Blog

‘Wheel of Fortune’ ‘s Vanna White Shares Her Playboy Regrets as the Show Celebrates 35 Years

The 60-year-old co-host is gearing up to celebrate 35 years of Wheel of Fortune

Credit : Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

After 35 years on the air, Wheel of Fortune‘s letter-turner and co-host Vanna White is sharing her thoughts about retirement, and about that time she was on the cover of Playboy.

In an interview with Fox News, the 60-year-old says she was low on money and “too embarrassed to ask my dad for rent money” when she posed for the photos.

“I was young and I wanted to do it on my own,” White says. “So, I did these lingerie shots and from the moment I said I would do them, I thought, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m not going to ask my dad for money, so I’m just going to do it!’”

White remembers the pictures only came out when she had reached a certain level of fame after snagging the job on Wheel of Fortune.

“Hugh Hefner then bought those pictures,” she says. “He’s the one who put me on the cover of the magazine. I didn’t do it for Playboy.”

FROM COINAGE: Power Rangers Morphing Through the Years

“Never do anything you don’t want to do,” adds White. “Listen to your instincts and follow it. It was a great lesson to learn, but what can I say? I did something I shouldn’t have.”

She was not fired and went on to wear over 6,500 dresses on the show — “Never the same one twice,” she says.

White says she still doesn’t know the secret to Wheel of Fortune‘s success, saying, “I still don’t have an answer! I really don’t. It’s just one of those things that every once in a while, everything falls into place… it’s an escape.”

Her own personal success hit her in a big way, telling Fox News she remembers seeing herself on the cover of a magazine when it hit her.

“I was on the cover of Newsweek,” she remembers. “That was the moment for me. The other one was when I got my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. When I first moved to L.A., I went walking down the Hollywood Walk of Fame and I would tell myself, ‘One day I’m going to have my own star.’”

Despite achieving her dreams, White says she doesn’t see herself retiring soon.

“I’m sure I will one day,” she says. “But I’m enjoying my job so much. I don’t want to retire. I hope to continue doing it for as long as I can.”

Shifting Gears Episode 4’s Unexpected Story Pivot Is A Promising Change For Tim Allen’s Sitcom

Warning: This Article Contains SPOILERS For Shifting Gears Episode 4.Shifting Gears episode 4 took a step back from straight comedy, and it might be the best decision Tim Allen’s new sitcom has made. Allen and Kat Dennings lead Shifting Gears’ cast of characters as father-daughter duo Matt and Riley. Though their relationship is inherently antagonistic, they bond over their shared grief following the recent death of Riley’s mother and Matt’s wife. Shifting Gears episode 4 explored Matt and Riley’s grief in depth by introducing the pair to a grief counselor (Chelsea London Lloyd).

Shifting Gears has had its ups and downs in its pilot weeks, but episode 4 offered something refreshing. The show has had some comedic moments, fun guest stars, and even a shared Tim Allen Universe set up by Shifting Gears, but letting a little drama take the lead helped episode 4 navigate through a serious topic without coming across as inappropriate or unnecessary. Shifting Gears episode 4’s grief storyline actually made the characters better (and, ergo, the show itself).

Matt & Riley Go To Grief Counseling In Shifting Gears Episode 4

The Sitcom Tackled A Serious But Necessary Topic

After Matt snaps at Georgia (Barrett Margolis) for trying on her grandmother’s jacket, Riley confronts him about his unresolved grief. Riley initially tricks Matt into going to therapy in Shifting Gears episode 4, but she quickly realizes she has to deal with her own residual grief as well. Together, the father and daughter clear out the closet filled with clothes by donating them to a charity that Riley’s late mother loved. Through their grief, Riley and Matt grow closer and understand each other better, which could set up a less hostile relationship in a potential Shifting Gears season 2.

As Riley herself learns, grief can be a lifelong battle.

Shifting Gears tackles the complexity of grief with surprising care, examining two different ways grief presents itself. Matt totally denies his grief at first and internalizes his pain, while Riley throws herself into self-help books about grieving and convinces herself she’s done. Both characters realize they have unresolved issues with their loved one’s death in Shifting Gears episode 4, but the sitcom doesn’t generalize their experience or rush to solve it. As Riley herself learns, grief can be a lifelong battle. Rather than magically moving on, Shifting Gears lets Matt and Riley learn to live with their grief.

How Grounding Shifting Gears Makes It Better

It’s Easier To Sympathize With Matt & Riley Now

Part of what made the initial reviews of Shifting Gears so poor was the disconnect between the show’s comedy and its characters. It takes a second for any new show to find its identity, but the jokes in Shifting Gears failed to land with most critics. By showing Matt and Riley grieve together, Shifting Gears episode 4 packs some much-needed heart into the sitcom. Exploring their emotional struggles automatically adds depth to the characters and makes them feel more human, which in turn will help audiences connect with them in the future.

Aside from the characters, balancing real-life conflicts with sparse comedy helped Shifting Gears episode 4 feel much more authentic and grounded. Instead of one-dimensional caricatures setting up laugh tracks, Shifting Gears’ characters now have a little shadow to them. Even Georgia and Carter (Maxwell Simkins) briefly get to share their grieving experiences, making the family as a unit more believable. Shifting Gears may be a comedy, but the sitcom benefited greatly from injecting drama to balance out its humor.

Enjoy ScreenRant’s primetime coverage? Click below to sign up for our weekly Network TV newsletter (make sure to check “Network TV” in your preferences) and get the inside scoop from actors and showrunners on your favorite series.

Why Hulu Canceled How To Die Alone After One Season

Hulu

 

Airports always carry an air of possibility; everywhere you look, people are doing something new, visiting home, or embarking on a new chapter. Moments of transport in different entertainment mediums pack all that uncertainty into their gutters and move the viewer into a new headspace to consider what has been and what is to come. A show like “How to Die Alone” did double-duty in that regard, because Natasha Rothwell’s Hulu series showed how much TV has grown in the last half-decade, and how far the medium still has to go. The streamer decided to cancel the series, citing low viewership, failing to recognize potential when it was staring them right in the face.

“How to Die Alone” is a comedy/drama starring Natasha Rothwell as Mel, an airport worker who’s been in emotional limbo for some time and awakens to the possibility of her life being more than just clocking in at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, New York. She has friends like Rory, played by a delightful Conrad Ricamora, romantic entanglements like her ex, Alex (portrayed by Jocko Sims as a major source of her uncertainty), and hopes that there could be more to this world that she’s not privy to. Hulu aired all eight episodes of the first and only season last year, and sadly, made the decision not to pursue more.

Variety reported that “How to Die Alone” would not be getting a renewal, and even the series’ star was caught off-guard by the decision. Rothwell penned a statement for the publication that laid out how she was “shocked, heartbroken, and frankly, baffled” by the move to leave Mel’s journey unfinished. In other comments, the actress also pointed to the series’ critical reception, and her argument that the show was “an undeniable critical, creative and award-winning success” isn’t just chest puffing, but an accurate read of so many people’s reaction to the series after giving it a chance on Hulu. It’s pretty hard for a show to get a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes in this crowded media environment, and a lot of programs that run for longer never reach that high-water mark.

