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.

Ever wonder what musicians hear during a concert? We sit onstage at Disney Hall during a rehearsal to find out; comic book artist Dash Shaw has made his first animated feature, “My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea”; we help you sort through the conflicts on the Coachella Music Festival schedule.

After almost 40 years as front man of the band T.S.O.L., Jack Grisham retains his punk spirit; "The Encounter" is Simon McBurney's tour de force about an explorer of the Amazon jungle; 'Finding Oscar' looks at fallout from Guatemala's civil war.

Photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield spent years documenting wealth throughout the world. Now her work is featured in a multimedia exhibit titled “Generation Wealth"; We get an update on the Writer’s Guild contract negotiations, which resumed today; With its third album, the L.A. band Jungle Fire is solidifying its tropical funk sound.

We visit a rehearsal for the CW show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and meet choreographer Kat Burns, the woman behind the comedic dance routines on the show; Two correspondents for Vice on HBO talk about what it's like to cover such dangerous and emotional stories; A Middle East scholar reflects on changes "Homeland" has made to respond to criticism of the show's depiction of Muslims.

Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood reveal that it was a conversation with their sons about Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till that gave them the idea for the Fox event series "Shots Fired." And Andrew McCarthy found his true calling as an actor when he was a teenager, but later in life he's found that writing is his preferred form of creative expression.

Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile balances a busy recording career with his new role as host of "A Prairie Home Companion"; How can a big company like Pepsi make such a tone-deaf ad?; The storm clouds at Disney Hall have nothing to do with the orchestra's emotional state.

Aimee Mann happily talks about her new album, "Mental Illness"; revenue was up in 2016 for record companies, but it's still half what it was at its peak; in a new episode of "Song Exploder," Norah Jones breaks down the title song from her latest album, "Day Breaks."

“Building the Wall" is a new Robert Schenkkan play that imagines the effects of President Donald Trump's immigration policies; in the era of Instagram and Snapchat, art museums are harnessing the power of their visitors' social media feeds; the Emmys are not until September, but award campaigning is underway.

The new Hulu series, co-created by Moira Buffini, has been likened to Sofia Coppola’s "Marie Antoinette" and the sharply modern feminist commentary of “Orange Is the New Black.”

Danger Mouse is an adventurous music producer whose 2004 project, “The Grey Album,” put him on the map. Since then he’s won six Grammy Awards and worked with some of the biggest names in pop. Now he has a collection of songs he imagined would be heard on the radio station on Amazon’s dystopian WWII series, “The Man in the High Castle.”

Actor Jason Segel made his career in big studio comedies such as “Forgetting Susan Marshall," the TV sitcom, “How I Met Your Mother," and as author David Foster Wallace in the film “The End of the Tour,” which won him a lot of acclaim. Now he's taking that new image into his latest movie, the sci-fi love story “The Discovery,” which co-stars Rooney Mara and Robert Redford.

Jessica Williams was a correspondent on "The Daily Show" and now co-hosts the popular podcast, “2 Dope Queens." And this summer she can be seen in the Netflix movie, “The Incredible Jessica James"; movie theater owners are gathered in Las Vegas for CinemaCon. While movie studios preview their big 2017 releases, hovering over the party is the looming threat of streaming and video-on-demand.