“One of the very first things that Tim [Burton] said when we started was ‘don’t make this funny’,” Wednesday composer Chris Bacon said about the musical direction he got from the series’ Oscar-nominated director and executive producer.

“It’s a funny show, but Tim Burton, he was very serious: ‘Do not play funny music.’ Play them serious,” Bacon added during a panel for the show at Deadline’s Sound & Screen Television awards-season concert event. “The same way Jenna Ortega plays it. That makes it funnier if it’s darker, heavier, more serious. Keep it grounded in that macabre fantasy world.”

In Season 2, Ortega’s Wednesday encounters plenty: she contends with a corrupt principal in Steve Buscemi’s Principal Dort, battles her monstrous boyfriend, bonds with mother Morticia, and even dies and rises again.

RELATED: All Of Deadline’s Sound & Screen TV Panels

“Season 2 was a chance to take what we started in Season 1 and create this language that was quirky but also not too quirky that felt like it could have existed at any time,” says Bacon.

Wednesday is a contemporary show, “but the Addams Family doesn’t exist in time,” added the composer.

With moments such as a monster mom finding her monster son, “it was chance to do more and be unabashedly thematic,” said Bacon, who went to town with a sweeping cinematic score accentuated by French horns when Enid (Emma Myers) turns into a werewolf to save Wednesday.

It’s not the Addams Family without the harpsicord, which was used in the original theme of the 1964 TV series. But how does Bacon regulate the instrument he quips as one “I hated my entire life”? “It’s part of their sound and it’s part of what keeps the Addams Family timeless,” he says. “It’s a great sound to throw in to remind us that we’re there.”

Season 3 of Wednesday began production in Ireland at the end of February, adding Chris Sarandon, Noah Taylor, Oscar Morgan, Kennedy Moyer and Winona Ryder to the cast. A recent photo that was dropped shows the action heading to Paris.

In regards to teasing what Season 3’s score might sound like, Bacon simply said, “Music is being made.”

Check back Monday for the panel video.

On April 29, 2021, Matt Olson hit himself in the face with a baseball in the batting cage at Tropicana Field. A freak bounce off the L-screen left him with the kind of shiner an athlete can usually only acquire by going 12 rounds with Marvin Hagler, but fortunately no lasting damage. By May 2, Olson was well enough to return to the lineup, and he hasn’t missed a game since.

Olson’s consecutive games streak now stands at 820; not only is this the longest active run in baseball, he recently passed Nellie Fox for the 11th-longest streak in MLB history. Assuming he avoids any further batting practice mishaps, Olson will end the season with the eighth-longest streak ever. Only seven players in MLB history — and 10 in all of North American top-level sports — have ever played in 1,000 straight games. Olson is due to become the 11th before the All-Star break next year.

This is undeniably an impressive athletic feat. For the past five seasons — and really, close to a decade, dating back to his early days in Oakland — Olson has been good enough to demand a starting position in a big league lineup. And for good teams, more often than not. He’s taken good enough care of his body to withstand the (considerable, even for a first baseman) physical toll of a 162-game major league season, and avoided injury through impact as well as wear-and-tear. (Olson has been hit by 30 pitches during his streak, and escaped with his hamate bone intact.)

As much as I admire Olson’s commitment and dedication, I have a bit of a crank take on iron man streaks: If you literally never miss a game, you’re probably hurting the team.

Olson has been suiting up six days a week every season for five years, and while he’s not taking the beating of a catcher or middle infielder, he’s still exerting himself enough to require rest. Not a lot, but skipping the odd day game after a night game might help him save his strength for big moments later in the year.

Since Olson joined the Braves in 2022, Atlanta has won 100 regular-season games twice. But the Braves’ postseason record is 2-8, and they’ve failed to win a single playoff round since their World Series title in 2021. Olson is hitting .250/.357/.417 with two homers in those 10 games, which is just fine in a vacuum but below his normal standards.

In 2023, the Braves won 104 games with an unusually stable lineup: All nine starting position players played at least 100 games. Eight of them played at least 138 games, and in addition to the irreplaceable Olson, both Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña Jr. played 159 games apiece.

This is, from soup to nuts, one of the best regular-season teams I can remember. The Braves not only won a division that sent three teams to the playoffs, but they won it by 14 games. Olson was unbelievable, belting a career-high 54 home runs and hitting .283/.389/.604. This was one of those seasons that bears reaching back for the old-timey stats: Olson scored 127 runs and drove in 139. Had Acuña not scrambled away with the MVP trophy, Olson would’ve made a run at the award himself.

