Entertainment
‘Stranger Things’ Spinoffs We Want to See: Steve, Dustin’s Sequel and More on September 27, 2023 at 7:37 pm Us Weekly

Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, Priah Ferguson, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin. Courtesy of Netflix (2)
The Stranger Things universe is getting bigger and bigger — and Us Weekly is overflowing with suggestions for potential spinoff ideas.
Viewers have been compelled by the mysterious town of Hawkins, Indiana, since Stranger Things debuted in 2016. As the Netflix series continued to find success, the Upside Down and the supernatural entities that came with offered a glimpse at how Stranger Things could expand the story in the long run.
Creators Ross and Matt Duffer later confirmed that Stranger Things was technically not coming to an end — even though season 5 was going to be the show’s last.
“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things,” an open letter from the executive producers stated in February 2022. “At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four but — as you’ll see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last.”
The duo continued: “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things: new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes. But first, we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension known only as the Upside Down.”
Scroll on for some of the spinoff ideas we have for the Stranger Things universe:
Hopper and Joyce in High School
Courtesy of Netflix
We would never say no to more Hopper and Joyce content — especially if they are at the center of the show. In season 2, fans learned that the couple knew each other when they were in high school.
Their chemistry continued to heat up our screens as Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) danced around their feelings for each other. Now that we know Hopper and Joyce are actually endgame, the possibilities for their prequel series are endless.
Steve and Robin’s Babysitting Adventures — With the Kids
Courtesy of Netflix
Stranger Things did an exceptional job with Steve’s (Joe Keery) arc because now no one can get enough of him. He went from Nancy’s (Natalia Dyer) jealous athlete boyfriend to a hero that helped save the town (and the kids) time after time. So it’s only fair that the Duffer brothers keep the fun going by dedicating an entire series to Steve and his adventures.
Ideally, a Steve-centric show would include his friendship with Robin (Maya Hawke) and his bromance with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo). But at this time we would settle for anything as long as we get to see Steve’s iconic hair — and trusty baseball bat.
The Main Group in a Different Decade
Courtesy Netflix
The Netflix series has been set in the ’80s since it premiered. However, the younger actors have grown up fairly quickly so it is sometimes hard to believe that their characters are still meant to be in their teens.
A spinoff that ages the core group up allows the nostalgia to keep hitting across multiple decades. It also means the Stranger Things stars will get to play their actual ages.
Nancy in Her Single Era
Courtesy of Netflix
Team Steve or Team Jonathan (Charlie Heaton)? How about Team Nancy?
Fans have mainly been focused on who Nancy will choose at the end of the series when the real question is where her story goes from here. Stranger Things has the unique opportunity to follow Nancy as she branches out of Hawkins and builds a life in another place (or multiple locations!) while focusing on her career.
The Vecna Prequel
Tina Rowden/Netflix ; Courtesy of Netflix
Season 4 of Stranger Things not only raised the stakes — it also introduced Us to Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna. The villain was originally a young boy named Henry Creel who moved to Hawkins with his family. His interest in the supernatural eventually took Henry down a dark path and he ended up at Hawkins Lab under Dr. Brenner’s care. Henry tried to escape but that led to a battle with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) that banished him to what is now known as the Upside Down, where he went on to become Vecna.
The groundwork for Stranger Things‘ biggest bad was already laid out on the Netflix series so it only makes sense to really dig into Vecna’s history in a separate project.
The Origins of Murray
Courtesy of Netflix
It doesn’t actually matter what Murray (Brett Gelman) does in his own show, as long as we get to see it. His introduction as Hopper’s eccentric friend quickly turned into Murray becoming a crucial character that helps Joyce and the others navigate the mystery at the center of Hawkins. But it is pretty obvious that Murray’s past is full of wild adventures just begging to be explored.
Eddie: The Early Years
Courtesy of Netflix
It is safe to say that no one expected Eddie (Joseph Quinn) to become such a fan-favorite when the character was introduced in season 4. But there’s nothing wrong with taking your opportunities when they come, which means investing in the high school student’s story.
Eddie’s shocking death doesn’t leave a lot of room for scenes from the current timeline. However, a series could be crafted around Eddie’s time in high school and his Dungeons and Dragons endeavors.
The Stranger Things universe is getting bigger and bigger — and Us Weekly is overflowing with suggestions for potential spinoff ideas. Viewers have been compelled by the mysterious town of Hawkins, Indiana, since Stranger Things debuted in 2016. As the Netflix series continued to find success, the Upside Down and the supernatural entities that came
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Entertainment
STREAMING PREMIERE · JUNE 13, 2026

