Month: December 2022

You don’t have to be an Abbott Elementary fan to know who Janelle James is. In fact, you don’t even have to watch the show, week-in and week-out, to know the character she plays on the ABC comedy, Principal Ava Coleman. You can likely piece together that information from the thousands of memes and fan-made clip compilations and gifs of James, as Ava, that now litter the internet.

Her to-camera deadpans, her sharp deliveries, her quick-witted one-liners – they’ve all made her a stand-out character on a show already filled with talented jokesters, not to mention, recent Emmy winners.

In season two of creator Quinta Brunson’s love letter to the Philadelphia school system – one her mother was a part of for years – Ava hasn’t changed much. While Brunson’s optimistic elementary teacher Janine Teagues is going through a breakup and figuring out her own needs for once; Tyler James Williams’ Gregory Eddie is also single and throwing himself into teaching for the first time in his professional career; while Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Barbara Howard is fresh from contemplating retirement and Lisa Ann Walter’s Melissa Schemmenti is combining classrooms and Chris Perfetti’s Jacob Hill is learning sign language and hosting his old theatre group, Ava is, thankfully, still Ava. Selfish and self-motivated, overconfident and outspoken, hilariously incompetent, and, oddly, capable of getting sh*t done — when it suits her.

There are no real villains on this show, but she comes the closest – not because she’s mean-spirited or downright evil, but because she’s the kind of lovable narcissist we all wish we could be.

UPROXX spoke with James about starting out in standup, migrating to network TV, partying with her co-workers, getting the camera crew in trouble on set, and if Ava’s sexual harassment of Gregory will ever turn into anything more.

Chris Perfetti (who plays Jacob on the show) told W Magazine that he made the mistake of latching onto you at the Emmys afterparty and subsequently “went too hard.” What is partying with Janelle James like?

Going too hard? He’s still alive, isn’t he? [laughs] No, before I arrived, I was like, ‘The amount of work I did to get this pretty, I am going to party. I don’t care what happens.’ So, that’s what it was like. Just dancing and having fun. We’ve been working hard. So I really wanted to let loose.

Did you have work the next day?

We had a 9 am call time, which is late for me but early for the day after the Emmys.

So then, what’s the Janelle James hangover cure?

What did I do? The whole day was a blur. I don’t even remember the day. I don’t know how I got to work. I don’t know what I did. I hope they got something useful out of me, but I just was like, ‘I am here, that’s enough.’ I don’t drink that often, so when I do, I usually go for it. But because I don’t drink that often, I don’t have a patented cure for a hangover. Ava would. ‘Power through’ is the Janelle James method.

Were you nervous about how the show would follow up on the success of season one?

I definitely didn’t want that sophomore slump thing going on. That’s just my ego. Like, who wants that? But we had a short season. So, really, it didn’t even feel like we left and came back. We’ve been working through all of this. The first episode [of season two] kind of felt like that, like we never left. Except everything’s a little shinier. Barb’s got some new hair. Ava’s got new clothes. We had a whole tailgate thing. Those little indicators that let you know the budget went up.

You were doing stand-up for a bit before landing Abbott Elementary …

A bit meaning 10 years, okay?

Was comedy in some form always the goal?

I had no idea what comedy entailed. I thought there were like five comedians: Chris Rock, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy. It’s such a niche form of entertainment and a profession. I truly just fell into it. I was in a grocery store and someone handed me a flyer for an open mic and I went. I was like, ‘Oh, this is weird and cool. They’re just standing up there talking.’
And I had a good time, and the guy came up after, he’s like, ‘If you want to come next weekend, do some time, you can.’ He had to explain to me what that meant. I remember thinking, ‘Well, I’m at least as funny as these dudes.’

Is there anything from the standup world that you miss when you’re filming a TV show?

Especially in the first season, it was like, ‘Oh, I’m not getting that immediate gratification of laughs.’ But now, that’s my aim. So, sometimes if you see the camera shaking, that’s because I’m killing. That is my goal, like, ‘I know you’re not supposed to laugh, but I’m going to make you laugh.’ So, I’ve figured out a way to get that. [laughs]

A lot of stand-up comedians like improv but this is network TV. Did it take you a while to strike a balance with the kind of jokes you could insert?

