Month: February 2021

Celebrities — they’re just like us! Except they’ve had their own high-end equivalent of The Dating Game, the game show created by Chuck Barris in the 1960s, in which the general public try to pair off without actually seeing each other. (That is, unless you count Paul Reubens crashing the show in Pee-wee Herman guise, before Pee-wee was a known entity.) But that changes now. Variety reports that a celebrity version of the classic show is in the works — called, of course, The Celebrity Dating Game — and it will be hosted by no less than Zooey Deschanel and Michael Bolton.

It’s kind of Mad Libs casting, but Deschanel is fun and the super-soft rock singer has been leaning into the jokey parody version of himself for the last few years, even if he did get rid of his iconic mullet ages ago. Will it be awkward forcing famous people to pair off? How quickly will it take to get to Grade-Z celebs? We’ll find out when ABC airs the eight hour-long episodes it just ordered.

When it arrives, it will be the fifth iteration of Barris’ game show, which was his first. (He later created The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show, as well as wrote the book Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, in which he claimed he secretly worked as a CIA assassin. George Clooney turned it into a movie in 2002, starring Sam Rockwell.) The first Dating Game bowed in 1965 and ran through 1973, first in daytime and later in primetime. It came back in the late ‘70s, again in the mid ‘80s, and one more time in the mid-to-late ‘90s. But this will be the first time it paired of celebrities, as well as featured a guy known for cheesy ballads.

(Via Variety)

Though 2020 was a brutal year in a lot of ways, fans of both Haim and Taylor Swift received a bounty of new music. Each of these artists, who have been known for their friendship in the past, managed to produce their best work in years during a trying time, and Haim’s Women In Music Pt. III is widely considered to be one of the best records of the year (hello Album Of The Year Grammy nom), as well as the greatest album the band has ever produced. Then there’s Taylor’s pair of world-stopping forays into indie, Folklore and Evermore, the latter of which Haim themselves joined her on for the full-on country murder ballad, “No Body, No Crime.”

Well, perhaps given the overwhelmingly positive response to these two folk-pop forces coming together, they decided to do it again. Teasing a remix of one of WIMP‘s best tracks, “Gasoline,” first with a cryptic Twitter photo and then via a TikTok preview yesterday, it’s officially confirmed that Taylor is hopping on the track. In an Instagram video earlier today, Haim let fans get an even longer preview, and announced the remix would be dropping today. Now it’s here, and you can listen to it below. Guess 2021 is going to be a bountiful year, too.

You can listen to the new remix above

Carson Wentz’s tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles will go down as one of the strangest in NFL history. The former No. 2 overall pick was sensational as a sophomore before he got injured and saw backup Nick Foles lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl title. Injuries would plague his career from there, but for the next two seasons, when he was on the field, he looked sensational and earned a massive extension in the process.

Then 2020 happened and Wentz was so bad the Eagles had to turn to rookie Jalen Hurts to close out the season, all but signaling the end of his time in Philly. Now Wentz is headed to Indianapolis for a fresh start, after the Colts traded a 2021 third round pick and a 2022 conditional second rounder (that could become a first) to Philly for him. It was a move the Eagles seemingly had to make as both parties needed to move on, and Indy gets a quarterback they hope can be their future after Philip Rivers’ retirement (and, before that, Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement).

Wentz’s past success when healthy and his disaster of a 2020 campaign makes him among the most polarizing players in the league. There are some who think he might be cooked, while others still believe he can recapture that MVP-level magic from earlier in his career. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky can be firmly counted among the latter group, and on Thursday’s NFL Live he drove poor Mina Kimes to the brink of a breakdown on air while insisting this trade vaults the Colts into the title conversation in the AFC and that he expects Wentz to be an MVP candidate again.

Let’s go through the many emotions of Mina, who is a tremendous analyst and also one of ESPN’s most meme-able figures, as she tries to stay quiet while Dan keeps doubling down on his Wentz love.

First, we get her “serenity now” moment as she can see where this is going.

Then we get to the real gem which is the post “Wentz is going to be an MVP candidate” reaction which is full hands-on head, smiling in disbelief.

As Dan continues, she tries her best to let him finish before her response, trying to hold it all together on air.

Finally, we get to his “home run” for the Colts assessment which draws one last cringe.

All the while, Laura Rutledge is loving every minute of it.

How do you follow-up winning an Oscar? Especially when the film industry is still grappling with a once-in-a-century pandemic? For Joaquin Phoenix, the answer is to be patient. The actor, who nabbed a Best Actor trophy for the renegade comic book movie Joker, has taken his time picking his next roles. And while he has a couple projects in the pipeline, it looks like his first big post-Academy Award gig will involve teaming up with the guy who gave everyone nightmares with Hereditary and Midsommar.

According to Deadline, Phoenix will take the lead in Ari Aster’s Disappointment Blvd., which will be made and produced by the high-end indie, highly cult-friendly team at A24, who’ve handled the director’s two previous pictures. Details are thin on the ground, and all we know is that it will be “an intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.”