How to Die Alone was cancelled due to low viewership

Hulu

 

Elsewhere in the Variety reporting, a source close to Onyx Collective, the production company that made “How to Die Alone,” argued that the series just didn’t garner strong enough viewership to warrant a season 2. This is an interesting argument when the data is either nonexistent for creatives or outside observers to see for themselves, and the apparent weight on the scales for certain popular projects under that streaming umbrella, numbers need not apply for those shows or movies. It’s hard not to have a sour taste in your mouth like Rothwell did, after all, the market is absolutely swimming in shows that feel like you’ve watched them before, and “How to Die Alone” was a concept that felt legitimately fresh.

Onyx Collective was established by Disney to bring stories from people of color and underrepresented populations to market, even as the landscape morphs to make that task harder and harder. Honestly, shouldn’t the goal be to produce thoughtful, interesting shows like “How to Die Alone” rather than have to pick their spots so carefully? One thing observers have seen in the streaming era is that there is some real potential for backend success once a show has existed long enough to garner a bigger fan base.

Underpinning this idea, is the fact that those viewers have to be given the kind of time and space to accumulate on their own, and the studios at the center of this story are rarely going to spend the kind of advertising dollars on making viewers aware that a show like “How to Die Alone” even exists. So, it starts a feedback loop of a self-fulfilling prophecy, with studios being able to cancel shows because they “didn’t garner big enough viewership,” the companies not having to bear any responsibility for, frankly, pitiful marketing efforts and effectively playing defense against their own programming because there’s just so much on these services and everything can’t get pushed.

How to Die Alone admirably showed off the possibility of what TV could be

Hulu

 

“How to Die Alone” is currently being shopped to other streamers and studios because that first season exists as a kind of proof-of-concept for what a season 2 could be, given the opportunity to flourish. Natasha Rothwell is hopeful that the show can still continue, and she should feel like that, because so many fans were just finding “How to Die Alone” when the decision was made to pull the ripcord on the series. One bright spot exists in the fact that there are so many “streaming era” shows that have found life on a different service or channel than they began life on; hope truly does seem to spring eternal.

More than anything, though, I just wonder how long the industry can afford to keep ignoring new ideas in favor of trying to find the next big thing and failing because attention among a dispersed viewership is finite. New shows are literally competing with “Stranger Things” to be the next “Stranger Things,” (something like “Paradise” in Hulu’s stable of shows) to say nothing of the fact they also face “Fortnite,” the movie version of “Minecraft,” and whatever else a largely unpredictable base of youth media consumer might find cool next. There’s no shame in being a little show that tells a relatable story for communities that don’t get served adequately; in fact, there’s quite a bit of freedom, and dare I say, possibility left to be explored.

The Facts Of Life Cast — A fast hit, thanks to its chipper tone and uplifting sense of humor : Where The Actors Are Now.

The Facts Of Life Cast: Where The Actors Are Now

NBC

 

You take the good, you take the bad, and there you have… nine seasons and over 200 episodes of one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. Spun out of NBC’s other wildly popular series “Diff’rent Strokes,” “The Facts of Life” followed the goings-on at a girl’s boarding school in upstate New York. The series became a fast hit, thanks to its chipper tone and uplifting sense of humor, as well as the performances from its cast of talented young actors — many of whom went on to achieve major success in the film and television industry.

Whether they only stayed in the main cast during its experimental first season, joined as a replacement of sorts in the final installments, or played a part in all of its 200-plus episodes, the actors embarked on a range of professional journeys. Some retired immediately afterward, pursuing careers ranging from music and producing to public speaking and teaching, while others dominated screens big and small throughout the ’80s and ’90s or returned to the industry as late as the 2020s. Oh, and one of them was George Clooney!

Whatever the case, here’s what happened to the cast of “The Facts of Life” in the nearly four decades since it went off-air.

Charlotte Rae (Edna Garrett)

NBC

 

Charlotte Rae left “The Facts of Life” in 1986 during the beginning of the show’s eighth season. She maintained a presence on television, guest starring in episodes of popular shows like “St. Elsewhere,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Sisters,” and “Diagnosis Murder.” She also had prominent voice acting roles in the animated series “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and Disney’s “101 Dalmations.” In 2001, she reprised her role as Edna Garrett in the TV special “The Facts of Life Reunion.”

Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, the frequency of Rae’s work decreased steadily. Those who were too young to first see her in “The Facts of Life” may have encountered her initially in smaller supporting roles in films like the Adam Sandler action comedy “Don’t Mess with the Zohan” or in TV shows like ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars.” In 2008, she had a four-episode arc on “ER,” which famously starred her former “Facts of Life” co-star George Clooney. Her final film role was in the 2015 musical comedy “Ricki and the Flash.”

Many of the original actors from “Diff’rent Strokes” have passed away, including Charlotte Rae, who died in 2018 at the age of 92.

John Lawlor (Steven Bradley)

NBC

 

John Lawlor’s tenure as a main cast member of “The Facts of Life” was shorter than most, only playing the role of Steven Bradley for a single season before exiting the show. Even so, it wound up being Lawlor’s largest television role of his career, as he went on to mostly star in smaller TV movies and guest star in various series over the years that followed.

Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Lawlor’s most notable TV roles were appearances on “Newhart,” “The Magical World of Disney,” “The Bold and the Beautiful” (recurring in the role of Walter Talbert), “Mr. Belvedere,” “Knots Landing” (recurring as Larry Lambert), and “LA Law.” In 1994, he landed the supporting role of Judge Spicer in Lawrence Kasdan’s “Wyatt Earp,” which was a critical and commercial failure, though it has earned a moderate cultural reevaluation in recent years. During this same period, Lawlor worked on a handful of films as an assistant director, including “Highlander” and John Boorman’s “Excalibur.”

Lawlor saw few roles in the latter years of his acting career. Some readers may recognize him as Oren Mallory on “Longmire,” Elmer Knowland on “Godless,” or the locksmith that helps Skyler White break into Walt’s divorced-dad apartment on the fourth season of “Breaking Bad.” In February of 2025, the actor passed away at the age of 83.

Jenny O’Hara (Miss Emily Mahoney)

NBC

 

Like John Lawlor, Jenny O’Hara exited “The Facts of Life” during its first season, having played the role of Miss Emily Mahoney. She remained remarkably busy throughout the next two decades of her career, guest starring multiple times (often in recurring capacities) on the series “Barney Miller,” “Family,” “CHiPs,” “Trapper John, M.D.,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “As the World Turns,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Life’s Work,” “Party of Five,” and “ER” — all in the ’80s and ’90s.

She also held down more prominent roles in the short-lived series “Highcliffe Manor” and “Secrets of Midland Heights,” and appeared in single episodes of massively popular shows like “Remington Steele,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Murphy Brown,” “L.A. Law,” “Law & Order,” and Chicago Hope.”

Into the 2000s and 2010s, her career continued at this pace but began to involve more prominent recurring characters, such Janet, the mother of Kevin James’ Doug Heffernan on “The King of Queens,” the receptionist Dot (frequently seen opposite Rhea Pearlman’s Annette) on “The Mindy Project,” Maura Pfefferman’s (Jeffrey Tambor) sister Bryna on “Transparent,” and Almeda in the Hulu miniseries “Good American Family.”

