Amazon is a data juggernaut, but there are limits to how useful that is when deciding which movies and TV shows to make for Prime Video, according to Joe Lewis, who oversees Amazon’s comedy, drama, and VR.

Listening to audience data can be helpful but also hurtful if used in the wrong way, Lewis explained at a recent MipTV panel.

The big problem is that when you are making a TV show, you aren’t looking for what people want to watch today. It just takes too long from concept to full season. Instead, you are trying to answer the question, “What do people want to watch in a year or two?”

Often, in that quest, you have to look for something that might not be a slam-dunk in the moment. “If you can’t find anything risky about an idea, one to three years later it’s usually behind the curve," Lewis said. That fact can mean it's hard to use audience data to validate a particular idea.

The obvious exception to this is with reboots, which Amazon rival Netflix is pumping out at a staggering rate — “Full House,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Arrested Development,” and so on.

But when Amazon uses data, especially when commissioning an entire series versus a pilot, it’s often about assessing the strength of the writer-director, not the concept.

“There are just some people who are right more often than not,” Lewis said. “That’s the kind of data you can look at.”

Live plus 20 years

What is Amazon looking for in that data?

Lewis came back a few times to the idea of “live plus 20 years,” or what people will want to watch over and over again, and will stand the test of time.

Lewis is “only interested in making things that people will watch, and watch for a long time,” he said. If Amazon can rack up a number of these types of shows, its back catalog will continue to get more valuable over time.

That perspective is useful in understanding some of Amazon’s shows that have gotten critical acclaim, like Golden Globe winners “Transparent” and “Mozart in the Jungle,” but haven’t snagged the massive audiences of some of Netflix’s streaming hits.

Amazon is in the business of having people sign up and continue to subscribing to Prime, and there are many metrics the company looks at besides pure audience size. "Transparent" was not the most-viewed pilot for Amazon, but it had an “incredibly high completion rate,” the “re-watch rate was significant,” and the critical feedback was good, Lewis said.

When you are looking for a show that will continue to give you value for decades, those are the right signs.

SEE ALSO: The exec who replaced Netflix's 5-star rating system with 'thumbs up, thumbs down' explains why

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NOW WATCH: Why you should never throw away your banana peel

Last August, Microsoft launched the Xbox One S: A leaner, meaner update to 2013's original Xbox One console that packs a little extra juice into a 40% smaller shell.

It's a huge step over the original Xbox One in just about every way. Normally, I'd say you should buy it without reservation.

But at last year's E3 video game conference, Microsoft made the extremely atypical move of pre-announcing a new, mysterious Xbox console, codenamed "Project Scorpio," to be launched in the holiday of 2017. We finally learned the first real details of Project Scorpio on Thursday.

Project Scorpio is promised to be "the most powerful console ever," bringing a lot more graphical horsepower to the table. We don't know what it looks like, what it will cost, or which games are coming to it, but we do know that it'll deliver ultra-high definition gaming in full 4K resolution, among other graphical feats. 

That leaves people considering getting an Xbox with a difficult choice: Buy an Xbox now, and risk being left in the cold when Project Scorpio comes out later this year? Or wait for more details on Project Scorpio but miss out on games in the interim?

Here's what you need to know when choosing between buying an Xbox One S now versus Project Scorpio later.

Don't sweat it too much

Seriously, don't stress out here: Microsoft has promised that Project Scorpio and the Xbox One will share a games library.

That means it will play all your Xbox One games, past, present, and future. It'll also play those select two hundred-plus Xbox 360 games that are currently playable on the Xbox One. All your Xbox One controllers will still work with it, too. 

And Microsoft has given strong indications that any games for Project Scorpio will also work with all models of the Xbox One. We don't know exactly how that will work, but Microsoft has hinted that certain newer games simply won't look as good when played on an older console. 

So no matter which Xbox One you choose to buy, there's still going to be a steady stream of games. You won't be left in the cold. Plus, Microsoft is pushing a new initiative where buying a copy of an Xbox One game will also net you a copy for Windows 10, so you'll be able to play wherever you'd like, on either PC or console.

"No one gets left behind," said Xbox boss Phil Spencer when Project Scorpio was announced.

That said...

