That was quick.

Deadline reported this week that DreamWorks Animation and Hasbro were in talks to create a combined family entertainment company that would be called DreamWorks-Hasbro, and said the deal is at least 60 days away from being finalized. 

But according to Variety, citing sources, those talks are now over. The sources say that the reason the talks ended was because of the unfavorable reception Wall Street gave the news on Wednesday.

Analysts were wary of the possibility, saying that the move made little sense for Hasbro, among other concerns. 

"We don't see a plausible argument for why HAS would pay 41% of its current market capitalization for a company which, according to its CEO is facing serious challenges," media analyst Vasily Karasyov of Sterne Agee wrote. "Films profitability continues to decline and the ramp in consumer product revenue the bulls hoped for isn't coming: the revenue stream is down 21% so far in 2014." 

Neither of the companies officially confirmed to Variety that the talks ended.

This isn't the first time that DreamWorks merger talks ended right after they began. In September, Japan's SoftBank was rumored to be interested in purchasing the animation studio. But talks apparently slowed down soon after. 

SEE ALSO: Comcast Offers A Peek Into How It Wants To Dominate Everyone's Living Room

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Uber will announce a partnership with Spotify on Monday, reports The New York Times' Mike Issac.

The partnership will reportedly let Uber customers listen to music from their own Spotify playlists after they order and get in their vehicle.

The technical details of how Uber and Spotify intend to accomplish that feature remain unclear.

The news comes as some journalists received an invite to an Uber event featuring a yet-to-be-named guest

That event teased a "first-of-its-kind partnership." 

Spotify has been in the news lately, not always in a positive light. The streaming service has become embattled in a public dispute with Taylor Swift, who recently removed her catalogue from Spotify over allegations that she was underpaid.

SEE ALSO: Here's How Much Taylor Swift Made In One Year From Streaming On Spotify

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The world of competitive gaming, or e-sports, doesn't require the players to get up out of their seats. But that doesn't mean the players don't sweat. Or make a ton of money. 

One of the biggest names in the e-sports realm right now is a 22-year-old named Matt Haag, who is better known as "Nadeshot." He's a master at "Call of Duty," and he's part of a team, called OpTic Gaming. He's even sponsored by Red Bull. 

And just three years ago he was flipping burgers at a McDonald's, according to an excellent profile of Haag by the New York Times' Conor Dougherty. 

But playing video games is serious work. He and his teammates practice for hours a day, Dougherty writes. Haag is monitored by a "sports technologist" to check out the effects of video gaming on his brain. And he has a nutritionist to help him plan healthy meals and to make sure that he's getting enough exercise, according to the Times. 

That's not out of the ordinary when it comes to the competitive online gaming world, where there's big money to be made. A team of kids from Korea won $1 million for playing another popular game, "League of Legends." Millions of people around the world watched them do it. 

And much like other gamers who have found fame via social media and sites like Twitch, which Amazon bought earlier this year for close to $1 billion, Haag makes money from video streams as well as sponsorship deals and tournament wins. In fact he'll probably make around $700,000 just from his YouTube site, the Times reports. And Major League Gaming signed him to stream exclusively on their site. Together with the money he makes at tourneys and from his sponsorship, he's on track to making $1 million, the Times says.

Haag has more than 1 million followers on YouTube, and it's easy to see why. His videos range from gaming sessions to personal peeks into his life to late-night food cravings, and everything in between. 

Still, as it goes with sudden shots to the top of stardom, there's always the worry that it can be gone in an instant. 

“I think about my future probably at least 10 times a day,” he told the NYT. “I think about what if this all goes away one day? What if for some reason people just aren’t in your live stream tomorrow? What if people aren’t clicking on your YouTube videos tomorrow? What if your team doesn’t work out and you’re not performing that well and you have to quit competitively? What happens when you can’t compete anymore and you want to retire because you’re going insane?”

Read the rest of the profile in the New York Times here>>

SEE ALSO: Nintendo is making one huge mistake

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Michael Douglas finished filming Marvel's upcoming superhero movie "Ant-Man" over the weekend. 

To celebrate, the actor shared a few photos of himself with his long-time stunt double, Mike Runyard, from throughout their career together. According to Douglas, Runyard has been his stuntman for 26 years. 

In that time, the two have become close friends and even golfing partners.

Take a look at their similar side-by-side photos from throughout the years.

Here are Douglas and Runyard on the set of next summer's "Ant-Man."

Runyard and Douglas are face-to-face on set of Ridley Scott's 1989 movie, "Black Rain."

Finally, here are the two in 1997's "The Game."

SEE ALSO: Marvel showed footage for "Ant-Man" and "The Avengers" sequel at New York Comic Con and fans loved it

AND: The most sought-after stunt doubles in Hollywood

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Michael Douglas finished filming Marvel's upcoming superhero movie "Ant-Man" over the weekend. 

To celebrate, the actor shared a few photos of himself with his long-time stunt double, Mike Runyard, from throughout their career together. According to Douglas, Runyard has been his stuntman for 26 years. 

In that time, the two have become close friends and even golfing partners.

Take a look at their similar side-by-side photos from throughout the years.

Here are Douglas and Runyard on the set of next summer's "Ant-Man."

Runyard and Douglas are face-to-face on set of Ridley Scott's 1989 movie, "Black Rain."

Finally, here are the two in 1997's "The Game."

SEE ALSO: Marvel showed footage for "Ant-Man" and "The Avengers" sequel at New York Comic Con and fans loved it

AND: The most sought-after stunt doubles in Hollywood

Join the conversation about this story »

If you think video games are big now, just think how big they would be if we reached the point of truly immersive virtual reality.

In this future, playing a video game would feel like you were actually questing through mystical lands, racing sports cars, or fighting with guns, all without the possibility of physical harm. Everyone would play video games, and elite gamers would play in school or professional leagues, and star players would be celebrities.

This vision is the premise of "Video Game High School," a Kickstarter-backed show that is being promoted as part of a huge YouTube ad campaign. The first episode currently has around 12 million views on YouTube and a rabid fan base. Now in its third season, the show can also be seen at the home of RocketJump Studios as well as Netflix and other paid streaming sites.

