Fans know that music aside, Lizzo is a magnetic and entertaining personality. She got to show that off to a larger audience this past weekend when she was both the host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Given that music is her day job, it found its way into the show beyond her performances, including in a sketch about Black Eyes Peas, which pokes fun at the group.
The skit was presented as studio footage from a session where the band recorded multiple hits, and after the group performed a bit of “Boom Boom Pow” for producers (Lizzo and Aidy Bryant), Bryant noted, “Those were actually the temp lyrics that we sent to describe the beat of the track.” Lizzo added, “Yeah, you were supposed to replace them with your own lyrics. You know, like, with words.”
After going back and forth on that song some more, they move on to “I Gotta Feeling,” with Lizzo and Bryant showing amazement at the song’s simple lyrics. Bryant then instructed, “Everyone yell a refrain together, something that feels true to who you are as a group.” The band responded, “Mazel tov, l’chaim!”
They also made a nod to “Let’s Get It Started,” or rather, the original version of the song, the controversially titled “Let’s Get R*tarded.” Noting the song’s title is a work in progress, with just “Let’s Get” confirmed so far, Bryant notes, “It has to be something that we can say forever.” Lizzo assured, “We can figure that out later.”
Historical accuracy isn’t necessarily the most important thing in an SNL sketch (for example, this wasn’t actual Black Eyed Peas studio footage), but it’s worth noting (or maybe it isn’t) that the sketch’s fictional recording session was set in 2008, but “Let’s Get It Started” was released in 2004.
Last Week Tonight provokes thought and giddiness well on several fronts. This combination has led to the greatest moments of the show, which frequently involve host John Oliver going hard on a serious subject but taking a momentary diversion into out-of-context WTF-land. That was the case with his first pandemic deep dive taking time to sum up Bridgerton as with a jizz-blanket label, one that still makes me laugh to no end. This week, he returned to bad-cop behavior with a deep dive on police interrogations.
Things got ugly with the host detailing the Reid Technique, which involves many shady components, including being allowed to fabricate evidence to elicit confessions from innocent suspects. In addition, Oliver cites a disturbing fact, which is that a majority of states don’t even require police to fully record interrogations, so that juries may see it in open court. Rather, 20 states leave it “up to the police, who might only record the confession.” As Oliver pointed out, “[Y]ou just cannot get the full story from seeing one short clip. Imagine if the only clip you’d ever seen from One Tree Hill was this.”
From there, oh boy. Oliver (shortly after the 15:00 in the above clip) dove into the CW teen soap opera’s most infamous scene, in which a golden retriever gets stoned. He’s hanging out in a hospital, where some dude carries in a for-transplant heart and trips over the dog’s leash. Said heart spills onto the floor, and the munchies-inspired dog rushes forward and gobbles away. That heart was meant for bad-dad Dan, who looks on in a combination of shock and dismay. His son, Lukas, isn’t upset by this turn of events. Dog takes off with heart. End scene.
Oliver crowns this the GOAT of TV clips:
“Do you want to know what One Tree Hill is about? It’s about a high school basketball team. You’d have no way of knowing that from that clip. All you would know is that it would contain the most perfect 20 seconds of television that has ever existed.”
This truly is a remarkable snippet of TV, and for the curious, The Ringer previously published a fantastic oral history to that effect. Earlier in the episode, Oliver also roasted Dr. Oz for several reasons, including his right-wing way of blaming Biden for inflation but also “[going] to a grocery store dressed like Dexter before a serial murder.” You can watch the full episode on HBO Max.
There’s not really a roadmap for getting your rap career back on track after a crowd-control incident at one of your concerts leaves ten people dead, but Travis Scott is attempting to create one. Despite being dropped from the Coachella lineup this past December following the previous month’s Astroworld tragedy, Scott performed at an afterparty, according to reports from TMZ and E!.
At a La Quinta, California function, about ten minutes away from the Empire Polo Club, where Coachella’s Saturday night festivities headlined by Billie Eilish were wrapping up, Scott reportedly grabbed the mic at 3 a.m. and even got behind the turntables. The party was put on by the David Arquette-owned West Hollywood club Bootsy Bellows and a source at the party told E!, “Travis got in the DJ booth with the DJ Chase B. He played the bangers but ‘Goosebumps’ was the crowd please [sic].”
This is the second time Scott has performed since the Astroworld tragedy, as he made an appearance at a pre-Oscars event last month. He’s not exactly keeping a low profile anymore, as a series of four billboards promoting his upcoming album/project Utopiaappeared on the Interstate-5 road to Coachella last week. The four billboards each read a part of a phrase that when put together read: “PSST……Looking for UTOPIA? WRONG WAY,” and then the fourth billboard just featured the logo for Scott’s label Cactus Jack.
