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Nothing better than sitting down for the holidays and bingeing television shows this weekend with loved ones. Here's some help on what's new and worth watching.
This week's shows: Julia Season 2, The Crown Season 6 and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Keep reading... to save yourself the trouble of going into a show unaware of what to expect.
Heading into a week where folks spend their holiday time watching television with family, it’d be nice to watch something entertaining together, right?
On LAist 89.3’s AirTalk, we're joined by television critics each week to give you a rundown of shows that are as fresh as the pies folks will have cooling on their window sills. I’ll also give you some added insight into three shows we’ve talked about to get you prepared.
We had a lot of adapted content to talk about this week, so I’ll take you through three of those shows to give you a better sense of what's worth your precious time this holiday weekend.
This week, AirTalk’s Larry Mantle talked about the latest on television and streaming with Jen Chaney, television critic for Vulture, and Dominic Patten, senior editor for Deadline.
Today’s shows include:
Streaming on Max
“It feels a little more sprawling… still very entertaining, and it's the kind of show you want to watch over Thanksgiving. It just feels very cozy.” – Jen Chaney, Vulture
First Impression: Centered on the storied history of Pasadena-native Julia Childs as she ascends to icon status through her cooking program.
Lasting Impression: The first season offers a good introduction to Childs’ celebrity through personal issues that many go through, like experiencing menopause, but also the more unique problem of attempting to assist in kickstarting a cooking program following her successful cookbook.
Season 2 sees more fruits borne of Childs' labor as she gets a chance to work on her next book and continue building a legacy following the success of her television program. Along with seeing that process and Julia’s personal life at the time, you’ll also get to see the production staff at WGBH go through the process of building off the lightning-in-a-bottle success with The French Chef.
Overall, definitely worth a watch given its timeliness, particularly as folks arrive at the kitchen to make their favorite holiday comfort foods. For those who grew up on Childs’ work, this also serves as a great reminder about why she was so beloved.
Who's behind it: The creator of the show is Daniel Goldfarb, whose most notable credits include serving as a producer for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a show that takes place during a similar era in American history. Goldfarb had worked on Seasons 2 through 4, with his growing in size, first serving a co-producer and ending his time on the show as a supervising producer.
When and where: Episodes 1-3 are now streaming on Max; Episode 4 releases Thursday, Nov. 23.
Streaming on Netflix
“The Death of Diana episodes are drawn out, maudlin, [and] cliche-ridden” – Dominic Patten, Deadline
“I will say that Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Diana at this point in her life, is continuing to give just a terrific performance” – Jen Chaney, Vulture
First Impression: Following the life of the British Royal Family of our lifetimes, we see drama within the family as most struggle with the balancing of its royal traditions and meeting their own personal desires.
Lasting Impression: For as much fascinating gossip each season has offered, and its cathartic elements keeping viewers intrigued, it does seem like the start of Season 6 is capping the show’s end in lackluster fashion. For context, the first 4 episodes of the new season are centered on some of the last moments prior to Princess Diana’s death.
Who's behind it: The creator of the show is Peter Morgan. He’s been nominated for 2 Academy awards, one for his work on the 2008 film Frost/Nixon and the other for the 2006 film The Queen. Along with this, he’s of course been nominated and won multiple Emmys for The Crown.
When and where: Part 1 (Episodes 1-4) are now streaming on Netflix; Part 2 (Episodes 5-10) will release on Dec. 14.
Streaming on Netflix
“It does follow some of the same narrative beats [as the film] and then it goes in a completely different direction that you don't expect.” – Jen Chaney, Vulture
First impression: Tells the story originally written by Bryan Lee O'Malley that started out as a comic book series, but eventually gained traction in being adapted into a film and video game. It follows Canadian slacker Scott Pilgrim as he literally fights to date his love interest Ramona Flowers, needing to defeat her seven evil exes.
Lasting Impression: Having the work be adapted into a television show is very fitting, allowing for a bit more time that isn’t awarded in a film and making it a closer attempt at bringing to life what the comic book was.
And, in a fun turn of events that is sure to delight fans of the 2010 Edgar Wright film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, it serves as a reunion for the actors from that cast — Michael Cera returns as our intrepid hero, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the mysterious Ramona Flowers, Kieran Culkin as Scott's wisecracking roommate Wallace Wells and an slew of other recognizable faces like Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson and Chris Evans.
Who's behind it: The creators of the show are Bryan Lee O'Malley and BenDavid Grabinski. O’Malley of course was the creator of the series, some notable credits for Grabinski include the 2019 revival of Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? and writing the 2021 crime-comedy Happily.
When and where: All 8 episodes are now streaming on Netflix.
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The Japanese American National Museum announced today it's reopening in January after a two-year overhaul that reshapes how it tells the Japanese American story and connecting that history to present-day civil rights issues.
The update: The biggest change will be the replacement of the museum’s longtime core exhibition, "Common Ground" with a new exhibition that's twice as large and will cover more a wider expanse of time and use the Japanese American experience as a lens for a broader American story.