Well, we’re not all good at improv. Some people are quicker on their feet than others, and it’s just like anything else, you get better at it if that’s what you want. The first season at Abbot was only my second time on a TV set. So, I never wanted to overstep my bounds of, ‘I have a better idea than what you wrote.’ I only volunteer an idea if I’m asked. So, if we shoot it how it’s written, and the director says, ‘Hey, do you have an idea?’ That’s when I say something. I don’t go in with the plan of, ‘Oh, I’m going to get my jokes off.’ I think that’s disrespectful to the writers, and that’s not what I’m here to do. And it is a network show. I know that the scripts go through a lot of people before they get to us. Who am I to be like, ‘I have a better solution?’

What Quinta does or allows to happen that’s good is, yes, it’s written one way, but she’s going to say, ‘Say it how you would say it.’ So, that’s what I do. I bring mannerisms. Ava has always struck me as a fast-talking shyster. So, I’m speaking faster, my manners, she’s more girly than I am. I’m trying to just be funny in all the ways, not only what I’m saying, in how I’m walking, my entrances, my body movements, all of those things lend themselves to the character.

Does Ava grow as a character in season two?

In the first season, you saw a glimpse of … it’s not that she grew, it’s that, we found out that she does do things in her own way for the kids. So, you’ll see more of that in season two. How she does stuff may not be how everyone else would do it. It may not be how Barb would do it, but she does handle things in her own way. I don’t know if that’s growth. That’s just what she’s always been. Her personality kind of camouflages that. And then, the fact that she wants to be famous. She’s brought these cameras into the school. So, it’s not about what she does for the kids, it’s about Ava, the show. That takes away from what she’s doing, as an administrator.

Right. She’s the one who brought the documentary crew in there so everything she’s doing …

Is for show. That’s why she looks into the camera more than anyone else. She’s most aware of it. As the character, I’m always trying to act within the act. Like, I’m on Abbott Elementary, but Ava herself, is on a documentary and she’s well aware that they’re shooting her. So, that’s where some of her positioning and movement, and reaction comes from. She’s like, ‘Are you getting this?’ And the outfits and everything. We hadn’t seen her before the camera crew came. Who knows if she’s dressing just for this production or not?

Ava has become the poster child for quiet quitting. Why do you think people love her, or love to hate her?

People love her because she’s hilarious. She’s a character. And people love to hate her. I think, not I think, I know, mostly because in the first episode, I stole money from children. Even I can’t get away from that. Other than stealing from children, I think she’s an amazing person. A lot of people have problems with women who are confident. A lot of people immediately bristle at that type of personality. But the people who love her, are either confident or they wish they were. They wish they can be as outspoken. Maybe they’re in jobs that they know are just a bunch of crap, but they can’t say it or quiet-quit in the way that she is doing. So, she’s aspirational and awful at the same time. But I think that’s what’s great about Abbott: almost every character is like that.

Janine is idealistic, to her own demise. It’s not realistic that everything’s rainbows and flowers all the time. Barb is very dedicated to her kids, but she’s also [resistant] to change. So, everybody has their quirks, their pluses, and minuses. Ava is just the most bombastic and out there of all the personalities.

Are you rooting for something to happen between her and Gregory?

Her dynamic with Gregory, it’s not even that she’s really into him, it’s that she’s powerful. Which is what I think, a lot of those inappropriate boss-subordinate relationships are. It’s not even about attraction. It’s ‘Look what I can do because I’m more powerful than you.’ And you never really see women in those positions, behaving like Ava is. So no, I don’t hope they get together. I don’t think she wants that either. She’d have to learn what HR is. She’d have to learn anything about him and she doesn’t really care about that.

Quinta has said we’ll get to see more of the teachers’ home lives this season. Does that include Ava?

This is just what I know so far. We’re only on episode nine of 22 or something. But you will see Ava outside of the school. As far as her home life, I’m not sure as of yet. But I’m excited because something I pitched for Ava is coming up soon.

Abbott Elementary is currently streaming on Hulu.

A crowd surge during Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival set at Houston’s NRG Park in November 2021 resulted in 10 people dying from compression asphyxia, hundreds of injuries, and thousands of lawsuits. Scott offered to pay for funeral expenses and was mostly rebuffed, and he legally denied responsibility. One victim’s family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Scott and Live Nation in October. Yesterday (November 29), Billboard reported what steps are being taken to prevent another tragedy like this from occurring again at NRG Park.

