Fred Claire was an unorthodox choice for general manager, a former sportswriter and public relations man who didn’t play baseball beyond the junior varsity level in high school, and his 1987 promotion to head the Dodgers’ front office was met with skepticism around the game.
A year and a half later, after his shrewd moves helped turn the Dodgers into World Series champions in 1988, Claire was named Major League Baseball’s executive of the year by the Sporting News.
Claire, who spent 30 years in the Dodgers’ front office, died Monday on his 91st birthday. The news was shared on social media by former Dodger broadcaster Ross Porter.
An avid runner and golfer fit and trim enough to pass for a man a decade younger, the silver-haired Claire was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in 2015 when what looked like a harmless spot on his lip turned out to be cancerous.
The growth was surgically removed, but the cancer returned in August 2016, and spread into the left side of his face. Claire underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments to kill the malignant cells in his body, but the cancer returned again in 2017.
An immunotherapy clinical trial saved his life, according to a story in Pasadenanow.com, but then an infection forced him to undergo even more extensive facial reconstruction surgery at City of Hope in Duarte, replacing his jawbone with a bone from his leg.
Claire was so impressed with his treatment at City of Hope that he teamed with author Tim Madigan in 2021 to publish a book chronicling his career and capturing the hospital’s history as well the stories of patients and doctors. The book, “Extra Innings,” can be purchased at Amazon, with all net proceeds donated to City of Hope.
“The main thing that I liked and appreciated about the book was people buying it because of their interest in baseball,” Claire told the Desert Sun in 2021, “then to discover what a great place [City of Hope] is after reading it.”
Claire was also active in helping fund research — he and his wife, Sheryl, set up a scholarship fund with the USC Keck School of Medicine for research in head and neck cancer.
Claire was born Oct. 5, 1935, in Jamestown, Ohio. His parents moved the family — Claire had a brother and a sister — to Torrance when Claire was a teenager. After graduating from Torrance High, Claire earned a degree in journalism from San José State in 1957 before taking his first newspaper job.
“I graduated on a Sunday afternoon,” Claire told The Times in 1997, “and by Monday morning, I had a job at the Whittier Daily News.”
For 30 years, Dodger Stadium was Fred Claire’s home. “Honestly, in my heart and soul, it was a thrill and honor to have the opportunity to walk into Dodger Stadium every day and go to work,” Claire told the Times in 2017.
(Jack Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Claire spent 11 years as a sportswriter and was covering the Dodgers for the Long Beach Press-Telegram in the spring of 1969 when a position opened in the team’s public relations department.
Claire, who always longed to be involved in baseball, expressed interest in the job and was hired as a public relations assistant, remaining in the position until 1975, when he was promoted to vice president of public relations.
He was instrumental in creating the branding that came to be known as “Dodger Blue” and was directing the team’s marketing efforts when the Dodgers passed the 3-million mark in attendance for the first time. He also hired Ross Porter, a Dodgers broadcaster from 1977 to 2004.
In April 1987, then-Dodgers general manager Al Campanis was fired after making controversial and what many said were racist remarks about Black Americans on “Nightline,” during which he told the show’s host, Ted Koppel, that Black people may lack “some of the necessities” to be the field manager or GM of a major league baseball team.
Claire was then-Dodgers President Peter O’Malley’s surprise choice to replace Campanis, and his hiring raised the eyebrows of his new peers, who saw Claire as an outsider with no background as a player, coach, manager or scout.
“I knew some people might say, what does this guy know about baseball, he covered it from behind a typewriter?” O’Malley said in 2017. “But I knew Fred could do it. And he did it. He deserves a lot of credit for stepping in quickly, without advance notice, and doing a great job.”
The Dodgers suffered their second straight losing season in 1987, but Claire made several off-season moves — acquiring outfielders Kirk Gibson and Mike Davis, shortstop Alfredo Griffin and pitchers Jay Howell and Jesse Orosco — that fortified the club.
The Dodgers, led by National League Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Orel Hershiser and most valuable player Gibson, won the National League West in 1988 and upset the 100-win New York Mets in the NL championship series.
The gimpy Gibson hit his memorable pinch-hit, walk-off homer off Oakland closer Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the World Series to push the Dodgers toward their fifth championship since moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958.
Kirk Gibson reacts to his game-winning two-run homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
(John Swart / Associated Press)
Claire dealt a smallish and seemingly fragile pitcher named Pedro Martínez to Montreal for second baseman Delino DeShields in what turned out to be one of the game’s most-lopsided trades. DeShields hit .241 in three years in Los Angeles, while Martinez went on to have a dominant 17-year career that earned him a 2015 Hall of Fame induction.
But during Claire’s 11-year tenure as GM, the Dodgers won a World Series, two division titles, a wild-card berth and a first-place finish in the strike-shortened 1994 season.
Claire also changed the culture in the front office, hiring an analytics expert, holding regular conference calls with coaches and scouts and canvassing the clubhouse to talk with players about everything from their families to their on-field performance.
“Fred gave us that first edge of being progressive and aggressive,” Hershiser told the Times in 2017. Added former Dodgers utility man Mickey Hatcher: “Fred Claire was amazing. For a guy who was suddenly put into the limelight, he asked all the right questions, listened to everyone and believed in all of us.”
Claire was fired along with then-Manager Bill Russell on June 21, 1998, five weeks after executives from Fox News Corp., which purchased the Dodgers earlier that year, engineered a blockbuster trade — deflating to many fans — of All-Star catcher Mike Piazza to the Florida Marlins without Claire’s involvement.
Claire, a man of “integrity and dignity,” as former Times baseball columnist Ross Newhan wrote, walked away with no harsh words or public regrets.
“Honestly, in my heart and soul, it was a thrill and honor to have the opportunity to walk into Dodger Stadium every day and go to work,” Claire told the Times in 2017. “This is truly enough for me.”
After his departure from the Dodgers, Claire worked as a columnist and analyst for MLB.com, a radio show host, an instructor at USC and a consultant to companies involved with sports. He co-authored an autobiography, released in 2004, titled “Fred Claire: My 30 Years in Dodger Blue.”
