Steve Pond's Blog, page 187

‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Release Guide: When Are New Episodes Out?

“The Last of Us,” one of TV’s biggest and most popular shows, makes its long-awaited return this week.

HBO’s acclaimed video game adaptation will be coming back from its 2+ year hiatus with a bigger budget, scope, cast and even more emotionally punishing material for it to mine, thanks to 2020’s “The Last of Us Part II.” The series’ second season ranks high as one of the most anticipated TV premieres of the year and — as those familiar with its source material will be the first to tell you — it is primed to start even more conversations than “The Last of Us” Season 1.

Here is everything you need to know about how, when and where you can watch “The Last of Us” Season 2.

When does “The Last of Us” Season 2 premiere?

“The Last of Us” Season 2 premieres Sunday, April 13.

How can I watch “The Last of Us”?

“The Last of Us” airs on HBO and streams exclusively on Max.

What time do episodes air and stream?

New episodes of “The Last of Us” Season 2 air on HBO at 6 p.m. PT and become simultaneously available to stream on Max.

When do new episodes come out?

“The Last of Us” Season 2 is two episodes shorter than the HBO series’ first. Its seven episodes will be released weekly on Sundays, in keeping with HBO’s usual, preferred release strategy. You can find the season’s full episodic schedule below:

Episode 1 — April 13Episode 2 — April 20Episode 3 — April 27Episode 4 — May 4Episode 5 — May 11Episode 6 — May 18Episode 7 — May 25What is “The Last of Us” Season 2 about?

“The Last of Us” Season 2 picks up five years after the events of the show’s first. It follows Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) as they find themselves beset by a dangerous group of soldiers — led by the young, driven Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) — and haunted by the lies and potential revelations that were first introduced at the end of “The Last of Us” Season 1.

Who is in the “Last of Us” Season 2 cast?

“The Last of Us” Season 2 is, once again, led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. The former is best known for his turns as Oberyn Martell in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and Din Djarin in Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian,” while the latter is known for their breakout turn as Lyanna Mormont in “Game of Thrones.” The two are joined this time by returning “Last of Us” stars Gabriel Luna (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) and Rutina Wesley (“True Blood”).

The season will also introduce new cast members Kaitlyn Dever (“Booksmart”), Young Mazino (“Beef”), Isabela Merced (“Alien: Romulus”), Danny Ramirez (“Captain America: Brave New World”), Ariela Barer (“How to Blow Up a Pipeline”), Tati Gabrielle (“Uncharted”), Spencer Lord (“Family Law”), Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”) and Jeffrey Wright (“Westworld”).

Watch the trailer:

The post ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Release Guide: When Are New Episodes Out? appeared first on TheWrap.

Jean Marsh, ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ Actress and Creator, Dies at 90

Jean Marsh, the creator and star of the beloved 1970s series “Upstairs, Downstairs,” died Sunday of dementia at her home in London. She was 90.

Marsh’s close friend Michael Lindsay-Hogg confirmed her death and its cause to the New York Times.

“Upstairs, Downstairs” aired from 1971 to 1975 in England and 1974 to 1977 in the United States. The show was about the Bellamy family and the staff that kept their elegant townhome running. Marsh starred as Rose, the head parlor maid.

In 2010 Marsh decided to return to the show by way of a reboot. “At first, I wasn’t sure if it was a retrograde thing to do,” she told the Telegraph at the time. “But then I thought: am I being pompous? It was a wonderful part. I think Rose got into me as much as I got into Rose.”

The reboot took place only six years after the show’s original timeline of 1904-1930, but Marsh herself had naturally aged quite a few decades. When asked how the show intended to explain her clear jump in age, Marsh simply said, “Let’s not go down that road.”

Marsh came of age in a London that was war-torn and tired; as she told the outlet, her family lived in a home made up of two rooms (and none of them was a bathroom or a kitchen). “It was always cold and damp. We washed with a cold cloth and were always boiling a copper kettle. I have friends who live in sweet places in Islington but I have a morbid fear of going back, even though they are very fashionable now. The places we lived in were crumbly. They carry a pall for me,” she explained.

