Apple TV+ has offered a sneak peek at the second season of Foundation and revealed when the sci-fi series will return. More episodes of the show, which is based on Isaac Asimov's series of books of the same name, will premiere this summer and will introduce the second crisis.

The clip opens with one of the main characters, Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), waking up in a stasis chamber that just happens to be in space. It's a compelling start to a teaser that's packed with eye-catching imagery. A terrifying creature pops up at the end, so be mindful of that if you're jumpy.

The first season of Foundation arrived in the fall of 2021, so fans have had to wait quite a while for it to come back. Jared Harris and Lee Pace are among the stars who are returning for season two.

Apple TV+ has announced a Mythic Quest spinoff show. The streaming service hasn't revealed too many details about Mere Mortals just yet. However, it did say the so-called "extension series" will delve deeper into the lives of the employees, players and fans who are impacted by Mythic Quest, the fictional game at the heart of the eponymous sitcom.

Mere Mortals will take inspiration from Mythic Quest "departure" episodes, such as the standalone "Everlight," "Backstory" (which is set in 1972) and "Quarantine," which showed how the characters were dealing with COVID-19 lockdowns. Mythic Quest writers Ashly Burch, John Howell Harris and Katie McElhenney created the eight-episode spinoff. Burch (who also stars as Aloy in Sony's Horizon games) plays Rachel in the original show. Mythic Quest creators Megan Ganz, Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day are involved as executive producers as well.

Apple TV+ didn't say when Mere Mortals will debut. Season 3 of Mythic Quest premiered on the streaming service last month.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the 2023 Golden Globes nominations today. Streaming services dominated television categories, while direct-to-streaming films were recognized as well. Netflix and HBO Max had the best showings among streamers, tallying 14 television nods.

Netflix’s The Crown received four nominations: Best Drama Series, Best Television Actress - Drama Series (Imelda Staunton), Best Supporting Actress - Television Series (Elizabeth Debicki) and Best Supporting Actor - Television Series (Jonathan Pryce). Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story also received four: Best Limited Series - Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture and acting nominations for Evan Peters, Niecy Nash and Richard Jenkins. Other Netflix series receiving nods include Ozark's three nominations (including Best Drama Series), along with a single nod each for Inventing Anna and The Addams Family spinoff Wednesday.

Netflix also did well in the film categories, with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery nominated for two awards (including Best Picture - Musical/Comedy) and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio picking up two more (including Best Picture - Animated). Additionally, three more Netflix movies received acting recognition: Ana de Armas (Blonde), Adam Driver (White Noise) and Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse).

HBO

The White Lotus was HBO Max’s top series, picking up four nominations, including Best Limited Series - Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture. The dark comedy anthology also picked up acting nods for Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza and 83-year-old F. Murray Abraham. Hacks was close behind with three, including Best Musical/Comedy Series and two acting noms (Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder). Finally, House of the Dragon’s three nominations (including Best Drama Series) brought the Game of Thrones franchise back to awards season.

Severance and Black Bird put Apple TV+ on the board. The former was nominated for Best Drama Series, along with acting recognition for Adam Scott and John Turturro. Black Bird was nominated for Best Limited Series - Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture, alongside acting noms for Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser.

Disney+

Disney+ had a limited presence on this year’s list. Diego Luna picked up an acting nod for the title role in Andor while Turning Red was nominated for Best Picture - Animated. However, Hulu — Disney’s other streaming service — did very well, picking up noms for Pam & Tommy (four, including Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture), Only Murders in the Building (three), Elizabeth Holmes story The Dropout (two) and Under the Banner of Heaven (two).

As always, there were several high-profile omissions. Amazon’s budget-shattering epic, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, didn’t receive a single nomination. Meanwhile, whether because of Will Smith’s damaged reputation or the movie itself, Apple TV+ film Emancipation was also left out.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 Golden Globes ceremony on January 10th, starting at 8 PM ET. The show will air on NBC and Peacock with comedian Jerrod Carmichael as host.

Disney is making one of its best shows of the year more accessible. On Monday, the company announced it would begin airing Andor on ABC, FX, Freeform and Hulu. Starting November 23rd, the expansion will allow those without access to Disney+ to watch the first two episodes of the Tony Gilroy project. That’s just enough to get a sense of Andor’s smart writing, immaculate production and obsession with institutions, but without seeing the conclusion of its initial arc.