Laughter Meets Inspiration: Our Ladies Show Lands on The Roku Channel
A bold new sketch comedy series for women premieres June 13 across the U.S., U.K., and Canada — arriving on the back of a festival-winning run that has critics and audiences already paying attention.
It isn’t every day a brand-new comedy arrives already wearing a row of trophies. Our Ladies Show does. The seven-episode inspirational sketch comedy series — created, written by, and starring Christin Jezak — begins streaming on The Roku Channel on Friday, June 13, 2026, available free to viewers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
Produced in partnership with global media services leader Encompass Digital Media, the series sets out to do something rare in today’s streaming landscape: make women laugh out loud and leave them lifted. In a media moment crowded with noise and cynicism, Our Ladies Show is a deliberate counterweight — comedy with a conscience, built for women of every age and background.

A Show Built Around Real Life — and Real Laughs
Each of the seven episodes opens with a monologue from one of the cast members introducing the theme, then rolls into three or more sketches that hit the subject from every comedic angle. The series tackles the things women actually carry: holding grudges, comparison, beauty, patience, gift giving, the importance of community, and dealing with anxiety.
The comedy comes from a place of warmth rather than mockery — a “laugh at ourselves” spirit that runs through a gallery of unforgettable characters: a nosey neighbor, an overwhelmed mom, relentlessly optimistic flight attendants, beauty pageant winners past their prime, and a crew of unruly campers with a counselor who simply cannot hold it together.
Then the show does something most sketch series don’t. In the final segment of every episode, the cast gathers in a living-room setting and invites the audience in — sharing real inspiration drawn from the theme, the sketches, and their own personal stories. It’s the moment the laughter turns into something that stays with you.

The Women Behind the Show
Our Ladies Show brings together three performers with serious range:
- Christin Jezak — creator, writer, and star (Miracle at Manchester, Raising Hope, Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
- Hillary Hawkins — (Primal, Nick Jr.’s Play Along, Gullah Gullah Island)
- Sarah Hernandez — (Nefarious, Unplanned, House of Payne)
“In a world with so much division and depression, I hope women of all ages and backgrounds will watch this show, laugh, be reminded of how beautiful, unique, and loved they are, and remember how much we need each other.”— Christin Jezak, Creator & Star
Already a Festival Favorite
The series’ recurring long-form sketch, Neighborhood Watch, didn’t arrive quietly. Originally released as a web series and revamped for Our Ladies Show with new footage, sound, and music, it has been sweeping the festival circuit:
- 🏆 Best Webseries — 2026 New Media Film Festival (Los Angeles)
- 🏆 Best Web/TV Series — Paris Film Awards
- 🏆 Best Web Series — Dallas Movie Awards
- 🏅 Additional wins at the London Movie Awards, Florence Film Awards, and Hollywood Gold Awards
- 🎬 Official Selection — 2026 Harvard Divinity School Film Fest
- ⭐ Finalist — Houston Comedy Film Festival
- 📣 Three nominations — 2025 Content Christian Media Conference, including Best Actress in a TV and Web Series nods for both Christin Jezak and Sarah Hernandez
Where and When to Watch
Our Ladies Show premieres Friday, June 13, 2026, streaming on The Roku Channel — the home of premium and free entertainment — in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. All seven episodes deliver the series’ signature blend of sharp sketch comedy and genuine encouragement.

