Month: October 2021

Snoop and Martha’s Very Tasty Halloween (Peacock special) — The dynamic duo re-teams again, this time to host a baking competition that’s geared toward the spookiest holiday of all. Expect to see giant chocolate spiders and cotton-candy cobwebs, all packed into room-sized, edible creations.

Introducing, Selma Blair (Discovery+ film) — As the title indicates, this feature follows Selma Blair’s perspective, and it’s a very serious one, given that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and keeps on maintaining a Hollywood career.

The Next Thing You Eat: Season 1 (Hulu series) — Chef David Chang teams up with director Morgan Nevill for six episodes that follow seismic changes in the way we eat. There’s a global perspective, and expect to see robots and lab-grown food and all manner of other surprises.

Sex, Love, and goop (Netflix series) — Gwyneth Paltrow once advocated for women to put jade eggs into their vaginas, so one can only imagine what this “wellness” series has to offer. She’s enlisted courageous couples who have asked the goop people to help them have more pleasurable sex. Hmm.

Ghosts (CBS, 9:00pm) — A freelance journalist and a chef move into a massive country estate while hoping to transform it into a bed-and-breakfast. As the title indicates, however, there are ghosts afoot, and they’re comedic. So, there’s a Prohibition-era lounge singer, a hippie who indulges in hallucinogens, a scout leader, and a Militiaman. This week, nosy neighbors attend a dinner party with the ghosts inviting themselves.

Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9:00pm) — Season 23 (!) continues with the 500th episode of this series that took over the franchise until Chris Meloni’s return provided for endless crossover potential in Organized Crime. Please tell me they won’t use this as the inevitable “hook up” episode.

Law & Order: Organized Crime (NBC, 10:00pm) — Bearded Stabler is still doing the enormously risky undercover thing after Olivia told him to “come home.” This episode is called “Unforgivable,” and the goons figured out that there’s a traitor in their midst, so be careful, Elliot.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya

Doom Patrol: Season 3 (HBO Max series) — DC’s struggling misfit superheroes are back for another round of being portrayed by an incredible cast. Brendan Fraser has received plenty of raves for his fury-filled Cliff Steele/Robotman, and more kudos should go to Diana Guerrero (Orange is the New Black) as Crazy Jane, which is actually a role that requires Diane to play dozens of incarnations, including a very timely take on a Karen.

In case you missed these picks from last week:

Guilty Party: Season 1 (Paramount+ series) — Kate Beckinsale stars in this charming-looking dramedy series about a disgraced (and opportunistic) journalist who works to redeem herself by digging for the real story on a young mother who was convicted of murdering her husband, a crime that the mother insists that she did not commit. Expect (strangely enough) some whimsy amid this seemingly serious premise, including some adversaries that are a real pain in the butt.

Aquaman: King of Atlantis: Season 1 (HBO Max) — While DC fans sit in the limbo in between live-action Jason Momoa movies, this three-part animated miniseries from James Wan could tide things over a bit. This week’s installment involves the Dead Sea with Aquaman learning that he’s still got a lot of learning to do upon becoming king. The voice cast includes Cooper Andrews, Gillian Jacobs, Dana Snyder, and Thomas Lennon.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema has had a truly bizarre villain origin story play out in the press over the past year. It arguably began with her now-infamous thumbs-down vote on a Democrat-sponsored bill to raise the minimum wage and has cascaded into a rolling snowball of stories about colorful wigs and skipping out on voting rights meetings with her colleagues to grab a few more vacation days. And now it seems Sinema’s own team is turning against her.

According to CNN, five military veterans on Sinema’s advisory board resigned this week, but not before calling their former boss one of the country’s “principal obstacles to progress.” Yikes.

The military vets, who volunteered to serve on Sinema’s board, wrote the embattled Democratic senator a letter explaining their decision and issuing some harsh criticisms of her recent voting history on Capitol Hill.

“You have become one of the principal obstacles to progress, answering to big donors rather than your own people. We shouldn’t have to buy representation from you, and your failure to stand by your people and see their urgent needs is alarming,” the group wrote. “We do not know who has your ear, but it clearly isn’t us or your constituents.”