Diehard horror fans may also recognize her work in the cult horror film “Wishmaster” or 2010’s “Devil” (the evil demon elevator movie). She is in her early-80s as of writing, and seemingly still continues to act.

Lisa Whelchel (Blair Warner)

 NBC

 

Lisa Whelchel played Blair Warner in all nine seasons of “The Facts of Life,” seemingly choosing to take a hiatus from acting after the series came to a close in 1988. Between that year and 2013, she only appeared in “Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two” in 1992 (in which she played the role of Sara Coleman) and the “Facts of Life” reunion special in 2001.

The period of her career after the original “Facts of Life” series allowed her to expand her areas of interest into public speaking and non-fiction writing, as well as to continue her work in the music industry — all three of these disciplines were focused through the lens of Christianity. (In 2021, she said on her “Facts” co-star Mindy Cohn’s podcast that she had been somewhat iced out of Christian speaking-engagements due to her inclusive beliefs about the religion.)

In 2012, she was a contestant on “Survivor: Phillipines” and made it to the Final Tribal Council without any of the contestants realizing she was a former actor. She also may or may not have contracted West Nile Virus during production. Following “Survivor,” Whelchel’s career as a television personality flourished, and she even acted sporadically in a few Christian TV movies over the years. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in 2020, she was part of a group that was discussing a potential reboot of “The Facts of Life.” These discussions came to a catastrophic end, though we’ll have to address that a bit further down this list.

Felice Schachter (Nancy Olson)

 NBC

 

Nancy Olson actor Felice Schachter was part of the main cast of “The Facts of Life” for only the first season before transitioning to recurring status for the remainder of the show’s run. After her final “Facts” appearance during season 8, she guest starred on a single episode of the little-known TV series “New Monkees” in 1987, before retiring as an actor.

After a few years outside the entertainment industry, Schachter returned as a production coordinator and producer on shows like “JAG” and “High Tide.” Most notably, she worked as a production coordinator for over a dozen episodes of “Law and Order: SVU” throughout its second and third seasons. She also co-produced the 2001 Tracy Morgan film “30 Years to Life,” in which she cameoed as a waitress.

Schachter was in her early 20s in 1987, when she seems to have made the initial decision to retire as an actor. Various fansites online have reported that she did so in order to pursue a higher education degree. From 1981 to 1985, she did attend Brown University while acting intermittently. As of writing, she appears to be a special education teacher within the New York City public school system.

Julie Piekarski (Sue Ann Weaver)

 NBC

 

As Sue Ann Weaver, Julie Piekarski’s presence (above, middle) on “The Facts of Life” was nearly identical to Felice Schachter’s in terms of frequency and prominence. She appeared regularly throughout the firstst season, then merely recurred a handful of times across the following seven seasons, last appearing in season 8 in 1986.

After her tenure as a series regular ended, she occasionally guest starred on shows like “General Hospital,” “Quincy M.E.,” and “Three’s Company,” but ultimately stepped away from acting after her final “Facts of Life” episode for well over three decades. Outlets have reported that she spent this time focusing on her education, majoring in business and communications at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Starting in 2020, she returned to acting for a handful of low-budget projects, the most recent of which was released in 2025.

Kim Fields (Dorothy Tootie Ramsey)

 NBC

 

One of the more consistent stars of “The Facts of Life” (playing the role of Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey for all nine seasons), Kim Fields has enjoyed one of the more successful acting careers after its end. In addition to being asked back for all of the reunion episodes, movies, and spin-off series of “The Facts of Life” (including the 2001 special, “Down Under,” and “The Facts of Life Goes to Paris”), Fields went on to star in the gravely underrated ’90s sitcom “Living Single.”

The show was somewhat overshadowed by contemporaries (particularly “Friends” on NBC), but has since earned a legacy as one of the best sitcoms of all time. In a stacked ensemble cast filled with comedic talent, Fields played the melodramatic Regine Hunter. (If you have yet to watch “Living Single,” but enjoy comedy shows like “How I Met Your Mother,” you should absolutely check it out ASAP.)

Fields has continued to act regularly on TV, recently appearing in episodes of “Cobra Kai” (as Sandra, the mother of Nichole Brown’s Aisha Robinson) and “Insecure.” Since May of 2021, she has starred in the Netflix family sitcom “The Upshaws.”

Molly Ringwald (Molly Parker)

 NBC

 

It should be a surprise to no one reading this that, after playing the role of Molly Parker in the 1st season of “The Facts of Life,” Molly Ringwald quickly became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Her first role after exiting the series was 1982’s “Tempest,” for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. This breakout role was followed by hit after ’80s hit — “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” and “Pretty and Pink” to name a few, making her part of the Brat Pack. These films made Ringwald an icon, her career in Hollywood holding strong (if containing fewer peaks) throughout the following decades.

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, she found renewed success by returning to the bolstered TV medium, starting with “Raising Expectations” in 2016 (the series lasted until 2019) and the buzzy CW teen drama “Riverdale” in 2017 (in which she played Mary, the widowed mother of KJ Apa’s Archie Andrews). Other notable recent TV roles include the mother of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (played by Evan Peters) in the first season of the Netflix series “Monster,” the leader of Carmen Berzatto’s (Jeremy Allen White) AA meetings in “The Bear,” and TV personality Joanne Carson in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.”

Julie Anne Haddock (Cindy Webster)

 NBC

 

Julie Anne Haddock was part of the group from the original main cast of “The Facts of Life” that left the series after the firstst season. She continued to recur irregularly on the series throughout the rest of its run, and even played Cindy on an episode of “Diff’rent Strokes” that aired after the first season of “Facts.” She also guest starred on “Boone” and “Gimme a Break.”

After 1986 (in which she played Cindy Webster one last time on “The Facts of Life”), Haddock retired from acting. She maintained an exceptionally private life in the following decades, but has recently begun appearing at television conventions with other cast members from the series.

Mindy Cohn (Natalie Green)

 NBC

 

Natalie Green was one of the first roles Mindy Cohn took on when she started her acting career, ultimately leading her to star in over 200 episodes of “The Facts of Life” over a decade. She didn’t immediately land anything quite as high-profile immediately after the series ended in 1988, but she eventually got on the radar of the producers of the early 2000s “Scooby Doo!” cartoons. Between 2002 and 2015, Cohn was the voice of bespectacled sleuth Velma Dinkley in over 40 video games, TV shows, and movies within the “Scooby Doo!” franchise (ending with her work in the short-lived toybox video game “LEGO Dimensions”). In recent years, she has mainly starred in the “Hearts Around the Table” series of television movies.

As was previously mentioned, there was talk during the Covid lockdowns about a reboot of “The Facts of Life” featuring at least the four core girls on the show — Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Cohn, and Nancy McKeon (who played Jo Polniaczek). However, according to Cohn herself, one of these actors jeopardized their 40 years of friendship to try to make their own reboot happen without the other three, leading to the entire project’s collapse. Cohn has never stated who broke ranks, but rumors have persisted among fans that it was Whelchel.

