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Quick LinksMark Wahlberg's Role and the Plot of 'The Substitute'Why Mark Wahlberg Avoided TV for the Movies

Mark Wahlberg is one of the few people who have successfully made the career jump from rapping to acting. The Hollywood A-lister has come a long way from his time as part of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Today, he's appeared in dozens of movies across a 30+ year acting career. He recently headlined the action-thriller flick Flight Risk. However, in that three-decade span, Wahlberg only had one role in a scripted television program. Believe it or not, it was his very first role.

Wahlberg's first credited appearance came with 1993's television film The Substitute. He played Ryan Westerberg, a student who encounters a substitute teacher with a dark side. While obscure today, the role was the launching pad for Wahlberg's eventual leading-man career status. But why has he never made a return to TV?...

Prime Video is partnering up with Mark Wahlberg’s Unrealistic Ideas for a new docuseries, titled “Spy High.”

The four-part series, which is set to debut at SXSW, follows 15-year-old Blake Robbins, who filed a lawsuit claiming that his prestigious public school was spying on him when he was accused of selling drugs, per the official logline. Through Robbins’ story, the docuseries will explore the larger war over digital privacy being waged in schools today.

After debuting at South by Southwest in March, “Spy High” will begin streaming on Prime Video in April.

Wahlberg will executive produce alongside Unrealistic Ideas’ Archie Gips and Stephen Levinson. Aliza Rosen (“The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey”), Jody McVeigh-Schultz and David Wendell will also serve as EPs for the series, which is produced by Amazon MGM Studios.

“We’re proud to bring this important and thought-provoking docuseries, which explores the events that unfolded in 2010, to our global Prime Video customers,...

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HBO’s buzzy “Chimp Crazy” has become the premium network’s most-watched docuseries in four years, behind 2020 series “McMillions.”

The series, which premiered Aug. 18, debuted its second episode this Sunday to an audience of 350,000 viewers across HBO, Max and other viewing platforms, according to internal Warner Bros. Discovery viewing figures. In just its second week, its series premiere has tallied up 2.3 million cross platform viewers.

“Chimp Crazy” hails from director Eric Goode, who also served as a director on Netflix’s “Tiger King,” which became a streaming sensation in 2020.

Prior to the debut of “Chimp Crazy” Episode 2 at 10 p.m. Et/Pt, “Industry” also made a splash with the third episode of its Season 3, which scored 370,000 cross platform viewers as it aired at 9 p.m. Et/Pt. Season 3 Episode...

Exclusive: Apple’s move into original podcast continues with a new focus on scams.

The tech company, which runs its original podcast operation through its Apple TV+ division, is launching Scamtown from James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, the directors of HBO docuseries McMillion$ and Apple’s The Big Conn.

Scamtown will explore a different scam each episodes featuring a mix of wild hustles, surprising heists, forbidden love and explosive moments, with stories told by both the creators and the individuals who lived through them. This includes telemarketing scams targeting senior citizens, an arsonist setting fire to the city of Boston, the Italian Mafia’s downfall over olive oil and the escapades of a rare book thief.

The 11-part series is produced by FunMeter, the production company founded by Hernandez and Lazarte, who exec produce. It launches on August 26.

It is the latest original podcast for Apple, which has previously...

The MoviePass moment was an extraordinary one. Between 2017 and 2018, the company offered a service that granted subscribers admission to one theatrical movie per day for $9.95 per month. At the time, it felt too good to be true, because the business model seemed like it made no sense. And it didn’t – the service flamed out in spectacular fashion by 2019 after burning through hundreds of millions of dollars.

The story of MoviePass’ dramatic rise and fall is the subject of “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” a new documentary that premieres on HBO and Max on May 29.

HBO released a trailer for the documentary today, which promises a “Fyre Fraud”-style look at what went wrong. It’s a story of hubris, excess, and betrayal, and as a moviegoer, it will make you nostalgic for a moment in the relatively recent past that feels so long gone but was so fun while it was happening.

Exclusive: The Unrealistic Ideas documentary about the FBI’s takedown of USC football player-turned-drug kingpin Owen Hanson we first told you about is currently filming as a docuseries for Amazon Sports.

Jody McVeigh-Schultz is directing and Adam Ridley is producing for Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Archie Gips’ Unrealistic Ideas, we’ve been told.

Hanson began dealing recreational drugs and steroids to teammates in college during the early 2000s, ultimately building a violent empire that spanned U.S., Central and South America and Australia. Arrested in September 2015 and sentenced in late 2017 to more than 21 years in federal prison, Hanson was ordered to pay a $5M criminal forfeiture, which included $100K in gold coins, luxury vehicles, jewelry, vacation homes, a sailboat and interests in several businesses. The FBI teamed with the New South Wales Police Force in Australia to nab Hanson and uncovered an illegal sports-gambling, money-laundering and drug-trafficking enterprise of...

