Adams, a three-time All-Pro in his first season with the Rams, has been targeted 55 times. He has 26 catches for 396 yards and three touchdowns.
Adams and quarterback Matthew Stafford have connected on several dynamic plays, but their timing remains a work in progress.
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Gary Klein reports from Rams practice at Camden Yards in Baltimore as the team prepares for its London game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“It’s not how I drew it up as far as efficiency goes,” Adams said. “I think we both would’ve liked to be a little bit more efficient, but I know for myself over the last few [games], just based off how we started, [there’s been] a little bit of pressing.”
Stafford put the onus on himself.
“There’s been some good ones,” he said. “There’s been some missed ones. I would take the majority of the blame on a lot of those and just give him a better chance on a couple.”
Adams rose to stardom while playing eight seasons with Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers. But that connection also took time, Adams said.
“It definitely didn’t start off the first couple years, let alone the first couple of games the way that we got going,” Adams said. “Not that we have another 10 years to go, but it takes time. It’s not easy.
“Puka and Matthew have been playing together for years now and they have a little better understanding of where one another is going to be, what to expect, and just making it work. It’s been a few where there’s really no excuse for me or him. We just have to put it together.”
Atwell will be back after sitting out last Sunday’s victory over the Baltimore Ravens because of a hamstring injury. Atwell has four catches on nine targets, including one for a long touchdown.
But he said he was not concerned about targets as much as affecting the game in other ways. The speedy threat opens opportunities for Nacua, Adams and others.
“Every opportunity we’ve given him, he’s seized it,” Stafford said. “I don’t see anything different happening. If he gets more opportunities in this game, I have a ton of trust in him.”
UCLA’s five-member search committee for its next football coach that was revealed Thursday features heavy hitters from various corners of the professional sports world, including two who helped engineer a quick turnaround with the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
Commanders general manager Adam Peters and adviser Bob Myers — who will be joined on the committee by sports executive Casey Wasserman, former NFL star linebacker Eric Kendricks and UCLA executive senior associate athletics director Erin Adkins — were part of the team that hired Washington coach Dan Quinn, who took the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game in his first season.
They will hope to have similar success in selecting the successor to Bruins coach DeShaun Foster, who was fired earlier this month after his team started the season with three consecutive losses. Every member of the committee will be driven to find a winner given they either graduated from UCLA or work for the school’s athletic department.
“I want to thank the members of the search committee who have, out of their love for UCLA, agreed to contribute their time and expertise to this process,” Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond, who will head the committee, said in a statement. “We will identify, recruit and invest in a leader who has the vision, the confidence, the attitude, and the proven ability to return UCLA football to national prominence, and we will provide the resources to compete and win at the highest level. That’s our commitment to our alumni, fans and supporters.”
One prominent figure with strong UCLA ties missing from the committee was Troy Aikman, the former Bruins quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer who was part of the committee that in 2017 landed Chip Kelly. That hiring of the hottest coaching candidate on the market was considered a coup, even if Kelly’s results in the six seasons that followed were largely disappointing.
The only holdover from the committee that hired Kelly is Wasserman, a UCLA megadonor who is also the founder and chief executive of the eponymous sports and media talent agency.
After Kelly left the Bruins in February 2024 to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, Jarmond used an internal search committee consisting of athletic department employees — including Adkins, who heads the department’s name, image and likeness strategy and initiatives — to select Foster in less than 72 hours.
UCLA will have considerably more time to select its next coach given that most hires are made in December.
Myers, a reserve forward on the Bruins’ last national championship basketball team in 1995, hired Steve Kerr in his role as general manager of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have won four NBA titles under Kerr, who was also selected the NBA’s coach of the year during the 2015-16 season.
After leaving the Warriors in 2023, Myers has worked as an ESPN basketball analyst and was appointed to the board of the University of California regents. Myers also assisted Peters, a former defensive end for UCLA’s football team, in the coaching search that landed Quinn.
Before he joined the Commanders, Peters enjoyed a successful career as vice president of player personnel and assistant general manager with the San Francisco 49ers, helping the team appear in four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowls over his seven seasons with the franchise.
The youngest member of the committee is Kendricks, the former Butkus Award-winning linebacker with the Bruins who is currently a free agent after 10 NFL seasons that included a Pro Bowl appearance in 2019.
UCLA said it would have no additional comment on the search or candidates until a hire is announced.
During the game’s first series, the lifelong fan saw No. 15 on the UCLA defense surge into the Nevada Las Vegas backfield. Morales wondered about the identity of this fast, feisty edge rusher and looked him up. It was Anthony Jones, a transfer from Michigan State.
Later, Morales watched No. 3 in coverage and commenced another search. It was defensive back Robert Stafford III, a transfer from Miami (Fla.).
UNLV’s Var’Keyes Gumms (30) stiff arms UCLA’s Cole Martin (21) while scoring a receiving touchdown at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nev.
(Ian Maule / Getty Images)
Curious about the starting offensive linemen, Morales went back to his phone once more. He discovered a group that included three new starters in left tackle Courtland Ford and guards Eugene Brooks and Julian Armella — all transfers.
“I didn’t recognize any of the numbers,” Morales said.
Similar bewilderment was playing out in the San Diego living room of Ted Zeigler. Watching the game on his 65-inch television, the self-described hardcore Bruins fan also had the roster pulled up on his phone for ready reference, alternating between one screen and the other.
“This adds another dimension to watching the game that I wasn’t looking for,” Zeigler said. “I just feel disinterested.”
It’s hard to be a UCLA fan these days for reasons that go beyond the team’s 0-2 record. Few recognize more than a handful of names on a roster laden with 57 new players, including 37 transfers in their first season with the team.
The days of starting lineups rife with Bruins who have been in the program for two or three years may have gone the way of New Year’s Day bowl appearances for a team stuck in a decade-long funk.
All the new faces are a function of unlimited transfers in college football — Jones is attending his fourth college in as many years, after previous stops at Michigan State, Indiana and Oregon — and a need to restock the roster after the Bruins lost every starter on defense and seven on offense.
UCLA is hardly the only team experiencing such massive turnover, though that disclaimer has done little to lessen the growing detachment some fans feel watching a team only recognizable because of its uniforms.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava looks to pass during a game against UNLV at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nev.
(Ian Maule / Getty Images)
“College football’s changed,” Bruins coach DeShaun Foster said. “It’s not the same game it was when I played, it’s not the same game that it was when I started coaching and it’s evolving every day, basically.”
For Foster’s team, those changes have involved a curious lack of marketing of newcomers who presumably want to build their brands in an era when they are paid for their name, image and likeness.
