From one of the best television series of all time to rushed, unfocused and half-baked, the cooking drama’s third season is a big letdown. Is it a victim of its own success?

Before we begin, it’s important to point out that The Bear is one of my favourite shows of all time. If you ever need to look for a perfect season of television, I will always point you to The Bear’s first eight episodes. That season was incredibly stylish, overwhelmingly propulsive and filled with characters you found yourself rooting for. More than anything, though, it was about something. The first season of The Bear was about leaving home, returning changed and trying to fit back in. This thumped through every scene of every episode. It was stunning.

While season two allowed itself to unspool a little, it was still driven by an unbeatably strong engine, in the countdown to the opening of a new restaurant. There was still such momentum that, like everyone else, I wolfed it down in one go. Season three couldn’t come quick enough.

The Bear is on Disney+

This campaign has been so gaffe-heavy it couldn’t be much more like Armando Iannucci’s classic TV satire. But can you sort your Sunaks from your Tuckers?

Over the last couple of decades, whenever there has been a general election – and there have been a lot of them – the overwhelming likelihood is that it will be so full of gaffes and panic that it will end up being compared to The Thick of It. This is a testament to the painful authenticity of that show and a sad reality of political discourse in the 21st century.

However, by anyone’s standards, the 2024 general election has been especially The Thick of Itty. At one point, the show’s creator, Armando Iannucci, pointed out that one fleeting talking point – the Conservative’s plan to let an independent body tackle immigration, to stop MPs from being tripped up on the subject in the media – was basically the plot of the 2007 special The Rise of the Nutters.

The trailer for Amazon’s reportedly troubled $250m action-comedy shows that it might just be weightless action mush

Red One, the upcoming Christmas movie from Amazon, is arguably among the most talked-about of the year. However, until now, the conversation has had little to do with the film itself. Instead, Red One looks set to go down in history as the film that tanked Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s reputation.

For the newcomers: in April, The Wrap ran a feature about exactly how troubled Red One’s production allegedly was, with several insiders pointing to The Rock’s chronic unwillingness to work as a key factor. Among claims of his wrongdoing, The Rock was accused of repeatedly showing up eight hours late to set, and also making his assistant dispose of bottles of his own urine that he’d fill when he couldn’t be bothered to walk to a bathroom.