"VGHS" is smart, funny, ambitious, and well-made, so it's no wonder that it's blowing up. For a preview, check out the highlights in our Episode One Spoilers.

Sometime in the future, there's a kid named Brian Doheny who doesn't have a lot of friends. In this picture, bullies are about to steal his digital possessions.

Brian lives with his single mother who is addicted to video games, living her whole life in some alternate reality.

The kid gets his kicks playing first-person shooters, and right now he's hurrying to join a game that started without him.

America has been captivated by the new podcast "Serial"— a week-by-week breakdown of a murder case that was supposedly solved more than a decade ago.

"Serial" is a spinoff of "This American Life." Instead of talking about several stories in one episode, each season will follow only one story.

For the first season, journalist Sarah Koenig is diving into the murder of Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee. She was murdered in January 1999, and her body was found in a shallow grave in a park about a month later.

Her ex-boyfriend and classmate, Adnan Syed, was eventually convicted of her murder. He has always proclaimed his innocence, and Koenig is exploring whether he's telling the truth.

Police charged Adnan with Hae's murder after his friend Jay, a former classmate of Hae's and Adnan's, told police that Adnan told him about the murder and enlisted his help in burying Hae's body.

"Serial" has a big audience on Reddit, and Redditors have created an entire subreddit dedicated to discussing their theories and trying to determine who killed Hae.

We've complied some of the best theories surrounding the case.

Warning: Spoilers below.

Theory #1: Adnan hired Jay to kill Hae, and Jay turned on him.

Many "Serial" fans believe Jay is more involved in Hae's death than he let on.

Jay knew details about Hae's manner of death and burial that suggested he was involved in some way. He claims he just got dragged into the aftermath of the murder by Adnan, but some think he was also involved in her murder — not just burying her body.

Redditor zmachine52 explains:

Adnan had/hired/convinced/coerced/ etc. Jay to kill Hae.

Does this solve all of the issues?

They are both guilty. Therefore neither can implicate one another. Jay cuts a plea deal to get himself off the hook, meanwhile Adnan is able to (somewhat) plausibly deny much of [the] issues at hand, yet would still be guilty of murder 1, if discovered.

This could help explain the the timeline issues, the character issues, the "alibi", Jay's inconsistent stories (as he had to work Adnan into the story to cut his plea), the burial, the shovels, the car, cleaning the items, etc.

Basically a good dude somehow convinced a shady friend to commit murder for him. They are essentially both guilty, but one was able to plea out. The other is caught in a catch 22 but with lots of plausible deniability.

This is an interesting theory, but it doesn't quite explain why Adnan wouldn't turn on Jay once he figured out that Jay sold him out to the police.

Theory #2: Jay and his friend Jenn did it.

Redditor justforserial argues that Jay and Jenn, a friend of his and Adnan's, might have committed the murder.

Justforserial theorizes that Jay and Jenn might have been carrying on an affair behind Jay's girlfriend Stephanie's back and Hae knew about it. Therefore, the pair killed Hae to shut her up.

Here's the theory:

Hae knows that Jenn and Jay are together behind Stephanie’s back and they are both worried she will expose them. At some point during this time Jenn pages Hae. Hae calls her back from a phone at the school. Jenn asks her to meet her at the Best Buy parking lot so that they can talk. Jay agrees to the plan because he doesn’t want Hae to expose their secret. Jenn and Jay drive together to best buy.

At 2:36 Adnan uses the phone in the library or a pay phone near the library and tries his own phone again to reach Jay and Jay answers but immediately hangs up the call. Right after this time Asia sees Adnan in the library and they start talking.

Hae meets Jenn and Jay in the parking lot, she’s surprised to see Jay because she expected it just to be Jenn. Jenn and Jay get into Hae’s car. Hae is sitting in the driver’s seat, Jenn in the front seat and Jay in the back. The interaction starts as a conversation but escalates quickly. Jay and Jenn hadn’t intended to kill Hae, but they had had a conversation that if she wouldn’t agree to keep quiet they would kill her. They had intended at first just to scare her and intimidate her into keeping their secret. However, Hae is strong willed and she argues back about how Stephanie is one of her best friends and she is going to tell her no matter what they say. Jay sees red, because Hae is threatening his relationship, and he reaches around her neck and strangles her in the car. Jenn holds down Hae’s arms while she is being strangled, and this is when she kicks the blinker off.

Justforserial also has explanations for the various other cellphone calls from Adnan's phone that occur before and after the murder, but this theory as a whole seems farfetched.

Theory #3: Adnan is a psychopath.

While listening to "Serial," it's important to keep in mind that we don't know everything. We've been given a lot of information about the case, but there are also many people we haven't heard from, including some of Adnan's friends.

Someone who claims to have known Adnan growing up writes on Reddit that several of Adnan's former friends saw psychopathic tendencies in him. Because the Muslim community Adnan grew up in is so tight-knit, according to this person, those who were close to Adnan might have been afraid to speak out over fear of retribution from their community.

So, although Adnan seems charming and smart when he talks to Koenig, and she has admitted that she thinks he's a good guy and likes talking to him, some still think he's guilty and has managed to manipulate those around him. Friends of his might have been reluctant to come forward with their true feelings about Adnan over fear of being ostracized from their community for implicating Adnan in Hae's murder, the theory goes.

Redditor swframe666 explains why Adnan had to be the killer:

The one fact that is not in dispute is that Jay knows too much about the crime and has communicated his knowledge about it in a way that strongly supports that he knows the killer. The killer isn't an unknown person.

I think there is only one source of information that we need to review. It is the statements that Adnan makes about what he and Jay did together. Adnan statements indicates that he was with Jay that day and Adnan is the only person with Jay that doesn't have a strong alibi. And Jay's information very strongly indicates that he was with the killer that day.

The logistics of the cars, shovels and cell phone strongly indicates there was another person involved and the only other person that could have been involved is Adnan. To happen in a short time frame, the murder had to have been premeditated. The car and cellphone exchange means that it couldn't have been spontaneous. Another person couldn't have gotten to Hae so quickly given they would not have known that the car and cellphone was going to be exchanged that day. In addition, no other person Jay is in contact with that day is known to be involved with Hae.