Her mother worked as a housemaid and ultimately served as the inspiration for Rose, something Marsh said she “automatically” did without question.

As a child Marsh took ballet classes and expressed an interest in acting; she went to theater school instead of regular classes and made her cinematic debut in 1952’s “The Infinite Shoeblack.” After starring in a few British productions she went to the US in 1959 and added an episode in “The Twilight Zone” to her resume.

The idea for “Upstairs, Downstairs” came after several conversations with Eileen Atkins. “We came from the same background, a working-class background, and we were thinking idly about trying to create something , maybe a television series, maybe a film, we weren’t quite sure,” she told the AV Club in 2012.

“And the idea gelled through two different experiences: One was watching ‘The Forsyte Saga’ that was made sometime in the ’60s, and we thought, ‘Well, that’s all really wonderful, but who washed the clothes? Who ironed them? Who’s cleaning the boots? Who’s doing all the work?” And we thought, “Gosh, it’s so unfair you never see the real workers.’ That was one seed. We had chips on our shoulders,” she continued.

Atkins found a photo of her mother “with a group of servants standing by a horse-drawn bus for a servants’ outing,” she continued, “so we thought, ‘Let’s write about downstairs people.'”

The popular series won a Peabody Award and seven Emmys before its conclusion.

Jean Marsh was born July 1, 1934. She enjoyed a stage career on Broadway in a 1959 production of “Much Ado About Nothing” before she made her way to London’s West End, where she starred in “Bird of Time” in 1961.

She was briefly married to Jon Pertwee in her 20s and had known relationships with Albert Finney and Kenneth Haigh. She and Lindsay-Hogg were in a relationship for 10 years.

The post Jean Marsh, ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ Actress and Creator, Dies at 90 appeared first on TheWrap.

‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Cast and Character Guide

“The Last of Us” Season 2 has finally arrived. This time, it is not just the series’ central two stars who are leading the way, either. Following the template set by its video game source material, the HBO series is returning with an expanded cast of recurring characters, which means there will be a lot of new names for viewers to learn across its forthcoming seven episodes.

Here are all the characters you need to know in “The Last of Us” Season 2, along with which actors play them and where you’ve seen them onscreen before.

Pedro Pascal in “The Last of Us” Season 2 (Liane Hentscher/HBO)Pedro Pascal as Joel

Pedro Pascal reprises his role as Joel Miller in “The Last of Us” Season 2. The season will pick up with Joel when he is an older, established member of his brother’s sanctuary-like community in Jackson, Wyoming. Pascal is best known for his turns as Oberyn Martell in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and Din Djarin in “The Mandalorian.”

He also starred last year in “Gladiator II” and is set to play Reed Richards, a.k.a. Mr. Fantastic, in Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”

Bella Ramsey in “The Last of Us” Season 2. (Liane Hentscher/HBO)Bella Ramsey as Ellie

Bella Ramsey is back as Ellie, the immune girl whose relationship with Joel is in a rocky place when viewers catch back up with her. Viewers will remember Ramsey for their breakout, star-making turn as Lyanna Mormont in the later seasons of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” as well as their lead performance in the Lena Dunham-directed medieval coming-of-age film “Catherine Called Birdy.”

Kaitlyn Dever in “The Last of Us” Season 2. (Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)Kaitlyn Dever as Abby

Kaitlyn Dever plays “The Last of Us” Season 2’s most important new character, Abby, a young soldier with a personal mission that puts her on a path toward Ellie and Joel. Dever’s past TV credits include Netflix’s “Unbelievable,” ABC’s “Last Man Standing,” Hulu’s “Dopesick,” FX’s “Justified” and Netflix’s “Apple Cider Vinegar.” She has also turned in memorable film performances in 2019’s “Booksmart” and 2023’s “No One Will Save You.”

