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  • Jalen Hurts’ vow, Nick Sirianni’s home life, Saquon’s ‘Whiplash,’ and more from the ‘Hard Knocks’ finale

    Jalen Hurts’ vow, Nick Sirianni’s home life, Saquon’s ‘Whiplash,’ and more from the ‘Hard Knocks’ finale

    HBO released its final episode of Hard Knocks covering the NFC East on Tuesday after the Eagles’ season-ending wild-card playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

    The finale of the docuseries, which unlike past episodes spent the majority of its 45-minute run time focusing solely on the Eagles, covered Saquon Barkley’s new favorite motivational movie, Nick Sirianni’s home life, and what the team talked about after the loss. (Don’t worry, we tried to keep the parts about the actual game to a minimum.)

    Here’s what you may have missed from the final episode of Hard Knocks: In Season With the NFC East …

    Not quite my tempo

    Most people likely know that actor Miles Teller is also a huge Eagles fan. But did you know that one member of the Eagles is a huge fan of his?

    Saquon Barkley was caught speaking to backup quarterback Tanner McKee, detailing how he was motivated by Teller’s hit film Whiplash ahead of the Eagles’ first practice leading up to the team’s wild-card game.

    “I feel good,” Barkley said. “And I watched this movie called Whiplash. That [expletive] had me doing sit-ups and push-ups in my house. I went outside, and I was running hills. Like, I got to chill out, bro.”

    Eagles running back Saquon Barkley found inspiration in a Miles Teller movie.

    The 2014 film won a trio of Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons, who plays an uncompromising professor at the prestigious music academy Teller’s character attends. It stresses the need to push back against mediocrity in pursuit of greatness, a theme that Barkley applied to the Birds offense as a whole.

    “I do feel like there’s potential that we haven’t tapped into, especially on the offensive side of the ball,” Barkley said, with a Whiplash-style drumbeat playing in the background. “I am excited about that. That we still get to go out there and put in a complete game. I believe that with the men and people we have in this facility, it’s time, and we are going to get it going.”

    The extra motivation led the reigning offensive player of the year to his fourth 100-yard game of the season with Barkley rushing for 106 yards, 35 above his average.

    ‘Effort is free’

    Speaking of tempo, Hard Knocks revealed a moment during practice in which Jalen Hurts implored his offensive teammates to get to the huddle quicker so they have more time at the line to assess the defense and change the play if need be.

    Barkley and Hurts also spoke of their different approaches to practice, with the running back keeping things light while the quarterback is all business. Barkley called it “a beautiful mix.”

    “It’s not anything new in terms of the habits I’ve built,” Hurts said of his stoic demeanor. “It’s just a matter of doing those things consistently. That’s how I’ve always known to get myself ready to go out there and play.”

    Hurts, the son of a football coach, explained why he prepares and carries himself the way he does, saying one of his father’s lines that stuck with him is “Effort is free.”

    “Effort is something that you can control,” Hurts said. “And so, as a quarterback, what’s my effort in the way I execute? What’s my effort in the way I lead? What’s my effort in the example that I set? And trying to put yourself in positions to get ready for whatever the moment may demand. And so, you like to take your mind to a place where you can see it or visualize it, and then you can go out there and react with an intense and competitive mindset, and find a way to win.”

    Sirianni coaches his kids

    As tensions rose inside the Eagles organization, with a playoff game looming and many calling for the job of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was removed from his position Tuesday, Hard Knocks did a great job of reminding viewers that coaches are people, too.

    Halfway through the episode, Sirianni, who has also come under fire from Eagles fans, is featured alongside his wife, Brett, and their three children, Jacob, 10, Taylor, 8, and Miles, 5. The Eagles head coach seems to be training his children to be wide receivers, following in their father’s footsteps. Sirianni was a receiver himself in college at Division III Mount Union, as the series highlighted in an earlier episode.

    “All right, now we do this last game,” Sirianni says. “I throw as hard as I can, and then you throw as hard as you can, whoever drops first.”

    His youngest, Miles, is wearing the jersey of A.J. Brown, who got in a sideline spat with the Eagles coach on Sunday.

    With Sirianni and his wife sitting on the couch, the coach has his children running routes and directs Taylor into open space, where she catches the pass over her two brothers.

    “Are you as competitive at home as you are at the facility?” one of the filmmakers asks off camera as Sirianni smirks.

    “Yeah, he is,” Brett says with a laugh and little hesitation. “With everything possible.”

    Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham leaves the field after the playoff loss to San Francisco.

    Letting down BG

    Brandon Graham may be an Eagles legend, but he is for sure not a fortuneteller.

    The 15-year vet who came out of retirement to rejoin the Birds was mic’d up during practice, exuding his trademark enthusiasm while optimistically predicting the outcome of the playoff game.

    “I ain’t going to lie, I’m hype for the offense,” Graham said. “Things just about to keep building, we’ve just got to stay locked in and have fun out there and run to the ball. I ain’t going to lie, that clip when they was running to that sidelines right there, I said, boy, we fly like that, we’re going to be smothering.”

    Graham doubled and tripled down on this prediction, going as far as saying that he’d come back after winning the Super Bowl in 2026 just so he could win it in 2027.

    “Man, let’s go get us another one, man,” Graham said to defensive line coach Clint Hurtt. “Why not? I mean, I’m coming right back. I say 3-for-3, come on, let’s go! Let’s just get this one, but I’m with you, though.”

    Of course, that didn’t happen. But maybe Graham has one more season in him?

    Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and linebacker Zack Baun in happier times: a Sept. 28 win against the Buccaneers.

    The Bald Eagle

    All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun got a special highlight leading into the Eagles’ final game of the season, starting in practice when some friendly razzing was caught on tape.

    “Hey Zack, let me see your head,” rookie Jihaad Campbell asked during practice.

    “Nah,” Baun said. “I haven’t shaved in a couple of days, man.”

    “The thing about being a bald guy is you either are ashamed of it or you own it, and that’s just your personality,” Baun said. “So I’m a bald guy. What can I say?”

    Baun is also seen at home with his wife, Ali, and son, Elian, flipping through a scrapbook Ali made to celebrate his “storybook” 2024, a year in which he went from a special-teams player to an All-Pro and Super Bowl champion.

    Baun also spoke on his fan-given nickname, the Bald Eagle, saying that he and his wife approve of the name. But the real star of this segment? Baun’s son, who was shown on the field adorably celebrating the Eagles’ NFC championship game victory last year.

    The end of the line

    Next up, the game.

    Hard Knocks offered some insight into the Eagles’ season-ending loss, including Baun taking blame for the 49ers trick-play touchdown — “That’s me; I lost him,” Baun admitted — and Sirianni exerting himself in the offensive play-calling.

    “Hey, what about [deep] shots, Kevin?” Sirianni asked Patullo before a third-and-9 shot to Brown, who dropped the ball.

    But the moment that got the most attention from fans came after Sirianni’s final meeting with his players.

    “We didn’t end the way we wanted to end,” Sirianni told his team. “I know that’s tough. I can feel it in the room, you can feel it. We all feel the same feeling. Use that adversity, use that pain. All that is necessary for our growth. I have no doubt in my mind that we will get better from this.”

    The episode then cuts to just two men remaining in the auditorium at the NovaCare Complex: coach and quarterback.

    “We’ll be back,” Hurts vows.

    “I have no doubt,” Sirianni responds.

  • Actor-director Timothy Busfield turns himself in to face child sex abuse charges in New Mexico

    Actor-director Timothy Busfield turns himself in to face child sex abuse charges in New Mexico

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Director and Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield turned himself to authorities on Tuesday to face child sex abuse charges in New Mexico.

    His apprehension comes after authorities in Albuquerque issued a warrant for his arrest on Jan. 9 on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. The charges stem from allegations that Busfield inappropriately touched a young boy on the set of the TV series The Cleaning Lady that he was directing.

    Busfield was being booked by Albuquerque police on the charges, said Gilbert Gallegos, spokesperson for the city police department.

    A criminal complaint filed by an investigator with the Albuquerque Police Department says the boy reported that he was 7 years old when Busfield touched him three or four times on private areas over his clothing. Busfield allegedly touched him five or six times on another occasion when he was 8, the complaint said.

    The child was reportedly afraid to tell anyone because Busfield was the director and he feared he would get mad at him, the complaint said.

    The boy’s twin brother told authorities he was touched by Busfield but did not specify where. He said he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to get in trouble.

    Busfield denied the allegations last fall when interviewed by authorities as part of the investigation, the complaint said. He suggested that the boys’ mother was seeking revenge for her children being replaced on the series. He also said he likely would have picked up and tickled the boys, saying the set was a playful environment.

    Busfield’s attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday. A video obtained by TMZ showed Busfield in front of a window with the Albuquerque skyline in the backdrop. He said he arrived in the city after driving 2,000 miles.

    “I’m going to confront these lies. They’re horrible. They’re all lies,” Busfield said.

    The mother of the twins — who are identified only by their initials in court records — reported to Child Protective Services that the abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024, the complaint said.

    The investigation began in November 2024, when the investigator responded to a call from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. The boys’ parents had gone there at the recommendation of a law firm, the complaint said.

    According to the complaint, one of the boys has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. A social worker documented him saying he has had nightmares about Busfield touching him.

    The Cleaning Lady aired for four seasons on Fox, ending in 2025. The show was produced by Warner Bros., which according to the complaint conducted its own investigation into the abuse allegations but was unable to corroborate them.

    Busfield, who is married to actor Melissa Gilbert, is known for appearances in The West Wing, Field of Dreams, and Thirtysomething, the latter of which won him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series in 1991.

  • Donna Kelce instilled the fear of Swifties into her ‘Traitors’ competitors, but was still a ‘sacrificial lamb’

    Donna Kelce instilled the fear of Swifties into her ‘Traitors’ competitors, but was still a ‘sacrificial lamb’

    Donna Kelce made her reality television debut on Peacock’s The Traitors, with Thursday’s premiere including the first three episodes of the fourth season.

    “People think I’m this sweet little old lady,” Kelce said to start the first episode. “They’re not going to know what’s coming.”

    If you’ve never seen the show, which features reality stars, actors, comedians, and other celebrities, here’s our write-up of the rules and background. And here’s a recap of each episode from Week 1 …

    Donna Kelce makes her reality TV debut tonight. Here’s what you need to know about Season 4 of ‘The Traitors.’

    Episode 1

    On the way to Alan Cumming’s famous Scottish castle, Survivor’s Rob Cesternino asked Kelce what her two sons, Travis and Jason, thought of her being on the show.

    “They’re so excited,” Kelce said. “They’re huge fans. Jason is the one that got me involved. We just literally, one weekend, during playoffs, we binged it. It was great.”

    Immediately, her fellow contestants were worried about the potential for “murdering” — or eliminating — Kelce, “America’s mom.”