According to the report, the City of Houston-Harris County Special Events Task Force has amended an interlocal agreement “to streamline safety protocols, permitting requirements and communication for large-scale events at NRG Park.” This is the most crucial change to the venue’s safety protocols:

“Under the new agreement, any event hosting more than 6,000 people at the complex will require an on-site unified command center staffed by the Houston Fire Department (HFD), Houston Police Department (HPD), Mayor’s Office of Special Events (MOSE), Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office (HCFMO), NRG Park and the event organizer. Going forward, review and approval of event capacity as well as site, security and medical plans will fall on the HFD chief or a designee. The HFD will also be tasked with clarifying requirements with event organizers to ensure they meet safety, medical and site planning requirements at the venue. Security plans will require additional sign-off by the HPD, while event plans will need sign-off from MOSE. Ideally, having a designated authority will lessen the likelihood of confusion and inaction during events. Permits for NRG Park will continue to be issued by the City of Houston.”

The amendment comes seven months after the Texas Task Force On Concert Safety, created by Governor Greg Abbott, concluded that Astroworld “suffered from permitting issues and insufficient training for security,” as noted by Billboard at the time.

Scott’s first sit-down interview post-Astroworld was with Charlamagne Tha God in December 2021.

“It gets so hard because, you know, I always feel connected with my fans,” Scott said at one point during the 51-minute conversation. “I went through something and I feel like fans went through something and people’s parents went through something, and it really hurts. It hurts the community, it hurts the city. There’s been a lot of thoughts, a lot of feelings, a lot of grieving, and just trying to wrap my head around it. And really just wanting to be there and wishing you could just hold everyone, kind of just heal them, talk to them, have conversations. It really just hurts, man.”

The Houston rapper’s first headlining concert since Astroworld took place in August at London’s O2 Arena. Earlier this month, Scott was announced as a Rolling Loud headliner at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California, on March 4, 2023.

Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa announced the Black Star Line festival earlier this month, which will be free and taking place in Accra, Ghana on January 6. The lineup is packed with legends such as themselves, Erykah Badu, Jeremih, Asakaa Boys, T-Pain, Sarkodie, Tobe Nwigwe, and more.

It’s just been revealed that United Airlines wanted to help the concert attendees get there. The airline will be offering a 5-10% discount off published airfares to and from the festival city between the dates of December 15, 2022 and January 17, 2023. All that’s necessary is the discount code “ZMU6800486” while making a flight reservation. Go to this link for booking.

“Founded in 1919, and operated by Black people, the [Black Star Line] would link America, the Caribbean and Africa, to global shipping and tourism opportunities,” a press release about the festival explained. “The Black Star Line was a symbol of pride, not only for Africans, but also for Black people in all ports of call.” It continues, “After nearly 40 years, the Ghanian government launched their fleet with the same name, in homage to Garvey, and even added a black star to the country’s new flag.”

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Elizabeth Banks’s latest film, Cocaine Bear, features a bear that does cocaine, eats some more cocaine, and then goes on a killing spree fueled by all the cocaine it did. Weirdly, it’s coming out in February 2023, presumably so that the Academy can have ten full months to really consider whether to give it all of the Oscars or only most of them.

Here’s the trailer for you to watch on repeat:

It’s the kind of absurd B-movie premise that only Hollywood could dream up, except it’s not because it’s 1000% based on a thing that really happened. In the balmy September of 1985, a smuggler named Andrew Thornton II fell from a plane with a duffel bag with a lose-your-job amount of cocaine in it. Landing in the Georgia woods, all 70 pounds of it was apparently ingested by a 175-pound black bear who probably thought it was going to live forever for 48 hours straight. Sadly, the bear was discovered dead three months after the unintentional cargo drop when, according to The Daily Mail, a medical examiner ruled that the bear had cerebral hemorrhaging, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, renal failure, heart failure and a stroke. Basically, all the bad stuff happened at the same time.

The bad stuff that didn’t happen? Any mauling or maiming of humans. That’s where the movie diverges big time and, frankly, gives the real-life black bear who did blow a bad name. Presumably, it won’t be suing for slander because it’s taxidermized and available to see at the Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington. So, now that we know Cocaine Bear is based on a true story, let’s make it a smash hit so Banks can make Cocaine Bearnado like nature intended.

Deion Sanders’ tenure at Jackson State University has been nothing short of remarkable, as Coach Prime has turned the Tigers into a powerhouse in the SWAC.

His prowess on the recruiting trail has turned heads, as he’s swiped some top recruits away from SEC and ACC powerhouses, and he’s put that talent to good use, leading Jackson State to a 26-5 record in his three seasons, including a perfect 11-0 campaign so far this year. While the Tigers look to win the SWAC title on Saturday against Southern — a team they beat 35-0 earlier this year — Sanders also has his future on his mind.

