The Lede

Hairy Harry The world has gone wild for wizards yet again with the release of the first trailer for HBO’s upcoming HARRY POTTER television adaptation, along with the exciting news that the series will premiere in December 2026. The two-minute trailer packs in a lot of information and eye candy, from the very first meeting between Harry (Dominic McLaughlin), Hermione (Arabella Stanton), and Ron (Alastair Stout), to Aunt Petunia (Bel Powley) angrily and clumsily cutting Harry’s magically unruly hair. “You think you’re something special? There is nothing special about you,” Aunt Petunia snarls. Um … wrong! For nostalgia’s sake rather than comparison’s sake – the original Harry, Daniel Radcliffe, has pleaded with the vast fan base to let the TV show stand on its own merits – all the Harry Potter films are on Crave.

Role Call Sometimes actors become so strongly associated with certain roles, it’s hard to fathom that they almost declined the jobs. Such was the case with Steve Carell, who never would have played Michael Scott in THE OFFICE had he listened to the advice he received from fellow actor and good buddy Paul Rudd. As Carell recalled this week, “Rudd pulled me aside and was like, ‘don’t do it, man, don’t audition.’ ” Coincidentally, Elisabeth Moss shared the story of almost passing on the lead role of June in THE HANDMAID’S TALE. “I almost turned it down, and then they threatened me with who they were going to ask next,” Moss said intriguingly. Luckily, saner heads prevailed in both cases, and THE OFFICE with Carell, and THE HANDMAID’S TALE with Moss, are on Crave, while Carell’s new series ROOSTER airs Sundays on Crave.