It’s not the only project Phoenix has on deck. He’s set to play no less than Napoleon for his Gladiator director Ridley Scott, though that likely won’t start filming until 2022, clearing the path for whatever can’t-un-see nightmare Aster has up his sleeves. Moviewatchers will see Phoenix before then, though, in C’mon C’mon, from 20th Century Women’s Mike Mills, but that was filmed in 2019, well before the esteemed thespian finally had him a goldie.

(Via Deadline)

Donald Glover announced a new Mr + Mrs. Smith with Phoebe Waller-Bridge last week, and on Thursday word came of a new deal with Amazon to make a whole lot more in the coming years. And now we know at least one unknown writer will get a shot at breaking into the television industry because of that deal: Malia Obama.

The relative unknown and daughter of former president Barack Obama will reportedly join the writing staff for Glover’s Amazon series called Hive. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the details are sparse on Hive, but it will have a writer who’s very familiar with fame and the White House on staff:

The Amazon deal, which has been in the works for weeks, will also see Glover exec produce other projects for the retail giant and streamer. Sources note one such project is already beginning to come together: a potential series called Hive, which is rumored to revolve around a Beyoncé-like figure and stem from writer Janine Nabers (Watchmen, Away). The project has already begun staffing a writers room, with sources noting Malia Obama is among those recruited to work on the series. (Additional details were not readily available; Amazon declined comment on Hive, too.)

Though this would be a first for Obama’s writing career, she’s no stranger to the entertainment world. As the New York Post reported, she’d worked on HBO’s Girls in the past and is set to graduate college later this year:

Malia, 22, is a student in Harvard University’s class of 2021, and this would mark her first professional entertainment gig after several A-list internships, including a stint on the set of HBO’s “Girls” in 2015.

It’s actually been a big month for Obamas in the entertainment industry: the news comes after her mother, Michelle Obama, revealed she made a Netflix children’s show, Waffles and Mochi.

(Via Hollywood Reporter & New York Post)

There were two big touchdowns on Thursday: The robot rover NASA sent to Mars successfully landed. And then there was Ted Cruz. In what was perhaps the most covered celebrity airplane arrival since The Beatles first landed in America, the Texas senator arrived back on U.S. soil, tail between his legs, having been shamed into cutting short his impromptu, highly insensitive vacation in Cancun. And, of course, one of the most mocked people on Twitter inspired still more jokes.

Late Wednesday night word broke that Cruz — already under fire for helping to foment the failed MAGA coup of January 6 — had been spotted boarding a plane for Mexico. What was wrong with that? Only that he seemed to be skipping town while millions of people across his state were freezing and without power, all thanks to a freak winter storm. Even the requisite conservative spin, including his own, seemed to be half-assed. Everyone else was furious, many angry enough to channel their rage into social media yuks.

Every step of Cruz’s journey inspired online coverage, so much so that CNN boasted about scoring the first image of him on the plane, preparing for his walk of shame.

Some on the same flight made sure to make some pictures public.

Some caught him flanked with security guards, though they couldn’t protect him from jokes.

When he landed, some made some Mars landing jokes.

There were a lot of cameras waiting for him when he arrived back home.

And there were many, many jokes.

All in all, it really brought us all together during a difficult time.

Republicans are fuming over Nancy Pelosi selecting retired General Russell Honoré to lead a House investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building following Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. While Pelosi recognized Honoré as “a respected leader with experience dealing with crises” thanks to his coordination of the military response to Hurricane Katrina, Republicans latched onto his profanity-laced tweet about Missouri Senator Josh Hawley in the days after the riot. Hawley was famously seen raising his fist in support of the insurrectionist crowd and still attempted to derail certifying the election resulys even after the attack.

On January 11, just five days after the Capitol assault, Honoré wrote the following about Hawley in a now-deleted tweet: “That little peace of shit with his @Yale law degree should be run out of DC and Disbarred ASAP @HawleyMO @tedcruz aaa hats. These @Yale and @Harvard law grads is high order white privilege.”

Honoré’s tweet became a hot subject on Tucker Carlson’s show on Wednesday night where Hawley appeared dropped by to criticize Pelosi’s choice of Honoré, leading to this hilarious chryon placement:

However, Hawley’s concerns that the Democrats are using the “criminal riot as an excuse to seize power, to control more power, to step on people’s Second Amendment rights to take away their First Amendment rights” has sparked other Republicans to join in him denouncing Pelosi’s commission. Via The Kansas City Star:

“General Honoré is an extreme partisan and should be the LAST person to head up an investigation of what happened at the Capitol on Jan 6th,” Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, a close ally of Hawley, said on Twitter minutes after the segment aired.

Despite the growing criticism from GOP members of Congress, Pelosi is standing her ground on selecting Honoré to lead the investigation into the Capitol attack. “General Honoré is committed public servant whose name is synonymous with integrity and professionalism,” her spokesman told the Star.

(Via The Kansas City Star)

Annie Murphy ended her run on Schitt’s Creek with an Emmy, and her next project looks considerably darker to say the least. Thursday brought a trailer for AMC’s Kevin Can F*** Himself, a dark comedy where Murphy will play a disgruntled housewife plotting to get herself out of a frustratingly sexist sitcom.

