Mark it on your calendar folks, March 23rd, 2021 will forever go down as the day we all collectively decided to start scrutinizing every single bowl of cereal we ever pour. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is now trending on Twitter, after writer and comedian Jensen Karp first tweeted out a photo of what appeared to be dried shrimp tails in his cereal, something he made sure to explain was “not a bit.”
As you might expect, the food-loving internet can’t stop talking about how disturbing a sight it was.
But anyone with a strong enough stomach to follow Karp’s journey to discover what exactly happened to this box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch will tell you that the alleged shrimp isn’t even the most disturbing part of Karp’s cursed box. He has since shared more of his findings, which include a re-taped bag, and weird black items cooked into the cereal itself.
Sadly for Karp, he made these discoveries after he ate at least one bowl.
For real – someone tell me they aren’t like maggots or bugs. Is it shrimp adjacent? (also just found this weird cinnamon covered pea thing?) I wish this was a joke. pic.twitter.com/7pCs0TJCpv
Stuff like this is all at the bottom of the bag, and what appears to be cooked ONTO some squares. Please be nice with your guesses l, because I will walk into traffic if I ate what I think it is… pic.twitter.com/Zs7ZDygTxA
To be fair to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, we can’t yet say for sure that these are shrimp tails — though they certainly look EXACTLY like shrimp tails. Perhaps they’re pieces of tape that rolled while being heated and are covered in cinnamon and sugar?
Regardless, it’s very fair to say that CTC’s official explanation for what these actually are isn’t doing it for us.
After further investigation with our team that closely examined the image, it appears to be an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren’t thoroughly blended. We assure you that there’s no possibility of cross contamination with shrimp.
“After further investigation with our team that closely examined the image, it appears to be an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren’t thoroughly blended.”
That came from the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Twitter account, to which Karp responded:
“ok, well after further investigation with my eyes, these are cinnamon coated SHRIMP TAILS, you weirdos. I wasn’t all that mad until you now tried to gaslight me?”
Karp is currently taking the box of cereal to the lab to get to the bottom of what’s really behind this mess.
Though he seemed fairly bemused at first, Karp was clearly made more upset by the laissez-faire response from Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Some updates: I am now in touch with a testing lab re: the “black things,” which I will not yet be calling by any other name for my own sanity. Also, a research company will be paying to DNA test the shrimp tail! (2021, y’all)
I want to also explain this: I have NO idea how this stuff got in my cereal bags and neither does @CTCSquares. It definitely could’ve been contaminated in the Costco (though that doesn’t explain the squares with black stuff COOKED on it or the sugar coating on the shrimp)
My point is – their initial reaction to shellfish being in the bag was to tell me it was sugar. Not to investigate the issue or look into it. It’s a deadly allergy to many (and non-Kosher) and that didn’t seem to matter beyond offering me a new box.
One of Donald Trump’s last orders of business before leaving office was to send a clear eff-you to the 1619 Project, The New York Times‘ Pulitzer-winning attempt to reframe how America looks at a past rooted in slavery. (Meanwhile, one of Joe Biden’s first orders of business was to scratch it from the public record.) No doubt those who throw fits when people try to talk about America’s racist past will do the same over Exterminate All the Brutes, a four-part series coming soon to HBO that tries to get at the roots of modern bigotry by looking at the grim history of colonialism, both here and abroad.
The series comes from Raoul Peck, of the Oscar-nominated doc I Am Not Your Negro, which used the works and public appearances of James Baldwin to examine some of the same issues. “What if from the beginning the story was told the wrong way?” Peck, who will serve as a guide and narrator, asks over top old images of Native Americans depicted as blood-thirsty savages — just one of many ideas his series will seek to overturn.
As per the press release, Peck “deconstructs the making and masking of history, digging deep into the exploitative and genocidal aspects of European colonialism – from America to Africa and its impact on society today – challenging the audience to re-think the very notion of how history is being written.”
Exterminate All Brutes will debut soon, with its first two episodes airing back to back on April 7 and the remainder the following night. Its title comes from one of three books about the dark history of colonialism, and you can watch the trailer in the video above.
A hotly awaited Round of 32 contest between Iowa and Kentucky in the NCAA Women’s Tournament ended in lopsided fashion, as the Hawkeyes won 86-72, in large part because first-year guard Caitlin Clark willed it that direction. Clark scored 35 points on 13-21 shooting with six threes, six assists and seven rebounds, absolutely dominating a Kentucky team with projected future WNBA lottery pick Rhyne Howard.
The Hawkeyes controlled the game from the jump, pushing the pace and allowing Clark’s open-floor brilliance to take over the game. Clark was in double digits before the first quarter finished, and at halftime, she had outscored the Wildcats by herself, 24-22, as Iowa took a 49-22 lead into the break.
Clark, like Damian Lillard, Diana Taurasi or Steph Curry, is impossible to deal with once she steps past halfcourt because she is a threat to pull up from anywhere, doesn’t need to get her feet set, and plays with excellent pace. Her pull-up abilities from well beyond the arc punish anyone who drops back.
