Thanks to COVID-19, many of us have woken up each day for the last year feeling like Bill Murray in the movie "Groundhog Day." But Groundhog Day, during which a groundhog predicts the coming weather, is officially celebrated next Tuesday.

Since the pandemic is at its potential peak, social distancing will continue through the winter. Since isolation will be the norm through the season, a great way to connect and pass time is through board games and backyard contests.

"Seinfeld," the iconic TV sitcom from a generation ago, influenced myriad progressive and often-hilarious shows such as "Arrested Development," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Broad City." The series created by legendary comic Jerry Seinfeld and brilliant humorist Larry David broke sitcom conventions.

A decades-long legal battle among members of Jimi Hendrix’s family leaves the future of a Renton music school unclear. A U.S. District Court judge in New York ruled last week the Hendrix Music Academy is in violation of a court order stemming from a continuing trademark battle between Jimi Hendrix’s estate and the music icon’s brother.

Movies are all about emotions. Positive ones, negative ones and everything in between. We’re entertained and enthralled by movies because we’re so emotionally invested in these stories and characters. And given everything going on in the world right now, we could all use some of those positive emotions that only movies can provide.

Like so much this past year, the inaugural celebration will be like no other: pared down, distanced, much of it virtual. But for actor Christopher Jackson – the original George Washington in Broadway’s “Hamilton” – performing in a virtual “ball” is a way of participating in an essential rite of American democracy.

If you're particularly into numbers, the phrase "National Pie Day" might make you think of March 14, aka Pi Day, a celebration of the mathematical constant that begins with 3.14. But March is still a couple of months away, so National Pie Day can only mean one thing: a day to celebrate the pastry filled with sweet or savory goodness.

LOS ANGELES — When Javicia Leslie moved to Los Angeles, she frequently rode down the popular Sunset Boulevard to view the row of erected TV and film billboards for inspiration. As an aspiring actress, she often parked underneath her favorite ones to study before an audition.

W.C. Fields warned against working with kids and animals. Thankfully, "Masterpiece" ignored at least half of that advice. As part of its 50th year on the air, the PBS staple is offering a new adaptation of "All Creatures Great and Small," the misadventures of an adorkable veterinarian.

Joanne Rogers, an accomplished concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, the beloved children’s TV host Fred Rogers of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," has died in Pittsburgh. She was 92. Rogers died Thursday, according to the Fred Rogers Center. No cause of death was given. The center called her “a joyful and tender-hearted spirit.”

Once a bastion of inspiration and imagination, the action/adventure genre in video games has become complacent over the years. I won’t lie and tell you the annual “Assassin’s Creed” releases are bad or that the dramatic set pieces of the “Uncharted” series aren’t impressive. But even avid fans of the genre will admit the games have become formulaic. 

The most consumerist time of the year is behind us, but that doesn’t mean anyone’s lost interest in picking up a fancy, new PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S. The hype is a bit of a mystery to me – over the years, I’ve watched the launch lineups of new game consoles grow consistently weaker.

"A new year ... a fresh, clean start!" a joyous boy in red mittens said a quarter-century ago this week shortly before soaring forth on the most famous sled in American arts this side of "Citizen Kane." And just like that, the high-spirited 6-year-old and his best buddy were never seen again – at least not in new images.

Bill Watterson reflects today and marvels at the perch that syndicated strips once held, back when the comics page was part of the nation's daily cultural conversation. "The reach and impact of newspaper comic strips," Watterson says by email, "is almost impossible to fathom now."

The departure of "The Office" from Netflix this week, and NBC's efforts to highlight that it will stream exclusively on its Peacock platform starting Friday, have put the show back in headlines. But "Office" viewership – already among the highest of any streaming show – began spiking this spring as pandemic lockdowns took hold.

"Wonder Woman 1984" landed on Christmas Day like a holiday turkducken, a 2½-hour concoction made of many disparate parts that isn't to everyone's taste. Some critics welcome Patty Jenkins's sequel feast, with the Los Angeles Times calling it "extravagant" and "genially overstuffed." 

Chrissy Teigen, who has recently been vocal about her sobriety, took to social media Wednesday to explain her decision to quit drinking. In one of her latest Instagram posts, the model and cookbook author recommended Holly Whitaker's self-help book, "Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed With Alcohol."

For its many miseries, 2020 delivered some extremely memorable video games. And now, with the arrival of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, there’s more reason than usual to get excited for the offerings of the year ahead.

The beginning of a new year is often the perfect time to reflect. In general, 2020 has been a year of highs and lows for me and countless others, but lockdowns, fewer and shorter commutes and remote work gave me extra time to play a greater variety of video games than any previous year.