Mark Wahlberg became a movie producer out of necessity, tired of playing second fiddle to established stars like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Wahlberg has found success as an executive producer, with notable productions including Entourage and Boardwalk Empire. He has proven his talent both in front of and behind the camera, showing that he can create his own destiny in the film industry.

Mark Wahlberg reveals that he became a movie producer because he became tired of taking a backseat to fellow mega-stars like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. The 52-year-old who initially started his illustrious career as a rapper ventured into acting in the early 90s, starring in Penny Marshall’s comedy film Renaissance Man and then later in the psychological thriller Fear. By the 2010s, Wahlberg had become a bona fide movie star, boasting numerous notable awards and a robust catalog of films and shows across multiple genres,...

Fortune and Mark Wahlberg’s Unrealistic Ideas are getting into the scrum of Ftx projects, planning a doc focused on the relationship between embattled Ftx founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “Cz” Zhao, one of Bankman-Fried’s most vocal critics.

The project is described as a “personal examination of the relationship between Sbf, who grew up in a prominent politically connected family of academics and Cz, who came from more modest circumstances having fled from China to Canada with his family when he was twelve. The two became dominant figures in the cryptocurrency scene and developed a unique association that positioned them alternately as allies and rivals. Bankman-Fried sought a high profile for Ftx that hinged on celebrity endorsements and political influence while Zhao focused on a more austere approach to building Binance.”

Bankman-Fried and Zhao both rose to prominence in the cryptocurrency boom and quickly established an adversarial back-and-forth.

MoviePass, the subscription moviegoing service whose spectacular fall after a buzzy start ended in liquidation two years ago, is set to return on Labor day in beta form with a new tiered pricing system.

The subscription service will reopen on Thursday, August 25, with a waitlist posted on its website at 9 a.m. Et where cinemagoers wishing to join the beta version can sign up, the company confirmed to Deadline.

The waitlist will be open for five days and it will be free to sign-up on a first come, first served basis, according to Business Insider’s Jason Guerrasio who first reported the news. The first batch of successful applicants will be notified on Labor Day when they will be offered three subscription price tiers.

The prices will range between 10, 20, or 30 a month and each subscription option will give the user credits to cash in each month to see movies. There...

Exclusive: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Archie Gips’ production company Unrealistic Ideas is teaming with producer Van Echeverri for a documentary feature about the FBI’s takedown of USC football player-turned-drug kingpin Owen Hanson.

“Unrealistic Ideas has a strong track record in the true-crime space, and the story of Owen Hanson jumped out at us,” said Unrealistic Ideas President/Partner Gips. “This is a working-class guy who worked hard to get into USC and then used the business skills he gained through his education there to create a global drug empire. We’re looking to explore how that happened and how it all fell apart.”

Hanson began dealing recreational drugs and steroids to teammates in college during the early 2000s, ultimately building a violent empire that operated in U.S., Central and South America and Australia. Arrested in September 2015 and sentenced in late 2017 to more than 21 years in federal prison,...

Directors James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte discuss the movies that inspired them while making The Big Conn.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Boogie Nights (1997)

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Happiness (1998)

World’s Greatest Dad (2009)

Windy City Heat (2003)

Ocean’s 11 (1960)

Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Bad Boys (1995)

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Munich (2005)

Fargo (1996)

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Delicatessen (1991)

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013)

The Hole (2009) – Joe Dante’s U.S. trailer commentary, Joe Dante’s Italian trailer commentary, Joe Dante’s British trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review

Dial M For Murder (1954) – Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary

Jaws 3D (1983)

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)

U2 3D (2008)

The Pink Panther (1963) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

Goodfellas (1990) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Children of Men (2006)

The Imposter (2012)

Other Notable Items

The Big Conn podcast (2022)

The Big Conn docuseries (2022)

Bronzeville...

James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte brought us the riveting HBO docuseries “McMillions,” about an ex-cop who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game promotion for a decade; and their latest, and first project under their FunMeter banner, “The Big Conn,” is now streaming on Apple TV+. “The Big Conn,” which just launched a companion podcast, is also about a real-life account of a massive con — in this case, run by Kentucky lawyer Eric C. Conn, who pillaged Social Security funds. But FunMeter isn’t confined to what Hernandez called “quirky fraud cases,” with upcoming forays into the worlds of sports and music. The partners are also opening their doors to other filmmakers as producers, with a number of yet-to-be-announced projects in the works. “With our company, we always saw it as, ‘Here’s an opportunity for us to help other filmmakers and other producers and other directors,'” Lazarte told...

Convicted felon Eric C. Conn certainly lived up to his name.