Isabela Merced in “The Last of Us” Season 2. (Liane Hentscher/HBO)Isabela Merced as Dina

Isabela Merced stars in “The Last of Us” Season 2 as Dina, a young girl living in the same Jackson-based community as Joel and Ellie who emerges as a partner and romantic interest for the latter. Merced has spent the last decade steadily racking up film and TV credits, including roles in “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” “Instant Family,” “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” “Madame Web” and “Turtles All the Way Down.” She was last seen giving a horror-movie scream for the ages in 2024’s “Alien: Romulus.”

Gabriel Luna in “The Last of Us” Season 2. (Liane Hentscher/HBO)Gabriel Luna as Tommy

Gabriel Luna returns as Tommy, the understated, similarly grizzled brother of Pascal’s Joel. Luna previously played Robbie Reyes, a.k.a. Ghost Rider, in Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and the Rev-9 terminator in 2019’s “Terminator: Dark Fate.”

Rutina Wesley in “The Last of Us” Season 2. (Liane Hentscher/HBO)Rutina Wesley as Maria

Rutina Wesley is also back as Maria, Tommy’s wife and Joel’s sister-in-law. Wesley is best known for her roles as Tara Thornton in HBO’s “True Blood” and Nova Bordelon in the Ava DuVernay-created OWN drama “Queen Sugar.”

Young Mazino in “The Last of Us” Season 2. (Liane Hentscher/HBO)Young Mazino as Jesse

Another new face, Young Mazino stars in the HBO series’ new episodes as Jesse, a fellow Jackson resident and friend of Ramsey’s Ellie. Mazino achieved breakout success and recognition two years ago for his role as Paul Cho, the younger brother of Steven Yeun’s Danny Cho, in Netflix’s “Beef.”

Jeffrey Wright in “The Last of Us” Season 2. (HBO)Jeffrey Wright as Isaac

Jeffrey Wright stars in “The Last of Us” Season 2 as Isaac, the leader of a post-apocalyptic military faction that counts Dever’s Abby as one of its Seattle-based soldiers. Wright also played the video game version of Isaac in 2020’s “The Last of Us Part II.”

He is one of the most accomplished character actors of his generation. Viewers will likely recognize him for his roles as Henry Ogletree in “The Agency,” Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison in “American Fiction,” James Gordon in “The Batman” and Bernard Lowe in HBO’s “Westworld.”

Catherine O’Hara in “The Last of Us” Season 2. (Liane Hentscher/HBO)Catherine O’Hara as Gail

Speaking of accomplished performers, Catherine O’Hara portrays Gail, a grieving widow and therapist. A living comedy titan, O’Hara famously played Kate, the mother of Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McAllister, in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

She won an Emmy for her performance as Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek” and she is also currently starring as Patty Leigh, a recently fired Hollywood producer, opposite Seth Rogen in Apple TV+’s “The Studio.”

Danny Ramirez attends the Los Angeles premiere of HBO Original Series “The Last Of Us” Season 2 on March 24, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO)Danny Ramirez as Manny

Hot off his recent turn as Joaquin Torres in Marvel’s “Captain America: Brave New World,” Danny Ramirez is set to play Manny, one member of a group of soldiers led by Dever’s Abby. Outside of his work in “Brave New World” and its Disney+ predecessor, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” Ramirez also played Lt. Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia in 2021’s “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Tati Gabrielle attends the Los Angeles premiere of HBO Original Series “The Last Of Us” Season 2 on March 24, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Monica Schipper/WireImage)Tati Gabrielle as Nora

No stranger to projects created by video game developer Naughty Dog, Tati Gabrielle stars in “The Last of Us” Season 2 as Nora, another member of Abby’s posse. She previously played Prudence Night in Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” Marienne Bellamy in “You” and Jo Braddock in the 2022 Tom Holland-led film adaptation of another Naughty Dog franchise, “Uncharted.”