The announcement comes after the show arguably had its best episode yet. Anchored by a stellar performance by Stellan Skarsgard, “One Way Out” featured a thrilling prison break and was a neat encapsulation of Andor’s many strengths. It also comes amid questions about just how many people are watching the show.

In October, Parrot Analytics data analyst Brandon Katz shared a graphic that suggested it was lagging behind other live-action Star Wars shows. Katz later retracted his findings, noting he had incorrectly inputted the relevant data. “It’s performing much better than the initial tweet showed,” he said. “It has hit exceptional demand in several instances.”

Even with the retraction, the discourse around Andor has centered around the show’s viewership numbers. Disney’s decision to air the show on more platforms would seem to lend weight to suggestions the show has been less popular than The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

It's time to bid farewell to the androids of Westworld. HBO has cancelled the sci-fi title after four seasons, even though showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy were hoping for a fifth to reach the ending they had in mind. Nolan and Joy were trying to negotiate for a last season as recently as October, but their discussions clearly did not pan out. In a statement, HBO said:

"Over the past four seasons, Lisa and [Jonathan] have taken viewers on a mind-bending odyssey, raising the bar at every step. We are tremendously grateful to them, along with their immensely talented cast, producers and crew, and all of our partners at Kilter Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television. It’s been a thrill to join them on this journey."

Westworld used to be one of HBO's tentpole projects, with 54 Emmy nominations and even a win for Thandiwe Newton as Outstanding Supporting Actress. Its ratings and viewership have plummeted over the years, however, and it never quite recovered. For fans, the fact that the show hadn't been renewed immediately after the latest season ended was already a bad sign.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, approximately 12 million viewers tuned in to watch the show's critically acclaimed first season across platforms. And, while we thought that Westworldreturned to form in its third season, its numbers kept on tumbling until only 4 million viewers stuck around to watch the latest episodes. That's most likely not enough for HBO to justify a renewal. Apparently, the fourth season cost the network $160 million for eight episodes, which is more than what it spent on House of Dragons. The Game of Thrones prequel had ten episodes and averaged 29 million viewers for each one. 

It’s been a long road, getting from Lower Decks’ slightly rough-around-the-edges first episode to here. But it hasn’t taken that much time, since Star Trek’s first animated sitcom very quickly found its feet to become my favorite Trek of the streaming era. The second season showed a growing confidence in its own execution, and as the third season concludes, we find it proud to show the world what it’s now capable of.

The clue, really, was in the swift resolution to the Pakled cliffhanger which ended the second year. On one hand, a sitcom like Lower Decks doesn’t need to turn into The Wire to keep you hooked. But it’s also aware that it can sow the seeds of a running plot thread – the story of Rutherford’s implant – into the fabric of so many episodes. And that the payoff was far more interested in the impact on the character than the cliffhanger.

And these strands certainly paid off in “Reflections,” which revealed that a person, or persons unknown, were behind Rutherford’s implant. But even that paid off in a way that you weren’t necessarily expecting it to come back here in the two-ish part finale. And who was the big bad of the season, really? Nothing more than the bete noire of so many Golden Era Trek episodes, the Evil Admiral™. I loved the show’s attempted justification for why Starfleet churns out so many of them – the lack of career development pushes people to extremes – too.

If there was a sore spot, it was that the penultimate episode, “Trusted Sources” wheeled out the hacky Journalist Makes Everyone Look Awful plot. It’s about as hackneyed as the one where a sitcom character has their boss over for dinner yet accidentally forgets to tell their partner. It’s only really a crowbar to get Mariner pushed out of Starfleet in preparation for the finale, and it never looked like it was going to stick given her obvious love of the Cerritos.

Naturally, the season ends with a punch-the-air victory for not just the Cerritos, but the whole California Class. I’ve always loved Lower Decks’ celebration of the painstaking, cautious and fundamentally boring, yet fundamental, work that serving in Starfleet often requires. Its regular rejection of the, uh, more Kurtzmanesque tendencies of the series makes me love it all the more. Because, like science, the best work is often slow, incremental and dull until it marks a fundamental shift in how we understand the universe. And you can’t really do that if you’re spending your whole episode running from an explosion or proving how tough you are.