Lookin' good

Even going on the few details we have available, Project Scorpio definitely has the major edge in graphical horsepower: To judge by Microsoft's specs, it's six times as powerful as the original Xbox One.

What this means for you is that you'll be able to play (certain) games in full, glorious, "true" 4K/UltraHD resolution, the next huge step up from our modern and more common HD technologies. And in general, it'll be able to support yet more gorgeous graphical effects than we see on the modern Xbox One.

That also means Project Scorpio has enough juice to support high-end virtual reality headsets, like Facebook's Oculus Rift. And while Microsoft hasn't specifically announced Oculus Rift support, the two companies are tight enough that it seems like a safe bet something is in the works.

The Xbox One S supports 4K/UltraHD, too, but only for movie playback from specially-marked Blu-Ray discs, not for games. That said, it does support high-dynamic range, or HDR, a technology for displaying super-vivid colors that Business Insider's own Antonio Villas-Boas thinks is actually better and more noticeable than UltraHD.

Of course, if you don't have a cutting-edge 4K/UltraHD TV, or a $599 Oculus Rift headset, and you don't have any plans to get either, you won't get the most out of Scorpio's phenomenal cosmic power. 

Which brings us to the next point...

Price is wrong

The Xbox One S is clearly the value option here, with lots of options for bundled-in games and hard drive storage space.

According to Amazon, the best-selling Xbox One S model is a $349 configuration with 1 terabyte (as in, one thousand gigabytes) of storage, and a copy of Madden NFL 17. Other configurations include a $399 model with 2TB of storage, or a $299 version that comes with Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5: Guardians and 500GB of storage in a neat little package.

Meanwhile, Project Scorpio is being billed by Microsoft as a premium product, which is executive code language for "not cheap." All of Project Scorpio's power is going to come with a price tag, and it seems fair to assume it'll cost significantly more than the Xbox One S when it launches later this year.

If it helps, you can think of the Xbox One S as the iPhone SE of the Xbox line: Powerful enough and cheap enough to be attractive to a lot of people, but not necessarily right on the cutting edge.

So, bottom line here is that if you really need that cutting-edge aspect, and you're already investing heavily in the world of 4K and virtual reality, waiting for Project Scorpio is the thing to do. If you don't care about any of that stuff and just want to play the latest games for cheaper on the latest Xbox available, you can't go wrong with the S.

SEE ALSO: The next-generation Xbox could be even more different than we thought

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NOW WATCH: 5 hidden features to get the most out of your Xbox One

For actor Jon Hamm, money isn't everything.

"Money, for me, is a means to an end: to pay your bills and eat," he recently told Wealthsimple magazine.

The "Mad Men" star went on to say that money can buy you peace of mind — but only up to a certain point.

"I've never been driven by money — there are more important things to life," Hamm said. "But not having money can be a hindrance — it can make life hard, and you spend time worrying about not having it. To me, the main reason to have money is to remove the hindrances that accompany being broke. Once those hindrances are out of the way, it doesn't matter if you have a ton of money or just a comfortable amount."

During his interview with the online investing service, Hamm also spoke about growing up in St. Louis, Missouri. He said that his family was "never rich," but he had plenty of "friends who had money." Hamm, who spent years as a restaurant server and a teacher before making it big in Hollywood, said his upbringing led him to realize that money cannot solve most of life's problems — nor could it ever make tasks like yard work or shoveling snow remotely enjoyable.

"These were chores, not a real, paying job, but from time to time my grandmother would slip me a few bucks," he told Wealthsimple magazine. "The money didn't change my attitude. All these decades later, I still hate yard work."

Read the full story at Wealthsimple »

SEE ALSO: Anthony Bourdain: 'Until I was 44, I never even had a savings account'

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NOW WATCH: These are the watches worn by some of the most powerful men in finance

Don Rickles, the legendary comedian who hung out with the Rat Pack and was one of the classic insult comics over his six-decade career, has died at age 90, according to multiple reports.

He died Thursday morning at his home in Los Angeles from kidney failure.

Known for most of his career on the Las Vegas nightclub circuit, he will be better known to younger people as the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the Pixar "Toy Story" movies.

