The Frame

Lady Gaga’s song “Shallow,” from the movie “A Star is Born,” earned four Grammy nominations today and it's an Oscar favorite too. Meet Mark Ronson, the man who co-wrote and produced it; Shirley Halperin, executive editor for music at Variety, talks about the other 2019 Grammy nominees; who should host the Oscars?

Alexis Bloom's documentary examines the life and career of the late political operative and TV news executive; how casting agents get pulled into sexual harassment incidents; an ex-pat Iranian composer maintains his musical ties.

Director Josie Rourke talks about her mission to reconsider history through a modern perspective on gender, power and sexuality; former L.A. Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen will succeed Michael Tilson Thomas at the San Francisco Symphony; two generations of African-American harpists talk about their musical tradition.

The pianist and composer talks about and performs music from the movie about Don Shirley; what were the most streamed songs and albums of 2018?

Gabriel Cordell's attempt to roll across the country in a manual wheelchair is the subject of Lisa France's documentary; the endless options for TV cord-cutters

Executive producer Eric Newman talks about pivoting the focus of the Netflix series from Colombia to Mexico; YouTube is scaling back the scripted output for its streaming service; music veterans Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore collaborate on an album, "Downey to Lubbock."

Yalitza Aparicio went from being a fledgling school teacher to playing a pivotal role in Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma"; the New York Times reports that a faded talent agent and an actress client of his could ruin Les Moonves' chance of receiving any severance from CBS; this season's crop of new Christmas music has a little bit of everything.

The filmmaker has made some downright odd movies (e.g., "The Lobster"), but he takes a more accessible route with his new period drama; Emma Stone talks about her role in "The Favourite"; who's getting into the 2019 Sundance Film Festival?

The playwright and director talks about the real-life events in California's Central Valley that inspired the WWII-era drama, "Valley of the Heart"; Fox Nation launches as a streaming service; the pioneering post-punk band, The Raincoats.

The former Monty Python member revisits his life and career in the memoir, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography"; Luciana Souza puts Leonard Cohen poems to music.

"Hidden Figures" writer Allison Schroeder (who was just nominated for a Writer's Guild award) tells us why she was the right person to co-write the film “Hidden Figures”; In the film “A Monster Calls,” director J.A. Bayona talks about how families might view his dark and personal coming-of-age story; Elliott Smith’s landmark 1997 album, “Either/Or,” gets a 20th anniversary re-issue.

Clay Tarver is a writer and co-executive producer for HBO’s “Silicon Valley," but he recently reunited with his bandmates in the group Chavez to record their first new music in 20 years; there may be a more diverse roster of actor and actress nominees for the Academy Awards this year, but that doesn’t mean #OscarsSoWhite is a thing of the past, says April Reign, the writer and activist who coined the hashtag.

It's our last Frame episode of 2016! From Beyonce's "Lemonade" to Chance The Rapper's "Coloring Book," we look back at the year in music with MTV Executive Editor Alex Pappademas; Also, we revisit one of our favorite musician interviews of the year, soul singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc, who describes himself as an "artivist," someone who blends art with activism.

The singing voice of Debbie Reynolds echoes throughout the show today as we honor the actress who died yesterday; Los Angeles Times culture writer Carolina Miranda picks some of 2016's most impactful moments in culture; playwright Jon Robin Baitz challenged himself in 2016 to write a play responding to Donald Trump's candidacy and get it up before the election. He did that. Now what?

For our wrap up of the best in TV, Margaret Lyons of the New York Times talks with us about the most overrated, underrated and heavily debated shows of 2016; Among the most lauded performances on TV this year was Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark in the FX mini-series "The People v. O.J. Simpson." Paulson discusses how Clark had been scrutinized by the media and much of America during the trial.

Carrie Fisher imbued the role of Princess Leia with an assertiveness that set the tone for the future Star Wars heroines; Fisher was also the columnist of "Advice from the Dark Side" which ran in The Guardian; New York Times co-chief film critic Manohla Dargis joins John Horn to talk about some of the top film stories of the year.

The popular British singer-songwriter died from heart failure at the age of 53; Kristen Anderson-Lopez is working on a stage musical version of "Frozen," but for now she has another show on Broadway, "In Transit."

David Oyelowo is extremely selective about the roles he chooses to play, and also the kinds of parts he wants to avoid; the Presidential Inauguration Committee has gotten more nays than ayes from singers and bands.

Veteran music producer Harvey Mason, Jr. produced dozens of songs for the animated film, "Sing"; Sandra Hüller is a standout in the likely Oscar nominee, "Toni Erdmann"; a N.Y. judge rules that pre-1972 songs don't have copyright protection.

When Dennis Lehane's novel "Live By Night" was adapted by Ben Affleck into a feature film, it was just the latest gritty, crime-filled book of his to get the movie treatment; voice actor Rob Paulsen has been going strong in the business since the early 1980s, but a recent bout with throat cancer almost derailed his career.

Gibney's documentary about cyber warfare all but predicted the hacking of the Democratic National Committee; the operator of an illegal venue says the city should not take a blanket approach to its crackdown; life as a voiceover actor (part 1).

The 2016 election has ignited Beau Willimon to action. The creator of "House of Cards" has formed the Action Group Network to embark on a new form of advocacy; singer-songwriter Angelica Garcia opens up about how moving from L.A. to a small colonial-era Virginia town gave rise to her debut album, “Medicine For Birds."