The advisors berated Sinema, who has consistently gone against her party by refusing to change the filibuster, support price changes for prescription drugs, and remaining quiet about the Jan. 6th commission, for putting personal profit before people.

“We no longer feel you are aligned with our values, and we cannot in good faith continue to serve on your council,” they wrote after accusing the senator of using them as “window dressing” for her own campaign needs.

Sinema’s reps issued a pretty bland statement in response, thanking the veterans for their service and expressing disappointment that they seemed to disagree on certain policy issues but this is just the latest aftershock the senator had had to weather because of her confusing and often confrontational voting record on the Senate floor.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness brand, Goop, sells a variety of vibrators, some for a reasonable $89, others for the “eat the rich and steal their sex toys” price of $1,249 (or only four interest-free payments of $312.25!). The Oscar-winning actress has been making the promotional rounds to discuss her Netflix show, Sex, Love, & goop, including an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Host Ellen DeGeneres wondered what Paltrow’s 15-year-old son, Moses, thinks about his mom discussing vibrators on TV. “Can I tell you the sweetest thing? This really happened,” she replied. “A few months ago, out of nowhere, he said, ‘Mom, I was really embarrassed for a minute that Goop sold vibrators. And then I realized no, this is great — you’re making people feel not embarrassed to buy something, and that’s great. You’re a feminist.’ I was like, ‘Thank you, my dear!’ It was so cute.” Maybe this actually happened, maybe it didn’t, but I hope it did and that it’s not another “Ruthkanda.”

Paltrow continued, “I try always to be neutral on the topic. I think my generation, we got a lot of messages around sex that made us feel bad about it. I try to just be curious. And teenagers are never going to want to talk to their parents about sex ever, so I sort of follow their lead, and luckily in middle school they had a very thorough sex education, so the school handled the kind of birds-and-the-bees parts, and then I am there for any questions. But the questions are pretty minimal.” That’s good parenting from Paltrow, which not be confused with Goop Parenting, their new clothing line for moms and dads.

You can watch the Ellen interview above.

(Via Mediaite)

After a contentious few weeks that culminated in Netflix employees staging a company-wide walkout on Wednesday, which received the full support from the streaming service as it navigates the controversy, Dave Chappelle‘s team has signaled that the comedian is open to sitting down with the employees who took issue with his The Closer special.

Chappelle’s final installment in his series for Netflix has been under fire after he proudly declared that he’s “Team TERF” while voicing his support for J.K. Rowling’s history of transphobic statement. Netflix’s repeated defense of those remarks sparked the walkout protest from trans employees and their allies. Despite telling a Hollywood crowd that he loves being canceled, Chappelle is now open to meeting with his detractors, but not without his team suggesting that Netflix hasn’t suggested such a meeting. Via TMZ:

Dave Chappelle is willing to sit down at the table with Netflix employees who feel like he’s inflicted harm on them with his LGBTQ+ jokes … and it sounds like the ball is now in their court.

The comedian’s rep tells TMZ … Dave would be open to dialogue if folks from Netflix actually reach out to him for a discussion.

According to Chappelle’s team, the comedian was never asked to come to the walkout, which is not what organizer Ashley Marie Preston told the crowd at the event. However, despite the mixup over whether or not he was invited to the walkout, Chappelle is still willing to meet with the Netflix employees and hear them out.

(Via TMZ)

Obongojayar is a London-based, Nigeria-born afro-futurist singer that’s starting to climb in the ranks. The raspy vocalist was most recently featured on Little Simz’s single and desperado-esque video for “Point And Kill”. His 2020 EP, Which Way Is Forward? showcases a rising talent who culls masterfully from elements of dancehall, afrobeat, trip-hop, and future jazz.

He has a debut LP on the horizon, which hasn’t been officially announced, but the video for the lead single, “Message In A Hammer” just dropped and it would make Hype Williams proud. Directed by Rollo Jackson, it pits Obongjayar as the driver of a wretched mob boss who has abducted someone close to him. The blue and red lighting in the clip, which feels more like a short film, helps paint the picture of a tale of vengeance, with a dynamite performance from the laser-focused singer who’ll stop at nothing for justice.

“‘Message In a Hammer’ is about fight, and fighting against the powers that take and steal and rob from us, and calling them by their name — thieves and murderers,” Obongjayar said in a statement. It’s a can’t miss clip and foreshadows more fiery material to come.