His response during an interview with Business Renaissance Quarterly in 2007 shed some light on Claire’s philosophy. The question: What do you want to be remembered for?
“I was once in the presence of the late Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley when he was asked this question by a reporter from United Press International,” Claire said. “Mr. O’Malley spun his ever-present cigar, paused for just a second and replied, ‘I want to be remembered for planting a tree.’
“Walter O’Malley’s answer, in my mind, overshadowed the great question. He wanted to be remembered for helping things grow, and in my mind, that meant his family, his friendships, the good causes he was involved in.
“I have seldom planted a tree, but I would proudly borrow Mr. O’Malley’s answer to this question.”
Claire is survived by his wife, Sheryl, and their three children, Jen, Jeff and Kim.
ATLANTA — As the Dodgers mull potential lineup changes for Game 3 of the National League Division Series, manager Dave Roberts said he is “open” to moving Shohei Ohtani lower in the batting order.
In his three seasons with the Dodgers, Ohtani has batted first or second in every game he has started. However, as he has admitted he is trying to “manage” in the aftermath of knee and arm injuries, and as Roberts has acknowledged Ohtani is “not 100%,” the lack of success could compel the manager to replace him at the top of the lineup with a more productive hitter at some point.
“I would,” Roberts said Monday. “I would. I think it’s something that, you know, I think moving him from 1 to 2 — but going further than that? I’m open to it.
“And it’s something that if I do, I would obviously have the conversation with Shohei to explain why. And at the end of the day every conversation I’ve had with him is whatever’s best for the team, he’s all-in on. So I know that undoubtedly.”
The Dodgers are batting .215 through the first two games of the NLDS, with the Atlanta Braves scheduled to pitch left-handed ace Chris Sale in Game 3 on Tuesday. If the Dodgers lose, they would need to win back-to-back elimination games to advance beyond this series.
Roberts said the lineup changes he would consider include starting Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas, both of whom hit well against left-handers. That could mean infielders Max Muncy (0 for 7 against Sale, with five strikeouts) and Tommy Edman (0 for 11 against Sale) might not start.
Center fielder Andy Pages, who batted so poorly last October he was benched for the final three games of the World Series, is hitless in seven at-bats in this series, with four strikeouts.
“I’m gonna continue to give Andy leash,” Roberts said. “I believe in him. I feel that for us to win the World Series this year, we’re gonna need him to be an active part of our team.
Roberts said he did not envision benching catcher Will Smith, who is 0 for 8 in the series. The Dodgers’ backup catcher, Hunter Feduccia, is a career .205 hitter with no postseason experience.
But, even with the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup, the spotlight shines brightest on Ohtani.
Ohtani has not homered since Aug. 18. He hit .157 between then and the end of the regular season, striking out in 41% of his at-bats. In this series, he has two hits and two strikeouts in eight at-bats, and his inability to refrain from swinging at pitches outside the strike zone has become a glaring weakness.
“He’s not 100%,” Roberts said. “But, at the end of the day, he can still do a better job of staying in the strike zone.”
Ohtani hasn’t given the Braves a reason to challenge him within the strike zone.
“Everything orbits around Shohei, in the sense of his talent,” Roberts said. “And the Braves are going to enter with caution. And, so, knowing that, they’re going to continue to expand as long as we keep giving that to them. So until we show some discipline, they’re going to continue to kind of use that playbook.”
When Zoe Kazan learned she was going to adapt “East of Eden,” she knew it meant she’d be destroying a copy of John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel with scribbled notes in different colors, highlights and earmarked edges. So she ordered a used one from Powell’s Books — it has somebody else’s last name written on it, she points out.
“It’s a treasure to me,” she said during a recent video call from London.
Steinbeck’s Cain and Abel-inspired novel follows two families across decades as a way to explore good and evil, legacy, free will and what makes a person. Driving many of the biblical parallels are two sets of siblings — half-brothers, Charles and Adam Trask, and later, Adam’s fraternal twin sons Cal and Aron — each competing for their father’s attention and love. Disrupting their lives is an enigmatic woman named Cathy Ames, who Adam marries and who gives birth to Cal and Aron.
The book-to-screen adaptation has been Kazan’s passion project. And for a tale of familial legacy, she had her own to confront — in 1955, her grandfather Elia Kazan directed a film version that starred James Dean and covered the last third of the book, which focused on Cal and Aron. Zoe Kazan’s interest in the story took shape decades later when, as a teenager, she discovered the book.
She found herself drawn to Cathy, its famous antagonist.
“I felt repelled by her, attracted by her, curious about her. I felt empathy. I felt hared. I felt love. I felt all these things,” Kazan said. “I had never read anybody like her. I just remember, every few pages, wanting to stop and read aloud to someone the things that she was doing or [the things] that someone was saying about her.”
She also felt the pull of the story’s examination of intergenerational cycles and familial legacy.
“It feels a little bit like a chicken-and-egg situation. Which came first: Was I drawn to this book because of its intergenerational aspects or did this book teach me to think about intergenerational aspects?”
Now streaming on Netflix, the seven-part adaptation Kazan shepherded — alongside co-showrunner Jeb Stuart — covers more ground of the multigenerational saga than her grandfather’s film. This new version also centers Cathy.
Michael Harris II shouldn’t have been 90 feet away from scoring the go-ahead run in the first place.
But he was, after Teoscar Hernández took a bad route to his line-drive triple. Then, to make matters worse, Dodgers left-hander Kris Bubic lost control of a sweeper. It flew high and outside, off the end of catcher Will Smith’s glove and to the edge of the grass behind home plate.
Harris scored standing up. And the Dodgers handed the lead back to the Atlanta Braves.
The Dodgers had every advantage heading into Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Braves. In a 3-2 loss to even the series at one win apiece, they gave away every edge they had.
“The advantage for us is we have an opportunity to not let their pitching staff come up for air,” manager Dave Roberts said this week, when asked about how taxed the Braves pitching staff was coming out of their wild-card series. “… We have an opportunity to really expose them if we take the right at-bats and the right approach.”