From the start of training camp, Foster severely restricted media access. Reporters were allowed to observe stretching, individual drills and a handful of plays involving the offense facing the defense — and even those glimpses of team periods have been eliminated in recent weeks. Requests for feature story interviews involving players and a staff including eight new assistant coaches have largely been not just denied but ignored.
“It’s tough,” Foster said when asked about granting interviews for human-interest stories, “but we’re trying to win games.”
So where does that leave the fans? Some say they’re watching as much out of habit as interest, especially since they know so little about the team they have long loved.
“Foster shielding the media from camp and everything,” said Vic Deverian, a UCLA graduate and longtime season ticket-holder, “you didn’t get a chance to know who the players were, who looked good in practice — you didn’t know any of that stuff. So it’s kind of like going on a lot of blind dates — it’s like, I don’t know who you are but this is where I’m supposed to be on Saturday and I’m going to watch UCLA, but I don’t recognize these players at all.”
Among the new players Deverian has developed a fondness for in the season’s early going are slot receiver Mikey Matthews, quarterback Nico Iamaleava and running back Anthony Woods.
“He’s a talented running back,” Deverian said of Woods, who arrived at UCLA after previous stops at Utah and Idaho. “He needs to get the ball more.”
Utah linebacker Trey Reynolds (37) intercepts the ball as UCLA receiver Kwazi Gilmer (3) tries to stop him on Aug. 31 at the Rose Bowl.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
But how many of the new players will make more than a cameo appearance as Bruins? Iamaleava said in July that he hoped to head to the NFL after this season and as many as 33 players will have exhausted their eligibility by season’s end, possibly leading to another large group of transfers.
Foster said he didn’t want to dip so heavily into the transfer portal in future seasons, which would require extensive player retention and success in high school recruiting.
“If you can get guys and develop them, then they understand your culture, you know?” Foster said. “But when you’re getting new guys and you don’t have them for as long as you would like, they’re still learning the culture, you know?”
Longtime fan and UCLA graduate Travis Fuller said he felt especially close to the team growing up watching stars such as Cade McNown, Marcedes Lewis and Drew Olson because they spent multiple years in blue and gold, developing into widely known personalities.
Now, a high turnover rate is compounded by a lack of success for a program that hasn’t won much since coach Jim Mora guided the Bruins to a 10-3 season in 2014 while setting attendance records at the Rose Bowl.
Contrast that with what could be a record-low crowd Friday night when UCLA faces New Mexico (1-1) at the Rose Bowl given the confluence of weekday traffic, an opponent from the Mountain West Conference and a winless, largely anonymous batch of Bruins.
Lifelong fan Scott Detki, who acknowledged feeling more detached from the Bruins than usual, said he would be driven to learn about a successful team.
“I would be more attached if the team was actually winning,” Detki said, “because that would inspire me to be like, ‘Oh, who’s this guy? Where did he come from?’ It almost leads to more questions on what their story was.”
Then again, maybe there’s an upside to all of this unfamiliarity. As the Bruins fell behind by 23 points against UNLV last weekend, Morales found some comfort in knowing so little about his favorite team.
“It maybe made it a little easier to watch because I couldn’t get mad at any of the players,” Morales said with a laugh. “I don’t know who’s who, so I don’t know who I’m upset with.”
This article contains spoilers from the first season of “The Paper.”
The journey to spin off the U.S. version of “The Office” has, until now, been long and slow. (That’s what she said.)
While the unconventional workplace comedy about a humdrum band of paper company employees, adapted from a beloved British series of the same name, famously got off to a sluggish start on NBC with a low-rated six-episode first season, it became a rare case study of how a risky gamble can become a pop culture phenomenon and one of the most popular sitcoms in TV history. Talks of expanding “The Office” universe began as early as Season 3, when another office branch was introduced. “Parks and Recreation” was initially conceived as a spinoff but morphed into a standalone series. Another centered on socially awkward Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) would get dropped. The series eventually ended its nine-season run in 2013 with no offshoot. But it still managed to have an afterlife without one, as fans obsessively continued to watch it in syndication or on streaming platforms.
Once “The Office” began making headlines in 2020 for the being the most streamed show in America, Greg Daniels, who captained the U.S. adaptation and was initially concerned about tarnishing its legacy with offshoots, was coming around to the idea that it was safely insulated enough to withstand any attempt to find a way to build out its kooky world.
Finally, more than a decade after “The Office” went off the air, Peacock is hoping the spinoff series “The Paper” can recycle some of that show’s success while finding its own path.
In “The Paper,” Domhnall Gleeson, left, stars as editor in chief Ned Sampson, and Tim Key plays executive Ken Davies.
(Aaron Epstein / Peacock)
This series shifts its focus to the staff at the Toledo Truth Teller, a struggling local newspaper in Ohio, which is being filmed by the same documentary crew that followed bumbling boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his Scranton, Pa.-based Dunder Mifflin employees. (It’s a believable documentary subject when you consider the U.S. has lost more than one-third of its newspapers since 2005.) Daniels created the series with Michael Koman (“Nathan For You,” “How to With John Wilson”).
All 10 episodes of the first season were released Thursday on Peacock, and the show has been picked up for a second season. Daniels and Koman visited The Times earlier this month — and spoke in follow-up video calls — to discuss the comedy potential of a beleaguered industry, why Oscar is the obvious choice to be the crossover character in the spinoff and whether they plan to reference the president’s comments about the press. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
The series was originally going to launch with four episodes, then switch to a weekly drop. But it was recently announced that the full season is dropping at once. What happened? And do you have strong feelings about release models?
Daniels: Every company is different. I do know that they’re [NBCUniversal] being incredibly supportive and there’s a giant team gaming out every move. I trust that they have the best of intentions and have a lot of good strategy. My inclination was always to sneak on the air without any fanfare whatsoever, and then maybe advertise after — that is very naive, apparently. One possible nice thing about it being handled this way is our superfans will be able to watch at their own convenience, and maybe before they’ve seen too many promos. I’ve always felt like the show was cut to be the introduction to the show itself. And the more you know jokes you see from later in the seasons, the more you’re coming at it with an unintended awareness of what’s to come. It may play better, just clean for all the superfans. Actually, I thought at first, the pace-out model would be good because that was how “The Office” was on NBC. But they did point out to me that probably the majority of “The Office” fans have watched it on streaming, where they could binge the whole thing.
Koman: It’s not really my area, but that’s how I like to watch things. I’m always happy when it’s up to me — I can make my own schedule, and I tend to watch things quickly.