Gabrielle is also set to play lead bounty hunter Jordan A. Mun in “Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet,” Naughty Dog’s long-awaited video game follow-up to “The Last of Us Part II.”

Spencer Lord attends the Los Angeles premiere of the HBO original series “The Last of Us” Season 2 on March 24, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)Spencer Lord as Owen

Spencer Lord portrays Owen, another soldier in Abby’s group of hunters. Lord’s past TV credits include his recurring roles as Nathan Pryce Jr. in “Heartland” and Aiden in “Family Law.”

Ariela Barer attends the Los Angeles premiere of the HBO original series “The Last of Us” Season 2 on March 24, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)Ariela Barer as Mel

Ariela Barer plays Mel, the final member of Abby’s gang of determined soldiers. Barer is best known for playing Gertrude Yorkes in Marvel’s “Runaways” and Xochitl, a fearless environmental activist, in the 2023 thriller “How to Blow Up a Pipeline.”

“The Last of Us” Season 2 premieres Sunday, April 13 on HBO and Max. New episodes air weekly on Sundays.

The post ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Cast and Character Guide appeared first on TheWrap.

‘The White Lotus’ Star Aimee Lou Wood Slams ‘SNL’ Sketch That Made Fun of Her Teeth: ‘Mean and Unfunny’

“Saturday Night Live” lost a fan in Amy Lou Wood after the sketch show poked fun at her HBO series “The White Lotus” over the weekend. In a series of posts shared to Instagram, Wood slammed the segment, which included a visual gag making fun of her teeth, as “mean and unfunny.”

The sketch in question, called “The White POTUS,” featured Jon Hamm playing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sarah Sherman as a riff on Wood’s character Chelsea. On the series, which aired its Season 3 finale last week, Chelsea is partnered with Walton Goggins’ Rick; here, Chelsea is partnered with RFK Jr. As Hamm’s RFK Jr. rails against fluoride in water to Sherman, who plays his girlfriend, the actress responds in a British accent (Wood is from Manchester). More notably, Sherman was wearing an exaggerated tooth prosthetic — an attempt at mocking Wood’s own teeth.

“I did find the ‘SNL’ thing mean and unfunny xo,” Wood wrote on Instagram. She later added that “everyone” was agreeing with her about the sketch, so “I’m glad I said something instead of going in on myself.”

“[It’s] such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple weeks ago,” she wrote in another post. “Yes, take the piss for sure — that’s what the show is about — but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?”

The actress later noted she was happy she said something about the sketch because her comments sparked an outpouring of support from fans and followers — and “SNL” apologized. “I’ve had apologies from ‘SNL,'” she wrote in another Instagram Story.

Wood, who has a noticable gap between her front teeth, has become something of a focal point in conversations surrounding physical beauty since her debut on “The White Lotus.” Her teeth have become a talking point, something the star initially embraced but appears to be pulling back from.

While speaking to GQ in an interview published April 8, Wood said she hopes to speak more about her work. “It makes me really happy that it’s symbolizing rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit,” she explained.

“The whole conversation is just about my teeth, and it makes me a bit sad because I’m not getting to talk about my work. They think it’s nice because they’re not criticising. And, I have to go there … I don’t know, if it was a man, would we be talking about it this much? It’s still going on about a woman’s appearance,” she added.

The post ‘The White Lotus’ Star Aimee Lou Wood Slams ‘SNL’ Sketch That Made Fun of Her Teeth: ‘Mean and Unfunny’ appeared first on TheWrap.

What Time Is ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Streaming on Max?

After a two-year wait, “The Last of Us” has finally returned for Season 2.

Season 2 of the HBO adaptation of the hit video game returns to screens Sunday, April 13. With it comes Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) continued fight for survival in a world ruined by the cordyceps fungus. The show takes a five-year time jump that puts the pair contributing to a large community in Jackson, Wyoming and butting heads with each other.

