| Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who channels Wednesday Addams' contemptuous energy every day of the week. |
| After a nearly three-year absence, everyone's favorite unamused teenager is back. "Wednesday," Netflix's spinoff of "The Addams Family" franchise that stars Jenna Ortega, became a megahit when it debuted — spawning memes and a dance craze that took TikTok by storm. Revolving around Wednesday's adventures at Nevermore Academy, the boarding school for outcasts she's forced to attend, the supernatural comedy returned this week with the first half of its eight-episode second season. (The rest will drop in September. And a third season has already been ordered.) Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who created the series, stopped by Guest Spot to talk about the new episodes, including the unforgettable way Steve Buscemi, who plays the new school principal, made early-morning shoots more bearable. |
| Also in this week's Screen Gab, our streaming recommendations are a bit off the beaten path: TV critic Robert Lloyd encourages you to dive into the oeuvre of Australian-based internet humorist Natalie Tran, and film critic Amy Nicholson tells you about a different body-swapping film if the new "Freaky Friday" sequel isn't your thing. |
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| Must-read stories you might have missed |
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| After years working a propane job in Saudi Arabia to earn their retirement nest egg, Peggy and Hank Hill return to a changed Arlen, Texas. Meanwhile, Bobby, center, is living his dream as a chef in Dallas, enjoying his 20s. (Hulu) |
| Aging up the characters in the 'King of the Hill' revival was not only easy, it was 'a relief': Pamela Adlon, Lauren Tom and Kathy Najimy spoke about returning to the animated series, how they aged up their characters' voices and why it's the best job ever. |
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| Spike Lee's new Denzel Washington movie is much more than a Kurosawa remake: The director's latest, a supercharged ransom thriller set in his beloved New York City, shows the filmmaker reinvigorated and uninterested in slowing down. |
| Column: Ad-supported streaming is the future. So why is the experience so bad?: Poorly placed, low-quality, repetitive ads are more the scourge of streaming than they ever were of broadcast prime time. |
| If anyone can make a movie now, what does Hollywood still stand for?: From AI-native studios to interactive platforms, a new generation of storytellers is challenging Hollywood's role as the center of the entertainment universe. |
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| Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times |
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| Internet humorist Natalie Tran, left, joined "The Great Australian Bake Off" as co-host in 2023. (Stu Bryce/Foxtel Group) |
| Natalie Tran's communitychannel (YouTube, Instagram) |
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| A thousand thanks to whatever algorithm brought Natalie Tran, a brilliant Australian internet humorist, back into my feed. In a typical video essay, Tran will notice an odd or annoying thing about modern life or take a random idea that's crept into her head and create a speculative playlet in which she takes on all the parts. The great library of this work, which posted pretty regularly from 2006 to 2016, and irregularly since, resides on Tran's YouTube-based communitychannel (1.77 million subscribers), but it is timeless, smart and funny across years, generations, continents and hemispheres. She might take on matters as mundane as a lost phone on silent, the types of friends you shouldn't see movies with, or her inability to keep house plants alive; or as left-field as imagining monsters dressing up as humans on Halloween, a school for flies, or the person whose job it is to measure the height of celebrities. Nowadays she posts at communitychannel on Facebook and natalie.tran on Instagram, and co-hosts "The Great Australian Bake Off," the down-under franchise of the British original, whose current season you can also find online, officially or not. — Robert Lloyd |
| "Dating the Enemy" (Tubi, Prime Video) |
| Wanna get freakier than this week's "Freaky Friday" sequel? This edgy 1996 body swap rom-com stars Claudia Karvan and a pre-fame Guy Pearce as estranged exes Tash and Brett — she's a nerdy science journalist, he's an egomaniac veejay — who are horrified to wake up in each other's skin. Both are workaholics, yet neither respects the other's career goals. ("What's Pearl Jam?" Tash asks.) Australian writer-director Megan Simpson Huberman's inspired idea is that the girl is the geek, and the man is the sex symbol. "I have got a great ass!" Pearce's Brett gloats. The future Oscar nominee has a gas peering down his undershorts to understand his new mechanics. While the former lovers' mutual hostility leads to several funny bits of vengeance, Huberman smartly notes the tiny differences in how each one is treated as they stumble through the world — and their moments of reconnection, while incredulous, are incredibly sweet. — Amy Nicholson |
Guest spot |
| A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they're working on — and what they're watching |
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| Joonas Suotamo as Lurch, left, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday, Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley and Luis Guzmán as Gomez in "Wednesday." (Helen Sloan / Netflix) |