    “No one’s going to murder her. The Swifties will kill you,” The Real Housewives of New York City’s Dorinda Medley said.

    The show’s first twist was to name a secret Traitor, a position that comes with a certain set of extra powers. In the first episode, Cumming asked each contestant to come up and take a look inside a box with their name on it. One box had a card in it, and the person who got that box was the secret Traitor, identified in plain sight, kept secret from the other Traitors. The secret Traitor then wrote a shortlist of people from which the other three Traitors could choose a murder victim. That secret Traitor was Kelce — but you don’t find that out until the third episode.

    Episode 2

    During the first challenge, the contestants had to collect coffins to add money to the prize pot and determine who earned a shield, or immunity, and who was eligible for murder.

    Contestants on one of the boats debated whether to put a coffin in Kelce’s casket and put her up for murder. Most of the Faithfuls, or non-Traitors, didn’t want to, but Traitor Candiace Dillard Bassett urged the group to do so. “I think it would shake this castle if we murdered Donna,” Dillard Bassett said.

    “I know I’m going to see you tomorrow, because nobody would do that,” Big Brother’s Tiffany Mitchell said.

    However, Kelce was not on the secret Traitor’s shortlist and was not murder-eligible — because she wrote the list. One person who was on it? Traitor Rob Rausch, who immediately put his sights on finding out who the secret Traitor was.

    If that wasn’t bad enough, Kelce quickly drew suspicion from others across the castle due to her behavior.

    “Only someone who feels safe doesn’t feel like they need to make connections,” Mitchell said.

    Donna Kelce made her reality TV debut Thursday night on Peacock’s “The Traitors.”

    This is a bit unfair. Most of the contestants have some previous knowledge of one another or even active friendships from previous shows. Kelce is not a reality star and only knew Ron Funches, who she said worked with Travis on a show before. Of course she was quiet!

    “Looking around the breakfast table, I have so many suspicions, but also I am fangirling right now. It is so amazing to be in a situation with all these celebrities. I’m so happy to be here. Any extra day in the castle is bonus,” Kelce said.

    Ultimately, the first murder victim was Big Brother‘s Ian Terry — he didn’t even make it to the first breakfast.

    After the challenge, Kelce roused up more suspicion from Monét X Change after she didn’t have a person to name as a potential Traitor. She suspected The Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Porsha Williams with Funches earlier. Kelce said she wanted to keep her strategy close to the chest, but on a show like this with so many big personalities, that just draws suspicion.

    At the first Roundtable, where contestants vote to eliminate another player, Survivor’s Natalie Anderson tossed Kelce’ name out first, and Donna defended herself by saying she’s alone so of course she’s more quiet. Ron laid out the case for Williams, but Dillard Bassett, who knew her from Housewives, defended her, and threw the heat back on Kelce, saying she’d make a great Traitor. Kelce replied that Dillard Bassett would also make a great Traitor, because she’s put together and articulate.

    Jason Kelce backs Nick Sirianni’s plan, Travis Kelce weighs retirement, and more from ‘New Heights’

    Actor Michael Rapaport got so worked up about a shield issue from earlier, that he used “we” when referring to the previous night’s murder. His use of “we” immediately turned the conversation to him being a potential Traitor. Most of the table seemed pretty confident he was not actually a Traitor, but they found him so annoying and distracting — Anderson called him a “bad Faithful” — that they considered voting for him anyway, which would absolutely have been the right call in this situation for the viewers at home, who would no longer have to listen to him speak.

    Episode 3

    Kelce narrowly survived the first Roundtable, with Williams receiving the most votes and being eliminated. But Williams confirmed that she was a Faithful in the truth circle, so Kelce was not out of the woods.

    She clearly learned from her mistakes, because she said in a confessional she needed to put herself out there more, and made an effort to talk to everyone afterward and at breakfast and share her ideas.

    It was too little too late though, because immediately after the next murder in the morning before the challenge — this time it was Cesternino — the contestants went back to the Roundtable. And with minimal new evidence to draw from, Kelce was the obvious candidate. Kelce tried to pin the evidence back on Rapaport, who everyone already didn’t like, by saying that “92% of the time” the Traitors try to go for shields, to provide a convenient excuse for why they haven’t been murdered.

    Michael Rapaport is one of the contestants on “The Traitors.”

    But ultimately, Kelce was doomed from the end of the last Roundtable, received the most votes, and was sent home midway through the third episode.

    “I know that I’m the sacrificial lamb, and I know that I had a blast meeting every single one of you,” Kelce said in the circle of truth. “On that note, I think I’m going to go, but you got yourself a Traitor!”

    Honestly, she was set up to fail. The secret Traitor was an interesting idea to mix up the game, but the other Traitors were annoyed by the concept of a secret Traitor who had control over their decisions, and Rausch actively wanted to identify and eliminate that person. Dillard Bassett and Rausch were both very vocal at the Roundtable against Kelce, but if they’d all four been Traitors together from the start, there likely would have been more teamwork.

  • Kate Winslet says there’s a ‘strong likelihood’ for ‘Mare of Easttown’ Season 2

    Kate Winslet says there’s a ‘strong likelihood’ for ‘Mare of Easttown’ Season 2

    Actor Kate Winslet sounds like she’s ready for a second season of the 2021 hit series Mare of Easttown.

    The Emmy-winning show about a depressed-but-determined detective investigating a string of murders in a fictional Delaware County town was produced as a seven-part limited series. But, following its massive success, many Philadelphia fans have long hoped for another season.