Nancy McKeon (Jo Polniaczek)

 NBC

 

Nancy McKeon didn’t start playing Jo Polniaczek on “The Facts of Life” until its second season soft reboot. Once she joined the cast, however, she remained one of its core stars until the series finale.

She acted outside “Facts” while the show was still airing, but took a distinct turn toward the medium of film for much of the decade that followed the show’s end. In 1995, she returned to TV for a starring role in the CBS sitcom “Can’t Hurry Love,” alongside future “Law & Order” star Mariska Hargitay. It was cancelled after one season. CBS gave her another opportunity in “Style and Substance” (which also starred Jean Smart of “Watchmen” and “Hacks” fame), but it too was cancelled after one season.

Her next big break came in the Lifetime police procedural “The Division,” which starred McKeon as police inspector Jinny Exstead and ran from 2001 to 2004. Most recently, she recurred in the short-lived Amazon Prime Video series “Panic.”

Pamela Adlon (Kelly Affinado)

 NBC

 

Pamela Adlon (formerly Pamela Segall) was only part of the main cast of “The Facts of Life” for a single season, joining and leaving the series in season 5. Afterwards, she appeared on episodes of “ER” and “The Jeffersons,” among many TV shows, before being cast in the 1989 romantic comedy “Say Anything.”

Adlon has been remarkably busy ever since, adding more voice work to her resume with lauded projects like “Kiki’s Delivery Service” (as Ket), every season of “King of the Hill” (earning an Emmy Award nomination for voicing Bobby Hill), and Disney’s “Recess” (Spinelli). She also continued acting on-camera with prominent roles in “Better Things” (earning an Emmy nomination for playing struggling actor and mother Sam Fox) and “Louie” (a producer and member of the writing staff for the latter, earning an Emmy nomination for writing the episode “Daddy’s Girlfriend: Part 1”). As of writing, Adlon is slated to return for a revival of “King of the Hill.”

Mackenzie Astin (Andy Moffett)

 NBC

 

Mackenzie Astin’s Andy Moffett was a successful late addition to the “Facts of Life” ensemble, joining in season 6 and remaining part of the cast through to the end of the show. He found modest success in film and television in the years that immediately followed, most notably acting alongside John Lawlor in “Wyatt Earp” and guest starring on episodes of popular series like “The Outer Limits,” “Without a Trace,” “Lost,” “House,” “My Name is Earl,” and “Psych.”

After appearing on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Astin was cast as newscaster Noah Baker on Shonda Rhimes’ political thriller “Scandal.” He recurred throughout the show and even played the same character on “How to Get Away with Murder.” During this same period, he also recurred as Reynard the Fox on “The Magicians.”

Astin has seen relatively more prominent and consistent roles in recent years, joining the supporting cast of the buzzy HBO David E. Kelly miniseries “Love and Death” in 2023 and recurring as FBI agent Jonathan Pritchard in “The Blacklist” during its final season. In 2025, he played grieving son Jereme Spencer in the hit HBO medical drama “The Pitt.”

George Clooney (George Burnett)

 NBC

 

One of the most famous actors to ever grace Hollywood with his talent, George Clooney is unique among entries on this list in numerous ways — most notably, for our purposes, that “The Facts of Life” is probably one of the lesser-known titles on his resume. The actor played George Burnett on the series during its 7th season, and appeared in a couple of episodes during its 8th.

Clooney continued to consistently appear on television after leaving “Facts,” but shot into another level of stardom when he began leading the hit NBC medical drama “ER.” He departed during its 5th season in 1998, embarking on a career in film that would see him at the center of countless major hits — “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Michael Clayton,” and “Up in the Air,” to name just a few of Clooney’s best films.

Clooney has split his focus primarily between directing and acting, most recently directing the 2023 feature “The Boys in the Boat.” He also starred opposite Brad Pitt in the Apple TV+ film “Wolfs,” and led a theatrical adaptation of “Goodnight and Good Luck” that ran on Broadway in 2025.

Ryan Cassidy (Kevin Metcalf)

 NBC

 

Despite being considered part of the main cast of “The Facts of Life,” Ryan Cassidy only played Kevin Metcalf in a handful of episodes during the show’s sixth season. It was his first acting role at the time, and he followed it up with only a guest starring role on “Jesse Hawkes” before he retired from acting entirely.

Cassidy has since transitioned to roles behind the scenes, getting his break as a set dresser on the TV series “JAG.” He worked on shows and films like “Muppets Tonight,” “The King of Queens,” “Blades of Glory,” “Semi-Pro,” “The Lincoln Lawyer,” and the Disney Channel’s “Good Luck Charlie.”

The former actor still looks back fondly on his brief stint on “The Facts of Life.” In February of 2025, he spoke to Remind Magazine to recount some of his favorite memories from the set, including meeting Nancy McKeon’s then-boyfriend Michael J. Fox just before the release of “Back to the Future.”

Sherrié Austin (Pippa McKenna)

 NBC

 

Like many of the young actors on this list, Sherrié Austin (formerly known as Sherrie Krenn) made her television debut in “The Facts of Life.” In season 9, she played the role of Pippa McKenna. After the series ended, she guest starred on a few TV shows including “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” then retired from acting.

Austin was already a fairly successful young musician when she joined “Facts,” however, and focused on that aspect of her professional life moving forward. She released six studio albums between 1992 and 2011, including “Streets of Heaven,” “Followin’ a Feelin’,” and “Love in the Real World.” Since her independently-released record “Circus Girl,” Austin has kept a relatively low profile and seemingly taken a break from releasing new music. She still gives occasional interviews in magazines and podcasts, talking about both her musical career and her time on “The Facts of Life.”

Cloris Leachman (Beverly Ann Stickle)

 NBC

 

After Charlotte Rae left the series at the start of season 8, legendary Hollywood actor Cloris Leachman was tapped to serve a similar role by playing Beverly Ann Stickle. She remained part of the core series cast for seasons 8 and 9.

Leachman acted in TV series like “Walter and Emily,” “Thanks,” “The Ellen Show,” “Touched by an Angel,” and “Malcolm in the Middle,” before landing a series regular role on the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope,” which ran from 2010 to 2014. After the latter series ended, she largely worked as a TV guest star, appearing on “Girl Meets World,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “Royal Pains,” “American Gods,” “Teachers,” and “Elena of Avalor.” Her final film role was in 2021’s “Not to Forget.” That year, Leachman passed away at the age of 94.

“First Marriage” Season 2: Everything You Need to Know About the Explosive New Season Revealed!

Although The Big Bang Theory didn’t delve deep into the relationship between Mary and Georgie, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2 now has to address this due to the show’s primary plot line. When Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’s title was announced, it was immediately obvious what missing part of the sitcom franchise’s storyline the show would fill in.

In Young Sheldon’s finale, newlywed couple Georgie and Mandy are depicted as a pair of happy parents with a promising future ahead of them. When Georgie is first introduced in The Big Bang Theory, this older version of Sheldon’s estranged brother complains about his “Ex-wife” in a throwaway line.

This line had major ramifications for the story of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, since it means the show must explain what happened between the ending of Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory season 11, episode 23, “The Sibling Realignment.” Evidently, something broke up the seemingly happy couple, thus justifying the spinoff’s playful title.