Hae had to have been killed just after school and had to have been killed by someone she knew and trusted. Given the short time frame, Adnan is the only one who could have gotten that close to Hae that quickly. There is no evidence that Jay could have killed Hae so quickly and easily given that they are not known to be close friends.

I think Jay's testimony is inconsistent because he is an accomplice and he is trying to frame the events in a way that doesn't implicate himself. I think Adnan didn't turn on Jay because Adnan didn't think he would lose the case.

I don't know Adnan's motives. I don't know why Adnan would pick someone who he was not close to help cover up a murder. Jay turned on Adnan very quickly. I don't think any other facts matter because Jay must know the killer, must have been involved in the murder and the only other person with Jay is Adnan.

This is certainly possible, since psychopathy generally makes people more predisposed to committing violent crimes. But psychopaths are also very rare. One expert has estimated they account for only 1% of the US population.

Theory #4: Adnan was trying to frame Jay for the murder.

Many have speculated Adnan and Jay were in it together. Jay knew a lot of intimate details about the murder and admitted to police that he helped Adnan bury Hae in Leakin Park.

Redditor miketetzu's goes a step further and reasons that Adnan was trying to frame Jay and Jay figured it out, which is why he sold Adnan out to the police:

Adnan murdered Hae, and Adnan's plan was to set Jay up for the murder. However, something happened: perhaps Jay got nervous, perhaps Adnan let something slip, or they had a falling out of sorts. Jay decided to sell Adnan out before Adnan sold him out, hence Adnan's "you're pathetic" aside at trial.

There are a lot of things that led me here, such as:

i. People say Jay and Adnan weren't good friends, and Adnan states this, too. So why does Jay have Adnan's cell phone, and why are they hanging out so often around the time of the murder? (Answer: Adnan planned to set Jay up for the crime, and so had to get close to Jay in order to get him involved.)

ii. Why doesn't Jay come forward right away, a question asked by the cops as well? (Answer: Jay initially doesn't come forward because he thinks he and Adnan are in it together, but subsequently gets nervous.)

iii. Why doesn't Adnan call Hae after her death? (Answer: Because he knows she's dead, obviously. This is just common sense, has nothing to do with my theory.)

iv. How does The Nisha Call fit into the theory? (Answer: I don't think this is something we can completely know, but I have two guesses: one is that the call was an accident by Adnan around the time of the murder. He realizes this is a potential problem for him, and so weeks later has Jay talk to Nisha from his cell phone to corroborate that Jay and Nisha once spoke from Adnan's cell phone. I don't think he thought this through all the way, but the reality is that it DOES muddle things; it doesn't have to exonerate him in order to help him. The second guess: Jay makes the call intentionally on the day of the murder, since the other six calls are to people he knows, so Adnan can't say he wasn't with them. Perhaps Jay makes the call and hands the phone to Adnan, who is not at practice, or maybe Jay makes the call and pretends to be someone else. Maybe Jay pretends to be the pizza man to Nisha’s mom. Adnan realizes the problem with this later after reviewing his call log, and see above for how he deals with it.)

v. As a statement: I also feel like this theory explains Jay's constantly changing stories. Jay realizes, either via conversations with the police that we're not aware of yet, or just as a sense, that he might be able to get off completely free and clear. He understands that he can pin the whole thing on Adnan, and slowly works his way to THAT story through the reactions of the detectives.

This theory seems a little wild, but it's not implausible that Jay was involved in Hae's death since he knew so much about her murder.

Theory #5: Jay killed Hae on his own.

This is another popular theory — that Jay acted alone and killed Hae, and that Adnan wasn't involved at all. Adnan has claimed innocence all along.

Reddit drae27 lays out this scenario:

Jay is the local pot dealer. Adnan gives Hae is new cell number the 12th. Adnan sees Hae in school the next day and she hears that Jay has Adnan's car/cell because he is going to buy Stephanie a present. Hae contacts Jay and arranges to meet after school to buy pot. They could have met anywhere. It doesn't have to be Best Buy, but maybe it is. Something bad goes down between Hae and Jay. She confronts him about Stephanie or he comes on to her and in the struggle of fighting him off it gets violent and he strangles her. The Nisha call happens as a "butt" dial in the struggle. Or Jay is trying to call Jen and makes a mistake. (Is there anyway of knowing the speed dial number for Nisha? Does Jen or anyone else's number start with the same number?) Jay leaves the car wherever the incident happened (maybe puts Hae in trunk). Jay goes to pick up Adnan, they get high, go see Kathy, get Adnan to the Mosque, drop Jay off at Jenn's. Jay tells Jenn what happened and asks for help. Either they bury Hae later that night or move the car and do it at another time, possibly with help from a third person.

I don't see this scenario contradicting the call logs. Some will say, why would Jay try to pin it on Adnan when he gets called in since Adnan might have an alibi? My impression of Jay is that he is desperate, a bullshit artist, not too smart and a burn out. It wouldn't surprise me if he just took a stab at it and got lucky.

The motive for Jay is thin, but he is the person most connected to Hae's death other than Adnan.

Theory #6: A serial killer murdered Hae.

Some Redditors have latched onto the theory that Hae's killer was a repeat offender who isn't one of the main players mentioned in the podcast so far.

About six months before Hae was murdered, another teenager from Woodlawn, Jada Denita Lambert, was found strangled and left in a stream in Baltimore. When Hae's body was found, The Baltimore Sun noted the similarities between the two cases and said police would not confirm whether or not they were investigating a link between the two cases.

One significant difference, though, is that Jada was raped and Hae was not.

Police charged a man with Jada's death in 2003. He was 49-year-old convicted robber Roy S. Davis.

Here's Redditor Irkeley's theory about Davis as a suspect:

Wild speculation...

