For far too long, video games have been besieged by the scourge of Dad Games. Things like the recent God of War entries and The Last of Us have popularized the idea of giving players some kind of paternal duty over a young, mostly helpless companion. It’s played out and boring, among other things.

That’s one of the reasons why I’m so into what I’ve seen of Capcom’s upcoming Pragmata so far. This sci-fi third-person shooter, originally announced six years ago, has a similar enough premise to those other games I mentioned. You play as a guy named Hugh who finds himself needing to protect and work with a strange little girl named Diana as they try to escape a space station full of angry robots.

The difference, though, is that I would categorize Pragmata as more of an Uncle Game than a Dad Game. I got to play about 90 minutes of Pragmata at a press event recently, and it seems like a totally kick-ass action game with a really neat hacking-based hook, but the lighthearted interplay between Hugh and Diana was also significantly more endearing than the heavy-handed self-seriousness of something like The Last of Us.

Pragmata is basically Resident Evil 4 with an air dash

The hacking aspect of ‘Pragmata’ is extremely sick.
Credit: Capcom

In case you haven’t been following along with Pragmata’s marketing (there’s also a free demo available on every platform), the main thing to know is that it’s a space-based third-person shooter with similar gameplay guts to that of the more action-oriented entries in Capcom’s Resident Evil series.

Of course, Pragmata is not a horror game, so the vibe is pretty different. But at its core, this is still a game about carefully positioning yourself in the middle of overwhelming fights and trying to precisely line up shots on the weak points of enemies who (mostly) creepily move towards you in a slow manner. An obvious difference is that Hugh can also sprint, jump, and dash around the environment, giving it a much more fast-paced feel than you’d get as Leon S. Kennedy of the Resident Evil series.

These guys suck to fight.
Credit: Capcom

The real meat of Pragmata‘s combat comes from Diana’s hacking abilities. She sits on Hugh’s shoulder at all times, and aiming at an enemy will bring up a square-based hacking grid that you navigate using the face buttons. In essence, you’re doing a hacking mini-game while also running and shooting, and successfully hacking an enemy can open up weak spots or stun/slow them down. It is absolutely key to success, and the first time you do it, you’ll immediately understand why it’s a cool idea.

All of that had been known about Pragmata prior to this recent hands-on opportunity, though. One major new thing I got to see this time around was the game’s hub area, which you can travel to from any checkpoint in the world. It’s got a training range, upgrade stations, and even a friendly robot named Cabin who exists to help you do whatever you need to do in that space. Just from the demo I played, Pragmata seems like it’s got a pretty satisfying upgrade loop to it. You collect different kinds of currency from exploring levels and defeating enemies, which you then use to upgrade Hugh’s core functions like health, as well as all the different guns he uses along the way.

It’s straightforward enough, but Capcom is one of the best purveyors of this type of single-player action game. I think they know a thing or two about player progression, and it showed in the demo I played.

Pragmata also has a ton of personality

Of course, there are fun costumes to unlock.
Credit: Capcom

While the actual gameplay side of the demo didn’t show me a ton I didn’t already know about Pragmata, it was set in a substantially more interesting environment than we had seen previously. Specifically, I got to run around a weird, 3D-printed simulacra of Times Square in New York City, but inside a space station. Billboards and ads were full of fun references to other Capcom games like Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, while the buildings and storefronts sometimes faded halfway out of existence because they clearly weren’t fully completed before…whatever happened in this space station.

Going back to the whole “Uncle Game” thing, what impressed me most about Pragmata is the amount of heart there is in all of Hugh and Diana’s interactions. She’s never been to Earth, so Hugh spends most of the NYC level explaining various Earth concepts to her to sate her infinite curiosity on the subject. I especially dug a bit where Hugh mentioned that the fake NYC wasn’t nearly as dirty as the real one.