Obongjayar heads out on tour with Little Simz next year, as well as a short European headlining tour of his own, with dates for the latter below.

4/20/2022 – Leeds, UK @ Belgrave Music Hall
4/22/2022 April – London, UK @ Venue TBA
4/23/2022 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
4/24/2022 – Nottingham, UK @ Rough Trade
4/26/2022 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
4/27/2022 – Manchester, UK @ BOTW
4/29/2022 – Paris, France @ Point Ephémère
4/30/2022 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique
5/01/2022- Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Bitterzoet
5/03/2022 – Berlin, Germany @ Lido

Ice-T takes no lip from people on Twitter. That should be no surprise, but he sure as heck enjoys pushing back when people get argumentative with him. He’s roasted “squares talking sh*t” who give him hell for playing a cop on Law and Order: SVU, and he’s aired his perspective on the cops who pulled him over on his way to work (obviously, to play a cop on SVU). So, you know he’d have a few things to say when people tried to correct him on television history — especially on the day that SVU will air its 500th episode.

Ice was in the mood to celebrate. “TONIGHT!” he tweeted. “Something that has NEVER been done. 500 episodes of a TV Series. Tune in tonight for the 500th Episode of the longest running Primetime Drama in History.”

500 episodes is wild to behold, especially considering that SVU outlasted the original Law and Order flagship series, which called it quits a decade ago (although there will be a reboot of sorts coming). That’s 500 episodes of putting sex offenders behind bars and Ice’s Fin Tutuola taking no sh*t (although he does occasionally go to a strange place in dialogue-land, as evidenced by John Mulaney).

Nonetheless, a few people decided to try and rain on Ice’s parade. When someone popped up to cite Gunsmoke‘s 600+ episodes, Ice pushed back (in a now-deleted tweet), hard.

And of course, other people chimed in as well, citing a few manga series and The Simpsons. Yup, you guessed it. Ice-T is not listening to them, either. “And those are REAL people too right?” he rhetorically inquired. “Smh MFs love to disagree.”

Well, it doesn’t even matter who’s correct here, does it? All of these shows have achieved an absurd number of episodes, and SVU has reached an extraordinary milestone. And Ice-T is correct, too, on the point that people “love to disagree.”

NBC’s Law and Order: SVU airs on Thursday nights.

Apple TV+ broke the big news in a hilarious and cheeky social media post featuring a FaceTime call between Mythic Quest co-creator and star Rob McElhenney and season two guest star (and two-time Emmy and Oscar winner, he reminds us) Anthony Hopkins. In the video, McElhenney breaks the news that the show has been renewed for two more seasons to a very disinterested Hopkins before the British actor quickly boots McElhenney off the call to pick up for Ted Lasso‘s Jason Sudeikis.

Unlike Hopkins, however, we haven’t been able to stop thinking about Mythic Quest since its second season wrapped up earlier this year. Created by McElhenney and his It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia partners-in-crime Charlie Day and Megan Ganz, the workplace comedy follows an extremely dysfunctional game studio working on one of the world’s most popular MMOs: Mythic Quest. With a cast nearly as unlikable as the It’s Always Sunny crew while simultaneously being even more endearing than the characters in Community (which Ganz helped work on), the show is one of Apple TV+’s best, making its two-season renewal not all that shocking. According to Matt Chernis, the head of programming for Apple TV+, the studio is “in love” with the show, and can’t wait for viewers to see what’s in store for Ian, Poppy, and the team next.

“Just like critics and audiences all over the world, we fell in love with Rob and his team’s sharp writing and full-of-heart, relatable characters that make up the world of ’Mythic Quest,’” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+. “We can’t wait for viewers to see what’s in store in the upcoming seasons of this brilliant workplace comedy.”

In addition to McElhenney, the ensemble cast features Danny Pudi (Community), Imani Hakim (Everybody Hates Chris), Charlotte Nicdao (Thor: Ragnarok), Ashly Burch (Adventure Time, Horizon: Zero Dawn), Jessie Ennis (Better Call Saul), F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus), and David Hornsby (It’s Always Sunny), who also serves as an executive producer on the show. Neither Apple TV+ nor McElhenney have announced when Mythic Quest will make its big return to Apple TV+, but seeing as its second season premiered earlier this summer, it’s likely we can expect its third to hit the streaming service sometime next fall.