This game may have been billed as Clark vs. Howard, and thus Iowa winning in the manner they did may make it look as if Howard failed, but the Wildcats star put up 28-8-6 herself and was 5-12 from deep, in a valiant effort to keep her team within reach. Howard also took care of the ball, with zero turnovers to Clark’s five. But Howard’s supporting cast just wasn’t up to the challenge, which made it harder for her to keep pace with Clark.
Iowa post scorer Monika Czinano scored 14 points to go with eight rebounds, and the non-Clark Hawkeyes went 4-8 from three as well. Longtime Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder just put together an excellent gameplan around what Clark does well, while Kentucky simply didn’t have the answers early in head coach Kyra Elzy’s first Tournament appearance. Iowa just looked more ready to execute, and Clark performed at an elite level to lead the way.
The game’s result gets hoops fans one step closer to an all-time Sweet 16 matchup, with Clark and the Hawkeyes set to face friend and fellow wunderkind Paige Bueckers and her Huskies in the next round should UConn move on as well. UConn faces Syracuse on Tuesday night at 9 .m. ET, and the Sweet 16 matchup would take place next weekend.
Clear your binge-watching schedules because HBO Max dropped its April listings, and there’s a ton of cool TV and movies coming our way.
We’re talking steampunk fantasy series like The Nevers, Black Mirror-esque rom-com sagas like Made For Love, Mortal Kombat blockbusters, and a Kate Winslet-starring limited crime drama. And that’s really only a peek at all of the entertainment the streaming platform plans to deliver this month. Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) HBO and HBO Max this April.
The Nevers (HBO series premiering 4/11)
This new steampunk fantasy series set in Victorian London follows a group of people known as the Touched — mostly women with abnormal abilities given to them by way of a mysterious supernatural event. Outlander star Laura Donnelly leads the group as a brawling widow named Amalia True who, with help of her friend and inventor Penance Adair (Ann Skelly), tries to protect their kind from those who fear their gifts.
Mortal Kombat (Warner Bros. film premiering 4/16)
Lewis Tan leads this new take on the beloved martial arts video game series playing a washed-up MMA fighter with a mysterious lineage who discovers he’s being hunted by a league of assassins. To protect himself and his family, he’ll have to join forces with a group of gifted fighters and compete in a high-stakes battled to defend Earth.
Mare of Easttown (HBO limited series premiering 4/18)
Kate Winslet plays a talented detective plagued by her own tragic past in this limited series that takes a look at the dark side of a close community.
Made For Love (HBO Max series premiering 4/1)
If the team from Black Mirror tried to do a rom-com, it’d look something like this. Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs), plays Hazel, a thirty-something woman on the run after 10 years in a suffocating marriage to Byron Gogol (Billy Magnussen), a controlling tech billionaire. But escaping her bad relationship is kind of hard with your Silicon Valley lover has implanted a chip in your brain.
Dates TBA: The Big Shot with Bethenny, Max Original Series Premiere Ellen’s Next Great Designer, Max Original Series Premiere Generation Hustle, Max Original Series Premiere Piano Y Mujer (HBO) Pray, Obey, Kill, Documentary Series Premiere (HBO) Wahl Street, Max Original Series Premiere
Everything Coming To HBO And HBO Max This April
Avail. 4/1 A Shock To The System, 1990 (HBO) Abandon, 2002 (HBO) Adam’s Rib, 1949 All Is Lost, 2013 (HBO) Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl Barbarosa, 1982 (HBO) Black Dynamite, 2009 Blindness, 2008 (HBO) The Bodyguard, 1992 Boogie Nights, 1997 Bringing Up Baby, 1938 The Butcher’s Wife, 1991 (HBO) Caddyshack, 1980 The Collection, 2012 (HBO) The Color Purple, 1985 Dante’s Peak, 1997 (HBO) Dark Shadows, 2012 (HBO) Dead Silence, 2007 (HBO) Dirty Harry, 1971 The Eagle Has Landed, 1977 (HBO) Early Man, 2018 (HBO) Easy Rider, 1969 Ella Enchanted, 2004 (HBO) The Evil That Men Do, 1984 (HBO) Eye For An Eye, 1996 (HBO) Fear, 1996 (HBO) genera+ion, Season 1 Part One Finale Ghost Rider, 2007 Goodfellas, 1990 The Great Pottery Throwdown, Max Original Season 4 Premiere Green Lantern, 2011 Hardball, 2001 (HBO) Happy Endings Haywire, 2012 (HBO) In & Out, 1997 (HBO) Kicking & Screaming, 2005 (HBO) King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, 2017 (HBO) Lassiter, 1984 (HBO) Leatherface Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, 1990 (HBO) Let’s Go To Prison, 2006 (HBO) The Longest Yard, 1974 (HBO) Made For Love, Max Original Series Premiere Man Up, 2015 (HBO) The Mask of Zorro, 1998 The Man With The Iron Fists, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO) Missing In Action 2 – The Beginning, 1985 (HBO) Missing In Action, 1984 (HBO) My Super Ex-Girlfriend, 2006 (HBO) The Nanny The Natural, 1984 Now, Voyager, 1942 One Day, 2011 (HBO) Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, 1985 (HBO) Police Academy 3: Back In Training, 1986 (HBO) Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol, 1987 (HBO) Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach, 1988 (HBO) Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, 1989 (HBO) Police Academy: Mission To Moscow, 1994 (HBO) Primal Fear, 1996 (HBO) Reasonable Doubt, 2014 (HBO) Red Dawn, 1984 (HBO) The Return, 2006 (HBO) Risky Business, 1983 (HBO) Roger & Me, 1989 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939 Sneakers, 1992 (HBO) Space Jam, 1996 Speed 2 Cruise Control, 1997 (HBO) Spellbound, 2003 (HBO) Stuart Little, 1999 The Shack, 2017 (HBO) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, 2006 (Extended Version) (HBO) Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, 2011 Wanderlust, 2012 (HBO) The Warriors, 1979 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) The Watch, 2012 (HBO) White Noise, 2005 (HBO) The Wild Life, 2016 (HBO) Within, 2016 (HBO) Wolves At The Door, 2017 (HBO)
