Month: October 2021

Parents magazine held a contest that began last April looking for the kindest family in America. Real kindness isn’t about winning awards or getting your name on the cover of a magazine. But Parents thought that the campaign was a great way to inspire “families to continue to do good and to share their stories.”

The contest was judged by a panel that Parents called “moms and dads who are fierce advocates for kindness and inclusivity.” The judges included Parents Editor in Chief Julia Edelstein; Parents Latina Editor in Chief Grace Bastidas; NBC News’ 3rd Hour of TODAY co-hosts Dylan Dreyer, Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin, and Al Roker; and actor Kristen Bell, amongst others.

The winning family is a wonderful example of how people can take the lessons of tragedy and turn them into compassion for others.

The Barrón family from Oklahoma won the contest for their exceptional commitment to helping children with cancer and their families. For Luke (39), Holly (38), Keaton (forever 8), Reid (7), Holden (4), and Conley (2), kindness is a personal mission.

Our November Kindness issue cover features America’s Kindest Family winners, The Barrón family, who open up about t… https://t.co/UekF9eftNw

— Parents (@parentsmagazine)
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Their greatest inspiration is their son Keaton who passed away at the age of eight from leukemia.

Towards the end of his life, Keaton was visited by a volunteer at the hospital named Kay and the two started the K Club. “Kay’s name starts with K, and we called Keaton ‘K,'” Holly told Parents.

Its mission statement written by Keaton is “To be kind to others, be courageous, compassionate, and caring.”

The club raised money by selling clubhouse dues for just $1 and has grown to have a significant impact on the lives of countless families. The K Club helps kids with cancer and their families by throwing several fundraisers a year, including a golf tournament and a Christmas celebration where they sell baked goods.

The K Club also collects diapers, wipes, and clothes for a pregnancy resource center, makes hygiene packs for those experiencing homelessness, and donates funds to build wells in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Teaching Kids How to Be Kind and Think About Others | Barrón Family – The K Club | Parents

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The club also makes K Packs that allow parents to remember the children they’ve lost to a terminal illness. They include recordings of the child’s voice and artwork.

“It’s an honor to provide a tiny bit of hope or peace in the most unimaginable time in a family’s life,” Holly says. “We feel for every parent who may lose a child and will do anything and everything we can to be there for them.”

The family also oranizes fun events, such as a monthly LEGO party at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital where Keaton was treated, and they provide treats for parties honoring kids who are leaving the hospital.

The Barróns think that the K Club is a great way for Keaton’s younger brothers to keep his spirit alive.

“I think Keaton would be pleased with it all, but I don’t think he’d be like, ‘Whoa, this is unbelievable!'” Holly said. “I think he’d just say, ‘Yeah, this is what I’d planned. Good job.'”

Who else could get Dua Lipa, Doja Cat and Ed Sheeran on the same bill? None other than the 2021 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, which is back in a big way this year. Aside from slots from three of the biggest pop stars in the world right now, the tour also boasts appearances from Jonas Brothers, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Nas X, The Kid LAROi, Saweetie, Tate McRae, Kane Brown, and even The Black Eyed Peas, according to region. Stops for this year’s tour include Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale and Washington, D.C..

“What started as a local show 26 years ago is now a globally televised holiday music event featuring the biggest hit artists and songs of the year,” said John Sykes, iHeartMedia president of entertainment enterprises, in a press release. “And, for those who can’t get a ticket to the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, they can watch on The CW Network, who will bring this music celebration to millions of fans’ living rooms with a two-hour TV broadcast special.”

If you can’t make it out to a show in person, simply turn your TV to the CW on on Dec. 15 at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST to catch the tour’s nationwide TV special.

As Squid Game continues to set records for Netflix and become a global juggernaut, it’s not only putting up big numbers for the streaming service, but also a South Korean candy maker who’s watched his business double thanks to the show.

Without getting into spoilers, during the third episode of the show a candy treat called “dalgona” is featured prominently as the Squid Game contestants are forced to successfully complete a childhood game involving the candy. A shape is etched into every circular dalgona candy, and the trick is to very carefully carve out the shape without breaking the candy. It sounds easy, but dalgonas are ridiculously brittle, which is where the challenge comes in. Even more challenging is keeping up with the demand for the candy that’s skyrocketed thanks to the show’s success.

