movies
‘Abbott Elementary’ Creator Quinta Brunson On Keeping Things Fresh In Season 5
For a longstanding comedy series like ABC‘s Abbott Elementary, creator Quinta Brunson faces the challenge every season of expanding characters’ backstories and keeping things interesting for those who have watched since Season 1.
One of the ways Season 5 faced that challenge was taking the familiar squad of teachers to an abandoned mall for a couple episodes. Brunson took inspiration from real-life situations in L.A. schools after the wildfires in 2025.
“I’m inspired a lot by what is happening with actual schools,” Brunson said during Deadline’s Contenders TV panel. “I learned about many schools going into malls. It happened here [in L.A.], actually, with the fires. A school where a friend of mine worked, they wound up in an old Sears because their school burned down in the fires.”
RELATED: Full Coverage Of Deadline’s Contenders TV Event
Another way Philadelphia culture was incorporated in Season 5 was through baseball with the staff of the titular elementary school attending a Phillies game.
“I love Philly sports, and we had been looking for a way to work with them,” Brunson said. “It gets hard to get the players out here to do anything, because of when their season is going is when we’re filming, and we don’t want to disrupt their season. So it became easier to just go, ‘Why don’t we just go to a game?’ And that was a huge challenge for all of us, mind you … but that’s another one where I just don’t think people know it’s really hard to film at a live event, damn near impossible.”
Another introduction made toward the end of Season 5 was conflict between Brunson’s Jeanine and Tyler James Williams’ Gregory, which both actors addressed during the panel, as well as speculation about an important question Gregory could ask Jeanine in the future.
“[Quinta thinks hard] about every relationship conversation, the amount of time over the course of the season,” Williams said. “I watched and heard you talk out the two sides of both arguments, making sure that both of these characters had a point. It just didn’t seem frivolous in a way I think was really important. I think it speaks to really great Season 5 storytelling, where I think a lot of shows would kind of just chalk it up and then throw something in there that felt like it was out of left field. I think that this was a really smart way to handle them, having to pick up more communication skills that we haven’t seen in this way in a long time.”
Check back Monday for the panel video.
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movies
‘Real Time’: Bill Maher Makes Boob Joke About Dolly Parton
As Dolly Parton leaves behind an untouchable legacy, Bill Maher went for an easy boob joke in his on-air tribute.
On Friday’s episode of Real Time, the comedian mentioned the 11x Grammy-winning Queen of Country’s death at age 80 this week in his opening monologue, before making a quip about her signature busty appearance.
“All this was going on, and all America could really talk about this week was how sad it is we lost Dolly Parton,” began Maher. “Everybody around the country, even around the world—London, they’re doing things, the Santa Monica ferris wheel is lit up with hearts, the Empire State Building was put up in pink. The Sphere in Las Vegas added a nipple.”
Parton’s family announced that she died in Nashville on Tuesday following a brief sickness with cancer. Although she remained busy until her final days, the “I Will Always Love You” artist had dealt with health issues over the past year.
In addition to her legendary country music career and Golden Globe-nominated screen career, Parton was also heavily involved in philanthropy through the Dollywood Foundation, advocating for children’s education and literacy. She also raised money for HIV/AIDS research and helped fund the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, as well as dedicating herself to disaster relief, animal welfare and LGBTQ causes.
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movies
Judge Jackie Glass Dead: ‘Swift Justice’ Host Was 70
Judge Jackie Glass, the former Clark County judge who hosted the syndicated court show Swift Justice, has died. She was 70.
Glass died on Friday afternoon in Las Vegas, TMZ reported after Glass’ daughter Rachel Wolfson posted a tribute to her late mother on social media.
“RIP my rock,” wrote Wolfson on Facebook. “I don’t know how I’ll do this life without you, I love you so much mommy Jackie Glass, I’ll see you again someday.”
Judge Glass made headlines in 2008 when she sentenced O.J. Simpson to 33 years in prison for armed robbery in a Las Vegas hotel. Simpson was released on parole in 2017 before dying of cancer in Vegas in 2024.
In 2011, Glass took over for Nancy Grace as host of the small claims court show Swift Justice in Season 2, which moved production from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Glass hosted the syndicated reality series until it ended in April 2012.
Glass is survived by husband, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, and two daughters.
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movies
CA Lawmakers Compromise With Film Industry On Corporate Tax Credit Cap
The California production community can breathe a sigh of relief: State lawmakers have officially introduced a bill meant to allow studios a few key exemptions from a recently enacted restriction on corporate tax credits.
AB136, introduced Friday evening, addresses concerns raised from stakeholders including the Motion Picture Association about the threat of undermining the efforts to expand California’s Film & TV Tax Credit pool to $750 million.
Lawmakers have to consider legislation for 72 hours before voting. With that in mind, a vote on AB136 is likely to come Monday evening, hours before the midnight end to the legislative session.
The state budget, passed this summer, seeks to stabilize revenue by preventing corporations from offsetting more than $5 million in tax liability annually for the next three years. Several advocacy groups pushed for a complete exemption, but the solution introduced by lawmakers on Friday evening does fall short of that.
Instead, only independent productions will be completely exempt from the $5 million cap. The legislation also addresses concerns about the payback period for studios that have elected to refund credits for cash. Current law allows studios to get cash instead of claiming the credit against tax liability for a 10% discount on the total with a payback period of five years. The fix accelerates that to two years with just a 5% discount.
The new legislation will also extend the expiration date of the non-refundable tax credits that were issued prior to 2025.
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