On TV, he was a fixture on the late-night talk shows with his brand of harsh punch lines. He also had his own talk show, "The Don Rickles Show," in the early 1970s.

His movie roles ranged from the Clint Eastwood 1970 war movie, "Kelly's Heroes," to Martin Scorsese's classic "Casino."

Developing his tough-guy act he learned from growing up in Manhattan in the 1940s and 1950s, Rickles got his start appearing on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

He then quickly became a headliner in Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Reno, Nevada, often finding himself in the midst of Frank Sinatra's famed Rat Pack, which included Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Rickles showed up often on TV in guest-starring roles, from "Get Smart" to, most recently, "Hot in Cleveland."

But he will remain beloved for his stand-up comedy and for shooting insults at anyone who happened to come in his crosshairs. (In fact, getting insulted by Rickles was considered a badge of honor.)

You can catch that spirit in the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast." Rickles busted the chops of all the legends in the room.

Here's a video of Rickles roasting Sinatra:

SEE ALSO: All the "Game of Thrones" deaths, ranked from least tragic to most tragic

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NOW WATCH: 'Sesame Street' has been mocking Trump since 1988 — here are some of the best moments

Nearly five years to the day YouTube made its Partner Program available to anyone, essentially letting people create a channel and immediately start making money, the company said Thursday that creators would no longer be able to monetize their channels until they received 10,000 lifetime views.

Once a channel reaches that threshold, YouTube will review it against its policies to see if the channel is OK to begin making money.

YouTube says this is designed to help discourage scam artists and content creators that violate YouTube's policy from making money on the platform, the company said in a blog post.

"In a few weeks, we'll also be adding a review process for new creators who apply to be in the YouTube Partner Program. After a creator hits 10k lifetime views on their channel, we'll review their activity against our policies," Ariel Bardin, YouTube's vice president of product management, said in the blog post. "If everything looks good, we'll bring this channel into YPP and begin serving ads against their content. Together these new thresholds will help ensure revenue only flows to creators who are playing by the rules."

YouTube has been under fire since revelations that the ads of several large brands were appearing next to offensive videos and other objectionable content. That caused more than 250 brands to freeze their campaigns aside from search with Google, which owns YouTube.

Though Google is doing its best to assuage these concerns about brand safety, Nomura Instinet analysts have estimated it could lose up to $750 million from the boycott.

SEE ALSO: Google's business chief shows how 'very, very, very' tricky its position on ads and offensive YouTube videos is

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NOW WATCH: You probably shouldn't use public Wi-Fi — here's what you should use instead

Bill O'Reilly's latest book has a few words on how men should treat women.

"Old School," published last week and in the top 10 on Amazon.com's best-seller list, includes a section titled "No means no" and urged those on dates to abide "the Old School tenets of respect and responsibility."

The book came out around the time of a New York Times report that five women were paid $13 million to settle allegations O'Reilly mistreated them.

After the allegations surfaced, critics rated the book one star and submitted some brutal Amazon reviews:

"Do you really want to take advice on cultural trends from a pervert — a certified sexual harasser — such as O'Reilly?"

"My favorite old school value is calling female coworkers and telling them graphic sexual descriptions of what I would do with them. So nice and wholesome. Truly Christ-like behavior."

"Awful book written by an awful man. Buy this book if you support sexual harassment, misogyny and dishonor[ing] women."

The Fox News host, whose show has been abandoned by dozens of advertisers, hasn't admitted any wrongdoing. His defenders include President Donald Trump.

SEE ALSO: Here are all the companies and organizations that have pulled ads from Bill O'Reilly's show after he was accused of sexual harassment

DON'T MISS: 'Bill O'Reilly needs to go to jail': Maxine Waters dubs Fox News a 'sexual harassment enterprise'

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NOW WATCH: 'Does the president have a credibility problem?': Watch Spicer defend Trump's incorrect tweet about Guantanamo Bay prisoners

Director James Gray has quietly been creating an impressive body of work for the last two decades, but his latest movie is his magnum opus.

Since 1994's "Little Odessa," Gray has told intimate tales often about hardworking people in unique situations. There was ex-con Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) in the corrupt world of the Queens rail yard in "The Yards" (2000), and Ewa Cybulska (Marion Cotillard), forced into a life of burlesque dancing in "The Immigrant" (2013).

