

“This one guy had seen it 12 times,” she told Shalit.

“What was his reaction?” Shalit asked.

“The princess!” Fisher said, mimicking the moviegoer raising his hands in shock.

“Did he ask you out?” Shalit asked.

Fisher, showing her wit in the face of Shalit’s rather lame question, then described a gentle pranking of the moviegoer.

“I ... told him I was the prize,” she told Shalit. “That the 20th Century Fox office had heard he’d seen it 12 times and he got a free date with the princess and a bucket of popcorn. He believed it.”

Joely Fisher, daughter of Eddie Fisher and Connie Stevens, called the death of half-sister Carrie Fisher “unfathomable” and declared her own heart broken Tuesday.

UPDATE: Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, mother of Carrie Fisher, passes away the day after her daughter

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who rose to prominence portraying Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” franchise, died Dec. 27 at age 60. Actress Lisa Edelstein, who worked with Fisher when she appeared on ‘Girlfriend’s’ Guide to Divorce,’ responded to the news with the following:

(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who rose to prominence portraying Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” franchise, died Dec. 27 at age 60. Actress and writer Tina Fey responded to the news with the following statement:

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who rose to prominence portraying Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” franchise, died Dec. 27 at age 60. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy responded to the news with the following statement:

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who rose to prominence for portraying Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” franchise, died Dec. 27 at age 60. Director Steven Spielberg responded to the news with the following statement:

Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher on Nov. 13, 1978.

(George Brich / Associated Press)

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who rose to prominence for portraying Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” franchise, died Dec. 27 at age 60. “Star Wars” costar Harrison Ford responded to the news with the following:

Carrie Fisher, who died today at 60, had the rare distinction of making the front page of the Los Angeles Times before she was even born. Here’s the March 27, 1956, announcement:

Debbie Reynolds, actress, and Eddie Fisher, singer, are anticipating becoming parents about November, according to information conveyed to Mrs. Raymond Reynolds, mother of Mrs. Fisher, over the phone from New York yesterday.

Miss Reynolds told her mother that all the tests made in the eastern city indicated they could look forward to the happy event.

The couple were married Sept. 26 last year at Grossinger N.Y,. a resort in the Catskill Mountains.

As the child of two major stars, Carrie Fisher lived her early years in the spotlight before going on to play one of the most beloved roles in modern cinema: Princess Leia in the original blockbuster “Star Wars” films.

Here are some early Los Angeles Times shots of Fisher with her famous mother.

Above, Carrie Fisher, almost 2, leaving her Los Angeles house with her mother on Sept. 9, 1958. The following day her parents announced that their marriage, considered ideal by many in Hollywood, was over.

Eddie Fisher had famously fallen for Elizabeth Taylor, the widow of his close friend Mike Todd. Decades later, Taylor and Reynolds, who had been friends prior to the scandal, starred together in “These Old Broads,” a film written by Carrie Fisher.

(Ray Graham / Los Angeles Times)

Above, Fisher, 3, gives her mother a hug after her afternoon nap in their home in West Los Angeles, on Nov. 16, 1959.

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Actress Carrie Fisher, shown in 2007.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who rose to global fame as the trailblazing intergalactic heroine Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” franchise and later went on to establish herself as an author and screenwriter with an acerbic comic flair, has died.

UPDATE: Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, mother of Carrie Fisher, passes away the day after her daughter

Fisher suffered a heart attack Friday during a flight to Los Angeles from London, where she had been filming the third season of the Amazon comedy series “Catastrophe.” Upon landing, she was quickly rushed to UCLA Medical Center, but after three days in intensive care, she died, a family publicist confirmed. She was 60 years old.

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Ricky Harris in 2005.

(Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)

Ricky Harris, a comedian known for both his racy stand-up act and his appearances in family-friendly fare such as the TV series “Everybody Hates Chris,” died Monday, his manager said. He was 54.

The cause was not immediately known. But Harris’ manager, Cindy Ambers of Art/Work Entertainment, said Harris had suffered a heart attack two years ago.

Fellow performers posted condolences on social media.

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English singer-songwriter George Michael during his “Faith” world tour in 1988.

(Michael Putland / Getty Images)

In November 1998, George Michael appeared on the “Late Show With David Letterman” to promote his new greatest-hits collection — and to publicly address his arrest earlier that year for lewd conduct in a Beverly Hills restroom.

The English pop star, pressed to explain what happened at Will Rogers Memorial Park, told Letterman he’d been a victim of police entrapment but acknowledged, “I’m no stranger to outdoor nooky.”

At that, the late-night host summoned up some faux outrage over Michael’s use of a naughty word.

“I’m not allowed to say ‘masturbation,’” the singer replied, stroking his artfully shaped mustache. “I’d have to say ‘nooky.’”

The exchange was a signature George Michael moment — expertly maneuvering around a silly rule, and then slipping in the prohibited term anyway — one of many transgressions in a remarkable career that ended too early when he was found dead Sunday in his home at age 53.

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Call it the Force. Call it moviegoers hungry for a sassy robot and some daring acts of galactic rebellion. For the second Christmas movie season in a row, a “Star Wars” franchise film has dominated the holiday box office.

Also for the second year in a row, North American ticket sales are projected to exceed $11 billion, according to the entertainment data firm ComScore. And as the year comes to a close, 2016 is expected to see a 1.5% increase in ticket sales over 2015 ($11.3 billion versus $11.1 billion).

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” vanquished all others in its second week of wide release, hauling in $96.1 million over the four-day holiday weekend — with an additional $237.4 million from international screens.

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Pop superstar George Michael, who passed away Sunday at the age of 53, was known and beloved for his hit records and phenomenal live performances. But in 2008, he also proved game to be part of an endearingly quirky ABC series called “Eli Stone.”

Created by Greg Berlanti (“Brothers & Sisters,” “Arrow”) and Marc Guggenheim (“Arrow,” “Trollhunters”), the legal dramedy chronicled the life of the title character, a San Francisco lawyer played by Jonny Lee Miller (“Elementary’s” Sherlock Holmes).

