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.

Writer-director David Lowery had a tiny budget for "A Ghost Story," but he managed to attract Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara to the cast; Errol Morris is known for his serious documentaries, but he switches gears with The B-Side," a profile of photographer Elsa Dorfman.

Jay-Z's new album, "4:44," may be a hit, but the business model behind his music streaming service Tidal is in question; Two leaders of Outfest — the Los Angeles LGBT film festival — discuss how far has event has come and the history of queer cinema in Hollywood; How the New York Times became an outlet for documentary filmmakers.

Comedian Hasan Minhaj is doing more with his stand-up act than just making people laugh. He’s representing a vision of America. With the release of the album "The Hamilton Instrumentals," super fans like the people behind Hamiltunes LA get their wish. And keyboardist Benmont Tench, plays his ode to LA in the backseat of a car.

Two music supervisors who work on TV shows like "Fargo" and "Breaking Bad" say they love what they do but they discourage others from going into the field. And 50 years later, a new book looks at the legacy of the Summer of Love.

This year, the Emmy Awards will finally recognize music supervision. In the first of a two-part interview, John Horn chats with Maggie Phillips (“Fargo”) and Thomas Golubic (“Breaking Bad”) about their work; Andrew Jay Cohen makes the leap from writing to directing with “The House,” a comedy starring Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler.

“The Big Sick” tells the true story of how comedian Kumail Nanjiani and writer Emily V. Gordon became a couple; The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited a record 744 actors, writers, directors and other movie industry workers; Ginnifer Goodwin and Allen Leech star in “Constellations," a play that combines a love story with physics.

Writer-director Jeff Baena turned a series of 14th-Century novellas set in a convent into a bawdy sex comedy; The Kronos Quartet is expanding the repertoire of contemporary music for string quartets; American movie studios benefit from taking on Chinese partners.

Paul Dano stars in “Okja,” the story of a seemingly benevolent conglomerate working to help feed the world through genetically modified animals. Dano speaks about the issues raised in the film, and about working with director Bong Joon-Ho; The Arroyo Seco Weekend attracted about 24,000 people for each day of the two-day music festival on the grounds of the Rose Bowl. Two L.A. Times music writers have different takes.

Broken Social Scene wants to make music memories. They talk about their love of festivals and bringing music "to the people." And Pasadena City Councilmember Steve Madison says why he wanted to bring music to his city with the Arroyo Seco Weekend. And where are all the film scoring jobs going these days? Two people in the industry tell us why California needs to include film scoring in its production incentive program.

Coal magnate sues John Oliver for defamation just days have the HBO host's scathing "Last Week Tonight" segment. The tumultuous love story of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is now a bilingual opera called "Frida." And two of the lead actors in the play "The Pride" open up about the personal and political reasons they wanted to tell this story of gay men in love.

Kulap Vilaysack discusses her Seeso reality TV spoof “Bajillion Dollar Propertie$” and the documentary she's making about the search to find her biological father. Variety's Brent Lang reports on why and how the directors of the Han Solo spinoff movie were fired. And The Frame contributor Tim Grieving visits with the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet at Walt Disney Concert Hall to hear how they're reinventing what percussion is and could be.

'Time: The Kalief Browder story' recounts the tragic life and death of a teenager who was held a Rikers Island for years without being tried of a crime. The series' writer-director Jenner Furst puts his story into a larger context. Was Gal Gadot underpaid for starring in the smash hit “Wonder Woman?” The internet thinks so. Vulture's Kyle Buchanan helps us sort fact from fiction. Common Sense Media which rates movies and TV shows for language, violence, sex and drug use now assesses for gender stereotypes.