The Big Bang Theory Didn’t Reveal Much About Georgie & Mary’s Relationship

Georgie Complained About Sheldon’s Absence in The Big Bang Theory

However, while Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage necessarily has to explain the rift that eventually led to a separation between the title characters, that is far from the only The Big Bang Theory plot hole that the show can explore. The Big Bang Theory’s finale left a lot of plot points unexplained, from the fate of Dale to Mary’s relationship with Georgie.

Although Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2 could address Dale’s absence from The Big Bang Theory, the spinoff would be better off focusing on Mary and Georgie’s troubled relationship. In “The Sibling Realignment,” it is clear that The Big Bang Theory’s older version of Georgie resents Sheldon’s absence in the years after the death of their father, George Sr.

In Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 1, wherein Georgie is often called on to negotiate peace between his mother, his in-laws, and his wife.

This implies that Georgie did a lot to support Mary and Missy during this period, and possibly even Meemaw. This theory is borne out in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 1, wherein Georgie is often called on to negotiate peace between his mother, his in-laws, and his wife. However, this isn’t the whole story.

Georgie also relies on Mary for support at times, including a very important piece of financial support in season 1’s finale, episode 22, “Big Decisions.” When Georgie is unable to afford to buy Jim’s tire store on his own, Mary puts up her house as collateral to help Georgie buy a store in the season 1 finale.

This proves that Mary’s reliance on Georgie was certainly far from one-sided, and it casts a shadow on Georgie’s anger at Sheldon in “The Sibling Realignment.” After all, if his mother helped him start his first business, unlike Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’s Meemaw, it is no wonder that she expected more support from him than the comparatively independent, albeit younger, Sheldon.

First Marriage Season 2 Can Flesh Out Georgie & Mary’s Relationship

Georgie’s Big Bang Theory Backstory Ends With Him Resenting Sheldon

The problem here is that, although the duo have shared a lot of screen time throughout Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage and Young Sheldon, it is hard to pin down the nature of Georgie and Mary’s relationship. At times, it seems as though Mary is acting unreasonably, most likely due to her grief over losing George Sr., and Georgie is cleaning her messes.

Mary does appear to make more of an effort to make peace with Georgie’s in-laws in episode 20, “Ladies Love Brunch.”

Certainly, this is how viewers could interpret the events of episode 5, “Thanksgiving,” or episode 10, “A House Divided.” However, for all of her sniping and passive-aggressive commentary, Mary does appear to make more of an effort to make peace with Georgie’s in-laws in episode 20, “Ladies Love Brunch.” Meanwhile, in “Big Decisions,” it is Georgie who comes to his mother for business advice.

While Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’s Young Sheldon cameos are fun, the return of supporting characters like Pastor Jeff will never be as important to the show as this pivotal relationship. Mary and Georgie have a codependent dynamic where the pair try to support each other, but just as often end up encouraging each other’s worst qualities.

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Cast

Actor
Character

Montana Jordan
Georgie Cooper

Emily Osment
Mandy McAllister

Will Sasso
Jim McAllister

Rachel Bay Jones
Audrey McAllister

Dougie Baldwin
Connor McAllister

Jessie Prez
Ruben

Show more

Georgie’s attempts to make peace on Mary’s behalf mean she rarely has to apologize directly to his in-laws. Similarly, Mary facilitated Georgie’s over-ambitious business plans by co-signing his loan, even though outings like episode 2, “Some New York Nonsense” and episode 12, “Typhoid Georgie,” both proved that Georgie has a tendency to overwork himself to a dangerous extent.

Already, Mary had no problem butting on her son’s personal life, and this is only going to be exacerbated when she has a legitimate reason to show up unannounced at his place of business.

Georgie’s relationship with Mary seems like it is doomed to get worse in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2, since she now has a financial stake in the business. Already, Mary had no problem butting on her son’s personal life, and this is only going to be exacerbated when she has a legitimate reason to show up unannounced at his place of business.

Why Mary Will Be More Important To First Marriage Season 2 Than Season 1

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Season 2’s Mary Story Seems Guaranteed to End Badly

It is worth noting that viewers already know Georgie’s relationship with Mandy will have to suffer in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2, since the couple is canonically destined to break up eventually. The season finale touched on some of the couple’s potential reasons for their separation, from disagreements over Mandy’s new job to Georgie’s decision to purchase the store without consulting her first.

One Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2 sub plot makes Georgie’s future brighter as Georgie may find solace in CeeCee and Dr. Tire.

Since Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage has a lighter tone than Young Sheldon, the show may struggle to balance the breakdown of this central relationship with its playful sense of humor. Fortunately, one Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 2 subplot makes Georgie’s future brighter as Georgie may find solace in CeeCee and Dr. Tire.

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is available to purchase on Prime Video.

Georgie could find comfort in his daughter and his new business, which could make up for the sad, preordained ending of his relationship with Mandy. Similarly, running the tire store together may have a surprising, welcome impact on his relationship with his mother, Mary. Mary might be impressed by Georgie’s professionalism in business and be inspired to act more maturely with his in-laws.

Unfortunately, it seems pretty likely that Mary’s war with the McAllister family won’t end anytime soon. However, Georgie and his mother can still foster a better relationship in season 2 of the spinoff. While The Big Bang Theory established that Georgie resented Sheldon’s absence, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage can prove that his relationship with Mary was not defined by this bitterness.

‘Big Bang Theory’ Fans React to Surprise Reunion News With a Major Request

Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki reunited for a new project, and fans are begging for more.

We’ve been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

In a twist of events we never saw coming, some of our favorites from The Big Bang Theory got together for a fun campaign.

Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki famously played Leonard and Penny Hofstadter on the hit CBS sitcom, and the duo’s bond even led to a two-year relationship from 2008 to 2010. Well, it looks like Kaley and Johnny are at it again, as the two collaborated for a 60-second commercial promoting the mobile game Royal Kingdom. What’s more, the ad spot (which Kaley shared on Instagram) showcased the two’s epic comedic timing as they ditched traditional board games in favor of a competition on their phones.

“Game Night with @sanctionedjohnnygalecki just leveled up thanks to @royalkingdom,” Kaley wrote in the caption on April 15.

Shortly after Kaley shared the video online, it didn’t take long for some of her former co-stars from The Big Bang Theory to comment about it as well.

“I adored this day with you, my dear. XO!” Johnny replied of his own experience being back on set with her. “♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️,” Melissa Rauch (who played Bernadette Wolowitz) added.

Naturally, seeing Kaley, Johnny and Melissa interact caused a frenzy among fans. What’s more, they all voiced a major request for them to work together again in the future.

“The return of The Big Bang Theory?” one person inquired in the comments. “We need a Penny & Leonard spinoff IMMEDIATELY!! ❤️,” another exclaimed. “OMG, Kaley and Johnny together again – this is everything! This video just made my day. Such a treat for the fans! 💛,” a different follower added.

Even though it’s unclear whether Kaley or Johnny would return for their own TBBT spinoff, fans don’t need to fret. There is another spinoff in the works at Max, with Kevin Sussman, Lauren Lapkus, Brian Posehn and John Ross Bowie set to star should it be picked up. Fans also can see the world of The Big Bang Theory in a different way by watching both Young Sheldon and that series’ spinoff, Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage.