Braves left-hander Ray Kerr, who excelled out of the Braves bullpen down the stretch as a long reliever, served as the opener Sunday, in the Braves’ second straight bullpen game this series and third overall. And for the second straight day, the Dodgers failed to score against the Braves opener or even run up his pitch count to get him out of the game early.
The Dodgers managed just two hits off Kerr, each to open an inning. Freddie Freeman lined a single into right field to kick off the second inning. And Miguel Rojas sent a double into the left-field corner to begin the third.
The Dodgers stranded both.
The failure to bring in Rojas was especially egregious. Tommy Edman popped up a bunt immediately after. Then Mookie Betts, the Dodgers’ only other baserunner before Kerr handed over the ball with two outs in the third inning, drew a four-pitch walk. Shohei Ohtani came up to the plate with two runners on and popped up a high cutter on a full count. He was the last batter Kerr faced.
So, the Dodgers offense let the Braves come up for air. And Dodgers left-handed starter Blake Snell’s short start forfeited their starting pitching advantage Sunday.
His first inning could have been a bigger blow. With one out, Snell gave up a single to Ronald Acuña Jr. and then walked Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies to load the bases. He escaped with just one run scored, on a grounder up the middle from Mauricio Dubón. Betts made a diving stop but had no chance at throwing out Dubón at first.
Snell then struck out Sean Murphy to end the inning, finishing the at-bat with three straight curveballs for strikes.
The one-run deficit could be erased. But the damage on his pitch count, up to 27 in that first inning, was done.
Snell surrendered just one more hit, but when he issued his fifth walk of the game, with two outs in the fourth inning, his pitch count was already up to 90 pitches. Roberts strode from the dugout to pull him from the game. Snell had lasted just one inning longer than the Braves’ opener.
In the bottom half of the inning, Freeman, who was optimistic that he could shake off his September slump over the bye week, tied up the game with a solo homer. But in the fifth, the Dodgers handed the lead right back to the Braves.
With two outs, in an 0-2 count, Bubic got Harris to chase an outside sweeper moving away from him. Harris leaned over to get his bat out to it and send a line drive into the left field corner.
Hernández took a circuitous route to the ball, trying to cut it off and then having to adjust back when it became clear he was too shallow. He still only missed the ball by inches, and it carromed off the wall, allowing Harris to reach third base, in position to score on a wild pitch.
The Braves expanded their lead in the seventh inning against Dodgers hard-throwing right-hander Edgardo Henriquez, who gave up a single to Olson and an RBI double to Harris.
Then right-hander Roki Sasaki got himself into a bases-loaded situation in the eighth, with Ronald Acuña Jr. at the plate, but got out of it with a double play. Sasaki then retired the side in order in the ninth.
By contrast, the Dodgers offense barely threatened in the late innings. The Braves relievers retired 15 of the last 16 batters they faced to end the game, with Max Muncy’s solo home run in the ninth the only exception.
Rookie Josue De Paula made his psotseason debut as a pinch hitter, with two outs in the ninth. But he popped up in foul territory to end the game.
Next, the series heads to Atlanta, where the Braves will have home-field advantage for two games.
Tickets to see Indianapolis beat Washington 30-13 on Sunday went on sale in July at £79-£245.
But the NFL then dropped prices twice, in late August and again last week. That meant some fans who paid £185 were sat next to fans who paid £79 a few days ago.
Some tickets were also discounted or free via the Blue Light Card and Tickets For Good platforms.
Matt Cullen travelled from Cambridge to most of the London games and said there were two main reasons for the slow sales; a price hike and a season-ticket package being scrapped.
“I find the prices now mind-boggling,” he added. “It’s so far above the rate of inflation that it just feels like a money-grab. It’s priced out a lot of long-term fans.”
In 2019, tickets ranged from £55 to £125. According to Ticket-Compare, UK inflation has since risen by about 32.4% and the cheapest NFL London tickets have risen by 43.9%. The most expensive have seen a 96.5% hike.
Season-ticket packages had been available, guaranteeing seats for each London game with a discount, but they were scrapped after the 2024 season.
“It felt like a kick to the head for a lot of loyal fans who’d supported the games for a long time and spent a lot of money,” said Cullen, a former season-ticket holder. “But I do understand the NFL wants to bring new fans in.”
Major League Baseball wrapped a postseason advertisement around the front page of The Times this week. “OCTOBER STARTS TODAY,” the headline screamed.
Beneath those enormous letters, Shohei Ohtani smiled. Who else?
And so dozens of reporters crammed into a cramped room within Dodger Stadium on Friday afternoon, on the eve of the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves, waiting for Ohtani to answer a few versions of “How are you?”
It’s not just about attracting casual fans to watch the icon whose face adorns everything from airplanes to skin care products. For the Dodgers and their fans, it’s about whether their most famous player can be a game-changer in October.
The Dodgers could have shut him down as a pitcher rather than let him continue to try to pitch through knee and biceps injuries. They didn’t, and that backfired.
The Dodgers could have shut him down as a hitter, not for the season but for a stint on the injured list. They didn’t. They gave him just a few days off, and that backfired.
Then the Dodgers did put him on the injured list, but activated him for the final five games of the regular season rather than give him extended rest for the playoffs, limiting his activity to controlled workouts.
That might backfire, or it might not, and the repercussions of the former could represent a significant hurdle in their quest for a third consecutive World Series championship. Giving Ohtani time off during the regular season would have carried no penalty; the Dodgers would have won the NL West with or without him.
If the Dodgers decide Ohtani needs a few days off now, they would face this unpleasant dilemma: play one man short, or put him on the injured list. Under MLB rules, a player put on the injured list during a postseason series must sit out the next series. So, if Ohtani starts wincing at the end of his swings during the NLDS, a stint on the injured list would mean he could not play again until the World Series — if the Dodgers get there.