Throughout early episodes of the first season — which were named after Michael song titles including “Faith” and “One More Try” — Stone had occasional hallucinations, including several that included Michael singing his songs. Stone was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm that partially explained his visions but the story paid off when Michael appeared in an episode not as a hallucination but as an actual client for Stone.

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Singer George Michael performs in front of 11,000 people to mark World AIDS Day at London’s Wembley Arena in 1993.

(Gill Allen / Associated Press )

The Internet was in shock Sunday as it learned of the sudden passing of pop music star George Michael.

Michael passed peacefully at home over the Christmas holiday, the singer’s publicist said in a statement.

As fans of the musician worked through their grief on social media, many expressed their love by giving the singer of “Last Christmas” their hearts.

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George Michael performs in Abu Dhabi in 2008.

(Karim Sahib / AFP-Getty Images)

George Michael, who died peacefully at his home in Goring, England, according to his publicist, had run into legal and health troubles during the last decade. The Ministry of Gossip blog documented many of the stories.

2010: George Michael charged with pot possession, unfit driving

George Michael, arrested after a July car wreck in London, was charged Thursday with pot possession and impaired driving, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.

The singer, 47, had waited for police to arrive after allegedly ramming his Range Rover into a storefront on July 6. At the time, the Daily Mail reported that Michael had not been drinking and was not given a breath test.

Read More2010: George Michael released after four weeks in prison

Singer George Michael was released from prison Monday after serving four weeks of an eight-week sentence for driving under the influence of drugs.

“I’m coming out here on my own so that you realize I just want to start again,” Michael said Monday to members of the media gathered outside his home in North London, according to multiple reports. “I’m going to try and stop running away from you guys.” He also thanked those who supported him, calling it “quite inspiring.”

Read More2011: George Michael thanks doctors for saving his life [Video]

George Michael, short of breath while speaking to reporters outside his London home on Friday, thanked doctors in Austria for their care during “by far, the worst month” of his life, and hinted at the dire nature of his condition while he’d been in the hospital.

“They spent three weeks keeping me alive, basically,” said the singer, 48, who had to cancel a number of dates at the end of his Symphonica tour after contracting streptococcus pneumonia. He was taken to AKH Hospital in late November, nixing his Nov. 21 show just two hours before it was to start.

Michael, who was released from the hospital Thursday and looked thin on camera Friday, said he was still weak but felt “amazing.”

Read More2012: George Michael explains post-coma accent, shreds Rupert Murdoch

George Michael is delighted to be alive, but when he came back to life out of a coma last December, he spent a couple of days speaking in an accent that wasn’t his own.

While doctors worried that he had brain damage following a horrid bout with pneumonia that included days in a coma, Michael told Britain’s LBC radio, it turned out the London-born chap was just channeling a “Bristolian,” West Country accent from a British comedy called “Nighty Night,” which he’d been watching regularly with a friend shortly before falling so ill in Austria.

When he awoke and doctors asked him if he knew who he was, he said he answered, “King of the world?”

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George Michael, the English singer-songwriter who shot to stardom in the 1980s as half of the pop duo Wham! and went on to become one of the era’s biggest pop solo artists with hits such as “Faith” and “I Want Your Sex,” died over the Christmas holiday. He was 53.

Michael died peacefully at his home in Goring, England, according to his publicist. She said he had not been ill. In a statement, Thames Valley Police called Michael’s death “unexplained but not suspicious.”

Teamed with guitarist Andrew Ridgeley in Wham!, Michael soared to fame in Britain in the early ’80s with hits such as “Young Guns (Go For It!),” “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)” and “Bad Boys.”

The duo’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” was an international million-selling single that put Wham! on the map in America, where it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1984.

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Were you naughty this year? Were you nice? It doesn’t matter, because Netflix is bringing back “Fuller House” for a third season either way.

Netflix delivered the news to fans on Saturday via various social media platforms, confirming that the spin-off series would return with new episodes in 2017.

The renewal news comes as little surprise to those following the career of “Fuller House” star Candace Cameron Bure, who left her position as co-host of “The View” in December, citing increased career demands on “Fuller House” and other projects.

The spin-off of “Full House” has found success in its life on Netflix, with the series centered around D.J. Tanner-Fuller (Cameron Bure), sister Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) and best friend Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) as they balance careers, kids and courting in a house that is full.

The first two seasons of “Fuller House” are available to stream on Netflix.

Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Update, Dec. 27: Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60.

It’s Christmas day and many in Hollywood remain heavy-hearted after the Friday hospitalization of actress and author Carrie Fisher.

Fisher, best known for her iconic portrayal of Princess (and General) Leia in the “Star Wars” series, suffered a “cardiac episode” aboard a flight from London to LAX and is currently in intensive care at UCLA Medical Center.

Debbie Reynolds, star of stage and screen and Fisher’s mother, tweeted about the incident for the first time early Sunday afternoon.

“Carrie is in stable condition,” said Reynolds. “If there is a change, we will share it.” She then went on to thank friends and fans for their prayers and good wishes.

Other science-fiction stars shared their continued concerns for Fisher on Sunday, including Fisher’s “Star Wars” costar Mark Hamill and “Star Trek” legend William Shatner.

From the archives: Carrie Fisher was front page news before she was even born >>

Two people aboard a flight from London to Los Angeles said via social media that they saw Carrie Fisher stop breathing before the plane landed at LAX.

On Friday, airport police responded to calls of an unresponsive female passenger on board. Emergency officials confirmed that that passenger was Carrie Fisher, the 60-year-old actress and writer who rose to fame playing Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” movies.

She is reported to be in critical condition after experiencing a “cardiac episode” on the 11-hour flight.

Actors Anna Akana and Brad Gage tweeted that they were on the same flight and saw what happened.

