Year: 2022

The Mario sports games are all great, but the underrated high point of the genre is arguably Mario Strikers. Mario’s arcade soccer franchise first debuted on the Nintendo GameCube and its fast-paced, intense gameplay became a quick favorite among fans. It turns out that when you take an already loved sport like soccer and give it wacky Mario powers-ups, it’s easy to fall in love.

Unfortunately, the last time we received a game in the Strikers franchise was Mario Strikers Charged on the Wii. As games like Mario Golf and Mario Tennis received numerous sequels, Mario Strikers fell into the background.

Despite this, fans continued asking for a new game in the franchise, and their wishes were finally answered during Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct. Mario Strikers: Battle League has been unveiled, and it looks just as wacky as the two previous games in the franchise. With this sequel, we’re getting new power-ups, new sidekicks, and new online multiplayer.

For over a decade, fans have been waiting for a new Mario Strikers game. It had been so long that it honestly started to feel like we were never going to get a sequel. That made Wednesday’s announcement a very pleasant surprise, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that the online additions are all brilliant. Many friendships will be ended this summer in intense battles on the pitch. It’s going to be so fun.

Big winners are all the rage on American game shows. Jeopardy! had two all-timers in the last six months alone: Matt Amodio and Amy Schneider, the latter who wound up being second only to Ken Jennings in terms of consecutive wins. Co-host Mayim Bialik even floated a theory on why that is. The trend has even seeped into Wheel of Fortune, the show that ether follows or precedes Jeopardy!, depending on the market, to the surprise of longtime host Pat Sajak.

As per People, Tuesday night’s episode saw something that’s never happened on the show over its 47-year history: Contestants won the much-coveted, super-rare $100,000 grand prize two nights in a row.

It all started on the episode that aired Monday, when Lisa Kramer ended the show not only triumphant but with a total haul of $116,700. Then it happened again. On Tuesday night’s show, Mark Baer surprised Sajak by nabbing yet another grand prize, bringing his cume to $126,550.

When Baer nabbed the prize, Sajak was genuinely taken aback. “It’s never happened. And wouldn’t you know it, I just sold all my confetti stock,” he joked. “There’s always something new around here, isn’t there? That’s incredible.”

This comes after the show celebrated another milestone: In December, Sajak celebrated his 40th anniversary of hosting the phrase-guessing show.

When the big day came, Sajak put it all into perspective. “When I started hosting ‘Wheel’ (with Susan Stafford) on this date 40 years ago, the top 10 TV shows included ‘Dallas,’ ‘Three’s Company,’ ‘The Jeffersons’ and ‘The Dukes of Hazzard,’” he tweeted. “Ronald Reagan was in his 1st year as president. Number 1 song: Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical.’”

(Via People)

ESPN has been searching for years for a hit broadcast booth for Monday Night Football, and while they still may be searching for that, they have absolutely found a winner with their Manningcast alternative broadcast on ESPN2. Some good news for fans is that the Manningcast is going to continue through the 2024 season during Monday Night Football, but that won’t be all.

After signing a deal with Peyton and Eli Manning to have them do 10 broadcasts this season in which they sat on couches at home, talked ball, and had guests come on for interviews, Disney was clearly looking for a way to replicate that in other areas. However, a big part of the appeal of the Manningcast is, specifically, that it is the Mannings, not just any pair of former players, and that has been the stumbling block for just about every discussion about how to create a copycat broadcast in other sports. Few players are as well known as the Mannings and make viewers want to watch them talk about anything and everything, and it appears Disney and ESPN have come to that recognition themselves.

To help find those personalities, ESPN has worked out a new expanded deal with Peyton, Eli, and Omaha Productions that will keep the Mannings on a 10-game Monday Night Football schedule through 2024, but also have them produce alternative broadcasts for UFC fights, golf, and college football — with other hosts in the Manning roles.

The extension will add a fourth year (through 2024 season) for Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, featuring a 10-game annual slate of alternative productions to ESPN’s traditional Monday Night Football telecast. Additionally, the agreement calls for alternative presentations (with other hosts) for UFC, college football and golf to be produced by Omaha Productions in collaboration with ESPN.