Another sign of the show’s confidence is in its second crew-lite episode (I’m always a fan of a show that’ll take you elsewhere for an episode or two). This time, it was centered on the fate of the evil Exocomp Peanut Hamper, last seen making a run for it in the first season finale. “A Mathematically Perfect Resolution” allowed the show to both flesh out a previously one-note character, and explore a new corner of the Star Trek world.

Even better, the sparse opening act offered a lengthy showcase for Chris Westlake’s gorgeous score. Star Trek has always been about its music as much as its narrative, and the show is lucky to have both Westlake and Nami Melumad producing virtuoso work on a weekly basis. I can’t wait for a season three soundtrack album, especially since we once again hear the James Horner-parodying Lower Decks Action Theme several times this year.

If I have a concern, it’s that Lower Decks often feels like it’s designed with lasers to milk my nostalgia glands. I’ll often spend a chunk of each episode clapping like a mad seal at the latest Trek deep cut Mike McMahon and Co. throw at viewers each week. The only thing that prevents it from becoming gratuitous fanservice is that these feel mostly earned. And it has been an orgy of references, including an extended visit to Deep Space Nine.

My heart can do nothing but swell when Nana Visitor (Kira), Armin Shimmerman (Quark), JG Hertzler (Martok), Susan Gibney (Leah Brahmas) and George Takei (Captain Sulu!). And the show has the appropriate respect for Trek MVP Jeffrey Combs to bring him back for a quick visit to Agimus, still trapped in Starfleet’s filing cabinet for self-aware, megalomaniacal computers. I didn’t even mention the extended First Contact riff, complete with an appearance by James Cromwell, or the riff on classic TNG episode “Symbiosis” with quite possibly the darkest joke ever seen in a Trek series.

I’m running out of room to heap the usual praise on the cast, all of whom do sterling work on a regular basis. And that’s before we discuss the glorious, last-minute reveal that T’Lyn, the so-called “emotional” Vulcan from last year’s “wej Duj” has transferred to the Cerritos. (Do I want her to join Beta Shift? I have no idea, but I’m looking forward to seeing how she interacts with the gang now she’s here.)

I’m naturally very excited for Lower Decks’ Season 4 but, by my calculations, the next time we’ll see Mariner and Boimler appear in Strange New Worlds. Given that we already know that Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid look like their characters, I can’t wait to see them appear on the Enterprise bridge and stare lovingly at Pike’s Peak. My favorite nü-Trek series merging with my second-favorite? Be still my beating heart.

Disney stations including ABC, ESPN, FX and Disney Channel are back on Dish and Sling TV after the two parties reached a tentative agreement, Deadline has reported. A total of 17 Disney channels disappeared from the services on Friday, October 1st over a carriage disagreement.

"We have reached a handshake agreement with Dish/Sling TV, which properly reflects fair market value and terms for The Walt Disney Company’s... content," a Disney spokesperson said in a statement. "As a result, we are pleased to restore our portfolio of networks on a temporary basis while both parties work to finalize a new deal."

Dish had accused Disney of holding "viewers hostage for negotiation leverage, claiming that it wanted to include ESPN and ESPN2 into non-sports packages." At the same time, Disney said Dish failed to give it a fair offer to keep ESPN and National Geographic on Dish/Sling TV. "After months of negotiating in good faith, Dish has declined to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us for continued distribution of our networks," the company told Variety in a statement on Friday.

Last year, Disney channels vanished from YouTube TV in December over a similar dispute, but returned just a day later. Meanwhile, HBO and Cinemax went dark on Dish in 2018, and only reappeared last year (along with HBO Max). As of Q2 2022, Dish and Sling TV had around 10 million US subscribers combined, according to Statista. 

Disney-owned channels including local ABC stations, ESPN, FX and 17 others are no longer available on Dish Network and Sling TV. Dish says Disney wanted almost $1 billion more to extend their carriage contract, which expired at 3AM ET on October 1st. As a result, Dish had to remove Disney's channels from both platforms for the time being. As is usually the case in these situations, both sides are blaming each other for the blackout.