Multiple times per week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts and ratings) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.
Yes, this is happening again. Kim Kardashian and fam are back, and beyond the lead-up controversy, there’s plenty of reason to enjoy speculating whether real-or-not-real is the case in the debut episode. You’ll know the scene in question when you see it (Tristan Thompson amazingly freaks out because he thinks it’s about him, when it isn’t), and the gang attempts to sound like The Godfather while Kim Kardashian vows to go scorched earth against anyone who goes against the fam Kris Jenner is one wild mastermind.
Pixar’s offerings have been uneven lately, to say the very least, but they’re back in fine form with this rager that’s one of their best offerings in a decade. Female adolescence is at the forefront, and things get existential again, much like in Soul. Be ready to laugh and cry and feel broken down while thanking this movie for the experience. This one does the trick much better than Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret if you know what I’m saying. Give up and surrender to the panda. You won’t be sorry, and you might gain some much needed perspective from tucking into this delightful yarn.
The story of famed vegan restauranteur Sarma Melngailis, who fell from grace in the clutches of Anthony Strangis, is truly one of the stranger grifting stories out there these days. The show’s subject has followed up on her revived notoriety by protesting how Netflix marketed this show is at least one seemingly unorthodox way. There’s an odd Alec Baldwin connection in there, and Sarma’s food enchanted Gisele and Tom, Woody Harrelson, and Owen Wilson while it was hot. Then Sarma and her fake dog-immortality/black-ops dude squandered $2 million of investors’ and employees’ dollars, but at least ol’ Leon is still kicking.
Tom Hardy’s almost always intense, but he gets cryptic here in this 2017 series that a lot of people are recently discovering. He’s portraying The Devil Delaney with “taboo” romantic interests, all while he’s back to take over his later father’s business interests, if only he can stay alive long ago to do so. And if he can also shake off the super confident character portrayed by Jessie Buckley. They’re a captivating combo while this show’s atmospheric touches makes up for any storytelling shortcomings.
The Marshall Todd and Keith Knight-created series about “Keef Knight,” cartoonist, picks up in world where business = wokeness. Keef and his ragtag group of friends are attempting to do the activist thing while also climbing that ladder further as a marketable artist. Those worlds collide in a world where talking trashcans also exist, so expect heavy nerding here and razor-sharp satire. Lamorne Morris, T. Murph, Blake Anderson, Sasheer Zamata, and JB Smoove star, and Maurice “Mo” Marable is still executive producing, so you’re in good hands.
Alright, so this season isn’t quite as sexed up as the original outing, but the love life of Anthony Bridgerton is still captivating as heck while the show, overall, maintains its momentum without the show’s first-season MVP. Really, though, they should have at least talked about The Duke more, or let people know how he and Daphne are doing together while physically apart. Still, one can’t resist this gem, which will run for multiple more seasons, so get caught up already.
This ain’t Yellowstone, but it could draw in a rabid crowd on its own merits. Josh Brolin portrays a rancher in Wyoming, and something very strange is taking place out on that terrain. And wildly, that terrain could make you momentarily think of those expansive scenes in No Country For Old Men with Brolin’s character. Here, he’s dealing with a supernatural mystery and a missing young woman, and there are other forces at work, naturally, where humans might be more frightening than whatever a black void is dealing out. Stay tuned for revelations and a profit-hungry family, so in other words, there’s plenty of drama.
Heat and Miami Vice reboot director Michael Mann heads into the neon-soaked grittiness of the Japanese underworld. An American journalist (Ansel Elgort) and a dogged detective (Ken Watanabe) are doing their best to put a stop to some yakuza action, and Elgort put a ton of prep into this role, including learning a hefty amount of Japanese. It’s a slick crime thriller with less Heat than one would prefer, but it’s an engrossing slow burn of a watch so far.
Donald Glover’s brainchild has returned after four years, and for sure, it’s good to have the core four back. That would be Glover as Earn, LaKeith Stanfield as Darius, Zazie Beetz as Van, and Brian Tyree Henry as Paper Boi. A chunk of the season goes down in Europe, which adds several new shades for the show’s special brand of cultural critique, and it’ll be sad to see this show go, but surely, the big finale will eventually hit the right notes of scathing and surreal.
Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke are now in the MCU, baby. If you can get past the questionable accent work here and enjoy the snarky Egyptian god, everything else falls into place. Oscar is putting in some immensely difficult work here, going through all the mental and emotional paces of a character plagued with dissociative identity disorder. He’s also able to get physical, too, and his hero (notably) becomes an Avenger in the comics. Hopefully, he’ll link up with them in the movies. Fingers crossed.