Avail. 4/2 On the Spectrum
Avail. 4/3 Ted, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO)
Avail. 4/4 Q: Into The Storm, Documentary Series Finale (HBO)
Avail. 4/5 Hard, Season 2 Finale (HBO)
Avail. 4/6 Genndy Tartokovksy’s Primal, Season 1B
Avail. 4/7 Exterminate All The Brutes, Documentary Series Premiere (HBO) South Side, Season 1
Avail. 4/9 Intemperie (Aka Out In The Open), 2019 (HBO) The Other Two, Season 1 A Tiny Audience, Season 2 Finale (HBO)
Avail. 4/10 The New Mutants, 2020 (HBO)
Avail. 4/11 The Nevers, Drama Series Premiere (HBO)
Avail. 4/13 Our Towns, Documentary Premiere (HBO)
Avail. 4/15 Infinity Train, Max Original Season 4 Premiere
Avail. 4/16 Mortal Kombat, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021
Avail. 4/17 The Dark Knight Rises, 2012 (HBO)
Avail. 4/18 Mare of Easttown, Limited Series Premiere (HBO)
Avail. 4/20 Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)
Avail. 4/22 1,2,3 All Eyes On Me, 2020 (HBO) First Ladies, 2020 Princess Cut, 2020 (HBO) Rizo, 2020 (HBO)
Avail. 4/23 A Black Lady Sketch Show, Season 2 Premiere (HBO) El Robo Del Siglo (Aka Heist Of The Century) (HBO)
Avail. 4/24 Dreamgirls, 2006 (HBO)
Avail. 4/26 The Artist, 2011
Avail. 4/29 Looney Tunes Cartoons, Season 1D
Everything Leaving HBO And HBO Max This April
Leaving 4/11 Reservoir Dogs, 1992
Leaving 4/15 Lego DC Shazam: Magic And Monsters!, 2020
Leaving 4/30 3 Godfathers, 1949 9½ Weeks, 1986 Above The Rim, 1994 (HBO) The Adventures Of Robin Hood, 1938 Adventures Of Tom Thumb And Thumbelina, 2002 (HBO) After Hours, 1985 An American Werewolf In London,1981 (HBO) Beasts Of The Southern Wild, 2012 (HBO) Being There, 1979 Bullitt, 1968 Bundle Of Joy, 1956 Can’t Buy Me Love, 1987 (HBO) The Candidate, 1972 Cast Away, 2000 (HBO) Catwoman, 2004 Chasing Liberty, 2004 Cheyenne Autumn, 1964 Cimarron, 1960 Critters 2, 1988 Critters 4, 1992 Dead Man Walking, 1995 (HBO) Diner, 1982 Dirt, 2017 The Exorcist, 1973 Femme Fatale, 2002 (HBO) Fool’s Gold, 2008 Get Carter, 1971 Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, 2019 (HBO) Godzilla Vs. Kong, 2021 Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, 2011 The Green Mile, 1999 Grumpier Old Men, 1995 Grumpy Old Men, 1993 The Hangover Part II, 2011 (HBO) A Hidden Life, 2019 (HBO) The Hills Have Eyes II, 2007 (Extended Version) (HBO) The Hills Have Eyes, 2006 (Extended Version) (HBO) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2012 Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, The, 2014 Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, The, 2013 How The West Was Won, 1962 I Am Sam, 2002 The Invisible Man, 2020 (HBO) Jojo Rabbit, 2019 (HBO) Jonny Quest, 1964 Josie And The Pussycats In Outer Space, 1972 Josie And The Pussycats, 1970 Just Mercy, 2019 (HBO) The Looney Tunes Show, 2011 Looney Tunes: Back In Action, 2003 Lying And Stealing, 2019 (HBO) Ma, 2019 (HBO) The Man Who Would Be King, 1975 Marvin’s Room, 1996 (HBO) Mildred Pierce, 1945 Mister Roberts, 1955 My Blue Heaven, 1990 My Dog Skip, 2000 My Favorite Year, 1982 National Lampoon’s European Vacation, 1985 National Lampoon’s Vacation, 1983 The Neverending Story, 1984 New Jack City, 1991 New Looney Tunes, 2015 New York Minute, 2004 Of Mice And Men, 1992 (HBO) Open Water 2: Adrift, 2006 (HBO) Open Water, 2004 (HBO) Paddington Bear, 1989 Patriots Day, 2016 Presumed Innocent, 1990 Pride And Prejudice, 1940 Private Benjamin, 1980 Red Tails, 2012 (HBO) Reversal Of Fortune, 1990 Rio Bravo, 1959 Rise Of The Guardians, 2012 (HBO) School Of Rock, 2003 (HBO) Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo, 1981 The Scooby-Doo Show, 1976 Scooby-Doo Where Are You!, 1969 The Secret Garden, 1993 She’s All That, 1999 Snakes On A Plane, 2006 Son Of The Mask, 2005 Space Cowboys, 2000 Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, 1995 Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, 2005 Tom And Jerry (Classic), 1967 Tower Heist, 2011 (HBO) Under Siege, 1992 Viva Las Vegas, 1964 We Bought A Zoo, 2011 (HBO) What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, 1962 (HBO) Where The Wild Things Are, 2009 The Wild Bunch, 1969 The Wind And The Lion, 1975 The Yogi Bear Show, 1988
Last year, a Redditor made a stir in the whiskey world by proclaiming that you only ever need five bottles of bourbon on your shelf. Those included a “daily drinker, impress your guests, cheap mixer, something great, and the saving for a special occasion bottle.” While we’d also include a quality mixer into that equation, it’s a pretty solid way to look at what bottles to always keep around.