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(Robert Carter / For The Times)

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher has died after suffering a cardiac episode during a flight from London to Los Angeles on Dec. 23. Prior to the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Fisher spoke to The Times about the film, Princess Leia and her “Star Wars” legacy. Below is an excerpt from a story originally published on Dec. 4, 2015.

Fisher would know what it takes to make a lasting legacy in this franchise. The first few precious moments of “A New Hope” follow the angry revolutionary pulling together a contingency plan to smuggle spy documents off a spaceship. Unafraid of being taken hostage by the nefarious Empire, Princess Leia blasts the invading Imperial Stormtroopers. Leia shoots first.

In captivity, Leia proceeds to throw some truly galactic shade: “Darth Vader, only you could be so bold,” “Gov. Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader’s leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board,” and the classic, “Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?”

While Han Solo shirks responsibility and Luke Skywalker fumbles around with his evolving, boyish perception of the hero, Leia gets things done. When her own rescue goes awry, she grabs the blaster herself and finds a way out. She’s not just a princess but a radical fighting for freedom under a tyrannical empire.

“She had contempt for and worked with men, and I liked that,” Fisher says. “There was something human about her. It showed that she could do whatever she needed to do, and if she could do that, then everybody could do it. People identified with her. She’s like a superhero.”

Kennedy, who took over the reins for Lucas in 2012, agrees. “When Princess Leia hit the scene in 1977 she was a pretty formidable character. I give George [Lucas] a huge amount of credit,” she says. “Leia really held her own. We used that as kind of a touchstone for why it was so important to have a strong female character and hopefully many more strong female characters in the ‘Star Wars’ universe.”

The new film reintroduces Leia 30 years after the war. She’s no longer a princess but a general. And she’s still very much in command — “still walking and talking,” Fisher says. “She doesn’t have any mortal wounds or disease.” But, she warns, “things have happened that have been difficult.”

Fisher was mum on the rest of her character’s details but didn’t mind sharing a moment of nostalgia she felt on the set of the new film:

“You’re so self-conscious, you’re exhausted before you get out of your trailer. I was in my trailer in the back and I heard Harrison. I recognized how his boots sound, and I heard him say, ‘Is Carrie here?’ That was funny. That was like we’re back on ‘Star Wars’ campus.”

In response to this reporter’s surprise that the actress who brought to life Princess Leia — general of the new resistance — was self-conscious, Fisher let out a guffaw. “I think everyone thinks the same way, only [some] people pretend better. ‘I’m going to do badly this time. I look like .... The new people are better. What am I going to do? My hair looks bad again.’”

Fisher may still get nervous, but that doesn’t change her legacy. Nor did it stop her tenacious response about the recent kerfuffle over her character’s notorious bikini. A frustrated father in Deptford, Pa., went viral in a Fox 29 report over a Target store selling Princess Leia action figure toys dressed in the divisive “slave Leia” ensemble (a metal two-piece the character was forced to wear while prisoner to character Jabba the Hutt). The man was perturbed it was being sold in the toy aisle and flustered over how he was going to explain the toy’s chain to his daughters.

“How about telling his daughter that the character is wearing that outfit not because she’s chosen to wear it. She’s been forced to wear it,” Fisher advises. “She’s a prisoner of a giant testicle who has a lot of saliva going on and she does not want to wear that thing and it’s ultimately that chain, which you’re now indicating is some sort of accessory to S&M, that is used to kill the giant saliva testicle…. That’s asinine.”

Truly the contempt for the scruffy-looking nerf-herders of the world is very much alive and well in Fisher.

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A&E’s latest preview for “Generation KKK” focuses on the anti-hate activists who appear in the upcoming reality series.

“Generation KKK documents activists working to expose and end hatred,” A&E reiterated in a tweet that shared the new clip. “In the KKK, hatred is passed down as legacy. It must stop.”

The documentary series ignited immediate backlash for the network, with critics arguing it normalizes hate groups. Actress Ellen Pompeo has led calls to boycott A&E, and online petitions have demanded the series be canceled.

A&E has insisted normalizing the Ku Klux Klan and its racist stances was not its intention.

“We certainly didn’t want the show to be seen as a platform for the views of the KKK,” A&E general manager Rob Sharenow told the New York Times. “The only political agenda is that we really do stand against hate.”

It turns out “Generation KKK” has the approval of the Anti-Defamation League, which classifies the Klan as “a racist, anti-Semitic movement with a commitment to extreme violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation and white supremacy.” The civil-rights organization revealed that it worked closely with A&E to develop the show.

Some people who have seen early footage of “Generation KKK” believe A&E has been successful in its execution.

Others insist that the show “does something worse than just provide a platform for the KKK,” with one critic charging that A&E uses its formulaic approach to “transform [‘Generation KKK’s’] bigots into colorful characters, thereby placing them on the same plane as the rest of cable TV’s freaky reality stars.”

“Generation KKK” is slated to premiere Jan. 10. You can watch an extended preview of the show below.

Ivanka Trump was reportedly harassed by a fellow passenger on a JetBlue flight Thursday morning.

(Charles Krupa / Associated Press)

Ivanka Trump experienced some unexpected turbulence before takeoff on a Thursday morning JetBlue flight.

As TMZ reported, the daughter of President-elect Donald Trump was sitting with family on a commercial flight leaving New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport when a passenger began taunting her.

“Your father is ruining the country,” the passenger yelled at her, according to the website. “Why is she on our flight? She should be flying private.”

But Ivanka Trump, who was in the coach section, sat calmly, diverting her three children’s attention from the disturbance. As JetBlue personnel escorted the passenger off the flight, he continued screaming, “You’re kicking me off for expressing my opinion?!”

The husband of the passenger, Hunter College professor Matthew Lasner, posted a now-deleted tweet an hour before takeoff: “Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them. #banalityofevil”

JetBlue released a statement about the incident, saying, “The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If the crew determines that a customer is causing conflict on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane, especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of escalation during flight. In this instance, our team worked to re-accommodate the party on the next available flight.”

Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times; Richard Shotwell / Invision/ Associated Press)

Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira are returning to their old stomping grounds next year. NBC’s “Today” show has booked them to be guest hosts in January.

As The Times previously reported, Couric will be back to join Matt Lauer for the week of Jan. 2, filling in for co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, who is on maternity leave.

NBC has also announced that Vieira, who joined the “Today” show to anchor after Couric departed in 2006, will co-host the morning show the following week, starting Jan. 9.

Vieira, who left “Today” in 2011, hosted her own daytime talk show from 2014 to 2016.

Couric and Vieira will be back alongside their old colleague Lauer, who will mark his 20th anniversary with the program in 2017.

Delta Air Lines removed YouTube star Adam Saleh from a recent flight in London.

(David Goldman / Associated Press)

Delta Air Lines finds itself at the center of another passenger controversy, but this time the patron in question has a platform with nearly nearly 4 million subscribers.

YouTube star Adam Saleh, best known for pranking videos, as well as snapshots into how the world treats Muslims, was removed from a Delta flight Wednesday after an incident that Saleh claims was sparked by him speaking Arabic on the plane.

Saleh took video of the immediate aftermath of the encounter, as Delta was trying to remove him from the plane; he continued to livestream the event from the airport.

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Cartoon Network has announced that it will be kicking off 2017 with brand-new episodes of fan-favorite shows including “Steven Universe,” “Adventure Time” and “Regular Show.”

Five new episodes of “Steven Universe” will premiere in a weeklong event kicking off on Jan. 30. Here are the titles and synopses for the upcoming episodes:

• “Steven’s Dream” (Jan. 30): A strange dream prompts Steven to search for answers.
• “Adventures in Light Distortion” (Jan. 30): Steven and the Gems take off on a search and recovery mission.
• “Gem Heist” (Jan. 31): The Gems try to pull off a heist.
• “The Zoo” (Feb. 1): Steven visits a special zoo.
• “That Will Be All” (Feb. 2): Steven and the Gems make a daring escape!

Mordecai, Rigby and the rest of the “Regular Show” gang will jump-start the network’s batch of new episodes with “Kill ‘Em With Kindness” airing Jan. 14. The long-running show will be airing its hourlong series finale, which promises an epic final battle to decide the fate of the universe, on Jan. 16.

“Adventure Time” returns Jan. 23 with a week’s worth of new episodes before kicking off “Islands,” its eight-part miniseries, on Jan. 30. The miniseries, which will see Finn, Jake, BMO and Susan Strong exploring Finn’s mysterious past, will air over four consecutive nights.

New episodes of “Teen Titans Go!” and “Mighty Magiswords” will also premiere Jan. 27.

Wes Anderson has officially announced his new film, an animated feature called “Isle of Dogs.”

While keeping the plot secret in Tuesday’s video announcement, the filmmaker did unveil the movie’s impressive voice cast, which features many of his frequent collaborators.

Joining Anderson in the video was one of the film’s stars, Edward Norton, who shared a little bit about his “Isle of Dogs” role. Norton will be playing one of the “lead dogs” named Rex.

“Isle of Dogs” will also feature Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, Kunichi Nomura, Harvey Keitel, Akira Ito, Akira Takayama, Koyu Rankin, Yoko Ono, Courtney B. Vance, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Bob Balaban and Liev Schreiber.

Anderson fans, of course, may be a bit wary learning that his new project revolves around dogs, considering the director’s track record when it comes to man’s best friend.

“Isle of Dogs” will mark Anderson’s return to animation following 2009’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” the positively received stop-motion animated film based on the Roald Dahl children’s book.

Anderson’s announcement was made in conjunction with his Crowdwise campaign to raise money for the nonprofit Film Foundation.

Watch the video above.

- Video game adaptation “Assassin’s Creed” chases violence across the ages

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Watch Michael Fassbender and more in “Assassin’s Creed.”

- Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are lost in space in the predicable sci-fi thriller “Passengers”

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Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence star in “Passengers,” a film about two people on a journey through space to a new home, awakened from suspended animation 90 years too early when their ship malfunctions.

- Packed with pop tunes, “Sing” discovers the simple fun in putting on a show

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“Sing” trailer

- “Patriots Day” finds Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg at their best in a fine tribute to the people of Boston

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“Patriots Day” is an account of the Boston Marathon bombing.

- Pedro Almodóvar’s radiant melodrama “Julieta” is a work of subdued mastery

MORE: Movie reviews >>

Late-night television’s countdown to Christmas continues. Jimmy Fallon unveiled his most recent a cappella efforts on Tuesday’s “Tonight Show,” tapping the cast of the new animated film “Sing” to cover Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.” The special guests? The Roots and Macca himself.

Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey, Tori Kelly and Seth MacFarlane voice various animals with vocal chops on “Sing.” Arranged as usual in a configuration reminiscent of “The Brady Bunch,” their animated characters also pop up in the segment while they make merry.

The fun rendition of the holiday tune is, of course, kicked up a notch when McCartney joins the party.

In a series of Instagram posts on Monday, Amy Schumer revealed that she had bought back her father’s old farm for him.

“We lost the farm when we lost everything else,” the comedian shared. “But today I got to buy it back for him.”

After her father, Gordon, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, her family went bankrupt when Schumer was a little girl. She also posted a sweet video of herself as a child wandering through a cornfield on the farm.

Aussie actress Margot Robbie made rumor a reality on Monday with an Instagram post confirming that she and longtime love Tom Ackerley did indeed wed over the weekend.

The stunning shot features the newlyweds smooching in the background, with Robbie’s hand in the foreground, extending a single, significant finger.

No, not that one. The other one.

Check out the ring and the lovebirds below.

Actor Tom Arnold is making waves with recent claims that he has outtakes from “The Apprentice” that feature President-elect Donald Trump using inflammatory language.

