LOS ANGELES — Fifty-five years ago, preschoolers were captivated by the TV performance of a fuzzy blue monster, two striped shirt-wearing best friends and a big yellow bird.

Today, in the now-crowded field of children's media, one big-headed, animated toddler named JJ is running to the top.

Born from YouTube, JJ and his friends in the ...Read more

“Emilia Pérez” is not what most would conjure when thinking of a movie musical. And therein lies its superpower.

Its writer-director, Jacques Audiard, chose to tell the story of a brutal Mexican drug cartel lord (played by Karla Sofía Gascón) who undergoes profound changes in midlife — including gender-reassignment surgery — as a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A secret center of the musical theater universe lies almost 3,000 miles from Broadway in a modestly grand house in L.A.'s Toluca Lake. On a late summer day, the home's most striking feature was the figure of a white standard French poodle. Visible through one of the windows flanking the front door, she sat so still that she might...Read more

When a 1½-pound dog hops on your lap, there is only one possible response — joy.

The dog, a micro-Chihuahua named Pilaf, knows this, and Pilaf’s owner, Demi Moore, knows this as well, though that doesn’t mean she doesn’t apologize and ask if you’re OK with Pilaf taking liberties. I’ve had leaves fall on me that felt heavier than ...Read more

A little over a week after releasing his first album since 2011, singer Jamey Johnson was arrested Sunday just outside of Nashville.

The country singer-songwriter, who has written with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and George Strait, is facing a felony drug charge after he was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for speeding, the ...Read more

Cher says the late Sonny Bono “seriously” considered killing her near the end of their “loveless marriage,” during which she also contemplated suicide.

The Grammy winner, 78, lays out “the darkest moment” of the “I Got You Babe” singers’ six-year marriage in excerpts of “Cher: The Memoir, Part 1,” which hit shelves Tuesday...Read more

Actor Cynthia Erivo tops the list of reasons the first part of a two-part film adaptation of the musical “Wicked” likely will extend the good fortune that has paved this story’s road from the beginning. It’s quite a zigzag lineage: From L. Frank Baum’s “Oz” adventures to MGM’s 1939 movie musical to Gregory Maguire’s ...Read more

Former Bee Gees drummers Colin “Smiley” Petersen and Dennis Bryon, who played with the quintessential disco group in the 1960s and 1970s, respectively, have died within days of each other.

The death of Petersen, the bestselling group’s original drummer, was announced Monday in a post on the Best of the Bee Gees Facebook page.

“It is ...Read more

NEW YORK — Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine is sharing a jail housing unit with fallen hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, the Daily News has learned.

The two rappers are both housed on the same dorm-style floor at MDC Brooklyn, where they’re sharing space with big-time crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, 6ix9ine’s lawyer confirmed Tuesday.

The ...Read more

It's an autumn day in New York, which prompts Cynthia Erivo to start singing the opening lines of the jazz standard of that name because, as I learn through our hour together, it does not take much prodding to get Erivo to break out in song. She serenades me with Marvin Gaye, Kate Bush and — wait, what's that? Mike and the Mechanics?

"I did ...Read more

“Wicked” doesn’t need a movie adaptation to be relevant — it’s already a cultural phenomenon, even before the behemoth two-part film adaptation hits theaters. The beloved Tony-winning Broadway musical is adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” a revisionist history ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Two Philly-region short queens are working together.

When Sabrina Carpenter debuted a trailer for her upcoming "A Nonsense Christmas" Netflix special Monday, it featured a cameo from Abbott Elementary's Quinta Brunson.

Brunson can be seen participating in a sketch with Carpenter, marking a meeting of two Philadelphia-region ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Earlier this year, Kansas City native Heidi Gardner got to show off her hometown to the cast and crew of a new TV talent show that filmed here.

The “Saturday Night Live” star served as one of three celebrity judges on “Second Chance Stage,” which debuts next week on Thanksgiving night.

The trailer for the show, ...Read more

It may be the start of the holiday season, but for many movie lovers, it’s the most wonderful time of the year: awards season. While the awards shows themselves proceed from January (the Golden Globes) to March (the Academy Awards), the fall and winter is the time to catch up on the contenders, whether in theaters or streaming.

Streaming this...Read more

Is Netflix a universal language?

The entertainment giant is counting on it as the company seeks to extend its lead in the global streaming business. On Monday, Netflix showcased its latest slate of international original programs, which are a key part of its strategy to attract and retain subscribers around the world.

The list includes the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Sammy Hagar was assembling a new telescope on Sunday afternoon. He had the glasses on, instructions out, wrench in hand, immersed in the challenge and admitting, “I’m so not a rock star right now.”

Hagar is still an analog guy on this digital assignment. But no matter the equipment, he’s looking into the galaxy with his ...Read more

DETROIT — Post Malone has an announcement. A Big Ass announcement, to be more specific.

The multi-genre hitmaker will perform at Ford Field on May 18 as part of his "Big Ass Stadium Tour," the singer announced Tuesday.

He'll be joined by fellow rapper-turned-country singer Jelly Roll, who earlier this month told an audience at Little Caesars...Read more

Kelsey Mann was scanning some old photos when he came to a series of pictures from his childhood birthdays and was struck by what he saw.

“I was 5, and it’s my birthday, and I’m sitting there in front of my cake … I think it was the smile and the joy on my face that made me stop,” says the director of “Inside Out 2.” “I’m like...Read more

Following is a partial schedule of coming movies on DVD. Release dates are subject to change:

NOVEMBER

19: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

19: Godzilla Minus One

19: Speak No Evil

19: Reagan

19: The Killer's Game

19: God's Not Dead: In God We Trust

19: Skincare

19: Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In

19: A Sudden Case of Christmas

19: Dead ...Read more