Tuesday, January 13, 2026 |
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Watch nerds sometimes focus on mechanical timepieces to the exclusion of all others. We get it—and we're guilty of it, too. But as impressive as all those complicated movements can be, we ignore the digital to our detriment. Because once you start exploring, you'll see that getting into quartz and batteries offer a window into a whole other side of the watchmaking world (and an exciting one at that). Esquire's Nick Sullivan recently visited the mecca of that kind of watchmaking—the place where Casio birthed the G-Shock. Read all about it below. —Jonathan Evans, style director |
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A trip to the HQ in Tokyo and the manufacture in Yamagata Prefecture was a window into the Japanese company's weird, wonderful world.
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All Swiss watch manufactures are not the same. But on the surface, yeah, they pretty much are. A lot of white coats, airlocks, dust suppression mechanisms, highly skilled watchmakers, and inspiring views of the snow-capped Alps beyond the plate glass windows. It takes experience to parse out the subtleties that make a particular manufacture stand out—one for its mind-bending métiers d'art decoration, another for the rigor with which it tests its calibers, another for its obsession with perfecting a particular type of movement.
Whistle-stop visits to Casio's Tokyo HQ and to its Yamagata Prefecture manufacture this past summer were a real eye-opener. There's climate control, airlocks, and dust-suppression just like in Switzerland. There are even mountains, given Yamagata is close to Mount Zao, a popular ski resort. But the outfits worn by the technicians, the machinery—much of it automated and robot controlled—and, for lack of a better term, the feeling is distinct. Casio is simply not like any Swiss manufacture I've come across.
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It's risky to do elective surgery on a happily-ever-after. When Scrubs ended after eight seasons in May 2009, Zach Braff's earnest and awkward doctor J.D. left the Sacred Heart hospital envisioning happy married life with Elliot (Sarah Chalke), a lifelong friendship with Turk and Carla (Donald Faison and Judy Reyes), and even a future wedding between the couple's children—plus an uncharacteristically heartfelt goodbye hug from his merciless mentor/nemesis Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley.) The new revival of Scrubs, debuting on ABC on February 25, picks up with the same characters 17 years later, but Braff and Faison say fans should note that what they saw onscreen before was kind of a Ghost of Christmas Future thing: a possibility, not a certainty. "I don't know if everyone remembers this, but the finale's happy ending is all in J.D.'s imagination," Braff tells Esquire for this exclusive first look at the new series. "It's what his hopes and dreams are for the future. But as we all know, as living on earth, our hopes and dreams don't necessarily all come true." |
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In recent years, there's one word you hear again and again from movie distributors and pundits: event. Making a great movie is nice. But creating a culture-shaking event is what's required in the current boom-bust film landscape. It's something everyone has known for a long time, but in 2026 it seems as if studios are really beginning to grasp what it actually means. From Tom Cruise in an auteur-driven comedy to the sequels to The Devil Wears Prada and The Social Network to Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and Greta Gerwig's Narnia (Narnyssey?), this year's slate is jam-packed with big, splashy cinema sure to get people talking. I'm excited for many of those projects, but there are a bunch of small indies (Maddie's Secret, $Positions, Blue Heron, The Scout) that have me equally, if not more, pumped. The entire film business may be crumbling, but I feel pretty confident that in 2026 the great movies will keep on coming. |
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 Somehow, 2025 was the year of TV that kept on giving. After knocking it out of the park early with The Pitt and Severance season 2, the hits didn't stop thanks to Andor, Adolescence, Pluribus, Task, The Studio, Black Rabbit, Paradise, and countless others that simply blew us away. Hell, 2025 even fit in the Stranger Things series finale. So if you're looking at the slate for 2026 and noticing a lot of familiar faces, that's a good thing—many of our favorite shows from 2025 are coming back to try and defend their title. Dr. Robby returns to the ER in The Pitt season 2, Kayce Dutton laces up his cowboy boots for the first Yellowstone spin-off sequel, and Carmy plans to step out of the kitchen for the first time in The Bear season 5. Elsewhere, many award-winning shows are gearing up for their last hurrah in 2026. The final seasons of Hacks, Yellowjackets, The Boys, and The Witcher, as well as (hopefully) the grand return of Euphoria, will look to make 2026 something special. I can't speak to the state of the film industry in the near future, but it's looking bright and sunny on the small screen. |