The crisis facing local journalism doesn’t feel like an obvious backdrop for comedy — and if you’re in it, it’s more of a can’t-help-but-laugh–to-keep-from-crying vibe. How did you arrive at a newsroom as your backdrop and what was the pitch?
Daniels: You wouldn’t think that selling stationary was a particularly hilarious or glamorous place to set a show. I think that there are some intentional differences with this show, and in the sense that we didn’t want to repeat aspects of “The Office.” For me, I was incredibly protective of the original show and the cast. I just waited a long time to do something like this. The original “Office” cast was very supportive by the time it came about. Since it’s a documentary, if you’re going to really commit to that device, you have to think all the time about [how] there’s really camerapeople in the room; they’re trying to cover something; they wouldn’t be there to just cover what they thought was a funny workplace. They’re there to cover an actual story. And the hollowing out of local newspapers is an interesting story that you could imagine a documentary crew from PBS being like, “Oh, this is a good story.” Of course, since it’s a comedy show, the stuff that’s happening in the background is really the point of the show — all the funny interactions with people as they try to do stuff. Another way that we wanted it to be different was the whole interaction between Michael Scott and his staff — he was not a very inspirational boss, and Ned Sampson, played by Domhnall Gleeson, comes in and he does manage to inspire the people working there. And the question is more: Is he biting off way more than he can chew and his staff can chew? Or should they be right and believing in him?
Koman: I just think reality always makes the best backdrop. And it’s good if your characters are facing a challenge and you have something to root for.
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1.Clockwise from top left: Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly, John Krasinksi as Jim Halpert, BJ Novak as Ryan Howard and Steve Carell as Michael Scott in “The Office.”2.Carell, Krasinksi and Wilson in a scene from the NBC comedy.(Justin Lubin / NBC Universal)
How did you land on Toledo?
Daniels: That was really about the alliteration of the Toledo Truth Teller. There’s something about the Cleveland Plain Dealer that I think is a super interesting thing. The name of it, I thought, has always been very intriguing. It kind of reminds you of the independence of these big Midwestern newspapers, which is different from now. It really feels like the big newspapers are L.A., New York, Washington, Dallas. I know the Cleveland Plain Dealer is still quite healthy, which is great. But there is something about the Midwest that feels nostalgic.
Koman: If I think of the heyday of print journalism, Ohio is just a place that comes to mind. They had so many really important newspapers and great journalists that came out of there, so it just seemed like … if somebody was going to try to revive something, that’s a state, and Toledo itself, is a place where you can see it happening.
Daniels: Toledo also has a certain “Office-y,” Scranton thing to it. There was a time where we were looking at where the other locations that Dunder Mifflin has offices. And the list is very funny. It’s like Yonkers and Nashua, New Hampshire. It’s all these words that are just kind of fun to roll off your tongue.
Greg, you had been resistant to the idea of expanding “The Office” universe. “Parks and Recreation” was originally meant to be a spinoff, but it eventually evolved away from that. Why now? What changed?
Daniels: There’s two questions. One is, why now? And part of that is that “Upload” [Daniels’ Prime Video series] is wrapping up. When we first started discussing it, I didn’t know what was going to happen with “Upload.” I had sold it and I was committed to being the showrunner and it kept getting picked up, so I kept having to put off thinking about any kind of [“The Office”] spinoff. But [the final season of] “Upload” is dropping Aug. 25. The other part of your your question — over the years, since the finale, the show had this enormous blow-up on Netflix. It just felt like this show is pretty bulletproof at this point. Even if we did a s— job with a spinoff, it’s not going to go back in time and mess up “The Office,” which was my concern. “The Office” was such a beautiful and rare confluence of the cast and the time and the format and the writers and everything — it seemed very arrogant to think you could pull that off again. But then after a while, it’s like, “Well, you got to try.” You can’t be intimidated out of ever doing anything.
Greg Daniels says the staff of a struggling newspaper is as relatable as their Dunder Mifflin predecessors: “That quality of morale being low is very ‘Office’-like. The tone is intended to be similar without having the characters be similar.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
How did you arrive at former Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez (Oscar Núñez) being the connecting character between the two shows?
Daniels: When you look at the finale of “The Office,” everybody was going off in their own direction that had a lot of, in my view, meaningful wrap-up of their story. Jim and Pam were moving to Boston with Darrell; Toby was in England. But Oscar didn’t really have a big arc. He was pretty much Oscar the whole way through, and it didn’t feel like it was going to undo anything with “The Office” to keep Oscar involved.
Koman: It made sense, just on a business level, that if one company was acquired by another, that some people would move over into that company. He was the one person who, I think, would have stayed.
Daniels: He was maybe the most self-possessed. He had the most dignity, I think, of most of the characters. The idea that the crew has found him again just seemed appropriate. He did run for elective office at the end of “The Office,” so I feel like he is susceptible to being inspired and do something for his community, so he seems like a person who could buy into what Ned is selling.
Koman: Also, he has kind of a cosmopolitan personality. The city is like a third larger than Scranton.
Greg, you gave us one of the great will–they/won’t–they relationships in TV history with Jim and Pam. There are a couple of office romances brewing on “The Paper.” The season ends with Ned and Mare (Chelsea Frei) kissing. Is there a specific challenge with crafting a slow burn in the streaming era? How did you want to approach things this time around?
Daniels: You need to have stakes in stories. If you’re going to be very realistic and relatable, the stakes in people’s stories are mostly romantic because most people don’t battle aliens to save the world or whatever. So, the highest stakes a normal person usually has is who they’re going to marry or who they’re seeing, or what drama they’re in in their personal lives. There’s a column the New York Times does about people who are getting married, how-they-met kind of thing, which I love, and you realize that there’s hundreds and hundreds of stories of how people meet. It’s not all Sam and Diane or Pam and Jim. My aim would be to not have the audience be like, “Who’s the next Pam and Jim? Is that Pam and Jim?” That’s their relationship. Those two actors were brilliant. You can’t replicate it, but it doesn’t mean that other characters aren’t going to be romantically interested in each other.
Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) and Jim Halpert (John Kraskinski), the friends-to-lovers duo affectionately known as JAM, in a scene from “The Office.” (Paul Drinkwater/NBC)
“The Paper” features characters like interim managing editor Esmeralda (Sabrina Impacciatore), compositor turned reporter Mare (Chelsea Frei) and new boss Ned (Domhnall Gleeson). Mare and Ned have a will-they/won’t-they dynamic in the sitcom. (Aaron Epstein/Peacock)
We had a sense, at least through Kelly Kapoor and her pop culture references, that “The Office” took place in our shared reality, but it didn’t directly comment on real world matters. But considering the show’s setting and Ned’s idealism about the profession, with President Trump’s ongoing remarks about the press, can you see a day where those remarks or ideas are more directly referenced in some form? Or do you want to stay clear of that?