Shohei Ohtani speaks during a news conference at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Ohtani has not hit a home run since Aug. 18. Since then, he is batting .157, and he has struck out in 41% of his at-bats. In those final five games, he hit the ball hard in the first two, then hit ground balls in the final three. In the on-deck circle, he did not always take a swing.
In batting practice Friday, he hit lots of home runs.
The general sense of how Ohtani is feeling now: good enough.
Ohtani said he feels “really good” as compared to before he went on the injured list, but acknowledged he isn’t sure what he might need to do to address the injuries over the winter.
“As of now, it’s something I’m just going to have to manage,” he said through interpreter Will Ireton.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts offered this medical update: “Shohei’s not 100%, but he’s going to be in the lineup.”
Same for Freddie Freeman, who has not homered in a month. The difference, Roberts said, is how encouraged the manager was by Freeman’s workouts this week.
“With Shohei, I’m not so sure,” Roberts said. “I know that once the lights turn on, the postseason starts, the focus will be heightened. I expect good things. I really do. We just haven’t seen it enough to really — for me to forecast it.”
Ohtani plays when he says he can. After he tore up his left shoulder in Game 2 of the 2024 World Series, he had trainers tape the shoulder in place and took 11 at-bats over the final three games of the series. He had one hit, a single.
“I do pride myself on playing every day,” Ohtani said. “I do see it as an obligation as a professional to be on the field every single day.”
Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, acknowledged recently that communication with Ohtani has been “awesome” but “fully sharing exactly how he’s feeling, maybe not as awesome.”
Said Friedman: “He’s not always the best reporter of how he feels. Freddie’s the same way. Clayton Kershaw. I’ve been around a lot of these guys that feel like their job is to be out there to help the team however they can, and sometimes will downplay some things that are bothering them. But again, it’s because he wants to help the team win.”
The Dodgers are talented enough that Ohtani not hitting well would not damage their chances as much as, say, Sale not pitching well for the Braves. In the NLDS and the first three games of the NLCS last October, Ohtani hit .103 with no home runs and struck out in 48% of his at-bats.
In the NLCS clincher, he hit three home runs (and struck out 10 batters). The Dodgers could trade a few bad days from Ohtani for that one really good day.
In that MLB advertisement, the one that featured Ohtani, the league acknowledged that its screaming headline was not exactly accurate. The explanation also fits the Dodgers’ hopes of Ohtani starring in October.
The ad, after all, appeared on Sept. 29.
October starts today?
“Logic and reason would tell you otherwise,” the ad read. “But October isn’t about being reasonable.
And now we present the forecast for the Atlanta Braves, brought to you by Yogi Berra: It gets late early out there.
The Dodgers can cloud the outlook for anyone. The Braves left Dodger Stadium in an uneasy spot Saturday, with one big decision to make: Do they risk putting themselves in the uncomfortable position of facing three consecutive elimination games without using their best pitcher in the first two games of this National League Division Series, or do they start Chris Sale on Sunday?
“We’re expecting to see him,” Dodgers infielder Tommy Edman said.
The Dodgers have four aces. The Braves have one.
“We’ve got the ace of all aces in Chris Sale,” Braves pitcher Brent Suter said.
So why were the Braves publicly noncommittal about using him?
The Braves deployed him Thursday, for the final four outs of the deciding game of the wild-card round. He started and pitched into the seventh inning on Tuesday.
The four days between starts is traditional — as is throwing once between starts, albeit generally in a pregame workout — but the 37-year-old Sale has not done that since April.
“The deciding factor is always going to be how Chris is feeling,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “When we came in the other night, the first words out of his mouth were ‘I feel amazing.’ If he were to come in [Sunday] morning and say ‘I feel amazing,’ there’s a chance he pitches.”
Sale, a 10-time All-Star, posted a 2.16 earned-run average this season, trailing only projected Cy Young winners Jacob Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler. In two appearances against the Dodgers, he posted a 1.13 ERA, with no walks and 18 strikeouts in 16 innings.
“He’s the ace over there, and we’re ready to see him two times this series, regardless of whether he is starting or coming out of the bullpen,” Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas said. “We all know he is going to be out there at some point.
“If it’s [Sunday], we will be ready. If it’s Game 3, we will be ready. If it’s [Sunday] out of the ‘pen, we will be ready.”
Weiss should be concerned. If he is, he would not publicly admit to it.
“To me, it’s not that big a deal when he pitches,” Weiss said. “He’s going to pitch in this series.
“Dodgers can’t win it in two.”
The Braves risk overthinking this. If Sale starts Sunday, he also could start on traditional rest in a potential Game 5. If the Braves hold him back until Game 3, he presumably would not start a potential Game 5 on two days’ rest.
So, if the Braves get that far, would they want to limit Sale to, say, four outs?
“Even if he throws Game 3, I think he’s still available for Game 5 in some way, shape, or form,” Weiss said.
The Braves’ most likely options for Game 2, if Sale does not start: a second consecutive bullpen game, or Grant Holmes, 30, a Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2014, and three years later, part of a three-prospect package sent to the Oakland Athletics for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick.
The way Weiss looks at it, he can win three out of the next four games with his top two starters (Sale and Tyler Mahle) yet to be used, and all his high-leverage relievers fresh.
The way we look at it, who says the series extends to four or five games? The Braves either try to win with Sale on Sunday, or risk needing to sweep three games started by Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Skubal, in that order. Wouldn’t be prudent.
“We know Sale is their best pitcher,” Rojas said. “So we are ready for him, at some point.”
That point should be Sunday, a little after 5 p.m.
“Tip Toe,” a fine new drama from Russell T Davies premiering Friday on Starz, begins at the end, with Leo Struther (Alan Cumming, phenomenally good), a gay Manchester bar owner, hanging dead from a streetlight outside his house, as a woman screams and his neighbor Clive Goss (David Morrissey) stands breathing heavily on his porch. Then, as so many series do nowadays, it goes back in time — 10 days here — to tell the tale that got them there.
And so you are prepared from the beginning for tragedy, though not everything that happens in its five episodes will be tragic — some of what we see will be sweet and even celebratory — and one might forget for a moment where this is all heading, and even believe that what we’ve already seen will turn out differently.