    After years of back-and-forth conversations between Winslet, Berwyn-based creator Brad Ingelsby, director Craig Zobel, and HBO executives about whether and when to move forward with a new season, it seems a green light may have been lit.

    Discussions in late 2024 were reportedly productive enough that Winslet believes they could film in 2027, the actor told Deadline.

    “They were proper conversations around a time frame when it could be possible. And so I think we probably will do it, and that’s the first time I’ve felt that,” Winslet told said in the recent interview that revolved mostly around her directorial debut, Goodbye June, a holiday movie that landed on Netflix last month.

    Shooting Mare “wouldn’t actually be this year, I reckon it would end up being 2027 to film it. There’s a strong likelihood it would film sometime in 2027,” she said.

    In June 2024, HBO’s head of drama Francesca Orsi told Variety that initial talks for a second season felt “too soon” after the show wrapped, but now there’s a possibility for a story set years after the events of Season 1.

    “While there’s nothing in the works, we are having early discussions about whether it might be time to start thinking of building something. We might be willing to figure out with Mare, years later, picking her up — not on the heels of where she ended, but there have been years for the character that have passed. Who is she now?” said Orsi.

    The momentum to bring back Mare comes fresh off the heels of Ingelsby’s latest Delco-set crime series, Task, starring Mark Ruffalo (who’s up for a Golden Globe Award for best performance in a TV drama). Both shows filmed extensively in and around Philadelphia and greater Pennsylvania.

    HBO renewed Task for a second season in November, announced a month after the finale aired.

    Brad Ingelsby in his office in Berwyn, Pa.. on July 17, 2025.

    When Ingelsby spoke to The Inquirer in 2024, the writer also said he was open to a new season of Mare.

    “I’m always open to Mare. The door is never closed. I think it’s a matter of when does Kate want to do it? Is there a window [in her schedule]?” Ingelsby said last summer.

    “But I definitely think there are more stories to tell … I just think she’s a fascinating character. Kate’s an amazing actress, and we certainly kicked the tires over the years, and we stay in touch. Ultimately, if we could figure out the time and the story, Kate would, I think, be open to doing it too.”

    Nothing is official just yet, but so far, all signs point to yes: We will hopefully get to see Winslet pick up the Delco accent (and vape) again in the future.

  • Donna Kelce makes her reality TV debut tonight. Here’s what you need to know about Season 4 of ‘The Traitors.’

    Donna Kelce makes her reality TV debut tonight. Here’s what you need to know about Season 4 of ‘The Traitors.’

    The fourth season of The Traitors officially premieres Thursday night on Peacock, and it will feature a few Philly-adjacent stars, including Donna Kelce.

    Whether you’re a reality TV aficionado or just hearing about the show for the first time, here’s everything you need to know about the show before you tune in …

    What is ‘The Traitors?’

    If you’ve never seen The Traitors, it’s basically a big-budget version of the party game “Mafia.” It’s also similar to The Mole, which, like The Traitors, is a spinoff of a Dutch-language show. It’s wildly popular globally, with over two dozen countries having their own version, and nearly a dozen more international spinoffs on the way.

    In the American version, host Alan Cumming whisks the cast away to his castle in Scotland, and selects a handful of players to serve as “Traitors,” who then have to “kill” — or eliminate — the other contestants, known as “Faithfuls.” At the end of every episode, there’s a roundtable, where contestants interrogate and confront one another to pick one player to banish, with the goal of eliminating all of the traitors. In the middle, contestants compete in challenges to grow the cash prize pot, which can get up to $250,000. The Faithfuls win if they can eliminate all the Traitors and make it to the end, but if any Traitors make it to the finale, they keep the prize money for themselves.

    Past contestants include former Bachelor stars like Gabby Windey and Peter Weber, iconic Survivor contestants like Boston Rob and Parvati Shallow, and members of the Real Housewives franchise like Phaedra Parks and Dolores Catania. Zac Efron’s brother, Dylan, won Season 3 of The Traitors despite no past reality TV experience, so Donna wouldn’t be the first nepo-Traitors winner. There’s also usually a random old British guy.

    Host Alan Cumming won an Emmy for outstanding reality competition program for “The Traitors.”

    Who is in the Season 4 cast?

    For Philadelphians, Kelce might be the biggest name, but Olympic figure skaters with local ties (Johnny Weir, Coatesville, and Tara Lipinski, Sewell, N.J.) will also factor into this season, ahead of the Winter Olympics in February.

    “That was so much fun, just being able to do that, especially at my age, it was just a blast,” Kelce told the Kansas City Star. “The [Scottish] Highlands are absolutely gorgeous. The people were so kind. And it just was kind of like a dream to be able to do something like that and to interact with individuals on such a high level.

    “And it was a little bit daunting when it comes to some of the missions, but it was fun. It really was. It was a good time.”

    Here’s the full cast list:

    • Donna Kelce
    • Johnny Weir
    • Tara Lipinski
    • Lisa Rinna, Real Housewives
    • Dorinda Medley, Real Housewives (and Traitors Season 3)
    • Rob Cesternino, Survivor
    • Natalie Anderson, Survivor
    • Tiffany Mitchell, Big Brother
    • Ian Terry, Big Brother
    • Yam Yam Arocho, Survivor
    • Monet X Change, RuPaul’s Drag Race
    • Colton Underwood, The Bachelor
    • Mark Ballas, Dancing with the Stars
    • Porsha Williams, Real Housewives
    • Candiace Bassett, Real Housewives
    • Maura Higgins, Love Island
    • Eric Nam, singer
    • Ron Funches, comedian
    • Rob Rausch, Love Island
    • Kristen Kish, Top Chef
    • Stephen Colletti, actor
    • Michael Rapaport, actor
    • Caroline Stanbury, Real Housewives

    Can Donna Kelce win ‘The Traitors?’