Season 6’s storm clouds are upon us, so prepare yourself for all of the ensuing Jimmy/Gene/Saul madness by heading to Netflix to binge the most recent installment. Yes, everyone seems to be very worried about Kim Wexler, and the show will soon collide with the Breaking Bad timeline, so there’s a lot of loose ends to tie up in the meantime. Also, there’s a incredible cameo in the works, so sit tight, Cinnabon watchers.
Abel Tesfaye is the perfect man for the job, but Doja Cat’s performance right before his headlining set had plenty of fans asking… why didn’t just she just take the final slot? Not only did Doja come on point, with multiple outfit changes, tons of incredible choreography, and even a collaboration with Taco Bell (might this be the one she warned us about?), but she also brought out fellow female rapper Rico Nasty to perform their early joint track “Tia Tamera.” And that song, mind you, is an ode to Doja’s own set of twins. Girl power, right? Check out footage of the pair performing together below.
The Phoenix Suns looked like a team that wanted to make a statement in the first half, as the reigning West champs and this year’s best team in the NBA smothered the Pelicans in the first half, leading by as many as 23 and taking a 19-point advantage into the halftime break.
Like their Eastern Conference 8-seed counterparts, the Pelicans looked gassed in the first half having come out of the play-in from the 9-seed, as heavy legs were not helpful when dealing with the immense pressure applied on the defensive end by the Suns. The result was a 34-point first half and it looked for all the world like a blowout was imminent. However, New Orleans found its second wind in the third quarter and outscored its entire first half total with 37 points to pull to within eight of Phoenix, as the Pelicans pounded the offensive glass to get second chance opportunities and turned into the aggressors after struggling with the Suns physicality and pace early on.
However, as has been the case all season, the fourth quarter was the Suns time to shine, and Chris Paul absolutely took the game over, scoring 17 of the Suns first 20 points of the quarter, dominating in every possible facet to push the Suns back in front by as many as 16 after New Orleans cut the lead to six.
It was a vintage Paul performance, and despite the best efforts of CJ McCollum to answer with some big buckets of his own, New Orleans just didn’t have the horsepower to close the gap again on a Suns team that remains undefeated when leading after three quarters. Paul finished the game with 30 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds, singlehandedly stopping New Orleans’ second half run. Deandre Ayton was big, particularly in the first half, with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Devin Booker had 25 points and eight rebounds also doing much of his damage in the Suns dominant start.
The Pelicans deserve credit for their fight down the stretch, as it would’ve been easy to fold at halftime, as McCollum led the way with 25 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, while Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas each chipped in 18. There will be some positive takeaways for New Orleans from that second half run, particularly as they had some success playing small-ball, but the fourth quarter showed why they have such an uphill battle in knocking off this Suns team, as Phoenix simply is a monster in the final period because of how well they execute thanks to the steady hand of the Point God.
When the Milwaukee Bucks took a 32-16 lead late in the first quarter on Sunday night, it looked for all the world like the reigning champs were going to run the Chicago Bulls out of the building in the first game of their title defense. However, the Bulls showed the grit and resiliency that got them to the playoffs this year despite a bevy of injuries, and clawed their way all the way back into the game, even taking the lead on a few occasions in the second half, dragging the Bucks into the mud in what was a throwback to early 2000’s Eastern Conference playoff basketball.
Ultimately, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the champs were too much to handle for Chicago, with the two-time MVP leading the way with 27 points and 16 rebounds on the way to an ugly 93-86 win — but the Bucks will happily tell you they all count the same.
Early on, the Bucks size was overwhelming the Bulls, as Giannis and Brook Lopez got loose to start, pouring it on in a 9-0 run to start and eventually taking a 16-point advantage in the first quarter.
However, to the Bulls credit, they weathered the early storm and kept themselves attached in the first half, trailing by just eight at the break thanks to some big shots by Zach LaVine.
Nikola Vucevic also stepped up to give them a much needed interior presence against Milwaukee’s bigs, scoring 24 points and pulling down 17 rebounds on the night.
In the third quarter, the Bulls had their best spurt of the game, going on a 13-0 run to erase the Bucks’ lead and take a three-point advantage of their own on a Coby White three, as he gave them a jolt with 12 points off the bench.
From that point, the two teams would trade blows and leads, and neither offense could really get going in the fourth quarter, making for some real tension down the stretch. Giannis found himself in foul trouble, picking up his fifth in the fourth quarter and for a brief stretch in the closing minutes, he was on the bench when Mike Budenholzer made the bizarre decision to try and go offense-defense with his star to keep him from fouling out, but ended up trapping him on the bench during an important stretch — but got away with it.