The series sets off in a comparatively light mood. Chasing a one-night stand who’s stolen his laptop, Leo finds he’s locked himself out of his house, and, dressed only in his underwear, goes next door to ask if he can borrow a phone to call his friend Stephanie (Elizabeth Berrington) to bring him a spare key; here we meet the Goss family, Clive, an out-of-work electrician; his wife, Marie (Pooky Quesnel), who doesn’t like Clive; 16-year-old son George (Jackson Connor), gay and closeted; and 25-year-old son Saul (Joseph Evans), an easygoing hunk who lives at home, secretly makes money on OnlyFans and accepts everyone for who they are. Leo and the Gosses have been living amicably at arm’s length for 14 years, though their lives are about to become closely entwined, with disastrous results.
In an act of something like willful, somewhat disturbing friendliness, or a desire not to have to deal with Leo the next time he’s locked out, Clive makes a copy of Leo’s key and installs a lock box by his door. (By the Chekov’s gun rule, a key copied in Episode 1 is bound to be turned in a lock in whatever later act Davies deems advantageous.) Then, Leo gives Clive work at his bar.
Alan Cumming and David Morrissey play neighbors whose relationship escalates to violence in “Tip Toe.”
(Ben Blackall / Starz)
Leo’s bar, Spit and Polish, sits on Canal Street in Manchester’s long-established “gay village.” It’s a safe space for his employees and regulars, including Zee (Iz Hesketh), who’s been sleeping hidden in the bar, frightened of new flatmates since coming out as a trans woman, and Melba (Paul Rhys, brilliant), a former drag performer who holds down the end of the bar like Norm from “Cheers” and carries a torch for Leo.
Things will go generally downhill from here, in a narrative of escalating misunderstanding — not in the sense of an innocent mistake, of simply getting the wrong end of the stick (though that’s part of it), but as a contemporary habit of mind, blinkered, closed to facts but open to conspiracies. (Clive, a consumer of social media disinformation, believes that AIDS and COVID are fake); he lives in fear.
Directed by Peter Hoar, it’s a rough watch, yet beautifully wrought and delicately performed, inspiring and depressing, hopeless and hopeful by turns Davies has points to make — hanging your protagonist is not subtle — but his dialogue carries a lot of weight lightly; long conversations ebb and flow and rise and fall like compressed playlets. If there is something schematic about the arc, the characters within it, Clive as much as Leo, are completely human. They stand for something bigger than themselves, but they also stand for themselves.
Davies brought gay life in its infinite variety to television with the 1999 series “Queer as Folk” (also set on Canal Street) and gender fluidity to “Doctor Who,” the series he revived in 2005 and returned to in 2023. (The Tardis is currently in limbo.) His “Cucumber,” about middle-age gay men, and “Banana,” about young LGBTQ+ people, are also set in Manchester, where Davies has lived since the late 1980s. “Tip Toe” has been crafted for an age of surging homophobia and anti-gay violence. “The president of America has given these men permission to attack us,” says Melba, as he sits with Leo late one night by the canal. The series’ dark prophet, he gives it its title.
“It’s a storm, it’s a tide, it’s a great big tsunami. We’re in the middle of it right now … If you’d asked me in 1996 what do you think 2026 will be like, I’d have said ‘glory days’ … But they tricked us didn’t they? They let us all come out, so now we’re standing in he open ready for them to shoot us down. I used to walk into a room and just go, ‘Ta-da!’ Now I tip toe, just in case.”
The true crime documentary will return to screens sooner than you think
Murder Scene: The Incident Room returns with a brand new series tonight(Image: Channel 5)
Channel 5’s gripping true crime series will return with new chilling episodes – and it’s coming sooner than you think.
First aired in 2023, Murder Scene: The Incident Room is a true crime series that explores real-life murder investigations across the UK, but with a twist. The investigations are told through the eyes of real detectives who worked on the cases.
The series, which has seen two seasons so far, plunges viewers into the centre of police investigations, revealing how officers gather evidence and make critical conditions. Channel 5 has teased: “Inside the nerve centre of murder inquiries, revealed through the detectives themselves.”
Featuring first hand accounts as well as heartbreaking interviews with family members of the victims, the series also shows real archive footage as well as using reconstruction sequences.
Murder Scene: The Incident Room will return to Channel 5 tonight (September 30) with yet another harrowing case. Airing at 8pm on Channel 5, the brand new episode will transport viewers back to a horrific event on Christmas Eve in 2022.
Taking viewers behind the scenes of a murder investigation, tonight’s episode will explore the heartbreaking murder of 26-year-old Elle Edwards, who was killed by a gunman armed with a submachine gun outside of a pub in Wirral, Merseyside.
After firing the weapon into a group of people on Christmas Eve, the gunman fled the scene as CCTV revealed this was not a random act, with detectives working around the clock for justice.
An official synopsis reads: “The Incident Room is the place where Britain’s toughest murder cases are cracked. Behind closed doors, detectives work against the clock, piecing together the clues, chasing down suspects, and searching for the breakthrough that will bring a killer to justice.”
About tonight’s episode, it continues: “Christmas Eve 2022: a packed pub, a burst of gunfire. Within seconds, six people are shot outside the Lighthouse Pub in Wallasey.
“Twenty-six-year-old Elle Edwards dies at the scene. A gunman armed with a military-grade machine gun has opened fire on innocent bystanders – and he’s still out there.
“CCTV reveals this was no random act. As pressure mounts, a crucial breakthrough changes the direction of the case, triggering a nationwide manhunt for a dangerous and desperate fugitive.
“This is the story of a community shattered, a family devastated, and the relentless pursuit of a killer who believed he could disappear into the night.”
New episodes will air every Wednesday on Channel 5, with the next instalment dropping on October 7 at its usual 8pm slot. Episodes can also be streamed on Channel 5 online. Previously praising the show, one person said episodes were “too good to miss” as another admitted it was a “must watch”.
