Month: October 2021

If you remember a time when Corbin Bernsen was TV’s ultimate sex symbol, think of Harry Hamlin as more than just a recurring character on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, or get all hot and bothered when someone mentions “The Venus Butterfly,” we have great news: L.A. Law is coming back!

As Deadline reports, ABC has ordered a pilot for a sequel to the hit legal drama, which will see Blair Underwood reprise his role as attorney Jonathan Rollins, as well as serve as an executive producer. The series, according to Deadline, will center around “the venerable law firm of McKenzie Brackman reinvent[ing] itself as a litigation firm specializing in only the most high-profile, boundary-pushing, and incendiary cases. Underwood’s Jonathan Rollins has gone from idealistic to more conservative as he clashes with millennial JJ Freeman to decide the best path forward for the firm to effect political and legal change.”

The Emmy-winning series, which ran for eight seasons between 1986 and 1994, was a precursor to the era of prestige television that got its start in the late 1990s. Co-created by über-producer Steven Bochco, the legal drama may seem tame by today’s standards, but it dared to address such topics as abortion, racism, homophobia, AIDS, and capital punishment at a time when no other TV show would even sniff around such taboo subject matter. It also provided some now-famous stars, including Bryan Cranston, Kathy Bates, Steve Buscemi, CCH Pounder, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, and Stephen Root, with some of their earliest TV gigs. The series also helped to make Underwood a household name, when the acclaimed actor—who was then just 23 years old—joined McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak in L.A. Law’s second season.

The new series, which has been in development since December, will be partly overseen by the late Bochco’s son, director/producer Jesse Bochco, and his widow, Dayna Bochco, who will executive produce the show. Bochco the younger mentioned the project during a virtual TCA panel, noting that: “We are working with brilliant, brilliant people and I think we’re going to get it to the world.”

(Via Deadline)

One of Jake Gyllenhaal’s early breakout roles was in The Good Girl, the 2002 comedy-drama written by Mike White (The White Lotus) that also starred John C. Reilly, Tim Blake Nelson, Zooey Deschanel, and Jennifer Aniston. The film has a stacked cast, but the experience was “torture” for Gyllenhaal due to his crush on the Friends actress.

During a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Gyllenhaal was asked by Howard Stern what it was like to film a romantic scene with Aniston, with the host sarcastically suggesting that it must have been “torture” for him. “Oh yeah, it was torture, yes it was,” The Guilty star replied while laughing. “But it was also not torture. I mean, come on, it was like a mix of both.” He continued:

“Weirdly, love scenes are awkward, because there are maybe 30, 50 people watching it? That doesn’t turn me on,” Gyllenhaal, 40, said. “It’s oddly mechanical. And also it’s a dance, you’re choreographing for a camera. You can get in it but it’s like a fight scene, you have to choreograph those scenes.”

Gyllenhaal used the “pillow technique” for his sex scene with Aniston. “That was just preemptive and used generally always when actually in a horizontal place in that movie,” he said. “I think that was actually a Jennifer suggestion, she was very kind to suggest it before we began. She was like, ‘I’m putting a pillow here.’”

You can watch his The Howard Stern Show interview above.

(Via Yahoo!)

Facebook has officially changed its relationship status with the world to ‘It’s Complicated.’ Over the past week, Frances Haugen—a former product manager for the social media behemoth—has become a household name since leaking documents about the harmful effects the company has to The Wall Street Journal, giving a scathing interview to 60 Minutes, and, on Tuesday, going scorched Earth on her former employer in front of Congress as she talked about how Facebook’s products “harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy.”

While Haugen isn’t really telling us something we didn’t already know, it’s one of the first times that someone with such intimate details of the company’s inner workings has spoken up to the government about the dangers that something as seemingly inconsequential as a Facebook status update or Instagram post could pose. And Facebook CEO/co-founder Mark Zuckerberg isn’t happy. Nor is he in agreement with Haugen’s take on the company or its values.

As The Verge reports, Zuckerberg posted a lengthy response to Haugen’s attacks on his public Facebook page, in which he noted that the accusations being made against the company don’t “reflect the company we know” and that Facebook “care[s] deeply about issues like safety, well-being, and mental health.” After stating that “many of the claims don’t make any sense,” and wondering why, if they wanted to ignore research data, they would “create an industry-leading research program to understand these important issues in the first place?,” Zuckerberg went on to write:

At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. That’s just not true. For example, one move that has been called into question is when we introduced the Meaningful Social Interactions change to News Feed. This change showed fewer viral videos and more content from friends and family—which we did knowing it would mean people spent less time on Facebook, but that research suggested it was the right thing for people’s well-being. Is that something a company focused on profits over people would do?

The argument that we deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit is deeply illogical. We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don’t want their ads next to harmful or angry content. And I don’t know any tech company that sets out to build products that make people angry or depressed. The moral, business, and product incentives all point in the opposite direction.