Olson followed that season up with back-to-back 29-homer campaigns. Acuña and Riley both battled injuries as Atlanta’s win total dropped by 15 from 2023 to 2024, and another 13 from 2024 to 2025.

The more tired the Braves looked, the more convinced I became that I had been right all along: Bossman gives you all that PTO for a reason, and you’re only hurting yourself if you don’t take it.

Six weeks into the 2026 season, I find myself… chastened. The Braves are 26-12, and Olson has, without exaggeration, been the best player in the National League. He’s hitting .301/.388/.671 with 13 home runs in 38 games, and if there are fluke indicators hiding in his stat line, they’re not especially troubling.

He is swinging the bat harder than in any previous season for which bat tracking data is available. And he’s making more contact than ever (both within and outside the zone) and striking out at his lowest rate since 2021.

As you might suspect from a hitter with a 50-homer season on his CV, Olson has always had terrific raw power. His long levers and looping, graceful swing have never evinced the raw strength or violence you’ll find among the true exit velo monsters — even graceful lefties like Shohei Ohtani. Olson hits the ball hard a lot, and he puts the ball in the air a lot, and so a lot of his fly balls carry out of the yard.

In 2023, Olson posted a HR/FB% of 27.8%, second behind Ohtani among qualified hitters. Last year, that number was down to 16.0%, which was 38th in the league. This year: 23.6%. Here’s one of the 55 fly balls Olson has hit this year.

Usually, when I plug a video into a post there’s some pedagogical value — I want you to see something specific to understand the point I’m making. Not so here. I just thought you might be interested to see a guy put a baseball on the roof of the Cumberland Mall.

I’m not entirely certain what’s changed. According to Baseball Savant, he’s standing with his feet a few inches closer together than last year, with a stance that’s a couple degrees more open. Comparing the home run from above with this one from last season, the difference is subtle at best.

Whatever the cause, Olson is making better swing decisions and meeting the ball more squarely than in previous seasons. Usually, when we say a hitter is “hot,” there’s an undercurrent of acknowledgment that he’s getting lucky. Hotness, often as not, has more to do with what happens after contact than before.

That’s not really the case here. Olson is hot because he’s seeing the ball well, and he’s getting appropriate results. This is a hitter for whom a down year involves 30-odd home runs and a wRC+ in the 120s; when he gets the “NBA Jam” fireball streak going, this is what it looks like.

It’s also worth noting that Olson and the Braves have also had pretty easy competition. Atlanta has played 11 different opponents so far this season; none of them currently (as of Thursday afternoon) has a winning record. The Braves played six games against the Phillies while they were in their dead parrot phase. Olson also has four homers in seven total games at Coors Field and Chase Field, the two highest-elevation ballparks in the league.

Still, Olson has the second-highest ISO in the National League. He’s killing the ball right now, to an extent that would be noteworthy even if the Braves had only played the Westish College Harpooners all year.

In conclusion: If Olson is hitting like this, the iron man streak will take care of itself. No sane manager would take this bat out of the lineup, even for one game.

The Athletic has live coverage of West Ham United vs. Arsenal.

Welcome back to The Athletic’s title-race tracker, where our data and tactics writers analyse the key trends behind the two-horse race for the Premier League crown.

With just three weeks to go until the season finale on May 24, Arsenal have taken a huge step towards securing their first title in 22 years. Their comfortable 3-0 home win against Fulham last Saturday, coupled with Manchester City’s stumble at Everton on the Monday night, leaves Mikel Arteta’s side in control.

Both sides are in action this weekend, before City play their game in hand on Arsenal against visitors Crystal Palace on Wednesday. The Athletic looks at form and fixture difficulty, and checks in with the Opta supercomputer, to try to predict who will come out on top.

What has changed since the last matchweek?

Reports of Arsenal’s demise were greatly exaggerated: they have wrestled back control of the title race. The victory over Fulham, coupled with City dropping points in that 3-3 draw at Everton, has placed the north Londoners firmly back in the driving seat. They are now five points clear with three games to go (for them), although City can cut that gap to two by winning their game in hand in midweek.

After that 2-1 defeat away to City last month, Arsenal’s subsequent 1-0 home win against Newcastle United still felt like the performance of a team acutely aware of the pressure mounting around them, with the Emirates Stadium crowd’s tetchiness palpable.

That changed at the same venue last Saturday, when Arteta’s side blew Fulham away. Confidence surged further on Tuesday night, after a 1-0 victory over Spanish side Atletico Madrid secured their passage to a first Champions League final in 20 years. The nervous tension that had enveloped the Emirates was banished, replaced by a carnival atmosphere.