The biggest American whiskey release of the year just dropped — 2021’s Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. The set of iconic whiskeys are often the most coveted bourbons and ryes to hit (some) shelves this year.

This year’s lineup includes Eagle Rare 17, William Larue Weller, Sazerac 18, and a Thomas H. Handy Rye. To the shock of many, the usual fifth selection, George T. Stagg, was left out of this year’s collection. It’s rumored that this was due to the 2021 juice just not quite living up to Buffalo Trace’s sky-high standards. While that’s a shame, it’s not the end of the world.

I was lucky enough to get the sample pack for review last week. I finally cracked it open this week to dive into what’s actually in these bottles this year. Because they’re all from the same brand, I decided to rank these based on taste alone. Last year, I was all about the William Larue Weller (which is still one of my all-time favorite bourbons) — let’s see how things shook out this year.

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of 2021

• The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
• The Best Bottles Of Bourbon Whiskey For Under $20, Ranked
• Our Favorite Bourbon Whiskey From Every Price Point Between $10-$200
• All 19 Brands From The Buffalo Trace Distillery, Ranked
• Here’s Who Won Our Big Barrel Proof Bourbon Whiskey Blind Taste Test

3. Thomas H. Handy Sazerac

ABV: 64.75%

MSRP: $99 ($500)

The Whiskey:

This is the youngest bottle in 2021’s BTAC. The whiskey was distilled in the spring of 2015 and bottled in the fall of 2021. The mash is mainly Minnesota rye with Kentucky corn and North Dakota barley. The juice matured in warehouses I, K, L, and O on the fifth through seventh floors.

Over that time, 31 percent of the juice was lost to the angels.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with a rush of botanicals, leaning into star anise, clove, black licorice, and dried-up cinnamon sticks shoved into an old leather tobacco pouch. The palate holds onto that woody cinnamon as touches of green peppercorns pop in the background with a slight hint of rose water, almonds, and bitter citrus pith that leads towards a mid-palate that veers green towards fresh mint stems. That mint mellows out as a creamy nature arrives on the finish with dark cocoa powder that’s just touched by that mint, creating an almost chewy/dusty mint-chocolate-chip quality.

Bottom Line:

Those spices and botanicals up top are very bold. If you’re not into absinthe and real black licorice, this will be a bit of a harder sell. That being said, I really dig the mid-palate to finish when that dark cacao and mint kick in. It’s good but not perfect (for my palate), hence it placing last.

2. Sazerac 18

ABV: 45%

MSRP: $99 ($1,400)

The Whiskey:

This rye was made back in 2003 from Minnesota Rye, Kentucky corn, and North Dakota barley. The juice spent 18-and-a-half years in warehouses K and P on the second and fourth floors. Finally, it was vatted, proofed with that iconic Kentucky limestone water, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

It’s shocking how different this is from Thomas H. Handy. The nose draws you in with this medley of fresh and earthy honeycombs next to bushels of freshly picked Granny Smith apples sitting in straw baskets with a hint of oily herbs like rosemary and thyme. There’s a heft to the body of this sip that touches on clove and allspice while the sweetness edges towards fresh maple syrup with a touch of butter. The mid-palate veers swiftly away from that sweetness towards an espresso bean bitterness, meaty dates soaked in Earl Grey tea, and milky yet dark chocolate bars sprinkled with smoked salt flakes.

Bottom Line:

This is in the running for the best rye I’ve had this year (and I’ve had some killers). It’s just so nuanced and accessible — thanks to that lower proof. I can see sipping this the rest of the year and never getting bored.

1. (tie) Eagle Rare 17

ABV: 50.5%

MSRP: $99 ($1,340)

The Whiskey:

This whiskey was produced in the spring of 2003. Since then, it lost 73 percent of its volume to the angels as it rested in warehouses C, K, M, and Q on various floors. The barrels were then vatted, proofed down, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

The nose has this matrix of dark holiday spices that layer into a Black Forest cake with the finest stewed cherries, the moistest chocolate sponge cake, and the richest cream with a touch of vanilla and dark chocolate shavings and a whisper of pink finishing salt. The palate really leans into the cherry with a bright but saucy vibe that’s spiked with nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon (and maybe a hint of ground ginger) while little firecrackers full of salted black licorice, dry cedar bark, and Cherry Coke fill in the background. The finish takes its time as the mid-palate cherry sweetness slowly dissolves into an old wooden garden box full of fresh dark potting soil bursting with fresh mint and spicy nasturtiums.

