The squad deals with an abducted child case on CBS’s SWAT season eight episode 11, “AMBER.” Directed by Matthew McLoota from a script by Sarah Alderson, episode 11 will air on Friday, February 14, 2025 at 10pm ET/PT.
Season eight stars Shemar Moore as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, Jay Harrington as David “Deacon” Kay, David Lim as Victor Tan, Patrick St. Esprit as Commander Robert Hicks, and Anna Enger Ritch as Zoe Powell. Annie Ilonzeh is Devin Gamble and Niko Pepaj plays Miguel “Miko” Alfaro.
“AMBER” Plot: 20-Squad races to find a missing child who was abducted from her front yard. Also, Hicks is faced with a difficult decision concerning Gamble.
Shemar Moore as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson and Annie Ilonzeh as Devin Gamble in ‘SWAT’ season 8 episode 11 (Photo: Bill Inoshita/Sony Pictures Television/CBS Broadcasting, Inc.)
SWAT Description, Courtesy of CBS:
S.W.A.T. stars Shemar Moore as a former Marine and locally born and raised SWAT sergeant tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Torn between loyalty to where he was raised and allegiance to his brothers in blue, Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson strives to bridge the divide between his two worlds.
Committed to the job, Hondo is equally devoted to his marriage and fatherhood. The other members of Hondo’s elite S.W.A.T. unit include David “Deacon” Kay, an experienced S.W.A.T. officer and dedicated family man who always puts the team first; Victor Tan, who started in the LAPD Hollywood Division and uses his confidential informants in the community to help the team; Zoe Powell, a tough and loyal team member trying to reconnect with the son she gave up for adoption as a teen; and Miguel “Miko” Alfaro, a headstrong officer who overcame a troubled childhood, and is now a trusted 20-Squad addition following a rocky transfer to Los Angeles S.W.A.T.
Responsible for the management of all Metro Division S.W.A.T. units is Commander Robert Hicks, a senior LAPD official with the Special Operations Bureau. With Hondo leading the charge, these dedicated men and women bravely put themselves at risk to protect their community and save lives.
Anna Enger Ritch as Zoe Powell in season 8 episode 11 (Photo: Bill Inoshita/Sony Pictures Television/CBS Broadcasting, Inc)David Lim as Victor Tan in season 8 episode 11 (Photo: Bill Inoshita/Sony Pictures Television/CBS Broadcasting, Inc)Shemar Moore as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, Anna Enger Ritch as Zoe Powell, Jay Harrington as David “Deacon” Kay, and Annie Ilonzeh as Devin Gamble in season 8 episode 11 (Photo: Bill Inoshita/Sony Pictures Television/CBS Broadcasting, Inc)Jay Harrington as David “Deacon” Kay in season 8 episode 11 (Photo: Bill Inoshita/Sony Pictures Television/CBS Broadcasting, Inc)
NBC’s The Irrational season two episode 13 centers on a gorgeous horse named Zeus involved in a tragic accident. This exclusive clip teases that not everything about the accident is as it seems. Phoebe, Alec, and Seb (guest star Jack Schumacher) suspect much more is going on than meets the eye.
Season two episode 13, “Murder She Rode,” airs on February 11, 2025 at 10pm ET/PT. Jesse L. Martin leads the cast as Alec Mercer. Season two also stars Maahra Hill as Marisa, Travina Springer as Kylie, Molly Kunz as Phoebe, and Arash DeMaxi as Rizwan.
“Murder She Rode” Plot: After a champion horse throws and kills his rider, Alec and Phoebe are called upon to save the horse from being euthanized. Their investigation reveals what happened isn’t at all as it appears.
Molly Kunz, Jack Schumacher, Jesse L. Martin, and Daniel Bacon in ‘The Irrational’ season 2 episode 13 (Photo by: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)
The Irrational Series Description, Courtesy of NBC:
The Irrational follows world-renowned professor of behavioral science Alec Mercer (Martin) as he lends his unique expertise to high-stakes cases and mysteries. His insight and unconventional approach to understanding human behavior lead him to work alongside varying clients ranging from the FBI to everyday people caught in perplexing situations desperate for answers. With the help of his trusted team and social science experiments, Alec solves crimes and uncovers the truth to answer intriguing, and irrational, questions.
