Ever since the Lost series finale aired, a decade ago as of May 2010, it’s been a source of contention for both fans and the creators of the show. While there never could’ve been an ending to the hit supernatural drama that satisfied everyone, the series finale has been relentlessly dunked on for years. Even George R.R. Martin got into the act. Although, he probably should’ve waited until Game of Thrones ended its run, because that show did not have the smoothest landing either.
In a revealing new interview with Collider, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof opened up about the behind-the-scenes battle that led to the show’s ill-received ending. With the success of HBO’s Watchmen and The Leftovers under his belt, the showrunner seems to be less apprehensive about tackling what he believes was the main source of creative problems: ABC wanted too many seasons.
According to Lindelof, the original plan for Lost was to only run for three seasons, and there were already conversations about how the show would end as they were working on the pilot. However, if the show became a hit, ABC’s line of thinking was “why end something that people love watching?” This led to the show being stretched to over twice its original length, causing too many mysteries to stack up, and the show’s trademark flashback scenes became less revelatory character moments and more “treading water.”
Eventually, Lindelof and the writers managed to convince ABC to at least have a conversation about ending the show, and well, it didn’t go so great.
“Then they finally came to the table and we had a real conversation. They were like, ‘We have agreed to let you end the show.’… I just said to [ABC President] Steve McPherson, ‘Thank you. This is what’s best for the show,’ and he said, ‘We were thinking 10 seasons.’ Mind you, we’re halfway through Season 3, so first off how do you even think we’re gonna get to 10? That’s really the same as saying we’re not gonna let you end the show, because how many drama series even get to 10 seasons?”
After a back and forth where Lindelof and the writers suggested ending the show after four seasons and ABC came back with nine, six seasons was agreed upon as an ending point even though, again, that was twice as many seasons as the creators originally wanted. While Lindelof is proud of the plan they came up with to end the show and they way they executed it, he fully acknowledges that stacking too many mysteries over the show’s 121 episodes spiraled out of control.
“I think that we can both agree that we did not get that balance right,” he told Collider.
Terry Crews isn’t faring so well on social media these days. Following the killing of George Floyd, Crews tweeted controversial remarks on avoiding “Black supremacy.” He then attempted to explain his perspective with more tweets and ended up creating a bigger mess, mostly because his wording had suggested a warning against something (“Black supremacy”) that does not exist. The matter grew even more unwieldy with Crews eventually lashing out against “gatekeepers of Blackness” and doubling down: “Any Black person who calls me a coon or and Uncle Tom for promoting EQUALITY is a Black Supremist, because they have determined who’s Black and who is not.”
Crews then tried to explain his stance to Seth Meyers, which didn’t fix things, but fast forward a few weeks, and Crews is, well, tweeting again.
“If you are a child of God, you are my brother and sister. I have family of every race, creed and ideology,” he wrote on Tuesday. “We must ensure #blacklivesmatter doesn’t morph into #blacklivesbetter.”
If you are a child of God, you are my brother and sister. I have family of every race, creed and ideology.
Again, Crews appears to be sending a warning against something (#blacklivesbetter) that wasn’t even on the table. As one might expect, this tweet isn’t going over any better than his past tweets on Black Lives Matter, and now, Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King, has responded to the Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor.
“We’re so far from that bridge, Terry,” Bernice tweeted. “#BlackLivesMatter is, in part, a rallying cry and a protest slogan to galvanize people into doing the justice work needed to derail the deaths, dehumanization and destruction of Black lives that racism causes … Justice is not a competition.”
We’re so far from that bridge, Terry. #BlackLivesMatter is, in part, a rallying cry and a protest slogan to galvanize people into doing the justice work needed to derail the deaths, dehumanization and destruction of Black lives that racism causes.
Crews hasn’t responded with another tweet yet, although that might be coming.
On a tangential note, Crews recently revealed that Brooklyn Nine-Nine has trashed several episodes (while planning “to start over”) following the killing of George Floyd.
Flying Lotus called up a lot of collaborators to lend him some assists on Flamagra, his latest album. Now, though, the musician and producer wants his fans to step up to the plate and make some contributions of their own. He and Denzel Curry have launched #BlackBalloonsChallenge, for which they want fans to share their ideas for reinterpreting the lyrical part of the instrumental version of “Black Balloons Reprise,” from Flamagra (Instrumentals).
Asking fans to “enter the world of Flamagra (Instrumentals)” and “re-imagine” the song, the site instructs interested entrants, “Download the 16 bar instrumental via SoundCloud here & create your own flow to the accompaniment. Submit video or audio of yourself performing your bars on SoundCloud, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or TikTok & use the hashtag #BLACKBALLOONSCHALLENGE to win various prizes, including a Flying Lotus merch package, a free Pro-Unlimited subscription from Soundcloud, and the chance to have your remix featured on socials by Lotus & Curry.”
