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Recently I decided to clean out our pantry. My husband who hates to throw *anything* away was inspecting everything I was discarding. “That is expired pancake mix. Stop it,” I quietly seethed. So, suffice to say *Why Women Kill*, the new CBS All Access drama premiering Thursday, speaks to me. We all get so annoyed with our life partners. Not annoyed enough to kill them, of course, but I relate to the tongue-in-cheek title, reminiscent of series creator and executive producer Marc Cherry’s other series *Desperate Housewives*, at a visceral level. But murder doesn’t happen over expired food items (usually). So *Why Women Kill* follows three women who all live in the same Pasadena, California house in different decades. In 1963, housewife Beth Ann (Ginnifer Goodwin) moves into the lush home only to soon discover her husband Rob (Sam Jaeger) is having an affair with a waitress. In 1984, Simone (Lucy Liu) lives in the same house now ostentatiously decorated only to discover that her third husband Karl (Jack Davenport) also has a wandering eye. In 2019, Taylor (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) is in an open marriage with her husband Eli (Reid Scott) and, well, turns out three’s a crowd. By the end of the pilot, we learn that a murder has occurred in each era. But who was murdered by whom (and why) will unfold over the ten-episode first season. “Marriage is harder than it looks,” the crusty old neighbor intones at the start of the second episode. Recently my sister found the listing of our childhood home. As I scrolled through the pictures and saw the gleaming new fixtures, fresh paint and modern décor what struck me is that the bones of the house remained the same. I have vivid memories of Christmas morning in the living room, watching reruns of *Laverne & Shirley* in the family room and all the neighborhood dads setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July on our front walkway. It made me think of the stories houses could tell about the people who live in them. That paint colors and décor may change but the essence of marriage and family (no matter how it’s made up) is timeless. *Why Women Kill* gets this and weaves in and out of the decades with aplomb. The *Mad Men* era ‘60s is full of bored housewives without much to do while their husbands are at work. The gaudy ‘80s is the era of more is more in terms of decorating, hairstyles and clothing, but it’s also a time when it was very difficult to show your true self to the world. And the current “anything goes,” let’s-live-our-lives-for-social-media era definitely has its drawbacks. The tongue-in-cheek tone can be tricky. But beginning with the opening credits, which is set against the Frank Sinatra classic “L.O.V.E.” and pulpy comic book scenes, *Why Women Kill* gets the tone just right. Cherry knows how to make social commentary while making us laugh and take a discerning eye to our lives. The series is funny. When her best friend’s son Tommy (Leo Howard) propositions her, Simone says, “That was a lovely speech Tommy. Next time try it without the skateboard.” And the stellar cast pulls it off. Liu is pitch perfect as the *Dynasty*\-era wife. Her eye makeup alone is reason enough to watch the series. “You think you are going to get out of this by dying? Fuck you,” she says to her philandering spouse. Goodwin is terrific as the mousy housewife, who has a history of profound loss and isn’t quite sure how to keep her husband interested. She gets a sex how-to book from her neighbor Sheila (Alicia Coppola) and it doesn’t go as planned when she tries to implement the book’s advice. “I was cut to shreds moments after my wife turned into a French whore,” Rob laments. And Howell-Baptiste, who also co-starred in the current season of *Veronica Mars*, is having a hell of a summer. On paper Taylor and Eli have the most modern of marriages. They are both able to see other people, and Taylor is in a relationship with Jade (Alexandra Daddario). Things go south, though, when Jade temporarily moves in with the couple, breaking their number one rule: “You don’t bring hook-ups into our house.” When CBS Access first started I thought “why would anyone want to pay for yet another streaming service?” But with shows like *The Good Fight* and now *Why Women Kill* the network is proving it’s worthy of your money. It’s not to die for yet, but it’s close. *Why Women Kill* premieres Thursday August 15 on CBS All Access. *** *Amy Amatangelo, the TV Gal®, is a Boston-based freelance writer, a member of the Television Critics Association and the Assistant TV Editor for *Paste*. She wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a child and now her parents have to live with this as her career. You can follow her on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AmyTVGal) (@AmyTVGal).