The small-town Kentucky attorney, who described himself as a “wealthy and flamboyant lawyer,” defrauded the U.S. government of more than half a billion dollars in the biggest scam ever perpetrated against the Social Security Administration. His scheme funded a lifestyle that took him to ports of call around the globe, where—again, by his own description—his exploits rivaled James Bond as he “pursued the world’s most beautiful women.”

“You’re dealing with a guy that doesn’t have a moral compass,” noted a lawyer who once represented Conn. “You can’t get mad at a snake for being a snake. It is what it is.”

That observation is proffered in the new documentary series The Big Conn, which began streaming on Apple TV+ over the weekend. The four-part Emmy contender comes from James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte,...

Writer-directors James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte recognize a good old-fashioned scam story when they see one.

Their 2020 Emmy-nominated documentary series McMillion$ revealed how a former police officer managed to rig McDonald’s big-bucks Monopoly game in the 1990s. Their new docuseries for Apple TV+, The Big Conn, delves into an even bigger fraud. They first learned of the story from Peter King, a fellow executive producer on the project.

Contenders TV Docs + Unscripted — Deadline’s Complete Coverage

“We had dinner with him, and he said, ‘Hey, I heard about this interesting lawyer from this really small town in Kentucky, and it looks like he stole about $550 million,’” Hernandez recalled during an appearance at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary and Unscripted event. “We started looking into it, and the rabbit hole just went deeper and deeper and more insane and more outlandish.”

The convicted fraudster, aptly named Eric C. Conn, cooked...

One of my favorite composers who has made a musical splash on the film score scene is Pinar Toprak. Being a collector of scores, whether it be TV of film, I’m a huge fan of hers and she has quickly become an active and reinvigorating composer in Hollywood. Toprak wrote the fantastic scores for DC’s Stargirl on The CW, and Sy-fy’s Superman prequel series Krypton.

Today, Variety reported: “on Sunday she (Toprak) will be onstage at the Dolby conducting the Oscar orchestra for Billie Eilish’s performance of “No Time to Die.” Details about Sunday are otherwise under wraps. It’s said to be a new arrangement of the Oscar-nominated James Bond theme, and Eilish’s co-writer and sibling Finneas is expected to be onstage too. Toprak couldn’t comment.“

Review: http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2022/03/the-lost-city-2022-review/

LA-La Land Records and Paramount Music has released Toprak’s...

“Fuller House,” which until now could only be seen via streaming on Netflix, is coming to linear TV.

Gac Family has become the cable TV home for “Fuller House.” All 75 episodes of “Fuller House” will begin airing on Gac Family Feb. 28, following an agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. The series will join the original “Full House,” which started airing on Gac Family earlier in February.

“Fuller House” continues the stories from “Full House” — with new and returning characters including D.J. Tanner-Fuller (Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin), Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber), Ramona (Soni Nicole Bringas), Jackson (Michael Champion), Max (Elias Harger) and Tommy Jr. (Messitt Twins). John Stamos produces “Fuller House” and makes guest appearances along with Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, Lori Loughlin and Scott Weinger.

Also in today’s TV news roundup:

Greenlights

• Apple TV Plus has announced “The Big Conn,” a new true crime...

HBO's The Murders at Starved Rock investigates the trial of Chester Weger, the only suspect considered in the 1960 Illinois case involving the brutal bludgeoning deaths of three Chicago women, Mildred Lindquist, 50, Frances Murphy, 47, and Lillian Oetting, 50.

While Weger was convicted, there have been questions about the case in the decades following his conviction, which deeply divided the nearby residents.

We had the chance to chat with director Jody McVeigh-Schultz to get insight into his process and much more.

Hi, Jody. It's nice to meet you.

Hi. Good to meet you, too.

How long have you been interested in the documentary film process?

For a long time, probably since my brother showed me Roger and Me, way back when I was a kid. Yeah. I've always been interested in documentaries, and I was lucky enough to get shown some really offbeat documentaries early on by people older than me.

And yeah,...

Exclusive: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Archie Gips’ production company Unrealistic Ideas has taken the rights to bestselling author Mark Shaw’s non-fiction book, Collateral Damage: The Mysterious Deaths of Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Kilgallen and the Ties That Bind Them to Robert Kennedy and the JFK Assassination. Unrealistic Ideas plans to develop the IP into a documentary feature film.

In his book, Shaw, a noted historian, former criminal defense attorney and TV network legal analyst connects the dots between the three 20th century icons for the first time, finally providing an intriguing, well-documented and credible account of how Monroe and Kilgallen were denied justice when they mysteriously died in the 1960s. Shaw uses fresh evidence garnered from more than 100 primary-source witnesses, while retrieving clues from secret government reports and a flawed autopsy to reveal that then Attorney General Robert Kennedy was the main suspect in orchestrating Marilyn Monroe’s death.