The mood music at City, meanwhile, is noticeably more subdued, although Jeremy Doku’s last-gasp curling equaliser on Merseyside did keep their hopes alive.

Who is looking stronger?

There is a fair argument to suggest that Arsenal’s defeat of Fulham was their most fluent attacking display of the season.

The numbers certainly back that up.

They racked up their highest xG value of the Premier League campaign, and scored three first-half goals in a league game for the first time since November 2024, easing away from Marco Silva’s side and allowing them to withdraw the likes of Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres and Declan Rice early ahead of their Champions League semi-final decider in midweek.

Saka looked back to his best on the flanks, leaving Raul Jimenez on the floor as he chopped onto his right foot and fired the ball across goal for Gyokeres to tap home the opening goal, before pitching in with a well-taken finish at the near post himself to double the lead.

But perhaps the most pleasing display came from Myles Lewis-Skelly, starting his first game in midfield this season. Only centre-back William Saliba completed more passes than the 19-year-old, while he was involved in the most possession sequences, jumping from space to space in midfield and knitting together Arsenal’s most threatening passing moves.

As we can see from the pass network below, Lewis-Skelly frequently dropped deep to pick possession up from Gabriel in central defence, and worked to progress the ball to the likes of Rice and Eberechi Eze, who drifted over to Saka’s side to help establish Arsenal’s swirling right-hand side that has made them look so dangerous under Arteta over the years.

It looked as if the shackles were off for Arsenal, and although they have the luxury of not having to rely on goal difference to seal the title anymore, they seem good value to add a few more goals before the season is out.

Up at Hill Dickinson Stadium two days later, lapses in concentration across their defence saw City’s six-game winning run grind to a halt.

Pep Guardiola’s side largely controlled the first half, seeing 76 per cent of the possession and amassing 12 shots as they headed into the break with a one-goal cushion, courtesy of Doku’s pinpoint left-footed finish.

But things quickly began to unravel after Marc Guehi underhit a back pass to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, allowing Thierno Barry to steal in and equalise. Everton generated 82 per cent of their expected goals after the hour mark, sensing City’s vulnerability and asserting themselves physically. They packed the penalty area as Jake O’Brien rose highest to power them in front, while Merlin Rohl broke free from Mateo Kovacic in the build-up to their third.

It remains to be seen whether Doku’s 97th-minute leveller represents a significant point for City, but there is no doubt that this feels like two more dropped.

Who has the tougher upcoming schedule?

When it comes to fixtures, Arsenal hold the upper hand, at least on paper.

Based on the average Opta Power Ranking of their final games, no Premier League club have an easier run-in, with all three of Arsenal’s remaining matches coming against teams currently in the bottom six.

But motivations diverge wildly at this stage of a season, making fixture difficulty tricky to assess.

Take Fulham, Arsenal’s opponents from last Saturday. No Premier League side are more regularly accused of being “on the beach” as campaigns draw to a close. A record of just four wins from their past 18 fixtures played in May reflects a club who often end up stuck in that liminal space between European qualification and the relegation zone.

Next up for Arsenal is an away game against West Ham United, a side nobody could accuse of lacking motivation at this point in the season. The east London club are desperately fighting for Premier League survival and fell back into the relegation zone last weekend. It is likely to be Arsenal’s toughest remaining test, although their last two visits to the London Stadium have ended in 5-2 and 6-0 away victories.

On the other hand, their final-Sunday trip to Selhurst Park might sound tricky, but Palace are likely to rotate their team heavily in that one, with a Conference League final against Rayo Vallacano of Spain three days after.

City also play Palace in their rescheduled game in hand, from Carabao Cup final weekend in March, which was finally confirmed this week for next Wednesday, May 13 — three days before they play in the FA Cup final. Guardiola’s side then face a daunting trip to sixth-placed Bournemouth three days after that meeting with Chelsea at Wembley. The visit of Brentford this weekend is no easy task either, given their guests are seventh and also harbour European ambitions.

Rounding out City’s season is a home match against Aston Villa.

On paper, Villa are their toughest remaining opponents, but there is a decent chance they will have already achieved their objective of qualifying for the 2026-27 Champions League by then, leaving the game with little riding on it beyond pride for Unai Emery’s side. That match is also being played just four days after the Europa League final, with all the emotion that will entail.

What does the supercomputer say?

The Opta supercomputer, as it has since the middle of October, still believes the advantage lies with Arsenal.

The strength of that belief has fluctuated, dipping sharply after their March defeat by City before rising again in recent weeks. It now stands at 86 per cent, an assessment that reflects both Arsenal’s points advantage and easier remaining fixtures.