But in "The Lost City of Z," Gray ups his game and tells an epic story that explores big dreams and the sacrifices that come with them.

If the title of the movie (out in limited release April 14 — it'll go nationwide April 21 and be available on Amazon later this year) sounds familiar, that's because it's based on the popular 2009 nonfiction book "The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon" by David Grann.

In it, Grann recounts the life of Percy Fawcett, a British explorer who in 1925 went into the Amazon jungle with his son to find an ancient lost city he believed existed and never returned.

The legend of the city that Fawcett named Z is well-known in the expedition community. As many as 100 people have died or disappeared searching for Fawcett or the city he was obsessed with.

Gray has taken Grann's book, which also recounts the author's quest to find Z, and brings Fawcett and his journey to life with such rich detail, you'll feel the sweat of the jungle. That's partly because of the stunning photography by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Darius Khondji and the talents of production designer Jean-Vincent Puzos.

Charlie Hunnam ("Sons of Anarchy") plays Fawcett as a man who's driven to make a name for his family in an era when class and legacy are everything and finds stardom as an explorer. Robert Pattinson is at his side as Henry Costin, a soft-spoken but equally driven aide-de-camp.

Both give incredible performances. It's the best one yet for Pattinson. His brooding stare is perfect for a character who must toil in the horrific conditions of the Amazon — at one point half his face is infected by a bug bite.

Hunnam, meanwhile, is an incredible talent who thanks to some lousy movies has been largely missed by a wider audience. Here he gives a tour-de-force performance that proves his capabilities as a leading man. He carries this movie on his back with an intensity that is a joy to watch. He's sensitive and kind in some instances, ferocious in others.

The movie is close to two and a half hours, but it requires every second. To properly tell the story of Fawcett's journey — and make you fully understand his obsession with Z — we need to chronicle most of his adult life: being a cartographer in Brazil in the 1900s, going on one of his first expeditions to find Z, fighting in World War I, and going on his fatal final quest to find the lost city with his son, Jack (played by the new Spider-Man, Tom Holland).

The lengthy running time is also needed to delve into Fawcett's home life with his wife, Nina (Sienna Miller), and growing family. In another movie, this part would be omitted or stripped to brief moments, but Gray details Nina's struggles as she deals with Fawcett going off to explore and leaving her to care for their children. Still, she champions him, even at one point pleading to go with him.

If there's a movie so far this year you need to see on the big screen, it's this one. Its rich story, performances, and lush visuals should be taken in at the theater, where you can fully immerse yourself.

Then go see it again. I plan to.

SEE ALSO: 33 documentaries on Netflix right now that will make you smarter

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NOW WATCH: Ellen DeGeneres is selling her Santa Barbara mansion for $45 million — take a look inside

Gretchen Carlson took on Fox News in a $20 million sexual harassment lawsuit that led to the ousting of the network's chairman and CEO Roger Ailes this summer.

Speaking on a panel at the Women in the World Summit in New York City on Thursday, the former TV anchor shared her advice on dealing with sexual harassment at work.

She recommended trying to maintain records on as much of the abuse as possible, whether it's journaling, telling someone, or recording interactions with the perpetrator.

"Gathering evidence is just crucial if you find yourself in this type of a situation," she said, "because we still live in a he-said, she-said culture, unfortunately, and they're not going to believe you."

Carlson said checking the recording laws for each state is crucial, though, because in some — including California — it's a felony to record someone without their permission.

She recorded her interactions with Ailes, and ultimately used them to prove her case in the lawsuit, which she settled with Fox News in September. Her story encouraged a dozen other women to come forward and allege that they had been sexually harassed by Ailes, too, including the network's former star anchor Megyn Kelly.

Carlson said speaking out about harassment will help prevent it from happening, too. But many employers include secret arbitration clauses in their contracts, she said, which waive employees' rights to a trial if sexual harassment escalates to a lawsuit. These clauses often keep women from talking about their experiences.

"That is by far the biggest problem," she said. "We're fooling our culture into thinking that we've come so far. Why? Because we're not hearing about it!"

