Our 24 most popular film and TV stories of 2024

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who couldn’t get enough of our film and TV coverage in 2024.

In our annual year-end edition, we expand our usual “ICYMI” feature, highlighting 2024’s most-read stories from the film and television writers at The Times. From celebrity profiles and insightful criticism to behind-the-scenes glimpses into the most talked-about pop culture of the moment, these are the stories that defined the year. Happy reading!

Actor-producer Sydney Sweeney photographed earlier this year in Los Angeles.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

24. What went wrong with ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’: A creative and box office flop, explained: Todd Phillips’ sequel, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, doesn’t respect the musical genre — and it paid the price with critics and audiences alike.

23. ‘The Contestant’ tells the bizarre story of a Japanese man who lived a real-life ‘Truman Show’: A Hulu documentary looks at the story of a Japanese comedian named Nasubi who became the unwitting star of a reality show in 1998.

22. Sydney Sweeney is in a new horror film. She wants to remind us how dorky she is: After working together on the erotic drama “The Voyeurs,” Sydney Sweeney and director Michael Mohan create a religious thriller premiering at SXSW.

21. Tiffany Haddish just can’t quit. Even when she knows she should: The comedian and “Girls Trip” star gets candid about why she doesn’t want to have children and addresses her DUIs, relationships and new book.

20. In HBO’s rewarding new docuseries, a power struggle at a Texas Renaissance faire: Lance Oppenheim’s “Ren Faire” depicts the mercurial king of the Texas Renaissance Festival and the fight to succeed him.

19. Anna Sawai’s ‘Shogun’ role felt personal: Mariko is ‘every woman in Japan who has suffered’: Anna Sawai says she connected deeply with Lady Toda Mariko, her character in FX’s “Shogun,” and that she was encouraged by the creators’ desire to avoid stereotypes of Japanese women.

Simone Biles in Netflix’s “Simone Biles Rising.”

(Netflix)

18. Simone Biles is extraordinarily gifted. This Netflix doc looks at what makes her ordinary: “Simone Biles Rising” follows the gymnast as she recovers from the 2020 Olympics and prepares for the 2024 Games.

17. Meet the makeup wizard who transformed Sebastian Stan into ‘A Different Man’: Oscar-nominated makeup artist Mike Marino used groundbreaking prosthetics in collaboration with actor Sebastian Stan for A24’s “A Different Man.”

16. ‘This is you now. It’s OK’: ‘The Swan’ contestants reflect on makeover competition 20 years later: “The Swan” was a spectacle called cruel and sadistic, but former contestants don’t really see it that way. The reality makeover competition foretold the era we live in.

15. Hollywood’s high-pressure expectations game has created a box office doom loop: How Hollywood’s absurdly high expectations — on big-budget franchises, familiar IP, opening weekend and more — led to the current box office crisis.

14. If you’re a parent, Lauren Greenfield’s new doc about teens and social media ‘is a horror movie’: Greenfield’s latest project, “Social Studies,” is a five-part docuseries that looks at teen social media use and its effects.

13. Inside the ‘Wicked’ musical number that could win Ariana Grande an Oscar: Ariana Grande proves herself a “modern-day Lucille Ball” with “Popular,” the funniest number in “Wicked.” The film’s creative team explains how it all came together.

Ariana Grande in “Wicked.”

(Giles Keyte / Universal Pictures)

12. ‘The Bear’ isn’t about the pressures of fine dining. It’s about the damage alcoholism inflicts: Children of alcoholics, whether they drink or not, tend to behave like alcoholics, as main character Carmy Berzatto demonstrates in Season 3 of FX’s “The Bear.”

11. Inside the most unnerving scene in ‘Civil War’: ‘It was a stunning bit of good luck’: With a deeply disturbing turn by Jesse Plemons, one scene in “Civil War” encapsulates the film’s combustible political balancing act. It almost didn’t happen.

10. Iain Armitage was 9 when ‘Young Sheldon’ began. Now, he’s saying goodbye to his biggest role yet: Armitage, now 16, talks about the end of “Young Sheldon” and what’s next for him.

9. The Olympics opening ceremony shined with best of Paris and France, but failed as TV: Often enough the grandeur, audacity and nuttiness of the opening ceremony shone through onscreen, but commentary, cutaways and commercials fragmented the experience this time, our critic writes.

8. A long-awaited biography of Johnny Carson proves he’s the Everest of celebrity subjects — tempting but perilous: “The Tonight Show” uber host has been off the air longer than he was on it. Does Johnny Carson’s legend live?

7. With a flailing Jo Koy at the helm, the Golden Globes’ party seriously fizzled: Not even the dissolution of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. could kill the Golden Globes. So, on CBS, the show went on — without any of the excitement producers promised.

Walton Goggins, pictured at El Compadre restaurant in Los Angeles earlier this year.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

6. Being bad is good for Walton Goggins, whose turn in ‘Fallout’ has kept his star rising: The veteran character actor from “The Shield” and “Justified” had a standout year, playing the Ghoul in Prime Video’s “Fallout” and filming a role in Season 3 of “The White Lotus.”

5. ‘Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’: 6 key takeaways from the documentary: The ID documentary series delves into Dan Schneider’s hit Nickelodeon shows and the abuse former employees say happened.

4. How Erin Foster’s real-life romance inspired ‘Nobody Wants This’: When the creator of Netflix’s rom-com told her husband she had sold a show based on their love story, he wasn’t thrilled, but he eventually came around: “This is what Erin’s supposed to be doing.”

3. Inside Tonka’s life after ‘Chimp Crazy’: Vegan meals, painting and lots of sex: “It’s amazing how well Tonka is doing,” says the head of the Florida animal sanctuary where the chimpanzee now lives.

2. In a new documentary, Scott Peterson presents alternate theory of his wife’s murder: In his first on-camera interview in nearly 20 years, Scott Peterson maintains his innocence in the 2002 murder of his wife, Laci, and their unborn child.

1. Hollywood’s exodus: Why film and TV workers are leaving Los Angeles: With Hollywood production activity and employment down while the cost of living rises, some film and TV workers are leaving Los Angeles — and California.