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“Dune” is here! The highly anticipated sci-fi flick arrived on HBO Max on Thursday at 6pm Et, the same time theatrical screenings got underway. Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, David Bautista, and Jason Momoa star in the film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s best-selling novels.

Academy Award-nominated director Denis Villeneuve helmed the film centered around Paul Atreides (Chalamet), an heir of the planet Caladan who, along with his father Leto Atreides and others, gains ownership of the deserted and dangerous planet of Arrakis (also known as Dune), home to a priceless spice that extends human life and unlocks your greatest potential. Along the way, the group’s mission is hampered by conflict,...

Religious cults and convenience scams are siblings, united by charismatic leaders, credulous followers and ideological sleight of hand. They’re also unified in having seemingly been the subjects of every other longform documentary produced for streaming or cable in the past few years.

While some of the documentaries in this sphere have been set in the past — see Murder Among the Mormons, McMillion$ and various docs tied to Heaven’s Gate, Peoples Temple and more — the most burgeoning subgenre here seems to lurch haltingly and misleading from the internet, the primordial ooze where all human truth, and endless prevarications, find ...

Religious cults and convenience scams are siblings, united by charismatic leaders, credulous followers and ideological sleight of hand. They’re also unified in having seemingly been the subjects of every other longform documentary produced for streaming or cable in the past few years.

While some of the documentaries in this sphere have been set in the past — see Murder Among the Mormons, McMillion$ and various docs tied to Heaven’s Gate, Peoples Temple and more — the most burgeoning subgenre here seems to lurch haltingly and misleading from the internet, the primordial ooze where all human truth, and endless prevarications, find ...

From starting as the rapper "Marky Mark" to executive producing the recent series McMillions, Mark Wahlberg has been recognized for his tv, film, and acting work. However, Wahlberg is documenting his new business ventures while balancing his busy film schedule.

Related: Mark Wahlberg's 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

In the HBO Max Originals Wahl Street, subscribers can follow Wahlberg alongside his team members with advice from successful CEOs about entrepreneurship while building seven brands. Wahl Street also presents the first steps to start your business to even handling your start-up team during unpredictable circumstances like a global pandemic.

The Producers Guild of America Awards were handed out during a virtual ceremony on Wednesday, March 24. Throughout their 31-year history, the PGA has proven to be one of the most successful Oscar bellwethers around. A whopping 21 of their picks have gone onto win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. That success rate flows from the fact that both the guild and the academy use the same voting system – the preferential ballot – to determine a winner. Scroll down for the 2021 Producers Guild of America Awards winners list.

This year, seven out of the 10 PGA contenders earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture: “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Mank,” “Minari,” “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman,” “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” The eighth Best Picture Oscar nominee – “The Father” – was missing from the PGA lineup, with “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “One Night in Miami” rounding out the guild’s top 10 list.

Apple TV Plus has ordered a docuseries from the team behind “McMillion$,” Emmy-nominated filmmakers James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, about the memorable 1996 TV commercial that advertised a Harrier Jet in exchange for seven million Pepsi points. Hernandez and Lazarte will direct and executive produce “The Jet” through their FunMeter banner.

The Jet” will tell the true story behind the “Drink Pepsi, Get Stuff” promotional campaign and the events that transpired after someone attempted to cash in their Pepsi points for a Harrier fighter jet.

Apple TV Plus, launched November 2019, is home to several award-winning docuseries and documentary films including A24’s “Boy State” directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss; the Grammy Award-nominated “Beastie Boys Story,” R.J. Cutler’s “Dear…”; the GLAAD Media Award-nominated “Visible Out on Television”; the recently-released “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry; Wener Herzog’s Critics Choice Documentary Award-nominee “Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds.

Apple has ordered a docuseries about the story behind that infamous ’90s Pepsi campaign that advertised a Harriet Jet as a prize — and you won’t need any Pepsi Points to watch it, just an Apple TV+ subscription.

Per the streaming service’s description, “The Jet” tells the compelling true story behind the iconic “Drink Pepsi, Get Stuff” promotional campaign that presented a Harrier Jet at the end of a 1996 TV commercial in exchange for 7 million Pepsi Points.

The docuseries, which comes from the Emmy-nominated filmmakers of HBO’s “McMillion$,” James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, “promises to be an entertaining and nostalgic deep dive into 1990s pop culture and the events that transpired after someone attempted to cash in their points for a Harrier fighter jet.”

That someone was John Leonard, who ended up suing PepsiCo, Inc. in a contracts case tried in 1999, in an attempt to effort to...

The directors behind HBO’s McMillion$ are tackling another docuseries that sits at the intersection of junk food and commerce.