Let's say Adnan is innocent and Jay is lying under threat of drug arrest - then someone else killed Hae Min Lee. In a comment here on reddit it was mentioned that an early news article covering the Lee murder stated that the police had no comment on whether the Lee murder was connected to a murder that happened in Woodlawn seven months earlier (May 1998):

"Authorities would not say whether they are investigating a link between Lee's death and last year's strangulation of Jada Denita Lambert, an 18-year-old Woodlawn woman whose body was found in May in a stream in Northeast Baltimore. Lambert disappeared while driving to work at Mondawmin Mall. No arrest has been made in the case. "

At the time of Adnan's conviction, the 1998 Lambert murder was still unsolved and there were no suspects. Researching the Lambert murder I think it has some similarities to the Lee murder. The victim was 18 years old, she was raped and then murdered by strangulation, and her body was dumped in a stream in Herring Run Park, Baltimore. She was last seen driving home from (or to) the DMV (or work), and she lived on Woodgreen circle in Woodlawn. There were no suspects and the case was unsolved until 2002, when police made a positive DNA match to a guy who was serving time for armed robbery (robbery happened circa april 1999 and he was convicted in june 2000).

The murderer was Roy Sharonnie Davis III, 50, living (at the time) on the 7500 block of Liberty Road in Woodlawn. His criminal record goes back to 1996 and include possession of marijuana, soliciting, making false statement to police, armed robbery, rape and murder.

Since Roy Sharonnie Davis was not convicted until 2002/2004 he was not a suspect during the investigation of the Lee murder in 1999. Could this guy be a potential suspect? From his court records he seemed to be living on the 7500 block of Liberty road during the time of the Lee murder. This address is close to the high school area. By April 1999 he seemed to have moved to a different address (2148 Mt. Royal Terrace).

Roy Sharonnie Davis III is currently serving life in prison for the Lambert murder.

Update: At the time of the murder Roy Sharonnie Davis lived on Hae's route to the daycare. If she took the fastest way there, she must have passed his house. He previously lived one block from the Crown gas station, where the unexplained transaction on Hae's credit card took place. This is a 30 min drive from Woodlawn.

This theory is tempting because it exonerates the people close to Hae, but no solid evidence has been revealed that connects Davis to Hae other than the relative similarities between the two murder cases.

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With over $60 million raised solely through crowdfunding, "Star Citizen" is officially the most successful crowdfunded project of all time.

The game's runaway success is because "Star Citizen" represents the dream video game for many gamers: It's a space exploration game, first-person shooter, and open-world RPG all combined into one.

The ambitious scale of "Star Citizen" means that players can decide how to play the game based on the experiences they'd like to have. For example, you can play as a space pirate, smuggler, bounty hunter, salvager, merchant, spy, information runner, or even enlist in the military.

Basically, you're thrust into a "Star Wars"-esque environment with your very own spaceship and the rest is up to you.

With thrilling dogfights in space, epic battles planet-side, its own economy, and the ability to discover your own star system, "Star Citizen" is on its way to be the biggest game since "World of Warcraft."

You start out in "Star Citizen" with your very own spaceship hangar, where you keep your ship.

Depending on how expensive or large your ship is, there are different hangar styles. This is the industrial hangar.

As you work your way up, you can purchase new ships for specific tasks. This ship, the RSI Aurora, is a ship you get starting out.

Before Matt Damon starred in "Good Will Hunting," he really hit the books at Harvard.

And before James Franco turned on his wild side in "Freaks and Geeks," the math wiz interned at Lockheed Martin.

We rounded up 30 celebrities who are high school valedictorians, Ivy Leaguers, MENSA members, and certified geniuses in their own rights.

These stories of actors, musicians, and TV personalities' brilliance may surprise you.

Allison Williams is more than the smart one on "Girls."

Growing up under Brian Williams' roof, the "Girls" actress wasn't allowed to act professionally until she graduated from college. She studied English and archaeology classes at Yale — taking the kind of classes that make you feel like "lying on the ground thinking about things," she says.

When she didn't get a part in Yale's big musical as a freshman, she joined the improv group instead and found she had dad's comedy genes.

Ashton Kutcher anticipated acceptances to both MIT and Purdue to study engineering.

But the former "Punk'd" host lost his scholarships when he broke into his high school as a prank. He ended up at the University of Iowa, but dropped out at age 19 to pursue modeling. Kutcher now divides his time between acting and smart investing — in companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and Foursquare.

"The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart," Kutcher said at last year's Teen Choice Awards.

Cindy Crawford studied chemical engineering on scholarship at Northwestern University.

Cindy Crawford, who graduated as the valedictorian of her high school class, signed her first modeling contract in 1984. Initially she used the money to supplement her scholarship to attend Northwestern University, but she ditched school to launch her career.

By '85, she appeared in the pages of Vogue, and would go on to become one of the original Big Six supermodels.

Microsoft has been struggling to outsell the PlayStation 4, but things might turn around for the system starting on Black Friday.

Target announced on Monday that it will sell an "Assassin's Creed" bundle of Microsoft's latest console for $329 on Black Friday.

The bundle comes with the newest "Assassin's Creed," called "Unity," as well as the last game in the series, called "Black Flag." Target will also throw in a $50 Target gift card. The regular price for the bundle (sans gift card) is $399.

Then there's the PlayStation bundle, which will also come with two games, "Grand Theft Auto 5" and "The Last of Us." That'll set you back $399. 

That might not sound like a big difference, but Microsoft needs all the help it can get. Sony's console has outsold Microsoft's every month in 2014. 

But there's hope for the Xbox One.

In fact, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter predicted that the Xbox could outsell the PlayStation in September, according to GamesBeat.

The reason for that prediction: Microsoft announced a special promotion in September, giving away any free game between Sept. 7 and 13 with the purchase of a new Xbox One. "I kind of think that free Destiny [on Xbox One] was better than [paying] for Destiny on PS4," Pachter told GamesBeat. 

During that time, you could get an Xbox One with two games for around $400. The same thing for a PS4 was $450.

Pachter's prediction didn't turn out to be true, and the PlayStation again went on to outsell the Xbox in September, according to NPD Group (via GameSpot). But it proves that price could make a big difference when it comes to choosing a console during the holidays.

Microsoft has been struggling to push its console ahead of the PlayStation. It unbundled the Kinect, its motion-sensing device, from the console in June, which dropped the price by $100. That didn't seem to help overall, but Microsoft did say at the time that its sales doubled in the US following the removal of Kinect requirements. 

An even bigger price difference between the two systems during the holidays might finally give the Xbox the boost it needs to come out on top.