The championship experience of the Bucks showed itself in their late game composure, as Jrue Holiday and Lopez each had some big shots and finishes to push Milwaukee to a fairly comfortable lead down the stretch.
Lopez finished the night with 18 points and five boards, once again showing his value to this Bucks team on both ends, while Holiday and Khris Middleton mostly struggled with their shot, combining for 25 points on 10-of-29 shooting. Still, they did enough to get the win, particularly on the defensive end where they kept the Bulls’ stars from having consistent success, as LaVine and DeMar DeRozan each had 18 points but needed 44 combined shots to get there.
The Bulls will try to take some positives away from the way they battled and how they held up defensively against the Bucks, but they’ll need LaVine and DeRozan to find a way to get loose if they’re going to be able to make this a series going back to Chicago.
The Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of their highly anticipated first round series in a game that will be difficult to top in terms of drama and entertainment.
Jayson Tatum’s buzzer-beating layup was the exclamation point on a game that featured some incredible two-way play by both teams, as well as the Nets embracing their villain role in Boston. At the center of it all is former Celtic Kyrie Irving, who rather famously proclaimed his desire to stay in Boston long-term before bolting for Brooklyn a year later, cementing his status as public enemy No. 1 every time he sets foot in TD Garden. Irving got off to a quiet start on Sunday afternoon but erupted in the second half to finish with a game-high 39 points, catching fire from deep to carry the Nets back from a 15-point third quarter deficit to take the lead late into the fourth quarter.
Along the way, Irving got into it with the Boston crowd on a few occasions, most notably after hitting a long two in the corner late in the third quarter, spinning to the courtside fans and giving them, as Jeff Van Gundy called it on the broadcast, a “salute” with his middle finger. Irving seemed fueled by the unrelenting Boston crowd, basking in their boos after every made shot, and after the game he was unsurprisingly asked about those interactions.
“When people start yelling ‘p*ssy,’ and ‘b*tch’ and ‘f*ck you’ and all this other stuff, there’s only but so much you can take as a competitor, and we’re the ones expected to be docile and be humble and take a humble approach. Nah, f*ck that. It’s the playoffs.”
Irving was pressed further on the fans, and after suggesting the media ask the fans about it all, said he has to “embrace it, it’s the dark side.”
It is an added layer to a series filled with fascinating matchups and storylines, and so long as things stay within a certain realm it makes for great theater. Irving giving it back to fans is fine, as is fans wanting to be on him constantly — provided they don’t cross the line with what they say — and Irving taking the approach of embracing the villain role is for the best, because he’s cast in it whether he wants it or not.
Earlier this year, just days before he took the stage for the Super Bowl Halftime Show with Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and more, Snoop Dogg announced that he acquired the rights to Death Row Records. The label, which was infamously founded by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey, was the home of Tupac’s All Eyez on Me as well as Snoop’s first two solo albums: Doggystyle and Tha Doggfather. However, shortly after acquiring Death Row, Snoop decided to remove several albums in the label’s catalog from streaming services. During a recent appearance on Drink Champs, Dogg explained why.
“First thing I did was snatch all the music off those platforms traditionally known to people, because those platforms don’t pay,” he said around the 1:51:00 mark of the episode. “And those platforms get millions of millions of streams, and nobody gets paid other than the record labels.” He added, “So what I wanted to do is snatch my music off, create a platform similar to Amazon, Netflix, Hulu. It’ll be a Death Row app, and the music, in the meantime, will live in the metaverse.”
The NBA Playoffs have officially begun, which means regular season awards ballots have all been sent in and the league will begin handing out those trophies soon.
This season, the various awards races have been hotly debated, particularly Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year, which means there will be some fan bases and players upset when trophies get handed out. On Sunday night, just after Jayson Tatum polished off a thrilling Celtics win over the Nets in Game 1 with a spinning layup at the buzzer, the league released the three finalists for each award, allowing for the debates to rage on for a bit longer.
MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic DPOY: Mikal Bridges, Rudy Gobert, Marcus Smart ROY: Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley MIP: Darius Garland, Ja Morant, Dejounte Murray 6MOY: Tyler Herro, Cam Johnson, Kevin Love COY: Taylor Jenkins, Erik Spoelstra, Monty Williams
There aren’t a ton of surprises, although some will be upset by the DPOY and MIP finalists, and we now know the field for the awards after ballots have been tallied. The MVP race, in particular, features the three expected names but few fans are willing to agree on who should take home the award. DPOY is the same way, with all three players having made their case for why they should win publicly. Sixth Man and Coach of the Year are the two with the closest thing you can get to locks, as Tyler Herro has been the runaway favorite for some time, and Monty Williams is a heavy favorite off another sensational Suns season — and in part out of some potential voter regret for not giving him the award last year.
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