    “Missions” plural? Could Mama Kelce be sticking around for a while?

    Shortly after she was revealed to be a part of the cast, the three Kelce boys — Jason, Travis, and their father, Ed — discussed the matriarch’s chances on the show … but only after the brothers explained to dad what the show was all about. However, once they explained the game, Ed’s response was to snore.

    “I haven’t got a [expletive] clue,” he said when asked about Donna’s chances. “I don’t know, I’m not a reality TV show type of person.”

    Before their mother joined The Traitors cast, the Kelce brothers revealed they were fans of the show, but neither thought they would do well, especially if picked to be a traitor.

    How can I watch ‘The Traitors?’

    The first three episodes of the show will premiere on Peacock Thursday at 9 p.m. ET (although last season, they usually ended up dropping early, at around 8:30 p.m.). New episodes will premiere each subsequent Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. There will be 12 episodes total, including the reunion show, which is hosted by Andy Cohen.

    Here’s a look at the full schedule:

    • Jan. 8: Episodes 1-3
    • Jan. 15: Episodes 4-5
    • Jan. 22: Episode 6
    • Jan. 29: Episode 7
    • Feb. 5: Episode 8
    • Feb. 12: Episode 9
    • Feb. 19: Episode 10
    • Feb. 26: Episode 11 (the finale) & Reunion

    If you can’t wait, a pair of clips showing the contestants’ arrival at Cumming’s castle were recently unveiled.

  • Robert Caputo, prolific photographer, writer, and filmmaker, has died at 76

    Robert Caputo, prolific photographer, writer, and filmmaker, has died at 76

    Robert Caputo was captivated by the natural world, its animals and people. So he spent 35 years, from 1970 through 2005, traveling through Africa, Asia, and South America, taking photos, writing stories, and making films and TV shows for National Geographic magazine, Time, PBS, TNT, and other media outlets.

    From Kenya to Egypt, Venezuela to Zanzibar, in China, Cuba, New Orleans, and Boston, Mr. Caputo chronicled the beauty and tragedy of everyday life. He reported as a freelancer, with a camera and a notepad, for National Geographic for decades, covering political coups, civil wars, and famines in Sudan and Somalia, and the AIDS epidemic in Uganda.

    He worked for photographer and filmmaker Hugo van Lawick in Tanzania in the 1970s and then camera-stalked lions and leopards for National Geographic on the Serengeti Plain. He sent back striking images of the Abu Simbel Temples in Egypt and the old Kingdom of Mustang in Nepal.

    In Sudan, he sipped tea with camel traders, slept under the stars, and posed for portraits with tribal chiefs. He trekked the Himalayas and photographed fishermen on the Congo, Nile, and Mississippi Rivers. His poignant August 1993 cover photo for National Geographic of a starving Somali woman gained worldwide attention.

    “In fact, it is a great job,” Mr. Caputo told the Washington Post in 1995, when he was featured in a TV show about the Geographic photographers. “You really do get to go places and do things others only dream about.”

    He told the New York Daily News in 1995: “I’ve always thought of my job as a license to be nosy.”

    In 2002, as he was winding down his international travel, Mr. Caputo moved from Washington, D.C., to a farmhouse in Kennett Square, Chester County. In early 2025, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In December, he and his family traveled to the Pegasos Swiss Association voluntary assisted dying center in Basel, Switzerland. He died Thursday, Dec. 18. He was 76.

    “Fairly early on, Bob had expressed his wishes to go out on his own terms,” said his wife, Amy. “We were able to honestly and pragmatically deal with our situation, and he remained his thoughtful self, with his sense of humor intact till the end.”

    Mr. Caputo loved spending time with animals.

    Mr. Caputo first went to Africa in 1970. He dropped out of Trinity College in Connecticut as a senior and meandered with friends across the vast continent, from Morocco to Tanzania.

    He returned to earn a bachelor’s degree in film at New York University in 1976. Then, until 1979, he lived in Nairobi, Kenya, and sold photos and stories about Africa to Time, Life, and other magazines.

    Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

    “He liked to learn about things,” said his son Nick. “He was constantly inquiring into things.”

    In 1981, National Geographic hired him to report from Sudan on the verge of its civil war, and he produced striking cover photos, dramatic picture spreads, and detailed stories about Africa. In 1984 and ’85, he spent eight months and traveled 4,000 miles on steamboats, tugboats, and all-terrain vehicles to document traditional daily life along the Nile.

    Mr. Caputo had several cover photos for National Geographic.

    “Everywhere he went,” his family said, “Bob found that the people he met were fundamentally good and generous, happy to share their often limited food with him, a perfect stranger, and excited to tell him about their lives.”

    There were challenges, too, he said in many interviews. He was detained by border guards in Uganda in 1979 and contracted malaria nine times. The monthslong assignments in search of remote Indigenous people were often lonely, and he got hungry and tired.

    But the connections he made with people he encountered were worth it, he said. “The great advantage of working for National Geographic is having time,” he told the New York Daily News. “You can go to a village in Africa and not just have to waltz in and start shooting away. You can spend time getting to know people, and they can know you.”