Carlson's coming out with a book to walk women through the process of combatting workplace sexual harassment that will share women's testimonials. She said she also wants Congress to pass laws to address harassment, like making it easier to report or prosecute cases, emphasizing that this is an issue anyone can get behind.

"When somebody is going to sexually harass you, they don't ask you beforehand, 'Are you a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent?' No, they just harass you," she said. "This should not be a political issue. This should be something that every single person cares about — I don't care what political party you're in."

SEE ALSO: Megyn Kelly: An 'underground army of women' at Fox News helped oust Roger Ailes for sexual harassment

DON'T MISS: The timeline of Roger Ailes' downfall

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NOW WATCH: Animated map shows the gender pay gap in every state

President Donald Trump was on board Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida, when he stumbled upon members of the media watching the movie, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

According to ABC reporter Alex Mallin, journalists from the press cabin neglected to turn off the in-flight entertainment, and photographed Trump with the critically acclaimed movie in the background.

Here are some photos from the press cabin of Air Force One.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer was also photographed during the in-flight entertainment.

Since then, the images have been making waves across social media, and have been edited to include screenshots from other films on television's screen.

Here's a clip of Trump answering a question on whether Syria President Bashar al-Assad should leave power after his alleged chemical attack:

SEE ALSO: Trump strategist Steve Bannon reportedly once tried to get Mel Gibson to make a mutant Nazi movie

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NOW WATCH: Watch Trump's budget director explain proposed cuts for after-school programs that feed children

The studio and filmmakers behind the successful "Conjuring" franchise are being sued by an author for $900 million. The three films in the franchise grossed $886 million at the global box office, and two more films are on the way. You can read the entire filing here. 

Author Gerald Brittle wrote a book about the Warrens in 1980 called "The Demonologist." Brittle claims that he had an exclusive agreement with Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators whose case files are dramatized in the "Conjuring" movies.

Warner Brothers Pictures made its own deal with the Warrens, which lead to the production of "The Conjuring," "The Conjuring 2," and "Annabelle."

What makes the suit more interesting than your standard Hollywood contract dispute is the aspect dealing with the movie studio's claim that the "Conjuring" movies weren't based on Brittle's book, and that they are indeed based on "historical facts." Brittle says that can't be possible because he (and other skeptics) posits that the Warrens' case files about paranormal and supernatural activity are fabricated.

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The advertising exodus from Bill O'Reilly's Fox News show is having an impact on the format of the program itself.

Fewer commercials have aired during "O'Reilly Factor, according to TVNewser. About 13 minutes and 35 seconds worth of commercials had aired on Wednesday's program — about 5 minutes less than Monday's show. 

Amid the withdrawals, Fox News' ad sales chief said commercial spots that were moved out of O'Reilly's timeslot were programmed to other shows on the network, but that strategy may also change if the exodus continues to gain steam.

"I think that if the public and if advertisers continue to push on their beliefs and move away from O’Reilly, then Fox News may also follow suit," said Mimi Chakravorti, the executive director of a brand consulting firm, in an interview with TVNewser. "It’s a difficult decision because advertising isn’t the only way they make their money, but it’s a significant way in which they make their money."

This structural shift comes after around 50 advertisers pulled their commercials from O'Reilly's time slot in the last few days.

Despite a scorching New York Times report that claimed five women received more than $13 million in settlments over allegations of sexual harassment against O'Reilly, the show still managed to draw the attention of more than 3.76 million people on Tuesday — a 20% bump from the previous week — according to data from Nielsen Media Research cited by Variety. 

"We value our partners and are working with them to address their current concerns about the O’Reilly Factor," Paul Rittenberg, executive vice president of sales, said in a statement to Business Insider. 

SEE ALSO: 'We value our partners': Fox News responds to growing list of advertisers who have dropped 'The O'Reilly Factor'

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NOW WATCH: A reporter asked Spicer if he’s confident that no one in the White House is a foreign agent

Bassem Youssef is a former physician who became a satirist and comedian after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. He rose to prominence on YouTube and later Egyptian TV, where he satirized both the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi. His new book is called "Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring." Here he explains how Jon Stewart, former host of "The Daily Show," became his inspiration. 