Jesse L. Martin as Alec Mercer and Molly Kunz as Phoebe in season 2 episode 13 (Photo by: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)Molly Kunz as Phoebe, Jack Schumacher as Sebastian Winn in season 2 episode 13 (Photo by: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)Molly Kunz as Phoebe and Arash DeMaxi as Rizwan in season 2 episode 13 (Photo by: NBC)Jesse L. Martin as Alec Mercer in season 2 episode 13 (Photo by: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)
The promo for CBS’s Fire Country season three episode 11 teases that Bode will be slaying a dragon. Yes, a dragon! Directed by Desdemona Chiang from a script by Anupam Nigam, episode 11 – “Fare Thee Well” – will air on Friday, February 14, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT.
Max Thieriot stars as Bode, Billy Burke plays Vince, Kevin Alejandro is Manny, and Diane Farr is Sharon. Stephanie Arcila plays Gabriela, Jordan Calloway is Jake, Jules Latimer is Eve, and Rafael de la Fuente is Diego.
Fire Country stars Max Thieriot as Bode Leone, a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California, where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires across the region. It’s a high-risk, high-reward assignment, and the heat is turned up when Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown, where he was once a golden all-American son until his troubles began.
Years ago, Bode burned down everything in his life, leaving town with a big secret. Now he’s back, with the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a chance for redemption with Cal Fire.
Ioan Gruffudd (Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Harrow) guest stars as a Scottish musician on CBS’s Elsbeth season two episode 11, “Tiny Town.” Directed by Robert King from a script by Zoe Marshall, episode 11 will air on Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 10pm ET/PT.
Carrie Preston stars as Elsbeth Tascioni, Wendell Pierce stars as Captain C.W. Wagner, and Carra Patterson is back as Officer Kaya Blanke. Robert King, Michelle King, Liz Glotzer, and Jonathan Tolins serve as executive producers.
“Tiny Town” Plot: Sparks fly between Elsbeth and a handsome Scottish musician named Angus (Ioan Gruffudd) after he witnesses a murder through a video art installation linking Manhattan with his tiny seaside town. The two join forces to solve the case together from across the pond.
Emmy Award winner Carrie Preston is back as Elsbeth Tascioni, the astute but unconventional consent decree attorney working with the NYPD to catch New York’s most well-heeled murderers utilizing her unique point of view. Season two of the critically acclaimed series brings new cases and challenges when mistakes of the past come back to haunt Elsbeth, her boss Captain Wagner (Pierce), and detective in training Officer Kaya Blanke (Patterson).
Red Guardian is sure this team of misfits, who absolutely don’t want to be known as the Thunderbolts, is worthy of a Wheaties box. So, of course, the new poster for Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* looks like a Wheaties box.
The much-anticipated action comedy debuted a new trailer during the 2025 Super Bowl won by the Philadelphia Eagles.
The comic book-inspired film stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Newbies to the MCU include Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, and Wendell Edward Pierce.
“In Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker. After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts,” reads Marvel’s synopsis. “Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?”
Jake Schreier (Beef) directs and Kevin Feige serves as a producer. Executive producers include Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek, and Jason Tamez. Oscar-nominated Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All at Once) will write the score.
Paramount Pictures dropped a new teaser for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning during the 2025 Super Bowl. The short but action-packed Big Game spot shows lots of clips of Tom Cruise running and hanging from planes, and ends with Cruise as Ethan Hunt asking to be trusted “one last time.”
In addition to franchise star Tom Cruise, the eighth film of the series stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, and Pom Klementieff. Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, and Nick Offerman also star.
Rounding out the cast are Hannah Waddingham, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, and Frederick Schmidt.
Christopher McQuarrie directs and co-wrote the screenplay with Erik Jendresen. Cruise and McQuarrie serve as producers, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, and Chris Brock executive producing.
Paramount Pictures and Skydance have set a May 23, 2025 theatrical release.
Beau Bridges and Yael Grobglas return in their recurring guest star roles as Howard “Senior” Markston and Shae Banfield on CBS’s Matlock episode 11, the first episode to air after Kathy Bates won the Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series. Directed by Hannah Michielsen from a script by Sara Rose Feinberg, episode 11 will air on Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT.
