Which TV show has the greatest onscreen kiss of all time? Which is so good it saved someone’s marriage? Guardian readers pick their most beloved romcoms
The ultimate TV romcom. I still remember watching the episode with Nick and Jess’s first kiss for the first time, and in my opinion (as well, I believe, as that of many of my generation) it remains the greatest TV kiss. While Nick and Jess are the centre, the comedy between the friends and the other romances along the way mean that I never tire of rewatching. Kate, 35, Liverpool
Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin star in a thin, thin Amazon thriller. It’s horrifically badly paced, deeply repetitive and tension free – not to mention its deeply unlikely plot
Dame Edna Everage (and if you are too young to know of the housewife superstar that was Barry Humphries’ greatest creation, get yourselves to YouTube and gaze upon her glory, possums) once begged South Bank Show presenter and prolific novelist Melvyn Bragg to stop writing: “Give us all a chance to catch up.”
I feel the same way about Harlan Coben’s TV career. With the possible revision that once we have caught up, if he doesn’t feel refreshed enough to give us something better than Lazarus, he could extend his hiatus until full reinvigoration has been achieved.
The AI-generated host of Dispatches raises worrying questions about Channel 4’s environmental impact. She’s also a dead-eyed host who might leave Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Kevin McCloud fearing for their future
Last night’s Dispatches was called Will AI Take My Job? Usually when something like this employs a question mark in the title, it’s because the answer is no. Not this time, though, because the sheer overwhelming inevitability of AI taking our jobs is genuinely painful to think about.
According to the film, 8m jobs in the UK alone are at risk of being outsourced by AI. Call centre workers, translators, graphic designers – anyone who isn’t a masseur or a scaffolder, basically – will soon be made redundant by a technology that, despite its catastrophic effect on the environment, is growing more sophisticated by the hour. My days are almost certainly numbered; it stands to reason that I will soon be replaced by the ChatGPT prompt “Be performatively exasperated about whatever was just on the telly”. Grok could even whip up a byline photo of an unpleasantly smug egg to go with it. Nobody would be any the wiser.
Roughly three million Americans canceled the streaming service in the month that it temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s show. About 4.1 million people canceled Disney-owned Hulu.
Subscriptions dropped at an increased rate after backlash from late-night host’s temporary removal, new data shows
Disney’s short-lived suspension of Jimmy Kimmel under pressure from the Trump administration may have had a permanent impact on the company’s subscription numbers.
According to data released by Antenna, an analytics firm that tracks subscription and viewership data for major streaming services, cancellation rates for Disney+ and Hulu doubled from August to September – from 4 and 5% to 8 and 10%, respectively. So-called churn rates for Disney+ have hovered at 3-4% all year, with Hulu at 4-5%.
Director general says it is inappropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue ‘to be campaigning in that way’
BBC journalists cannot wear T-shirts in the newsroom supporting the anti-racist movement Black Lives Matter, the corporation’s director general has said.
Tim Davie said the BBC stood against racism but it was “not appropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue to be campaigning in that way.
Since the first election of President Trump, Hollywood has fretted about portraying rural and red state Americans. Some new TV series show how to get it right.
Mr. Pierce, the popular actor from shows like “The Wire,” said time is precious. He spends his shopping in Harlem, walking through Central Park and staying up all night listening to jazz.
Wendell Pierce, who is best known for his work on television shows like “The Wire” and “Treme,” is filming a new season of the CBS show “Elsbeth” in New York.
Bari Weiss in 2023. Since she started as the editor in chief of CBS News on Oct. 6, she has met with leading anchors and executives, impressing some and confounding others.
Why sanitise or sugarcoat the classics? New adaptations of Austen and Brontë could explore everything from slavery to death in childbirth
News that Andrew Davies – the man behind the nation’s most beloved Pride and Prejudice adaptation – is planning to have Jane Austen’s Emma die in childbirth drew gasps from audiences at Cliveden literary festival last weekend. Davies is planning to explore the dark undercurrents of Austen’s work in adaptations of Emma, Mansfield Park and unfinished novel The Watsons, and while his ideas may shock those fans wedded to Austen as a romcom author, I couldn’t be happier.
I have always loved a period drama, especially literary adaptations. A few years ago, though, Austen fatigue set in for me. Maybe it’s the fact I’ve seen at least three Emmas and three Pride and Prejudices, and read each of her novels at least thrice. There are so many other stories in the world, many waiting to be discovered and adapted. Unless there was some new spin or interpretation being offered, I simply stopped being interested.