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In a new interview with Brooklyn magazine, actor and comedian Taran Killam opens up about President Donald Trump's turn as host of "Saturday Night Live" in November 2015.

Killam was a cast member on "SNL" from 2008 to 2016, and you can see him now on Broadway as King George III in "Hamilton." He doesn't have fond memories of Trump's appearance on the sketch show, which faced a lot of media backlash.

"It was not fun, and most of the cast and writers were not excited to have him there," Killam said. "I didn't get the feeling that he was excited to be there, and it felt like a move for ratings from both sides."

When asked whether Trump was "unpleasant," Killam said: "He was ... everything you see. What you see is what you get with him, really. I mean, there was no big reveal. He struggled to read at the table read, which did not give many of us great confidence. Didn't get the jokes, really. He's just a man who seems to be powered by bluster."

The 2015 episode that Trump hosted was critically panned. And while the ratings were above average, they weren't record-breaking.

SEE ALSO: Here are all 34 TV reboots and spin-offs coming out in 2017

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NOW WATCH: Ellen DeGeneres is selling her Santa Barbara mansion for $45 million — take a look inside

Jimmy Kimmel couldn't mask his sadness after hearing about the death of comedian Don Rickles on Thursday.

"I'm going to tell you upfront, I'm going to cry, I'm already crying, which is embarrassing," Kimmel started Friday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" "I'm not good at this sort of thing."

And true to his word, Kimmel was tearing up.

"He was 90 years old," the host continued. "And I know it's crazy to say he was too young. But he was because he was youthful and funny and sharp and generous. And I was fortunate enough to not only have Don on this show as my guest, but also to become close to him and his wife, Barbara, which was a lot of fun for me."

After explaining how much he looked up to Rickles as a kid growing up in Las Vegas, the host shared several stories about the late comedian, including his being able to book Rickles for the first time on his birthday in 2006.

"It was exciting," Kimmel said. "It was like I was in some talk-show host fantasy camp, sitting behind a desk while Don Rickles made fun of me. It was like being a real talk-show host for a minute."

According to Kimmel, Rickles made a total of 18 appearances on the show. The show put together a video tribute of the famous insult comedian's guesting on it.

Watch the tribute below:

SEE ALSO: Jimmy Kimmel thinks he knows the real reason behind Ivanka Trump's White House office

DON'T MISS: Jimmy Kimmel brutally mocks Trump in Oscars opening

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NOW WATCH: 'Check my pulse' — Hillary Clinton addresses rumors about her health on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

Before “Mad Men” premiered in 2007 — an astonishing 10 whole years ago this summer — AMC was known as the channel that plays old movies. But the network really stepped up its game and left its own imprint on the so-called golden age of television.

While AMC hasn't had another Emmy-sweeping hit like "Mad Men" or "Breaking Bad" since those shows finished, it has continued to make innovative shows that focus on great writing and acting, like "Better Call Saul," which has its season-three premiere on Sunday. Some AMC shows are good, but some of them, as it goes with any network, are total duds. 

We took to Metacritic, which aggregates reviews and assigns each season of a show a score based on them, to rank every AMC scripted series according to critics. We included every scripted show, but left out unscripted series like "Talking Dead," "Rdie with Norman Reedus," and "The Pitch." 

Here's every AMC show ranked from worst to best, according to critics: 

SEE ALSO: Every HBO show ranked from worst to best, according to critics

19. "The Prisoner" (2009), one-season miniseries

Metacritic Score: 45

"This reimagined version, which feels a bit old hat in a post-Matrix fantasy landscape, is more leaden, pretentious, and solemn, a tone embodied by [Jim] Caviezel’s brooding Six, who’s more dour than dashing." —TV Guide 

18. "Feed the Beast" (2016), one season

Metacritic Score: 46

"Answers are sacrificed in 'Feed the Beast’s' quest to be 18 different things at once: a Bourdain-esque tale of bad-boy chefs made good, a gritty crime drama, a superhero show, a touching tale of familial reception." —The Atlantic

17. "Into the Badlands" (2015-), two seasons

Metacritic Score: 54 (rating for season two not available yet)

"Beneath the veneer is nothing but cliches loosely stitched together. Actor Daniel Wu, however, does what he can." —Entertainment Weekly

Stephen Colbert has tackled the many twists surrounding White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon over the last few days.

