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<\/p>\nIn a year of serious crises, there was no shortage of more minor annoyances, from the decline of ‘Squid Game’ to the rise of Tilly Norwood to the unending Lively\/Baldoni soap opera. <\/p>\n
\tPublished on December 30, 2025\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tFrom left: Aspiring AI star Tilly Norwood; FIFA peace prize recipient Donald Trump; ‘Squid Game’ star Lee Jung-Jae.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Particle6; Patrick Smith\/Getty Images; No Ju-han\/Netflix<\/p>\n
\n\tWe\u2019ll admit it just this once: Hollywood is not the world. What counts as a disaster for us might not have much of an effect beyond it. (In fact, the growing disconnect between Hollywood and the public at large is the source of many of Tinseltown\u2019s struggles.) And in a year with so many actual human tragedies in and around L.A. \u2014 from the January wildfires<\/a> to indiscriminate ICE raids to widespread rolling layoffs \u2014 it would be inappropriate to put the following industry-centric developments on the same level. Instead, consider the unordered, random and decidedly subjective grievances below to fall somewhere on the spectrum between catastrophe and minor annoyance. In other words: bummers.<\/p>\n \tAdults Bail on Theaters<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tThis year was meant to cement the theatrical comeback for adult-oriented, star-driven, studio-backed dramas: Sony\u2019s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, with Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell; A24\u2019s The Smashing Machine with Dwayne Johnson; 20th Century\u2019s Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere with Jeremy Allen White; Black Bear\u2019s Christy\u00a0with Sydney Sweeney. Some of these films were better reviewed than others, but all suffered the same box-office fate in quick succession: They bombed hard, placing the very future of movies of their type and scale into doubt. More robust holiday platform releases like Hamnet and, especially,\u00a0Marty Supreme<\/a>, have since revived some traces of optimism, but those grim fall months left a bitter aftertaste that\u2019s proving hard to shake. \u2014 David Canfield<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tTilly Norwood Takes a Shot at Stardom (and Humans)<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tDutch comedian, producer, inventor and apparent troll Eline van der Velden knew exactly what the already demoralized entertainment industry needed in 2025: Tilly Norwood, her dead-eyed fembot masquerading as an AI \u201cactress.\u201d And, yes, we can mock her appearance because\u00a0she\u2019s not real. Van der Veldon\u2019s September assertion that Norwood\u2019s zeroes and ones would soon be represented by a major agency sent actors across the globe into a rage, cementing this dystopian, glorified gif as the avatar for Hollywood\u2019s collective AI anxiety. Betty Gilpin even penned a real \u201cchef\u2019s kiss\u201d open letter<\/a> to her new digital nemesis. Norwood\u2019s creator is still out there banging the drum about BS film projects that won\u2019t come to fruition on any platform of consequence \u2014 Really, she can\u2019t even crack 68k IG followers? \u2014 but stay vigilant.\u00a0Let\u2019s keep Tilly where she belongs, on the sticky hard drive of some lonely incel\u2019s PC.\u00a0\u2014Mikey O\u2019Connell<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tWWE Network, Rest. In. Peaaaace!<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tOnce upon a time, the WWE Network was a standalone streaming service that cost $9.99 per month. It included all the pro-wrestling promotion\u2019s pay-per-views, what we now call Premium Live Events, new and old, as well as (delayed) episodes of weekly episodic series Raw and SmackDown and other ancillary programming. It was a really good deal, and when Peacock bought it, it became a great deal. Peacock with ads, including WWE Network, initially cost $4.99\/month; ad-free Peacock, which also included the WWE programming, was $9.99 \u2014 the same price as the WWE Network\u2019s standalone days. Well, nowadays it\u2019ll cost fans a lot more to watch their Superstars: Netflix has Raw, ESPN has (most of) the PLEs, Peacock has the others (and SmackDown) \u2014 so right there you\u2019re talking like $50\/month \u2014 or more. The WWE Universe yearns for the good ol\u2019 days. \u2014 Tony Maglio<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tNetflix Buys HBO Before HBO Could Become Netflix<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tFor more than a decade, the battle between HBO and Netflix was one of quality vs. quantity. It got a hell of a lot closer toward the end of that war, when Netflix had accumulated a bunch of its own legitimate premium programming. Well, the competition is basically over at this point, as Netflix appears to be the winner of Hollywood\u2019s Warner Bros. sweepstakes. It\u2019s a\u00a0bummer\u00a0for a bunch of reasons: 1) the competition brought their bests out; and 2) there is a genuine reason for concern about the future of the HBO brand, the cream of the crop in prestige TV. Don\u2019t mess this up Netflix<\/a> \u2014 we want our HBO.