* Comments   Keep scrolling for more great stories.  # Noah Wyle “initially” worried about edits made to *The Pitt*‘s ICE storyline ## The actor behind Dr. Robby thinks the show "arrived at something more elegant and a little bit more restrained." By [Drew Gillis](https://www.pastemagazine.com/author/drewgillis) \| April 10, 2026 \| 9:22am *Image courtesy of HBO Max* **[Media](https://www.pastemagazine.com/media) [News](https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/media/news) [the pitt](https://www.pastemagazine.com/search?q=the+pitt)**  Copy to clipboard - [Copy Link](https://www.pastemagazine.com/media/the-pitt/the-pitt-ice-story-noah-wyle) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.pastemagazine.com/media/the-pitt/the-pitt-ice-story-noah-wyle) - [X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?via=endlessmode&related=endlessmode&url=Noah+Wyle+%26amp%3B%238220%3Binitially%26amp%3B%238221%3B+worried+about+edits+made+to+The+Pitt%26amp%3B%238216%3Bs+ICE+storyline&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pastemagazine.com%2Fmedia%2Fthe-pitt%2Fthe-pitt-ice-story-noah-wyle) - [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?title=Noah+Wyle+%26amp%3B%238220%3Binitially%26amp%3B%238221%3B+worried+about+edits+made+to+The+Pitt%26amp%3B%238216%3Bs+ICE+storyline&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pastemagazine.com%2Fmedia%2Fthe-pitt%2Fthe-pitt-ice-story-noah-wyle) - [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Noah%20Wyle%20&#8220;initially&#8221;%20worried%20about%20edits%20made%20to%20The%20Pitt&#8216;s%20ICE%20storyline%20https://www.pastemagazine.com/media/the-pitt/the-pitt-ice-story-noah-wyle)  Earlier this year, *The Pitt* featured a storyline in which [ICE came into the ER](https://www.avclub.com/the-pitt-recap-season-2-episode-11-500-pm) with a woman they had injured while detaining, with the agents eventually taking a doctor with them on their way out. This was apparently [the “balanced” version](https://www.avclub.com/the-pitt-ice-storyline-balanced) of the plotline, which producer John Wells said HBO Max had asked for, but maintained that the network didn’t ask for specific cuts. It still sounds like there were some edits made to the storyline, according to a new interview with Noah Wyle, who is an executive producer on the series and eventually found out about this discussion. “The negotiation was being driven by political reasons, creative reasons, fear, uncertainty, all sorts of legitimate reasons,” the Dr. Robby actor [tells *Variety*](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/noah-wyle-the-pitt-ice-season-3-paramount-wb-sale-1236709707/). “I’ll be honest and say that I was concerned about the edits we were making initially.” However, Wyle is pleased with where they ended up. “When I saw what we had done, I actually think we arrived at something more elegant and a little bit more restrained, which leaves a little bit more ambiguity in it than we may have started out with. I think it’s healthier for the storyline in the long run,” Wyle continues. “It ended up being show the bear, don’t poke the bear in a lot of ways, which is enough. Because the context came out after we’d filmed that episode, we didn’t have to do half of what we had done. That had already been imprinted into the mind of most Americans.” *Variety* doesn’t specify what this context would be, but it seems like a fair guess that Wyle is referring to ICE’s invasion of Minneapolis in January that left at least two U.S. citizens dead, which would have been after the storyline was likely filmed. Comments   Keep scrolling for more great stories.  C # *Little Mermaid*\-inspired anime *ChaO* offers a goldfish in Air Jordans and not much else ## An experimental aesthetic can't wash away this fairy tale's rom-com mishaps. By [Elijah Gonzalez](https://www.pastemagazine.com/author/elijah-gonzalez) \| April 10, 2026 \| 7:00am *Image: GKIDS* **[Movies](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies) [Reviews](https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/movies/reviews) [ChaO](https://www.pastemagazine.com/search?q=ChaO)**  Copy to clipboard - [Copy Link](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/chao/chao-review) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/chao/chao-review) - [X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?via=endlessmode&related=endlessmode&url=Little+Mermaid-inspired+anime+ChaO+offers+a+goldfish+in+Air+Jordans+and+not+much+else&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pastemagazine.com%2Fmovies%2Fchao%2Fchao-review) - [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?title=Little+Mermaid-inspired+anime+ChaO+offers+a+goldfish+in+Air+Jordans+and+not+much+else&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pastemagazine.com%2Fmovies%2Fchao%2Fchao-review) - [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Little%20Mermaid-inspired%20anime%20ChaO%20offers%20a%20goldfish%20in%20Air%20Jordans%20and%20not%20much%20else%20https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/chao/chao-review)  