This week, the White House announced that Bannon had been removed from the National Security Council by President Donald Trump. It said the former Breitbart News editor was there to suss out holdovers from President Barack Obama's administration and he had achieved his goal.

“I’m not sure if he accomplished his goal,” Colbert said on Thursday's "Late Show." “There are still some Muslims in America.”

Soon after the announcement, reports began to proliferate about a power struggle between Bannon and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who sources claimed was behind Bannon's removal from the National Security Council.

"How many jobs does that kid have?" Colbert asked about Kushner.

Colbert shared one report of the clash between the two men, which said that Bannon refers to Kushner as a "cuck" behind his back. The host then gave Bannon, who reportedly threatened to quit if he was removed from the council, a dose of his own medicine.

"Wait a second, Steve Bannon, you threatened to quit if you got kicked off the National Security Council, then you got kicked off and you didn’t quit? That’s a TCM bro,” Colbert said as the words "Total Cuck Move" appeared on the screen between two pictures of Bannon's head.

Watch Colbert slam Bannon in the video below:

SEE ALSO: Samantha Bee: Why Ivanka Trump is not 'your secret progressive buddy'

DON'T MISS: Seth Meyers examines the relationship between Trump and Fox News, his 'propaganda arm'

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NOW WATCH: 'How is a white supremacist the chief adviser?': Letterman rips Trump's key team members

The vast majority of college students have access to Netflix, even if they don't have their own account, and that bodes well for the future of the streaming juggernaut.

In a new survey of US college students, commissioned by LendEDU, only 8% of respondents said they didn't have a Netflix account. That means that a whopping 92% have Netflix. That stat jives with recent research on US teens by Piper Jaffray, which found that 37% of them watch Netflix every day. Significantly, Netflix's big competitors, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, came in way below Netflix at just 3% each for daily viewing.

This all doesn't mean young people actually pay for Netflix, however. 54% of college respondents to LendEDU's study said they use a friend’s or family member’s account, and 5% said they used an account owned by their significant other or ex.

Only 34% said they had their own account. But that might not be such a big deal for Netflix, which has always taken a hands-off approach to password sharing.

In June, Netflix gave this statement to Business Insider about password sharing: “As long as they aren’t selling them, members can use their passwords however they please.” (Netflix does limit the number of concurrent streams.)

And in October, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said he had no plans to change the company's lax attitude. "Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with, because there's so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids ... so there's no bright line, and we're doing fine as is," he said.

One reason for that is because if you are a young person watching Netflix every day (37%), when you age into a time when you might pay, you're more likely to pony up the cash. You're addicted to Netflix, after all.

Indeed, last year, research on Netflix users by Jefferies found that "almost half of the respondents that share a password to access the service indicated that they would pay for their own subscription if they were no longer able to share an account."

SEE ALSO: Here are all the confirmed original shows coming to Netflix in 2017

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Before he made it big on "Mad Men," actor Jon Hamm went back to his roots, returning to his old St. Louis high school to work as a drama teacher for two years.

Hamm told Wealthsimple that it was one of the jobs he's held that taught him the most.

He said:

"It was a really progressive school—I felt that they had done so much to set me on a creative course, it was only fair to find a way to pay them back a little.

"I didn't have a multimillion-dollar foundation or anything, so I decided I wanted to just give my time in a direct and personal way."

However, the job came with some drawbacks, too.

"The downside is that teachers in general are pretty under-respected and underpaid," he told Wealthsimple. "That's a real drag."

Having worked in education, Hamm discussed his own feelings about improvements to be made in the field — and society at large.

"Investing in higher teacher salaries is one of the most obvious things we could do to improve life in our society," he said.

When it comes to paying teachers, the US ranks fifth in the world, according to data from the OECD. However, the wage gap between public school teachers and individuals in comparable professions yawns wider every year in the US, with teachers earning 17% less than their counterparts in other fields. As one woman wrote on Teachers United — in an essay republished in full by the Washington Post— "I love my students, I love my job, and I feel fulfilled. But I'm broke."

Today, having found what he calls "a little success," Hamm has established a college scholarship for John Burroughs students named after his mother, to thank the school for fostering his own creative ambitions.