Arnold, who rose to prominence in the 1990s after his highly publicized marriage to Roseanne Barr and a breakthrough role in “True Lies,” appeared on Seattle radio program “The Dori Monson Show” on Friday and said he had footage of Trump “saying every dirty, every offensive, racist thing ever.”

Monson inquired why he hadn’t leaked the tape, given the response to the Access Hollywood footage that resulted in the firing of Billy Bush.

“When the people sent it to me, it was funny,” Arnold said, explaining that hundreds of people have seen the footage that was sent around years ago as a Christmas video.

“He wasn’t going to be president of the United States. It was him sitting in that chair using the N-word, using the C-word, calling his son [intellectually disabled],” Arnold said.

Arnold then went on to recount the Sunday before the election, allegedly being called by good friend Arnold Schwarzenegger’s CAA agent and Hillary Clinton, asking for him to release the tapes.

But at that point, Arnold asserted that the people originally responsible for the distribution of the footage, two editors and an associate producer, were “scared to death.”

“They were scared of his people. They’re scared they’ll never work again,” said Arnold. “There’s a $5-million confidentiality agreement.”

“If that had gotten released, it absolutely would have finished him,” Monson told Arnold.

Arnold disagreed.

“I think if the people that like him saw him saying the N-word, matter-of-factly saying this stuff, I think they would have liked him more for being politically incorrect,” said Arnold.

Audio of the interview is below, with Arnold’s remarks beginning at the 26-minute mark.

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The trailer for “A Cure For Wellness.”

Gore Verbinski, the visionary director of the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, returns to movie theaters in February with “A Cure for Wellness,” his first release since 2013’s “The Lone Ranger.”

“Wellness” follows a young executive (Dane DeHaan) tasked with retrieving his company’s CEO from a Swiss spa and arriving to find himself consumed by the illness that plagues all patients at the wellness center.

Released Tuesday, the movie’s newest trailer shows what appears to be a greatest-hits mash-up of some of the most memorable psychological thrillers in history, with overtones of “Misery,” “Rear Window,” “The Shining” and “Shutter Island” all colored with a palette akin to the sun-bleached bones of a whale carcass. And it appears to take place at the Swiss branch of the Hotel California.

“A Cure for Wellness” is set to open in theaters Feb. 17.

Reports out of Australia allege that “Suicide Squad” star Margot Robbie married longtime boyfriend Tom Ackerley over the weekend.

(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)

”Suicide Squad” star Margot Robbie might have wed longtime beau Tom Ackerley in a secret ceremony in Byron Bay, Australia, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The couple have been involved since meeting on the set of the movie “Suite Française” in 2013, Ackerley was an assistant director on the film.

Robbie arrived in her home country last week wearing a shirt emblazoned with “Say ‘I Do’ Down Under,” the slogan of Australia’s marriage-equality movement, a wardrobe choice that gains retroactive significance in light of wedding rumors.

“We were friends for so long,” Robbie said of Ackerley in a May interview with Vogue. “I was always in love with him, but I thought, ‘Oh, he would never love me back. Don’t make it weird, Margot. Don’t be stupid and tell him that you like him.’

“And then it happened, and I was like, ‘Of course we’re together. This makes so much sense, the way nothing has ever made sense before,’” Robbie said.

Representatives for Robbie did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Monday morning.

(Mariah Tauger / For The Times)

“Amélie, A New Musical,” which began at Berkeley Repertory Theatre last year, has brought its whimsical magic to the Ahmanson Theatre, where a retooled production starring Phillipa Soo (late of Broadway’s “Hamilton”) had its official opening on Friday.

The show is headed to Broadway in the spring, but L.A. has the timing just right: This fanciful musical is the perfect holiday bauble.

Not much is known about the plot of David Lynch’s upcoming “Twin Peaks” revival, and the show’s latest teaser is no more illuminating. It does, however, feature Lynch eating a doughnut while the “Twin Peaks” theme plays.

Lynch, of course, played hard-of-hearing FBI bureau chief Gordon Cole in the original “Twin Peaks,” as well as in the film “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.”

Showtime’s upcoming limited series will see the return of “Twin Peaks” favorites including Kyle MacLachlan as Special Agent Dale Cooper and Miguel Ferrer as FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield. Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Dana Ashbrook, Bobby Briggs, James Marshall, Russ Tamblyn, Sherilynn Fenn, David Duchovny and Mädchen Amick are also set to return.

“Twin Peaks” will also add some new faces to the fictional town including Laura Dern, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Matthew Lillard, Jim Belushi, Trent Reznor, Eddie Vedder and Sharon Van Etten.

The new “Twin Peaks” series is scheduled to air next year.

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“Blade Runner 2049” features Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto and Harrison Ford.

It’s finally here. The first trailer for director Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming “Blade Runner” sequel has been released, giving fans their first look at the mysterious and very sandy future.

Although the trailer does not reveal much about the plot, the “Blade Runner 2049” synopsis released earlier today explains that it takes place 30 years after the first “Blade Runner” film. Ryan Gosling plays a new blade runner on a journey to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford).

Sylvester Stallone

(Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Mr. Stallone is not headed to Washington.

Sylvester Stallone has squashed speculation sparked by last week’s reports that President-elect Donald Trump was eyeing the actor for chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

“I am incredibly flattered to have been suggested to be involved with the National Endowment [for] the Arts,” Stallone said in a statement released by his publicist. “However I believe I could be more effective by bringing national attention to returning military personnel in an effort to find gainful employment, suitable housing and financial assistance these heroes respectfully deserve.”

Stallone has long been sympathetic to the plight of America’s veterans. Last December, he auctioned off more than 1,400 props and pieces of film memorabilia, raising over $3 million. He donated a portion of the proceeds to charities that assist veterans and wounded military personnel.

In 1982, Stallone starred in “First Blood,” the first film in the “Rambo” series that centered around John Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran who struggled with reacclimating to civilian life after his violent experiences in combat.