Opening date: Starting Jan. 23, the museum will be open Tuesday through Sunday.
The Japanese American National Museum announced today it will reopen in January after a two-year, $25 million overhaul of the country’s largest museum dedicated to the Japanese American experience.
The museum in L.A.’s Little Tokyo is reshaping its galleries and expanding its signature exhibition to include more perspectives and connections between Japanese American history and current debates over race, immigration and democracy.
“We want to tell the story in a way that is more expansive and that other immigrants, communities can see their own story reflected,” said Ann Burroughs, the museum’s president and CEO.
That effort to tie history to the present comes as JANM itself has faced political pressure, with the museum losing federal funding amid Trump administration cuts.
The museum reopens Jan. 23 and will be open Tuesday through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Fridays. School and group tours will resume March 1.
From the outside, visitors returning to the museum, which has been closed since January 2024, will recognize its modern, minimalist exterior. Once they step through the doors, though, the experience will be vastly different.
The biggest change will be the installation of a 9,200-square-foot permanent exhibition occupying nearly all of the museum’s first floor — more than twice the space of the exhibition it replaces.
"Common Ground," which opened in 1999, covered Japanese American history from migration to the U.S. in the 1800s to the passage of a federal law — the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 — that formally apologized for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and provided $20,000 in reparations to surviving detainees.
The new exhibition, called "In the Future We Call Now: Realities of Racism, Forging Democracy," will include more recent history, such as Japanese American support for reparations for Black Americans and vocal opposition to the Islamophobia that swelled after 9/11. It will also cover the Japanese American response to ICE detention and incarceration of migrant children, drawing parallels to World War II camps.
It will also bring lesser-known perspectives to familiar history through telling the story of incarceration from “women and mothers” and those incarcerated at Tule Lake, the camp in Northern California where Japanese Americans labeled as disloyal by the U.S. government were isolated during World War II.
“JANM hadn’t told that story before,” Burroughs said. “You can’t draw those parallels of what’s happening now if you don’t talk about the camps and if you don’t talk about Tule Lake.”
The new exhibition will also lean more heavily into audiovisual storytelling, using technology and archival media to make the history feel more immediate.
The interactive “StoryFiles” incorporate AI so visitors can pose questions to digital avatars of incarceration survivors like the actor George Takei.
Burroughs stressed that the museum is not using generative AI, but drawing upon hours and hours of interviews in which subjects answered hundreds of questions.
The new exhibition will also draw deeply from JANM’s extensive collection of Japanese American home movies, including footage dating to the 1930s, and give visitors a window into everyday life before World War II.
Some of JANM’s best-known objects will be included in the new exhibition, like barracks from the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Wyoming and a model of Manzanar in California’s remote Owens Valley, the first of the camps to be built.
The museum is also emphasizing everyday culture, with displays ranging from kimonos brought by Japanese immigrant women at the turn of the 20th century to rice cookers, and the worldwide reach of Hello Kitty.
The larger new exhibition was created without growing the museum's footprint through reconfiguring the building. For example, the museum’s Aratani Central Hall will take on a new role as the museum’s main entrance, with visitors entering through its sweeping curved glass wall and moving directly into the exhibition galleries. But Burroughs said the redesign will not come at the expense of the hall’s longtime function as a community space available to local nonprofits.
Upstairs, visitors will find reconfigured spaces including a new reading room filled with works and furnishings by Ruth Asawa and Isamu Noguchi. Behind the scenes, JANM has upgraded decades-old building systems such as its HVAC and elevators.
The museum overhaul was funded as part of a much larger $135 million fundraising campaign, Burroughs said. The rest of the campaign supports JANM’s operations and long-term financial stability, including about $56 million in endowment and board-designated reserves.
"You know, life is never secure in the nonprofit world or in the museum world," Burroughs said. "We have to do a lot more to build up our endowments. We just will keep going."
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Public health officials are urging the public to be wary after a recent outbreak.
The details: Five people were hospitalized with typhus after the outbreak in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles. All have recovered. A record number of cases were recorded in L.A. County in 2025. They have been rising for over a decade but have nearly doubled over the last few years.
What is typhus? Typhus is caused by a bacteria that is transferred to humans from animals such as rats, opossums and free-roaming cats. It can’t be spread from human to human. It causes flu-like symptoms including fever, headaches, muscle aches, and nausea. It’s treatable with antibiotics, especially if it’s caught early.
Read on … to learn how to protect yourself.
Public health officials are urging people to be wary of flea-borne typhus after a recent outbreak of the illness.
The outbreak in late July was centered in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles. The L.A. County Department of Public Health said five people were hospitalized; all recovered.
The outbreak comes as typhus cases continue to tick up in L.A. County.
Cases have been increasing fairly steadily for more than a decade, but they nearly doubled over the last three years. The Public Health Department logged a record 220 cases in 2025, and officials say this year is on track to exceed that.
Public health officials say the increase is likely because human-animal interactions are also increasing. That could be due to human population expansions into areas with more animals, available food sources for wildlife in populated areas or more people owning pets.