The one-hour drama stars Kathy Bates as Madeline Matlock, Skye P. Marshall as Olympia, Jason Ritter as Julian, David Del Rio as Billy, and Leah Lewis as Sarah. Bates, Jennie Snyder Urman, Kat Coiro, Joanna Klein, and Eric Christian Olsen executive produce.
“A Traitor in Thine Own House” Plot: Tensions rise as Shae works with Olympia’s team on a case for a tech startup that’s had trade secrets stolen.
Matlock stars Emmy and Academy Award winner Kathy Bates as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a brilliant septuagenarian who achieved success in her younger years and decides to rejoin the workforce at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases. Matty is assigned to Olympia (Marshall), a senior attorney and key rainmaker with a thirst for justice, Olympia’s ex-husband, Julian (Ritter), the son of the head of the firm, is intrigued by Matty and her clever skills.
As Matty endeavors to establish herself in her new high-stakes world, she works alongside the firm’s younger associates – the charismatic Billy (Del Rio) and the uber-ambitious Sarah (Lewis).
Mikey Madison as Ani and Mark Eydelshteyn as Ivan in ‘Anora’ (Courtesy of NEON)
Hot off the film’s Critics Choice Awards Best Picture win, Anora‘s Sean Baker took home his first DGA Awards win in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film category. Winners of the 77th Annual DGA Awards were announced on February 8th at a ceremony hosted by filmmaker Judd Apatow in Beverly Hills.
In addition to the competitive categories, Ang Lee was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Unit Production Manager Mary Rae Thewlis earned the Robert B. Aldrich Service Award. Unit Production Manager Thomas J. Whelan was recognized with the Frank Capra Achievement Award.
“I am thrilled to congratulate all our nominated directors for their brilliant work, which is visionary, inspirational, and speaks to the depth of the human experience. To be chosen by one’s peers is the true marker of outstanding directorial achievement and what makes these nominations so very special,” stated Directors Guild of America President Lesli Linka Glatter when the nominees were announced.
2025 DGA Awards Nominees and Winners
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024
JACQUES AUDIARD – Emilia Pérez
EDWARD BERGER – Conclave
BRADY CORBET – The Brutalist
JAMES MANGOLD – A Complete Unknown WINNER: SEAN BAKER – Anora (This was Sean Baker’s first DGA Award nomination.)
Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film
PAYAL KAPADIA – All We Imagine as Light
MEGAN PARK – My Old Ass
HALFDAN ULLMANN TØNDEL – Armand
SEAN WANG – Dìdi WINNER: RAMELL ROSS – Nickel Boys (This was Ramell Ross’s second DGA Award nomination. Ross was previously nominated for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Award for Hale County This Morning, This Evening in 2018.)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Julian Brave Noisecat & Emily Kassie – Sugarcane
Johan Grimonprez – Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Ibrahim Nash’at – Hollywoodgate
Natalie Rae & Angela Patton – Daughters WINNER: Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev – Porcelain War (This was Brendan Bellomo’s first DGA Award Nomination. This was Slava Leontyev’s first DGA Award Nomination.)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
Alex Graves – The Diplomat, “Dreadnought”
Hiromi Kamata – Shōgun, “Ladies of the Willow World”
Issa López – True Detective: Night Country, “Part 6”
Jonathan Van Tulleken – Shōgun, “Anjin” WINNER: Frederick E.O. Toye – Shōgun, “Crimson Sky” (This was Frederick E.O. Toye’s first DGA Award nomination.)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
Ayo Edebiri – The Bear, “Napkins”
Duccio Fabbri – The Bear, “Doors”
Jeff Schaffer – Curb Your Enthusiasm, “No Lessons Learned”
Christopher Storer – The Bear, “Tomorrow” WINNER: Lucia Aniello – Hacks, “Bulletproof” (This was Lucia Aniello’s second DGA Award nomination. Aniello previously won in this category in 2021 for Hacks, “There Is No Line.”)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series
Kevin Bray – The Penguin, “Top Hat”
Alfonso Cuarón – Disclaimer
Jennifer Getzinger – The Penguin, “A Great or Little Thing”
Helen Shaver – The Penguin, “Cent’anni” WINNER: Steven Zaillian – Ripley (This was Steven Zaillian’s second DGA Award nomination. He previously won in this category in 2016 for The Night Of, “The Beach.”)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
Paul G. Casey – Real Time with Bill Maher, “Jiminy Glick, Andrew Cuomo, Adam Kinzinger”
Jim Hoskinson – The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & Mavis Staples w/ Jeff Tweedy”
David Paul Meyer – The Daily Show, “Indecision 2024: The Democratic National Convention – Plot Twist!”