SEE ALSO: YouTube Multimillionaire PewDiePie Says He's Happier Now That He's Disabled Comments On His Channel

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Poor reviews didn't mean anything for the "Dumb and Dumber" sequel.

"Dumb and Dumber To," which reunited original stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels 20 years later after the 1994 hit, made an estimated $38 million worldwide.

The Universal movie's budget was a reported $35 million, according to Deadline.

The original film made over $247 million worldwide after its theatrical run.

Disney's "Big Hero 6" came close to taking the top spot at the box office again. The animated picture made $36 million in its second weekend. The film has now made over $148 million in theaters.

Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" rounded out the top three with $29 million in week two . The sci-fi thriller is a big hit overseas. "Interstellar" has already made $321 million worldwide.

SEE ALSO: Jim Carrey was paid 140 times more than Jeff Daniels for original "Dumb and Dumber"

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Fall TV season is well underway. 

While a few new series are coming to air, a few have already received the ax.

If you're bored with the current crop of TV shows, we've picked ten of the best series from around the world that you really shouldn't miss.

Most are available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon.

"Misfits" (UK)

What it's about: The dramedy follows a group of lower-class teenage felons who have been sentenced to community service. On their first day, they develop super powers after getting struck during an electrical storm.

Why you should watch: The strange, dark, risqué and hilarious world of "Misfits" has been a secret among Europeans and Australians for years airing for five seasons through 2013 making for some of the best supernatural TV since "Heroes."

The series won Best Drama Series at the BAFTA Television Awards in 2010. 

Where to watch: Hulu

Watch the trailer.

"Please Like Me" (Australia)

What it's about: The dramedy follows twenty-something Josh Thomas as he comes to the realization he's gay.

Why you should watch: Gently navigating between touching and hilarious, the Australian series is quirky and refreshingly genuine. While it only reached small audiences in Australia, the series has been critically acclaimed in America with reviews referring to it as the "best new TV comedy you've never heard of" and "one of the year's best shows." Millennial network “Pivot" picked it up for at least another two seasons.

Where to watch: Pivot TV

Watch the trailer.

"Luther" (UK)

What it's about: Gritty, dark, and hauntingly cinematic, Luther follows the investigations of Detective Chief Inspector John Luther (Idris Elba).

Why you should watch: The performance by Elba is enough reason to tune into the series. Luther is a blunt instrument consumed by his cases. His best friend for much of the series is a charmingly insane serial killer, Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), who he meets in the series' premiere.

The series' pacing and cinematography knows when to let periods of horror breathe without interruption. 

Where to watch:  Netflix

Watch the trailer.

A sequel to the Farrelly Bros.'s 1994 hit "Dumb and Dumber" hits theaters this weekend. 

Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey will reprise their roles as Harry and Lloyd 20 years later in "Dumb and Dumber To." While both are expected to be receiving hefty paychecks for the followup, the original movie was a different story.

For the first "Dumb" film, Daniels was only paid around $50,000 — far less than his co-star Carrey, who received a $7 million payday.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, writer-directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly revealed how the studio, New Line, initially didn't even want Daniels in the role.

"Jeff Daniels was not the obvious choice because he hadn’t done any, you know, out and out comedies before that," Bobby Farrelly told THR. "He was always comedic in his roles." 

The comedy duo loved him in 1986's action comedy "Something Wild," and they fought for him after seeing his chemistry during script readings with Carrey.

"The studio didn’t want him," Bobby added. "They said, 'Please, anyone but him. Get a comedic actor.'  So they offered him, if I recall, 50 grand, which was, you know, Jim’s getting seven mil, they offered him 50 figuring he’ll say, 'No, I’m not taking that,' but he took it."

Today, Daniels receives $150,000 per episode for HBO’s “The Newsroom,” now in its final season, according to TV Guide.

THR reports Carrey was originally offered $350,000 for the role, but after "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" took off at the box office, that figure eventually snowballed into a $7 million payday. 

"Ace Ventura," released in Feb. 1994 made $12.1 million opening weekend and $107 million worldwide by the end of its theatrical run. 

"As I recall it went something like this, they offered him $350,000 to do the movie and he [Carrey] passed," Peter Farrelly told THR. "He [Carrey] wanted like 400,000. And they held off. And then Ace Ventura came out, which was his first movie and it was number one. ... So then, you know, they said, 'Okay, we’ll give you the 400.' He said, 'No, I want 500.' And then they said, 'No, you’re not getting 500.'"

"Another week passed, Ace was number one again," he added. "And they said, 'We’ll give you five.' 'No, I want 750.' Long story short, it got up to seven million and that’s what he got paid. The whole budget was 16 million and Jim got seven, which was the most ever for any comedic actor."

It paid off as "Dumb and Dumber," released Dec. 1994 opened bigger than "Ace Ventura," scoring $16 million upon debut.

The movie held the number one spot at the box office for four weeks and went on to make over $257 million worldwide on an estimated $17 million budget.

"Dumb and Dumber To," out Friday, cost a reported $35 million to make according to Deadline. Early estimates from Boxoffice.com project the film to break even opening weekend.

The number may be a bit high considering Carrey's attempt big push to return to theaters in the past year didn't go over so well. Warner Bros.'s magician film, "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," also starring Steve Carell bombed making $27.4 million.

The actor hasn't commanded a film with a $30 million opening since 2009 "A Christmas Carol." Carrey's recent hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live" boosted ratings for the comedy variety recently, but he came on a week after the show had its worst ratings ever.

A 2003 prequel to the series, "Dumb and Dumberer," which didn't involve the Farrelly brothers or Carrey and Daniels, made $39.3 million worldwide.

You can read the full Hollywood Reporter interview with the Farrelly brothers here.

SEE ALSO: 11 movie sequels that came out more than 10 years after the original

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Warning: There are some spoilers ahead for season 5 and from the comic book.

"The Walking Dead" fans may have been surprised this season when the new big villains this season, a group of cannibals, were quickly and brutally killed off in episode three.

It seemed like we were in for the long haul (or at least a little while) with this storyline. The leader of the cannibals, Andrew J. West's Gareth, seemed like the successor to the show's previous popular villain, The Governor (David Morrissey). 

