Month: March 2023

HBO helped revolutionize TV in many ways, but one of its most lasting contributions was popularizing the idea of short-ish seasons. Unlike network shows, which can still run some 25 exhausting episodes, premium and streaming shows tend to only run about 10. Who has time for more TV than that? But it looks like round two of one of their biggest new hits will go even shorter than that.

As per Deadline, when it returns for it second seasons, House of the Dragon, the first Game of Thrones spinoff out of the gate, won’t run 10 episodes, like its first. Instead it will only run eight. That’s two whole fewer hours viewers will get to spend with Daenerys Targaryen’s predictably messy ancestors.

What’s the reason for the slightly abbreviated season? Some have speculated that it’s part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s cost-cutting measures and overall chaos under new-ish head David Zaslav. Sources close to the production, though, claim it’s more story-driven. Maybe for Season 2 they don’t need to stretch things out to 10 or so hours. Besides, they’re already working on Season 3.

Production on the next Dragon season is set to start soon in the U.K. and it won’t premiere until some time in 2024. That’s a year or so (or less!) to prepare for a smidgeon less Targaryen action.

(Via Deadline)

Bear with me, this requires some backstory.

Back in March 2015, Justin Halpern, author of Sh*t My Dad Says and now the showrunner for the animated Harley Quinn series and an Emmy-losing writer/producer on Abbott Elementary, told a story on my podcast (the Frotcast) about hooking up with a girl in college who he thought was his girlfriend, only to be disabused of this notion when her real boyfriend showed up the following morning. As Halpern feigned sleep (“I figured no one would beat up an asleep guy”) he heard the boyfriend walk in, see him on the couch, and say “Oh nice. Real f*ckin’ nice,” as the guy broke into tears.

At which point the guy stormed back outside, jumped in his car (in my head he originally said it was a Jeep Wrangler, though he claims now it was a Tacoma), hit the ignition, and sped off as the sound of Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” blared through the open windows.

As a callback to this story (easiest to find at 3:21 of our Best of 2016 Frotcast), Halpern posted a Photoshopped NY Times article about Paul Ryan, inserting a fictional bit in which Ryan drives off listening to Papa Roach. That tweet went so viral (almost certainly because lots of people didn’t instantly recognize it as a fiction like Halpern’s followers would’ve) that it spawned write ups in Mashable and the Washington Post. Papa Roach even responded.

On April 23rd, 2017, HBO aired a Silicon Valley episode which had a scene in which the fictional dickhead billionaire Russ Hanneman, played brilliantly by Chris Diamantopoulos, drives off angrily to the sounds of Papa Roach’s “Last Resort.”

Buzzfeed turned that into a trend piece, explaining “how ‘Last Resort’ became the internet’s new favorite joke song.”

That piece spoke with Halpern and Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix, but never mentioned Halpern’s original story from the Frotcast, which annoyed me enough that I reached out to both sources at HBO and Papa Roach (journalism!) to confirm whether it was possible that an HBO writer could’ve heard the podcast before writing the joke into the show. Results were, as you might imagine, inconclusive.

And guess what? Now it’s back. On the season two premiere of Yellowjackets, Jeff, played by Warren Kole, rocks out to “Last Resort” in his SUV. And this time, I would argue the context is even more eerily similar to the original Frotcast story than even Silicon Valley was.

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW.

The context of the scene was that Shauna, played by Melanie Lynskey has survived a plane crash and started cheating on her husband, Jeff, with an artist. Her husband finds out, and she kills the guy, then tells Jeff, who goes to the guy’s place to help destroy all the evidence, but finds that his place is full of suggestive paintings of Shauna. Smash cut to Jeff rocking out to “Last Resort” as he tries to process this information.

As Warren Kole, who plays Jeff, explained to Variety, “He’s got a bruised ego.”

Kole also claimed that the episode was the first time he’d ever heard “Last Resort,” telling Variety “It was brand new to me. I hate it.”

Considering Warren Kole is a 45-year-old white guy from Texas, this stands out to me as one of the weirdest lies anyone has ever told, but I digress.