Cabin’s a cool dude.
Credit: Capcom

Most importantly, I didn’t get a ton of paternal energy from what I saw between Hugh and Diana. There was one scene where he had to save her from her own curiosity, but other than that, what I played was bereft of Hugh scolding, lecturing, or otherwise acting like much of a parent towards Diana. Rather, he feels a bit more like an uncle who’s been tasked with watching a kid for a weekend. Just like any good uncle, you can even find gifts in the world and give them to Diana in the hub area, at which point she will adorably go and play with them.

At this point I’ve only played about two combined hours of Pragmata at various press events, but every time I see it, I want to play the final game more and more. I really think Capcom has stumbled onto something very cool here, between the sweaty, stressful sci-fi combat and the cute interplay between its two leads. We’ll find out pretty soon whether or not it holds up over the course of a full game.

Pragmata launches on April 17 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and Nintendo Switch 2.

TL;DR: Live stream Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League for free on Virgin Media Player. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The next round of Champions League fixtures includes some really interesting matchups, including Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt.

Bodo/Glimt have been the story of this Champions League. They’ve already created history, beating some of the biggest names in European football. And now they hold a 3-0 advantage coming into this huge second-leg matchup with Sporting. The Portuguese side will need to produce something special to come back into this contest, but we’ve seen it all before. Anything is possible in this competition.

If you want to watch Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt?

Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League kicks off at 5:45 p.m. GMT on March 17. This fixture takes place at the Estádio José Alvalade.

How to watch Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt for free

Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt is available to live stream for free on Virgin Media Player.

Virgin Media Player is geo-restricted to Ireland, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Ireland, meaning you can unblock Virgin Media Player to stream the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Ireland

4. Visit Virgin Media Player

5. Watch Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt for free from anywhere in the world

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt without committing with your cash. This isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select Champions League fixtures before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Virgin Media Player?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on Virgin Media Player, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Ireland

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Watch Sporting vs. Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League for free with ExpressVPN.

Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King’s cult comedy gem The Comeback has always been a frighteningly prescient satire of Hollywood.

Season 1, which aired in 2005, was ahead of its time in its portrayal of the manipulative tactics that power reality TV. Season 2, coming almost a decade later in 2014, poked fun at prestige antihero dramedies. Now, The Comeback makes its second (and supposedly final) comeback with a third season that’s all about Hollywood’s hottest topic: AI.

That AI focus lends The Comeback Season 3 an urgency that sets it apart from its prior two outings. Yes, it’s still hilarious, cynical, and a remarkable showcase for Kudrow in her best role. But on top of all that, it’s also something else: a warning.

What’s The Comeback Season 3 about?

Zane Philips, Brittany O’Grady, Barry Shabaka Henley, Lisa Kudrow, Tim Bagley, and Matt Cook in “The Comeback.”
Credit: Erin Simkin / HBO

The warning signs begin early, as The Comeback Season 3 picks up during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

“AI is coming after all of us,” then-SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher (in one of The Comeback‘s many celebrity cameos) tells a crowd of striking actors and writers.

The Comeback‘s embattled sitcom star Valerie Cherish (Kudrow) nods along, but in true Valerie fashion, she’s more focused on the optics of her presence at the strike than the strike itself. Now trying to master the social media game to stay relevant, she’s too busy directing her Gen Z social manager Patience (Ella Stiller) to truly take in the gravity of the situation. (Kudrow is already on Emmy watch for Valerie’s posing with the picket sign alone.)

Flash forward to 2026: Valerie is struggling to get a podcast (Cherish the Time) off the ground, and she’s taking bit roles in the lowest of low budget films. But her luck is set to change when she’s offered the lead of new multi-cam sitcom How’s That?!. It’s everything she’s ever wanted, with one huge catch: It’s completely written by AI.

The Comeback Season 3 examines the role of AI in show business.

John Early and Abbi Jacobson in “The Comeback.”
Credit: Erin Simkin / HBO

On paper, How’s That?!‘s showrunners are two humans, Mary and Josh (Abbi Jacobson and John Early). But in reality, their only job is to babysit the AI program that’s actually churning out the show’s scripts, sending the two of them down a disillusioned spiral.