The Governor was on the series for two seasons. The cannibal crew lasted about a total of five episodes after heavily being teased over the course of season 4.

Now that they're gone, the group doesn't have any main antagonist. Sure, Beth (Emily Kinney) was taken by a group of mysterious survivors, but they don't seem like any real threat Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his group of survivors can't handle by the close of season 5.

What's next?

Any one who reads the comic knows there's a huge fan favorite villain coming eventually to the series named Negan.

Who's Negan?

If you thought the one-eyed, prison slaughtering Governor was awful, Negan's at least 10 times worse. The character is the leader of a large group of survivors coined "The Saviors" made up of mostly violent men. Negan delivers his own brand of justice with the swing of a bat wrapped in barbed wire he calls Lucille.

"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman confirmed to MTV News in April he's coming eventually.

There's just one problem. 

The character isn't the easiest to bring to life on screen. Negan is known for throwing around the "f-bomb" in nearly every panel of the comic.

While at New York Comic Con last month, we caught up with "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman and asked him when we could expect to see Negan on the series and how the character would be adapted to screen.

It doesn't sound like we should be gearing up to see Negan in the rest of season 5.

"Negan says a word that you can't say on television. I understand that. I think that there are ways around that," Kirkman tells Business Insider. "Luckily, we're not going to have to work that out for some time. I'm not going to say when Negan will possibly show up on the show, but it's not any time soon."

How do you adapt a character who appears virtually unadaptable?

It's not even clear Kirkman's sure yet.

"We'll figure that out along the way," Kirkman added. "Maybe AMC can change the rules on TV."

NOW WATCH: There's A Good Reason 'The Walking Dead' Creator Doesn't Use The Word Zombie

SEE ALSO: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from HBO's hit show "The Wire"

AND: "The Walking Dead" actress tells us the hardest part about season 4

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Sunday night’s episode of “The Walking Dead” revolved around two fan favorites, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride).

The two headed out on a rescue mission to save a kidnapped group member, Beth (Emily Kinney), from another unidentified group of strangers.

Along the way, the two come across a van hanging off a bridge which leads to one of the episode’s huge practical effects.

Last chance to head back before spoilers.

To avoid an oncoming group of zombies, the two jump inside the unstable van, strap on seat belts, and decide to dive headfirst off the bridge while hoping for the best. 

Here’s how the scene plays out in the episode.

You can clearly see the van starts to flip in this first GIF.

However, the scene cuts and in the next shot, viewers see the van crash right side up on all four wheels. 

What happened? The van was clearly ready to flip over, right?

Yes, it was. 

According to “The Walking Dead” after show “The Talking Dead,” the series used a total of four identical vans to complete the scene, two of which made the 50 foot drop.

In a behind-the-scenes featurette on the episode, “The Walking Dead” crew shows how they faked the van crash to make it look like the duo landed pretty safely.

The first time they dropped the van from the bridge, the team attempted to just roll it off after loading the vehicle with a lot of extra weight on the rear end.

That didn’t go as planned. 

The van flipped 180 degrees onto its top.

“The drop itself was a bit of a challenge,” explained co-executive producer Denise Huth in the featurette. “The first drop we did the van landed upside down which we did not want it to do.” 

The team tried it out again a second time in order to get the look they wanted. During a second drop, another van was dropped from a cable.

The second drop gave the crew the shot they needed for Carol and Daryl to survive the crash.

Here's what you end up seeing on the show. 

In case you were wondering, while Carol and Daryl did do some filming in the van, the actors had their own stunt dummies on board for the actual crash to show their point of view.

You can watch the entire featurette below.

SEE ALSO: Here's when the next big villain will appear on "The Walking Dead"

AND: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from "The Wire"

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"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part I" is in theaters this Friday.

Lionsgate's successful franchise based on the best-selling dystopian book series pits Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) against President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland).

However, we could have had very a different movie.

Ahead of the sequel's release, Sutherland told GQ he was never offered the role of the film's callous, collected president. 

Instead, he received the part after reading the series and writing an impassioned three-page letter to director Gary Ross about the character.

Via GQ:

Nobody asked me to do it. I wasn't offered it. I like to read scripts, and it captured my passion. I wrote them a letter. The role of the president had maybe a line in the script. Maybe two. Didn't make any difference. I thought it was an incredibly important film, and I wanted to be a part of it. I thought it could wake up an electorate that had been dormant since the '70s. I hadn't read the books. To be truthful, I was unaware of them. But they showed my letter to the director, Gary Ross, and he thought it'd be a good idea if I did it. He wrote those wonderfully poetic scenes in the rose garden, and they formed the mind and wit of Coriolanus Snow.

The letter, which was written in the form of an email, was made available for fans on the 2012 DVD release of "The Hunger Games" in a segment titled "Letters from the Rose Garden."

It included a discussion on power, Ted Bundy, and the elements of Snow that Sutherland saw as most vital to the film. 

Because the novel is written from Katniss' first-person view, there isn't an opportunity to see anything from the perspective of Snow or his home, the Capitol. Sutherland pointed out the film offered such an opportunity, and Ross agreed. 

Ross' response to the letter inspired three scenes of Snow in his rose gardens during the games.

"That's the relationship you want from an actor and director, where it's a give and take," Ross said on the DVD. "It's collaborative, it's one person offering something to the other who then takes it, extrapolates it, runs with it, give it back to the actor who gives the scene back to me … that's the way filmmaking works best." 

Read Sutherland's letter to Ross in full below:  

Dear Gary Ross: 

Power. That's what this is about? Yes? Power and the forces that are manipulated by the powerful men and bureaucracies trying to maintain control and possession of that power? 

Power perpetrates war and oppression to maintain itself until it finally topples over with the bureaucratic weight of itself and sinks into the pages of history (except in Texas), leaving lessons that need to be learned unlearned.  

Power corrupts, and, in many cases, absolute power makes you really horny. Clinton, Chirac, Mao, Mitterrand. 

Not so, I think, with Coriolanus Snow. His obsession, his passion, is his rose garden. There's a rose named Sterling Silver that's lilac in colour with the most extraordinarily powerful fragrance — incredibly beautiful — I loved it in the seventies when it first appeared. They've made a lot of off shoots of it since then.  