Daniels: I think there’s so many voices that [are] constantly talking about that, just from a comedy standpoint; I’m very tired of it. There’s also so many opinions that are so strong. My inclination is to do the fundamentals — it’s a character comedy. These are characters. They’re in a world of journalism [and it] has a lot of bumping between human beings and ethics, and to tell those stories is valuable. No matter what side you’re on, you can look at it and, hopefully, if there’s truth in what’s being presented, you can take something valuable away.
Koman: It’s important to think of this as a local paper. Their struggle is to credibly tell local stories, which is what I think the city needs, more than anything — a voice to just tell people what’s going on. Beyond that, I think the way that a culture will seep into a show like this — you should always have a sense of reality and that this is taking place in the present. I think of their minds as being focused on: How can we be a good news source for Toledo?
Michael Koman, who previously worked on docu-comedies “Nathan For You” and “How To With John Wilson,” on capturing the state of journalism realistically in “The Paper”: “What makes newspapers different than other businesses or other jobs is that people do arrive with a sense of enthusiasm for what they’re going to do. It seemed important that many of these people could have started their jobs like this, but now we’re meeting them at a point where that’s been tamped down enormously.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
The impulse when you hear about a spin-off or a reboot is to compare and to see who fits into what archetypes. Tell me about the types of characters you wanted to fill out in this newsroom.
Daniels: We tried to avoid that. What’s the point of doing something where everybody can go, “Oh, that’s the new Dwight”? They’re working in journalism and they have a very romantic, idealistic boss. He’s extremely interested in getting to the bottom of stories and being super rigorous and ethical, but he’s come in and replaced the temporary managing editor, Esmeralda, played by Sabrina Impacciatore, who has a very different view. She doesn’t really drill down that hard. She’s more about getting eyeballs.
Koman: What makes newspapers different than other businesses or other jobs is that people do arrive with a sense of enthusiasm for what they’re going to do. It seemed important that many of these people could have started their jobs like this, but now we’re meeting them at a point where that’s been tamped down enormously. Morale is low. In terms of who this group of people was, you could feel like that’s been dampened enormously and somebody new can come in who, either out of naivety or just optimism, thinks that he can revive it.
Daniels: That quality of morale being low is very “Office”-like. The tone is intended to be similar without having the characters be similar.
The title sequence is a montage of the various ways people make use of newspapers — rather than reading it. How would you describe your relationship to print journalism?
Daniels: When I first moved out here, I had a subscription to the L.A. Times, and the volume of papers was so gigantic, and it would come with these white ties to hold it all together. I built furniture in my apartment out of stacks of L.A. Times because they were so big. So it’d be like two weeks of them, I could make a stool and make a table with a full week’s worth stacked up.
Koman: Yes, I would say that digital media is all well and good until you need to pack glasses, then you hunt for a newspaper.
Daniels: One of my earliest memories is my parents trying to read the newspaper on their bed, and I wanted their attention, so I would roll onto the newspapers and look up at them, which would really irritate them. They were a big newspaper household.
Much like the news media, your industry is confronting budget constraints and technological disruption that is forcing changes to business models and programming strategies. What are your concerns about your industry right now?
Daniels: One of the big themes is the return to advertising. The streamers have all added ad tiers and that naturally is going to change the programming a bit. I don’t think, necessarily, [that] it’s bad. When you look at the heyday of Netflix, a lot of their biggest stuff had been developed under the old advertising model. I sometimes think about the French movie business, where it seems like they don’t care if something makes money or not. It’s just, if you’re in the club, you get to make movies over and over again. I’ve always felt like that there’s something more democratic about: You actually have to get people to watch your thing somehow.
Koman: The strangest thing about this industry is that it might change a lot, [but] the thing you’re making is a timeless product. You’re telling a story. There’s the part of it that is like, “Well, this will eventually be finished and will be presented somewhere” — and you have no control over how that’s going to change. But what you’re actually trying to make would have to hold up under any conditions.
The metaphor feels almost too obvious, the iron-and-brick facade of a half-finished, $200-million football palace looming over Howard Jones Field. A chorus of construction equipment cuts through the chaos of a preseason football practice, the whole scene a reminder that USC, in Year 4 of the Lincoln Riley era, is building toward something.
Where USC’s football program stands in that building process is a bit more complicated to capture. After winning 11 games in Riley’s first season as USC’s coach, the Trojans’ win total has declined in each of the two seasons since. Riley, through 40 games at USC, now has one fewer win (26) than his predecessor, Clay Helton (27), did at the same point during their tenures.
But in recent months, a groundswell of momentum has been building at USC. During the offseason, the Trojans retained top-tier defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn in spite of serious advances from his alma mater, Penn State. They added a rising star in general manager Chad Bowden, who has been an adrenaline shot to the entire program. They surged to the top of the recruiting rankings for the class of 2026 and finally began setting the pace in the NIL space, where they once lagged far behind other programs of their stature.
The only pressing questions now for USC, it seems, are on the field. Even as enthusiasm builds for 2026 , when the football facility will open and the top recruiting class lands, the upcoming season is a critical one for Riley. A third consecutive disappointing campaign would force USC to face some uncomfortable truths, some of which the school can’t afford to confront.
“I just feel great about the progress that’s been made,” USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen told The Times. “And now we’re now in a position where our expectations are high. We all know what they are and that’s to win.”
The Times spoke to Cohen ahead of the Trojans’ season opener against Missouri State to discuss that progress and the expectations that come with it, for Riley and the program.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Where would you say the football program stands right now?
“We’ve seen a tremendous amount of momentum, in particular this offseason, with a combination of moves and investments on the retention side of the coaches that we already had that were doing a great job within our program and culture. Just the quality of coaches overall is at an all-time high in my opinion. So that’s one big piece that’s helped with the momentum.
“The second is the front office development and just the hiring of [general manager] Chad [Bowden]. Chad being able to restructure his team and also restructure how all of our coaches work, how he supports Lincoln, how he supports the assistant coaches — he’s more than just somebody that’s developing a roster. He’s really a culture guy, and he’s been a great partner for Lincoln and the staff in football, but he’s really been a great partner for all of us, and he’s done a lot of bridging of relationships, both internally and externally. And top of all that, obviously, we’ve seen the specific momentum of their skill set from a recruiting standpoint coming to fruition in this ‘26 class.