Paul Pennolino – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “India Elections” WINNER: Liz Patrick – Saturday Night Live, “John Mulaney / Chappell Roan” (This was Liz Patrick’s third DGA Award nomination. Patrick previously won in this same category in 2023, along with Michael Mancini, for Saturday Night Live, “Pedro Pascal/Coldplay” and in 2022 for Saturday Night Live, “Host and Musical Guest Jack Harlow.”)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials
Hamish Hamilton – The 96th Annual Academy Awards
David Paul Meyer – The Daily Show Presents A Live Election Night Special With Jon Stewart: Indecision 2024: Nothing We Can Do About It Now
Glenn Weiss – The 77th Annual Tony Awards
Ali Wong – Ali Wong: Single Lady WINNER: Beth McCarthy-Miller – The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady (This was Beth McCarthy-Miller’s fourteenth DGA Award nomination. McCarthy-Miller won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series in 2017 for the Veep episode “Chicklet” and in 2013 for the 30 Rock episode “Hogcock!/Last Lunch.” She was also nominated that year, together with Rob Ashford, in the Movies for Television and Mini-Series category for The Sound of Music Live! She was previously nominated in the Comedy Series category for 30 Rock episodes “Live from Studio 6H” in 2012, “Live Show” in 2010, “The Reunion Episode #304” in 2008 and “Somebody to Love” in 2007.
She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety twice, in 2001 for America: A Tribute to Heroes (co-directed with Joel Gallen) and in 2000 for the “Val Kilmer and U2” episode of Saturday Night Live. She was also twice nominated in that category for Saturday Night Live episodes “Christopher Walken and The Foo Fighters” in 2003 and the 25th Anniversary episode in 1999. She was also nominated in 2019 and 2015 in the Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials category for Bill Maher: Live from Oklahoma and Adele Live in New York City.)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs
Joseph Guidry – Deal Or No Deal Island, “Are You Decisive?”
Ari Katcher – Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, “Road Trip”
Patrick McManus – American Ninja Warrior, “Las Vegas Finals 4”
Mike Sweeney – Conan O’Brien Must Go, “Ireland” WINNER: Neil DeGroot – Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, “The Cliffs of Ireland” (This was Neil DeGroot’s fifth DGA Award nomination. DeGroot was previously nominated in this category in 2018 for Better Late Than Never, “How Do You Say Roots in German?” and in 2014 for The Biggest Loser, “Episode 1613.” He previously won in this category in 2013 for 72 Hours, “The Lost Coast” and in 2011 for The Biggest Loser, “Episode 1115)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs
Kat Coiro – The Spiderwick Chronicles, “Welcome to Spiderwick”
Michael Goi – Avatar: The Last Airbender, “Aang”
Jim Mickle – Sweet Tooth, “This Is a Story”
Jennifer Phang – Descendants: The Rise of Red WINNER: Amber Sealey – Out of My Mind (This was Amber Sealey’s first DGA Award nomination.)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
Lance Acord, Park Pictures – An American Love Story, Volkswagen
Kim Gehrig, Somesuch – A Life in Sound, SiriusXM, Am I A Bad Person?, Nike, Find Your Friends, Apple
Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim, Prettybird – Michael CeraVe, CeraVe
Ivan Zachariáš, Smuggler – Flock, Apple
WINNER: Andreas Nilsson, Biscuit Filmworks – Board Game, Hennessy, First Office Poo, Andrex, One More, Applem Whizzer, Virgin Media (This was Andreas Nilsson’s third DGA Award nomination. Nilsson previously won in this category in 2015 for Emily’s Oz (Comcast) and Time Upon a Once (General Electric); and was nominated in this category in 2023 for R.I.P Leon (Apple iPhone), Action Mode (Apple iPhone 14), Choose Happy (Les Mills Fitness) and Wait’ll You See This (Snapchat).)