Back in June 2020, Seoul candy maker An Yong-hui made the actual candies used in the filming of Squid Game, 700 pieces to be exact, and now it’s made his candy kitchen a hot spot for fans of the Netflix series. Via Reuters:

As the show’s popularity has surged since its premiere last month, An hasn’t been able to go home for a week in order to meet the demand from eager “Squid Game” fans that start queuing up outside his 2-square-metre (2.4 square yards) street kitchen at 11 a.m.

He now sells more than 500 dalgonas a day, from less than 200 before the show’s premiere.

Just to put Squid Game‘s success into perspective, the show has been so heavily streamed that a South Korean internet provider is suing Netflix for creating an unprecedented surge in broadband use. Bridgerton was a huge hit, but not “cripple an entire ISP” huge. Who knew calamari-based dramas were the secret sauce that streaming viewers were hungry for?

(Via Reuters)

Washington Football Team’s second season with its far less racist name is already underway, and on Sunday, Cleveland’s baseball team will play its final game with a nickname many in the Indigenous community also found offensive. The moves are a significant sea change in the way sports teams approach their impact on the actual marginalized people who became caricatures in the name of fandom.

But not everyone is thrilled to lose their team’s identity so abruptly, even if it was offensive to so many people. Which is why Comedy Central wants to help.

“In 2021, we’re finally acknowledging as a society that, maybe painting yourself in redface and eating fifty hot dogs in a stadium parking lot isn’t the best way to honor an entire race of people, so in a lot of cases, those mascots are changing,” creator Joey Clift said.

The animated short offered some tips to “turn those micro aggressions into micro egress-fun.”

One of those tips is simple: instead of the frowned-upon “Tomahawk Chop,” fans can simply wave their hands side to side like they’re saying hello to a pal. Another one is right to the point: don’t do redface, either.

“You’ve heard about blackface,” the video says succinctly. “It’s the same thing. And blackface is bad, right?”

The video even dives into how everything we know is wrong about Thanksgiving, which is certainly a related sidebar. It also addresses some of the common defenses of these nicknames, like the myth that they “honor” Natives or that no one cares. They do, which is why Clift made the video in the first place. And he’s proud the people that worked on the video were a “murderer’s row of badass Native talent” like voice actors Jana Schmieding and Tai Leclaire (Rutherford Falls) and John Timothy (Spirit Rangers) while Indigenous animator Marie Bower designed all of the “Native mascots” in the piece.

“With Native mascots changing right now, it’s super topical, but also, with the release of Rutherford Falls and Reservation Dogs, 2021 is really the first year Native storytellers have been given big opportunities in the media,” Clift said, noting that statistics often show the average American knows “next to nothing about Native people.”

For a long time, those “Native mascots” were all that many Americans saw and knew of a varied and unique group of people. Clift hopes that this video, along with shows like Rutherford Falls and Reservation Dog, can help educate and bring awareness to something beyond relics of the past.

“Many fans of those teams are still processing how they feel about the whole thing,” he said. “So I wanted to make a silly video to give those fans some tips to show that your team changing its name isn’t the end of the world, and also that it’s very, very easy to not be racist.”

While there was little doubt Nickelodeon would be recruiting some talent from Avatar: The Last Airbender and spin-off series The Legend of Korra for their upcoming fighting game, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, they sure did keep us waiting for the big reveal. Earlier today, the official Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Twitter at long-last revealed the first images of incoming fighters Aang and Korra, as well as their movesets and brief videos showcasing them in action.

Based off the videos shared, we can safely say both of the “Masters of all Elements” control pretty much as you’d expect them to, which is sure to delight the series’ countless fans. Korra players can look forward to a more aggressive and weighty moveset filled with kicks, stomps, charges, and slams, that’s focused primarily on utilizing the cocky fighter’s water and fire-bending skills. Aang, on the other hand, seems to be significantly more fun and flighty, using air-bending, his staff, and his signature glider exclusively to maneuver gracefully around the arena.

The pair join a roster featuring several of Nickelodeon’s most iconic characters, such as Spongebob Squarepants, Danny Phantom, Invader Zim, the Rugrats’ Reptar, the meme-worthy Nigel Thornberry, two of the four Ninja Turtles, and several others. Nickelodeon has also confirmed even more characters will be coming to the game following its upcoming release, offering some reassurance to folks still worried we haven’t seen anyone from Jimmy Neutron and The Fairly OddParents make an appearance. Who knows, we might even get more Avatar characters — such as fan favorites Prince Zuko and Toph — in the coming months. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is set to hit PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC October 5, and might just be the game to give Super Smash Bros. a bit of a run for its money.