“So that’s huge progress and has really moved us in a direction that we really needed to go in. The facility investment has obviously been exciting. Watching Bloom grow that quickly and the fact these guys know now that it’s real and they’re gonna be in it this time next year, I think that’ll help us from a retention standpoint. We’ve made so much progress this past year in NIL and how we invest in our student athletes in football, and then obviously being in this new era now where we’re entered into NIL agreements directly with students, I just feel great about the progress that’s been made, and now we’re in a position where our expectations are high. We all know what they are, and that’s to win.”
USC football general manager Chad Bowden, left, speaks with coach Lincoln Riley during a team practice.
(USC Athletics)
We’re entering Year 4 with Lincoln Riley. In each of those seasons since he’s been here, his win-loss record has declined. What is your confidence level with him as coach as we start the season?
“We’re both aligned on the expectations that we have, and that’s to win. And Lincoln knows that. I know that. You know that. Our fans — everybody knows it. I would just say we’re really embracing those expectations together. I feel really good about the support and the infrastructure and the resources that he’s been provided. I know he’s energized by it. He’s motivated by it, and there’s nobody that wants to succeed more than Lincoln. I’m really excited for us to get behind him and the guys and the staff and see those results.”
What sort of tangible results do you need to see from Lincoln and the program to maintain that confidence?
“The whole idea here, right, is that we’re going to win. Our goal and our standard here is that we win championships. That’s what we’re working towards, and that’s what we’ve invested in, and that’s what my expectation is, his expectation is, our collective expectation is as a Trojan family. We haven’t even played a game yet. My focus right now is on supporting him, supporting our coaches, supporting our student athletes and really just moving this program forward — moving this whole athletic department forward. This is a completely different era that we’re in, and we’re laser focused. And I’m laser-focused on pulling every lever that I can and we can for this program to succeed and for all of our programs to succeed.”
Feedback is the seasoning that flavors the success of our favorite TV shows. Whether it’s from an executive, a trusted colleague or the actors, advice can shape tone, pacing, plotlines and character arcs — all of which can make or break a series. We asked some of this year’s Emmy contenders how creative collaborations provided the notes to their success.
“The Diplomat”
Allison Janney in “The Diplomat.”
(Netflix)
To create the unrelenting tension in the Netflix political drama, which was inspired by conversations with real diplomats, creator Debora Cahn turned to advice from “Homeland” showrunner Alex Gansa: “He said take whatever story that you’re planning in the last episode of the first season and do it in the first episode. And I was like, ‘Ooh, s—.’” The result hurls lead Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) into high-stakes chaos, none wilder than her clash with the vice president (Allison Janney) and a jaw-dropping Season 2 twist. “I was embarrassed to pitch it to the writers’ room. It was an unspeakably dumb idea and a bad cliche, but I had to get it off my chest. We looked for other things, but we kept coming back to it and realized that it did the thing that you really want a plot to do, which is it changes everything.”
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Nicholas Alexander Chavez, left, Cooper Koch and Javier Bardem in “Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story.”
(Miles Crist / Netflix)
“In researching [the Menendez brothers case], [co-creator] Ryan [Murphy] mentioned, ‘I think this story is [Akira Kurosawa’s] “Rashomon.”’ That was the one note I was like, ‘Oh, I totally get this now,’” says co-creator Ian Brennan of the Netflix limited series. “We’re never going to know what the true story is, but that became a really good guiding light because we made sure that when we’re telling an aspect of this story that’s disputed, we’d go back and tell it the other way,” he says. “What we’re doing is based on as much truth as we can find, but I feel like you’re obliged to take some liberty. It’s not only to tell a story that’s entertaining but to get to those deeper truths that are sometimes occluded by the mundanity of some facts. It’s a painting, not a photograph.”
“Only Murders in the Building”
Steve Martin, left, Selena Gomez and Martin Short in “Only Murders in the Building.”
(Eric McCandless / Disney)
Creator John Hoffman says the idea for Hulu’s mystery-comedy came to him during the pandemic, when everyone was afraid to step outside their door. “This show is about lonely New Yorkers who found a connection between true crime and a death in their building,” he says. But his chief concern was injecting soul into the punch lines. “When I was talking about my ideas for how to make it more connective and humorous, I wanted the comedy to come from humanity as opposed to jokes and behavior. I was deeply surprised by everyone’s response, from the studio, the network and [executive producer] Dan Fogelman, that they wanted to lean into that more profound connective tissue that was more unexpected and dramatic at times,” he says. “There are a lot of personal things in that first season that I thought, ‘Well, that’s going to get me fired.’ But they accepted it.”
“Slow Horses”
Gary Oldman in “Slow Horses.”
(Apple TV+)
“[Executive producer] Graham Yost was always very clear that we should focus on adapting Mick Herron’s work and not just use it as a launchpad for some kind of offshoot,” says creator Will Smith of the clever Apple TV+ show, which follows a group of disgraced MI5 agents. “Whenever we got stuck in the room, Graham’s watchword would be, ‘Well, let’s look at what Mick wrote,’ and we would go back to the book and figure it out from there. So the tone of the books infused the scripts.” The outcome is a nail-biter of a tale with humor smuggled in like contraband. ”Our fabulous exec Jamie Laurenson and our brilliant [Season 1] director James Hawes both understood that nothing should ever feel like a joke, nothing should feel gratuitous or crowbarred for a laugh. It should all be thrown away, underplayed, said on the run.”
“What We Do in the Shadows”
The cast of “What We Do in the Shadows.”
“There’s a part of me that feels like it’s cheating, but it really helps,” says showrunner Paul Simms of the mockumentary shooting style behind the hilarious FX series, which portrays the awkward lives and bizarre pitfalls of centuries-old vampires. “If you’re writing a narrative show that’s not documentary format, people’s motivations have to come out in their dialogue. With this, you can have characters very directly and, in a very funny way, state their motivations.” Unlocking its full bite of wit were two keys. “One great thing about this format is that you’re not hamstrung by little continuity details in the edit. You can do jump cuts and jam in as much funny stuff without having to worry,” Simms says. The other, a network note: “From the beginning, FX and John Landgraf were saying the vampire stuff is fun, but it can’t be all vampire jokes. So our approach every season was to go in new directions and create constant tension.”
Elijah Asante, the football coach at Hamilton High who’s never been shy about making predictions, wants it to be known that he believes freshman quarterback Thaddeus Breaux is a future first-round NFL draft pick.
He calls him “the Franchise,” and has plans to let him throw 50 passes a game.
Breaux, who is 6 feet 3 and 205 pounds, welcomes the challenge of living up to high expectations. Working out with the Yankees on their new grass field with lights earlier this week, Breaux stood out with his size. On Saturday, he’ll get to show off his arm in the Culver City passing tournament.