Amy continues to try and deal with bits of memories of her personal life while helping patients on Fox’s Doc season one episode six. “Once, More With Feeling” will air on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT.
Molly Parker plays Chief of Internal Medicine Dr. Amy Larsen, Omar Metwally is Dr. Michael Hamda, Amirah Vann is Dr. Gina Walker, Jon Ecker is Dr. Jake Heller, and Anya Banerjee is Dr. Sonya Maitra. Season one guest stars include Scott Wolf as Dr. Richard Miller and Patrick Walker as Dr. TJ Coleman.
“Once More, with Feeling” Plot: It’s a race against time as Amy and Jake try to uncover the cause of a unique patient’s worsening condition. Gina (Vann) treats a quirky hypochondriac, and Amy makes a shocking discovery about her pre-accident love life.
After a late-night car crash results in severe head trauma, Amy wakes up from surgery with no recollection of the patients she’s treated, the colleagues she’s crossed and the tragedy that caused her to push almost everyone away. The relief that Amy gets from seeing her family post-accident is fleeting when she learns the incomprehensible – that she and her beloved husband, Dr. Michael Hamda have been divorced for four years. In fact, her entire family is not at all as she remembers them, rocking her foundation to the core.
Amy’s best friend, neuropsychiatrist Dr. Gina Walker, has little guidance to give her for this new reality since matters of the brain are, even to the experts, still a big mystery. While Gina is hopeful, she does not know if Amy will ever recover her memories. In Amy’s fragile state, Gina must choose carefully what information from the past eight years to reveal to her, scared that too much too soon could prove more harmful than good. This includes her secret romance with Dr. Jake Heller, since Amy now has no recollection of ever meeting him before, let alone being in a passionate relationship with him. Certain other memories, those close to her believe, would perhaps be too painful to relive and are best left forgotten.
In a fateful irony, that’s the fervent hope for Amy’s colleague, Dr. Richard Miller, who has now been promoted to take over as Chief of Internal Medicine after Amy’s accident. Richard is desperate for Amy’s memories to never return since she was the only person to uncover his career-ending mistake – another thing she now doesn’t recall.
And Richard isn’t alone in relishing Amy’s predicament – her previously contentious and unkind behavior left her with more than a few enemies at the hospital, including Dr. Sonya Maitra. While she does remember Dr. TJ Coleman, she does not recall that he became a doctor – nor that it was she who inspired him to do so.
Feeling completely off balance and having to piece together what happened through the prism of other people’s subjective points of view, practicing medicine remains the one constant for Amy, and she is determined to become a doctor again. While she may never get back what she’s lost, Amy knows she’s been given a second chance to do things differently and she will not take that gift for granted.
Season 18 of Discovery Channel’s Naked and Afraid kicks off with an episode featuring Mandy, the survival competition’s first double amputee. After losing her legs in a tragic accident, Mandy has dedicated herself to inspiring others.
“Mandy set out to motivate others and prove that there is life after the unimaginable happens. She became the first female bilateral amputee to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and is now ready to take on the Everest of survival challenges – 21 days in the remote jungle and dense rainforest of Belize,” says the Discovery channel. “Mandy, alongside her partner, Jonny, will battle heavy rains, swarms of mosquitos, and toxic plants all in a bid to demonstrate that no challenge is too formidable to conquer.”
The new season premieres on Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 8pm ET/PT.
Jonny and Mandy outside their shelter in Discovery Channel’s ‘Naked and Afraid’
Hour two of the season premiere features fitness competitor Amanda and Ernie, moderator of a Naked and Afraid fan page. Season 18 also features the return of fan favorites Steven Lee Hall Jr. and Laura Zerra as mentors to rookie survivalists attempting their first 21 day adventure. New episodes will also include four survivalists taking on an ancient, and potentially haunted, Mayan jungle where humans were once sacrificed to the Gods. Plus, two survival instructors find themselves re stalked by King Cobras in the Philippine jungle.
Lionsgate Alternative Television produces the series for Discovery Channel.