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We all knew it was coming — we just didn't know Harry Styles was going to do it this way.

The most famous member of the scarily famous One Direction boy band, which broke up last year and crushed the hearts of young millennials the world over, has finally unleashed his solo debut. It comes on the heels of the successful solo breakout album from Zayn Malik, fellow 1Der, who more or less followed in the moody-R&B-heartthrob path of Justin Timberlake and Nick Jonas (albeit getting moodier than either of those guys).

Harry Styles' new solo single, "Sign of the Times," is another beast altogether. It's not even structured like a normal pop single. At nearly six minutes long, it's far too long for the tastes of radio programmers, who prefer their tunes bite-sized at around three minutes (and, yes, radio still matters in 2017). It also starts with a hushed piano intro, before crashing into its pre-chorus and chorus and then going out on an extended outro in which Styles wails, "We got to get away!"

The power-ballad is already being compared to David Bowie, though to my ears, it also sounds like the orchestral-arrangements-and-guitar-thrashing bombast of Queen. Of all the things to sell in 2017, a classic-rock throwback would not be top of mind for most music executives, but there it is.

For some, however, Styles' new song will bring to mind another recently dead and beloved British singer: George Michael. Adele sang a mournful tribute to Michael at the Grammys this year, and in his solo work, the ex-Wham! member indeed tackled some weighty, even tragic material.

At least in his plainspoken, emotional vocal delivery, Styles brings that George Michael spirit to "Sign of the Times," which starts with the unsettling statement, "Stop your crying, it's a sign of the times / Welcome to the final show / Hope you're wearing your best clothes."

Styles sings about running from "bullets." His song could be about a lot of things in 2017 — global uncertainty, violence, or just tortured love. Like the best pop music, it's specific, but it's also universally applicable to the millions of people Styles hopes will consume it, possibly while shedding tears in their bedrooms.

It's a gamble. Surely Styles and his manager hope that he can capture some of the same commercial magic as Adele with her balladry, though he doesn't have the same proven vocal chops. Either way, "Sign of the Times" is a bold, brilliant, and fresh take on how to be a recovering boy-band boy wonder.

By the end of the song, you might ask yourself, "One Direction who?"

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Friday new rules for the Oscars going forward, and the one that jumped off the press release is that multi-part documentaries will no longer be eligible.

That means this year's Oscar winner for best documentary feature, ESPN's "O.J.: Made in America," will be the first and last multi-part doc to win the coveted award.

Part of ESPN's "30 for 30" series, the five-part documentary directed by Ezra Edelman is a groundbreaking work. The nearly eight-hour film (shown in theaters and broadcast as a series) looks at the rise and fall of NFL Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson while also delving into the social and racial unrest in Los Angeles. The two storylines converge when Simpson is found not guilty for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Before the Oscar win, "Made in America" won numerous critics awards, but talk also began to circulate within the industry at the time about whether it should be eligible alongside other feature nonfiction nominees.

Edelman and ESPN have always said since they unveiled the documentary in a marathon screening of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival that the intention was to make a movie. The project just got bigger as Edelman continued to work on it.

Edelman defended the movie's Oscar eligibility to Business Insider during a Facebook Live interview before Oscar nominations were announced. 

"I find it amusing partly because the intention was very pure from the get-go," Edelman said. "I wanted to make a very long movie and so that it was funded and was commissioned by a television network, okay, so does anything that Netflix does, so does anything that Amazon does, it’s no different. The only thing that’s different about this is it’s long. So for me, that it aired on TV and it’s almost eight hours long, it’s hard if you’re a commercial television company to air something that is eight hours straight, so that’s why it aired the way it did. I think it’s a little bit of a mischaracterization or somewhat unfair because the movie’s the movie, the intent was very pure. By the away it was released in theaters before it was ever on TV. It was built as a theatrical experience."

To become eligible for the best-documentary category, movies need a weeklong run in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles and must be reviewed by the New York Times and LA Times. ESPN hit that bar for "Made in America."  

However, the new rule will not allow producers of multi-part documentaries to book their projects in theaters for Oscar consideration.

Watch our entire Facebook Live chat with Edelman:

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