The bacteria that causes typhus is transmitted from animals to humans through fleas.
Typhus can’t be passed from one human to another, and public health experts say the illness is completely treatable, especially if it’s caught early.
Most of the time, typhus cases are spread out across L.A. County. But sometimes, there’s a localized spread over a short period of time that turns into an outbreak.
Public health officials respond to a few of them in L.A. County each year.
Generally, outbreaks are triggered by high concentrations of host animals.
“Wherever these animals may be present or wherever they may be congregating, in those areas we can see an increase in the number of human infections,” said Dr. Aiman Halai with the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
The most common hosts for typhus are rats, opossums and free-roaming cats. When people or pets come in contact with host animals, they can pick up the infected fleas and bring them into homes, spreading them to other people and animals in the process.
Halai says a variety of factors can attract animals and lead to an outbreak, including overflowing dumpsters, overgrown vegetation or a well-meaning neighbor feeding local critters.
You can help prevent outbreaks by securing trash in bins, making sure food isn’t left outside, and ensuring pets are on up-to-date flea control medication. Cutting back overgrown vegetation and blocking off crawl spaces can eliminate places where animals can shelter in and around homes.
Halai also says it’s important not to feed wildlife.
Although public health experts are wary of the typhus uptick in L.A. County, the 220 cases recorded in 2025 in L.A. County are not overly concerning.
"That’s a very low rate at the population level,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of infectious diseases at USC’s Keck School of Medicine.
Typhus is an acute infection caused by bacteria known as Rickettsia typhi. Variations of the bacteria also cause other illnesses transmitted by fleas, ticks, lice and mites, including tick-borne Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Doctors can test for typhus fairly easily, and it is treatable with antibiotics. Symptoms are similar to the flu, and can include fever, headaches, muscle aches and nausea. It can also cause rashes in some cases.
Most infections are mild, but they can cause hospitalization and, in rare cases, can be fatal.
Klausner said the concern is that testing for typhus is not always routine.
“The most important thing is that when patients come in to their doctor — and they have fever, they may have a rash, they may have headache, may have muscle or joint aches — that the doctor's thinking about potentially flea-borne infectious diseases because the treatment can be different,” Klausner said.
The best treatment for typhus is the antibiotic doxycycline. If a patient with typhus gets another type of antibiotic like penicillin or amoxicillin, the treatment may not be as successful.
According to Klausner, when presented with flu-like symptoms, it’s also a good idea for patients to tell their doctors if they’ve been around animals, spent time in an encampment or even just gone on a hike.
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Good news for frog fans — the California Fish and Game Commission voted this month to designate the Western spadefoot as a candidate for the state’s endangered species list. One thing that makes this frog unique? It smells like peanut butter.
Why it matters: The small amphibian is found in the grasslands of Southern California and the Central Valley. But habitat loss, urban sprawl and longer droughts have been threatening the species’ population in recent decades.
What happens next: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct a year-long review to determine if the Western spadefoot should be permanently protected.
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Good news for frog fans — the California Fish and Game Commission voted this month to designate the Western spadefoot as a candidate for the state’s endangered species list. One thing that makes this frog unique? It smells like peanut butter.
Why it matters: The small amphibian is found in the grasslands of Southern California and the Central Valley. But habitat loss, urban sprawl and longer droughts have been threatening the species’ population in recent decades.
What the protections do: Now that the Western spadefoot is a candidate for permanent protections, any development project planned for Western spadefoot habitats will have to take the amphibians into account.
Some exceptions may apply: The commission did carve out exceptions for solar projects in the Central Valley. To take advantage of federal tax credit deadlines, some projects can continue to be built, as long as they protect breeding pools and curtail construction during the season when spadefoots are most active.
What conservationists say: Brendan Cummings, conservation director with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in Southern California the biggest threat to the Western spadefoot is not solar development: “It’s warehouses or data centers and road widenings and all manner of construction activities.”
What happens next: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct a year-long review to determine if the Western spadefoot should be permanently protected.
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Fullerton city officials this week closed a multi-million dollar budget deficit without dipping into the city’s reserves. Some of the largest cuts were made to vacant city positions and library programming.
What happened: The City Council voted 3-2 to approve the budget on Tuesday night, with Councilmembers Ahmad Zahra and Shana Charles opposing the spending plan. Zahra called the cuts “drastic.”
Why the cuts matter: On the chopping block were 26 vacant positions from various departments, including Parks and Recreation, Police and Public Works. More than $400,000 was cut from the library budget for security, electronic resources and the book collections in the adult and teen sections.
The city’s graffiti removal team was reduced from two truck units to one.
How did we get here? City spending outpaces incoming revenue, according to city staff. The City Council rejected a sales tax measure to fill up the city coffers.
Why is the budget so late? The vote comes a month after the start of the new fiscal year because of an internal audit. Staff identified that nearly $10 million had been incorrectly categorized for specific uses rather than general spending. The city hired an independent auditing firm to look into the city’s accounting.