The best known of three glamorous sisters from Hungary, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor pioneered a modern version of celebrity: She was famous for being famous.

With the advent of television talk shows, Gabor became a frequent guest as early as the 1950s, charming audiences with her fractured English and slightly risque jokes about her reputation as an oft-married seductress fond of men and money.

“Husbands are like fires. They go out if unattended,” she would say. Or “I want a man who is kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?”

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Wth a last-minute jolt to the 2016 box office, Disney’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” shot past all other competition to land the third-best opening of the year.

The film brought in an estimated $155 million in the U.S. and Canada, surpassing analyst expectations of $140 million to $150 million. “Rogue One” is also a hit internationally, with $135.5 million, which is below analyst expectations of $150 million.

“This is the start you hope for. This is the start you wish for,” said Dave Hollis, Disney’s distribution chief. “We’re ecstatic about the very excited response from audiences.”

With an estimated $200-million production budget, “Rogue One” takes place before the events of George Lucas’ first “Star Wars” film, from 1977, and focuses on a band of rebels who must steal plans for the Death Star. The first spinoff film in the long-running space opera franchise, it stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk, among others.

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First Lady Michelle Obama appears somber in the first footage from her recent interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The first look at the interview aired Friday on “CBS This Morning” and featured Obama reflecting on her husband’s lasting legacy of hope.

“I think that we feel the difference now. See, now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like,” Obama said. “Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept.

“What else do you have, if you don’t have hope?” she posits. “What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?”

“First Lady Michelle Obama Says Farewell to the White House — An Oprah Winfrey Special” caps a momentous year for Obama, who fired up crowds while campaigning for Hillary Clinton. At the time, she was adamant in her refusal to mention Donald Trump by name, a choice she repeats in the sneak-peek interview clip.

Winfrey conducted the first lady’s final one-on-one interview inside the White House on Wednesday, and it will air on CBS at 9 p.m. Monday, with a rebroadcast on OWN on Dec. 21.

Julia Roberts is poised to star in a limited series based on Maria Semple’s novel “Today Will Be Different.”

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Things are about to get very different for Julia Roberts, as the longtime film star transitions to television in a new limited series based on Maria Semple‘s novel “Today Will Be Different,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Semple’s novel centers on Eleanor Flood, who begins her day vowing that she will be her best self, before her life and past begin unspooling before her eyes.

Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures will be producing the project, making it the second adaptation of Semple’s work planned for the company, with Richard Linklater and Cate Blanchett already attached to a film adaptation of her 2012 novel, “Where’d You Go, Bernadette.”

“I’m giddy that Eleanor Flood will be brought to life by Julia Roberts and am elated to collaborate with Megan Ellison, Sue Naegle and the team at Annapurna on this endeavor,” Semple told the Hollywood Reporter. “This will be a fun ride!”

Naegle, president of Annapurna’s newly created TV division, Ellison and Semple will all serve as executive producers on the project, with Roberts producing the series under her Red Om Films banner.

Semple will also tackle adaptation duties for the series, unsurprising given her prior experience working on shows including “Suddenly Susan,” “Mad About You” and “Arrested Development.”

The role marks Roberts’ first extended stint on the small screen, having previously appeared in Ryan Murphy’s HBO TV movie “The Normal Heart,” as well as in episodes of “Friends” and “Law & Order.”

No network is currently attached to the project.

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Maria Semple talks about her book: “Where’d You Go, Bernadette”

(Mike Nelson / EPA)

Ryan Reynolds got a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame on Thursday, rocking the happy family vibe as he and wife Blake Lively brought their kids along for the ride. Gushing, it turns out, was the theme of the day.

Reynolds called out Lively in his acceptance speech, saying, “You’ve made me the father of my dreams, when all I thought I had was ‘fun uncle’ potential.”

And yup, the public got its first long look at their 3-year-old daughter, James, as well as the baby we’ll call the New One (since the couple has yet to reveal the name or verify the gender of the child who arrived this fall -- grr, privacy!).

Before the actor took the mike, “Deadpool” writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernmick gushed all over their action anti-hero, with Reese saying, “He’s not just a great man, he’s a good man.”

Friend and sometime costar Anna Faris had plaudits of her own. “Acting with Ryan is like playing an incredibly intense game of ping-pong,” she said, then went on to describe the experience as “thrilling and terrifying,” which from her definitely sounded like a compliment.

Later, Lively made it clear on Instagram how loverly she felt toward her guy, writing, “Proud is a pitiful word to describe how I felt today. @vancityreynolds The permanence of your impact is undeniable ... Always has been, but now we have a fancy [star] to show for it.”

(Clockwise from top left: Andrew Harnik / Associated Press; FX; Sony Computer Entertainment; A24 Films)

The Los Angeles Times looks back at the year in entertainment and the arts, highlighting the best in movies, music, TV, theater, books, art and more:

MOVIES:

-- “Loving,” “Jackie” and “Hail, Caesar!” were among the year’s best in Kenneth Turan’s opinion

-- “Silence,” “Moonlight,” “Manchester by the Sea” made the cut for Justin Chang’s list

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Kenneth Turan reviews the Jacqueline Kennedy biopic “Jackie,” directed by Pablo Larraín and starring Natalie Portman, who shows us aspects of the the first lady we might not have known before. Video by Jason H. Neubert.

MUSIC:

-- The 10 best albums of a year defined by loss

-- Times music writers pick their favorite songs of 2016

-- Where culture went in 2016, Beyoncé went

Leonard Cohen

(Joel Saget / AFP/Getty Images)

TV:

-- ‘Atlanta,’ ‘Baskets’ and ‘Insecure’ among the best on TV in 2016

-- From ‘Full Frontal’ to ‘Fleabag,’ it was a fertile year for television

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VIDEO: Watch Sterling K. Brown, who plays Christopher Darden, talk about converging with his character in the glove scene of “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”

THEATER:

-- A strong showing for women in an otherwise challenging year...