James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte will direct and executive produce The Jet for Apple TV+. The series will delve into Pepsi’s 1990s promotional campaign that allowed consumers to trade in “Pepsi Points” for merchandise like T-shirts, leather jackets and other items.

Ads for the “Buy Pepsi, Get Stuff” campaign also featured a Harrier II jump jet available for 7 million points. When a man actually managed to gather that many points, it led to a court case over ...

The directors behind HBO’s McMillion$ are tackling another docuseries that sits at the intersection of junk food and commerce.

James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte will direct and executive produce The Jet for Apple TV+. The series will delve into Pepsi’s 1990s promotional campaign that allowed consumers to trade in “Pepsi Points” for merchandise like T-shirts, leather jackets and other items.

Ads for the “Buy Pepsi, Get Stuff” campaign also featured a Harrier II jump jet available for 7 million points. A man tried to cash in that many points, leading to a court case over whether ...

It took the calendar hitting March, but the heart of awards season has finally arrived. The Oscar nominations are announced on March 15, days after the BAFTA Awards reveal its 2021 nominees. On March 24, the Producers Guild of America will hand out the 2021 PGA Awards, an often very reliable Best Picture indicator. Here’s everything to know about the 32nd annual PGA Awards, including the date of the ceremony and who is nominated.

When are the PGA Awards?

The 2021 PGA Awards will be announced on Wednesday, March 24. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the event was delayed and shifted to a virtual setting. Said PGA presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher in a joint statement earlier this year, “Our 2021 PGA Awards will look different than previous years with a shift to a virtual presentation, but we’re excited by the opportunity to put on our show in a more accessible, personal, and entirely new way.

At long last the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced its final batch of television nominees for the 2021 PGA Awards, providing a buzzy boost for shows looking to gain a foothold in the 2021 Emmy race, as well as revisiting some Emmy darlings from 2020.

Both the drama and comedy series categories saw a lot of turnover from last year’s PGA nominations. In drama, current Emmy favorite, Netflix’s”The Crown,” was the lone holdover from 2020. The same goes for Pop TV’s “Schitt’s Creek” in comedy series. But perhaps the most exciting aspect of today’s nominations is that both categories have the potential to crown a series that has never before won a PGA Award, creating an opportunity to honor a new generation of TV’s best shows.

Several freshman series also nabbed nominations from the PGA for their first seasons, including Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,...

Exclusive: Mark Wahlberg’s Unrealistic Ideas, the company behind HBO’s Emmy-nominated McMillions, is taking another deep dive into the absurdities of greed with the story behind the rise and fall of MoviePass. Unrealistic Ideas has teamed with Assemble Media and Insider (formerly Business Insider) to develop a premium limited docuseries chronicling the demise of the famed movie-ticket subscription service.

The docuseries is based on Insider reporter Jason Guerrasio’s award-winning coverage of the rise and fall of the company. Guerrasio’s reports chronicled MoviePass’ explosive growth in 2017 after offering unlimited theatrical movies for just $9.95 a month, through its downfall.

“Employing a sexy price to turbo-charge subscriber growth, the investors who took over the company sought the rapid success experienced by high-flying startups like WeWork and Uber. But through over-the-top parties, inexplicable mismanagement, and questionable behind-the-scenes deals, the new leadership of MoviePass slowly alienated its customers and shuttered its service...

It’s that time of year again. While some directors annually share their favorite films of the year, Steven Soderbergh lists everything he consumed, media-wise. For 2020––a year in which he not only Let Them All Talk Review: Steven Soderbergh’s Most Emotionally Resonant Film in Years”>released a new film, but No Sudden Move and Confirms The Knick Return”>shot another––he still got plenty of watching in.

His list includes months-early screenings of Mank (x4!), I’m Your Woman, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Cherry, and The Woman in the Window, as well no shortage of classics and recent favorites, including Time, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Assistant, two films in the Small Axe anthology, and more. After beginning production on No Sudden Move on September 28, he also screened the first cut on November 14.

Check out the list below via his official site.

01/01 Les Miserables (’19)

01/02 Cassandra at the Wedding,...

Critically speaking, there might be shows that exist to give some of these a run for the money.

But this year calls for a slightly different way of determining the best. Our souls are on the line, as is our sanity.

These shows address both our sanity and our souls with brilliant casts and fast-moving stories that surprise, comfort, and fascinate in meaningful ways. Excellent production values drive these series to the very top of the list of the best on TV for 2020.

Check out our picks below(in alphabetical order!).

Better Things (FX)

When I reviewed Better Things Season 4 in March, I called it perfection. That still stands.

Creator and star Pamela Adlon doesn't shy away from life's ugly little secrets. Instead, she embraces them with nuanced beauty that makes her on-screen family feel like our family.