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In recent years, there's one word you hear again and again from movie distributors and pundits: event. Making a great movie is nice. But creating a culture-shaking event is what's required in the current boom-bust film landscape. It's something everyone has known for a long time, but in 2026 it seems as if studios are really beginning to grasp what it actually means. From Tom Cruise in an auteur-driven comedy to the sequels to The Devil Wears Prada and The Social Network to Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and Greta Gerwig's Narnia (Narnyssey?), this year's slate is jam-packed with big, splashy cinema sure to get people talking. I'm excited for many of those projects, but there are a bunch of small indies (Maddie's Secret, $Positions, Blue Heron, The Scout) that have me equally, if not more, pumped. The entire film business may be crumbling, but I feel pretty confident that in 2026 the great movies will keep on coming. |
"They tend to put less makeup on me the longer we go, because it's like, 'No, you're looking tired. This is perfect!'" Gerran Howell told Esquire about The Pitt season 2. / photo by: JJ Geiger |
The Pitt is finally back, racking up even more awards at the Golden Globes last night just as season 2 returned. As an Esquire reader recently commented, "I am already hooked through April." Not a bad way to start 2026! Let me know what else you're excited to see this year by writing to me at josh.rosenberg@hearst.com. Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here. |
The Continuing Adventures of the Esquire Entertainment Desk |
Speaking of The Pitt, Gerran Howell (aka Dr. Whitaker) told Brady Langmann about how his timid resident has leveled up in season 2 under the tutelage of Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle). "Everyone keeps saying there's a glow-up happening there, but the bar was low from season 1, man," Howell says, laughing. Read the interview here. Karl Urban, Priyanka Chopra, and the director of the new swashbuckling pirate drama, The Bluff, spoke to Anthony Breznican about their action-packed film. "As a Caribbean person, I don't always feel like our story was told and represented in a lot of pirate films," filmmaker Frank E. Flowers says. "So I was like, 'What if we did a pirate film from the Caribbean perspective and lean into what was real?' " Read the full interview with Urban and Chopra here. |
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Noah Wyle (The Pitt) accepts the award for Best Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards. / photo provided by: Getty Images |
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The Cliff-Hanger's Winners and Losers of the Week |
Winner: Indy the Dog The Academy may never add my much-fought-for Animal Oscar category, but there are still pockets in the industry willing to celebrate our furry stars this season. This week, Indy the Dog from the indie horror film Good Boy took home the award for Best Horror Performance at the Astra Film Awards over Allison Brie (Together) and Ethan Hawke (Black Phone 2). I guess the competition wasn't so ruff, after all. Loser: Tommy Norris Landman fans are losing their minds after a shocking cliff-hanger to last night's episode. Billy Bob Thornton's character, Tommy Norris, was fired from his job at M-Tex oil—leaving viewers absolutely stunned. Something tells me that Tommy might just bounce back as a winner come Sunday's season 2 finale. Winner: Reptile Expos in New Jersey When Rose Byrne accepted the Golden Globe award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical last night, she stated that her husband, actor Bobby Cannavale, was absent because "we're getting a bearded dragon, and he went to a reptile expo in New Jersey." Move over, Hollywood—the biggest event of the night was actually a lizard convention. Loser: George R. R. Martin The Games of Thrones creator said in a recent interview that he plans to write twelve additional novellas after he finishes his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Good luck, George … we've been waiting for The Winds of Winter for over fifteen years now. Winner: Noah Wyle Not only did The Pitt star nab another award last night at the Golden Globes, but he apparently returned home to find that his kids crafted him a "Best Dad" trophy. It doesn't get more wholesome than that. |
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