-- ... and yet ...

FULL COVERAGE: Entertainment 2016: Year in Review

James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke segments have been among the highlights of the fun side of late-night television this year, and it looks like he’s saved one of his best for last.

Donning a festive holiday sweater, Corden has his car loaded with everything you need to celebrate the holidays: gifts, a tree, a Christmas wreath and Mariah Carey. Corden, apparently, has tapped Carey to help with his last-minute Christmas shopping.

“What would be the best gift?” Corden asks the diva. “What would you want for Christmas?”

“I don’t know,” Carey answers, hesitant to ask for anything that might be too expensive. But after some encouragement from Corden, she decides: “I want you to sing my song ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You.’”

And Corden delivers.

Not long after Carey and “The Late Late Show” host suddenly break out into the popular Christmas tune, the video cuts to various past Carpool Karaoke guests also singing along.

The segment was obviously long in the works. Corden enlisted Adele, Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas, Elton John, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Chris Martin, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Gwen Stefani. And clearly they’re all having a blast with the holiday chestnut, even if most of them can’t hit that high note at the end. (Not even Adele!)

Watch the full segment above.

Sylvester Stallone, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts? Perhaps.

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

The next chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts might have the soul of an artist and the eye of the tiger.

The DailyMail.com reported Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump was looking to appoint veteran action star Sylvester Stallone to the position overseeing the NEA.

The endowment was created in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress to preserve the country’s artistic traditions while cultivating an environment for culture to thrive.

In January, Stallone expressed his admiration for Trump, even as he admitted that the businessman’s personality might not translate to running the free world.

“I love Donald Trump,” Stallone told Variety. “He’s a great Dickensian character. You know what I mean?

“There are certain people like Arnold [Schwarzenegger], Babe Ruth, that are bigger than life. But I don’t know how that translates to running the world,” Stallone said.

Appointing Stallone, which requires confirmation by Congress, would continue Trump’s evolution from “deplorables” to “Expendables,” with Schwarzenegger, Stallone’s co-star from the film series, taking over hosting duties for Trump when “The New Celebrity Apprentice” debuts in January.

Stallone might seem like an unconventional choice for the position, but he would not be the first actor to fill the role. Four-time Oscar and eight-time Emmy nominee Jane Alexander (“Warm Springs,” “Testament”) served as NEA chairperson under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.

Representatives for Stallone did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Friday morning.

Mahershala Ali

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Oscar front-runner Mahershala Ali has garnered overwhelming praise for his supporting actor performance in “Moonlight,” and the accolades keep coming.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival announced Friday that Ali will be presented with the Breakthrough Performance Award at its annual Film Awards Gala on Jan. 2.

“Mahershala Ali is one of the most in-demand actors in film and television,” festival chairman Harold Matzner said in a statement.

“Ali gives one of the best supporting performances of the year in ‘Moonlight’ as Juan, a Miami drug dealer who opens his doors to Little when he sees the boy being chased through the streets by a gang,” he added. “For this role that has already received several awards and is sure to receive many more, it is our honor to present the Breakthrough Performance Award to Mahershala Ali.”

Though Ali has been on the radar of the film and TV industry since his role as Dr. Trey Sanders on NBC’s “Crossing Jordan” in 2001, he has had a banner year in 2016, with a role on Netflix’s “Luke Cage” series, as well as in the upcoming film “Hidden Figures.”

Past recipients of the Breakthrough Performance Award include Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Hudson, Brie Larson and Lupita Nyong’o, all of whom went on to win the Academy Award for their recognized performances.

Other actors and films being celebrated at this year’s festival include Annette Bening, Amy Adams, Casey Affleck, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Ruth Negga and the casts of “La La Land” and “Hidden Figures.”

The Palm Springs International Film Festival is set for Jan. 2-16 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

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WATCH: Supporting actor Oscar nominee Mahershala Ali talks about his surprise and delight in recognizing traits of people he’s known in the script for “Moonlight.”

Naughty Dog’s “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” takes the series on a more personal path.

(Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment)

This was supposed to be the year that virtual reality went mainstream, but a little game called “Pokemon Go” crashed the party. The mobile title became a sensation — albeit briefly — and brought augmented reality to the populace. That is, it used digital trickery to insert little Pokemon critters into the real world, no goggles required.

Of all the popular media, games are where technology continues to be a primary driving factor. And for all the flashiness of PlayStation VR or the Oculus Rift, mobile continues to dominate. In addition to “Pokemon Go,” another title associated with Nintendo, “Super Mario Run,” is poised to own December, with some estimating the game to secure more than 50 million downloads after its mid-month launch.

The virtual reality revolution will have to wait.

For now, the best games are still those that don’t require a headset. Today, three years into the current console generation of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, developers, as evident by titles such as “Mafia III” and “Dishonored 2,” are pushing just as heavily on character and social commentary as they are tech. Race, class and even cancer are now topics games have touched, if not yet fully conquered.

Read More

Felicity Jones

(Jay L. Clendinin / Los Angeles Times)

Despite the media and fan excitement generated by the consecutive casting of a female lead in the two most recent “Star Wars” movies, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” star Felicity Jones seems politely unsurprised.

“I’m asked a lot, ‘Oh, my God. It’s a female lead.’ I sort of feel like, if it was a giraffe leading it, then that would be a weird point of conversation,” Jones says. While the rest of Hollywood is still struggling to diversify their call sheets, Jones has already moved on to the next phase, where casting a woman in an action movie is old news.

“It would be very unusual to have a giraffe as the lead,” Jones repeats with such calm sincerity that it makes the listener unsure if it’s OK to make jokes about how a giraffe would fit into the Millennium Falcon.

In the midst of a whirlwind “Star Wars” press tour, Jones has stopped for a brisk tea at the Hotel Bel-Air, just a few hours before she and the rest of the “Rogue One” cast will climb out of a life-size X-Wing spacecraft on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” For someone who is mere moments from climbing out of a giant spaceship in heels on television, she’s collected, focused and unafraid to challenge the very premise of my questions.

