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.

Despite an ongoing dispute between The Recording Academy and its recently-ousted CEO, the show will go on, so we’ll spotlight a wide range of nominees and celebrate the music they make.

The festival's opening night featured a film about a 1970s camp for disabled teens, some of whom became activists in the disability-rights movement; the Grammys' problem du jour; the Academy Award-nominated documentary, "For Sama."

John Horn is off to the film festival, where the schedule includes a documentary about Hillary Clinton and a feature film, "The Assistant," largely inspired by stories of working for Harvey Weinstein; Jonathan Pryce, Academy Award best actor nominee for "The Two Popes," talks about portraying Pope Francis.

The actress and writer heads for the Sundance Film Festival with a TV project that is partially inspired by her Iranian immigrant family; opening arguments take place today in Harvey Weinstein's trial; the controversy shrouding the Grammy Awards continues to evolve.

The former R.E.M. frontman retreated from music after the band split up in 2011, but he's back with two new songs; wrapping up the Television Critics Assn. winter tour, which previewed what's coming up from networks, cable channels and streaming services.

Michael Stipe has two new solo singles; Victoria Mahoney is the first woman and first person of color behind a camera on a "Star Wars" movie, Mary Steenburgen turns a bizarre brain phenomenon into a music career; "American Factory" gets an Oscar nomination; Franklin Leonard makes an alt Oscar ballot.

An exhibition at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage attempts to fight growing ignorance about the Holocaust; turmoil at the Grammy organization; a new fund aims to improve equity and inclusion in film and TV.

The prolific author examines his craft in “Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different"; J. Clara Chan of The Wrap reports from the Harvey Weinstein trial; the satirical comedy group Culture Clash takes on a Baroque opera;

Justin Levine, music supervisor for the Broadway adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film, talks about adapting recent pop songs for the period musical; The Lucas Museum has acquired a prominent collection of ephemera related to African American film history; Mary Steenburgen's sudden and odd songwriting career.

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns on how she and director Sam Mendes penned the script knowing the film would be shot as if it was one continuous take; an alternate history of this year's Oscar nominations; multimedia artist Miwa Matreyek takes her environmental activism to the stage.

The Academy Award nominations include only one non-white artist among the 20 nominees in the acting categories. And women are again shut out in the directing category.

Jon Batiste reveals how he and Stephen Colbert first bonded; Zahra Noorbakhsh, a proud "feminist, Muslim, Iranian-American comedian" uses her voice more than ever; Cristela Alonzo reflects on her life in a new memoir; meet the man behind the Daptone sound and more...