Month: September 2022

Every year, music fans crave the knowledge: What is the “song of the summer?” A lot of discussions about that sort of thing tend to be based on opinion, but now Spotify has some hard data to add to the conversation.

The methodology was simple: Check what songs got the most streams on Spotify from May 29 to August 29. That has been done, and if you’re looking at just the United States, Kate Bush’s Stranger Things-boosted hit “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” is No. 1, with Harry Styles’ “As It Was” behind at No. 2. If you check the global list, though, those positions are swapped, with Styles on top and Bush earning silver.

Perhaps the most dominant artist of both lists, though, is Bad Bunny: He has seven songs in the top 20 on the global list and six on the US rank. Besides Styles, Bush, and Bad Bunny, the only artist to make the top 10 of both lists is Joji with “Glimpse Of Us” (No. 5 globally, No. 4 in the US).

Check out the full lists below.

Spotify’s most-streamed songs of summer globally
1. Harry Styles — “As It Was”
2. Kate Bush — “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”
3. Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone — “Me Porto Bonito”
4. Bad Bunny — “Tití Me Preguntó”
5. Joji — “Glimpse Of Us”
6. Bad Bunny and Bomba Estéreo — “Ojitos Lindos”
7. Bizarrap and Quevedo — “Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52”
8. Bad Bunny — “Efecto”
9. Bad Bunny — “Moscow Mule”
10. Glass Animals — “Heat Waves”
11. Karol G — “Provenza”
12. Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
13. Harry Styles — “Late Night Talking”
14. Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro — “Party”
15. Shakira and Rauw Alejandro — “Te Felicito”
16. The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber — “Stay”
17. Bad Bunny, Jhay Cortez — “Tarot”
18. Camila Cabello — “Bam Bam” Feat. Ed Sheeran
19. Elton John and Dua Lipa — “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)”
20. OneRepublic — “I Ain’t Worried”

Spotify’s most-streamed songs of summer in the US
1. Kate Bush — “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”
2. Harry Styles — “As It Was”
3. Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone — “Me Porto Bonito”
4. Joji — “Glimpse Of Us”
5. Bad Bunny — “Tití Me Preguntó”
6. Steve Lacy — “Bad Habit”
7. Drake — “Jimmy Cooks” Feat. 21 Savage
8. Post Malone and Doja Cat — “I Like You (A Happier Song)”
9. Harry Styles — “Late Night Talking”
10. Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
11. Jack Harlow — “First Class”
12. Future — “Wait For U” Feat. Drake and Tems
13. Glass Animals — “Heat Waves”
14. Doja Cat — “Vegas”
15. Bad Bunny — “Efecto”
16. Bad Bunny — “Moscow Mule”
17. Bad Bunny and Bomba Estéreo — “Ojitos Lindos”
18. Morgan Wallen — “You Proof”
19. OneRepublic — “I Ain’t Worried”
20. Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro — “Party”

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

We’ve long known that Taco Bell is making a musical about the recently returned fan-favorite menu item, Mexican Pizza, with Dolly Parton and Doja Cat. It’s all very extremely silly but it’s also not a joke; Mexican Pizza: The Musical will premiere on TikTok(!) on September 15, depicting the “‘harrowing’ story of those who fought to bring back the Mexican Pizza.” Now, we know a little bit more about the upcoming — play? Ad? Short film? Music video? Elaborate troll? — courtesy of Consequence and Dolly Parton herself, who offered a statement on working with Doja Cat and Taco Bell.

“What a fun time and what a fun idea to be part of the Mexican Pizza musical,” she said. “It was a joy working with Doja Cat, [the musical’s writers] [Abigail] Barlow and [Emily] Bear, and Victor [Kunda, a TikToker who apparently helped choreograph the musical]. Very cool. I would say it was ALMOST as good as a Mexican Pizza!”

Initially billed for a May premiere, the project was pushed back to September and an entire third act was added. The premiere will coincide with the return of the Mexican pizza to Taco Bell menus — which Doja Cat began pushing for in 2021 and finally accomplished earlier this year — and will be a Postmates/Uber Eats exclusive until September 21. Customers who make a minimum $20 order on those apps can get a free pizza, and that deal will extend to Grubhub from the 23rd to the 25th. Mexican Pizza: The Musical will premiere on Taco Bell’s TikTok on 9/15 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT.