Watch the trailer now on your platform of choice:
For more information, visit www.ourladiesshow.com and follow @ourladiesshow on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

About Christin Jezak
Christin Jezak has worked for over 15 years in the entertainment industry. She created and stars in Our Ladies Show and the award-winning web series Neighborhood Watch. She produced the EWTN TV program For the Sake of the Gospel and the all-women web series Ladies Keepin’ It Real, played Dr. Sam in Miracle at Manchester (starring Dean Cain, Daniel Roebuck, and Eddie McClintock), and voices Agnes in the podcast Confessions of a Catholic Single. She held a lead role in a short film for NTT Data directed by Academy Award–winning cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, has co-starred on Raising Hope, and appeared in Jimmy Kimmel sketches and a Grubhub Super Bowl commercial.

About The Roku Channel
Roku pioneered streaming on TV and is the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by hours streamed (Hypothesis Group, Dec. 2025). The Roku Channel is the home of premium and free entertainment, alongside Roku’s Howdy and Frndly TV services. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, California.
About Encompass Digital Media
Encompass Digital Media is a global managed services company — technology-driven, software-defined, and people-powered. Trusted by world-leading broadcasters, networks, sports rights-holders, and OTT platforms, it processes over 25,000 hours of content daily, serves 850 channels to 84 countries, distributes over 243,000 live events annually, and reaches 400 million radio listeners weekly worldwide. Learn more at www.encompass.tv.
Media & Interview Requests: To interview creator Christin Jezak or the cast, contact Christin at cjezak@p2ptheatre.com.
Entertainment
What Filmmakers Should Actually Steal From Euphoria

Most of the talk about Euphoria asks one question: was it realistic? That’s the wrong question if you make films. The better one is simpler. How did Sam Levinson get an audience to feel addiction from the inside? And what did it cost him to end the show the way he did?
Strip away the noise and Euphoria is a clinic in three choices: point of view, style, and the ending. Here’s what’s worth taking — and what isn’t.

1. Put the Camera Inside the Character
Most shows about drugs watch from across the room. Euphoria doesn’t. When Rue is high, the camera is high too. Walls breathe. Floors tilt. Time skips. You’re not watching her — you’re stuck inside her head.
That’s the lesson: point of view is a decision you make with the camera and the cut, not a mood you add later in color. Levinson builds it into the lens, the blocking, and the edit.
So before you shoot a scene through a character’s eyes, ask one thing on set: whose eyes is this lens standing in for? Then make every cut respect that.
2. Your Style Has to Mean Something
The glitter. The slow push-ins. The impossible club lighting. Euphoria‘s look got copied everywhere. That’s the trap.
The style worked because it carried weight. The beauty wasn’t decoration — it was the lie addiction tells you, the reason the next high looks worth it. The camera made self-destruction gorgeous on purpose.
The copies missed that. A thousand music videos took the look and left the meaning behind, and you can feel how hollow they are. So here’s the test: if your signature style could be swapped onto any other project and still “work,” it’s not a style. It’s a filter. Every choice should have a reason behind it.
3. The Ending Tells the Audience What It All Meant
When Euphoria ended for good in Season 3, Levinson killed Rue — an accidental, fentanyl-laced overdose. He called it “the honest ending,” saying he wanted to tell a true story about addiction and grief in a time when one mistake can be the last one. Reportedly, that wasn’t the original plan; the death of Angus Cloud, who played Fezco, changed the script.
Forget whether you agree with the choice. Study how it works. An ending is the last instruction you give your audience about how to read everything before it.
By ending on consequence instead of recovery, Levinson reframed seven years of beautiful chaos as a story about cost — not a celebration of it.
It’s also the show’s most debatable move, and that’s worth noticing too. A show that spent years making pain look beautiful had to fight to make that pain land as loss. Did it earn the ending, or enjoy the wreckage too long to stick it? Smart filmmakers will disagree — and that argument is exactly what a good ending is supposed to start.