\u00a0\u2014 Tony Maglio<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tGame of the Year Stolen From Us<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tIs\u00a0Grand Theft Auto VI\u00a0ever going to come out? I mean, yes, but, like, when? (And then for real, when?) Well, the current release date is Nov. 19, 2026, but maybe don\u2019t mark your calendar with a Sharpie.\u00a0GTA 6\u00a0was originally supposed to be out by, well, now \u2014 but it has faced multiple delays. In May, the game was pushed to May of 2026. By November, the date had been pushed again to November 2026. Rockstar Games is doing the right thing by making sure the game is, indeed, finished \u2014 and you\u2019d better believe the price tag is going to reflect the effort. \u2014 Tony Maglio<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tRyan Murphy Goes Low, and Lower<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tFor reasons best understood by Ryan Murphy, Ryan Murphy likes to create autumnal gluts of Ryan Murphy. Last year, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez and Grotesquerie came out within weeks of each other. In 2022, it was Dahmer \u2014 Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and The Watcher. This year? Monster: The Ed Gein Story<\/a> (co-created by Ian Brennan) kicked off October on Netflix, reminding discerning viewers of how repetitive that ghoulish, exploitative franchise has become in its leering condemnation of the true-crime genre and people who love it. Then, one month later, Murphy teamed with Jon Robin Baitz and Joe Baken for the head-scratching All\u2019s Fair<\/a>, a spectacularly<\/a> tone-deaf legal procedural in which the largely inanimate Kim Kardashian got to steal screen time from one of the best female casts in recent memory. Both shows were awful. Both shows were hits. Congrats to all involved. \u2014 Daniel Fienberg<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t\u2018Squid Game\u2019 Plays Itself<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tWhen\u00a0Squid Game<\/a>\u00a0ended in 2021 by setting up a second season, our reaction was one of cautious optimism. True, the story had seemed complete as is, but who were we to doubt a show that had thrilled us so much already? When\u00a0Squid Game\u00a0finally\u00a0returned in 2024<\/a>\u00a0with half a story that retraced too much of the first season while adding too little surprise or depth, we continued to hope. Surely, we told ourselves, it would all pay off in season three. Then\u00a0season three came out<\/a>, and \u2026 well. Sluggishly paced and thinly drawn, with an overabundance of nasty plot twists but a dearth of any new insights, it did nothing but confirm what everyone had been telling Gi-hun all along: He\u2019d have been better off leaving that island in the past and letting himself and us move on with the rest of our lives. \u2014 Angie Han<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tThe Emperor\u2019s New Clothes? So Hot Right Now<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tNaked Dressing was prevalent yet again in 2025, with Bianca Censori baring, yes, everything at the Grammys in February in a nothing-there dress \u201cdesigned\u201d by her husband Kanye West, through to Sydney Sweeney freeing the nipple in a sheer Christian Cowan at a women\u2019s empowerment event in October. The interpretation of whether this is actually liberating women or just playing to the male gaze is obviously up to the wearer, but did Censori truly look as if she was a willing participant in this attention-grabbing moment?\u00a0 Or is naked dressing just yet another way of exploiting women\u2019s bodies? We can trace this trend as far back as Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to President Kennedy in her Jean Louis gown, but none of these women can \u2014 thank you, Elton \u2014 hold a candle to Marilyn. \u2014 Alison Edmond<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tTrump Gets a Participation Trophy<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tIf satire is dead, it was officially buried the moment Donald Trump accepted a \u201cPeace Prize\u201d from soccer world governing body FIFA. The organization that gave us Qatar, endless corruption probes and $700 \u201cdynamic pricing\u201d World Cup tickets decided the one person who most embodied peace and harmony in 2025 was our 47th president. If you made this call on the field, VAR would have chalked it off.