Dan Schneider is the creator of hit Nickelodeon series like The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, iCarly, and Sam & Cat. He’s also an alleged “creep,” according to Zoey 101 star Alexa Nikolas. Insider spoke to dozens of writers, actors, and crew members who worked with Schneider (the purported massage-demanding “Creator” in Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy‘s memoir) over the years and found a trend of alleged misconduct, including verbal bullying and uncomfortably sexualized scenes involving underage actresses.

Insider reports that “two people recalled Schneider fighting with Nickelodeon over teenage actresses’ costumes on Victorious, with Schneider — who signed off on all outfits — campaigning for the skimpier options.” The network contested that star Victoria Justice’s skirt was too short, but Schneider thought the length was just right, according to writer and costumer Kerry Mellin (they settled on “three inches longer”). Daniella Monet, who joined Victorious when she was 18 years old, said that some of her co-stars’ outfits were “not age appropriate. I wouldn’t even wear some of that today as an adult.”

Here’s more from Insider:

[A] longtime Nickelodeon writer recalled feeling uncomfortable with another online extra in which the cast rubbed food on Victoria Justice’s exposed midriff, turning her “into a hamburger” and squirting her with condiments. Monet said that after filming a Victorious scene in which she ate a pickle while applying lip gloss, she reached out to the network to express concern that it may be too sexual to air. The network aired it anyway.

Monet had mostly positive things to say about her time on Victorious, calling it “very PC, funny, silly, friendly, chill,” but “once in a while,” things would get… cringe, like the infamous “Goo Pop” scene on Zoey 101. “Do I wish certain things, like, didn’t have to be so sexualized?” she added. “Yeah. A hundred percent.”

Schneider was fired by Nickelodeon in 2018 amid allegations of verbal abuse.

(Via Insider)

HBO’s House of the Dragon delivered the Game of Thrones–worthy goods (read: icky goods) in its second week, which scored even higher ratings than the premiere that crashed HBO Max for countless viewers. The prequel looks to have drummed up more interest than anyone could have realistically hoped for, considering how many Game of Thrones fans felt salty following Season 8, including the series finale. Yet with all of this success, the show’s still seeing a shakeup on the showrunner front, which is surprising news, to say the least.

Miguel Sapochnik, who directed the spinoff’s pilot (as well as multiple Game of Thrones episodes, including “Battle of the Bastards”), is stepping down as co-showrunner. Ryan Condal will now step into sole showrunner shoes, and Sapochnik will move onto some different HBO projects. It’s a little bit fuzzy, but here’s the nebulous news from Variety:

Sapochnik will continue to be credited as an executive producer on the hit prequel series, but his fellow co-showrunner Ryan Condal will now be the sole showrunner. In addition, Sapochnik has entered into a first-look deal with HBO to develop new projects with the premium cabler.

In addition, the prequel has a new executive producer, Alan Taylor, who also worked on Game of Thrones. There’s no explicitly laid out reason why this shakeup has occurred, but Sapochnik issued a statement to Variety, to which he declared, “I am so proud of what we accomplished with Season One and overjoyed by the enthusiastic reaction of our viewers. It was incredibly tough to decide to move on, but I know that it is the right choice for me, personally and professionally.” Sapochnik also stressed that “I believe this precious series could not be in safer hands.” Currently, House of the Dragon has already been renewed for Season 2, so the dragons shall continue roaring.

(Via Variety)

J. Cole’s hoop dreams have been well-documented, but I don’t know if even he thought he’d get this far. After playing professionally for two different teams — one in the Basketball Africa League and one in the Canadian Elite Basketball League — he’s achieved many a hoop star’s ultimate dream of appearing on the cover of NBA 2K. That’s right, the latest edition of the long-running basketball simulation video game, NBA 2K23, will be released with a special Dreamer Edition cover featuring none other than Mr. Dollar And A Dream himself, J. Cole.

