Author: Reporter

Actor Diana-Maria Riva is all too familiar with one of her shows being canceled. For a performer, it is a painful, unfortunate part of show business. But this was different. In December, Riva was floored when she found out that “Gordita Chronicles,” her recently canceled family comedy, would be removed from HBO Max’s vast streaming library — one of dozens of shows that HBO last year effectively wiped from existence for U.S. viewers. Among others: “Westworld,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” “Minx,” “Mrs. Fletcher” and numerous animated and reality series. For Riva, the developments were crushing. Over 10 episodes, the...

Makoto Shinkai was never the same filmmaker after the 2011 earthquake stuck Japan. When the tsunami and quake ravaged the Tōhoku region of northern Japan and prompted a nuclear meltdown, Shinkai, a now 50-year-old director and animator of some of the most popular anime features in the world, could feel his sense of storytelling crumbling. “The shock to me was that the daily life that we had become accustomed to in Japan can suddenly be severed without any warning whatsoever,” says Shinkai. “I had this odd, foreboding feeling that that could happen again and again. I began to think...

Picture May 17, 2001. In the final seconds of the season seven finale of “Friends,” Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel reveals she was pregnant. But who’s the father? This was a classic May sweeps cliffhanger, luring viewers and reaping advertising dollars for NBC. Most shows used to kick off in the fall, air big episodes in November and February, and go out with a bang in May. Baby announcements, marriage proposals and sudden deaths were just a few of the popular plot twists used in spring season finales to hook viewers and build anticipation for the fall season. Network television still...

NATO allies and partner countries have delivered more than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine during Russia’s invasion and war, the military alliance’s chief said on April 27, giving Kyiv a bigger punch as it contemplates launching a counteroffensive. Along with more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, Ukraine’s allies have sent “vast amounts of ammunition” and also trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. More than 30,000 troops are estimated to make up the new brigades. Some NATO partner countries, such as Sweden and Australia, have...