Recently, we’ve taken this “five bottles” concept to heart. So much so that we’re going to start asking our friends in the world of whiskey, beer, and spirits to name their picks in various categories. And we’re starting with me, Zach Johnston, Uproxx Life’s Deputy Editor and head Drinks writer.
I’ve been working in hospitality since I was five-years-old, when I used to sort tomatoes and lettuce at my mom and grandma’s luncheonette before going to kindergarten every morning. I worked my way through college in sandwich shops and pizzerias. I started working behind bars in Prague almost 20 years ago, mostly at organic wine bars tucked away in hidden cellars around the city. In the mid-2010s, I began working in Berlin’s high-end cocktail scene and started getting involved in industry events and conventions.
Over the past five years, I’ve been writing about drinks for Uproxx, podcasting about beer, traveling the world to meet the people behind various spirits, and hosting tastings in person (when safe) and on social media. It’s a fun job, as you might imagine. But while I’m lucky enough to get to taste some truly amazing whiskey, rum, vodka, beer, etc., I didn’t have too much trouble winnowing my whiskey collection down to five essentials. Here you go!
Wild Turkey’s signature rye benefits from the brand’s signature move in making all their whiskey. The juice is matured for around six years in heavily charred “alligator” barrels. That heavy char and longer aging imbues a lot into the whiskey before it’s batched, lightly proofed down to the trademark 101 proof, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
There’s this opening of cedar that leads to, I swear, firecracker black powder. There’s also a sense of savory fruit (think pumpkin) on the end of the nose that works nicely with that black gunpowder and cedar. The taste is a cream vanilla — nearly a mint ice-cream — with hints of Christmas spices next to sweet yet spicy caramel apples.
Bottom Line:
This whiskey really hits every moment of the whiskey experience just right for me. One, it’s tasty. It’s not an MGP rye, so the spice isn’t the only note you get. It’s complex while still being accessible.
It’s also an easy-drinking whiskey all-around. You’ll get a pure sense of “whiskey” with every sip while not being overly challenged. You can just sit back and let the warmth of that Kentucky hug flow over you, which is exactly what you need at the end of the day.
This is Jameson’s take on double barreling. The whiskey is first matured in old bourbon barrels. That juice is then transferred to another bourbon barrel that’s been doubly charred with a deep alligator skin char. Those barrels are batched and proofed all the way down to 80 proof.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a dark chocolate note that leads to clear vanilla and toffee. This feels very sherried with notes of holiday spice and nuts leading towards an almost cedar note. The end is creamy and smooth.
Bottom Line:
This is really solid on the rocks whiskey with a serious depth, but it’s that depth and stoutness that makes this such a solid mixer. It never gets lost in any cocktail and will always remind you’re drinking whiskey, even when you’re mixing.
This is one of the most awarded single malts ever. The juice is matured in ex-bourbon casks in Talisker’s warehouse which is literally feet from the sea. The subtly peated malts take on a real seaside feel as those years tick past, creating a whisky that will not disappoint.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a distance to Talisker that draws you in on the nose. I like to describe it as campfire smoke smelled from a few hundred yards down a rainy beach. The sea spray mellows the smoky peat to a fine point as crushed oyster shells dance with almost sandy pears, dried apricot, and rich malt. The end doesn’t overstay its welcome and reminds you of oysters, fine liquor, and that smoldering campfire way off in the mist.
Bottom Line:
This bottle hits a nostalgic spot for me as it was the bottle my father-in-law used to introduce me to “good scotch” while we were on a trip through Scotland. I never looked back.
I really do drink a fair amount of this stuff. It’s also the dram I order when I’m at a whisk(e)y bar because I know how good it’ll be every time. But it’s the very fact that this is “the good stuff” that I save it for the end of the week as opposed to an everyday dram.
