Meryl Streep joins the second season of the HBO drama series, Big Little Lies, shown in M-Net.

The all-star cast of one of television most star-studded drama series just got even more "star-studdier" with the Oscar winner Meryl Streep joining the female ensemble of the HBO drama series Big Little Lies.

Meryl Streep will play Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Perry (Alexander Skarsgard), says HBO in a release character description, announcing Meryl Steep's addition to the show.

"She is concerned for the well-being of her grandchildren following her son Perry's death. Mary Louise arrives in Monterey searching for answers."

Meryl Streep joins Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon who are also executive producers on the series. Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern are also set to return. David E. Kelly is once again writing the scripts for all 7 episodes of the second season.

HBO says the second season of Big Little Lies will "explore the malignancy of lies, the durability of friendships, the fragility of marriage and, of course, the vicious ferocity of sound parenting. Relationships will fray, loyalties will erode … the potential for emotional and bodily injury shall loom."

The first season of Big Little Lies was shown on M-Net (DStv 101) exactly a year ago in February 2017.

Meryl Streep's addition to Big Little Lies is just the latest high-profile Hollywood film star following one of the current trends sweeping the TV landscape and that was highlighted and discussed last year by MultiChoice's head of content, Aletta Alberts.

"If you think of the stars you've seen on TV in the last 18 months - it started with Glenn Close doing Damage a few years ago - and it just continued. Now we have Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. I think the Brits actually set the ball rolling if you think about this."

"Now if you're an A-lister or Hollywood star, if you're not in a TV series, you haven't quite made it," explained Aletta Alberts.

Donald Trump announces his Dishonest Media Awards for the day after the 75th Golden Globe Awards.

I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018

The caustic American president Donald Trump has announced that he is starting his own Dishonest Media Awards from the White House that he will dish out on the day after this Sunday’s upcoming Golden Globe Awards.

In a tweet on social media, Trump said that he will announce on this coming Monday his new – in all capital letters – his “MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR”.

The American president that hardly does any media interviews or press conferences like his predecessors, continues to attack journalists and to slam media outlets.

In 2017 he continued to publicly show his disdain for everyone from the BBC and the “failing” The New York Times, to CBS News, Vanity Fair and Anna Wintour, TIME magazine and Newsweek, to CNN, CNN International (DStv 401), The Washington Post, NBC News and MSNBC (StarSat 263).

Donald Trump however loves the right-leaning FOX News Channel (StarSat 261 / Cell C black 502) and watches the opinion-skewed morning show FOX & Friends – which means that sadly FOX News will clearly be shut out of and shunned from the American president’s inaugural “dishonest media” awards.

Donald Trump said he would be handing out his “dishonest media” awards on Monday at 17:00 in America in various “fake media” categories, ranging from “dishonest” to “bad reporting”.

His new awards show is likely a pre-emptive strike against Hollywood’s entertainment media with actors, producers, directors and other stars from the world of television and film who are very likely going to for the jugular during Sunday night’s 75th Golden Globe Awards broadcast with host Seth Meyers.

Sunday’s 75th Golden Globe Awards will be broadcast live on Monday morning 8 January on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform on M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104) at 03:00 in the morning South African time, and then again during South African primetime on the same day on M-Net (DStv 101) at 21:10.

There will also be red carpet pre-show coverage this year on Facebook and E! Entertainment (DStv 124).

Last year, 12 days before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45^th American president, Meryl Streep slammed him in her acceptance speech of the Cecil B. DeMille Award, saying “There was one performance this year that stunned me – it sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good; there was nothing good about it. But it was effective, and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh, and show their teeth”.

“It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter,” Meryl Streep said, referring to Donald Trump who mocked a disabled reporter from The New York Times.