Murder Scene: The Incident Room returns tonight at 8pm on Channel 5
Wedding bells are ringing for Paul “DJ Pauly D” DelVecchio and his longtime girlfriend Nikki Hall.
The “Jersey Shore” alum proposed to the Jamaican-born influencer over the weekend while DJing at the Omnia Dayclub at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The popular party destination posted the proposal on Instagram on Sunday with the caption, “Things just got serious,” alongside a video of DelVecchio bringing Hall onto a stage and getting down on one knee.
Although a techno remix of Bruno Mars’ “Marry You” was blasting in the video, the DJ’s lips are seen mouthing, “Will you marry me?” Hall nods enthusiastically in response, and bikini-clad models appear in the background carrying signs overhead that read “Congratulations on the engagement! Yeah Buddy!”
Through a series of clips and photos shared on DelVecchio’s Instagram stories, it appears the two celebrated the engagement with Italian food and a hotel room decked out with red rose petals and balloons.
“We’ve spent these years choosing each other, growing together, building a life we love, and never rushing a chapter just because the world was ready to read it,” Hall posted on Instagram, adding that saying yes to DelVecchio was “the easiest YES” she’s ever said.
DelVecchio celebrated in the replies of the post, writing, “She said yesssssss!!!!!”
The pair met back in 2019 on MTV’s “Double Shot at Love,” a reality dating show hosted by DelVecchio and fellow “Jersey Shore” alum Vinny Guadagnino, in which 20 women competed to capture the hearts of both Pauly and Vinny, respectively.
The early days of their relationship played out on the series, with both Hall and DelVecchio smitten from the start. Their season ended with a twist when DelVecchio chose to say goodbye to Hall and “roll solo for now.” But clearly, his decision didn’t stick, and in 2020, the pair quarantined together during the pandemic, a revelation that arose when eagle-eyed fans noticed their social media content had identical backgrounds.
Forget about its comparison to Martha’s Vineyard. “Widow’s Bay” can now call itself the next Emmy-winning comedy series.
At Monday’s Emmys ceremony, the first-year series beat out former winners “The Bear” and “Hacks”; returning nominees “Abbott Elementary,” “Nobody Wants This,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Shrinking”; and fellow newcomer “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.”
The show took home a record-breaking 14 Emmys, the most ever for a comedy series. The wins include lead and supporting actor, supporting actress, directing and writing. The total overcame the milestone set by “The Studio” with its 13 wins last year.
Apple TV’s horror-comedy series about a fictional cursed island off the coast of New England and its mayor, played by Matthew Rhys, who is trying to save it from economic depression, became a word-of-mouth hit that’s inspired memes and fan cosplay. Creator and showrunner Katie Dippold began writing the series more than 10 years ago, inspired by her trips as a youth to the Jersey Shore and quaint New England seaside towns.
“This was such a great collaboration of the best wonderful weirdos and artists,” Dippold said while accepting the award. “We’d also like to thank the evil entity on the island that trusted us with its story.”
“That is exciting and terrifying,” she added backstage. “One thing I meant to thank in the speech, there’s so many people that spread the word early on, all the people online talking about it with reviews, people tweeting about it … we’re so grateful for that.”
“They were predominately our parents,” Rhys joked.
“And some burner accounts,” Dippold added.
The series was a late entry into the Emmy race, premiering at the end of April. Hiro Murai, who directed five of the series’ 10 episodes and is an executive producer, told The Times he thought of it as a “spooky summer show.” Murai won for directing for a comedy.
“The show takes place during the summer, and so much of what makes it scary is that it doesn’t look like it should be scary. It’s all sunlight,” he said. “The atmosphere is very summery.”
The series stars Rhys as overcompensating mayor Tom Loftis, with a supporting cast that includes veteran actors Stephen Root, Dale Dickey and Kate O’Flynn.
“Widow’s Bay” earned 19 nominations, including lead actor for Rhys and acting nominations for Root and O’Flynn. All three won in their categories.
“Everyone’s more than ready for it and thirsty for it in a real way,” he said. “I really hope this does something in the Hollywood psyche, where they go, ‘Let’s put away the remakes and let’s just get after new challenging, original material.’ ”
The win gives Apple TV its second consecutive comedy series victory after “The Studio” won last year, and its fourth (“Ted Lasso” in 2021 and 2022) in the category in the last six years.
The Dosa King built an empire. After a woman rejects him, her husband is found dead – and the pursuit of justice begins.
The Dosa King built a restaurant empire worth millions. But when a young woman rejects him, he threatens her marriage. Soon after, her husband is found dead. For nearly two decades, he fights to escape justice. Can his wealth and power protect him? Find out in Season 2 of True Crime Reports, an Al Jazeera Originals Production.
The illustrations in this video were created by artists aided by AI-powered software.
In this episode:
Episode credits:
True Crime Reports is an Al Jazeera Originals Production. Our host is Halla Mohieddeen. This episode was written by Ryan Gaffney. The Head of Podcasts is Jo de Frias. The EP of Podcasts is Alexandra Locke. Our Executive Producer is Ney Alvarez. Our Senior Producer is Fahrinisa Campana, Leo Danczak is our producer and Catherine Nouhan is our Assistant Producer. The Production Coordinator is Ashley McCarry. Fact-checking by Catherine Nouhan, Zaina Badr and Chiara Brambilla. The Senior Script Editor is Dan Hawaleshka. Our Post-Production Supervisor is Nacho Corbella. Our Video Editor is Nacho Corbella. Osama Alsaadi is our AI Animator. Alan Leer is the Supervising Sound Editor. The Sound Designer is Lizzy Andrews. Music composition by Tom Biddle. Adam Abou-Gad is our Engagement Producer.
Great Britain’s Beth Potter claimed silver at the World Championship Triathlon Series behind Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand of France.
The final event of the series took place in Pontevedra, Spain, where Potter needed a win to overhaul Beaugrand in the overall standings.
But she finished fourth, with team-mates Georgia Taylor-Brown and Kate Waugh finishing second and third behind Beaugrand.
