The Frame

Young Jean Lee's play, "Straight White Men," is an examination of privilege that provokes and challenges audiences; movie theater owners are getting creative about selling "Star Wars" merchandise and concessions; Lorely Rodriguez, aka Empress Of, is getting raves for her debut album.

Spike Lee's latest provocation likens the level of gun violence in Chicago to a war zone; Rooney Mara's performance in "Carol" adds to her already impressive list of credits; the beloved "Charlie Brown" holiday special, now in its 50th year, wasn't originally embraced by network executives.

Eddie Redmayne, last year’s best actor Oscar winner for “The Theory of Everything,” talks about portraying a trans-woman in “The Danish Girl”; Latin Grammy-winner Natalia Lafourcade deconstructs her song, “Hasta La Raíz”; This year's Independent Spirit Award winners will likely differ a lot from the Oscars.

As producer of the "Hunger Games" movies and a former studio executive, Nina Jacobson has a platform to demand gender equality in Hollywood; Pixar president Ed Catmull has helped build the studio into the empire it is today.

Ryan Coogler grew up watching the "Rocky" movies, and now he's director and co-writer of the spin-off, "Creed"; How "Toy Story" saved a struggling special effects firm called Pixar; "The Hunting Ground" inspires the question: can journalism and advocacy co-exist in documentaries?

Todd Haynes has directed several films with women as protagonists and his latest is “Carol,” which stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara; MADtv debuted 20 years ago and managed to stay on the air for 14 seasons; a club owner considers L.A. nightlife after the Paris attacks.

Series creator Kurt Sutter is disappointed but not bitter about the cancellation of "The Bastard Executioner"; it's been 20 years since MADtv set out to be the west coast version of "Saturday Night Live"; "The Hunting Ground" examines sexual assaults on college campuses.

Writer-producer John McNamara and director Jay Roach talk about the struggle to make "Trumbo," about the 1940s Hollywood blacklist victim; Nancy Tartaglione, international editor for Deadline.com, on the importance of cinema in France; Rashard Bradshaw, aka Cakes da Killa, is a loud and proud gay rapper.

The Marvel comics character Jessica Jones has a dark backstory, which is what inspired producer Melissa Rosenberg to create a TV series about her; in the documentary "Song of Lahore," a group of Pakistani musicians use a jazz standard and You Tube to find a global audience; Pandora will enter the on-demand music streaming business.

After taping an episode in Cuba earlier this year, Conan O'Brien travels to Armenia with his assistant, who gets to visit her family's homeland; the terrorist attacks in Paris have caused two networks to postpone sensitive episodes, and several bands have canceled European dates.

The writer and stand-up comedian has a new book and a newfound passion for performing; TV networks preview their coming shows, including the next season of "Fargo," starring Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman; the exhibit "Natural History of Horror" looks at how real events inspired some favorite scary movies.

There aren't many women working as second unit directors on movies, much less African-Americans, but Victoria Mahoney has broken through; Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman make their sales pitch for Quibi.

Zahra Noorbakhsh, an Iranian-American comedian who regularly incorporates her identity into her act, now has some new material; actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II played Doctor Manhattan on "Watchmen" and this year, he’ll star in two high profile movies; the man behind The Daptone Sound.

The pianist has taken full advantage of his role as bandleader for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert"; breaking down the Directors Guild Award nominations.

Stars and executive producers Kate Moenning and Leisha Hailey talk about the reboot of the Showtime series; Harvey Weinstein's trial gets underway in New York City; the influential L.A.-based artist John Baldessari has died.

"Watchmen" star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in high profile movies this year from Jordan Peele and Aaron Sorkin; John Horn reviews the evolution in film, television, pop music and theater over the last decade; we meet the band Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles.

The highlights and lowlights from the 2010s in movies with Manohla Dargis (New York Times) and culture critic Tre'vell Anderson, and pop music with Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding of the podcast, “Switched on Pop.”

The highlights and lowlights from the 2010s in TV with Lorraine Ali (Los Angeles Times) and Daniel Fienberg (The Hollywood Reporter), and theater with Jesse Green (New York Times).

In his memoir, "Acid For The Children," the bass player from the Red Hot Chili Peppers (born Michael Peter Balzary) details his wild days as a child and teen before forming the band in Los Angeles.

The singer/songwriter's memoir reflects on death, sex, motherhood and misogyny.

Yes, a lot of media outlets are currently re-capping the past decade —and we've been here for half of it! Join us for many of our favorite moments.

The veteran actor has lately been starring in some dark roles ("Get Out," The Handmaid's Tale"), but he has switched things up with the sitcom, "Perfect Harmony."