Cole is also set to appear in the game’s popular MyCareer story mode and as a playable character model, harkening back to the days when players could dunk on opponents with the likes of Nelly and the St. Lunatics in NBA Street Vol. 2 (hopefully, this just means we’re one step closer to Cole, Drake, and Kendrick appearing in a reboot of Def Jam: Fight For NY). Cole’s longtime partners and fellow Dreamville artists Bas and Elite will apparently also appear in the story mode to help the player earn the rapper’s respect. Naturally, there’ll be plenty of Dreamville representation on the soundtrack, which has always featured the hottest contemporary artists in hip-hop — a box Cole and crew certainly check.

In a statement, Cole says, “NBA 2K has long been a place to discover new musical talent through their game and continues to be a gold standard for showcasing all things basketball culture. It’s been an amazing journey to not only appear on a cover of this year’s game but to be part of the MyCAREER storyline, and soundtrack and bring the Dreamer brand into NBA 2K.

NBA 2K23 is out September 9. The Dreamer Edition will be available at Gamestop in the US and Canada, then presumably on StockX or some other third-party site for double the price.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is only three episodes in, but already, the show is calling out the inevitable scourge of male commenters who hate seeing female characters on-screen. As for how She-Hulk can react that quickly to online reactions to the series, here’s the trick: It’s not. At least specifically. Turns out, it’s really easy to roast toxic fans because their comments are just that predictable.

In Episode 3, She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) is starting to blow up after becoming the newest layer for Abomination/Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth). In a mirror held up to the real world, She-Hulk’s presence sparks a flurry of social media hate that you can see coming a mile away if you’ve spent even a small amount of time reading reactions to Marvel, Star Wars, DC Comics, you name it. Here’s just a small taste of the fake comments from She-Hulk, and if these seem very on the nose, well, that’s because it’s a perfect distillation of what happens when a comic book series or film prioritizes diversity:

Why are you turning every superhero into a girl?
No more female superhero plz
Why everything gotta be female now???

Fortunately, the majority of Marvel fans on Twitter loved the gag. Shortly after the She-Hulk episode aired, posts started pouring in from viewers who were happy to see this toxic subset of fandom getting called out. You can see some of the reactions below:

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law streams new episodes Thursdays on Disney+.

At long last, after months of rumors, Megan Thee Stallion has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe with an appearance on She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. Her debut on the show was certainly notable, as it included a scene where she and Jen Walters/She-Hulk twerked. It turns out a major reason why that moment happened is because Tatiana Maslany, She-Hulk herself, is a big-time Meg enthusiast.

Kat Coiro, the episode’s director, told TVLine, “The dancing was actually added to the script on the day, because Tatiana was so excited. She’s the world’s biggest Megan Thee Stallion fan and we were like, ‘We’ve gotta give her something,’ so they threw together this dancing scene.”

Maslany laughed and said, “Yeah, that was me! That was all me.” She also said the moment “was a dream come true.” She added, “It was like one of my absolute top moments on set, of anything I’ve ever done. I was shaking and I was nervous, and then the music played and I was like, ‘I’m in a Megan Thee Stallion music video!’”

Coiro also noted that despite all the show’s CGI, that truly was Maslany holding her own as she twerked (wearing a motion-capture suit) with Meg: “Yes, she’s a CGI character in that [scene], but that is all Tatiana twerking, 100 percent.”

Check out the scene above.

You may not have recovered from August TV yet (because #DemDragons are all the rage), but get ready because September has more “epic” delights coming. That descriptor fits Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings prequel series, but if you’re not into the fantasy realm (or even if you are), there’s plenty of variety to come this month. Jon Bernthal’s reviving an iconic Richard Gere role, and a Jeopardy! spinoff is upon us. Not only that, but Ramy and Rick and Morty are on tap with new seasons.