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For nearly 40 years, the “Star Wars” franchise has been targeted at all ages, from the youngest padawans to the most grizzled Jedi masters. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 1977, shortly before the release of “A New Hope,” George Lucas said he thought of the film — which was initially rated G until its studio backers asked for a less kiddie-sounding PG — as “a movie Disney would have made when Walt Disney was alive,” sagely predicting: “If I make money, it will be from the toys.”

The latest installment in the franchise, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” which hits theaters Friday, is something a bit different. As the title suggests, it’s gone slightly rogue.

The story of a secret Rebel mission to steal the plans to the Empire’s Death Star, “Rogue One” is the first film in the franchise that truly leans into the “wars” in “Star Wars,” featuring a kind of visceral violence, un-glossy naturalism and moral complexity unlike anything ever seen before in Lucas’ space opera. The film carries the same PG-13 rating as last year’s “The Force Awakens,” but you’d have to reach back to 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back” to find a “Star Wars” movie this darkly hued.

Read More

Bang, zoom, CBS may go back to the moon.

Bob Kushell, the man behind the development of ABC’s reboot of “The Muppets,” has been tapped to write the script, as well as executive produce, a modern take on the beloved 1950s television series “The Honeymooners,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The rebooted series will again focus on two couples, both friends and neighbors, one of whom divorced before reconciling four years later.

CBS continues to try its hand at reboots, despite finding varied levels of success with them. The network canceled “Rush Hour” in May after a single, lackluster season and declined to exercise its option for more episodes of Season 3 of “The Odd Couple.” But a strong reception for recently rebooted “MacGyver” seems to be holding the network’s interest in revivals.

It remains unclear how “The Honeymooners” will fare with modern audiences, given that they might be a bit more circumspect at the prospect of a sitcom protagonist threatening to pop his wife in the mouth.

With 2016 coming to a close, The Times’ film writers have compiled their Top 10 favorite releases of the year.

-- “Loving,” “Jackie” and “Hail, Caesar!” were among the year’s best in Kenneth Turan’s opinion

-- “Silence,” “Moonlight,” “Manchester by the Sea” made the cut for Justin Chang’s list

-- Mark Olsen’s choices were notable for the way they explored issues between men and women

- Powerhouse performances can’t separate Denzel Washington’s “Fences” from its stage roots

- “Collateral Beauty” finds Will Smith at the center of a maudlin, manipulative holiday-themed sympathy card

- “Rogue One” adds an uneven but thrilling wrinkle to the mythology of “Star Wars”

- Pablo Larraín’s “Neruda” is a richly imagined biographical fantasia

- “Barry” is the amiably low-key, mostly imagined portrait of the man who would be president

- Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn roar through the lovingly restored Oscar winner “The Lion in Winter”

MORE MOVIE REVIEWS >>

Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by “The Tonight Show” Wednesday evening to chat about the pending debut of “The New Celebrity Apprentice” and swap faces with host Jimmy Fallon.

Schwarzenegger and Fallon used Snapchat to conduct a portion of the interview, which resulted in a delightful moment when the “Predator” star couldn’t stop giggling at his own deer face.

Eventually, Fallon asked the tough questions like, “What do you want for Christmas?” and Schwarzenegger, while using the puppy filter, gave the most perfect answer of all time: “A six-slice toaster.”

What Fallon did not inquire about during Schwarzenegger’s interview was how the rebooted “Apprentice” series would operate in light of past star Donald Trump’s rise to supreme leader.

It’s logical for Fallon to avoid the matter, given that both “Tonight Show” and “Apprentice” are broadcast on NBC, who’s currently dealing with fallout from news that Trump would remain an executive producer on his former series, as well as Fallon’s own history of hair-tousling with the president-elect.

Not to fear, though. Fallon did ask Schwarzenegger what his version of Trump’s catchphrase, “You’re fired,” would be. Drawing on his film career, Schwarzenegger decided on, “You’re fired, get to the chopper!”

Freshen up those playlists. Times writers pick their favorite songs of the year, including tunes from Drake, Beyonce, Mitski, Leonard Cohen and more.

Read More

Dolly Parton talks with Kenny Alphin, center, and John Rich of Big & Rich during tapings for the “Smoky Mountains Rise Telethon” on Dec. 13.

(Mark Humphrey / Associated Press)

Dolly Parton’s three-hour “Smoky Mountains Rise Telethon” to benefit the victims of wildfires in and around Gatlinburg, Tenn., raised millions on Tuesday night.

The Pigeon Forge, Tenn., native helmed the effort on behalf of the Dollywood Foundation’s My People Fund, which provides $1,000 a month for up to six months to families in Sevier County who lost their homes to the fires in late November. Fourteen people died and more than 2,400 homes were destroyed, with total damage estimated around $500 million.

Performers on the show, which was held in Nashville, included Big & Rich, Reba McEntire, Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Hank Williams Jr., Cyndi Lauper and more. Kiefer Sutherland, Locash, Amy Grant and Willie Geist were among those who shot PSAs on behalf of the effort, and Paula Deen and DeMarco Murray could be seen working the phones.

A lot of cash was already been banked before the curtains went up: $100,000 from the Academy of Country Music was matched by Taylor Swift, and $125,000 from the Country Music Assn. was matched by eastern Tennessee native Kenny Chesney, according to Dollywood.

An additional $250,000 in relief from Chesney and the CMA will go “where need is the greatest,” the association said last week. The telethon, which was broadcast on several channels and streamed online and on radio, aimed to bring in $13 million.

Parton told the Associated Press she expected to be “devastated” when she returned home at Christmas and paid a visit to the fire zone.

“We are mountain tough,” she said. “They have to be tough. ... That’s why it is so important, because all of these people, even though they are not blood kin, they really do feel like my people.”