It’s Zuckerberg’s first public statement about the accusations Haugen is making, ever since her identity was revealed on 60 Minutes (though something tells us Zuck already knew who was making all the noise). While there’s nothing overly surprising in his more than 1,300-word response, it doesn’t read as particularly honest. Just last month, The Wall Street Journal shared some findings from the company’s own research team, including the fact (as was included on an internal presentation slide) that Instagram (one of Facebook’s products) “make[s] body image issues worse for one in three teen girls.” (You can read more from that WSJ report here.)

You can read Zuckerberg’s full statement here.

(Via The Verge)

Following R. Kelly being found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering, it is now a bit harder to find his songs and videos: YouTube has permanently suspended the RKellyTV and RKellyVevo channels, which hosted official uploads of Kelly’s videos and songs.

Nicole Alston, YouTube’s head of legal, told Bloomberg, “Egregious actions committed by R. Kelly warrant penalties beyond standard enforcement measures due to a potential to cause widespread harm. Ultimately we are taking this action to protect our users similar to other platforms.”

Alston also noted that Kelly will no longer be able to use, own, or create YouTube channels. A YouTube spokesperson also said in a statement, “We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines.”

That said, as it stands now, at least a portion of the videos that originally appeared on these channels are still accessible, but with caveats. Searching YouTube for “Ignition (Remix),” for example, shows an audio-only result (a video just featuring cover art) that appears to be from the RKellyTV channel. When clicking on the channel link, though, the channel is blank except for the message, “This account has been terminated for a violation of YouTube’s Terms of Service.”

When going to watch that actual “Ignition (Remix)” video, the page is accessible and the video is able to be played, but the page indicates the video is from the “R. Kelly – Topic” channel, instead of RKellyTV as indicated in the YouTube search results.

Meanwhile, the page for the RKellyVevo channel behaves differently than the RKellyTV channel. Instead of a message about the channel’s termination, it is as though the channel never existed at all, as the error page is the same one yielded when trying to access an invalid YouTube URL: “This page isn’t available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else.”

Videos for songs on which Kelly features, like Ja Rule’s “Wonderful” and Nick Cannon’s “Gigolo,” are still available on YouTube, as they were uploaded to different channels. As of now, Kelly’s music is still available on YouTube Music, as it is on other audio streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

Yung Bleu is currently on a US tour in support of his debut album, Moon Boy, but it hasn’t stopped him from showing how life is for him overseas. Fresh off a performance in New York, the Alabama native returns with a music video for “Unforgiving” with Davido and it finds both acts in Lagos, Nigeria for the visual. In it, Bleu grows up and falls in love with his childhood friend, and in order to show his appreciation for her, the singer decides to build a spaceship for her from scratch due to their mutual love for space.

Moon Boy arrived at the end of July complete with features from John Legend, HER, Kehlani, Moneybagg Yo, Big Sean, Drake, Jeezy, Gunna, 2 Chainz, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and more. The album’s release has also been supported by videos for “Ghetto Love Birds,” “You’re Still Mine,” “Baddest,” and “Way More Close (Stuck In A Box).”

It’s all been smooth sailing for Bleu since Drake helped boost his popularity by remixing “You’re Still Mine” last summer. The addition of the Toronto rapper to the song helped pushed it into the top 20 of the Billboard singles chart.

You can watch the video for “Unforgiving” with Davido above.

Moon Boy is out now via Vandross Music Group Inc/Empire. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Rob McElhinney isn’t only the creator of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia; he’s also the one who puts his body in danger. For Season 7 — all the way back in 2011 — the show’s resident Mac had a shocking transformation: He gained 50 pounds and was often seen chowing down on unhealthy food. (He went got jacked for Season 8.) Now, in the first look at Season 15, he’s rocking a new look, one that’s not as over-the-top but still pretty eye-catching.

The image shows Charlie Day, McElhinney, and Glen Howerton (but not Kaitlin Olsen and Danny DeVito) standing outside Paddy’s, looking faux-serious. Day and McElhinney are even crossing their arms. But the latter goes even further: He has long hair, a horseshoe mustache, and two earrings, as well as an oversized windbreaker. Again, McElhinney’s gone way more extreme before, but it’s still a respectably dirtbag vibe.

There was no It’s Always Sunny last year, the first time it’s taken a year off since 2014, between Seasons 9 and 10. It’s not clear when Season 15 will bow, which may wind up not being until next year. But the show, which has been on since 2005, has been greenlit through Season 18, at which point it will be the longest-running live-action comedy in TV history. Not bad for a show set in a state that both helped create American democracy and, late last year, save it.

(Via The AV Club)

After taking a break in 2019, Florida’s Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival was one of the last festivals to fully run its course in 2020 before the pandemic shut down the music world for over a year. Okeechobee wound up skipping the 2021 festival season, but thankfully the Florida showcase will be back in 2022. On Tuesday, organizers revealed their full lineup.