The SoundCloud description of the instrumental download also notes, “In celebration of the one year anniversary of the landmark album, Flamagra, Flying Lotus has returned with a new and intimate perspective of that epic body of work; Flamagra (Instrumentals). The album is an exploration of Lotus’ mastery of production techniques & virtuosic musicianship that allows the featured players of his world to take center stage. Now Lotus challenges you to enter his world & re-imagine the single ‘Black Balloons Reprise,’ originally featuring Denzel Curry.”
As the WNBA and NBA continue to plan out how they will use their seasons in Florida to take a stand for broader social issues, Chicago Sky forward and two-time NCAA champion at UConn Gabby Williams released photos of the Nike sneakers she’ll wear on the court when the WNBA kicks off on July 24 in Bradenton, Fla.
The sneakers are a tribute to the late Gigi Bryant, the daughter of Kobe Bryant. She, her father, and seven others died on Jan. 26 in a helicopter accident, and the WNBA has been dedicated to honoring Gigi’s memory since her passing.
When the @WNBA tips off in Florida next month, @gabbywilliams15 will wear a custom-painted pair of the Nike Mamba Focus in honor of Gigi Bryant
Over the past several years until her abrupt passing, Gigi often discussed her dreams of attending UConn and playing in the WNBA. It was one of the key focuses of Kobe’s post-playing career to draw attention to and support the WNBA. At an exhibition game between the women’s national basketball team and the UConn women’s team days after the crash, a seat was saved and decorated with flowers and Gigi’s No. 2 jersey to commemorate her relationship with the school. When the WNBA became the first league to pull off a virtual draft this spring, it kicked off the draft broadcast with a moving tribute to Gigi and her two teammates, Peyton Chester and Alyssa Altobelli, who also passed away in the crash.
Memphis rapper Jucee Froot is back with another twerk anthem, taunting listeners with the prospect of “Girls Kissing Girls” in her latest video from her Black Sheep debut mixtape with fellow Memphis star Juicy J. In the video, Jucee hits the strip club with a fleet of her fellow ladies, securing a VIP table and getting lap dances while her lyrics entice women to come through if they’re fed up with their man.
“Let me see your tongue ring,” Jucee flirts on the chorus. “I got girls kissing girls.” The burgeoning Memphian star hasn’t been shy about expressing her desires in her music, from the raunchy “Eat Itself,” which featured on the Insecure soundtrack earlier this year, to the aggressive “Psycho (Remix)” featuring Rico Nasty, on which she lets rivals know she wants smoke if they have it.
As Jucee continues to rack up vital placements such as her appearance on the Birds Of Prey soundtrack last year, Black Sheep songs like “Girls Kissing Girls” will continue to be a calling card, letting rap fans know she’s got the range to stick around for a while.
Quarantine television — in which entertainers entertain us by sitting in front of webcams in their homes while quarantining — has been a mixed bag. Even SNL, after a better-than-expected first “At Home” episode, saw its ratings slip for its second go, suggesting viewers weren’t going to put up with this style for too long. But if there’s anyone we’d love to see grumbling in front of a laptop, it’s Larry David. So here’s some pretty, pretty, pretty good news: As per Variety, Curb Your Enthusiasm has been renewed for an eleventh season. What’s more, his response was pretty, pretty, pretty great as well.
David did not reveal any details of the next season, not even if he’d actually address the real-life horror-show we’re enduring with no end in sight. (Although the famously grouchy entertainer, at least in April, told The New York Times that he’s enjoying his quarantine.) But he did leave a honey of a quote. “Believe me, I’m as upset about this as you are,” David told Variety. “One day I can only hope that HBO will come to their senses and grant me the cancellation I so richly deserve.”
Will David and company wait to shoot the series after things chill out in Los Angeles? Who knows, but from the sound of it, California won’t be returning to normal any time soon. That means Season 11 may be a glorious depiction of how Fake Larry David handles quarantining, deliveries, cooking at home, Zoom sessions with dodgy buffering issues, and, when he braves the outside, awful people not wearing masks. Really, if anyone going to be the poet of the pandemic, it’s Larry David.
The most recent season of Curb Your Enthusiasm bowed earlier this year, and it should be fun seeing how he writes his way out of its shocking conclusion.
Today, the European Union announced that it would begin allowing travelers from 15 countries to fly into countries in the EU beginning on Wednesday, July 1st. Significantly, the United States did not make the list. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering that with over 2.6 million cases of coronavirus across the country, according to the most recent data collected by the Johns Hopkins University, we are the current epicenter of the virus worldwide.
According to CNBC, external visitors from Algeria, Tunisia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, and Uruguay will be welcomed to visit the European Union for the first time since countries began shuttering their economies in March as a response to the coronavirus spread. Chinese visitors will also be permitted to fly into the EU, once the country starts accepting European travelers.