    Mr. Caputo was a natural innovator and teacher, and he organized photo workshops and lectured about photography around the world. He taught digital photography at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University and cofounded Aurora & Quanta Productions in Maine in 1985 and the PixBoomBa.com photo website in 2010.

    National Geographic published his Photography Field Guide in 1999 and Ultimate Field Guide to Landscape Photography in 2007. He also authored photo essay books on the Nile and African wildlife, and exhibited his photos at the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science and elsewhere.

    Mr. Caputo (second from left) poses with local people in Africa.

    He wrote and appeared in wildlife shows, hosted TV programs and YouTube videos about photography, and wrote the story on which Glory & Honor, a 1998 award-winning TV film, is based. He made films about making films in Nigeria and the history of Boston’s Fenway Park.

    He earned awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the American Travel Writers Foundation, Communications Arts journal, and other groups. He was personable and energetic, colleagues said, and he cofounded the annual National Geographic Prom at the Washington office.

    When parents die, even the mundane memories comfort their children. Here are their tales, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer.

    “He was a tremendously caring and loving person,” his son Nick said. “He looked out for other people.”

    Mr. Caputo met TV and film producer Amy Wray on a National Geographic TV shoot in the Amazon rainforest. They married in 1997 and had sons Nick and Matt.

    This photo is featured on Mr. Caputo’s website.

    In Facebook tributes, friends and colleagues noted his “wonderful smile” and “deep love of people and animals.” They called him a “legend” and “amazing.” Robert J. Rosenthal, former Africa correspondent and former executive editor of The Inquirer, called Mr. Caputo “one of the best humans I ever knew.”

    Mr. Caputo told MainLine Today in 2009: “My personal heroes are the people who work for aid organizations and nongovernmental organizations, who go to some faraway place to help people they’re not related to and often put themselves in harm’s way.”

    Robert Anthony Caputo was born Jan. 15, 1949, at Camp Lejeune, N.C. His father was a career Marine and moved the family to bases in Virginia and then Sweden for an assignment at the U.S. embassy there.

    In a 1991 interview with the Newhouse News Service, Mr. Caputo said: “I remember as a kid going to sleep listening to artillery going off in the distance down at the range. It was kind of comforting. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

    Mr. Caputo (second from right) doted on his wife and sons.

    He attended a Swedish middle school, learned the language, skied, and played soccer. He returned to the United States in the late 1960s to attend boarding school in Virginia and then Trinity.

    In Kennett Square, Mr. Caputo was a soccer, baseball, and basketball coach to his sons, and a Cub Scouts leader. He walked the boys to the school bus stop in the morning. He told them bedtime tales about secret agents and pirates, they said, and built a tree house in the backyard.

    Surviving spouses always remember how they met their mate. Here are the meet-cute stories told to The Inquirer’s obit writer.

    He decorated his truck on Halloween and grew impressive gardens. His neighbors called him Farmer Bob.

    He took his family on trips to Kenya and Tanzania. He dabbled in experimental playwriting and literature when he was young, and enjoyed classic movies and William Blake’s poetry.

    Mr. Caputo (center) shows his camera to the locals in Africa.

    “He felt extraordinarily lucky to have lived the life he did,” his wife said, “full of adventure, family and friends. And in the end he said, ‘I’m ready.’”

    In addition to his wife and sons, Mr. Caputo is survived by a sister and other relatives.

    Services are to be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, at Kennett Friends Meeting, 125 W. Sickle St., Kennett Square, Pa. 19348.

    Donations in his name may be made to Doctors Without Borders, Box 5030, Hagerstown, Md. 21741.

    His family called Mr. Caputo “buttered side up” when he was young “because no matter
    how he fell he always seemed to end up the right way, and his life was full and lucky.”
  • Why the ‘Stranger Things’ finale has Philadelphia fans buzzing

    Why the ‘Stranger Things’ finale has Philadelphia fans buzzing

    This article contains spoilers.

    New Year’s Eve brought the much-anticipated finale of the ultrapopular Netflix series Stranger Things, marking the official conclusion of the 10-year sci-fi saga.

    One detail from the series’ two-hour finale caught the ear — and imagination — of local viewers.

    In one of the episode’s final scenes, four of the show’s main characters — Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve — discuss how to keep in touch now that many of them have departed their cursed hometown, the fictional Hawkins, Indiana.

    Over beers on the rooftop of a local radio station, the characters vow to meet up once a month in a convenient location.

    “What’s a city between Hawkins and Massachusetts [and] New York?” asks Nancy, who drops out of Emerson College to take a job at the Boston Herald.

    “I have an uncle who lives in Philly,” replies Robin, played by Maya Hawke, who attends Smith College in Massachusetts. “He’s kind of weird, but he’s got a really big house.”

    It’s an idea that Philadelphians quickly took to online, obviously.

    “The closest thing to the upside down IRL would probably be Philly, so I guess that makes sense,” wrote one commenter in a Reddit thread on the topic.

    “Gritty has yet to emerge so they think it’s safe,” wrote another.

    Even the city’s official tourism agency got in on the action.

    “Did the Stranger Things crew just say they’re meeting up in Philly?!” the Visit Philly account posted to the social media site Threads. “Where should they meet?”

    (Among the suggestions: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Paddy’s Pub.)

    Inevitably, some pined for a Philly-based spinoff — or, at the very least, a crossover with another high-profile show set in the region.

    “I’m pretty sure when she says Philadelphia she really means Delco which, to [an] Indiana native, would be close enough,” wrote one Reddit commenter. “And would make for a kickass spin off or team up with Mare of Easttown.”