There's not much better than that.

The Boys (Amazon)

The Boys Season...

HBO isn't just home to our favorite fictional shows like Insecure and Euphoria; it's also known for its powerful documentaries. In 2020 alone, the network released a bevy of insightful projects - including Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, McMillions, and I'll Be Gone in the Dark - and its latest documentary, The Vow, has sure left us with plenty of questions.

The Vow pulls back the curtain on Nxivm (a sex cult and a pyramid scheme that operated under the guise of a self-help group) and its founder Keith Raniere. The secret organization attracted followers such as celebrities and other public figures with promises of connection, compassion, and love. However, in March 2018, Raniere was arrested on several charges including racketeering, sex trafficking, and forced labor conspiracy. A year later, he was convicted on all seven of the charges brought, and he faces a potential life sentence.

Related: The Vow: Nxivm...

He’s won six NBA championships and is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time and tonight Michael Jordan helped the team behind ESPN’s The Last Dance win an Emmy.

The Last Dance beat Netflix’s Tiger King, Hulu’s Hillary, PBS’ American Masters and HBO’s McMillion$ to win Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.

The category was one of the most competitive at this year’s Creative Arts Emmys and Jordan, a man who knows how to win, helped the team get over the line.

The battle was particularly competitive this year since Netflix’s series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, starring Joe Exotic and his cast of animal lovers and rivals, was, along with The Last Dance, one of the most talked about series to premiere at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. Tiger King was shutout of all six categories it was nominated in.

This year’s Emmy nominations for the Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series were competitive — and that’s because the nominees comprise some of the most compelling, tantalizing, and binge-worthy works that kept us all talking. I

It was really anyone’s game last night but, in the end, the ESPN series “The Last Dance” secured its first win out of three nominations. “The Last Dance” focused on basketball superstar Michael Jordan and his final year with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan’s tenure on the Bulls is beloved, and in a year where nostalgia has been the only safe haven in a world full of chaos, it’s a win that makes sense. It was also nominated for its editing and direction in the documentary/non-fiction sphere.

But, as stated already, this was a tough category. The PBS series “American Masters” was being touted as the front-runner up until the award was announced.

The Primetime Emmys take place on September 20 and air live coast-to-coast on ABC. But the majority of awards are handed out at the five Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies that take place in the week leading up to TV’s biggest night. The Creative Arts trophies will be awarded at five events on: September 14 (reality and nonfiction; Sept. 15 (variety); Sept. 16; Sept. 17 and Sept. 19 (mix). The first four of these will stream live on Emmys.com while the last will air on Fxx.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced TV productions, film shoots and entertainment events to shut down all year to slow the spread of the easily transmitted disease, all of this year’s Emmy ceremonies will be held virtually. While Jimmy Kimmel emcees just one show — the Emmys next Sunday — Best Reality Host nominee Nicole Byer (“Nailed It”) has been tapped to preside over all five of the Creative Arts awards.

The fifth and final night of the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys is complete — and thus, so is the entire 2020 Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The final 30 Creative Arts winners were crowned Saturday evening on Fxx, 24 hours ahead of the real-deal Primetime Emmys on ABC.

The first trophy of the night went to “Rick and Morty,” the year’s Outstanding Animated Program. The final award went to ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” which beat out “Tiger King” and “McMillion$” in the documentary series category.

Plenty transpired between those awards, which were announced more than two hours apart. One lowlight came when the cable presentation’s voiceover accidentally announced the wrong winner for Guest Actor in a Drama series. Sorry Jason Bateman, it wasn’t actually you.

Below is the full list of Saturday’s winners.

Find all of the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys winners, ranked by the number of trophies per project, here. For individual (themed) evenings,...

If you were watching Monday’s live stream of the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys (and we were — watch our reactions here), then you definitely heard the name “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” a lot. But not when it came to the winners. Indeed, Netflix’s behemoth docu-series lost five Emmys at the virtual ceremony: directing, music composition, picture editing, sound editing and sound mixing. However, there’s still hope on the horizon as the big prize — Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series — doesn’t get handed out until Saturday, September 19.

See‘Tiger King’ directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin give update on possible Season 2 [Exclusive Video Interview]

During Saturday’s upcoming ceremony, “Tiger King” will face off against ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” Hulu’s “Hillary,” PBS’s “American Masters” and HBO’s “McMillion$.” None of these contenders took home any Emmys on Monday night, so it’s an even playing field heading into...

The Television Academy held the first of its five Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies on Monday night, virtually handing out trophies in 17 reality and non-fiction categories.

Netflix’s “Queer Eye” took home the night’s top prize for Outstanding Structured Reality Program, with other awards going to CNN’s “Apollo 11” documentary, Netflix’s “Cheer” and VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” See the complete list of winners below.