Okeechobee will return to Sunshine Grove during the weekend of March 3-6, 2022 to celebrate the festival’s fifth anniversary. Tame Impala, Porter Robinson Megan Thee Stallion, Rezz, and Griz are among the bigger names. Others include Denzel Curry, Jungle, Gary Clark Jr., Ashinko, Flying Lotus, Troyboi, Jai Wolf, Four Tet, Caribou, The Glitch Mob, Clozee, Smino, Coi Leray, Mt. Joy, BIA, Sven Vath, Tobi Lou, Chiiild.

After announcing the festival’s 2022 dates back in June, Pasquale Rotella, the founder and CEO of Insomniac Events (one of the companies behind the festival), shared their excitement about their return. “After this long year, I couldn’t be more excited to return to Sunshine Grove and be back in nature with all my Okeechobee friends and fam,” Rotella said in a statement. “This festival is all about music, camping out, and making s’mores while dancing in a jungle, grass fields, and on a beautiful beach. It was the last festival I attended before the pandemic hit so I can’t wait to be back!”

You can check out the full lineup for Okeechobee’s 2022 showcase in the post above.

The reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks began their preseason journey on Tuesday evening with a road trip to face the Memphis Grizzlies. For the most part, it was an unassuming exhibition game with high-profile players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Dillon Brooks sidelined but, as the second half was taking place at FedEx Forum, things got more interesting.

A fire alarm began to sound in the arena, with players clearing the floor and fans heading to the concourse.

Shortly after, the Grizzlies indicated via a spokesperson that it was a false alarm of sorts, followed by official word from the team that the issue was a sprinkler being inadvertently tripped.

This issue rose even more in prominence with a national television broadcast on TNT, and the announcing crew provided an update while the alarm was still going off in Memphis.

Fortunately, it seems as if the alarm did not signal anything dangerous, and all signs point to inconvenience rather than anything more significant. Still, there was genuine uncertainty as to whether game would continue and, given the exhibition nature of the proceedings, the urgency level would not be as high as a contest that counts in the standings.

Verzuz has a new battle: Legendary rappers Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One will face off later this month. This means it will be the third straight matchup between New York stars following last month’s battle between Fat Joe and Ja Rule and the one between The LOX and Dipset in August.

Big Daddy Kane, who hails from Brooklyn, and KRS-One, who calls Bronx home, will face off at the Barclays Center on Sunday, October 17 for a matchup that kicks off at 7pm EST. While their matchup is highly anticipated, there’s another artist many Versuz watchers have been long hoping will finally take the stage.

That person is Diddy. A number of names have been proposed for who he’d b attle, but Diddy has made it clear that only one person is worthy: Dr. Dre. Jermaine Dupri attempted to put his own name in the mix, but Diddy shot the idea down, tellin ghim, “your arms too short to box with God!!!” This resulted in a passionate Instagram Livestream that saw Dupri and Diddy taking playful shots at one another.

Prior to that, Damon Wayans expressed his desire to challenge Dave Chappelle to a comedic version of Verzuz. “Chappelle, I’m calling him out!” Wayans said during an August appearance on KBXX 97.9 The Box.

In late September, rumblings began to emerge that Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving had not received the COVID-19 vaccine despite a local New York mandate that indicates players would miss games and other team activities if unvaccinated. Similarly, Andrew Wiggins faced a similar circumstance with the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco before ultimately choosing to receive the vaccine.

On Tuesday evening, however, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst reported that the Nets “remain unclear” on whether Irving intends to get vaccinated and, as such, no firm decisions have been made on how the team will proceed.

Within the report, Wojnarowski and Windhorst share that “hope is waning” for the Nets, and the team is now at least preparing for the potential of Irving to miss extended stretches of the season. Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash said this week that the team won’t be moving its practices to accommodate Irving, which could present a tenuous situation in the aggregate.

Perhaps the headliner of the entire ESPN story arrives with the reporting that the Nets could weigh the choice between having Irving come in and out of the team fold depending on location, or the potential to “just keep him sidelined all together.” Beyond that grim reality within the confines of this season, the report includes the nugget that the Nets “could ultimately have to make hard decisions on Irving’s future” if he chooses to abstain from the vaccine and ensure the inability to play in New York.

“I know that I’ll be there every day no matter what and just be present for my teammates as one of the leaders on the team and be there for my growing tribe off the court,” Irving shared at Brooklyn’s Media Day last week. “I know the focus has to be at an all-time high, no distractions. This is the last thing I wanted to create, was more distractions and more hoopla and more drama around this. I’m doing my best to maintain this with good intentions and a good heart.”

Under the current protocols, Irving would lose approximately $380,000 in salary for each game missed, running up a tab of more than $15 million in lost revenue if things continued throughout the 2020-21 season. Beyond that financial impact, the Nets would miss him tremendously on the floor, even with the presence of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and one of the league’s deepest rosters to soften the blow.

Overall, the Nets face a very difficult situation should Irving continue to remain unvaccinated. Brooklyn is the betting favorite to win the 2022 NBA title but, with Irving either out of the picture or not present for half of the team’s games (and myriad practices), the team’s short-term outlook becomes blurrier.