It’s worth the wait and tastes all the better when it’s really earned.
Celebration Dram: Balcones Lineage Texas Single Malt
This bottle is from one of my all-time favorite craft distilleries. The juice is a marrying of malts from Scotland and Texas in the mash, which then creates a bridge between those two diverse whisky worlds. The whisky is aged under the intense Waco sun in Balcones’ warehouse in used and new oak for just the right amount of time.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a nose full of peach peels, vintage cream soda, hot and spicy apple cider (yes, it smells hot, not cold), and a touch of yeasty sourdough sourness. The taste veers into velvet and very fresh honey sweetness, with a hint of soft cedar and salted caramel that ends on an almost reduced and sweet balsamic tang. The end circles back to the spice with a note of hot cinnamon next to a slight black tea bitterness on the slow fade.
Bottom Line:
This is my go-to party or celebration bottle because it’s both affordable and unique. There’s nothing quite like this and it’s a home run in every aspect from nose to taste to the mouthfeel.
This feels like a bottle I can put out at a home tasting and let people really dive into it to find new depths of whisky and appreciation for craft whisky in general. And again, it’s priced well enough that if we finish one or two bottles while celebrating, I’m not going to cry over my bank account the next morning.
This is a monster bottle (at a very prohibitive price-point). This limited-release from 2018 is bottled from whisky mellowed for 21 years in a second-fill European oak barrel. It’s devilishly simple yet deeply provocative and well-worth the investment if you’re craving something truly special.
Tasting Notes:
Notes of salted cream mingle with a subtle sense of whisky malts and oak. The sip leans into touches of bitter cacao and toasted coconut with a hazelnut underpinning, creating a fatty feel with the cacao. Adding water brings about a counterpoint of fresh mint with the cacao and coconut like a luscious yet light salty-sweet dessert. The end is fascinatingly short, making you want to pour another dram immediately.
Bottom Line:
This is my birthday/Christmas morning/New Year’s Eve/I got a promotion/I won the lottery dram. That is, I have about three drams from my bottle every year and that’s it.
This is really special to me in that Oban is one of my favorite distilleries in the world. I love visiting and can even see retiring to a town like Oban. The sea, the cliffs, the little pubs, the seafood … it’s all very much in my wheelhouse. Taking a dram or two of this takes me back there.
This makes me think about where I’ve been, how lucky I am, and where I’m going. It’s the perfect whisky.
After being shut out at last year’s Grammy Awards, Nigerian superstar Burna Boy is officially a Grammy Award winner after taking home the statue for Best Global Music Album (Twice As Tall) at the 2021 63rd Annual Grammy Awards earlier this month. To celebrate, he has released the inspirational video for his Twice As Tall standout “23.”
Naturally taking inspiration from its iconic namesake, much of the “23” video revolves around the sport of basketball, as seen through the eyes of athletes who are ordinarily invisible: Black women. One of the players the video chooses to highlight is wheelchair-bound, but poses in front of a full case of trophies.
Other women who appear in the video are dancers, designers, and music producers — all fields where Black women are underrepresented — while Burna’s performance sequences play out before projected images of his own accomplishments. “The music make me feel I be Jordan,” he croons on the chorus, encouraging listeners to be the best they can through the life-changing power of self-belief. “Now I understand why them say aiye po gan” — “Now I understand why they say there’s enough space” — he says, highlighting how there is room for everyone to be successful.
Watch Burna Boy’s “23” video above.
Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Ahead of its release next month, HBO has dropped a full-length trailer for its new Victorian action-drama series The Nevers. Centered around gifted women called “The Touched,” the series looks to be a good time with its “X-Men but in old-timey London” vibes, and lead actress Laura Donnelly is a clear standout in the intriguing new trailer that showcases the first six episodes comprising Part One of the series. Part Two of The Nevers will air at a later date.
Here’s the official synopsis via HBO:
August, 1896. Victorian London is rocked to its foundations by a supernatural event which gives certain people – mostly women – abnormal abilities, from the wondrous to the disturbing. But no matter their particular “turns,” all who belong to this new underclass are in grave danger. It falls to mysterious, quick-fisted widow Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) and brilliant young inventor Penance Adair (Ann Skelly) to protect and shelter these gifted “orphans.” To do so, they will have to face the brutal forces determined to annihilate their kind.
HBO also unveiled the official poster for the highly-anticipated series along with a character guide to its intricate cast:
HBO
Olivia Williams (The Ghost Writer) as Lavinia Bidlow, the wealthy benefactress funding the orphanage for Amalia’s outcasts, who are also known as the Touched.
James Norton (Little Women) as Hugo Swann, the rich and irreverent proprietor of a den of iniquity.
Tom Riley (Da Vinci’s Demons) as Augustus “Augie” Bidlow, Lavinia’s sweet, awkward, younger brother with a secret of his own.
Pip Torrens (The Crown) as Lord Gilbert Massen, a high-ranking government official leading the crusade against our heroines.
Ben Chaplin (The Thin Red Line) as Inspector Frank Mundi, who’s torn between his police duties and moral compass.
Emmy-nominee Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story) as Edmund Hague, a deranged doctor searching for the source of the powers.