Hosted by “Nailed It’s” Nicole Byer, Monday’s ceremony was the first of four online Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies this week, followed by a fifth live broadcast on Fxx on Saturday.

Among the nominees in categories spanning casting, cinematography, editing, writing and more were long-running favorites like “Survivor” and “Top Chef,” as well as new series like Netflix’s quarantine-hit “Tiger King” and the HBO docuseries “McMillion$.”

Monday’s awards covered reality and non-fiction, with variety categories to follow on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday will cover scripted,...

A Watchmen Emmy sweep is looking pretty darn good right about now.

HBO’s acclaimed limited series from Damon Lindelof dominated the 2020 Television Critics Association Awards, winning four trophies including Program of the Year and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Drama for Regina King. Watchmen also took home the Outstanding Limited Series/Movie and Outstanding New Program prizes.

More from TVLineEmmys 2020 Poll: What Should Win for Outstanding Limited Series?Emmys 2020 Poll: What Should Win for Outstanding Comedy Series?Emmys 2020 Poll: What Should Win for Outstanding Drama Series?

Watchmen‘s TCA rout comes at the start of Emmy week, which culminates...

Throughout Emmy season, IndieWire will be evaluating the top contenders for TV’s most prestigious prize, and it all starts here. At the bottom of this page are IndieWire TV Critic Ben Travers’ predictions for Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series. This article will be updated throughout the coming months, along with all our predictions, to reflect an up-to-the-minute state of the race. Make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest coverage on the 2020 Emmys, including breaking news, analysis, interviews, podcasts, FYC event coverage, reviews of all the awards contenders, and more. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be given out the week of September 14. The 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will take place virtually on Sunday, September 20. (See our awards calendar for a more detailed breakdown of important dates.) ABC is broadcasting the ceremony.

Last Year’s Winner: “Our Planet”

Still Eligible: No.

Hot Streak: Since breaking into the...

For the second year in a row, Dwayne Johnson topped Forbes’ annual list of the best paid actors. See who else made bank in 2020. In its annual calculation of Hollywood’s top earning stars, Forbes looked at the earnings between June 1, 2019, and June 1, 2020.

10. Jackie Chan — $40 million

These days, the 66-year-old martial-arts star makes the bulk of his earnings from endorsement deals, Forbes reported.

9. Adam Sandler — $41 million

The comedian earned raves for the indie “Uncut Gems” but raked in most of his money from a lucrative Netflix deal that was extended in January for four more films.

8. Will Smith — $44.5 million

The action star has had a string of box office hits in the last year, from “Aladdin” to “Gemini Man” to January’s “Bad Boys for Life.”

7. Lin-Manuel Miranda — $45.5 million

The creator and star of “Hamilton” scored big time when Disney paid $75 million for film rights to hit musical, and an...

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has nabbed the title of the world’s highest-paid actor for the second year in a row.

Between June 2019 and June 2020, Johnson racked up $87.5 million, making $23.5 million alone from his starring role in the upcoming Netflix film “Red Notice,” according to Forbes. In addition, Johnson has found monetary success with his Under Armour clothing line, Project Rock.

However, this is a slight decrease from 2019, during which Johnson brought home $89.4 million from starring in “Jumanji: The Next Level,” among other projects. Johnson first topped the list in 2016, with earnings totaling $64.5 million.

Just behind Johnson is his “Red Notice” co-star Ryan Reynolds with $71.5 million. Reynolds was paid $20 million for the film, in addition to another $20 million from Netflix for “Six Underground.” A third Netflix film starring Reynolds is also in the works, bringing another hefty paycheck.

Another Netflix favorite, Mark Wahlberg, came in third with $58 million. His earnings...

One of the more exciting races to watch at the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys is Best Documentary/Nonfiction Series, where Netflix’s “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” faces off against ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” Hulu’s “Hillary,” PBS’s “American Masters” and HBO’s “McMillion$.” According to early Gold Derby predictions, the can’t-look-away juggernaut that is “Tiger King” has the best odds to win, with “The Last Dance” in the runner-up position for its emotional look at Michael Jordan‘s career. But our odds-makers also warn to watch out for “Hillary,” as political-minded TV Academy members may choose to cast a vote for Hillary Clinton.

See 2020 Emmy nominations complete list: All the nominees for the 72nd Emmy Awards

Netflix has dominated this category in recent years, winning for “Making a Murderer” (2016), “Wild Wild Country” (2018) and “Our Planet” (2019). On paper, “Tiger King” looks to follow suit as it earned...

The Emmys documentary categories aren’t often at the top of many people’s lists of highly anticipated categories, but this year, things look a little different.