Oh, and there’s some new fodder for Star Wars junkies, and The Karate Kid franchise isn’t even close to finished. Cobra Kai continuing to mine old rivalries while igniting excitement for younger generations, too. Teens doing karate in shopping malls and at pool parties is something that will never get old, but there’s one trip (to Gilead) that shall begin to wrap up this month: The Handmaid’s Tale. Never fear, though, because not all good things will come to an end. The Law & Order franchise has never been kicking harder, and it’s mega-crossover time. Here are the must-see shows for September.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1 (Amazon series streaming 9/2)

Jeff Bezos is finally getting his version of Game of Thrones, and this even more enormously expensive franchise looks to be worth the price tag. However, there should be no danger of a George R.R. Martin situation (needing to move past the source material) because J.R.R. Tolkien completed the necessary texts for this prequel series to bring his fabled Second Age to the screen. A young Galadriel should be one of the bigger highlights of this series’ exploration of relative peace that’s shattered when evil reemerges. Expect stunning visuals that leap from the Misty Mountains to an island setting to majestic forests, and between this and House of the Dragon, we’re sure getting our fill of epic fantasy shows these days.

Rick and Morty: Season 6 (Adult Swim series streaming 9/4)

Creator Dan Harmon’s wildly popular animated series is digging out from that multiverse stuff and heading into a very different realm: the world of podcasting. There will be aliens who are terrorists even though this season promises to be slightly more grounded. Don’t worry, though. The synopsis promises that we shall see “Piss! Family! Intrigue!” while the leading duo is feeling lower than low but still digging for adventure in all the wrong places. As in, there will be an “ocean of piss” along with dinosaurs, and I’m not sure if the two are mutually exclusive or not. Does it matter? Nope.

Cobra Kai: Season 5 (Netflix series streaming 9/9)

The last time we visited with these warring dojos, evil had somehow triumphed over good. The franchise’s ultimate villain is now presiding over a sh*t ton of his own Cobra Kai schools, and everyone else is licking their wounds. This means that Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence must learn to get along for real, and Chozen is along for the ride to help the Miyagi Do and Eagle Fang tag-team approach. A special appearance from The Karate Kid III‘s Mike Barnes (and a female sensei) should round things out nicely on both sides, but once again, this franchise does the thing by appealing to several generations while lighting the soul of the valley on fire.

American Gigolo: Season 1 (Showtime series premiering 9/9)

The one and only Jon Bernthal won’t be doing any of The Punisher vibe here. Rather, he’s reviving the original Richard Here role of gigolo Julian Kaye, an escort with a wrongful murder conviction. As if that doesn’t sound messy enough, he’ll emerge from prison to tackle old relationships and his new dynamic in the world, all while a massive conspiracy comes down the road. Betrayal! Sensuality! This show’s got it all, and Berthal is one sharp-dressed man while milking this role for all its showiness and hidden layers.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 5 (Hulu series streaming 9/9)

Somehow, this series is gearing up for the final season of this show that seems far too timely, given that the U.S. recently saw the overruling of Roe v. Wade. Hopefully, we’ll get to hear more Kate Bush while “This Woman’s Work” rings all too eerily in the background as the show picks back up with Gilead looking as grim as ever. Elisabeth Moss’ June has long since had enough of this sh*t and could very well take down the entire society while refusing to sit down and look pretty while the fascists have their way.

Vampire Academy: Season 1 (Peacock series streaming 9/15)

Supernatural-laced coming-of-age tales are all the rage this month (as you’ll see in the below entry as well), and in this show, we’re obviously getting vampires at school. The series is based upon Richelle Mead’s novels and dives into all of the friendship- and romance-related drama that one can expect with in-fighting aplenty. Of course, these are vampires and necessarily privileged for the most part, but not everyone’s on the same level. One young vamp’s a Royal, and the other is a half-vamp Guardian, who’s tasked with the dirty work of “savages” who are hell bent upon destroying the vamp community at large.

Fate: The Winx Saga: Season 2 (Netflix series streaming 9/16)

This live-action reimagining of the Italian cartoon, Winx Club (authored by Iginio Straffi), tell the coming-of-age story of young fairies who attend a school that not even their parents (residing in the “real” world) know exists. Expect all of the usual teenage drama and worries while the fairies potentially confront a world-threatening catastrophe. This adds a little more stress than the usual rivalries and love for these protagonists, but everything’s more complicated when monsters get involved.