What Not to Take
The neon grief is the most copied part. It’s also the least useful. Take the surface — the colors, the slow-mo, the trauma-as-texture — and you get the costume without the body.
The real craft is underneath. Commit your camera to a real point of view. Make every stylistic choice earn its place. Treat your ending as the point of the whole thing. Do that, and your work won’t look like Euphoria. It’ll do what Euphoria did.
This piece touches on addiction and substance use. If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available through the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
Entertainment
How a 22-Person Film Crew Each Walked Away With $300,000

In the spring of 2020, with Hollywood shut down and most film workers suddenly out of a job, Zendaya made a movie in a single house with a crew of 22. The film was Malcolm & Marie. What happened to that crew afterward is the part worth paying attention to — and it’s quietly become a blueprint indie filmmakers are borrowing five years later.
Instead of paying everyone the standard flat day rate and sending them home, Zendaya structured the production so the crew owned a piece of it. They received “points” — a share of the film’s revenue.
When Malcolm & Marie sold to Netflix for roughly $30 million, those points turned into real money. Because one point typically equals 1%, a single point on that sale was worth around $300,000.
For a crew used to being paid by the day, that’s a life-changing number.
The Math That Makes It Click
The reason points are so powerful is that their value scales with the film, not with your hours on set:
- At $30 million in revenue, 1% equals $300,000
- At $50 million, 1% equals $500,000
- At $100 million, 1% equals $1 million
Now hold that against traditional indie crew pay, which runs roughly $300 to $800 per day. A 20-day shoot totals somewhere between $6,000 and $16,000 — full stop, no upside, no matter how well the film does. The points model flips the entire logic: you stop getting paid for time and start getting paid for success.
This Isn’t New — It’s Just Newly Accessible
Backend deals are how the biggest names in Hollywood get rich. Robert Downey Jr. reportedly earned tens of millions from his Avengers: Endgame backend; Keanu Reeves made a fortune off The Matrix through profit participation. The leverage to demand that kind of deal has always belonged to A-list stars.
What changed with Malcolm & Marie is who got a seat at the table. Zendaya didn’t reserve the points for herself and a couple of producers — she extended them to the crew, the people she described as laying the tracks and doing the heavy lifting. That’s the shift indie filmmakers are now studying: ownership as something you share down the call sheet, not hoard at the top.
Why Indie Filmmakers Should Care
Independent films usually run on budgets between $50,000 and $500,000, where labor can eat up 40% to 60% of total costs. That creates a permanent squeeze: how do you attract genuinely skilled people without torching the budget before you’ve shot a frame?
Equity is the pressure valve. Offering ownership instead of higher upfront pay lets you reduce immediate production costs, attract more experienced collaborators, and — maybe most importantly — build a team that actually wants the film to win.

How to Apply It to Your Own Project
You don’t need a $30 million Netflix sale for this to work. Say your budget is $250,000 and your revenue goal is $500,000, making 1% worth $5,000. Instead of stretching cash thin across every line item, you might offer 1% to a cinematographer, 1% to an editor, and 1–2% to a producer. You preserve cash during production and hand your key people a real reason to overdeliver.
Ownership Changes How People Show Up
A stake rewires behavior. People who own a piece of the outcome stay sharper on set, pitch in on marketing and promotion without being asked, and stay invested long after wrap. That last part matters more than it sounds — a crew that’s financially tied to the film becomes part of its distribution engine, not just its production.
Read the Fine Print
Equity is not a salary, and it’s honest to say so. Malcolm & Marie worked because it sold to Netflix at a high price — that’s the upside scenario, not a guarantee. If a project underperforms, points can be worth little or nothing. So if you use this model, do it cleanly: define revenue participation explicitly in contracts, spell out recoupment structures so everyone knows who gets paid and in what order, and offer partial upfront payment where you can to balance the risk. The whole thing runs on trust, and trust runs on transparency.
The Bigger Picture
What Zendaya pulled off with a 22-person crew in one house pointed to something larger about how creative work gets valued. In an industry where funding is the hardest wall to climb, ownership has become its own currency. You may not control access to millions in financing — but you fully control how value gets shared on your set. And that, more often than not, is the difference between a film that stalls in development and one that actually gets made.
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