“It’s about a woman who keeps playing the perfect housewife,” Murphy narrates as she makes a picturesque breakfast and delivers it to a much-brighter sitcom-styled living room. “Then one day, she realizes what she wants.”

The trailer jumps from the stylized scene to one that looks more realistic, and gritty. Murphy’s character seems to imagine herself breaking a glass and stabbing her husband with it, while in the other sitcom universe Kevin instead makes a sexist joke and everyone moves on.

The plot of the show, however, seems to be getting rid of the titular Kevin altogether.

“The world revolves around him. And if it doesn’t he just blows it to hell,” Murphy says later in the trailer. “It has to stop.”

There’s a bit of a WandaVision similarity in a character who appears to know they’re starring in a sitcom, more or less. But this looks considerably darker. And funnier.

We’ll see if the sucker punches, key bumps and other insanity amounts to any real trouble for Kevin later this summer.

Conservative radio provocateur Rush Limbaugh, 70, died yesterday after complications from lung cancer. The popular radio show host helped define the Republican Party in the ’80s and ’90s while leaving a legacy blemished by extreme intolerance.

One group that was often pilloried by Limbaugh was the LGBT community. In the 1980s, he had a segment on his show called “AIDS Update” where he mocked gay and bisexual men who died of AIDS. During the height of the AIDS epidemic, he claimed that “Gays deserved their fate.”

As America became more accepting of the LGBT community, Limbaugh did not. In 2020, he lambasted former Democratic presidential candidate and current Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for kissing his husband, Chasten, from a debate stage.

“Okay, how’s this going to look, 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband onstage next to Mr. Man Donald Trump? What’s going to happen there?'” Limbaugh asked. “They’ve got to be saying that despite all the great progress and despite all the great wokeness, and despite all the great ground that’s been covered, America’s still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president.”

“There may be some Democrats who think that’s exactly what we need to do, Rush,” he said. “Get a gay guy kissing his husband on stage, ram it down Trump’s throat, and beat him in the general election. Really. Having fun envisioning that.”

Limbaugh went on to say that Donald Trump would “have fun” facing off against a candidate who “kissed his husband on the debate stage.”

Pete Buttigieg adeptly responded to Limbaugh’s comments by pointing out his relationship history.

“Well, I love my husband. I’m faithful to my husband. Onstage, we usually just go for a hug, but I love him very much,” Pete Buttigieg said. “And I’m not going to take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh.”

Limbaugh was married four times, three of them ending in divorce.

Donald Trump wouldn’t even entertain Limbaugh’s comments. When asked if the country was ready for a gay couple in the White House he said, “I think so. I think there would be some that wouldn’t. I wouldn’t be among that group, to be honest with you.”

Then-presidential-candidate Joe Biden supported the Buttigiegs in the controversy. “I mean, my God,” Biden said, calling it “part of the depravity of this administration.”

After the news of Limbaugh’s passing was made public, Chasten Buttigieg threw some polite, but pointed, shade at the radio host who mocked his marriage. He posted a picture of himself and Pete kissing, without a comment.

It’s tasteless to dunk on someone in the wake of their passing, but Chasten’s tasteful post was a way of showing that no matter how hard Limbaugh tried to disenfranchise and mock the LGBT community, their love still stands.

Chasten’s post was a demonstration of the power of love in the face of hate.

via Pete for America / Flickr

In a monumental achievement for NASA, the Perseverance Rover has successfully landed on Mars and beamed back its first images of the red planet within minutes of touching ground. The inspiring accomplishment is being well received on social media where people are enjoying a rare bit of good news in these pandemic times that have been checkered with devastating winter storms and a violent insurrection just last month. Shortly after the NASA rover landed and started its mission, the jokes started flying on Twitter, and there was definitely a theme to the first batch of memes thanks to a certain Texas senator’s ill-timed trip to Cancun.

But it wasn’t all Ted Cruz jokes. Folks didn’t need to dunk on the embattled Cruz as they posted their reactions to the rover landing and reveled in the celebratory mood with GIFs and a quality Robert Pattinson gag.

According to NASA, the Perseverance Rover will be busy now that it’s on Mars. The rover will scour the nearby Jezero Crater for “microfossils,” routinely fire back images to NASA, deploy a helicopter tiny four pound helicopter named “Ingenuity,” record sound for the first time on Mars, and of course, search for signs of life. As for what these scientific findings mean for mankind, retired astronaut Ron Garan explains how space exploration benefits Earth. Via CNN:

“It directly benefits our ability to survive all the crises that might come at us, whether that’s super volcanic eruptions, global warming. Whatever the case is, a better understanding of how planetary science works, how planets function, and the life cycle of planets is going to help us here on Earth immensely. And it’s also going to help us understand our place in the universe,” he said.

Garan also says that finding signs of ancient life will be “amazing in itself,” but more importantly, it will allow NASA scientists to study why that life is no longer there, which can be useful in study Earth’s ongoing climate change, which we just saw wreak havoc on Texas.

(Via CNN)