Beaugrand won comfortably, completing the 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run in one hour 50 minutes 52 seconds, which was over a minute quicker than Taylor-Brown.
Potter, who won the World Series at Pontevedra in 2023, remained in contention at the end of the cycle, but Beaugrand stretched clear of the three Brits in the second lap of the run and held firm.
It concludes a dominant season for Beaugrand, who has won all five of the World Championship circuit races she entered.
Taylor-Brown won the Czech Republic leg of the series earlier this month, which was her first win on the tour since 2023.
Scotland suffered a third successive defeat in the WXV Global Series as clinical Australia proved too strong in Edinburgh.
After losses against Canada and New Zealand – ranked two and three in the world – hopes were high the Scots could get off the mark against the side one place below them in the world rankings.
Despite leading 10-5 at the break, Scotland could not live with the rampant Wallaroos, who ran in three tries in a devastating eight-minute second-half spell to secure a comfortable win.
The sides meet again in Sydney next weekend.
Evie Gallagher, following her two tries against New Zealand last weekend, gave Scotland the lead on 15 minutes, dotting down to round off a period of pressure on the Australian line.
The hosts were on top, with Meryl Smith in midfield and lock Holland Bogan carrying hard and asking questions of the Australian defence, but loose work at the line-out cost Dave Butcher’s team some promising attacking positions.
The Wallaroos grew into the game as the half wore on and hit back with a well-worked try. Scotland repelled a rolling line-out maul close to their own line, but the visitors remained patient and spun the ball wide for Georgina Friedrichs to put Desiree Miller over in the corner.
The Scots hit back immediately when Australia were penalised for holding on straight from the restart, and Helen Nelson banged over a penalty to give her side a five-point lead at the break.
However, Australia flew out of the blocks after the interval and turned the game on its head with three tries in quick succession.
The first came when a rolling line-out maul was halted just short and scrum-half Samantha Wood was on hand to dive over. She converted her own try to nudge the visitors in front for the first time, and it was a double blow for Scotland as Gallagher was sin-binned for illegally bringing down the initial maul.
With the numerical advantage, the Wallaroos came on strong as Brianna Hoy and then Faitala Moleko cut through to score and put the visitors in charge at 24-10.
Wood knocked over a penalty to put Australia beyond two scores and added another late on to cap off a dominant second half from the Wallaroos.
It’s a good thing Mogwai don’t seem to age — “Gremlins 3” has been delayed until 2028.
Warner Bros. on Wednesday shared a brief teaser of the upcoming movie on Instagram along with its new release date. “Gremlins 3” will now hit theaters on Oct. 8, 2028, instead of Nov. 19, 2027.
The brief social media clip features Gizmo rustling around inside a backpack in an indiscernible location.
“Uh-oh,” the adorable furry creature says while peering through the unzipped opening as the new release date appears. Hopefully he doesn’t snack on anything he isn’t supposed to while he awaits his big-screen return.
“Gremlins 3” was officially announced by Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav during an earnings call in 2025. Original “Gremlins” writer Chris Columbus will helm the feature, which is produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. Spielberg is an executive producer.
It has been decades since Gizmo’s last big-screen adventure. The Mogwai and his misbehaved progeny debuted in the 1984 holiday classic “Gremlins” and returned in the 1990 follow-up, “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.” Directed by Joe Dante, the films established three key rules for handling the mysterious, big-eared creatures: Don’t get them wet, feed them after midnight or expose them to light. Gizmo’s origin story was explored more recently in the HBO Max animated series, “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.”
The release date shift follows the recent settlement with California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta that has cleared the way for Paramount Skydance to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. According to Deadline, the change is unrelated to the pending merger.
Britain’s Callum Connor was given a UFC contract despite losing in Dana White’s Contender Series, but Norbert Novenyi Jr missed out despite winning.
Six fighters from Tuesday’s five fights earned contracts in MMA’s leading promotion – four of the winners plus two losers, including 26-year-old Connor.
Peru’s Piero Guaylupo earned a unanimous decision over lightweight rival Connor, who suffered the first professional loss of his career.
UFC president White said it could be a fight of the year contender because it contained more significant strikes than any UFC lightweight three-round bout.
“Both of these guys are in the hospital right now, as they should be,” said White.
“One of the greatest fights you’ll ever see on Tuesdays or Saturdays or any other day.
“For Piero to be 21 years old and fight the way he did, the fight was incredible. But it takes two guys to make a great fight. I’m taking them both.”
Connor, from Manchester, now has a pro record of 8-1 and has a four-fight win streak on UK promotion Full Contact Contender.
Middleweight Novenyi, who was born in Hungary but fights out of London, earned a unanimous decision over American Theo Haig to improve his pro record to 11-1.
But the 26-year-old was the only fighter who won on Tuesday not to be given a contract. He was told by White that “tonight’s not your night, my friend”.
“Norbert, both of you guys have great records,” White said. “You came in, fought a good fight.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything tonight that makes me say, ‘I got to have this guy in the UFC’.
“Whatever you decide to do here, we would like to take another look at you.”
Some ITV The Chase viewers complained on X minutes into Monday’s programme.
ITV The Chase viewers issued the same complaint (Image: ITV)
The Chase viewers have been left asking the same question.
The ITV gameshow returned on Monday, September 21, but viewers were quick to notice a repeat episode was airing, rather than the new series, which launched weeks ago.
During the show, Bradley Walsh and Chaser Darragh Ennis put four contestants to the test, Faith from Holmfirth, George from Hertfordshire, Anne from Pontypool, and Jamie from Liverpool.
However, after noticing the episode had aired in 2025, viewers were left asking the same question, with one writing: “Why is it back on repeats already? For the coming week. Perhaps they’re really struggling with their contestant quota,” reports the Express.
“Repeats already?” another echoed. “At least repeat the decent episodes!” someone else fumed. Another fan wrote: “Is it just me, or is this a repeat I’m watching? As far as I know, this ep was first shown in January 2025! What is going on, ITV?!”
The episode saw the four contestants ultimately lose against The Chaser. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your day, all of you, it’s been lovely meeting you,” Bradley told them.