The 2020 documentary and nonfiction series nominees are anchored by a trio of buzzy shows that center around three polarizing figures and have sparked more controversy and conversation during the last few months of quarantine than arguably any scripted fare: ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” Hulu’s “Hillary” and Netflix’s “Tiger King.”

Immediately after its premiere back in March, “Tiger King” proved itself to be unavoidable, trending on social media and ranking as the No. 1 show on the streaming service for weeks on end. In

the early days of the coronavirus pandemic when those who were newly confined to their homes were just looking for entertainment and distraction, “Tiger King” was there for them.

However, despite the show’s magnetic power and viewership numbers,...

Pharrell Willliams, Labrinth (pictured) and Isabella Summers of Florence & The Machine could all wind up with Emmys this year. So, for that matter, could Ingrid Michaelson, Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Reznor and veteran pop producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

All were among nominees in the music categories as the Television Academy announced the nominations for the 72nd annual Primetime Emmy Awards for work in TV during the 2019-20 season.

This year’s crop was the most diverse in memory. More than one-fourth of all the music nominees are people of color, and more than half are first-time nominees for television’s highest honor.

Said Academy governor Rickey Minor, who’s nominated twice this year for his music direction of “The Oscars” and “The Kennedy Center Honors”: “Living through this time in our history, has made us all awaken to the truth that we — as a humanity — are all the same.

Without “Game of Thrones,” HBO fell behind Netflix for the second time in the last three years in the overall Emmy nomination count as the streaming service dominated the Emmy nominee count on Tuesday with 160 nominations, setting a new record for the most nominations for a single network or streaming platform.

Netflix’s 160 moms shattered HBO’s record from 2019, when the pay-cable network earned 137 nominations. This year, HBO came in a more distant second with 107 nods. Last year, “Game of Thrones” alone scored a record 32 nominations for the network.

HBO still had the most-nominated show in “Watchmen,” which garnered 26 nods. That was followed by “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (20), “Ozark” (18), “Succession” (18), “The Mandalorian” (15), “Schitt’s Creek” (15), “Saturday Night Live” (15) and “The Crown” (13). Along With “Ozark” and “The Crown,” Netflix was led by Ryan Murphy’s “Hollywood” (9), “Stranger Things” (8) and “Unorthodox” (8). Two reality series, “Queer Eye” and “Cheer,” each garnered seven and six nods,...

If you’ve watched HBO’s “McMillions,” about the McDonald’s Monopoly scam, you’d know the absolutely wild story is truly stranger than fiction. “It is very much, if I wrote a script about this and put that in there and gave it to friends to read, they’d be like, ‘Pshhh, that’s not real, that’s just not a believable thing,’” James Lee Hernandez, who co-directed the show with Brian Lazarte, told Gold Derby during our Meet the Experts: Documentary panel (watch above). “But that’s really what happened.”

A six-part series, “McMillions” uncovers how Jerry “Uncle Jerry” Jacobson, then the head of security of the marketing firm working on the game, defrauded $24 million between 1989 and 2001, resulting in nearly no legitimate winner of the $1 million prize during that period. The story involves the Italian mob, an undercover operation, a strip club-turned-strip church called the Fuzzy Bunny, and a colorful array of characters,...

Four of TV’s top documentary filmmakers will reveal the details behind their gritty and true life programs when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with key 2020 Emmy contenders this month. Each person will participate in two video discussions to be published soon: one-on-one with our senior editor Joyce Eng and a group chat with Joyce and all of the directors together.

SEEalmost 300 interviews with 2020 Emmy contenders

This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2020 Emmy contenders:

Nanette Burstein represents Hulu for “Hillary”

Burstein received an Oscar nomination and Directors Guild win for “On the Ropes.” Other projects have included “The Creators,” “Going the Distance” and “The Kid Stays in the Picture.”

James Hernandez represents HBO for “McMillion$”

Hernandez has also directed “Stick Together,” “Phantom,” “Four Chaplains,” “Unnatural Selection,” “Happenstance” and “The Sixth Minute.”

Reginald Hudlin represents Netflix for “The Black Godfather”

Hudlin received...

“Dirty John,” the 2018 Bravo limited series, was set up to shock its audience, but it had more on its mind, too. Connie Britton, playing a woman systematically alienated from the world around her by a vexingly charming lover (Eric Bana), effectively depicted the process by which a person loses themself, and loses grip on reality. It was, yes, ripped from the headlines — based upon a narrative podcast of the same name — but there was something overarching and elemental there, too.

Which is why its follow-up series on USA, about a woman who was convicted of killing her ex-husband and his new wife, is so surprising. The puzzlingly titled “Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story,” launching June 2, retains its predecessor’s commitment to depicting female vulnerability and strength under pressure through a compelling lead performance. But it puts the star at its center, Amanda Peet, through a spin cycle of reversals,...