Here is when you can tune into the show for streaming on Max once it debuts on HBO.

When will “The Last of Us” Season 2 episodes be on Max?

“The Last of Us” Season 2 returns to HBO on Sunday, April 13. It will air on the premium channel at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT. That will also be the time the episode will be available to stream on Max for subscribers.

How many episodes will there be?

“The Last of Us” Season 2 has a slightly shorter episode count than Season 1. There will only be seven episodes available for Season 2 of the show opposed to the nine episodes in the first season.

What is Season 2 about?

Season 2 of “The Last of Us” picks up five years after the events of Season 1, with Joel and Ellie now living in a larger community in Jackson, Wyoming. The two are still keeping Ellie’s immunity a secret but according to the official synopsis, “when a violent event shatters their tranquility, Ellie sets out on a ruthless quest to deliver vengeance and closure.”

Watch the trailer:

The post What Time Is ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Streaming on Max? appeared first on TheWrap.

Chris Cuomo Calls Out ‘Extremely Suspicious’ Trades Moments Before Trump’s Tariffs Pause | Video

Chris Cuomo suggested high-level insider trading may have been taking place in the market chaos following Donald Trump’s tariffs “pause” last week, as the NewsNation host pieced together some sketchy circumstances around the president’s surprise announcement.

The former CNN anchor didn’t name names, but raised the question as to whether Trump’s wealthiest allies and/or members of Congress may have been among the many investors who profited enormously in the ensuing shockwave that sent stocks higher last Wednesday, immediately after Trump announced a 90-day “pause” on tariffs for countries negotiating new trade deals with the United States.

Cuomo said he wants Trump’s efforts to succeed in better trade deals for America, but the messaging thrash leaves him suspicious.

“Why do we assume that what this administration is doing has anything to do with that?” Cuomo said Saturday. “Because they say so? They say a lot of things that don’t make sense or are soon contradicted.”

He then posed a question he said “many don’t want to ask”: “Why does it seem that some got so rich on this volatility?”

“For instance, how did Newsmax — a struggling mouthpiece media company — go from a $14 stock to $260, and then crash back down? You don’t think people got paid on that deal? What if even part of all these maneuvers — this schizo-strategy— isn’t really about deals for us? Not all of us, or even the middle class, but about helping just a select few?”

Cuomo – who has long opposed members of Congress holding stocks – was suspicious not just of Trump cronies, and found Democrats’ calls for an investigation hypocritical: “Whether you’re talking about Trump, Pelosi, or anyone else in power, it’s hard to take these accusations seriously when they come from people who may also be benefiting from the same system they’re criticizing.”

Cuomo put up a chart showing a massive spike in market activity in the moments before Trump’s social-media post, saying:

“There were extremely suspicious trades just minutes before Trump announced he was pausing the tariffs. Moments before he announced … traders started betting big that the market was going to go up by the end of the day. How? How genius is that? An extremely risky bet. … Whoever made those bets saw a 2,000% return.”

Cuomo said he didn’t know of any connection, “but then why did Trump, in the Oval Office, brag that his billionaire friend Charles Schwab made a killing on the market the day he paused the tariffs?”

Watch the entire monologue in the video above.

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‘SNL’ Turns ‘The White Lotus’ Into ‘The White POTUS’ With Surprise Appearances From Scarlett Johansson and Beck Bennett

Season three of “The White Lotus” has come and gone, but “Saturday Night Live” opted to create its own episode of the show this week. Now, the show is “The White POTUS.”

In the sketch, we open on James Austin Johnson’s Trump, filling Jason Isaacs’s role as Timothy Ratliff, and clearly having an existential crisis. As his wife Melania calls out to him — complete with Parker Posey’s viral North Carolina accent — he opts to numb the pain. But, where Timothy Ratliff chose lorazepam, Trump chooses a chicken nugget.