Last season, the Yankees went 2-9 in Asante’s first season after taking over just a few weeks before practice began. He’s ambitious, having tried to schedule Mater Dei this season but settling for a season opener against Gardena Serra on Aug. 28. Doubt him at your own peril because he twice had teams beat Mater Dei when he was head coach at Carson and helped quarterback James Boyd become City player of the year at L.A. Jordan.
The Yankees appear to have more depth and talent this season. Besides Breaux, Miles Manilay is a returning safety, Jacob Riley has shown promise as a receiver and Micah Butler is an imposing 6-3, 275-pound junior lineman.
Asante is bringing back his best one-liner, “We will shock the world.” The big question is what is Asante referring to.
Manilay, with a 4.38 grade-point average and a sister who attends Harvard, is one of the captains. He sees a much improved team but also isn’t about to let Asante off the hook.
“I don’t know what world he’s talking about,” he said when asked about “shocking the world.”
The story is so good, so rich, that Hollywood couldn’t resist.
The Lakers, a golden brand. The stars on the basketball court. The celebrities on the sidelines. The spotlight on the show flying up and down the floor 24 seconds at a time.
HBO made a series. Books have been authored. Documentaries have been filmed. No hyperbole is too outrageous.
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird helped save basketball. The Lakers were the greatest show in town. The highs and lows, the devastation and the jubilation, made them iconic.
And the ringmasters for the last 45 years have been the Buss family.
That era culminated Wednesday when a majority of Buss’ six children agreed to sell controlling interest of the franchise to Mark Walter for a record price — a $10-billion valuation that’s the highest in pro sports history.
The initial reaction to the news — a sale that shocked the Lakers’ biggest partners inside and outside of the NBA — centered on what it will mean for the organization. Will Walter and his partners pour the same financial resources that they’ve deployed to turn the Dodgers into the best team in baseball? How will their capital boost the weakest areas of the franchise’s infrastructure? What will happen next?
We don’t know for sure. We do, though, know what just wrapped — an era of pro-sports ownership unrivaled in success and melodrama.
The start
Dr. Jerry Buss wasn’t a physician — the title came from a degree in chemistry at USC. And the money? It didn’t come from science. It came from real estate. But Buss was always one to sense an opportunity, and Jack Kent Cooke’s record-breaking divorce settlement meant that he was about to capitalize on one.
In 1979, Buss scrambled to put together a wild business deal — properties and cash moving between Buss, third parties and Cooke before the self-made man ended up with The Forum, the Los Angeles Kings and, in what would be his legacy, the Los Angeles Lakers. The price was $67.5 million.
The timing was impeccable. The team would win a coin flip and with it the right to select Johnson with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Buss’ and Johnson’s relationship helped lay the groundwork for the player-empowerment era that dominates the current NBA, Buss realizing faster than his peers that the biggest and best players were what drove the league’s success.
In his first season as owner, the Lakers won an NBA title, kicking off a decade-long battle with the Boston Celtics that helped the NBA move from the margins of pro sports to the mainstream.
In this 1979 photo, Lakers owner Jerry Buss is shown with children (clockwise from top left) Janie, Johnny, Jim and Jeanie.
(Gunther / mptvimages.com)
Yet it was more than Johnson leading fastbreaks, flashing smiles and dishing no-look passes. It was the merging of sports and entertainment that helped define what fans now experience.
In 1979, shortly after purchasing the Lakers, Buss commissioned the first Laker Girls dance team. The Forum Club became one of the city’s hottest nightspots. The games were more than athletic contests. They were events.
For the first 12 seasons Buss owned the team, they never won fewer than 54 games in an 82-game season. Titles came in 1982 against the 76ers, 1985 and 1987 against the hated Celtics and 1988 against Detroit.
The Lakers built one of basketball’s most unstoppable machines — Jerry West in the front office, Pat Riley on the sideline and Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott and Michael Cooper flying on the break.
As Buss became one of the NBA’s most powerful figures, his children were at his side, learning the business. His daughter, Jeanie, famously helped organize events at the Forum. The family’s true promoter spirit couldn’t be suppressed — soccer, indoor tennis, roller hockey, the Buss family tried it all.
Even after Johnson’s stunning retirement after his HIV diagnosis, the Lakers missed the playoffs just once before they fully reloaded, first with Shaquille O’Neal, then with Kobe Bryant and finally with Phil Jackson.
Nothing, though, would last forever.
The transition
In 2005, The Times’ Hall of Fame basketball writer, Mark Heisler, wrote about Buss’ succession plan coming into focus.
“Jerry Buss wanted a crowd-pleasing basketball team the movie stars could relate to but might have gone too far,” Heisler wrote. “He wound up with the greatest floating soap opera in sports, and basketball was almost beside the point.”
Still, it was Buss’ legacy.
“I just can’t visualize myself walking away, relinquishing control,” Buss said in a 2002 story in The Times. “My relationship with this team is a lifelong marriage.”
The thing about family businesses, it turns out, is that family drama is always at play.
A Sports Illustrated feature in 1998 painted a story of jealousy and unease that seemed prophetic.
Kobe Bryant, left, holds the Larry O’Brian Trophy as Shaquille O’Neal holds the NBA Finals MVP trophy in 2000.
(AFP / Getty Images)
As Buss scaled back his involvement, Jeanie took on a greater role in the business side of the franchise while son Jim became a basketball executive. And the Lakers kept on winning.
Tensions between O’Neal, Bryant and Jackson ended with the dissolution of another dynasty after three consecutive championships. Belief in Bryant led to two more rings once they reunited him with Jackson and added Pau Gasol to the mix.
Through it all, the Lakers remained a family business in its truest sense, Buss’ youngest sons Joey and Jesse learning the ropes in business and scouting in the same way his older children did.
Jeanie‘s romantic relationship with Jackson, at best, complicated things in the organization. Still, she was always the one her father intended to lead the organization, beginning when Buss put her in charge of the team’s indoor tennis franchise when she was just 19.
“I figured, ‘If Dr. Buss [she refers to him by his preferred title] says he thinks I can do it, I must be able to do it,’” Jeanie told The Times in 2002.” If he never doubted me, how could anyone else? It was only later that I thought, ‘What the hell was I doing?’”
In 2005, son Jim began to take on a bigger role in the organization, becoming the team’s vice president of player personnel.
“When I hear somebody say, ‘Are you qualified?’ I’m like, ‘If you had eight years of Jerry West plus Mitch Kupchak and all the talented scouts working on a daily basis tutoring you, I don’t know what other credentials you could have,’” Jim said then.