I didn't want to write to you until I'd read the trilogy and now I have so: roses are of great importance. And Coriolanus's eyes. And his smile. Those three elements are vibrant and vital in Snow. Everything else is, by and large, perfectly still and ruthlessly contained. What delight she [Katniss] gives him. He knows her so perfectly. Nothing, absolutely nothing, surprises him. He sees and understands everything. He was, quite probably, a brilliant man who's succumbed to the siren song of power. 

How will you dramatize the interior narrative running in Katniss's head that describes and consistently updates her relationship with the President who is ubiquitous in her mind? With omniscient calm he knows her perfectly. She knows he does and she knows that he will go to any necessary end to maintain his power because she knows that he believes that she's a real threat to his fragile hold on his control of that power. She's more dangerous than Joan of Arc. 

Her interior dialogue/monologue defines Snow. It's that old theatrical turnip: you can't 'play' a king, you need everybody else on stage saying to each other, and therefore to the audience, stuff like "There goes the King, isn't he a piece of work, how evil, how lovely, how benevolent, how cruel, how brilliant he is!" The idea of him, the definition of him, the audience's perception of him, is primarily instilled by the observations of others and once that idea is set, the audience's view of the character is pretty much unyielding. And in Snow's case, that definition, of course, comes from Katniss. 

Evil looks like our understanding of the history of the men we're looking at. It's not what we see: it's what we've been led to believe. Simple as that. Look at the face of Ted Bundy before you knew what he did and after you knew.  

Snow doesn't look evil to the people in Panem's Capitol. Bundy didn't look evil to those girls. My wife and I were driving through Colorado when he escaped from jail there. The car radio's warning was constant. 'Don't pick up any young men. The escapee looks like the nicest young man imaginable'. Snow's evil shows up in the form of the complacently confident threat that's ever present in his eyes. His resolute stillness. Have you seen a film I did years ago? 'The Eye of the Needle'. That fellow had some of what I'm looking for.

The woman who lived up the street from us in Brentwood came over to ask my wife a question when my wife was dropping the kids off at school. This woman and her husband had seen that movie the night before and what she wanted to know was how my wife could live with anyone who could play such an evil man. It made for an amusing dinner or two but part of my wife's still wondering.

I'd love to speak with you whenever you have a chance so I can be on the same page with you.

They all end up the same way. Welcome to Florida, have a nice day!

SEE ALSO: Check Out A Trailer For "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" Sequel

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Merger talks between Hasbro and DreamWorks Animation have broken down, and now DreamWorks shares are getting smashed. 

In early trade on Monday, DreamWorks shares were down as much as 15% to around $22, right about where the stock was on Thursday before talks regarding a potential merger were first reported. 

Late Friday, a report from The Hollywood Reporter said that talks between Hasbro and DreamWorks Animation had broken down, with the publication citing the high price sought by DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Reports indicated Katzenberg was looking for a deal valuing DreamWorks at $30-$35 per share.

Late last Wednesday, Deadline.com reported that the companies were in talks on a potential deal, though some in the analyst community were skeptical of the deal's logic and feasibility. 

This is the second time in six weeks that reports circulated regarding a potential deal for DreamWorks, only for those reports to be promptly reversed.

In late September, The Wall Street Journal reported that DreamWorks and Japanese conglomerate SoftBank were in potential merger talks, though less than two days after that initial report, the Journal said talks between the two sides had cooled.

Those talks sent DreamWorks shares from about $22 to north of $28, but through early October DreamWorks shares lost all of their gains earned following the deal reports. 

This time around, DreamWorks has forfeited its deal-report-related gains in just one day. 

SEE ALSO: MORGAN STANLEY: Here Are The 45 Best Stocks For The Long Run

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From a Bluetooth device surgically implanted into your ear to a massive generator that creates "hurricanes" that produce energy and gold, the investors on "Shark Tank" have heard some strange pitches over the past six seasons.

At the end of the recently aired 100th episode of the hit pitch show on ABC, Sharks Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, and Robert Herjavec gathered to reminisce about their favorite moments from the show.

Greiner asked her fellow Sharks what their favorite pitches were, and instead of going with what they considered to be the best, they opted to discuss the ones they found the most ridiculous.

We've summarized the eight craziest pitches they mentioned, and you'll quickly see why the Sharks find them so memorable.

The Ionic Ear sets a high bar for crazy in the very first episode.

The Sharks agree that a pitch from the pilot episode has remained the most ridiculous.

Darren Johnson seeks $1 million for a 15% stake in his company Ionic Ear. His pitch: Your Bluetooth earpiece moves around too much (this was 2009), which interferes with calls. So why not have the same technology surgically implanted into your ear canal? And at the end of each day, you insert a Q-Tip-like charger into your ear to charge the device.

Johnson is humorless and doesn't prove his qualifications.

There will likely be a time when implanted technology is a thing, but the Ionic Ear isn't going to be a pioneer.

Throx is based entirely on selling three socks at once.

Edwin Heaven, an entrepreneur who both sounds and looks like a Vegas magician, enters the tank in season 1 looking for $50,000 for 25% equity.

His company Throx produces socks that are sold three at a time so that you'll always have an extra sock after you lose one of them. There's nothing extraordinary about the sock quality, but hey, you get three in each pack.

The Sharks don't see it as a real business opportunity, and O'Leary even lets Heaven know that he considers him a "vampire cockroach." Yikes.

Things escalate quickly with the Carsik Bib.

Les Cookson is a dad with a couple of young boys who apparently have very little control over their stomachs. He invented the Carsik Bib, essentially a barf bag worn as a bib designed for kids in car seats. In season 2, he seeks $30,000 for 15% equity.

Almost immediately after introducing himself and the issue of carsick kids, he turns to his crudely made child-size dummy and pours a vile blend of pea soup and corn through the dummy's head, splashing everywhere.

The Sharks may have enjoyed the demonstration, but they don't see a viable business plan. "If I actually gave you 30 grand, I would throw up in this thing," O'Leary tells Cookson.

For the past few weeks we've been making our way through "Alien: Isolation," and it's safe to say that aside from "P.T.," the "Silent Hill" playable trailer, it's one of the most terrifying gaming experiences you can get your hands on right now.