Don’t worry, the rest of the family is there too. Saxon Ratliff, played by Patrick Schwarzenegger in the show, is Trump Jr., while the Lochlan stand-in is Alex Moffat’s Eric Trump. Meanwhile, Ivanka takes the place of Piper Ratliff (Sarah Catherine Hook), and in this version, she’s played by Scarlett Johansson in a surprise cameo.

“Can you imagine how awful it would if America lost all its money?” Melania worries over breakfast, as Trump once again stares off into the distance mid-crisis.

“You would never let our economy go to pieces, right hon?” she asks, making a clear dig at Trump’s tariffs.

The other guests of the White Lotus hotel made it in too, with host Jon Hamm as RFK Jr. — taking the place of Walton Goggins’ Rick — and Sarah Sherman playing Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea (complete with fake teeth and accent).

Musical guest Lizzo even showed up to play Natasha Rothwell’s character, marveling at the $5 million in her bank account.

“It was 20 million last week!” she says angrily.

Beck Bennett also popped in as Vladimir Putin, talking Trump down from his murder-suicide ideations — but don’t worry, he’s wearing a “KING” shirt this time instead of a Duke one.

The post ‘SNL’ Turns ‘The White Lotus’ Into ‘The White POTUS’ With Surprise Appearances From Scarlett Johansson and Beck Bennett appeared first on TheWrap.

‘SNL’: Jon Hamm Asks for Kieran Culkin’s Oscar in Exchange for Crashing His Monologue | Video

Jon Hamm has been known to make plenty of cameos on “Saturday Night Live” over the years, something he himself pointed out during his monologue on this week’s show. But, as he did, someone else made a cameo: Kieran Culkin.

“I was checking my own Wikipedia, which I often do, and I found out that since [the last time I hosted], I’ve made 14 cameos,” Hamm revealed. “And in many ways, making a cameo is even more special than being the host.”

As Hamm explained why exactly that is and played back some of his cameos, the “Succession” star popped out of nowhere, much to the delight of the crowd. Hamm wasn’t all that pleased to see Culkin though, insisting he was just fine on his own.

Jon Hamm’s monologue! pic.twitter.com/IQFFmPy5jP

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) April 13, 2025

“I’m a huge, huge and I’m doing really well all by myself,” Hamm insisted. “

As Culkin assured him that he was just there to help and would make it up to him, Hamm forgave him — with one condition.

“OK cool, thanks. Just give me your Oscar,” he joked.

Culkin quickly refused though, prompting Hamm to inform Culkin that “‘Mad Men’ is better than ‘Succession.'”

“I think we can both agree that you’re wrong, I love you, bye!” he said as Culkin protested, literally shoving him off the stage.

You can watch the moment in the video above.

The post ‘SNL’: Jon Hamm Asks for Kieran Culkin’s Oscar in Exchange for Crashing His Monologue | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Erin Foster Hints at ‘Nobody Wants This’ Cameo in Season 3

Erin Foster might show up in an episode of the hit Netflix series “Nobody Wants This” — if she or her sister Sara, the show’s executive producer, can come up with the right character and storyline.

While speaking to People at the 2025 Fashion Scholarship Fund Gala, Erin, who created the series for the streamer, said, “I always thought that it’d be fun to do that, but I never created a character that I thought was the perfect character.”

“Maybe season 3, [sisters] Morgan [Justine Lupe] and Joanne [Kristen Bell] go on sabbatical and then it’s us,” her sister offered to which Erin answered, “Oh, we just replace them.”

“Nobody Wants This” was inspired by Erin’s actual life with her husband Simon Tikhman. The series follows the love story of rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) and agnostic sex podcaster Joanne (Bell) as they navigate religion, culture, and trying to build a relationship that has legs.

Erin married Tikhman in 2019 after converting to Judaism.

