The Frame

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are on a roll: they wrote song lyrics for "La La Land" and the music and lyrics for the Broadway hit, "Dear Evan Hansen"; more than 3,500 companies are debuting their futuristic products at the annual, massive technology trade show.

Actor and documentary filmmaker Fisher Stevens jumped at the chance to make a documentary about the iconic showbiz mother-and-daughter, Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher; Sorting through the Jan/Feb TV premieres and comebacks to watch for in 2017 with TV critic Whitney Friedlander.

"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.

Gigi Saul Guerrero, who was born in Mexico, directed the episode that's part of the Hulu horror anthology series, “Into the Dark”; Variety's Todd Spangler on Netflix losing subscribers in the U.S.; composer Bobby Krlic (aka The Haxan Cloak) on writing the score for “Midsommar.”

Writer/director Riley Stearns and stunt coordinator Mindy Kelly talk about their film that's set in a sexist karate school; is Disney having buyer’s remorse over its purchase of Fox's film studio?; behind the appeal of the band Durand Jones & The Indications.

The acclaimed visual artist and musician walks through his retrospective with his wife and frequent collaborator, Jo Harvey Allen; breaking down the Emmy nominations; in the studio with singer-songwriter J.S. Ondara.

The singer is the subject of a warts-and-all documentary, "David Crosby: Remember My Name"; The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Johnson talks about his story on the so-called "Con Queen of Hollywood"; catching up with Linda Ronstadt.

Kumail Nanjiani's "Stuber" and writer/director Lulu Wang's "The Farewell" just opened in theaters, as did the documentary "Sea of Shadows," about drug cartels invading a fishing village in Baja California. Morgan Neville's four-part documentary about music producer Rick Rubin debuts on Showtime. And we also visit with the French piano duo Katia and Marielle Lebeque.

The director and actor talk about their new film, "Sword of Trust"; The Hollywood Reporter's Eriq Gardner on so-called "deep fakes" in Hollywood — ultra-realistic manipulation of digital imagery; a profile of the singer and pianist Rhye.

Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville examines the career of the idiosyncratic record producer; the dilemma faced by cultural instititutions when they have received donations from alleged sexual predators; Black artists make a statement in "Soul of a Nation."

The comedian and actor wanted to go in a different direction after "The Big Sick," so he signed on for an atypical buddy-cop comedy; the latest battle in the video streaming wars; "Sea of Shadows" chronicles a marine life disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The piano-playing sisters perform everything from the classics to contemporary works by the likes of Thom Yorke and Bryce Dessner; will Jeffrey Katzenberg's big idea for short content fly?; the long-running Tuesday Night Café in Little Tokyo.

The film is based on a true story from the writer/director's own family about refusing to tell their grandmother that she is gravely ill; an appreciation of Brazilian songwriter João Gilberto, who has died at the age of 88.

"Midsommar" filmmaker says it's a horror film about co-dependency and the showrunner of the new ABC comedy "Mixed-ish" wants to inspire nuanced conversations about race. Given the massive TV audience for the World Cup why hasn't Hollywood tapped soccer fever for a great movie? All that and more on The Frame Weekend.

The play "Good Boys," written by "Riverdale" creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, is updated in light of the Kavanaugh hearings; LA's Rogue Machine Theatre company tackles racism and gun violence with "Gunshot Medley: Part 1"; why are there so few movies about soccer?