  • A familiar voice to Birds fans will call Eagles-Commanders on CBS

    A familiar voice to Birds fans will call Eagles-Commanders on CBS

    While the Eagles are prioritizing next week’s wild-card game, Sunday’s matchup against the Commanders is the sole focus of one announcer who grew up rooting for the Birds.

    Ross Tucker, the Eagles preseason announcer on NBC10 since 2019, will call Eagles-Commanders on CBS alongside veteran play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. Sunday.

    Tucker, a Wyomissing native and former NFL offensive lineman, has called a number of Eagles games on radio for Westwood One, where he’s worked since 2015. But Sunday will be his first chance broadcasting a Birds game on TV for CBS.

    “It’s super cool for me on multiple levels,” Tucker said. “I grew up an Eagles fan, and all my friends are Eagles fans, so this will be really neat for them.”

    It’s a stroke of luck on many fronts. Ordinarily, Tucker works games on CBS’s No. 6 crew alongside Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy. But Harlan’s normal broadcast partner, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, is off this weekend to attend his son’s wedding, opening a slot for Tucker.

    Despite that, the Eagles game wasn’t on Tucker’s radar, since Fox traditionally is the home of NFC games. But under new TV deals that began in 2021, the NFL is only required to schedule one of each NFC divisional matchup on Fox, which aired Eagles-Commanders in Week 16.

    Tucker didn’t know he landed the Birds game until CBS announced their broadcast lineups Tuesday.

    “I knew I was doing the game with Kevin for about three or four weeks, but I had no idea it would turn out to be the Eagles game,” Tucker said. “It’s really fortuitous.”

    This will be the first game Tucker and Harlan have called together on TV, but the two have been paired on radio a bunch on Westwood One, including for playoff games. Harlan has called games alongside plenty of analysts during his 40-year career, but thinks Tucker’s insight as a former offensive lineman in a broadcasting world dominated by former quarterbacks is enlightening.

    “Ross picks up nuance and the right way to capture what a line is doing or not doing, and I just find that refreshing,” Harlan said.

    With the Eagles resting their starters, it turned out to be a prescient move by CBS to turn to Tucker, who watched every preseason snap and knows the Birds’ backups better than most. Harlan also calls preseason games for the Green Bay Packers, but that won’t help him much when it comes to the Birds’ backups.

    “It’s a great challenge to come in and do a bunch of players I’m not really familiar with,” Harlan said. “I’m probably going to let Ross kind of lead things that he finds interesting to get the ball rolling, and then we’ll let the game take it from there.”

    Calling Sunday’s Eagles game certainly is a milestone for Tucker, but he remains a workhorse. In addition to calling NFL games for CBS and Westwood One (where he’ll broadcast playoff games), he calls college football games and continues to host the daily Ross Tucker Football Podcast. He also nearly replaced Angelo Cataldi as the morning host on 94.1 WIP, but a daily commute from Reading to Philadelphia for a 6 a.m. show wasn’t in the cards.

    “I still feel like I’m just grinding and trying to move up the ranks and doing the best I can,” Tucker said.

    Ross Tucker (right) called NFL games on CBS in 2025 alongside Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy.

    Tucker’s only regret is not being able to call his first Eagles game alongside McCarthy. The two have been friends since McCarthy called Tucker’s college football games at Princeton. And McCarthy, in his 12th season calling NFL games for CBS, has yet to land the Eagles, though he remains the only announcer not named Jim Nantz to call a game with Tony Romo.

    “He is the best,” McCarthy said of Tucker. “Just a tremendous partner. We have had such an amazing year.”

    But McCarthy has a nice consolidation prize. He will be in Cincinnati Sunday calling the Bengals’ matchup against the Cleveland Browns, where he’ll have the chance to voice Myles Garrett breaking the NFL’s single-season sack record (22), currently held by Michael Strahan.

    Where on TV is Eagles-Commanders airing

    Among other places, Sunday’s Eagles game is airing in Tampa, where a lot of Birds fans call home.

    This season, the Eagles have had their fair share of nationally televised games. That won’t be the case Sunday.

    In addition to the Philadelphia TV market, Eagles-Commanders also is airing in Washington, D.C., and throughout most of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The game also will be available on CBS in Tampa, Fla., which an outsized number of Eagles fans call home.

    It’s airing in two TV markets home to teams the Eagles have a chance of facing in the first round of the playoffs — San Francisco and Green Bay, along with most of Minnesota and all of Detroit.

    It’ll also broadcast in Chicago, where Bears fans will be flipping to see which team ends up with the No. 2 seed.

    Los Angeles Rams fans will be out of luck, though. While the Eagles likely will face the Rams, CBS2 in Los Angeles is locked into airing the Chargers’ game against the Denver Broncos, where the AFC’s No. 1 seed is on the line.

    Other NFL games airing Sunday in Philadelphia

    D’Andre Swift and the Bears will lock down the No. 2 seed with a win Sunday.

    Eagles fans in Philadelphia will get plenty of games Sunday impacting the playoffs.

    Saturday night on ESPN, Carolina Panthers-Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely decide the winner of the NFC South (although the Atlanta Falcons could play spoilers Sunday) while the winner of Seattle Seahawks-San Francisco 49ers will claim the NFC West crown and the No. 1 seed.

    Sunday afternoon, Fox will air Detroit Lions-Chicago Bears at 4:25 p.m. If the Eagles win and the Bears lose, the Birds will head to the playoffs as the No. 2 seed and host the Packers in the wild-card round. Otherwise the Birds will be the No. 3 seed and face the 49ers or Rams.