In both Halpern’s original story and in Yellowjackets, the Papa Roach listener is a recently cuckolded man with a bruised ego rocking out to “Last Resort” in his car. That cannot be a coincidence, can it?!?

“I’m sure it was simply a coincidence, but either way I am deeply honored to have my one true legacy furthered by a television show I greatly enjoy,” Halpern texted me when I asked him about it. “To put it succinctly; nice. Real fuckin’ nice.”

Even after my exhaustive Silicon Valley exploration went nowhere, I still have a hard time believing this was mere coincidence. But I’ll grant that maybe, just maybe, “Last Resort” has become the official pump up song of the recently cuckolded. As Kimberly Ricci wrote, “Cuck my life into pieces” indeed.

Update: As I was writing this, I received word that Papa Roach has been named “Rock Artist Of The Year” at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards. Congrats.

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Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can read more of his reviews here.

If 6lack’s goal with the release of his latest video was to have viewers question their existence, then the mission was accomplished. On Friday, March 24, the singer dropped his long-awaited album Since I Have A Lover. The musician has had a few singles, including the album’s title track, “Talk Back,” and “Fatal Attraction,” already receiving rave reviews, and it appears his latest is heading in the same direction.

Co-produced by Cobalii and Nik, “Preach” is a reflective song in which 6lack said in a statement is about “his ultimate decision to break from old damaging patterns.” In the accompanying video, directed by Above Ground, 6lack weathers the emotional elements. As he fights against forced isolation, he finds himself up to his leg in water as he puts out small fires around him — a metaphor for each small battle he’s had to face in this spiritual journey.

As be sings, “I gotta get my dreams back vivid; I put the weed down / But only for a week now, next week it’s back to chief style / Dreamt the whole world went up in flames / It’s been only me and ’bout five other n***** promotin’ change,” he admits that healing is a lonely journey but well worth it.

6lack’s raw honesty is one of the most endearing parts of his artistry, and fans in the comment section of the video agree. One user wrote, “The reason 6LACK has had so much success is because his music is authentic. He built a loyal fanbase through focusing on his craft, and not being pressured into sounding like other artists.”

Watch the full video above.

Since I Have A Lover is out now via LVRN and Interscope. Find more information here.

The 2023 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class has been anticipated for quite some time. Because of the mandatory waiting period for retired players, it is relatively easy to project at least some of each class and, with a few prominent names now eligible, assumptions were already being made for who might headline the group.

On Tuesday, word began to break from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on the individuals that will be included, and the class includes Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki.

Wade and Nowitzki, who famously faced off in the 2006 NBA Finals, are joined by Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Becky Hammon and Gregg Popovich. The group could also expand from this report, as Wojnarowski notes the official announcement is still to come on Saturday with the annual gathering at the NCAA Final Four.

This is a class with a great deal of star power, as Wade and Nowitzki both operated as the best player on an NBA title team, with Gasol and Parker earning multiple titles along the way. Hammon is an unequivocal legend in the basketball world, and Popovich is on the short list of best NBA coaches of all-time.

The real fun begins when the induction ceremony takes place and the public can hear from the inductees. In the meantime, this is a great honor for all involved and anticipation can build until the ceremony.

The NFL has a pretty big change coming to its Thursday Night Football broadcasts next year. While a proposal to flex late-season games to Thursdays with enough of a heads-up during the season has apparently been tabled until May, the league determined that teams can now play two games a year on a short week on Thursdays.

As Pelissero noted, the way this worked in the past — even before Amazon acquired the rights to Thursday Night Football last season — was that teams could only have this sort of arrangement once in a season. It has not been especially popular among players, who have noted that there are legitimate safety concerns that surround playing a game on a Sunday, packing an entire week’s worth of recovery and preparation into three days, and then playing again on a Thursday.

You can, apparently, count Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes among those who isn’t a fan of playing on this short of a week. Mahomes took to Twitter after news got out of the new arrangement and expressed his disappointment with one emoji.

We’ll have to wait and see on whether or not games will end up getting flexed to Thursdays, which we have to assume Mahomes will not like, either.