Part of that comes from the fact that The Comeback initially approaches AI writing as somewhat competent. It churns out tens of alternate lines before Mary and Josh can think of one. Its jokes resonate more with How’s That?!‘s live studio audience than the one or two gags Mary and Josh manage to sneak in themselves. In terms of speed and sheer writing volume, it’s impressive, and Valerie certainly seems to agree. That she has to deal less with difficult writer types like her past antagonist Paulie G. (Lance Barber) also seems to sweeten the deal.

However, as Season 3 continues, How’s That?!‘s shiny new tool begins to lose its sheen. AI hallucinations turn scripts incomprehensible, and the program’s hastily-produced alts prove unsurprising and dull. Of course they would — they’re just scraping other writers’ work for inspiration.

That’s what The Comeback Season 3 hammers home. AI can crank out script after script, but it’s completely soulless. It has no sense of what will truly resonate with an audience. That, The Comeback says, can only come from writers pitching in the crucible of production, grinding it out until they find the perfect one-liner.

According to How’s That?!‘s network’s CEO (played to skeezy perfection by Andrew Scott), the use of AI will help cut costs and optimize the show for maximum audience enjoyment. (Or really, just throwing it on in the background.) Ironically, he asks Valerie to keep it a secret from the cast and crew, a process that requires more effort than simply bringing more human writers onboard.

Valerie has never been great at keeping things to herself, which is why she lets How’s That?!‘s AI use slip to The Comeback documentarian Jane (Laura Silverman). The slip brings Jane back into the fold for a new documentary project: exploring the making of the first-ever AI-written show.

It’s clear from the start that Jane understands the existential threat AI poses to the entertainment industry. Things are already awful for the majority of workers in the field. Now an Academy Award winner, Jane’s main job isn’t filmmaking, but rather working as a cashier at Trader Joe’s. Crew members on How’s That?! have worked on films whose production has been drastically shortened due to AI, robbing them of over 10 weeks of pay. Elsewhere, The Comeback populates entire coffee shops with talented writers who have to pivot because the industry is a mess. As one writer notes in the show, the normalization of AI in TV won’t just be an evolution of the form, it’ll be “an extinction event.”

Yet somehow, Valerie is the rare example of someone in the entertainment industry benefitting from AI. It’s given her the job of a lifetime, and in her mind, she’s willing to set aside a lot of her misgivings in exchange for a lead role and a shiny executive producer credit. But really, Valerie is the proverbial frog in a slowly boiling pot of water. She doesn’t realize that the danger is coming for her too, even as The Comeback works its way up towards a Black Mirror-esque conclusion.

The Comeback Season 3 isn’t all AI doom and gloom, though. It’s full of standout running gags, including Valerie’s obsession with her under-viewed show Mrs. Hatt. (Nobody watched it because it was on Epix, a cutting jab at the sheer amount of streaming shows.) It also provides a touching send-off to Valerie’s hair stylists and closest friend Mickey, whose actor Robert Michael Morris passed away in 2017. Trust The Comeback to make me tear up and belly laugh all at once.

Kudrow’s performance remains pure comedic excellence, managing to make even Valerie’s most selfish moments endearing. That The Comeback plays more loosely with its documentary format helps here as well: We tend to see Valerie through the lens of Jane’s camera, Patience’s phone, or security footage in her and Mark’s (Damian Young) apartment. Often, though, The Comeback Season 3 allows us to see parts of Valerie’s life that the cameras don’t capture, a tactic that closed out its touching Season 2 finale. In keeping it up, Season 3 offers up the most humanized view of Valerie yet, and Kudrow is spectacular through each high and low.

Of course, much of those lows revolve around AI. The Comeback can occasionally get uncharacteristically heavy-handed about the subject matter, but then again, in a world where entertainment giants like Disney are investing in OpenAI, it’s not wrong to sound the alarm about something that could so thoroughly decimate the industry.

In The Comeback‘s eyes, bringing AI into TV will result in nothing but lowest common denominator “content,” and that’s about as far from the show’s sharp, superb swan song as you can get.

The Comeback Season 3 premieres March 22 at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.