SNL (Saturday, HBO 11:29pm) — Host Owen Wilson and musical guest Kacey Musgraves launch Season 47. There had better be multiverse and Zoolander skits.

These streaming picks make excellent appetizers:

The Many Saints of Newark (Warner Bros. film on HBO Max) — David Chase’s The Sopranos prequel movie arrives in theaters and in your living room this weekend. The mob-movie cast (including Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen, Ray Liotta, and Vera Farmiga) is almost too good. Notably James Gandolfini’s son, Michael, stars as Young Tony. He’s coming of age (and learning to be a mob boss) while rival gang warfare swirls around the family. Our own Mike Ryan enjoyed the film with some qualifiers while calling it both exhilarating and confounding, and Vince Mancini has rounded up the 10 episodes of The Sopranos that will refresh you before the film.

The Guilty (Netflix film) — Jake Gyllenhaal plays an 911 emergency dispatch operator who walks into a situation that he thinks he’s prepared for, but he has no idea… or does he? This movie’s a remake of a Danish film of the same name, and if you’re not familiar with that work (or perhaps even if you are), you aren’t ready for this.

Here’s some regularly scheduled programming:

Scenes From A Marriage (Sunday, HBO 9:00pm) — Here’s the project that Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain were recently firing up on the red carpet. This miniseries remakes Ingmar Bergman’s 1970s project original as directed by HBO regular Hagai Levi with a contemporary spin, including all of the love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage, and divorce that one would expect.

The Walking Dead (Sunday, AMC 9:00pm) — This zombie-apocalypse universe’s flagship series returns for one final rodeo with two spinoffs (Fear The Walking Dead, The World Beyond) still in motion, so it’s time to wrap this puppy up before the various shows’ timelines begin to intersect. This week, Negan teaches Maggie a survival technique, and Daryl’s gone hunting.

BMF (Sunday, Starz 9:00pm) — Executive producer 50 Cent launches this crime drama about two Detroit brothers, Demetrius and Terry Flenory, who become kingpins of the Black Mafia Family, which becomes the most significant drug-and-money-laundering network in U.S. history. This week, 50 Boys and their rivals are feeling the tension, all while Lamar’s making moves to ascend to leader.

Billions (Sunday, Showtime 9:00pm) — There ain’t no drama quite like hedge-fund-king drama, and it remains to be seen whether Bobby Axelrod and Chuck Rhoades will ever decide to stop wasting so much time hating the hell out of each other. Probably not? Their rivalry reignites this week, which distracts them from the enemies on the horizon.

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond (Sunday, AMC 9:00pm) — Season 2 begins with an episode called “Koneskans,” which translates to “Consequences” in Haitian Creole. Hope is looking toward the future, and that might ruin a reunion while Iris and Felix encounter new faces amid startling revelations.

American Rust (Sunday, Showtime 10:00) — Jeff Daniels can swing between being comedic and dramatic, and in his new Showtime series, American Rust, he’s decidedly the latter and latest star to take on a complicated cop role after Kate Winslet’s turn in Mare of Easttown. And notably, Bridges’ new role is also set in Pennsylvania and unravels a murder, all while Grace and Billy’s trailer raises suspicions, along with a confession to Lee.

Nuclear Family (Sunday, HBO 10:00) — This three-part documentary series sees filmmaker Russo-Young get extremely personal to examine the true nature of family. The story launches in the late 1970s with Ry and Cade being brought up by two lesbian mothers, only to have an unexpected lawsuit rattle the family’s world.

Last Week Tonight (Sunday, HBO 11:00) — John Oliver, baby.

Here’s some more streaming goodness for the weekend.

MAID (Netflix limited series) — Margaret Qualley (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) stars in this heartbreaking adaptation of Stephanie Land’s New York Times best-selling memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive. This will, clearly, be a difficult watch, but Qualley’s raw portrayal (of a woman who flees an abusive relationship to go through exceedingly difficult times to break the cycle for her daughter) yields a burgeoning star.

Welcome to the Blumhouse: Black As Night/Bingo Hell (Blumhouse films on Amazon Prime) — This double feature shines a light on vampires in the Big Easy, who are the next big threat since Hurricane Katrina. Of course, they’re taking up residence in a French Quarter mansion and must be defeated. Speaking of damn funny, a feisty, board-game loving senior citizen arrives to save the day and the lives of her friends, all with the realization that there’s a sinister presence lurking that’s far more dangerous than mere gentrification. Naturally, there’s a whole lot of social conscience at work here.