Disney has been putting gay characters in their movies and shows for a while now. (Although you may not have noticed the first ones, two deer in Zootopia, who were subtly a same-sex couple.) They’re LGBTQIA+ advocacy has even enraged the governor of the state they’re based in. In a very different era of just a decade-plus ago, one beloved Disney Channel show quietly had a bisexual protagonist, though because of the times they had to be so subtle about it that the public didn’t know until now.

That show was Wizards of Waverly Place, and that protagonist was Selena Gomez’s Alex Russo, a teen witch living in Greenwich Village. The revelation of her sexual orientation was revealed by executive producer and head writer Peter Murietta on the Wizards of Waverly Place podcast. Over its four seasons, Alex had her share of boyfriends. But in Season 3 she made friends with Hayley Kiyoko’s Stevie Nichols. Murietta said they wished they could have taken their relationship further.

“I wished we could have played more with what was quite obvious to a lot of us was the relationship between Stevie and Alex,” Murietta confessed. “But we weren’t able to in that time…it was pretty clear to all of us what that relationship was. That would’ve been fun.”

Stevie only lasted four episodes, but Jennifer Stone, who played Alex’s best friend on the show and now co-hosts the podcast, speculated that she would have remained if the culture had been like what it is now. “If we were just a few years down the line,” she said, “we maybe could have played with that.”

“At the time it wasn’t a thing,” Murietta said. “But, we got as close as we could. I mean it was pretty close. It was pretty much right there.”

Gomez’s Waverly Place character isn’t the only major character to be retroactively made LGBTQIA+. Before she went off the deep end into transphobia, J.K. Rowling famously revealed that Dumbledore was gay.

(Via Variety)

Although traveling alongside a group of friends and family creates shared memories that last a lifetime, traveling alone comes with its own set of joys. As a young female, I found that waiting around for people to agree and commit to a trip – whether some new domestic destination or international excursion – usually ended up with disappointment and having to sort out a list of conflicting schedules, expectations, and accommodation preferences. Once I made that initial solo trip, I never looked back, and instead found myself navigating the world as a solo woman. Believe it or not, traveling alone in 2023 can actually help you save money on your global journey.

That’s not to say there aren’t challenges that come with being a solo female traveler. Like all things, there are risks involved — which we’ve covered a fair bit, BTW. But with some planning and prep, the joys far outweigh the challenges and risks. I feel certain of that.

So next time you’re bookmarking the cheap jungle bungalows of Southeast Asia, longing for a visit to the sandy shores of Costa Rica, and wanting to lessen the language barrier between you and the cities of the world, go back to this article and get inspired by these women travel influencers who have taken the world in the palms of their hands.

“Learn to be social” & “Enjoy your solitude” — KRISTIN ADDIS (@bemytravelmuse)

I’ve been solo traveling for over 10 years now and the biggest challenge I think is that you need to learn to either be really outgoing or enjoy your solitude. I would really say both. It is easy to be outgoing because travelers tend to be friendly people but if you’re not willing to put yourself out there at all then you will be spending a lot of time truly by yourself. Now I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, I think it’s actually one of the beautiful things about traveling alone. It can really be a joy, actually. But eating alone and making all of the choices yourself can be hard.

I feel the joys are much more than the challenges. I think everyone should do it at least once in life because you really become aware of what you’re capable of. You realize you don’t need anyone else to be successful in life. It encouraged me to try so many things that I otherwise probably wouldn’t have done if I didn’t have that self-efficacy that I built through traveling alone. It allows you to be totally selfish, which I don’t think is always a bad thing. It’s important to have that experience and be whoever you are without other people’s opinions or ideas coloring your experience. You get to know yourself on the most intimate level possible.

“Rely on the kindness of strangers” — LUCY RUTHNUM (@absolutelylucy)

After seven years of living as a nomadic solo female traveler, I’ve definitely had my fair share of challenges. But I’ve also experienced so much joy in solo travel. As a solo female traveler, it can be challenging at times to be fully responsible for yourself. There’s no doubt the world can be a difficult place for a woman on her own and when you’re traveling you experience the best and the worst of people. That’s not to say it’s something you shouldn’t do though.