“Sadly, I’ve got to take the £4,000 away and tell you that you that Faith, Anne, George and Jamie, you have been caught.” He added: “Once more, the Menace is triumphant! Could you take him down? Get together and apply, we’ll see you on The Chase.”
The Chase’s repeat comes after spin-off series, The Chase Around The World, aired earlier this year on ITV. The six-part special saw six teams of two battling to win £100,000 as they took on the beloved quiz show in destinations all over Europe.
ITV had teased: “The Chasers – The Beast and The Governess – have set a series of quiz questions, puzzles and cryptic clues that the teams must solve in order to navigate their way across the city and find Bradley at the finish line.
“Their route could take them to some of Rome’s iconic landmarks, such as the Colosseum, the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps. The teams must answer questions correctly to complete the course but they better be correct as wrong answers have serious consequences, costing them time and taking them off-course.
“Competition is fierce as the team that finishes last in each city will face a head-to-head showdown with the Chasers themselves. In Rome, the Beast and The Governess await. The final pair will need to beat them to stay in the competition. Lose, and it’s the first flight home.”
Speaking about the series, Bradley shared: “I would describe it as The Chase… but around the world! It’s out and about. It was very different doing it on location, in these incredible places, instead of being in a studio.
“I’ve been locked in Elstree Studios for 17 years! The locations were unbelievable. I loved it, I really did, but then again, I wasn’t chasing around, literally chasing around, the cities we were in.
Repeated blasts at military sites expose the risks facing Syria as it rebuilds its army and consolidates weapons after years of war.
A series of explosions at weapons and ammunition sites across Syria this month have exposed the difficulties facing the country’s military in storing and moving munitions, as the armed forces rebuild after more than a decade of war.
The latest blasts injured at least four people in the early hours of Monday morning at an arms depot in al-Eis, south of Aleppo.
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On Friday, a blast in Ayyash, west of Deir Az Zor, killed 11 soldiers. Another on September 9 killed 14 defence ministry personnel in Sarmada, Idlib. Also in Idlib, five people were killed when a vehicle carrying ammunition exploded in the town of Binnish on September 1 .
According to a tally by the Reuters news agency, at least 16 similar explosions have hit arms storage facilities since the fall of long-time President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 after an opposition offensive.
Some have been attributed to poor storage conditions. The Syrian Defence Ministry said it is investigating the causes behind the recurrent explosions to prevent future incidents.
Long-time neglect
Security analysts are divided on the root causes, with some pointing to a lack of professional infrastructure and others highlighting the potential for foreign interference – although there is as yet no hard evidence for that.
Omer Ozkizilcik, a nonresident senior fellow for the Syria Project in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programmes, explained to Al Jazeera that the Syrian military is undergoing a period of huge change. It is reorganising from what it was under al-Assad, consolidating weapons from different sources and integrating various forces. All of that could be putting pressure on Syria’s storage infrastructure, which was already creaking after the long war and international isolation.
“The explosions could have happened due to neglect, Ozkizilcik said. “The Syrian army is receiving much more military aid than ever before. It gained control over the stockpiles of the former regime and the formerly US-backed [Syrian Democratic Forces]. The increase in quantity coupled with the need to protect weapons from potential Israeli airstrikes may have pushed the Syrian army to store weapons in inadequate places.”
Ozkizilcik emphasised that Syria’s military is still in a transitional phase. The former army was dissolved after the fall of the al-Assad regime and fighters from armed opposition groups were integrated into a new military structure. Damascus has also been working to integrate territory and forces previously controlled by the Kurdish-led SDF.
“The Syrian army has yet to become a professional army,” Ozkizilcik added. “These explosions are not the first that happen in Syria. Before the fall of al-Assad, similar things happened many times in Syria. [but] I don’t think these explosions will affect Syria’s military capabilities in any visible way. It’s merely a loss of some stockpiles that can be replenished.”
Weapons and ammunition, by their nature, need to be handled extremely carefully and stored properly. Storing large quantities of ageing ammunition for years in poor conditions, such as high temperatures or humidity, can accelerate their deterioration and lead to them becoming unstable.
“The current warehouse infrastructure suffers from severe ageing; most of it dates back decades and does not meet international safe storage standards,” said security expert Ismat al-Absi. “Storing ageing munitions in open or semi-closed environments without controlled cooling and humidity systems creates what we call a thermal runaway chain reaction.”
Possibility of sabotage
The repeated explosions have led to some fears of sabotage, particularly in light of repeated Israeli attacks against Syria since the fall of al-Assad, many of which have targeted the military, including the August strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib.
Ozkizilcik noted that there was “no public information about possible sabotage” being behind the weapons depot explosions, and no evidence of any direct Israeli links. But the repeated explosions, coupled with Israel’s attacks in Syria and past intelligence operations against groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, mean it cannot be totally ruled out.
“Considering that the Israeli media recently wrote about the growing military capabilities of Syria, suspicions grow,” he said.
Al-Absi told Al Jazeera that the wide geographic scope of the explosions nevertheless meant that deliberate interference should be investigated.
“The main loopholes that [could have allowed sabotage operations] are the absence of smart surveillance, relying on traditional human guarding instead of remote sensors and thermal movement detection; weak securing of transport lines and administrative fragmentation,” al-Absi said. “The weakness of security discipline during the restructuring phase of the military institution has made some sites vulnerable to penetration or internal manipulation.”
On the appointment of Edwards, England head coach John Mitchell said: “Since his time with France ended, we have had a conversation about our game, and he expressed an interest in working in an international women’s set-up for the first time.
“He has a huge amount of respect for the Red Roses and what we stand for; he sees it as a privilege to join our environment.
“His coaching credentials are exceptional and his experience at the highest level of the game speaks for itself.
“Defensively, Sarah Hunter is relishing the opportunity to learn from him, alongside the rest of our coaching group, as we head into another exciting Test match against New Zealand.”
Last week, Edwards expressed his desire to return to coaching and be a part of next year’s men’s Six Nations.