CBS Photo Archive

Still, there’s no question — we would love to see Penny and Leonard back on our screens again!

Friends Star Matthew Perry Rebooted A Beloved Movie As A Failed Sitcom

NBC

For someone who became one of the biggest stars in the world thanks to one of the biggest sitcoms of all time, Matthew Perry knew a lot about failed sitcoms. That’s not a knock against the man whose comedy stylings are never given their proper due, having influenced an entire generation’s sense of humor. It’s simply an acknowledgement of how remarkably difficult it is to land a series that actually hits.

Prior to starring in “Friends,” Perry starred in “Home Free,” a sitcom that’s almost impossible to watch today, in which he played a bachelor who lived at home with his mom, only for his divorced sister and her two children to move home and upend his carefree life. It only lasted one season. But Perry was used to sitcoms that didn’t go beyond their first season. He also appeared in “Second Chance” (which was later retitled as “Boys Will Be Boys”) and “Sydney,” both of which were also cancelled before their first seasons ended. That’s to say nothing of the many pilots Perry shot, including “LAX 2194,” a pilot in which Perry played a baggage handler at a future version of the Los Angeles airport, a role that nearly cost the actor his role as Chandler in “Friends.”

Thankfully, Perry (who tragically passed away in 2023 at the age of 54) eventually did make it big with that beloved NBC sitcom and was immediately catapulted to megastar status. Unfortunately, that did little for his personal feelings of inadequacy — something which he discusses in detail in his memoir “Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing.” Nonetheless, the years after Friends ended would see Perry once again struggling for a hit, and while most of his projects were short-lived, there was one sitcom which, though it was far from a “Friends”-level success, at least lasted beyond one season.

Matthew Perry remade a comedy classic that had already been rinsed dry

CBS

After “Friends” wrapped up in 2004, the ensemble all had very different experiences. Matt LeBlanc fronted spin-off “Joey,” which was cancelled after two seasons. Matthew Perry, however, initially stayed away from sitcoms, only returning to the format in 2013 with “Go On,” and like his pre-“Friends” series, it lasted just one season. He then appeared in an episode of his former co-star Courteney Cox’s show “Cougar Town” before once again trying his luck with the sitcom in 2015. This particular project was a reboot of “The Odd Couple,” which had been revisited several times since the 1965 play of the same name debuted.

When Neil Simon wrote his stage comedy back in the mid-60s, he likely had no idea it would spawn what is one of the most deceptively sprawling franchises in TV and movie history. The play debuted on Broadway in 1965 and followed two incompatible roommates, Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison. The former was a fastidious neat freak and the latter was, well, a slob, leading to one of the most enduring fictional dynamics in history.

After the play proved successful and closed in 1967, mass audiences would have a chance to experience that very dynamic when Walter Matthau reprised the role of Oscar alongside Jack Lemmon as Felix in a 1968 “The Odd Couple” movie, which Simon adapted from his play with Gene Saks directing. Once again, the mismatched pair of Felix and Oscar proved popular, and the “Odd Couple” saga was officially established.

The 1970s would see the arrival of a TV series based on the concept with Tony Randall starring as Felix and Jack Klugman as Oscar. That ABC sitcom ran for five seasons from 1970 to 75, proving that this simple concept had widespread appeal. A Saturday morning cartoon followed, before a reboot of the sitcom arrived in the 1980s. In 1993, CBS aired the made-for-TV movie “The Odd Couple Together Again,” which reunited Randall and Klugman. Hollywood even churned out a sequel to the 1968 movie with “The Odd Couple II,” which saw Lemmon and Matthau back in the roles of Felix and Oscar, capitalizing on their “Grumpy Old Men” success.

Unfortunately, the late-90s sequel very much seemed to suggest that audiences had grown tired of the franchise, but by the time Perry came to the IP, he was hoping things had changed. They sort of had, but not really.

The Odd Couple lasted longer than some of Perry’s other shows

CBS

Matthew Perry’s “The Odd Couple” took the form of a CBS sitcom which ran from 2015 to 2017. This particular effort did manage to go beyond one season, running for three seasons before CBS pulled the plug. With this being the seventh on-screen re-imagining of the story, audiences would have been within their rights to dismiss it outright, but the show also debuted almost a full 50 years after the 1968 film, which Perry claimed he watched “like 50 times” while developing the series (via Twitter).

That Walter Matthau and Jack lemmon-led comedy, rather than the ’70s sitcom, was seemingly the main inspiration behind this sitcom reboot, which featured Perry as Oscar Madison and Thomas Lennon as Felix Unger (the character’s second name had been spelled differently in the original sitcom, and it seems the writers stuck with it for the modern reboot). Perry also executive produced and developed the series, which depicted Oscar as a sportswriter and sports talk radio host whose slovenly ways don’t mesh well with Felix, a professional photographer who moves into Oscar’s apartment after his wife kicks him out.

The critical reception wasn’t great. Perry’s “The Odd Couple” wasn’t exactly one of the best TV show remakes, currently bearing a 26% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviewers were mostly disappointed with the dated sitcom humor and the inescapably derivative nature of yet another “Odd Couple” revisit. That didn’t bode well for the series’ longevity, though three seasons wasn’t bad for yet another “The Odd Couple” reboot.

According to Deadline, season 2 of the show “exceeded (modest) expectations” in terms of ratings, which secured a season 3 renewal. But that third run of episodes didn’t fare nearly as well, becoming the lowest-rated CBS comedy series of that season, according to the outlet. As such, the network decided to forgo another renewal, and “The Odd Couple” was once again abandoned. Surely, it won’t be long before it returns in some form.

The It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Cast Name The Worst Things Their Characters Have Done

FX

The five Philadelphia-dwelling ne’er-do-wells that call themselves the gang on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” are some genuinely abominable human beings. Over the show’s 20 year run, Frank (Danny DeVito), Charlie (Charlie Day), Mac (Rob Mac, formerly Rob McElhenney), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Dennis (Glenn Howerton) have done a lot of awful things, ranging from arson to alleged murder. But what do the actors who play the gang think are their absolute worst moments?

At the 20th Anniversary celebration of the show (as part of The Paley Center for Media’s acclaimed PaleyLive series), which was attended by /Film’s BJ Colangelo, Day, DeVito, Howerton, Mac, and Olson each shared the things their characters had done that were somehow worse than all of the others. It was a pretty hilarious conversation that must have sounded nightmarish to someone who didn’t have the context for each situation. Indeed, despite not really meaning to push the boundaries of comedy (or good taste), the gang has repeatedly toed the line between being seriously funny and potentially offensive.

While some of the actors’ answers are pretty easy to guess, like Howerton explaining that “the implication” and especially Dennis’ use of it on the cruise ship in “The Gang Goes to Hell” was his character’s darkest moment, others are a little more out of left field. Not only that, but the audience apparently had plenty of opinions to offer and shouted them out in an appropriately “Always Sunny” fashion. So, what are the worst things the members of the gang have done in the eyes of the “Always Sunny” cast? Let’s take a look.