Studio 4°C is well-acquainted with the bizarre. From the zany [*Tekkonkinkreet*](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/best-anime-movies/the-100-best-anime-movies-of-all-time) to *Mind Game*‘s phantasmagorical spectacle, the studio has long pushed boundaries in a medium where familiar art styles reign supreme. Earlier this year, they put out [*All You Need Is Kill*](https://www.avclub.com/all-you-need-is-kill-review), which painted the dismal trenches of its source material (previously adapted into *Edge Of Tomorrow*) with kaleidoscopic splashes of neon blood. That same experimental energy is on display in *ChaO*, a near-future take on *The Little Mermaid* where a walking goldfish wearing Air Jordans ends up married to a painfully unlikable everyman who doesn’t remember his salient character motivation until the last few minutes of the movie. A talented animation team does its best to bail water from this sinking ship, but an overreliance on contrivances and slapstick leaves too many holes to plug. While the fairy tale setup is mostly familiar, the visual style is anything but, as an endearing ugliness crashes into a picturesque water park world. Characters are inexplicably misshapen and strange; some have faces like street-art caricatures, while others are massive or tiny, creating an amusing chaos that defies explanation. Fluid hand-drawn animation captures aquatic dances and the violence of a raging sea, as loose character designs meld with the unpredictability of ocean waves. This project took seven years to come together, and you can see it in lived-in backdrops, with homes both cozy and ramshackle, or in vigorous set pieces where currents move with alarming force. Whether to avoid comparisons with Disney’s take on this folktale, or simply because director Yasuhiro Aoki set the animation team loose, there’s a vitality to the idiosyncratic look of *ChaO*. Unfortunately, that same sense of imagination doesn’t extend to a central romantic relationship that fizzles away like sea foam. Set in a near future where humans and mermaids are on bad footing due to recent nautical accidents, a ship engineer named Stefan (Ouji Suzuka) stumbles into a geopolitically consequential situationship. When he locks eyes with the mermaid princess ChaO, it’s love at first sight; well, for her at least. Stefan isn’t interested because his would-be wife “is a fish,” as he not-so-elegantly puts it. Spurred on by a scheming Humpty-Dumpty-shaped CEO and a city that would benefit from improved human-mermaid relations, Stefan is more or less forced into an arranged marriage. Normally, it would be easy to sympathize with a figure stuck between duty and personal desire, but Saku Konohana’s screenplay isn’t particularly interested in this angle, instead characterizing Stefan as a weak-willed, prejudiced jerk who quite literally stumbles through the first hour of the film. A familiar loop starts: ChaO, voiced with bright charm by Yamada, goes out of her way to accommodate Stefan by acting like a traditional homemaker, only for him to half-heartedly acknowledge her efforts as he reaps the benefits of this situation. By “taking one for the team,” Stefan’s boss has set him up with his dream project at work. While at first this home situation seems like a setup to interrogate the underlying gender roles at play, as ChaO becomes an accessory to Stefan’s ambitions, the film works in such broad strokes that this dynamic is mostly an afterthought. For the first 60 minutes or so, the pair’s relationship comes off like an extended comedy bit gone wrong, full of slapstick denials, as Stefan backhandedly criticizes his wife’s appearance in a tedious loop that begs for resolution. While living on land, ChaO is stuck in the form of a large, round fish that acts as a setup for unfunny fat jokes, while when underwater, she’s a traditionally beautiful half-human, half-fish princess. Predictably, Stefan only begins to swoon when he sees his wife’s latter form, which feels at odds with a film that otherwise embraces non-traditional beauty through its idiosyncratic aesthetic. Between the lack of chemistry or consistent humor, there isn’t enough “rom” or “com” to keep this will-they/won’t-they afloat. As the film reaches its last act, the script finally remembers to introduce a reason to care about this floundering relationship, filling in the gaps of a past tragedy that recontextualizes things in Stefan’s favor. It’s still too little, too late, even though *ChaO* gets the particularly time-intensive part right, with animation that places us in a near-future of clashing myth and modernity. There’s a maverick aspect to the film’s presentation, as it consciously rejects the homogenized “anime style.” If only its storytelling was similarly ambitious. **Director:** Yasuhiro Aoki **Writer:** Saku Konohana **Starring:** Ouji Suzuka, Anna Yamada, Yūichirō Umehara, Kavka Shishido, Shunsei Ota **Release Date:** April 10, 2026 Comments   Keep scrolling for more great stories.  # Philomena Cunk is coming for the movies ## Netflix and the BBC have announced that Diane Morgan's wayward documentarian has set her sights on film with the three-part *Cunk On Cinema*. By [William Hughes](https://www.pastemagazine.com/author/plumberduck) \| April 10, 2026 \| 12:44am *Diane Morgan as Philomena Cunk, Photo: Jonathan Browning/BBC* **[Media](https://www.pastemagazine.com/media) [News](https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/media/news) [Philomena Cunk](https://www.pastemagazine.com/search?q=Philomena+Cunk)**  Copy to clipboard - [Copy Link](https://www.pastemagazine.com/media/philomena-cunk/cunk-on-cinema-netflix-diane-morgan-charlie-brooker) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.pastemagazine.com/media/philomena-cunk/cunk-on-cinema-netflix-diane-morgan-charlie-brooker) - [X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?via=endlessmode&related=endlessmode&url=Philomena+Cunk+is+coming+for+the+movies&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pastemagazine.com%2Fmedia%2Fphilomena-cunk%2Fcunk-on-cinema-netflix-diane-morgan-charlie-brooker) - [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?title=Philomena+Cunk+is+coming+for+the+movies&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pastemagazine.com%2Fmedia%2Fphilomena-cunk%2Fcunk-on-cinema-netflix-diane-morgan-charlie-brooker) - [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Philomena%20Cunk%20is%20coming%20for%20the%20movies%20https://www.pastemagazine.com/media/philomena-cunk/cunk-on-cinema-netflix-diane-morgan-charlie-brooker)  Having previously defeated the people of Britain, the population of the Earth, and the very concept of [life](https://www.avclub.com/cunk-on-life-review-netflix-tv-special) itself, investigative journalist Philomena Cunk has now set both her own sights, and presumably those of her mate Paul, on the movies. This is [per *Variety*](https://variety.com/2026/tv/global/philomena-cunk-explore-movies-cunk-on-cinema-bbc-netflix-1236712171/), which reports that a new three-part special from the groundbreaking reporter/fake comedy character played by comedian Diane Morgan, *Cunk On Cinema*, is now in the works. For the unfamiliar, Morgan, as Cunk, has been deadpanning her way through the world for more than a decade at this point, having originated the character—who tackles interviews and walk-and-talk segments alike with the guileless charm (and also the researching and fact-checking skills) of a small child—on *Black Mirror* creator Charlie Brooker’s BBC Two show *Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe*. That grew into a number of popular TV specials (that even some light searching will probably dig up for you on YouTube; *Cunk On Shakespeare* is a favorite) before going international with *Cunk On Earth*, which was produced by Brooker’s pals at Netflix as well as the BBC. That same setup is now underpinning *Cunk On Cinema*, which will presumably also follow much of the same formula of Morgan’s earlier efforts, combining rapid-fire absurd explanations of cinematic history with interview segments in which Morgan asks lightly-prepped experts some of the most baffling questions that Britain’s best comedy brains can formulate. True to form, Philomena herself issued a statement in response to news of the new series, stating that, > Cinema has given the world some of the most profound, memorable, and moving visual moments in its unswerving depiction of the human condition: the shower scene in *Psycho*, Death playing chess in that Swedish thing, and Tom Selleck’s glistening moustache in *Three Men And A Little Lady*, to name but all three of the only examples I can think of at the moment. There will, unfortunately, be some bits in black and white, but we’ll keep that to the barest minimum.” (Brooker also got in on the fun, saying that, “Now that Sora has killed off Hollywood and [itself](https://www.avclub.com/openai-shuts-down-sora) (presumably as part of a murder-suicide pact), it’s the perfect time to look back at two hundred centuries of cinema, in the company of an idiot we’re apparently cursed to employ: Philomena Cunk.”) *Cunk On Cinema* is currently in production; no word yet on when the three-part series will arrive on Netflix and BBC Two. 