If anything, I think the challenges you face bring you so much closer to strangers and it really shows you the kindness of other people. The amount of times that I was struggling being a solo female traveler and someone has come to my rescue by inviting me into their home and making made me feel completely welcome, even we don’t speak the same language. People welcomed me into their country, shared food, and introduced their friends to me. It really reminds you that although the world can be a difficult place, just how positive it is and that it’s full of kindness.

You can rely on the kindness of strangers which is something that, quite frankly, growing up in the UK was told to avoid. I think that’s the most heartwarming thing about solo female travel is finding good-hearted people. I highly recommend traveling alone, it is without a doubt the best investment that I’ve ever made and it was worth every penny.

Face your “fear of the unknown” — ZOE GATHI (@zoe_gathi)

As a solo woman traveler, I’ve experienced so many emotions while exploring different parts of the world. On one hand, there’s the thrill of exploring new places, getting to know new cultures, meeting interesting people and — why not — making new friends. But on the other hand, there’s also the fear of the unknown and all the possible dangers that come with traveling alone.

One of the biggest challenges that a solo female traveler faces is the fear of the unknown. When you’re traveling by yourself, there’s no one to rely on but yourself, which can be discouraging at times. Research and planning ahead of time can be very useful and go a long way in easing some of these fears.

Despite the challenges, travel has definitely filled me with joy and brought me personal growth. It has allowed me to push myself out of my comfort zone and experience new cultures and ways of life. I’ve learned to be self-sufficient and independent. I’ve met incredible people along the way who have enriched my life in countless ways. Ιt has changed my perspective on life and the way I see things. Travel has taught me respect. Ιt has made me wiser and a better human being.

Being a solo woman traveler has taught me that anything is possible if I believe in me and I’m willing to take the risk and put myself out there. While it’s not always easy, the rewards of solo travel are more than worth it.

“The feeling of accomplishment” — EMILY HART (@emilyventures)

The challenges of solo travel are often the same things that bring joy – I get to do everything by myself, but I also have to do everything by myself. When I’m sick or tired or confused or out of service, solo travel can easily turn from an empowering experience to one that is frustrating if I don’t work at keeping a positive mindset.

Logistically being solo can be challenging as some restaurants don’t want to seat solo travelers at a table, some excursions require two people (or make you pay for two) and some hikes just aren’t safe solo. When I recently visited American Samoa the park was nearly deserted, and with no search and rescue on the island, I decided not to do many hikes even though I had a satellite device. The unnecessary strain on resources I might cause as a solo traveler was not worth it.

Oh, the joys!

Too many to accurately express really – if that wasn’t the case I wouldn’t have traveled this way for a decade. I think, for me, what it comes down to is the feeling of accomplishment and confidence that solo travel creates. It is a cycle that repeats itself and continues to level up – I feel accomplished and confident from doing things on my own, which leads to more of the same. I have this great well of trust within myself because I know I have faced things that at one point I didn’t think I could. I have solved all of the problems that have come at me thus far – one way or another – on my own. I’m not bound by anyone else’s plans or schedules or preferences – I can just be me.

Take the difficult “first step” to meet people — OLIVIA CHRISTINE (@ochristine)

Traveling as a woman in today’s world is so different than even a decade ago. There are so many more platforms, apps, and communities that uplift women explorers. I have met people along my adventures that I’ve stayed in touch with and reconnected with years later, in random parts of the world! If I was traveling with a group of friends, that likely wouldn’t happen.

Traveling as a solo female can be extra special because it helps you unlock fears, leave your comfort zone, and get to know yourself. I am introverted in unfamiliar situations plus I don’t come from a traveling family, so taking chances and socializing are not naturally in my vocabulary. Solo female travel helped me step out of that mindset by making me believe in myself one trip at a time. You don’t have to be a fearless social butterfly to solo travel.

The biggest challenge I’ve come across is myself. I really enjoy being by myself so sometimes I have to give myself a pep talk to go out, but once I am there and comfortable I am just fine. That first step is hard. To get over that hump while traveling, I’ll befriend a couple of people (this is where hostels, co-working spaces, and group tours are super useful) and then I use those friendships to motivate me to get out. It is like a domino effect thereafter.