For each of those sport categories, there will be multiple events per year showcasing alternative viewing options. For college football, the commitment will be comprised of regular-season and post-season matchups, including the College Football Playoff National Championship. For golf and UFC, select events will be included annually. Hosts for each sport will be named at a future date.

Initial reports suggested it would be Peyton and Eli doing UFC events, which would’ve been fascinating to see, but seeking out hosts more familiar with those sports is probably the smart move. The most consistent strength of the Manningcast is their insight into the game of football and how easily they break down the game in a smart, digestible manner. However, finding athletes from the world of UFC, golf, and college football with the same cache will be tough, but having Peyton and Eli running the show might intrigue bigger names to hop on board.

West Coast gangsta rap godfather Snoop Dogg vowed to purchase his onetime label Death Row Records last year and now, he’s done just that, according to Variety. Snoop acquired the label’s brand from MNRK Music Group and the private equity fund that owned it managed by Blackstone investment firm. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, a source said Snoop will also begin acquiring the rights to some of the label’s music — including his own — in the near future.

In a statement, Snoop said, “I am thrilled and appreciative of the opportunity to acquire the iconic and culturally significant Death Row Records brand, which has immense untapped future value. It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members. This is an extremely meaningful moment for me. I would like to personally thank the teams at Blackstone, MNRK, and especially David Kestenbaum, who worked collaboratively with me over several months to make this exciting homecoming a reality. I’m looking forward to building the next chapter of Death Row Records.”

Death Row Records was Snoop Dogg’s first label home when he debuted in 1992 on Dr. Dre’s debut solo single, “Deep Cover” and where he released his first two albums Doggystyle and Tha Doggfather, as he proudly proclaimed on “Nuthin’ But A G Thang” with Dr. Dre in 1992. “Death Row is the label that pays me,” he rapped, pledging his allegiance to the label founded by Suge Knight which also put out Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Tupac Shakur’s catalog. Unfortunately, tensions within the label led Snoop to part ways with Knight in 1998, aligning with Master P’s No Limit Records, then Priority in 2002, and Geffen in 2004. More recently, Snoop has released his music via his independent label Doggystyle in joint ventures with eOne, Empire, and Create.

In 2021, he took an executive creative consultant gig at Def Jam, A&Ring the compilation album Snoop Dogg Presents Algorithm. Now, the original label that paid him will pay him once again, albeit in a new capacity as owner of the brand — and possibly its lucrative publishing catalog.

Supply chain issues continue to surface here and there during this stage of the pandemic, which has seen vinyl shortages and associated delays, and grocery stores are now feeling their way through some unexpected fallout. First it was toilet paper, right? Now, of all things, people can’t find Nabisco saltine crackers. We’ve all (of course) seen some empty store shelves over the past few years, and this has been a global issue, as evidenced in the above photo from March 2020 in France.

Now, people are flummoxed that the saltines appear to have gone. They ease nausea, satisfy snack cravings, and more. They’re simple but delicious in soups, they are strong enough to hold scoops of hummus, and they’re (usually) relatively inexpensive for what you get. Well, those days are temporarily (we hope) over, given that you don’t really want to know how much saltines are currently going for on Amazon. Heck, I looked for them at the grocery store again last night (after being unable to find them for a month), and two other people were also sadly staring at the same empty shelf.

People sure miss these underrated, mainstay crackers a lot right about now (fingers crossed that they’ll return to shelves soon), and Twitter tells the tale.

People are pretty worked up about this!

Good news sometimes comes alongside bad news. And so it goes with this item. The good news: Futurama, Matt Groening’s sci-fi comedy spectacular, is coming back yet again. The bad news: It will return minus one of the key vocal talents that made it so pure.

As per Deadline, when the show returns, it will do so with most of its original cast in-tact. But there’s one, very significant exception: John DiMaggio, who voiced, among others, Bender, the fun-loving alcoholic robot, is sitting this one out. Negotiations between the esteemed voice actor — whose CV also includes Samurai Jack, Kim Possible, Teen Titans, and more — and the studio, 20th Century Animation, reportedly came to a “standstill,” though there is hope that he’ll return after all.