Dish claimed it offered Disney a contract extension, but said the latter rejected the proposal and walked away from the negotiating table. "We were not able to reach a mutual renewal agreement with Disney and without a contract in place we are legally required to remove their channels from our service," Dish said in a statement.

Dish has accused Disney of holding "viewers hostage for negotiation leverage." It claimed that Disney wanted Dish to insert ESPN and ESPN2 into packages that don't currently include sports channels. In addition, it said Disney wanted to upend a policy that allows Dish subscribers to remove local channels and save money. “Now Disney wants to take this away by forcing most Dish customers in their ABC markets to pay for local channels,” Dish said.

On the flip side, Disney claimed it didn't receive a fair offer to keep the likes of ESPN and National Geographic on Dish and Sling TV. “After months of negotiating in good faith, Dish has declined to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us for continued distribution of our networks," Disney told Variety in a statement. “The rates and terms we are seeking reflect the marketplace and have been the foundation for numerous successful deals with pay-TV providers of all types and sizes across the country. We’re committed to reaching a fair resolution, and we urge Dish to work with us in order to minimize the disruption to their customers.”

The Disney networks that Dish had to remove from its platforms are ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, Disney Channel, Disney Jr., Disney XD, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, ACC Network, SEC Network, Longhorn Network and Baby TV. Dish also had to jettison local ABC stations in Chicago; Fresno, California; Houston; Los Angeles; New York City; Philadelphia; Raleigh, North Carolina; and San Francisco.

This is the second time in the space of a year that Disney's channels have gone dark on a major live TV streaming service. YouTube TV lost access to them last December over a carriage fee dispute with Disney. The standoff didn't last long, however, as the likes of ESPN and local ABC channels returned the next day.

Dish has also had battles with other media giants. HBO and Cinemax vanished from Dish and Sling TV in 2018. The channels, and HBO Max, became available on Dish again last year after it reached an agreement with WarnerMedia, which is now part of Warner Bros. Discovery. However, the channels and HBO Max still aren't available on Sling TV.

It's been nearly a year and a half, but you'll soon get to find out what happens next in Mythic Quest. Apple has revealed that season three of its game developer comedy series will debut on TV+ November 11th. There aren't more details about the plot, but the new episodes follow the impact of a studio shakeup. And of course, you can expect up-to-the-minute technology jokes. Let's just say there's a creative reinterpretation of "NFT."

The series was created by and stars Welcome to Wrexham subject Rob McElhenney as Ian, with Charlotte Nicdao as Poppy. The show has drawn attention not just for making game development an enjoyable topic for a TV series, but its connection to the industry — Ubisoft is involved in the production alongside Lionsgate and 3 Arts Entertainment.

As it is, Apple has a number of high-profile season releases due this fall. The second season of spy production Slow Horses arrives December 2nd, while the immigrant anthology Little America (the work of husband-and-wife team Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon) continues December 9th. Apple now has a string of well-known shows in the pipeline, even if Ted Lasso remains its biggest attraction.

Netflix will host the second installment of its Tudum global fan event today. The stream will feature news, trailers and clips from more than 120 shows, movies, specials, documentaries and games. You'll be able to watch the event, which starts at 1PM ET, below. Netflix will also stream the event on its Twitter, Twitch and Facebook channels, as well as its YouTube channels around the world.

Among many, many other projects, Tudum will feature an update on season three of The Witcher, details on prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin, an appearance from the Squid Game cast and a Stranger Things blooper reel. In addition, Tudum will include news on The Crown, trailers for new seasons of Outer Banks and Manifest, a first peek at Jennifer Lopez's movie The Mother and an exclusive clip from Rian Johnson's follow-up to Knives Out, Glass Onion. There will also be a look at the Netflix version of Oxenfree — the company bought developer Night School Studio last year. 

This could be an important event for Netflix, which has had a fairly rough year. Its subscriber numbers dropped for the first time — it lost around 1.2 million subscribers in the first six months of 2022. Netflix has raised prices in several territories in recent months and it has a cheaper, ad-supported tier on the way. To both keep current subscribers on board and bring in newcomers, Netflix has to get folks excited about what it has to offer. Events like Tudum can help with that.