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist
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The actor on an elevator encounter with Helen Mirren, an apology to a teacher and the lie he told to see Arsenal
Born in London, David Ajala, 39, trained at the Anna Scher Theatre School. He joined the RSC in 2008, went on to work at the National Theatre and this year appeared in the West End with Ewan McGregor in My Master Builder. He has had roles in the films Kidulthood, Adulthood and Brotherhood, The Dark Knight, Fast & Furious 6 and Jupiter Ascending. Currently he is in Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue on BBC One and The Woman in Cabin 10 on Netflix. He lives in Essex with his wife and two children.
When were you happiest?
When I was naive to the complexities of life.
The millennial crowd-pleasers return with a second helping of their sizzling romcom … and it’s just as much of a pleasure. We already know exactly which spin-off we want too!
For a while, it seemed as if the romcom as an art form died and had been replaced by Marvel sequels and issue-led dramedies. Rachel and Ross were a distant memory (and not just because it was 20 years ago). Luckily, the genre – and our collective broken hearts – has been given CPR by a flurry of new releases. Few have been more affecting than Nobody Wants This (Netflix, from Thursday 23 October), the stomach-flipping story of rabbi Noah and relationship podcaster Joanne.
When the first series appeared on Netflix last year, the success was somewhat unexpected. With the streaming giant focused on content viewers could watch after a lobotomy, few expected a mega hit that would create a genuine emotional connection. Then we met Noah (millennial nostalgia-fix Adam Brody) and Joanne (Kristen Bell) and the combination of acting, lovable characterisation and tight writing saw critical acclaim, Emmy nominations and – most importantly – old-fashioned longing. The internet had a new boyfriend. Fleabag’s Hot Priest was old news. Hot Rabbi was here to save us. And he was a really good listener who could also cook pasta.
Inspired by creator Erin Foster’s experience of converting to Judaism for her husband, Nobody Wants This boils faith, family and modern dating into 26 tightly packed minutes. On top of ex-girlfriends and formidable mothers-in-law, our two lovers have a central obstacle to overcome: if he wants to be head rabbi, Noah needs to marry a Jewish woman.
When we last saw the couple, they were at a crossroads: Noah had been offered his dream job and Joanne had done the selfless act of leaving him so he could take it. The final scene of the two reuniting and kissing in the street perfectly set up a second season and with it pressing questions. Will Joanne convert? Will Noah quit his vocation? Will Noah’s mum murder Joanne when she finds out?
Sally Wainwright brings us a superb drama about women of a certain age forming a punk band, and Nina Conti’s monkey makes for an unlikely movie star. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews
For performers on TV or movie sets, it is not unusual to receive a request to enter a booth filled with scores of cameras ready to capture their likeness from every possible angle. Yet with the cast and crew of productions already fretting over the coming role of AI in the industry, it is an increasingly troubling undertaking.
“It happens without warning,” says Olivia Williams, who adds she has been scanned more times than she cares to remember during a career that has spanned from The Sixth Sense to Dune: Prophecy.
To celebrate the return of charming hit Nobody Wants This, romcom superfans like Russell T Davies and Jack Rooke pick their favourite shows. Prepare to be swept off your feet!
It’s perfect, that’s all. It’s got the perfect meet-cute (boob, crashed car, injured dog); the perfect combination of realism and romance (especially for non-romantics like me); the perfect heroine (neither the hot mess nor the manic pixie dream girl we are so often forced to accept); the perfect hero (laid-back but not lazy, older but not creepy, patient, not a pillock) and perfect writing.
Rudimentary but powerful device detonates outside home of Report presenter Sigfrido Ranucci in Campo Ascolano
A prominent Italian investigative journalist has been targeted in a bomb attack, with the rudimentary but powerful device almost destroying his car and damaging a neighbour’s home.
Sigfrido Ranucci, who hosts Report, an investigative programme aired by the state broadcaster, Rai, said the explosion happened about 20 minutes after he returned to his home in Campo Ascolano, close to Rome, on Thursday night.
Alex Lawther and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell star in this adaptation of Rónán Hession’s understated 2019 novel. Its quiet celebration of the gentle life is the opposite of today’s frantic TV – even if it does feature a Hollywood megastar’s voice
On a well-maintained driveway in an unremarkable suburb of Dublin, a small man in a sleeveless jumper is professing a desire to expand his horizons. “I feel myself getting quieter. More invisible,” says Leonard, blinking up at the night sky. “One thing’s led to another and now I feel like if I don’t do something I’ll just carry on in this …” – he searches for a fitting encapsulation of his life – “… minor, harmless existence.” Hungry Paul – Leonard’s best and, indeed, only friend – considers the implications of this announcement. “Nothing wrong with that, though,” he replies, bathrobe flapping thoughtfully in the breeze. “Better than trying to make a mark on the world only to wind up defacing it.”
For those exhausted by the bluster and rat-tat-tat of today’s TV terrain, here is Leonard and Hungry Paul with a foil blanket and warming mug of Ribena.
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