Enjoy being a “clean slate to each new person you meet” — SOJOURNER WHITE (@thesojournies)

I’m Sojourner White — a Black woman traveler who travels solo via plane, bus, and train (which is my favorite) around the world. I love meeting new people and trying new things. But one of the biggest joys of solo traveling is creating my own itinerary and no one can tell me I have to change it or I can decide to completely abandon it and sleep all day. It’s freeing to get up and decide that I want to take a twerk class in New Orleans, a cooking class in Mexico, hike a volcano for pizza in Guatemala, or do a street food tour in Panama, just for the fun of it. I feel like society tells women we have to be caretakers for everyone all the time. But when I solo travel I can take up as much space as I want and be selfish with my own time. You’re a clean slate to every new person you meet and that’s so cool to me.

Some early challenges in my solo woman traveler journey really had to do with me being a Black woman traveling solo in places where there aren’t many Black people. I had to deal with people staring at me, questioning if I was really born in the U.S., or trying to touch my hair or skin. Lots of these interactions are out of curiosity, but that doesn’t make them any less annoying. And at the end of the day, I’m never letting those experiences stop me from seeing the world and doing what I want to do. A consistent challenge is always navigating new places solo where I don’t know the language and learning how to trust strangers in the moment when I don’t know anyone else. I’ve learned over time though that people are more genuine and nicer than you think.

I’ll also add that I’ve found so much joy in doing scenic train rides solo and I think they’re an interesting experience to do solo. I’ve done them around the U.S. (Amtrak’s California Zephyr and Coast Starlight) and the El Chepe Express through Copper Canyon in Mexico. There is just something about being solo, through the middle of nowhere, on a train watching the sunrise that is so serene and simple. Oddly enough I think a scenic train ride is a great solo trip option because they’re easy to plan and you can really see if you like to be solo.

Recognize that the “experience is what you make of it” — MELANIE SUTRATHADA (@melaniesutra)

I used to be afraid of solo traveling. The idea of going to a new city or country alone would give me debilitating anxiety that left me with more questions than answers. What if I got lost? What would people think about me eating alone? Would I be safe? Would I get lonely? There were so many fears.

Then, one day, I decided that the only way to know was to do it. So I booked a solo trip to Iceland and jumped right in. It took me out of my comfort zone, and it challenged me, changed me, and ultimately made me a better person. I came home with new friends that I still keep in touch with, stories of once-in-a-lifetime adventures, and more faith in the kindness of humanity than I ever expected. Since that trip, I’ve traveled to about 15 other countries completely solo and haven’t looked back.

Solo traveling can be freeing, empowering, and inspiring at times. It can also be tiring, overwhelming, and exhausting at times. There are days when solo traveling might mean going for a magical night hike to see the Northern Lights or cathartically crying as you sit underneath a waterfall that looks straight out of a postcard. And there may be other days where you spend an exhausting night in a laundromat because of a bedbug problem at your hostel or have to teach yourself how to change a flat tire through a buffering YouTube video in the middle of nowhere. The beauty of solo travel is that the experience is all your own and is what you make of it.

Deciding to go alone is one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever given myself, and I hope you’ll decide to take the leap. You won’t regret it. I know I haven’t.

Ed Sheeran is one of the most streamed artists of this era. Although Jay Z respectfully passed on laying down a guest verse on the singer’s Grammy Award-winning track “Shape Of You,” many artists would die to collaborate with him. Sheeran is a hit-making machine (with a few slated to be released after his death) and a media darling. However, in his latest interview with Rolling Stone, it doesn’t seem like that love is reciprocal.

When asked about the media, specifically music critics, in the age of streaming, his response was simple. “Why do you need to read a review? Listen to it. It’s freely available,” said Sheeran adding, “Make up your own mind. I would never read an album review and go, ‘I’m not gonna listen to that now.’”