Amy Manson (Once Upon a Time) as the tortured, murderous Maladie, who derives power from pain.
Rochelle Neil (Terminator: Dark Fate) as the fire-wielding Annie “Bonfire” Carby, one of Maladie’s motley gang.
Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds) as orphanage doctor Horatio Cousens, whose turn equips him with healing powers.
Eleanor Tomlinson (The Illusionist) as Mary Brighton, a broken and resilient performer pursuing her dream of singing on stage.
Elizabeth Berrington (In Bruges) as Lucy Best, adaptive and streetwise, her quick-wit and high spirits mask the pain of a tragic past.
Anna Devlin (All the Money in the World) as Primrose Chattoway who, at ten feet tall and a dreamy demeanor, wishes to be an ordinary girl not taking up too much space.
Kiran Sonia Sawar (HBO Max’s Pure) as Harriet Kaur, a young Scottish Sikh and aspiring lawyer, determined to live her life as she planned.
Viola Prettejohn (The Witcher) as Myrtle Haplisch, a middle-class girl rescued from a family who cannot understand her – literally, as she can no longer speak any form of language they understand.
Ella Smith (Ray & Liz) as Désireé Blodgett, a prostitute with a power that gets her in trouble and a six-year-old son who never speaks.
Vinnie Heaven as Nimble Jack, a rakish and charming young thief and an expert at breaking and entering.
Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) as feared criminal overlord Declan “Beggar King” Orrun.
John Oliver and Geraldo Rivera have been feuding since at least 2017, when the Last Week Tonight host responded to the Fox News personality saying he loves “watching bombs drop on bad guys.” Oliver called that a coincidence, as “one of my favorite things in four seasons of this show is getting to look directly into the camera and say, ‘F*ck you Geraldo! I hope your mustache gets caught in a box fan.’ Oh, that felt amazing! That felt absolutely amazing.” More recently, Oliver mocked Rivera’s “Pringles Guy auditioned for Miami Vice” look from a 1986 television special.
It must have taken Rivera a few weeks to get around to the March 1 clip, however, as he only just responded to Oliver — by inviting Meghan McCain to their feud. (Never invite Meghan to the discourse. Or anywhere.) “@iamjohnoliver criticism of @MeghanMcCain is a reminder of what an unfunny, self-righteous punk he is,” he tweeted.
Oliver recently linked the increase of hate crimes against Asian-Americans to Donald Trump’s racist terminology for the coronavirus, which The View co-host previously defended (she has since apologized). “Oh good! Meghan McCain doesn’t have a problem with it,” he said. “Listen not to the scores of Asian-Americans telling everyone that the term is dangerous and offensive. Instead, gather around and take the word of a wealthy white woman who’s dressed like she’s about to lay off 47 people over Zoom.”
As for why Rivera is defending Meghan McCain, who knows. It’s best to not ask why Rivera does anything. Or else you’ll spend the rest of your week staring at this tweet.
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (YouTube Premium miniseries) — She’s been to post-childhood-stardom hell and back, and now, Demi Lovato is here to present her truth in a four-part series. Expect to see details of not-so-pretty moments and downright destructive ones (Lovato overdosed on a opioid-fentanyl cocktail in 2018), along with details about what led to that moment and how she continues to recover.
Mayans M.C.: Season 3 Premiere (FX, 10:00pm) — This biker drama’s kicking into its darker third gear with the club all wrestling with various personal and professional demons. This week, a very bearded Bishop decides to put EZ’s plan into fruition.
Young Rock (NBC, 8:00pm) — Back in the late 1980s, Rocky is on the road (sounds like ice cream) and Ata discovers a heartbreaking piece of information.
Kenan (NBC, 8:30pm) — Kenan’s former boy-band colleague is now a pop star, and he’s back in town, which may or may not prompt Kenan to seek change.
The Flash (CW, 8:00pm) — Abra Kadabra makes an unexpected return to Central City, and there’s vengeance and a score to settle, and a tricky situation, and, well, it sounds like chaos.
Superman and Lois (CW, 9:00pm) — The world’s most famous superhero and the most famous journalist are behaving as ordinarily as possible in this series, and one can guess how well that will work out. This week, Smallville celebrates Harvest Festival, which sounds delicious and touching and possibly heartbreaking.
New Amsterdam (NBC, 9:00pm) — Max brings Luna back to new York, Bloom’s working hard to ensure safety in the workplace, and Reynolds is shifting around while Sharpe struggles.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Dana Carvey, Imagine Dragons
The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Chelsea Handler, Russell Brand, Mary Beth Barone
Late Night With Seth Meyers — Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, Sebastian Stan, Baratunde Thurston, Ash Soan
Staged: Series 2 (BBC One series on Hulu) — This is the rare COVID-era comedy that’s worth tuning into because who can resist David Tennant and Michael Sheen shooting the sh*t together while playing somewhat fictional versions of themselves? This second installment spans eight episodes and basically follows the two Brits losing their minds during this crisis that’s also making the rest of lose our minds, too. The guest lineup includes Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Schwartz, Jim Parsons, Simon Pegg, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz, Ken Jeong, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Waffles + Mochi: Season 1 (Netflix series) — Michelle Freaking Obama stars in this show about two curious puppets, (obviously) Waffles and Mochi, who explore the world through food and culture. This also doubles as an educational series about fresh-ingredient cooking, so learn how to become a chef, along with the puppets and a former first lady. Don’t resist this one!