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Let me tell you a little story. Recently I decided to clean out our pantry. My husband who hates to throw *anything* away was inspecting everything I was discarding. “That is expired pancake mix. Stop it,” I quietly seethed. So, suffice to say *Why Women Kill*, the new CBS All Access drama premiering Thursday, speaks to me. We all get so annoyed with our life partners. Not annoyed enough to kill them, of course, but I relate to the tongue-in-cheek title, reminiscent of series creator and executive producer Marc Cherry’s other series *Desperate Housewives*, at a visceral level. But murder doesn’t happen over expired food items (usually). So *Why Women Kill* follows three women who all live in the same Pasadena, California house in different decades. In 1963, housewife Beth Ann (Ginnifer Goodwin) moves into the lush home only to soon discover her husband Rob (Sam Jaeger) is having an affair with a waitress. In 1984, Simone (Lucy Liu) lives in the same house now ostentatiously decorated only to discover that her third husband Karl (Jack Davenport) also has a wandering eye. In 2019, Taylor (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) is in an open marriage with her husband Eli (Reid Scott) and, well, turns out three’s a crowd. By the end of the pilot, we learn that a murder has occurred in each era. But who was murdered by whom (and why) will unfold over the ten-episode first season. “Marriage is harder than it looks,” the crusty old neighbor intones at the start of the second episode. Recently my sister found the listing of our childhood home. As I scrolled through the pictures and saw the gleaming new fixtures, fresh paint and modern décor what struck me is that the bones of the house remained the same. I have vivid memories of Christmas morning in the living room, watching reruns of *Laverne & Shirley* in the family room and all the neighborhood dads setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July on our front walkway. It made me think of the stories houses could tell about the people who live in them. That paint colors and décor may change but the essence of marriage and family (no matter how it’s made up) is timeless. *Why Women Kill* gets this and weaves in and out of the decades with aplomb. The *Mad Men* era ‘60s is full of bored housewives without much to do while their husbands are at work. The gaudy ‘80s is the era of more is more in terms of decorating, hairstyles and clothing, but it’s also a time when it was very difficult to show your true self to the world. And the current “anything goes,” let’s-live-our-lives-for-social-media era definitely has its drawbacks. The tongue-in-cheek tone can be tricky. But beginning with the opening credits, which is set against the Frank Sinatra classic “L.O.V.E.” and pulpy comic book scenes, *Why Women Kill* gets the tone just right. Cherry knows how to make social commentary while making us laugh and take a discerning eye to our lives. The series is funny. When her best friend’s son Tommy (Leo Howard) propositions her, Simone says, “That was a lovely speech Tommy. Next time try it without the skateboard.” And the stellar cast pulls it off. Liu is pitch perfect as the *Dynasty*\-era wife. Her eye makeup alone is reason enough to watch the series. “You think you are going to get out of this by dying? Fuck you,” she says to her philandering spouse. Goodwin is terrific as the mousy housewife, who has a history of profound loss and isn’t quite sure how to keep her husband interested. She gets a sex how-to book from her neighbor Sheila (Alicia Coppola) and it doesn’t go as planned when she tries to implement the book’s advice. “I was cut to shreds moments after my wife turned into a French whore,” Rob laments. And Howell-Baptiste, who also co-starred in the current season of *Veronica Mars*, is having a hell of a summer. On paper Taylor and Eli have the most modern of marriages. They are both able to see other people, and Taylor is in a relationship with Jade (Alexandra Daddario). Things go south, though, when Jade temporarily moves in with the couple, breaking their number one rule: “You don’t bring hook-ups into our house.” When CBS Access first started I thought “why would anyone want to pay for yet another streaming service?” But with shows like *The Good Fight* and now *Why Women Kill* the network is proving it’s worthy of your money. It’s not to die for yet, but it’s close. *Why Women Kill* premieres Thursday August 15 on CBS All Access. *** *Amy Amatangelo, the TV Gal®, is a Boston-based freelance writer, a member of the Television Critics Association and the Assistant TV Editor for *Paste*. She wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a child and now her parents have to live with this as her career. You can follow her on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AmyTVGal) (@AmyTVGal).*  Keep scrolling for more great stories.