Jackson has been offered a few jobs at the FBS level, with Colorado, USF, and Cincinnati all reportedly having interest and Sanders confirming he’s been offered the Buffaloes job. There is an expectation that he’ll make his decision soon, but as of now he’s not willing to divulge that information. It’s not for a lack of trying, as Rob Jay, who is the Assistant Athletic Director for Broadcasting and Video Services at Jackson State, almost caught him slipping on JSU TV, with an all-time way to ask him about his future that had Sanders cackling.

This is a truly sensational way to ask what is normally a very awkward question. It’s no secret that Sanders is mulling job offers right now, but you also know he’s not going to answer a question directly. So, the alternative is to get creative and maybe catch him off guard with a hysterical, roundabout question simply asking if they can ride together to Colorado next week.

Sanders loved it, but as expected acted clueless as to what Jay was insinuating with the question. It’s absolute gold and a truly great job by Rob Jay to ask the question you have to in that situation but in a way that gets a tremendous (and hilarious) response.

Jerry Stackhouse was always a fiery competitor during his playing days at North Carolina and in his 18-year career in the NBA, and while he’s adopted a calmer demeanor much of the time as Vanderbilt’s head basketball coach, sometimes that fire comes back out on the bench.

Wednesday night was a prime example of that when Stackhouse absolutely lost it on the officials in the second half of Vanderbilt’s game against VCU, when he spent an entire timeout screaming at the referees for giving one of his players a technical for taunting — eventually having to be restrained by multiple assistants and one of the arena police officers and escorted off the floor.

There is no question Stackhouse earned his early exit from this one, as he took exception the taunting T and made sure they heard all about his feelings on the matter. It doesn’t take a lip reading expert to make out the many (many) “F- you’s” directed at the refs, and he was not willing to calm down quickly. You don’t often see a coach chasing the refs around the court to keep giving them a piece of his mind, but Stackhouse was quite literally breathing down the neck of one official at one point. We will probably get something about how he was sticking up for his guys but went too far in his postgame comments, as while it’s one thing to be mad about a call, this was a bit much.

Since it was announced in the spring of 2021, the forthcoming movie Cocaine Bear has garnered a lot of attention. And why not? It’s called Cocaine Bear. What’s more, it is, as you might guess, about a bear who’s high on cocaine. Do you need to know any more than that? Possibly not, but in case you do, here are some basics about the forthcoming film.

So it’s called Cocaine Bear, but what is it actually about?

Cocaine Bear is about a black bear who unwittingly consumes a ton of cocaine. It then goes on a murderous rampage.

Who are some of the human actors the cocaine bear attacks?

Keri Russell heads the ensemble cast of potential cocaine bear chow. She’s joined by O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Jessie Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Washington Jr., Margo Martindale, and — in one of his final appearances, and looking even more criminal than Goodfellas’ Henry Hill — Ray Liotta.

The story of a bear that unwittingly consumes a ton of cocaine sounds familiar. Is it based on a true story?

It is! A wild true story, which may be hard for the film to top. It stems from a 1985 incident, covered at the time by The Associated Press, which told of a man named Andrew Thornton, who led a colorful life. The son of wealthy thoroughbred owners, he became a military paratrooper, then a police officer, then a lawyer. His last gig was as a prominent Kentucky drug smuggler.

Thornton’s life up to this point could make for an engaging film in its own right. But there’s more. Investigators believe Thornton was transporting millions in cocaine on a small plane over Tennessee. The cargo was too heavy, though, and Thornton threw some of it out, which landed near a 175-pound black bear. Said bear then consumed 70 pounds, or 40 percent of its body weight. It was found dead four days later, which is sad. No animal deserves to die of a drug overdose.

I’ll bet there’s another, also shocking thing about this story.

Yes, there is. Thornton also fell out of the plane, albeit with a parachute. He was considered an expert skydiver. Unfortunately his parachute didn’t open and he was found dead on top of someone’s driveway.

Wasn’t something like that in Season 4 of Justified?

It was. Yes. This cocaine bear story is a rich text.

How much of this stranger-than-fiction story will be in Cocaine Bear?

It’s not clear. Perhaps Stanton is a character. Perhaps not. They should include it, though.

Are there parts of Cocaine Bear that did not happen in the real cocaine bear story?

Yes, there are. While many details have yet to be made public, there’s one major thing that’s in the film that did not happen for real. As mentioned, the cocaine bear, who’s had a lot of cocaine, goes on a murderous rampage. That part didn’t happen. The only deaths were the bear and Thornton. So that’s good, at least.

Who made Cocaine Bear?