What's so scary about it?

The latest installment based on the film franchise from Sega and The Creative Assembly, takes place in between the first and second films. You play as Ellen Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) daughter Amanda as she navigates aboard an abandoned dark ship in search of clues to her mom's location. The catch? There's an alien on board waiting for you. 

The other catch? A lot of the ship is shrouded in darkness. 

The object of the game isn't to see how many cool ways you can kill the alien. It's quite the opposite. 

We recently spoke with the game's creative lead and director, Alistair Hope, who explained "Alien: Isolation" is primarily a game of survival. 

"We don’t give any toys or weapons to kill the alien. It's about this game of cat and mouse," Hope tells Business Insider. "Moment to moment [you're] trying to make the best decision on how best to survive."

That element leads to many unexpected deaths during gameplay.

Sometimes you'll just want to save the game only to find Mr. Alien waiting behind you ready to take you out. Sigh. (At least he was polite enough to let us save.)

This is probably one of our favorite deaths so far. Here, the alien popped down from a vent in the ceiling only to join us in a fiery death before getting the chance to kill us off. (What caused the random explosion? Probably a gas leak.)

It's clear a lot of the game's fun comes from seeing the many different ways in which the alien kills us off in this "hide and seek" fashion. We've been playing on the PlayStation 4 where you can heighten the scare factor by using the PlayStation camera. Any sound picked up by the game will help alert an alien to your location. We're too chicken — but mostly too loud — to try that out just yet.

We asked Hope how they came up with the concept.

"Before we had anything on screen we talk about what it would be like to try and experience that alien," Hope tells us. "We kind of had this mental exercise, which is kind of dumb, but we said, 'If we released the alien in the studio right now, what would you do?'"

"It was a case of … Well, I’ll get under my desk, and I won’t make any noise," he continues. "I’ll try to make it so he doesn’t see me. Cool. Okay, well, that makes sense. Okay, so now, you need to get to the fire escape that’s at the other end of the studio. How are you going to do that? Okay, well, I’ll see if I can find where it is … and I’ll move to the next desk. (Again, [I] keep looking, and try to be as quiet as possible.) I’ll slowly make my way going from desk to desk to the exit."

"And we were sitting there thinking, ‘Well, that sounds pretty cool.' ... this kind of game of hide and seek against this terrifying killer and I think that is actually kind of the essence of the game," Hope adds. "It’s almost like an information war about 'What do you know right now?' and 'What are the risks you’re prepared to take to survive moment to moment?' ... It’s [about] making critical decisions under pressure .. which actually then goes back to what Ellen Ripley is doing in the movie. She’s the one who’s able to make decisions under enormous pressure and is able to keep struggling and striving to survive."

Hope tells us the scares are all part of bringing fans back to Ridley Scott's 1979 film.

"The goal really was to take you back to the experience of that first film and for the first time to really experience what it would be like to confront the alien — that specific alien," says Hope. "One of the thing things we really wanted to do was to reestablish the alien as this ultimate killer that’s something you should be afraid of and that commands your respect. 

"We really wanted it to be scary again," Hope adds. "The alien, over the course of the franchise, its role had changed. And we really wanted to go back to what it would be like to experience that first one."

Hope says to accomplish that they couldn't choreograph every moment with the alien on screen because then players could predict what the alien was going to do next and that wouldn't make the game that scary.

"So we took the decision early on that the alien in the game would just use its senses to drive its behavior," explains Hope. "It’s just looking for you. It’s listening for you. What you do — and the things in the world — but especially what you do has a big impact in how encounters play out."

"That also means that because the alien is this dynamic and reactive creature, no two places are the same so every encounter is very much a live encounter," says Hope.

Because of that, Hope tells us the "Alien: Isolation" team has had a kick watching live streams of player's progress online. 

"The whole of the studio has been watching people streaming their games because everyone’s taking a different approach to how to survive and it’s massively entertaining," says Hope.

And the gameplay doesn't just scare us. Hope says the creative team behind the game gets just as jumpy trying to avoid the alien in the game.

"The interesting thing for us is [that] we still get scared by this game," says Hope. "It’s kind of amazing because we built it and we know everything about it and we know what’s going on under the hood but because it is unpredictable I could play it right now and my heart would be thumping away because moment to moment, I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I play just as cautiously as anyone else. I’ll yelp and jump in my chair." 

"Me especially, but yeah, the whole team, you do hear people shouting as they get outsmarted and get surprised," Hope adds. "You know, this thing is pretty unpredictable. If you get a little cavalier, it will get you."

Check out a trailer for "Alien: Isolation" below. The game is available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC.

SEE ALSO: How "Alien: Isolation" reunited the original film cast 35 years later

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Jerry Seinfeld's Emmy-nominated web series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" recently premiered its fifth season on Crackle, and the first episode has been the most popular one yet.

Seinfeld interviews a different comedian each episode while driving in a classic car and sipping coffee in various diners and cafes.

The show's sole sponsor is Acura, and it's been a partnership that Seinfeld has embraced by writing and directing goofy ads. These car commercials, along with the occasional product placement, have been seen by tens of millions of viewers.

Seinfeld even got an honorary Clio award from the ad industry for his Acura ads (an award he accepted with plenty of biting satire).

But before Acura, Seinfeld tells Brian Williams in an interview for NBC Nightly News, he envisioned a Starbucks partnership. He explains how one day he called Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and sent him the 10 pilot episodes that would become the first season:

If it wasn't for Acura, the whole show never would have happened. I made 10, we took it around. My favorite conversation was with Howard Schultz at Starbucks. I called him personally. I said, "Howard, I made this show. It seems like this is maybe something we could do together." I sent him the show, we got back on the phone, and he said, "I don't really see the connection." I said, "Are there other people coming in your office pitching other shows with 'coffee' in the title?" I mean, I went everywhere. You'd be surprised, Brian, how little my name means.

Perhaps Schultz couldn't stand to see Seinfeld and his guests drink anything but Starbucks coffee. But Acura is just fine with the comedians driving other cars.

SEE ALSO: Jerry Seinfeld Explains How He's Remained Consistently Successful

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