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    “Handmaid’s Tale” wins 2nd season as Hulu unveils live-TV option 

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2673 Views
    This image released by Hulu shows Elisabeth Moss as Offred in a scene from "The Handmaid's Tale." The series has won a second season from Hulu. (George Kraychyk/Hulu via AP)

    By Frazier Moore, Television Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Just a week after its premiere, "The Handmaid's Tale" has won a second season from Hulu , which is bringing aboard Alec Baldwin for an upcoming drama series about events that led to the 9/11 attacks.

    The subscription service also on Wednesday announced the launch of an optional upgrade that delivers multiple channels of live programming along with streaming content.

    This live-TV option provides live and on-demand programming from more than 50 sports, news, entertainment and kids' channels, including shows from the four major broadcast networks, along with Hulu's existing streaming library. The monthly plan costs $39.99, which includes Hulu's standard $7.99 commercial service. The no-commercials plan costs an additional $4 per month.

    "Hulu can now be your primary source of television – live or on demand," said Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins.

    Among newly acquired off-network series: NBC's "This Is Us," this season's reigning freshman drama, now available on Hulu.

    Hulu's announced straight-to-series originals includes "Marvel's Runaways," which will explore the younger side of the Marvel Comics universe in a coming-of-age action drama. It is scheduled to premiere next winter.

    Meanwhile, "The First" is a drama set in the near future about the first human mission to Mars. This series is created and written by Beau Willimon ("House of Cards," ''Ides of March").

    Actor and Donald-Trump-impersonator Alec Baldwin has been cast to guest star in "The Looming Tower" as George Tenet, the director of central intelligence for the CIA. The 10-episode series will be adapted from Lawrence Wright's Pulitzer Prize-winning 9/11 expose with a cast also including Jeff Daniels and Peter Sarsgaard.

    "The Handmaid's Tale" has quickly emerged as a hit for Hulu, with its April 26 premiere watched by more Hulu viewers than any past series premiere on the channel, the service said. Based on the acclaimed 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, it stars Elisabeth Moss as a woman pushing back against a totalitarian society where human rights are trampled and women in particular are treated as property of the state.

    Tags:HuluThe Handmaid's Tale



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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