The gang have done a lot of seriously shady things

FX

Day was just as quick and definite in his answer as Howerton, immediately saying that the worst thing Charlie ever did was “the thing to Ruby,” which he described as “so ruthless.” Ruby (Alexandra Daddario) was Charlie’s love interest in the season 8 episode “Charlie and Dee Find Love,” but in the end it turned out that he was using her to make The Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) jealous. He ends up breaking Ruby’s heart in a way that feels totally out of character for Charlie, who is never as intentionally cruel or calculating as the rest of the gang. (It’s honestly my least favorite episode in the entire series for this reason; Charlie is the secret heart of the gang, and he has to stay somewhat innocent.)

DeVito, on the other hand, claimed that he had never done anything wrong as Frank, to which the audience began shouting out examples of his depravity, including when he tricked Dennis and Dee into digging up their own dead mother to prove he wasn’t going senile and could get one over on his kids. Olson, meanwhile, felt that maybe the gang’s treatment of former classmate Matthew Mara (David Hornsby), better known as “Rickety Cricket,” was by far the gang’s worst deed. Since he started the series as an ordained Catholic priest and, as of season 16, was becoming a crime boss of sorts, she’s honestly not wrong, though that feels more like an extended situation than a single “worst moment.”

Really, it seems like the folks behind the gang glossed over a lot of things, including some kidnappings, assault, and attempted murder when their characters locked everyone in Mac and Dennis’s apartment on Thanksgiving. Then again, the gang has done so many awful things that it’s kind of hard to narrow down.

Mac’s worst things all involved blackface

FX

Before Rob Mac even had a chance to answer the question, someone in the audience shouted “blackface” in reference to Mac wearing blackface in the gang’s “Lethal Weapon 5” and “Lethal Weapon 6” sequels, the latter of which also features Dee in blackface. The episodes containing said blackface have been removed from some streaming services, along with a few other racially insensitive episodes involving blackface or brownface. Mac, however, was quick to point out that his character had technically gone a step farther by putting blackface on D.B., the infant he and Dee found in a dumpster in season 3:

“We found the baby in the dumpster, yeah, but we were painting the baby, so I actually, not just my own blackface, but painting a child’s face, which I haven’t seen on Reddit … that being as much of an issue.”

Fans of the “Always Sunny” podcast might remember that Mac occasionally gets a little confused by how the show’s subreddit reacts to various things. In this case, he’s not defending the use of blackface at all; he’s just boggled that people forget that both he and Dee forced blackface upon an infant in an attempt to get famous. Meanwhile, painting his own face seems to get him a lot of hot water, even after the show’s creators took full accountability for all of it. Thankfully, the series has a lot more going on than just the gang’s terrible antics, and that’s helped keep them on the air for all of these years.

Season 17 of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” will premiere on FXX on July 9, 2025, and the next day on Hulu.

Lena Dunham Has One Condition To Revive HBO’s Girls

HBO

2012 was a different time. Barack Obama was the U.S. President, “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen and “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye (featuring Kimbra) topped the Billboard charts, and “Gangnam Style” was, like, a thing. Also, “Girls,” the comedy series created and helmed by writer, director, and actor Lena Dunham, stared airing on HBO and inspired literal decades of discourse.

Dunham is returning to the small screen with Netflix’s new original series “Too Much,” which premieres on July 10 — and in a feature in Variety, she admitted that she would consider a revival of “Girls” (sort of like the “Sex and the City” reboot “…And Just Like That,” except hopefully a “Girls” reboot would be good). It would be tricky, though.

“If we had something to say that was really specific and it was a moment in their lives where we felt like revisiting it — like millennial women becoming mothers or stepping into menopause or going to live at old-age homes — I would always want to work with those people again,” Dunham explained. This makes sense, because “Girls” featured an incredible ensemble, all of whom played now-beloved characters … and Dunham did take some time to weigh in on their fates, as she imagined them in real time.

“Shoshanna was married to, then divorced from, the mayor of New York City, and she runs an athleisure startup that’s zero-waste,” Dunham said of Zosia Mamet’s high-strung Shoshanna Shapiro. So, what about Marnie Michaels (Allison Williams), the eminently meme-able type-A singer whose rendition of “Stronger” still haunts fans of the show? “Marnie — it’s third marriage,” Dunham mused. “She still sings, but I think Marnie really needs to take it to sex and love addicts anonymous.”

As for Jemima Kirke’s frankly obnoxious free spirit Jessa Johansson, Dunham was quite clear: “Jessa is unvaccinated and lives on a boat in Croatia.” So, what about the men on the series — specifically, Adam Sackler (Adam Driver), Ray Ploshansky (Alex Karpovsky), and Elijah Krantz (Andrew Rannells)? According to Dunham:

“Adam is a cult theater actor, and he’s probably living in Berlin, and Ray is still on city council and running his coffee shop and doing better than anyone. Elijah is the fourth lead on a sitcom, making a good amount of money and still looking for love in all the wrong places.”

Hilariously, Dunham saved her own character, Hannah Horvath, for last. “Oh my God, I forgot about her!” Dunham exclaimed. “She teaches at Bard [College] and loves raising her son. She probably has a girlfriend who’s, like, a chef. And she’s less obsessed with being famous. That is where I feel that she would land.”

In recent years, Girls has been reappraised … and people realized it’s good, actually

HBO

 

When “Girls” first came out, it was met with immediate backlash, not all of which was in good faith (to put it lightly). There was, just to get this out of the way, an inordinate amount of body-shaming directed at Lena Dunham — who, as Hannah Horvath, frequently bared it all on the series, and people also seemed to think that Dunham’s central women were meant to represent reality. As a longtime fan of “Girls,” I’m happy to see the culture pivot back around and reassess “Girls,” which, if I may be so bold, is a really good show! Dunham is an excellent and extremely funny writer, and she, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, and Zosia Mamet were perfectly cast as Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna. Whereas “Sex and the City” was meant to represent some idealized version of New York City where writers like Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw could somehow afford a luxurious studio on the Upper East Side despite writing an infrequent column in a third-rate local newspaper, “Girls” did, whether the critics want you to believe this or not, show a very different side of the city.

Yes, Hannah and her friends are undeniably privileged, but we’re also watching them suffer physically, emotionally, and mentally throughout “Girls.” Hannah notably deals with mental health issues throughout the show, Jessa is a cocaine and heroin addict in varying degrees of recovery, and Shoshanna and Marnie both have genuine commitment issues and troubled relationships. Underneath all of the bluster — like the now-famous line where Marnie opines, “Like, oh, let’s make fun of the girl who took a risk and put herself out there creatively” — there’s real pathos and true human emotion, and it’s thanks to Dunham’s vision that “Girls” does stand the test of time.

In the profile, Dunham addresses the fact that people are finally starting to appreciate “Girls” to the fullest, and it speaks to her personal and professional growth that she’s taking the whole thing in stride. “Whatever the immediate response is feels so big and all-consuming, [but] it will change and grow and shift over time — and that part isn’t about you,” Dunham said. So, what about her next project, “Too Much?”