When Buss died in 2013 from complications of cancer, all six of his children held titles with the Lakers.
“Jerry Buss helped set the league on the course it is on today,” then-NBA commissioner David Stern said. “Remember, he showed us it was about ‘Showtime,’ the notion that an arena can become the focal point for not just basketball, but entertainment. He made it the place to see and be seen.”
While Buss was living, the Lakers missed the playoffs only twice. In the six seasons after his death, the Lakers never won more than 37 games.
Something had to change.
The fallout
Bryant took a fateful step at the end of a game late in the 2013 season, his Achilles tendon rupturing in his left leg. He miraculously made two free throws before heading to the locker room — a moment codifying him as an all-time Los Angeles legend and a moment, it turned out, that signaled the good times were about to end.
The following season, coach Mike D’Antoni’s Lakers won just 27 games, Nick Young leading the Lakers in scoring and Bryant playing only six times. After the year, Jim Buss told The Times that he saw a pathway forward and he told his family the same in a meeting earlier in 2014.
“I was laying myself on the line by saying, ‘If this doesn’t work in three to four years, if we’re not back on the top’ — and the definition of top means contending for the Western Conference, contending for a championship — ‘then I will step down because that means I have failed,’” he said. “I don’t know if you can fire yourself if you own the team … but what I would say is I’d walk away and you guys figure out who’s going to run basketball operations because I obviously couldn’t do the job.
“There’s no question in my mind we will accomplish success. I’m not worried about putting myself on the line.”
In 2015, the Lakers won only 21 games. In 2016, the team lost a franchise-most 65 times against a franchise-worst 17 wins. In 2017, they were headed to another season in which they would be more than 30 games under .500 when Jeanie fired Jim and Kupchak, the team’s general manager.
They were replaced with Bryant’s former agent, Rob Pelinka, and Johnson.
Jeanie Buss applauds the Lakers’ efforts during the team’s 2010 NBA championship ring ceremony at Staples Center.
(Chris Carlson / Associated Press)
Shortly after the decision, Jim, along with his brother Johnny, tried to remove Jeanie from the team’s board of directors, sparking a legal feud that included Jeanie filing a restraining order while she wrested control of the team.
“I must also point out that Jim has already proven to be completely unfit even in an executive vice president of basketball operations role and I recently had to replace him,” Jeanie said in court documents.
The Lakers signed LeBron James in 2018, traded for Anthony Davis and built a title team in 2020, the family’s biggest success in the years following their father’s passing.
With Jeanie firmly in charge, brother Joey helped run one of the league’s most-respected developmental teams in the South Bay Lakers — a program that helped develop players such as Alex Caruso. Jesse Buss and his scouting department found value in late first-round picks like Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma as well as an undrafted star in Austin Reaves.
In 2022, Jeanie produced a documentary for Hulu that dealt with heaps of the family’s drama, and Wednesday’s sale not coming from a majority — and not unanimous — vote again means that not everyone is on the same page.
While the Buss family will retain minority ownership, things will never be the same in the organization. The influx of money, of modernization, of more corporate structure could help the Lakers on the court.
But what they were under the Buss family, they’ll never be again.
“I really tried to create a Laker image, a distinct identity,” Jerry Buss once said. “I think we’ve been successful. I mean, the Lakers are pretty damn Hollywood.”
The Dodgers’ lineup should be back at full strength soon.
When they’ll be able to say the same about their pitching staff is anyone’s guess.
First, the good news for the team: After fracturing the fourth toe on his left foot (the one closest to the pinky toe) last week and missing all three games against the New York Yankees, shortstop Mookie Betts went through a full slate of pregame hitting, baserunning and defensive drills on Monday and seemed probable to be available off the bench for the Dodgers in their series-opener against the New York Mets.
Assuming he continues to feel good, Betts should also return to the starting lineup on Tuesday, manager Dave Roberts said.
“That’s all contingent on if he recovers well tonight,” Roberts said.
Based on Betts’ activity level Monday, he certainly appeared to be ready to return. As one of the first Dodgers players on the field before the game, he spent several minutes running the bases, then went through a full session of infield grounders at shortstop. Betts also took batting practice, a day after Roberts said his swing in the batting cage “wasn’t compromised at all” by the freak injury.
“For me, I just want to make sure I move to make plays for those guys,” Betts said Sunday. “Hitting, hopefully that comes along. I just want to make sure I can play defense.”
As for the less encouraging update: A week after throwing his first bullpen session since going on the injured list in April with shoulder inflammation, Tyler Glasnow has been feeling general body discomfort, Roberts said.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers against the Phillies on April 6, 2025 in Philadelphia.
(Derik Hamilton / Associated Press)
Glasnow has continued to play catch, including on Monday afternoon in the outfield of Dodger Stadium. But Roberts said he is “not sure when he’s gonna get back on a mound.”
“There was one ‘pen, and then [his] body didn’t respond,” Roberts said. “So we’re trying to figure out when we can ramp him back up.”
Given Glasnow’s extensive injury history, such a setback qualifies as only mildly surprising. The 31-year-old has never made more than 22 starts or pitched over 134 innings in a major league season. And while he set both of those high-marks in his first season with the Dodgers last year — arriving in Los Angeles via a trade from Tampa Bay two winters ago and an ensuing five-year, $136.5-million extension — he never returned from an elbow tendonitis injury he suffered in August, despite repeated attempts to comeback in time for the playoffs.
“I know he’s just as frustrated as we all are [that] the process since we’ve had him, it just hasn’t been linear, as far as getting him back,” Roberts said. “He’s champing at the bit, so that’s a good thing. He’s very anxious to get back out here and help his team.”
Of the Dodgers’ injured quartet of star pitchers — which also includes Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki and Shohei Ohtani — Glasnow was initially expected to return first.
Now, however, he and Snell might be on more similar timelines. Snell made notable progress in his throwing progression this week and could begin throwing bullpens early next week.
“He’s in a really good spot physically and mentally,” Roberts said of Snell.
Sasaki has also been throwing lately, though Roberts noted it has been low-intensity. Ohtani, meanwhile, threw his second live batting practice over the weekend, and remains on track to return sometime after the All-Star break.
In the bullpen, the Dodgers should get a couple of reinforcements in the coming days.
Hard-throwing right-hander Michael Kopech (out since the start of the season with a shoulder injury) will be in Los Angeles this week after completing a minor-league rehab assignment, though exactly when he will be activated remains to be seen. Kopech yielded 11 runs and 11 walks in 6 ⅓ innings with triple-A Oklahoma City, and Roberts said the club wants to “evaluate, see how he is” up close before having him make his MLB season debut.