\u00a0\u2014 Scott Roxborough<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tEverybody in the Blake Lively\/Justin Baldoni Saga Is Horrible<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tThe only clear winner in the Blake Lively versus Justin Baldoni courtroom saga<\/a> was collective schadenfreude. What began as a celebrity dispute ballooned into a rolling public demonstration of how not to behave, on set, in the media or under oath. Each new filing somehow made everyone involved look worse. Choosing sides became impossible and, by the end, the prevailing emotion wasn\u2019t outrage or sympathy but fatigue, the kind that comes from watching very rich, very unpleasant people litigate their privilege in public.\u00a0\u2014 Scott Roxborough<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tJames Brooks\u2019 Comeback Is a Cringe-Fest<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tThere are few more soul-crushing downers for a critic than watching a celebrated storyteller drive off a cliff. At 85, James L. Brooks could stay home polishing his Oscars and Emmys instead of toiling over the stunningly inept\u00a0Ella McCay<\/a>, an ensemble comedy about an idealistic young woman navigating bumps in the road of family life and her career in state politics. Nothing works in this head-scratcher, because the story has no footing in our contemporary world or even in some inauthentically nostalgic version of our past. The incisive grasp of character that made Brooks a national treasure is gone. Also, a word to Jamie Lee Curtis and Woody Harrelson: You\u2019re in your 60s, please don\u2019t try to be cute. It\u2019s unseemly.\u00a0\u2014 David Rooney<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tNetflix and the Russo Brothers Waste $320 Million<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tNot to get too moralistic about the way the entertainment industry burns through giant wads of cash, but when countless gifted directors can\u2019t get promising projects off the ground, there\u2019s something obscene about Netflix slapping down $320 million for Anthony and Joe Russo to play in the moldy retro-futuristic sci-fi toy box of\u00a0The Electric State<\/a>. A clash of the bots that has precisely nothing original to say about the ongoing march of A.I., this soulless comedy adventure\u2019s main achievement is to show that Chris Pratt is on a Mark Wahlberg level in terms of limited range, and people need to stop trying to make Millie Bobby Brown happen as a movie star.\u00a0\u2014 David Rooney<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \tFour-Hour Waits for Pancakes<\/p>\n \t\t\t \n\tPhil\u00a0Rosenthal\u00a0\u2014 creator of\u00a0Everybody Loves Raymond, host of\u00a0Somebody Feed Phil, longtime investor-patron of the L.A. restaurant scene \u2014 opened a small diner this fall in Larchmont Village to quite a bit of fanfare. He made it clear he was hoping for it to be, above all,\u00a0haimish: a cozy neighborhood stop-in. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to me that it remains democratic with a small \u2018d,\u2019\u201d he said. Alas, the restaurant immediately became an ultra-fashionable Hollywood VIP spot (yes, that\u2019s Spielberg in the corner) \u2014 and after going viral, the wait is hours-long for the\u00a0hoi polloi. Friends of Phil advance to the front of the line if they know the number of his daughter Lily, Max & Helen\u2019s designated \u201ccreative director.\u201d \u2014 Gary Baum<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \t\tTHR Newsletters<\/p>\n Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day<\/p>\n\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Columbia Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy of Particle6\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Elsa\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Mario Tama\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Rockstar Games\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Disney\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: No Ju-han\/Netflix\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Michael Buckner\/Variety\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Patrick Smith\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Nathan Congleton\/NBC\/Getty Images; Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Claire Folger\/20th Century Studios\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Courtesy Netflix\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Photographed by Shelby Moore\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n