| "Wednesday" makes its big return this week with its morose titular character (Jenna Ortega) now navigating life as a local celebrity. But even after saving Nevermore Academy, the school for supernatural misfits that she attends, from destruction, things are hardly sunshine and rainbows — a relief, really, because she'd hate that. There's a new mystery and looming threat to keep her psychic powers occupied. And this time, her family — namely, her mother Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and father Gomez (Luis Guzmán) — figure more prominently in the spooky and morbid tension. The season is broken up into two parts — the first four episodes were released this week; the rest will be released Sept. 3. Creators and showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar stopped by Guest Spot to discuss why they wanted to make the new season a more familial experience and the standout guest star moments. — Yvonne Villarreal |
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| Wednesday Addams has often been described as "emotionless," "antisocial" and "morbid." How would you describe her? And how did you want to push against that perception of her in Season 2? |
| Millar: While Wednesday would certainly self-identify with all three, I would argue she is, in fact, deeply emotional. She is a character who struggles to express herself, often engaging in a silent internal war when she breaks her own personal code. She's boxed herself into an identity and considers any emotional response as a kind of failure. |
| Gough: Our goal is to consistently place her in situations that challenge this rigid self-perception. We think of her emotional development in terms of micro-progressions. For most protagonists, a "hug" might be a throwaway gesture — for Wednesday it's seismic. Her internalized struggle with vulnerability is something she'll carry into adulthood. She may never feel fully at peace with the world, but hopefully she will discover a way to co-exist with it — on her own terms. |
| The season brings Wednesday's family more into focus. What is most appealing about delving into their dynamic? |
| Millar: In Season 1, we focused on Wednesday carving out a life away from her family for the first time — we didn't want the show to feel like a retread of a traditional Addams Family movie. Now that audiences are grounded into the world of Nevermore, it felt like the right moment to see more of the iconic members of the Addams family. |
| Gough: We loved the idea of her family literally living next door — its a delicious complication for a character like Wednesday. She can't escape them, especially her mother. The Morticia-Wednesday dynamic is a central thread this season, and their mother-daughter tension felt very real — even when it culminates in something as heightened as a sword fight in the woods. |
| You have a number of prominent names, including Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd and Lady Gaga, joining the ranks this season. What's been the biggest "pinch me" moment so far? |
| Millar: There were so many "pinch me" moments. One that stands out for me: Joanna Lumley, who plays Grandmama Frump, sipping a Bloody Mary in the middle of a vast Irish graveyard. Surreal doesn't begin to cover it. |
| Gough: An unforgettable moment for me was watching Steve Buscemi dad-dance to Bruce Springsteen at 3 a.m. We were shooting the scene in the middle of July, but it was bone chillingly cold as only an Irish summer can be. Still, Steve would come out dancing with the same off-the-wall energy every single take. He was the only reason the extras made it through the night. It was weird and wonderful — and very, very "Wednesday." |
| What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know? |
| Millar: "Dark Winds" on AMC. It's led by the phenomenal Zahn McClarnon, and it's a show I had heard buzz about but never had a chance to watch until recently. The premise isn't flashy — a '70s set police procedural on a Navajo reservation — but the acting and storytelling are exceptional. I binged all three seasons in a week. Despite its limited budget, the series manages to capture the haunting beauty of the Southwestern landscapes. It deserves a lot more critical and audience attention. |
| Gough: A show I am genuinely going to miss is "The Handmaid's Tale" [Hulu]. It's been remarkably consistent across its run. Miles tapped out midway through Season 2 as it veered into "torture porn territory," but I stuck with it and am glad I did. The storytelling is razor-sharp, and is written with deft craft and humanity. Cinematography is sumptuous and the performances are universally excellent. It's definitely not comfort TV — it challenges you — but it rewards your attention. It's a show I always recommend. |
| What's your go-to "comfort watch," the movie or TV show you go back to again and again? |
| Millar: Generally, I don't rewatch TV shows. There is simply too much out there to keep up with. But movies? That's a another story. I have a particular weakness for movies set in Los Angeles — "Heat" [The Criterion Channel, Prime Video], "Drive" [VOD], "Blade Runner" [VOD]. And anything by Spielberg, honestly — from "AI" [VOD] to "Jaws" [Netflix] to "Lincoln" [VOD] — his visual storytelling is so masterful, it feels like a free film school in every frame. |
| Gough: Having collaborated with Tim for over 5 years now, I have a soft spot for his work, especially "Edward Scissorhands" [Disney+] and "Ed Wood" [VOD]. If "Ed Wood" were released today, I am convinced it would win best picture. It remains one of the greatest love letters to filmmaking ever made. |