To be fair that wasn’t the only spicy take he had during the sit-down. “I think there’s two genres. It’s good and bad,” he said. “And I don’t think kids believe in genres anymore, either.”

Sheeran added, “Now it’s just playlists, and kids are like, well, I like this song by this artist, and I like this song by that artist. And it might be a Skrillex song next to a Doja Cat song next to a Kendrick Lamar song.”

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

There are kitten lovers…and then there are Ricky’s grandparents.

When Izzie Grass left her kitten, Ricky, with her parents for two weeks, she had no idea what was in store for her after she got him back. Not only had RIcky been well taken care of, but his adventures with his human grandparents were fully documented in a photobook created by Grass’ mother, which she titled “Ricky Goes to Gramma’s and Grampa’s.”

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The photo album that reads like a children’s book first went viral when Grass shared it on TikTok in 2020. Now it has resurfaced again, and people are clamoring for more riveting Ricky content after reading about how the kitten “helped Gramma do the dishes” and how “Cousin Jasper and Charlie ate most of” the pancakes Gramma made for him.

Check out how adorably extra Gramma is:

@goldfishclub

I’ll never run out of content. #Rickythesquittenkitten #cats #kitten #animals #pets #fyp #foryou #cute #happy #teachersoftiktok

Has any kitten ever been more loved?

“I would die for Ricky, Gramma, and Grampa,” wrote one commenter.

“This is GOLD. I want to see ‘Ricky Learns to Drive.'” wrote another.

“My parents didn’t even put this much effort into making scrapbooks for ME,” shared another.

Grass told Newsweek that her mom told her she made the book because “that’s what she does,” adding, “She is known for creating very sentimental gifts.”

Grass also shared that the book almost didn’t get made because Ricky almost didn’t make it as a kitten. He was brought to the veterinary clinic where Grass worked when he was 9 weeks old to be euthanized.

“The individuals who dropped him off reported that they found a kitten with broken legs and that was throwing up everything they tried to feed him,” she said. “I came back from my lunch early to care for this kitten and in the kennel was Ricky.”

As it turned out, Ricky had some birth defects and health problems that required specialized care, but he didn’t need to be euthanized. Grass took him home but needed a little time to prepare to give him the care he needed.

“My mom stepped up and offered to watch him for a couple weeks while I got a handle of my schedule,” Grass told Newsweek. “It was during this time that she created the book.”

The fact that Ricky had specialized care needs at the time makes Gramma’s photobook all the more endearing.

Now Ricky is now 3 years old and is doing remarkably well considering his health challenges as a kitten.

“He has made so much progress,” Grass told Newsweek. “His esophagus works significantly better, he has learned how to walk, climb and run, and he continues to help me raise other foster kittens. Ricky is very loved and lives the life he deserved to have.”

With a mom and grandparents like he has, it’s not a surprise. Find more videos of Ricky and the animals Grass fosters on her TikTok channel here.

Deadpool 3 has been shaping up slowly but surely. It was all the way back in September of last year that they added Hugh Jackman, who will dust off Wolverine after killing him off back in 2017. Some six months later and they’re still adding actors to the mix. The Crown’s Emma Corrin was tapped as a likely villain back in February. And on Tuesday, a mere two days after Succession’s final season kicked off, they added one of its many top shelf cast members.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Matthew Macfadyen, the show’s resident weaselly future divorcee Tom Wambsgams, is joining the much-anticipated threequel. Who he’ll play is unknown, but THR claims he’ll be a “third wheel” character for Ryan Reynolds’ title antihero and Jackman’s rage-filled mutant. Does that mean he’s another superhero? Or perhaps some meddling bureaucrat forced for whatever reason to tail around with them on whatever misadventure they’re getting into this time? Maybe he’ll play a fastidious dreamboat, as he did when he took on Fitzwilliam Darcy in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice.

The third Deadpool will be Macfadyen’s maiden voyage into the world of superhero movies, though it won’t be his first blockbuster. Back in 2011, he was Athos in Paul W.S. Anderson’s supersized The Three Musketeers. He also had a role in 2017’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. In any case, welcome to the world of capes and stuff.

(Via THR)