The Problem With Jon Stewart (Apple TV+ series) — Jon Stewart’s return to TV fast approaches, and it could be argued that he’s never been needed more on TV than this particular moment. The former The Daily Show host will be doing the current-events thing with an episode every two weeks, which isn’t as frequent as fans might prefer, but we’ll trust the process. According to Apple TV+, viewers can expect Stewart to go deep on a single subject per episode with a “solutionary” approach, and yes, there are jokes.

Ted Lasso: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series) — First thing’s first: Everyone who’s caught a glimpse of this Bill Lawrence co-created and developed series loves it. That’s a notable feat, considering that star Jason Sudeikis first portrayed the title character way back in 2013 for NBC Sports’ promos for Premier League coverage. Fast forward to the fresh hell that was 2020, and the show surfaced as one of the year’s lone bright spots. Ted Lasso is somehow both relentlessly and charmingly cheery, although there’s always the spectre of Led Tasso to consider.

The Haunted Museum: Season 1 (Discovery+ series) — Eli Roth has so much going on over at Discovery+ this month (following his recent real-life horror/Shark-Week film on the streamer) that one has to wonder… is he running the joint? It’s a valid question, but more to the point, he’s teaming up with Ghost Adventures host Zak Bagans for this scripted anthology series, in which they illuminate nine of the world’s most cursed artifacts. These relics are actually in display in Bagans’ Vegas museum, but here, you’ll get the historic commentary in addition to having the pants scared off of you. (When you’re done with that series, prepare for next week’s Eli Roth Presents: A Ghost Ruined My Life, which will present personal accounts on those who have survived feeling like they’re been dragged through hell and fought their way back.)

Doom Patrol: Season 3 (HBO Max series) — DC’s struggling misfit superheroes are back for another round. Brendan Fraser has received plenty of raves for his fury-filled Cliff Steele/Robotman, but don’t count out the rest of the crew. There’s Matt Bomer as the bandage-wrapped Negative Man and Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane, which is actually a role that requires Diane to play dozens of incarnations, including a very timely take on a Karen. This season, the sh*t hits the fan with a time machine.

Midnight Mass (Netflix series) — Get ready, The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor addicts, because creator Mike Flanagan’s back to cause us more horror fits. This happens to be his favorite project so far and revolves around an isolated community that lives on spooky Crockett Island, which gets even spookier due to a charismatic priest’s arrival. Naturally, a whole lot of supernatural shenanigans are afoot, but human nature (as we are currently experiencing in-real-life these days) can often be scarier than the ghosts that people can dream up. It’s dark, real dark.

The Way Down: God, Greed, And The Cult Of Gwen Shamblin: (HBO Max series) — This five part documentary series follows the rise and fall of the Remnant Fellowship Church founder, whose Weigh Down Workshop worked a cult-like racket that preached weight loss as a means to get close to god. This transformed into accusations of abuse (of the emotional, psychological, and physical varieties), all before Shamblin died in a May 2021 plane crash.

Somehow or another, a whole summer has gone by with barely a peep from LA warm weather icon Dom Kennedy. However, it looks like he might be setting his sights on windbreaker season, announcing the impending release of the third installment of his fan-favorite album series, From The Westside With Love, on October 15. To solidify his return to the projects that made him such a staple of Golden State house parties and ocean drives, he has dropped the first single, “Rollin Papers.”

In typical Dom Kennedy fashion, “Rollin Papers” features a mellow beat that invites top-down, seat-back, afternoon cruising paired with his laid-back, descriptive rhymes, complete with all the forcefully-enunciated “r” sounds you could ever hope for.

The past five years or so have seen a string of consistent releases from Dom, including his Half-A-Mil pairings with Hit-Boy, but enthusiasm for new Dom Kennedy music hit new highs this summer, partially as a result of a 2020 that saw him tapped by both New York rap legend Nas on “City On Lock” and rising Los Angeles R&B star Blxst for “Got It All.” With his years of consistency finally receiving some recognition, it looks like his persistence — and fans’ patience — will pay off with the return to the Westside Love revolution we’ve all been waiting for.

Listen to “Rollin Papers” above.

The Office wasn’t the same after Steve Carell left during season seven. There are some good episodes in the final two seasons and I will forever defend Robert California (he is the f*cking lizard king after all), but when Michael boarded his flight to Colorado, so much of what made the show great was lost. This may not have been the case if James Gandolfini had stepped in as regional manager.