The past calendar year has been one of uncertainty for Sixers rookie Tyrese Maxey. The first-year guard out of Kentucky spent eight months working out in preparation for the 2020 NBA Draft, waiting to find out where he’d be continuing his basketball career. Once in Philadelphia, it was a month-long turnaround from Draft to the start of the regular season, learning everything he could about Doc Rivers’ system and his teammates on a squad with title aspirations.
Maxey was thrust into a major role early, as the Sixers found themselves as one of the first teams in the league to have significant absences due to health and safety protocols. During that time, Maxey had an early breakout, scoring in double-figures in six straight games, including a 39-point outburst when the Sixers were stretched to an 8-man rotation. It was an assertion that he belonged, but on a team with title dreams and veteran depth, once the group was healthy Maxey returned to the periphery of the rotation. He’s played sporadically in the weeks since, but his energy and enthusiasm hasn’t diminished.
It was those traits that kept him focused on the work in the seemingly interminable draft process last year, a process detailed in Klutch Sports’ “Drafted” podcast on iHeartRadio, hosted by Keegan Michael Key that follows Maxey and Anthony Edwards throughout last year leading into the 2020 Draft. Maxey spoke with Dime on the phone last week about that Draft process, lessons learned already in his rookie year with the Sixers, how he evolved his game during countless workouts prior to the Draft, and why he’s always ready whenever an opportunity presents itself.
You were just doing COVID testing, right?
Yeah, literally just got done with a COVID test.
What has it been like adjusting to this schedule that y’all have this year and having to do that along with getting acclimated to being in the NBA?
It’s been crazy. It’s been crazy, but like I told a lot of people, it’s not an adjustment for me because it’s all I know. This is my rookie year so it’s all I know, as far as the NBA. Like no fans or limited fans and no interaction with anybody or going to the room and to quarantine in your room until a game and then fly right back, so I haven’t really … it’s not an adjustment, it’s an adjustment to the vets. They’re the ones going crazy. I’m just happy to be here.
Who are some of the guys on the team that you’ve been able to lean on this year for some advice as you make your transition into the NBA on and off the court?
Right. I think this team is very veteran oriented. It just started at the top with guys like Danny Green who’s won three championships with the Spurs, one for the Raptors, and recently one with the Lakers. You have guys like Dwight Howard, who’s made over $200 million in contracts, probably, and has a ring as well, and then you take it down to guys like Tobias Harris who didn’t play his first two years in the league and now he’s making $34 million a year, so he’s been great. Then you got the All-Stars like Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. It’s a lot of different perspectives and lots of different views of how they see the league and it’s really helpful to get information from all of them.
In your situation, you come in as a rookie on the team that has championship hopes and that’s meant that your role has occasionally been spotty. You played a little more early in the season and haven’t played quite as much recently. What are the things you’re able to talk with somebody like Tobias about staying engaged and continuing to do the work and and all the things you have to do so you’re ready if your number does get called, and just knowing that eventually you’re going to be in that position?
Well, you know, early in the year, like right when we were getting ready to start preseason, one of the biggest things that Doc and Sam [Cassell] and different guys on the team had told me was like, I mean, it’s gonna be a year of staying ready. Staying ready and healthy just because of the COVID situations, next man up is at its finest this year, because you never know when someone gets sick, you never know when someone can get random contact tracing and different things like that. And that hit us early. That his us early in the year, so my 10th game, I was already starting, I had to step up and start, and Doc said something that really registered in my mind. He was like, if we want to be a championship team, championship teams win games even when their stars are out.
So during that time while I had to play a lot more than expected, we were still able to win games and I was able to show what I was capable of doing and producing, really helping the team and not just being out there. So that’s one thing that really helped me and helped my confidence, and helped the confidence in the coaches and my teammates, just knowing that, you know, if something ever happens and I have to step up, then I’m capable of doing it.
Listening to your first episode of the Drafted podcast, and you talk about how you went about your summer and constantly putting in early morning workouts. How does that mentality you’ve always had about putting in the work — in practice and on your own — help you now in a situation where there aren’t as many game reps and minutes, but you know they’re going to be in the future and you have to make sure you’re ready?
It’s kind of like staying the course. Over this pandemic and over the summer and over the offseason and during the down period of me getting drafted and me getting ready to start in the NBA, I could have relaxed. I could have chilled. I could say okay, well, I’m not playing right now so I can kind of relax and ramp it back up, but no, I stayed the course. I was staying consistent, and that’s what I’m doing now. I’m staying consistent and doing the same things that I was doing when I was in the rotation, if not even more, and just trying to stay ready.
You never know, you never know, especially on a team like this, you never know when we have to rest guys or, you know, older guys need their rest, and I have to be ready to step in and help contribute. I want to be able to … there should be no downfall. Like Coach Doc said, we got to be able to win those games when our key guys and our vets, if they’re hurt or when they’re sitting, we have to be able to win those games and that’s how you know you’re championship ready.