The EU’s decision is non-binding, meaning any country may open its borders to whichever country they want, though European governments have been strongly advised to not lift travel restrictions if the country of origin has not met certain criteria — new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days need to be close to or below the EU’s average, with infection rates trending toward a decline, or stabilizing in comparison to the previous 14 days.
Considering several states across the United States are still recording record highs, we can put to rest any hopes we held of flying to Europe this summer.
When coronavirus effectively shut down the entertainment industry earlier this year, it looked like it might not only be a wrap for concerts and festivals but also for another industry staple: awards shows. While most artists and fans agree that awards don’t matter a whole bunch in the grand scheme of things, it’s still an annual “family reunion,” giving industry professionals a chance to gather and show each other public admiration, while for fans, it can be fun to see what surprises artists may bring to their performances, speeches, and afterparty interactions.
Over the weekend, BET held the 2020 BET Awards via a show entirely produced by its participants at home, from host Amanda Seales’ segments between the awards and performances to the acceptance speeches. This created a fascinating look at what could be the future of awards shows in the era of COVID-19. While the show was far from perfect, it was also somehow one of BET’s best awards shows, historically speaking, and if considered as a dry run for future shows like MTV’s VMAs or the CMAs, may provide something of a blueprint to build on for its successors. Here are a few things that worked and a few things that need some work.
What Worked:
Production Value
BET has long garnered criticism for the production quality of its shows. However, considering how every segment of the 2020 BET Awards was produced remotely, everything came together quite nicely this time around. Maybe it was because the show couldn’t be produced live, but there was more polish than usual, with each segment flowing quickly and efficiently to the next. The takeaway for future shows is to use the additional production time to edit together a seamless show that feels well put together.
Amanda Seales’ Throwback Hosting Segments
Amanda Seales made excellent use of her home green screen to pay homage to BET’s rich history, using backgrounds that revived sets from shows like Teen Summit, Rap City, and 106 & Park to bring a clever dimension to her hosting segments. She even managed to make some of her flatter jokes work for moment by throwing on a ComicView background to lampshade the cheesiness of her puns. If MTV or any of the other various shows off in the horizon get stuck utilizing a social distancing format, giving the host free run of historical shows and venues via green screen may add a sense of liveliness to the proceedings.
The Performances
Without the benefit of massive stages, light shows, pyrotechnics, and crowd interaction, artists on the show had to get creative with how they presented their performances. While Chloe x Halle have nailed down the art of turning their backyard tennis court into an extravagant showcase, Megan Thee Stallion and crew took to the desert in order to find space to spread out. Summer Walker and Usher used matching stages to embody their song’s theme, and multiple artists utilized the backdrop of protest to build some much-needed storytelling into their timely performances. This one’s obvious for future shows: get creative.
What Could Use Some Work:
Everything Was Almost Too Timely
While not speaking to the moment would have been negligent, BET’s show was almost gauche in the way it continually referenced current events and Black trauma. From DaBaby recreating the death of George Floyd to both Alicia Keys and John Legend offering somber piano ballads speaking to the dark days surrounding us, the show felt more despairing than hopeful. Things are dire, yes, but we could all use some escape — which is why sets like Chloe x Halle’s provided some much-needed levity. Balance is key; it’s important to highlight the moment but without getting too maudlin.
Not Having An Audience Sucked Some Energy From Performances
While the lack of an in-studio audience did help prevent some of the cornier jokes from falling flat and force artists to get more creative, after a while, the awards show started to feel almost like a music video countdown. It became harder and harder to forget that we were simply watching these pre-recorded performances on a screen. I’m not sure what future shows can do to mitigate this, because social distancing is more important now than ever as the number of COVID-19 cases spikes in the wake of weeks of civil unrest. Piping in crowd noise has been a tactic used to bring back live sporting events, but it’s gotten a mixed reception. If show producers can find some way to allow fans to react in real time — a la Instagram Live’s “like” hearts popping up along the side of the screen, it may help foster a feeling of communal viewing and make things a bitter more interactive.
Although not strictly a part of the show, per se, the ads BET ran during the commercial breaks were handy in highlighting the theme behind the show. However, when news surfaced of the network pulling an absolutely vital McDonald’s ad before the show, it sent another message — one that undermined the meaning behind much of the significance expressed elsewhere. Those concerns arose after the show’s well-intentioned performance by Kane Brown was derided as an “All Lives Matter” anthem. If future shows want to express importance sentiments of solidarity, they’ll need to read the proverbial room. Now isn’t the time for platitudes without action or for hypocritical, shareholder-appeasing moves. Know what needs saying, why it needs saying, and say it with your chest.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
A woman’s story of how a surgeon handled her braids during a head surgery has gone viral, not just for the thoughtful actions of the doctor, but for what it shows about the importance of representation in medicine.