Nevertheless, everyone else is back, including Billy West, whose duties included the ensemble’s central character Philip Fry, an unremarkable late ‘90s pizza delivery man who is unwittingly frozen for 1,000 years, only to awaken in “New New York” and start working for an elderly descendant, mad scientist Professor Farnsworth (also West).

West — who also voiced depresso lobster-like doctor Zoidberg — will be joined by the likes of Katey Segal (Turanga Leela), Lauren Tom (Amy Wong), Phil La Marr (Hermes Conrad), and more. This will be the third iteration of Futurama, which debuted on Fox in 1998, was cancelled in 2003, was revived on Comedy Central in 2008 (beginning with three DTV feature-length specials), and ended again in 2013. Its new home will be Hulu, which also exhumed Animaniacs in 2020. Here’s hoping they can get real Bender back, and not only because no one can say the word “pimpmobile” quite like John DiMaggio.

(Via Deadline)

When The Tinder Swindler documentary started streaming last week on Netflix, the film made a shocking revelation at the end. Simon Leviev, “The Tinder Swindler,” was still active on the dating app despite allegedly scamming millions of dollars (total) from several women. According to the documentary, Leviev pretended to be the son of an Israeli diamond tycoon in order to connect with woman. After initially taking them on lavish dates, he allegedly spun a series of tales about his life being in danger as well as using other tricks to gain access to their cash and credit cards.

However, Tinder has since responded to the documentary’s claim, and in a statement to NBC News, the dating app said Leviev (real name: Shimon Hayut) has been banned:

“We banned Simon Leviev and any of his known aliases as soon as the story of his actions became public in 2019,” a Tinder spokeswoman said. “In the lead up to the release of the documentary, we conducted additional internal investigations and can confirm Simon Leviev is not active on Tinder under any of his known aliases.”

According to NBC News, Hayut is also banned from Hinge and “dating sites and apps under Match Group Inc., including Match.com, Plenty of Fish and OkCupid.” His Instagram account has also been reportedly deleted.

As shown in The Tinder Swindler documentary, Hayut denies all of the allegations and has threatened a lawsuit for “defamation and lies.”

(Via NBC News)

Today is National Pizza Day which means it’s the perfect day to eat pizza. Well, do we really need a reason to eat pizza? We’re willing to eat pizza any day of the week, any hour of the day, it’s f*cking pizza! But sure, give it the national day treatment because the only thing better than pizza is pizza that you can get for cheap.

As with all national food days, there are some good deals out there that will save you some dough (see what we did there?). So we’ve rounded out the best deals on the market to help you get fed on the cheap.

Considering we’re just days away from Super Bowl Weekend, you’ll be happy to know a lot of these deals extend through the weekend. So even if you don’t plan on eating pizza today, you should find something that comes in handy for the next couple of days.

Let’s eat!

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse — This is probably the best deal of the day. BJ’s is offering 50 percent off any deep dish or tavern-cut pizza order when you use the promo code “HALFOFF” from today through Sunday. Hit them up today, and then every day until Super Bowl Sunday!

Blaze PIzza — All members of Blaze Pizza’s loyalty club will receive double points for any order placed on National Pizza Day. If there was ever a time to download that Blaze Pizza app, it’s today!

Casey’s — Use the checkout code “3OFF” to receive $3 off any large pizza order.

Chuck E. Cheese — Today only, Chuck E. Cheese Rewards members can score a free large one-topping pizza when they order an additional large one-topping pizza. This deal is valid for both takeout and delivery orders.

Domino’s Pizza — This isn’t explicitly a National Pizza Day deal, but right now Domino’s is offering a Mix & Match menu that will get you two menu items for just $5.99.

Donato’s Pizza — Donato’s is offering double points on any pizza order for Donato’s Rewards members.

Hungry Howie’s — At Hungry Howie’s you can choose any two items from the chain’s Mix & Match menu for just $6.99. It’s just like the Domino’s deal but a dollar more. Do better, Howie’s.