I do want to talk about the Draft process and this podcast. What are you hoping that people can can learn about you both as a player and a person by listening to this?
One thing I really want people to learn is just, you can do anything that you put your mind to. I know it’s, like, cliche, people say that all the time and some people say just to say it, but I really do believe that. That you can do whatever you put your mind to. Like I’m a normal kid from Garland, and I just worked extremely, extremely hard to get to my position where I am today. And it’s a lot of stories like that, and I’m not gonna say no one knew that this was possible, but I worked extremely hard. It wasn’t like it was given to me, I had to go get it myself. I want them to know that and then I want them to know just, like, off the court, I like to have fun. I like to live my life, I like to enjoy it — you only get one — so I think you can enjoy it to the fullest while being smart.
Absolutely, and in that first episode you talk about your relationship with your father and your mother and everything they’ve taught you. They talk about how hard your dad coached you but also you say that your mom won’t let you slip up, either. What does it mean having that support system behind you and knowing that you always have someone you can go to whenever you may need advice or just need somebody to talk to about whatever is going on?
It’s great having a support system like that, and it doesn’t just start with my parents. I mean, it goes all the way down the family tree, starting with their parents, both of my grandmothers who lived in the house, one of them passed recently, but both of them, they set the standard. Once they set the standard it just trickled down and everybody, they have to follow it. You don’t want to be the one that’s called slack, you want to be the one who’s not on top of their game. So it’s like a competitive friendly competition or family competition in between all of us. Everybody’s not one upping each other but everybody’s trying to be competitive to show what they bring to the table. And I think, I think that’s how we hold each other accountable. It’s not just my parents, but my grandmothers, my sisters, my uncle and so on and so on.
One of the things I talked with Isaiah Joe about earlier this year was how you had a unique Draft process where it was the longest Draft process and then the shortest training camp run up when you actually knew where you were going to be playing. What are the things that you looked at as you went through the summer as the draft kept getting pushed back and saw as, like, “OK, this is my opportunity to get better?” Were there any things in your game that you really felt like you were able to improve over that period from what you showed while you were at Kentucky?
Yeah I feel like I was able to improve, just playing in the pick-and-roll is so important for a guard my size and just guards period in the NBA. To be able to play in the pick-and-roll, make different reads, scoring reads, passing reads, and just different flows in the game. That’s huge, and I was able to show that immediately when I stepped onto the court here in the NBA. I wasn’t able to show as much of that [at Kentucky], and it was something I need to work on during the offseason. So that’s one thing I really focused on. That and shooting, becoming more confident in different situations. A lot of different shots, different angles to shots, different floaters, runners and different shots that you need as a guard in the NBA.
Your college teammate Immanuel Quickley has been one of the guys that’s had a breakout year, and the Kentucky fraternity is something that I know a lot of guys talk about. Do you still talk with him regularly and other guys from Kentucky around the league and what does it mean to have those kind of resources on top of your teammates in Philly?
It’s great. Of course I talk to Immanuel, I talk to him at least three, four times a week just catching up, checking on him. I’m always watching him. Of course we’re always supporting each other. He’s supporting me when I’m playing, I support him when he’s playing and I think that just goes throughout the entire Kentucky brotherhood. I mean the Big Blue Nation it’s … I think once you’re in it, you’re stuck in it. Everybody looks out for each other.
You mentioned earlier how Doc talking about staying ready stuck with you. What have been the other things that you’ve been able to pull from this coaching staff that you feel is making you already a better player being with a veteran, championship staff?
Just different aspects of the game as far as the details. Our coaching staff is very detail oriented, from Doc all the way down to Sam and the player development. They really believe in film and details and what you’re doing on the defensive end and different concepts of the game It’s was really helped me to just learn, learn to become a better basketball player and a better professional.
Obviously it’s a team that has a strong defensive identity with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid as two of the best in the league at their respective positions, and strong defenders all over. What have you learned about that side the floor because that that can always that can be one of the bigger adjustments for guys coming into the league, and you’ve got just a great kind of group around you to kind of show what it takes on that end?
Right. I feel like defense is cerebral. It has a lot to do with the mind. A lot of people, you can be quicker or faster, but a lot of people who aren’t as quick and fast can be smarter and can take you out of what you’re doing or what you want to do. So I think that’s the biggest thing that Danny Green and Ben and Joel, even Matisse Thybulle [have shown me]. You know, it’s just his second year in the league but it feels like he’s a seasoned vet the way he plays defense and he’s very good for us. And I’ve learned a lot from him just in this half of a season. Just how he keeps coming on plays and how he’s able to fight through screens and how he’s able to navigate around being screen and different things like that.
Finally, what are the things that you look at in your game that you’re already kind of looking at and saying like, alright, here are the things that are going to take me to the next level and get me into those rotation spots and get you where you want to go in your career?
I think it’s just getting one percent better every single day. Being one percent better, staying healthy, and continue to stay the course. One thing about me is, no matter the situation I’m always gonna put the work in. I’m always gonna have confidence in myself whenever I get the opportunity, and I’m always going to stay faithful, stay prayed up, and stay ready for the moment.
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