“I was at the meeting with James Gandolfini where we tried to convince him to join the show,” writer and actor B.J. Novak recalled during Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. “And he was a big comedy fan — his favorite movie was The Rocker starring Rainn Wilson, so he was shy and intrigued.” Novak called The Sopranos the “biggest influence” on The Office because… I’m sorry, I need to pause here. James Gandolfini’s favorite movie was The Rocker, the little-seen 2008 comedy starring Dwight as a failed musician named Robert “Fish” Fishman who appears on the poster in his underwear? This will take some time to process.

OK, that’s better.

“In fact, the way Michael Scott will say something very serious but mispronounce a word, I feel, is a direct descendent of the Tony Soprano sense of humor,” Novak said. “So I thought he would have been an incredible replacement — I really, really wanted to work with him.”

Novak thinks Gandolfini would have been an “incredible replacement” for Carell, but unfortunately, the deal didn’t happen. As Steve Schirripa explained on Talking Sopranos, NBC offered Gandolfini “$4 million to play him for the season — and HBO paid him $3 million not to do it.” Gandolfini was reportedly going to star in HBO’s The Night Of, but he passed away in 2013; the miniseries would eventually air in 2016.

You can watch the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen clip above.

(Via People)

If you think you’ve been hearing a lot about Netflix’s Squid Game recently, just be thankful you’re not the man whose phone number was given away in the show’s first episode. Following the success of the gruesome Korean series, fans of the show have been calling a phone number prominently featured in its first episode. However, it turns out the line these folks are calling was not one made up for Squid Game, but actually belongs to a Korean man living in Gyeonggi Province, according to The South China Morning Post (via IGN), and he’s now getting around 4,000 calls a day.

For those interested (but gracious enough to leave the poor man alone), the phone number in question appears in the first episode of Squid Game numerous times, as it graces multiple business cards handed out to the show’s cast of characters inviting them to compete in a series of gory games in hopes of winning a massive cash prize. The phone number is also featured in the show’s trailer, which has already racked up nearly 13 million views since its release a month ago.

According to the report, viewers are apparently calling the number to state their interest in being “in the game,” perhaps assuming the line would lead to a pre-existing hotline created as a publicity stunt for the series. However, they are instead being met by the presumably very full inbox of the unsuspecting man whose life has now been turned upside down by the show’s success. A local Korean newspaper, Hankook Ilbo, has stated Netflix is currently “in negotiations with the phone number owner to resolve the issue,” however the bizarre issue has attracted the attention of other parties interested in obtaining the number.

South Korea’s National Revolutionary Party’s honorary chief, Huh Kyung-young, has reportedly made an offer of 100 million won — or $85,000 USD — to purchase the phone number. According to the presidential hopeful, he has heard “that the owner of the phone number showed on a business card in Squid Game is suffering serious damage from prank calls” and would like to resolve the issue through buying “the number for 100 million won.”

However, despite all these big numbers being thrown around and having Netflix on the phone, the owner of the number is reportedly hesitant to give it away. According to the reports, he has been using it for over a decade and it is linked with his business. However, seeing as Squid Game will likely become Netflix biggest show ever, we wouldn’t be surprised if he takes one of these offers here soon.

Pink Pantheress blew up on TikTok first, but don’t write her off as a one-and-done viral sensation. Instead, this London DIY performer got a deal with Parlophone and is gearing up to expand her sound even farther past the eclectic foundation she’s already built. The bedroom producer is inspired by sounds as divergent as Lily Allen, ’90s and ’00s pop and punk acts, and K-pop, but she blends everything together to make it her own in the end. With her new single “Just For Me” blowing up and the subdued, white backdropped video clocking in at just under a million and a half views in three weeks, it’s safe to say she’s on the verge of mainstream fame.

Today, she’s announced her debut mixtape is going to be on the way soon, introducing the collection with a spooky Halloween-style cover. To Hell With It is slated for release on October 15 via Elektra Records/Parlophone Records, and will include previously-released songs like her latest “Just For Me,” along with “Pain,” “Passion,” and “Break It Off.” Of her new project, Pink Pantheress said she’s collecting the songs while still working to develop her sound. “I’m super excited to share this project with you all as my first body of work,” she said in a press release. “I’ve been collecting songs that I’ve made this year and while I’m still developing my sound, I’m hoping these songs immerse you into your ideal fantasy world as you listen.”

Check out the creepy cover art below, and if you haven’t heard it yet, check out “Just For Me” above.