Bottom Line:

I couldn’t decide between this and the Weller this year. So… we have a tie.

This bourbon is so interesting. It hits familiar notes then deftly goes opposite directions while still making total sense and remaining delicious. Drinking this, it’s easy to see what all the hype is about.

1. (tie) William Larue Weller

ABV: 62.65%

MSRP: $99 ($800)

The Whiskey:

Distilled back in the fall of 2009, this barrel-strength bourbon skips the Minnesota rye and instead uses North Dakota wheat with that NoDak barley and Kentucky corn. The juice spent 12-and-a-half years mellowing in warehouses C, D, K, L, and Q on floors one through three. While maturing, 64 percent of the whiskey was lost to the angels before it was small-batched and bottled as is.

Tasting Notes:

The creaminess of the vanilla on the nose is extraordinary. Imagine the softness and richest crème anglaise with a touch of salted caramel syrup, eggnog spice, and a towering croquembouche with all the spun hard sugar holding the whole thing together. That light yet buttery cream puff drives towards a slight shortbread vibe with toasted cinnamon sticks, moist cherry tobacco, more vanilla cream, and a soft echo of dried smoked stone fruits. The finish drives back towards the sweetness of that salted caramel but this time it’s covered in dark chocolate and sitting inside an old cedar box that once held fistfuls of menthol-laced tobacco leaves.

Bottom Line:

This feels so different than the Eagle Rare 17. Yet, both of these sips grabbed my attention as few other bourbons do. It’s just extraordinarily delicious.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

At 19 years old, Nessa Barrett has transitioned from TikTok star to full-on dark-pop star. After amassing nearly 17 million followers since 2019 on the video-sharing app, Barrett launched her music career just a year later with the shimmering piano ballad “Pain.” Now that her debut EP Pretty Poison has officially been out in the world for a little over a month, the singer has now shared a visual to “Sincerely,” one of her shortest tracks on the EP.

Clocking in at barely over a minute, Barrett’s “Sincerely” visual was directed by Lorenzo Diego Carrera and Alex Bordoni, and it’s a poignant reflection on her journey to happiness. It opens with Barrett, sporting a pink babydoll dress, sitting on the ground in a dreary apartment as she stares at an apparition of her former self. The singer stands up and picks up a phone sitting on a nearby table. A voicemail plays over the receiver, perhaps the voice of her friend or her past self, who gives her advice on being true to herself. “You just have to follow your heart and be with the people who feel right to your soul,” the voice reminds her.

Watch Barrett’s “Sincerely” video above.

Pretty Poison is out now via Warner Records. Get it here.

Nessa Barrett is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

When Jack Harlow released his debut album That’s What They All Say earlier this year, one of its standout tracks turned out to be “Luv Is Dro,” on which he linked up with fellow Louisville natives Bryson Tiller and the late Static Major. Now, Harlow has released a lively video for the single, which shows love to the three artists’ shared hometown and sees Bryson and Jack putting their mack down at a nostalgic 2000s party (kids are throwing “old school” 2000s parties — am I old now??) full of throwback jerseys and airbrushed tall tees.

Harlow previously detailed the origins of “Luv Is Dro” for HipHopDX, explaining that Static’s widow specifically wanted him on track due to his rising profile. “We sat on it for two years trying to get it right and get Bryson on it,” he recalled, saying that although it took a long time because Bryson “takes his time with everything,” it was important to do the song right to represent their city well. Getting to do that record for Kentucky is huge,” he enthused. “… This song is something I can hang my hat on for the rest of my life. It’s already a classic where I’m from.”

To keep that hometown love vibe going Jack is doing a mini-tour, There’s No Place Like Home, at five iconic venues throughout the city. He also recently donated to five Louisville non-profits.

Watch Jack Harlow’s “Luv Is Dro” video featuring Static Major and Bryson Tiller above.