Marco’s Pizza — Use the checkout code “PEPMAG” to receive a free large Pepperoni Magnifico for $10. Your order must be placed online to score the deal.

Mountain Mike’s Pizza — Mountain Mike fans will receive 15 percent off any order when using the checkout code “PIZZADAY22”. That’s the kind of deal we’d like to see.

Papa John’s — The Papa is offering their new NY-style pizza with giant foldable slices for just $13 from today until March 13th.

Peter Piper Pizza — Grab two large one-topping pizzas for just $24 dollars from Peter Piper from today until Sunday. It’s on the pricier end, but that’s enough pizza to feed your whole crew!

Pieology — All Pieology Pie Life members will receive $2 off any order placed today. That’s a pretty good deal unless you’re not living that Pie Life.

Pizzanista! — This only applies to people living in or near Los Angeles, but right now Pizzanista! is offering a Joan Jett-inspired vegan pizza (made in collaboration with PETA) complete with a black heart-shaped crush. The pizza is made on a sourdough crust and topped with Abbot’s Butcher vegan sausage, vegan bacon, and sliced jalapeños.

Round Table — Round Table Royal Rewards members will receive either 10, 15, or 20 percent off their dine-in, carry-out, and delivery orders. The discounts are chosen at random so fingers crossed you score the big 20!

Whole Foods — Whole Foods probably isn’t the first place that comes up when you think “pizza.” But hey, it’s a little hard to not be psyched over picking up an 18-inch cheese pizza for just $10. This deal lasts from today until February 15th. And if you’re a Prime Member, you’ll score an additional 10 percent off.

Adam Driver has been cast in Michael Mann‘s passion project– an Enzo Ferrari biopic based on Brock Yates’ book Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine. Driver will be joined by his House Of Gucci co-star Penélope Cruz, and Big Little Lies star Shailene Woodley. Production is slated to begin in Italy this spring.

Director Michael Mann said of the casting, “Being able to have these wonderfully talented artists, actors Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley, bring to life these unique characters on location in Modena and the Emilia-Romagna is a vision fulfilled.” Mann has famously been working on the film for nearly two decades. Hugh Jackman was attached to the project earlier.

The story of Enzo Ferrari will take place in 1959, when the race-car driver is facing bankruptcy, and decides to do a 1,000-mile race across Italy.

Mann has acquired numerous accolades over the years, including four Academy Award nominations. Cruz was recently nominated for an Oscar for her work in last year’s Parallel Mothers. While Driver wasn’t nominated for his role of Maurizio Gucci in House Of Gucci, he was nominated for his roles in BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story in 2019 and 2021, respectively. He didn’t win, but he does have a Teen Choice Award for his role in Star Wars, which is better than nothing.

Betty Davis, the pioneering icon of funk and soul music who was at one time married to jazz legend Miles Davis, has passed away at the age of 77 according to Rolling Stone. Ethnomusicologist Danielle Maggio, who performed on Davis’ 2019 song “A Little Bit Hot Tonight” — the singer’s first in 40 years — confirmed Davis’ death of natural causes.

Although Davis did not have a vast collection of mega-hits to her name, she proved to be one of the most influential musicians of the 1970s funk movement, developing a cult following and growing in public esteem in more recent years due to her music receiving more recognition in pop culture, with placements of television series such as High Fidelity, Mixed-ish, and Orange Is The New Black. Miles Davis also credited his ex-wife — his second after Frances Davis — with introducing him to Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, leading to his experimental jazz fusion work in the ’70s.

Betty recorded four albums during the period: Betty Davis, They Say I’m Different, Nasty Gal, and Is It Love Or Desire? although the last of the four wasn’t released until 2009. Musicians who played on her albums included members of the Family Stone, Buddy Miles, Herbie Hancock, and more, although she became disillusioned with the music industry and retired after the release of Nasty Gal in 1975. Contemporary artists who cite her as an influence include Erykah Badu, Jamila Woods, and Janelle Monae.