Another veteran right-hander, Kirby Yates, threw his second bullpen session on Monday since suffering a hamstring strain last month. He will next throw a live batting practice on Wednesday, and could be activated as soon as next weekend.
Carlos Vela, the first player signed by LAFC and still the club record-holder in goals, assists, games and minutes played, announced his retirement Tuesday. The team said in announcement that Vela will work with LAFC as its first Black and Gold Ambassador. He will also be honored on Carlos Vela Night at BMO Stadium on Sept. 21.
“Helping to build LAFC and winning trophies for the club is a highlight of my career,” Vela, 36, said in a statement issued by the team. “This club means so much to me and my family, and I am proud of everything we have accomplished together with the great fans of Los Angeles. I am excited to begin this next chapter in my journey here in L.A.”
Vela signed a designated-player contract with LAFC in August 2017, eight months before the team’s first game. He led LAFC to the playoffs in his first season, then set the MLS single-season goal-scoring record with 34 in 2019, when the team won the first of two Supporters’ Shields. Vela was named the league’s MVP that season.
A four-time MLS all-star, Vela played on two MLS Cup teams and made his final appearance for LAFC in the MLS playoffs last November, coming off the bench to play four minutes against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
With 78 goals and 59 assists Vela is one of just 13 players in MLS history to record at least 75 goals and 50 assists and he is the only player to reach those milestones in six seasons.
“From the beginning, Carlos has been more than just a player — he has been the heartbeat, the captain, and the face of LAFC,” LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington said. “Carlos arrived in Los Angeles with a shared vision of building something truly special, and he delivered on that promise in every way.
“Carlos helped make LAFC what it is today.”
Vela entered the Chivas de Guadalajara academy at 13 before moving to Arsenal of the English Premier League. He also played in England with West Bromwich Albion and in Spain with Salamanca and Osasuna before making more than 200 appearances in all competition for Real Sociedad from 2011-17, scoring 72 times.
He played 72 times for the Mexico national team, including in two World Cups, scoring 19 times.
The panel was flabbergasted when Britt Lower wasn’t nominated for her work in the first season of “Severance”; they have her near the top of the Round 1 list this time. But she may be in for misery as Kathy Bates barely edged her out for the No. 1 spot for her unique spin on “Matlock.”
“Fun fact: It’s been a full decade since an actress on a broadcast TV show won in this category (Viola Davis, for ABC’s ‘How to Get Away With Murder’),” says Kristen Baldwin. “Kathy Bates could (and should) break that dry spell.” Glenn Whipp agrees, quoting Bates’ character: “‘There’s a funny thing that happens when women age … We become damn near invisible.’ Unless, of course, you’re Kathy Bates, in which case, you become the odds-on favorite to win a third Emmy.”
But “while she missed out last time around,” writes Trey Mangum, “Britt Lower is also a top pick here.” Even “Matlock” booster Matt Roush says, while Bates’ performance requires constant trickery, “Don’t count out Britt Lower (‘Severance’) as the equally two-faced Helly R./Helena Eagan, a role with an even higher degree of emotional difficulty.”
At No. 3 is Bella Ramsey, stepping into the solo spotlight in one of TV’s buzziest shows. “‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 shifts its focus to Ellie, and Bella Ramsey has shined as they move from angsty young adult to goofball with a crush to grief-stricken warrior driven by revenge,” says Tracy Brown, also praising Ramsey’s featured guitar-and-singing skills.
“Apart from Kathy Bates, the three names at the top of my list — Sharon Horgan as the eldest Garvey sibling in ‘Bad Sisters,’ Britt Lower as the duplicitous Helly R. in ‘Severance’ and Melanie Lynskey as the coldblooded butcher/soccer mom Shauna in ‘Yellowjackets’ — all delivered strong performances in their returning series.”
Entertainment Weekly
Kristen Baldwin
1. Kathy Bates, “Matlock” 2. Britt Lower, “Severance” 3. Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets” 4. Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us” 5. Keri Russell, “The Diplomat” 6. Keira Knightley, “Black Doves”
“Fun fact: It’s been a full decade since an actress on a broadcast TV show won in this category (Viola Davis, for ABC’s ‘How to Get Away With Murder’). Kathy Bates could (and should) break that dry spell with her delightful turn as the folksy-fierce Matty Matlock in CBS’ legal drama. Meanwhile, Keira Knightley deserves a nod for the suspenseful spy thriller ‘Black Doves’ (even if it is more of a comedy than a drama).”
Los Angeles Times
Tracy Brown
1. Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us” 2. Kathy Bates, “Matlock” 3. Britt Lower, “Severance” 4. Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets” 5. Kaitlin Olson, “High Potential” 6. Angela Bassett, “9-1-1”
“‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 shifts its focus to Ellie, and Bella Ramsey has shined as they shift from angsty young adult to goofball with a crush to grief-stricken warrior driven by revenge. Plus, they’ve shown that they’re just as proficient with a guitar as they are with weapons.”
Shadow and Act
Trey Mangum
1. Lashana Lynch, “The Day of the Jackal” 2. Kaitlin Olson, “High Potential” 3. Zoe Saldaña, “Lioness” 4. Britt Lower, “Severance” 5. Keri Russell, “The Diplomat” 6. Kathy Bates, “Matlock”
“The more time goes on, the more it seems like Kathy Bates will likely receive an Emmy nomination for a broadcast television show, and honestly, she has a great shot at winning. And while she missed out last time around, Britt Lower is also a top pick here.”
TV Guide
Matt Roush
1. Kathy Bates, “Matlock” 2. Britt Lower, “Severance” 3. Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us” 4. Keri Russell, “The Diplomat” 5. Keira Knightley, “Black Doves” 6. Helen Mirren, “MobLand”
“Even if the voters pass on ‘Matlock’ as a series, they’ll have a harder time ignoring Kathy Bates as the crafty lawyer playing a long game. Don’t count out Britt Lower (‘Severance’) as the equally two-faced Helly R./Helena Eagan, a role with an even higher degree of emotional difficulty.”
Los Angeles Times
Glenn Whipp
1. Kathy Bates, “Matlock” 2. Britt Lower, “Severance” 3. Lashana Lynch, “The Day of the Jackal” 4. Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us” 5. Keira Knightley, “Black Doves” 6. Sharon Horgan, “Bad Sisters”
“‘There’s a funny thing that happens when women age,’ Kathy Bates’ protagonist says early on in the ‘Matlock’ reboot. ‘We become damn near invisible.’ Unless, of course, you’re Kathy Bates, in which case, you become the odds-on favorite to win a third Emmy.”