India Marshall posted her heartwarming story on Twitter:
“So y’all know how I said I woke up from surgery w/more braids in my head than I came in w/and I thought it was the black nurses? I found out today at my post op appt that the surgeon (he’s black) did it,” she wrote. “He said he has 3 little girls & they have wash day… I almost cried.”
so y’all know how I said I woke up from surgery w/more braids in my head than I came in w/and I thought it was the… https://t.co/lbNs5sWL7p
“While removing my staples he said, ‘Your braids look better than mine, I hope I didn’t do too bad,’ and I was like excuse me??? YOU did my hair???…” she continued. “You could tell he was so proud to tell me too lol.”
he also said he used staples to close my incisions instead of stitches to avoid cutting my hair when removing stitc… https://t.co/AL9bABc90S
Marshall explained that she’d had a rare condition of bone growths in her forehead region and the surgery to have them removed meant three incisions behind her hairline. “The surgeon parted and braided my hair to create clean incisions without shaving,” she wrote.
On her way home from surgery.India Marshall
“Thinking about this black man braiding my hair to prepare to cut my head open is hilarious and endearing at the same time,” she added. “Also the fact that he’s that active in helping his wife with their girls, I love it. Moral of the story: find black doctors.”
People loved the story—the consideration of the surgeon, the image of him doing his own daughters’ hair, and the difference it makes to have a doctor who has personal experience with a patient’s culture.
@LRNROSE lmaooo my second day post op I finally looked in the mirror like hold up, what happened here 😂😂😂 they had… https://t.co/N1yYHh7mAI
As one person pointed out, “THIS is among the millions upon millions of reasons why we need diversity in medicine. There is a level of care that only people who have walked in your shoes… even just a little bit… can provide.”
@IndiaDionna THIS is among the millions upon millions of reasons why we need diversity in medicine.
“This is why the world needs more Black & Brown folks at every level,” wrote another person. “Reminds me of Peruvian Indigenous women who showed scientists how they do a specific weave unique to them that taught the medical AI how to stitch skin so that the patient has a quicker recovery time.” [The person clarified in a later tweet it was Bolivian, not Peruvian Indigenous women.]
@kayfey @IndiaDionna had to look up this story. always important to remember that technology is all thanks to peopl… https://t.co/YlAmYBJI34
“This experience was meaningful to me because this simple gesture showed I was being cared for by a surgeon that saw me,” Marshall told Upworthy. “He saw me as a black woman that would appreciate extra precaution taken with her hair. Not only did he understand this as a black man, but he had the ability and took the time to braid my hair himself.”
India Marshall
Marshall added that since she’s the oldest of four girls herself, it was extra special to hear that he did the same for his own daughters.
This is why diversity in medicine, as well as other fields, matters. It isn’t just about equal opportunity or making a nod to inclusive values. Representation can make a direct, marked difference in people’s experiences, and the value of being seen and having a need understood—without having to explicitly explain it—is priceless.
The Holderness family has made quite a name for themselves creating fun parody songs, but they may have just outdone themselves. As the world awaits the premiere of the filmed version Hamilton’s original staged production on Disney +, the Holdernesses have released a “Hamilton Mask-up Parody Medley” that perfectly captures inane mask-wearing debates in the musical mastery of Hamilton.
As of now, it’s only been up for six hours and has already been shared more than 35,000 times. Hamilton fans love it, recognizing familiar tunes such as “Aaron Burr, Sir,” “My Shot,” and “You’ll Be Back.” But even people who have never seen or heard Hamilton before will appreciate the cultural commentary on mask-wearing—an issue that has the U.S. struggling as it attempts to manage a pandemic in a highly individualistic society. As the video points out, public health isn’t a partisan thing, and mask-wearing to protect others certainly shouldn’t be something that angers people.
Check it out:
Impressive, no? As far as lyricists go, no one matches the genius of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. But the Holdernesses do a pretty darn good job of morphing the mask debates into the Hamilton framework in a way that’s funny, true to the subject matter, and on point.
They’ve had a lot of time to practice nailing the social-commentary-through-song-parody. Penn Holderness spent most of his career on-air as a reporter and news anchor, but pivoted to working with his wife and kids to make goofy-but-culturally-relevant music videos. It started with a viral “Christmas Jammies” video a few years ago, and The Holderness Family channel exploded from there. They’ve done parodies about everything from helping kids with math homework to the parental nightmare of the slime phenomenon.
If we’re going to have to live with people arguing over putting a piece of cloth over their face to help quell a literal pandemic, we can at least have some laughs over the absurdity of it. Good job, Holdernesses.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
On her way home from surgery.India Marshall
India Marshall