It was directed by Elizabeth Banks, the actress who expanded into filmmaking. She’s previously directed Pitch Perfect 2 and the latest Charlie’s Angels reboot. Cocaine Bear looks like it will borrow from both, the comedy of the former (although of a much darker variety) and the action of the latter (though mostly for creature feature thrills). Its producers include the very funny duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, of the 21 Jump Street diptych, The Lego Movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and more.

Is there a trailer?

There is, and you can watch it here. People had a lot of reactions to it when it dropped.

Finally, when can one see this Cocaine Bear picture?

It hits theaters on February 24, 2023.

Yes, the teaser trailer for Shrinking is just funny people jumping on a trampoline. No, it doesn’t tell us anything about the series except who is in it and how much mad air they can catch. It’s not the most electrifying teaser trailer of the year, but it’s worth get excited about the show itself.

The Apple TV+ show was written by Ted Lasso duo Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein as well as Jason Segel, who stars as therapist who stops being polite and starts getting real.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“Shrinking follows a grieving therapist (played by Segel) who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own.”

As you can tell by following the bouncing stars, the show also features a grumpy Harrison Ford, and the presumably non-grumpy Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Luke Tennie, and Lukita Maxwell.

It’s a great cast! Plus, Shrinking adheres to The Bill Lawrence Rule: we should watch everything Bill Lawrence makes. Ted Lasso famously dove deep into therapy last season, so it will be interesting to see what kind of harsh and humane comedy this team wrings out of the profession.

Shrinking drops its first two episodes on Apple TV+ on January 27th with new episodes landing every Friday after. For 8 more weeks. Not, like, forever.

Latto has been dealing with a lot this month. It was only a couple of weeks ago that 130 of her unreleased songs were leaked, yet she showed off her indifference to the situation by flexing that she was “trending.” Now, she’s already announcing more music that’s coming very soon.

Today (November 30), she tweeted about a collaboration with GloRilla and Gangsta Boo arriving just this Friday. “Latto x Glo x Gangsta Boo THIS FRIDAY ,” she wrote on Twitter.

GloRilla has been rising rapidly, making headlines for not knowing ham is pork and for getting a special shoutout from the one and only Nas. Cardi B joined her onstage at the AMAs, and she’s even nominated for a Grammy. Meanwhile, Gangsta Boo is a hip-hop veteran many are stoked to hear in this collaboration.

Notably, Glo and Gangsta Boo are both from Memphis. In September, Gangsta Boo praised GloRilla on an episode of Drink Champs. “I been watching them girls for the past couple of years and I was like, ‘What the f*ck?’ It made me feel good. They represented Memphis right,” the Three 6 Mafia legend said, as noted by Revolt. “A year later, GloRilla got signed. I got distracted because I was thinking of her glow-up. I think she was 19 — remember when [I] was that age?”

GloRilla broke through earlier this year with “FNF (Let’s Go),” which received the remix treatment from Latto and City Girls’ JT and earned her a deal with Yo Gotti’s CMG Records.

Earlier today, GloRilla made the news when she called out a DJ who claimed she wanted to work with him. “So GloRilla just called me and told me to pack my bags,” he wrote in a statement on Facebook. “It’s time to turn my state up one more time.” She replied by simply writing, “What are you talking about,” and then adding, “Ian said sh*t like dat.”

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It’s probably not all that surprising to learn that riffing with George Lucas in the 1980s was slightly more creatively freewheeling than crafting a series for Disney in 2022, but at least we have firm confirmation now. Bob Dolman, who wrote Willow and was part of the writer’s room for the reboot series, told The Hollywood Reporter that the mammoth corporate entity was pretty interested in the day-to-day on their investment.

“It felt that the studio was over our shoulder quite a bit — the studio being Disney and also Lucasfilm,” Dolman said. “They had good input; they had good notes. You have to move a series along, and you have to be involved in it. But I felt like we weren’t left alone enough just to toss ideas around and have the kind of freedom that I had when I was working with George and Ron. And not be worried about whether or not an idea was good or bad, but just trying things out and taking a chance and having the courage to even find a bad idea, knowing that it could lead to a good idea.”

“There are a lot of voices, and some of them aren’t necessarily voices that know more than the people that have been hired,” he went on to say. “But those voices are heard, and notes are given. In the writing room of Willow the TV series, there was constant input from other sources outside of the room. So it felt to me like we were never really alone in the room.”

Dolman was overall positive about the experience — and who wouldn’t be? His criticism is measured, but it also turns out that Disney and Lucasfilm suits might know a thing or two about what sitting on shoulders because the series is currently a big critical hit. Way to go, suits! Willow is on Disney+ as of today, November 30th.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)