• Netflix didn't crash when it streamed two NFL games on Christmas.
• Even better for the NFL and Netflix: The streaming-only games got audiences that were only a bit smaller than a TV game.
• Streaming live sports used to be a novelty. Not anymore.

Netflix passed two tests on Wednesday when it streamed live NFL football games for the first time in its history.

First: Netflix managed to stream the games around the world without widespread tech foul-ups that plagued its Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing exhibition/stunt last month.

Second: Netflix managed to attract the kind of audience for the games that you'd expect from the NFL, which is continually the most popular thing on conventional TV.

The NFL and the streamer say that both of Wednesday's games — the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Houston Texans — averaged around 24 million viewers in the US. That's a record for streaming NFL games in the country. (Those initial numbers may swell a bit once the NFL, Netflix, and Nielsen scour for additional viewers.)

The biggest audience — around 27 million viewers — showed up for the "Beyoncé Bowl" — a halftime performance during the Ravens/Texans game, featuring, of course, Beyoncé.

For comparison, last year, the NFL attracted an average of some 28 million US viewers for the two games it broadcast on Christmas Day, via conventional TV networks. (Netflix's numbers don't include viewers outside the US; it says it will report back on those on December 31. Netflix says the audience for the Tyson/Paul event peaked at 65 million worldwide and 38 million in the US.)

All of which means that when Netflix streams Christmas games again next year, and again in 2027, it won't seem like a novelty. It will just be the most popular sport on TV, delivered via a streaming service.

This is what both Netflix and the NFL want, for slightly different reasons. The NFL is always looking for another outlet that will pay it top dollar for the right to show its games — Netflix paid the NFL a reported $150 million for this year's games — and Netflix wants high-profile live events as a way to boost its nascent ad business.

Win-win. This is what the NFL has been finding every time it sells streaming rights to digital players over the years, including Yahoo, Twitter, Amazon, and Google.

While we are here, a couple other notes:

• While there was some discussion of Netflix trying to make its NFL coverage unique, I couldn't discern anything meaningfully different about the games from any others I've watched this year. Which, again, is the point: The NFL wants the product to look the same no matter where you see it. (And if there is a desire for something different on the part of fans, I have yet to discern it.)

• Netflix streaming NFL games for the first time is meaningful to the NFL, Netflix, and people who pay attention to the media business. But in my 100% unscientific poll of people in the real world, no one knew Netflix had the games. And when they found out, they didn't care, which makes sense: Neither game was particularly important, or suspenseful. But for Netflix and the NFL that wasn't the point.

Tia Mowry is reflecting on navigating coparenting during the holidays after her divorce from ex-husband Cory Hardrict.

“Happy Holidays from my family to yours! . Co-parenting during the holidays is a journey — one that’s filled with a mix of emotions,” Mowry, 46, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, December 24. “It’s different, and yes, it can feel challenging and even lonely at times, especially when you’re adjusting to a new family dynamic.”

Mowry noted that she’s “found the beauty in it” as time has passed. “It’s an opportunity for my kids to build meaningful relationships with both parents, and for me, it creates space for self-discovery, healing, and rejuvenation,” she wrote.

Alongside the message, Mowry posed in matching red plaid pajamas with son Cree, 13, and daughter Cairo, 6, whom she shares with Hardrict, 45. The carousel of snaps featured solo images of the two children and Mowry posing beside the Christmas tree.

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“I’ll admit, as a single mom, I sometimes feel the weight because our family doesn’t look like others. But you know what? That’s OK,” she wrote. “Different doesn’t mean less than. The most important thing is keeping the traditions alive for my children — because no matter how it looks, we are still family. .”

Mowry concluded her caption with a message to “anyone navigating co-parenting or a new chapter this holiday season,” adding, “Know that you’re not alone.”

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“There’s joy to be found, even in the transitions,” she wrote. “Let’s keep creating those special moments for our kids, no matter what. .”

Mowry tied the knot with Hardrict in 2008 after eight years together. She shared in October 2022 that the pair decided to call it quits. The exes finalized their divorce in April 2023.

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“I have always been honest with my fans, and today is no different. I wanted to share that Cory and I have decided to go our separate ways,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “These decisions are never easy, and not without sadness. We will maintain a friendship as we co-parent our beautiful children. I am grateful for all the happy times we had together and want to thank my friends, family and fans for your love and support as we start this new chapter moving forward in our lives.”

Following their split, Mowry has been candid about how she and Hardict navigate coparenting.

“I talk to [Cory] every single day. We tell each other [that] we love each other every single day,” she exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2022. “He is family and he will always be family and a part of our lives forever.”

Adrien Brody lost 30 pounds for his 2003 role in The Pianist, which had lingering effects on his body.

“That was a physical transformation that was necessary for storytelling,” Brody, 51, told New York Magazine in a profile published on Monday, December 23. “But then that kind of opened me up, spiritually, to a depth of understanding of emptiness and hunger in a way that I didn’t know, ever.”

Brody portrayed radio station musician Władysław Szpilman in the biopic, chronicling how the character survived during World War II in Poland. The film earned Brody his first Academy Award. Afterward, the actor experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and disordered eating.

“I definitely had an eating disorder for at least a year,” Brody told New York Magazine. “And then I was depressed for a year if not a lifetime. I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

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To get into character, the outlet reported that he “put himself on a near-starvation diet” and only ate small “bits of protein” while playing Chopin’s piano works for hour son end. Brody was also reportedly “barely drinking water” when filming began.

After The Pianist wrapped and Brody won his Oscar, he took a yearlong break from acting.

“I do admit the bar was high,” he recalled. “I’d rather not go down the list of what movies in particular I felt were disastrous.”

After a string of roles that were admittedly less successful, Brody took another hiatus around 2018. It was his girlfriend, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, who later inspired his return.

“I just stepped out. That helped me recalibrate,” Brody told the outlet. “She helped me realize that it would be a loss to let the frustrations interfere with pursuing what I am destined to do with an open heart.”

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Brody will next star in The Brutalist about artist Lázsló Tóth, who escaped Nazi-occupied Europe during the Holocaust.

“The Brutalist broke some illusion of the need for suffering to extend beyond what I need to conjure up the character,” Brody said. “It was surprising to me that I didn’t need to take home so much of my own anguish.”

Like with The Pianist, Brody also felt a responsibility to authentically portray Tóth in The Brutalist.

“I knew when it felt truthful and when it didn’t,” he explained. “The Hungarian sensibility, sensitivity, and strength is a quality beyond language that is noticeable to me, that is present in that character.”

If you or someone you know struggles with an eating disorder, visit the National Alliance for Eating Disorders website or call their hotline at +1 (866) 662-1235. Text “ALLIANCE” to 741741 for free, 24/7 support.

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