    Sunday night, NBC has a win-or-go-home game in the Baltimore Ravens at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The winner heads to the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 4 seed.

    Here are the games airing on TV in and around Philadelphia in Week 18:

    Saturday

    • Panthers at Buccaneers: 4:30 p.m., ESPN (Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick, Katie George, Peter Schrager)
    • Seahawks at 49ers: 8 p.m., ESPN/6abc (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Laura Rutledge)

    Sunday

    • Packers at Vikings: 1 p.m., CBS3 (Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta, Aditi Kinkhabwala)
    • Cowboys at Giants: 1 p.m., Fox29 (Kevin Kugler, Daryl Johnston, Allison Williams)
    • Commanders at Eagles: 4:25 p.m., CBS3 (Kevin Harlan, Ross Tucker, Melanie Collins)
    • Lions at Bears: 4:25 p.m., Fox29 (Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi)
    • Ravens at Steelers: 8:20 p.m., NBC10 (Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark)
    Rams loss in Week 17 eliminated one Eagles wild-card opponent as playoffs approach
  • Jimmy Kimmel jokes about fascism in an ‘alternative Christmas message’ for Britain

    Jimmy Kimmel jokes about fascism in an ‘alternative Christmas message’ for Britain

    LONDON — Talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel took aim at President Donald Trump as he warned Thursday about the rise of fascism in an address to U.K. viewers dubbed “The Alternative Christmas Message.”

    The message, aired on Channel 4 on Christmas Day, reflected on the impact of the second term in office for Trump, who Kimmel said acts like a king.

    “From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,” he said. “Tyranny is booming over here.”

    The channel began a tradition of airing an alternative Christmas message in 1993, as a counterpart to the British monarch’s annual televised address to the nation. Channel 4 said the message is often a thought-provoking and personal reflection pertinent to the events of the year.

    The comedian has skewered Trump since returning to the air after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September amid criticism of comments the host made after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

    Kimmel had made remarks in reference to the reaction to Kirk’s shooting suggesting that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on the death.

    Trump celebrated the suspension of the veteran late-night comic and his frequent critic, calling it “great news for America.” He also called for other late-night hosts to be fired.

    The incident, one of Trump’s many disputes and legal battles waged with the media, sparked widespread concerns about freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

    Hundreds of leading Hollywood stars and others in the entertainment industry urged Americans in an open letter to “fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.” The show returned to the air less than a week later.

    Kimmel told the U.K. audience that a Christmas miracle had happened in September when millions of people — some who hated his show — had spoken up for free speech.

    “We won, the president lost, and now I’m back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician on Earth a right and richly deserved bollocking,” he said.

    Channel 4 previously invited whistleblower Edward Snowden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to deliver the alternative Christmas message.

    Kimmel, who said he didn’t expect Brits to know who he was, warned that silencing critics is not something that happens only in Russia or North Korea.

    Despite the split that led to the American Revolution 250 years ago, he said, the two nations still share a special relationship, and he urged the U.K. not to give up on the U.S. as it was “going through a bit of a wobble.”

    “Here in the United States right now, we are both figuratively and literally tearing down the structures of our democracy, from the free press to science to medicine to judicial independence to the actual White House itself‚” Kimmel said, in reference to demolition of the building’s East Wing. “We are a right mess, and we know this is also affecting you, and I just wanted to say sorry.”

  • Controversial ’60 Minutes’ segment on Trump immigration policy leaks online

    Controversial ’60 Minutes’ segment on Trump immigration policy leaks online

    A news segment about the Trump administration’s immigration policy that was abruptly pulled from 60 Minutes was mistakenly aired on a TV app after the last minute decision not to air it touched off a public debate about journalistic independence.

    The segment featured interviews with migrants who were sent to a notorious El Salvador prison called the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, under President Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration.

    The story was pulled from Global Television Network, one of Canada’s largest networks, but still ran on the network’s app. Global Television Network swiftly corrected the error, but copies of it continued to float around the internet and pop up before being taken down.

    “Paramount’s content protection team is in the process of routine take down orders for the unaired and unauthorized segment,” a CBS spokesperson said Tuesday via email.

    A representative of Global Television Network did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    In the story, two men who were deported reported torture, beatings, and abuse. One Venezuelan said he was punished with sexual abuse and solitary confinement.

    Another was a college student who said guards beat him and knocked out his tooth upon arrival.

    “When you get there, you already know you’re in hell. You don’t need anyone to tell you,” he said.

    The segment featured numerous experts who called into question the legal basis for deporting migrants so hastily amid pending judicial decisions. Reporters for the show also corroborated findings by Human Rights Watch suggesting that only eight of the deported men had been sentenced for violent or potentially violent crimes, using available ICE data.

    The decision to pull a critical account of the Trump administration was met with widespread accusations that CBS leadership was shielding the president from unfavorable coverage.

    The journalist who reported the story, Sharyn Alfonsi, said in an email sent to fellow 60 Minutes correspondents that the story was factually correct and had been cleared by CBS lawyers and its standards division.

    CBS News chief Bari Weiss said Monday that the story did not “advance the ball” and pointed out that the Trump administration had refused to comment for the story. Weiss said she wanted a greater effort made to get its point of view and said she looked forward to airing Alfonsi’s piece “when it’s ready.”

    The dispute put one of journalism’s most respected brands — and a frequent target of Trump — back in the spotlight and amplified questions about whether Weiss’ appointment is a signal that CBS News is headed in a more Trump-friendly direction.