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.

Jordan Peele (of "Key & Peele" fame) makes his film directing debut with the horror movie, “Get Out," which takes on racism in the creepiest fashion; John Horn debates how to improve the Academy Awards broadcast with his "Awards Show Show" podcast co-host, Kyle Buchanan, and TV mavens Alex Jung and Jen Chaney.

The Oscar-nominated movie "Lion" is based on the memoir of Saroo Brierly, whose unbelievable life story was turned into a two-hour film by screenwriter Luke Davies; an annual report on diversity in Hollywood makes a strong case that on-camera diversity is directly linked to box office and ratings success; the WGA honored the screenwriters of "Moonlight" and "Arrival."

The Oscar-nominated editors behind "Moonlight," Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders, discuss working with director Barry Jenkins, editing reality TV and making history at the Oscars; A new study from USC finds best picture Academy Award nominees rarely have characters over 60.; What are the trends for the current TV pilot season?

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is in settlement talks with all of the major movie studios after a lengthy investigation into how directors are hired in Hollywood. Is change coming? Then "La La Land" composer Justin Hurwitz reveals how he went about scoring the modern day movie musical that's become an Oscar favorite.

The off-beat show "Baskets" is much closer to the actor's own comic and storytelling sensibilities. He calls it a "slapstick drama"; Facebook is hoping to add more music content to its influential platform.

The latest Marvel TV series doesn’t look anything like a Marvel TV series. And that’s what show creator Noah Hawley had in mind for “Legion”; "4.1 Miles" is a documentary whose title refers to a small strip of the Aegean Sea where tens of thousands of migrants try to make the treacherous crossing.

The HBO documentary “Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis” recounts the band's experience in the Paris terrorist attacks; Sting collaborated with J. Ralph for the Oscar-nominated song, “The Empty Chair”; the Grammy Awards are like a car wreck: you can't look away.

French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre — who's nominated for a Grammy this year — takes us on a journey through the past, present and future of the electronica genre; It's no accident that five of the last 10 films starring David Oyelowo were directed by women, including his latest, "A United Kingdom"; Hollywood studio execs and filmmakers may get a new relationship with China later this month.

Violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine proves that classical music and heavy metal have a whole lot in common. Solange Knowles breaks down her Grammy-nominated song “Cranes In the Sky" in a Song Exploder segment. And the Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer is trying to put an end to one of the oldest scams in Hollywood- pay to play casting agencies.

Producer Dan Lin proved with "The Lego Movie" that he could make a critically and commercially successful film based on a toy. Now the pressure is on to do the same with "The Lego Batman Movie"; Dave and Pos of De La Soul reveal their innovative approach to making their latest album, which paid off with a Grammy nomination; can Warner Bros. help subvert the traditional way movies get distributed?

Lin-Manuel Miranda may have turned Alexander Hamilton's life into a hit Broadway show, but he tells us that passion, not politics, drives his art, "Your job as an artist is to chase what inspires you and finish it"; Gaby Moreno's fusion of R&B with Spanish lyrics has earned her a Grammy nomination; The FTC calls out Vizio for using their TVs to collect data on their users without their consent.

"Moonlight" director Barry Jenkins has gone from virtual unknown to eight Academy Award nominations; "Saturday Night Live" finds comedy gold in the Trump presidency; veteran R&B singer William Bell has two Grammy nods for his comeback album.