Lena Dunham doesn’t star in her new series Too Much — but plays a supporting role

Netflix

 

Unlike “Girls,” Lena Dunham’s series “Too Much” doesn’t feature the writer and director front and center; though she plays the supporting character Nora on the show, the series is led by Meg Stalter, a YouTube darling and standout on the HBO comedy “Hacks.” (She plays Kayla Schaeffer, the big-hearted but deeply erratic agent who works alongside Paul W. Downs’ Jimmy LuSaque Jr.) According to the profile, while Dunham was directing her 2022 Amazon film “Catherine Called Birdy” (which stars Bella Ramsey and is based on the best-selling young adult novel of the same title), one of her other stars, Andrew Scott, showed her some of Stalter’s videos. From there, Dunham started writing “Too Much” specifically for Stalter, and eventually, Will Sharpe, a standout star of “The White Lotus” season 2, joined the series as well. As Jessica, Stalter plays a woman who leaves New York for London to start a new life after going through a horrible breakup … when she meets Sharpe’s Felix, a struggling musician.

Dunham was quick to clarify to interviewer Ellise Shafer that, while the story bears some similarities to her own life, it’s not fully autobiographical. (Dunham moved to London in 2021 to shoot “Catherine Called Birdy” and met her now-husband Luis Felber, who’s also a musician; the rest is history.) “It’s certainly not quote-unquote based on a true story, but like everything I do, there is an element of my own life that I can’t help but inject,” she explained.

Elsewhere, Dunham said that she’s not as interested in acting these days … but could be convinced. “I’m not retired!” Dunham told Shaffer, adding that acting is “not where [her] head is right now.” Still, she knows her audience, as always: “I’m available; I’m considering. I know this is an industry magazine — listen, guys, I’m considering! But I’m not thinking that way.”

Dunham’s certainly not retired in general. Besides “Too Much,” she also has a Netflix romantic comedy starring Natalie Portman called “Good Sex” in the pipeline. And speaking of Carly Rae Jepsen, the two are teaming up to write a musical based on the teen comedy “10 Things I Hate About You.” So maybe, just maybe, Dunham will also find time to get the gang back together and stage a “Girls” revival.

“Girls” is available to stream on HBO Max right now.

Why Sheldon And Amy’s Relationship On The Big Bang Theory Was So Important To Fans

CBS

On the one hand, Sheldon Cooper, the protagonist of “The Big Bang Theory” played by Jim Parsons, can be sort of awful to Amy Farrah Fowler, his long-term (and only) girlfriend turned wife, portrayed by “Blossom” veteran and real-life neuroscientist Mayim Bialik. (Amy is, like Bialik, a neuroscientist.) On the other hand, their relationship is a sweet depiction of two socially awkward people finding love, and in Jessica Radloff’s 2022 book “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series,” she, Parsons, and Bialik speak to the fact that Sheldon and Amy represent something important on television … and their relationship made fans feel seen.

I honestly don’t think I can put it better than Radloff herself did; as she wrote, “What ‘Big Bang’ was showing was that it’s perfectly normal to have your firsts — whether it be a kiss, or an ‘I love you,’ or sex — come later than the cultural and societal norms we’ve grown up with. And that mattered.”

Apparently, Bialik agrees with that … and has gotten a lot of seriously positive feedback about the slow-burning romance between Amy and Sheldon. “A lot of people said that seeing someone like Sheldon find and receive love was something they never imagined for their child, or even seeing a couple like that was giving people hope for their kids,” Bialik revealed. “I’ve also heard from some friends of mine who have kids either on the spectrum or who struggle socially, so it was a really interesting source of comfort without laughing at this character who was the kind of character who would often be teased.”

“I certainly had a fair share of people reach out to me, or that I would come in contact with, because it made a difference to them to have this character out there,” Parsons agreed, speaking to the fact that, throughout “The Big Bang Theory,” it’s often suggested that never confirmed that Sheldon was on the autism spectrum. He continued:

“Now that we’re a few years outside of doing the show, I understand how it could have a positive impact without being a clinical study in what it is to be on the spectrum. You meet someone through a character, and they may be completely fictionalized, as Sheldon is, but they bear similarities to other people in the world who you may not know at all or not be very familiar with, and it changes your view or approach to those other people in life. And I know this from my own experience of characters and things that I’ve watched. I’ll meet people or I’ll rethink somebody I knew who bears similiarities to that character, and it will just change [my perception].”

Writer and producer Steve Molaro thinks Amy and Sheldon’s relationship on The Big Bang Theory is influential and important

CBS

As executive producer and writer Steve Molaro told Jessica Radloff, he felt like the sweet and supportive relationship between Amy and Sheldon on “The Big Bang Theory” was important for people to see on TV. “There are a few young people on the spectrum in my life, so I found myself hoping there might be a significant other out there for them one day who has the kind of patience Amy displayed with Sheldon. Someone out there who would give them time and understanding, just to simply hold their hand.

Still, Molaro was careful to make one thing clear: Sheldon, who was originally intended to be an asexual character, didn’t “need” a relationship to be fulfilled, but it was simply a nice evolution of the character (and, for that matter, a tribute to Amy’s kindness). “At the same time, I also didn’t want to imply that Sheldon needed to be in a relationship to be lovable or complete,” Molaro said. “People like Sheldon can be difficult to get to know. They can be off-putting or frustrating at times, usually unintentionally, but they also have so much to offer. Sheldon was resistant to a lot with Amy in the first few years, like physical contact or even just the label ‘boyfriend and girlfriend,’ and that’s where the patience that Amy displayed came in.”

“It was more about showing that the road to love or finding a partner or best friend can manifest in different ways,” Molaro continued. “A lot of things can be scary for someone like Sheldon, and Amy recognized that. And even though they didn’t say the words for a long time, I think they loved each other for years before they said it out loud. They just had to take baby steps to get there.”

Amy and Sheldon’s relationship is basically what The Big Bang Theory is all about

CBS

As writer Tara Hernandez told Jessica Radloff, the unrestrained joy and wonder exhibited by both Amy and Sheldon as they explore new relationship milestones together on “The Big Bang Theory” is basically the heart of the entire show. “Amy and Sheldon got to have so many moments together that they didn’t have growing up,” Hernandex explained. “Audiences can look at the show like it’s juvenile or wonder why these adults are in a fort, but what was so charming about it was that everyone wants to sit on the floor and eat sometimes. There’s a lot of joy in that! And we got to sit in forts, jump in ball pits. There was so much joy in the process of making it because the characters were getting to do things — often for the first time.”

“‘Big Bang’ celebrated nerds [and] geek culture, and a big part of that is being able to unabashedly have an interest in something or love something — anything — and dig in on a truly deep level without caring how other people judge you,” Steve Molaro added, supporting what Hernandez said as well. “Sheldon and Amy had a sweet innocence to them. Many of us ‘adults’ pretend we’ve been around the block or know what we’re doing. But Sheldon and Amy didn’t.” He continued, “They were willing to show that vulnerable side to each other, whether it was awkwardly cuddling for the first time all the way up to them finally having coitus. How nice would life be if we could be as open as they were about everything we don’t know?”

That is a lovely way to think of it, and you can head to HBO Max to experience Amy and Sheldon’s full love story on “The Big Bang Theory.”