Andor: Season (Disney+ series streaming 9/21)

Yes, the Star Wars shows won’t stop, so nerds should be pretty happy to have Christmas all year long in 2022. Diego Luna returns as Cassian Andor in this show about his journey to evoke real change within this far, far away galaxy. As Luna himself has put it, we’ll see a more “grounded” adventure this time around as the rebellion grows and how whole planets rise up against the Empire. Andor will emerge as a rebel hero following a story that’s chock to the brim with intrigue and danger.

Law & Order Crossover Event (NBC franchise returning 9/22)

Finally, all three of this Dick Wolf franchise’s currently running shows are teaming up in one extravagant night of crossovers. We’ve already seen this to a slight degree, given that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (now beginning Season 24) and Law & Order: Organized Crime (now beginning Season 3) have been crossing over on a semi-regular basis due to the Unresolved Sexual Tension of Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler. Now, however, we get to see the revived flagship series (now in Season 24), come together with the other two ratings juggernauts. Hopefully, we’ll see a lot of sass from Ice-T’s Fin Tutuola in the process, even though Kelli Giddish will soon depart SVU.

Celebrity Jeopardy!: Season 1 (ABC series premiering 9/25)

Mayim Bialk and Ken Jennings will split hosting duties of the Jeopardy! flagship series, but Mayim’s also presiding over this spinoff, which probably brings SNL skits to mind. However, this show aims to be slightly more serious funnel winnings to the charity of winners’ choosing. This season, we’ll see Simu Liu, who hopes to prevail as much as he did in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Additional contestants include Patton Oswalt, Aisha Tyler, Iliza Shlesinger, Ray Romano, Michael Cera, and B.J. Novak.

Ramy: Season 1 (Hulu series streaming 9/30)

So long ago in 2020, this series (based on award-winning creator Ramy Youssef’s own experiences) turned out to be the best show that you weren’t watching, and finally, we’re seeing a followup to the title character, first-gen, Egyptian-American Ramy Hassan as he navigates contemporary life (and romance) within his Muslim community in New Jersey. This season sees Ramy grow even more disillusioned by those clashing worlds while he dives into the diamond business with his uncle. Worldly concerns will circle our characters prominently while the question of spirituality still looms large.

The Denver Broncos made a big splash this offseason by acquiring longtime Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson for a gigantic package of draft capital and players. Acquiring Wilson has led to plenty of optimism surrounding the Broncos this season, and now, the franchise has made sure that Wilson won’t go anywhere any time soon.

According to multiple media reports, Wilson and the Broncos agreed to a 5-year contract extension worth up to $245 million, with $165 million of that guaranteed. Because of his previous contract, the 33-year-old Wilson is now under contract with Denver for the next seven years, and his $165 million in guaranteed money puts him behind only Deshaun Watson and Kyler Murray for the most in NFL history, while his annual value is only behind Aaron Rodgers.

“I don’t worry about those guys and what they’re doing — awesome for them,” Wilson said earlier this offseason about other quarterbacks signing contract extensions. “Obviously, Kyler, great for him. Obviously, Lamar [Jackson], with his situation, but it has nothing really to do with me. I’m excited to be here. I know I want to be here for a long, long time, hopefully the rest of my career. It’s been a blessing with these guys.”

Wilson spent his entire NFL career with the Seahawks before heading to Denver this offseason. Last season, Wilson completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 3,113 yards with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The new Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law has been all people are talking about for many reasons, including the fact that Megan Thee Stallion made a cameo. After it was off-handedly confirmed in a recent profile on the rapper, fans were excited, and now even more so that the scene finally came out in today’s (September 1) episode “The People vs. Emil Blonsky.”

In a new interview with TVLine about the show, the head writer and executive producer Jessica Gao told the publication about casting Meg. “We knew that for that story, we needed a famous, beautiful, successful woman… We were going through all the possibilities… but when it came down to it, Jameela [Jamil, who plays Titania] knew Megan from working on [HBO Max’s] Legendary together, and she brought her up. We were like, ‘Don’t say it if it’s not really true! Don’t tease us with this!’”

Who wouldn’t want to have Meg on their show; she’s been having a massive year with the release of her highly anticipated album Traumazine, which contained lots of major features, like with Latto, Future, Dua Lipa, Rico Nasty, Pooh Shiesty, Key Glock, and Jhene Aiko.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.