Netflix renewed the series for a second season in October 2024. “It’s a dream to be working on ‘Nobody Wants This.’ Erin is the rare creator with a crystal clear voice and a genuinely collaborative spirit. I am a true fan of Erin’s show and also feel so lucky to be back in a room with two of my favorites, Bruce Kaplan and Sarah Heyward from ‘Girls,’” Executive producer Jenni Konner said at the time.

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Don Mischer, TV Director-Producer of the Oscars and Olympics, Dies at 85

Don Mischer, 15-time Emmy-winning TV director and producer of high-profile events like the Oscars and the Olympics, died Friday at home in Los Angeles, according to multiple media reports. He was 85.

Mischer, whose work included the Oscars, the Emmys, the Super Bowl and the Olympics, most recently produced the 2025 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony in LA on April 5.

He intended to retire soon after and recently told Deadline, “I want you to know that, after more than six decades in television, I will be doing my last show tomorrow on Saturday, April 5th here in Los Angeles. I started at the PBS station in Austin at the University of Texas campus in 1963, and I turned 85 last week. Man it feels like time has just flown by.”

In his time Mischer produced nearly every major television event, including 15 Emmy ceremonies, multiple Oscars ceremonies, several Kennedy Center Honors, People’s Choice Awards and Breakthrough Prize Ceremonies, the annual 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York, the Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2002 Winter Olympics, and more.

He was also responsible for capturing some of the most spectacular moments of recent pop culture history, including Michael Jackson’s first moonwalk, Prince’s Super Bowl performance of “Purple Rain,” and Meryl Streep’s first Oscar win in 29 years.

While speaking to TheWrap’s Steve Pond for DGA Quarterly in 2013, Mischer noted directing the Academy Awards ceremony “requires more effort and more focus” than other shows. “There’s a lot of anticipation and a lot of expectations, and its harder to deliver on some of that stuff in the environment in which we now find ourselves. Directing it always feels like a great responsibility. You’re sitting there with a live event, making choices that affect how people will interpret the show. If you’re on the wrong shot at the wrong time, it works against you. And little things happen,” he explained.

“Directing a show like the Oscars is kind of like playing Russian roulette with two bullets in the chamber,” he also said.

Misher also revealed that his interest in directing and producing dated back to his early teen years. “In junior high school I had fantasies of being a television cameraman. I would dream that someday maybe I would be able to run camera on a show that would be broadcast nationally,” he said.

“When I was 13, my father gave me an 8 mm Bell & Howell camera, and I started making little films with that. It was something that I was just fascinated with, to the point where when I went to football games or parades or that kind of stuff, I wanted to find where the television cameras were and watch what they were doing.”

He attended college at the University of Texas in Austin where he majored in sociology and minored in political science, earned his master’s in sociology, and was contemplating pursuing a doctorate in the discipline when a friend who worked in public television told him the Ford Foundation had grants available for academics who were interested in working in TV.

“I applied for one of those grants and got it. It was a substantial amount of money; like, $2,600 for the year [laughs], or something like that,” he told Pond.

The experience changed the trajectory of his career. His background in political science led to his begin assigned to news teams in Austin after President Kennedy was shot, which “just solidified it for me that this is a medium that had tremendous power.”

Mischer moved to Washington, D.C., when that same friend and mentor (Bob Squier) did so and asked him to follow suit. He began working on political documentaries, then for the Democratic National Convention, and then for PBS and late night TV.

His prolific career resulted in several awards, including 15 Emmys, the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award, two NAACP Image Awards, 10 DGA Awards, and the 2012 Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television.

Mischer was born on March 5, 1940, in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from Douglas MacArthur High School before enrolling in classes at the University of Texas in Austin.

He and his first wife Beverly had two daughters, Jennifer Christine and Heather Mischer Godsey. He and his second wife Suzan, a former CBS executive, welcomed their children Charles Donald and Lilly Ellison together.

Don Mischer is survived by his wife Suzan, his four children, Heather, Jennifer, Charlie and Lily, as well as two grandchildren, Everly and Tallulah.

This news was first reported by Deadline.

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