NBC’s American Ninja Warrior is back, and so is Sean Bryan, the Papal Ninja, who brought along a couple of holy friends for Qualifier #3, which aired Sept. 21.
This season, the reality-competition show is not traveling the country for tryouts but…

‘American Ninja Warrior’: The Papal Ninja and the Hounds of Heaven

It's hard to calculate just how much money the contemporary mainstream movie industry leaves on the table because most of its creators and producers are unwilling or unable to do films that celebrate or at least are respectful of Christian…

Christian Filmmaker Jon Erwin on 'Imagine,' 'Believe' and Returning Faith to the Movie Mainstream

Airing Wednesday, Sept. 16, on ABC, the two-hour documentary Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris goes minute-by-minute with the devasting fire at the cathedral on April 15, 2019 — the day after Palm Sunday that year — and along the way, captures the…

‘Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris’: The Naudets Document Fire, Find Faith, Wednesday on ABC

There won't be a Christopher Awards in-person ceremony this year, so some of Hollywood's biggest names will have to celebrate in their own backyards (there's a lot of that, this year).
We're most interested in the winners in the TV and film…

Dolly Parton, Mr. Rogers Among Christopher Awards TV/Film Winners

In what seems now to be a portent of things to come, on April 15, 2019, fire ravaged Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral. Then, in 2020, COVID-19 delayed efforts to restore the structure, a masterpiece of Catholic architecture and a French national…

ABC Airs Sept. 16 Special on the Fire at Notre-Dame in Paris

Back in 2018, the fact-based drama I Can Only Imagine, based on the story behind the hit Christian-rock song of the same name, startled Hollywood insiders when it earned over $80 million at the box office.
Now, I Can Only Imagine is coming to…

UPtv to Air ‘I Can Only Imagine’ on Labor Day Weekend

In a story, there’s the thing that happens, and there are the things that happen because of the thing that happened. The new movie Fatima, hitting theaters and video-on-demand on Aug. 28, has both.
What Is Fatima About?
The apparitions of the Virgin…

‘Fatima’ Finds the Reality Behind the Miracle

California is burning. As I write this, 47 wildfires are active across the Golden State, piling onto a place suffering, like the rest of the world, from the woes of the COVID-19 virus and its related economic impact, and reeling from bouts of civil…

NatGeo’s ‘Rebuilding Paradise’: Ron Howard Documents Destruction and Rebirth

Ever since the sophomore year of the BBC's Father Brown, actor John Burton has played Sgt. Goodfellow, the right-hand man to the local inspector, and a frequent ally of actor Mark Williams' crime-solving priest.
Loosely based on the character created…

John Burton is the Goodfellow of 'Father Brown'

On Aug. 14, on Amazon Prime Video, the world finally gets to binge Mark Burnett’s Eco-Challenge, as I did for years.
As an entertainment journalist, I used to get VHS tapes (remember those?) of a full season of episodes and plowed through them at…

‘Eco-Challenge’ Returns to Take on Nature and the Human Spirit

As we were not on video chat, I couldn’t tell if Father Brown star Mark Williams had tea over in Britain, but I had my piping hot morning mug of Irish breakfast brew before we got on the phone.
Anyway, as Williams points out, noting the time…

Taking Tea With ‘Father Brown’ Star Mark Williams

Currently available on Netflix, the new documentary Father, Soldier, Son began a decade ago as a New York Times story about a U.S. Army battalion deployed to Afghanistan. Directors Leslye Davis and Catrin Einhorn then expanded the story into a…

Netflix's 'Father, Soldier, Son' Walks for a Decade With a Military Family

Zac Efron wanted to talk about water on his Netflix show Down to Earth, and that journey led him to France and then ultimately to Lourdes, home to a world-famous healing spring. Along the way, he met a priest who's part of our family.
Before he was…

Zac Efron's 'Down to Earth' on Netflix Visits Lourdes and Meets Our Own Father Phalan

Not every parent will produce a child star or an Olympic athlete, but many face the challenge of helping a child fulfill a treasured dream and winding up wondering about the cost of success.
Two recent documentaries, Netflix's Athlete A and HBO's…

Netflix's 'Athlete A' and HBO's 'Showbiz Kids': The Price of Children's Dreams

“No, don’t, it’s a countermeasure!”
Well, OK, that’s not exactly what the thing called in the World War II drama Greyhound, now available on streamer Apple TV+, but yelling that at the TV does prove I’ve seen The Hunt for Red October too many…

‘Greyhound’: Tom Hanks Plays a Man of Faith Hunting the Wolfpack

It's the Fourth of July weekend, and in some parts of the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down many of the outdoor activities we usually associate with Independence Day. There will still be indoor and backyard celebrations, and the weekend…

Two for the Fourth: 'Hamilton' and 'Liberty's Kids'

So, Warrior Nun has landed on Netflix. What to say? First, I didn’t hate it (and I expected to). Second, I was deeply disappointed.
(Warning: some spoilers.)
What’s the Origin Story of Warrior Nun?
The series, created by Simon Barry (Continuum) is…

Netflix’s ‘Warrior Nun’: Well, That Was Disappointing

Mike Rowe hasn't done any Dirty Jobs for Discovery Channel since 2012, but with America slowly emerging from months of lockdowns and quarantine -- except for people doing some of society's dirtiest and most essential jobs, who've still been at work…

Back to Work With Discovery's 'Dirty Jobs: Rowe'd Trip' in July

For crab fisherman Josh Harris, his life as a son, a brother and, now, a father, has played out in front of the millions of dedicated fans of Discovery’s Deadliest Catch, airing Tuesdays.
16 Seasons for Deadliest Catch (and Me)
I’ve been writing…

‘Deadliest Catch’s’ Josh Harris on Being a Son and a Father

Slowly, in fits and starts, the U.S. and the world are starting to emerge from a months-long lockdown to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It’s indeed been a spring like no other — or at least no other that most of us remember.
It’s also one…