Mid-March is the start of the busy season for the good folks over at TNT Sports, as the NCAA Tournament coverage rolls straight into the NBA Playoffs, where the Inside the NBA crew will be going live almost every night. Going from a weekly show to a nightly show means an awful lot more opportunities for Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal to get on each other’s nerves, and we’ve seen over the past two decades how the two can wear on each other in studio over the course of the postseason.
Chuck’s constant determination to get under Shaq’s skin is part of what makes the show such a delight, and this year as they get ready for the playoffs, TNT is steering into those shenanigans in their ad campaign for this year’s postseason coverage. In a new spot that will debut during the Sweet 16 on Thursday night, which TNT provided to Dime for an exclusive early look, Chuck and Shaq take a trip to couples counseling where they see the good doctor, Julius Erving, to try and work things out before a trust fall exercise goes wrong.
It’s a delightful spot and I’m sure the fellas didn’t have to try too hard to act like they were annoyed with each other. We’ve gotten some great Shaq-Chuck playoff moments like the “one, two, back to one” rant by Shaq and Chuck asking Shaq “who do they mistake you for? Shrek?”, and once they have to sit on that desk together every night again come playoff time, I’m sure we’ll get more for the Chuck and Shaq highlight reel.
We might only have one more weekend left in Women’s History Month, but consider this: women’s history is important all the time! As the prophet Reese Witherspoon once said, “Women’s stories matter. They just matter,” and she said that during a month other than March, so you have to believe her.
Luckily, there are enough shows to entertain you beyond this month, because women’s stories do matter, even the messy and sometimes annoying ones. Here are 10 of the best shows to dive into during the last week of Women’s History Month, and hopefully they will carry you over into April (which is Stress Awareness Month, just so you know). Some of these shows overlap with that, too!
Netflix
Girls5Eva
Nothing says “supporting women” like bringing a show back from the brink of cancellation. Girls5Eva first dropped on Peacock before Netflix stepped in for its most recent third season, which has been getting praise for its new direction and 30 Rock style wit. The show stars Busy Phillips, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell, and Sara Bareilles as a former 1990s girl group who reunite decades later. Who doesn’t love a good comeback story?
In this surprise Netflix hit, Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Beth Harmon, a young chess prodigy who won’t let men get in the way of her promising career — though they sure do try. Harmon struggles with addiction, sexism, and family drama over the years, but she never lets that affect her killer chess moves.
Say a gambit isn’t quite enough for you… why not try a real monarchy instead? The Crown takes the most interesting (and sometimes made-up) parts of the Royal Family and adds in iconic British actors for a dramatic retelling. While every season has its worthwhile plotline, both Emma Corrin and Elizabeth Debicki do an excellent job of telling Princess Diana’s tragic story in seasons four and five.
This Netflix series is not for the faint of heart. Unbelievable tells the story of the two women who piece together the brutal assault of a young woman after a bunch of male police officers don’t believe her. While it truly does seem unbelievable, the events are inspired by a real case where two female detectives teamed up to stop a serial rapist. In the Netflix iteration, the duo is played by the incomparable Toni Collete and Merritt Wever, while Kaitlyn Dever gives a devastating portrayal of a young survivor who is taken under their wings.
It takes a very special show to accurately capture the charm and absurdity of Drew Barrymore, but Santa Clarita Diet is one of the few that did. Barrymore is joined by Timothy Olyphant, Liv Hewson, and Skyler Gisondo for a heartwarming and sometimes gruesome show about loving your family even when they are undead.
As mentioned above, Reese Witherspoon is the patron saint of telling women’s stories, which is why Big Little Lies is one of the best female-centric shows of the streaming age. Add in Nicole Kidman, the patron saint of heartbreak, and you’ve got a prestige hit on your hands. The HBO series follows five women in the picturesque city of Monterey California who become entangled in each other’s very secretive lives. With Witherspoon, Kidman, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Adam Scott, and Alexander Skarsgard, there are enough beautiful people engulfed in drama to keep you busy for a few weeks.
Based on the novel by Liane Moriarty (Big Little Lies), Apples Never Fall tells the complex story of the Delaneys, a competitive family filled with tension and not a lot of love (because of the whole tennis prodigy thing). Four siblings (including Jake Lacy and Alison Brie) investigate the disappearance of their mother Joy (Annette Benning) and quickly learn that she had her fair share of secrets she kept hidden. There are twists, red herrings, and Sam Neill with an American Accent, but most importantly, Benning’s performance is one of her best after her recent Oscar nom.
There is nothing like the strong feminine urge to eat a croissant and sometimes the only way to appease feeling that is to watch the romantic comedy Emily In Paris. Emily (Lily Collins) has various misadventures in love and life in Paris while wearing extravagant and sometimes absurd outfits. It’s not groundbreaking television, but it does feel like sharing a glass of wine with your college friend who studied abroad once and still talks about it ten years later.
Women in power always have a complex backstory! While The Great, starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, is loosely based on Catherine The Great, many of her on-screen storylines are satirical and over-the-top, and the series does not have much historical backbone. However, she frequently gets the ick from her husband, Emperor Peter of Russia, and uses that momentum to overthrow him.
There is nothing quite as validating as learning that you are not the first nor the last woman who has gotten a drastic haircut after a significant breakup. Felicity is just like us! Keri Russell stars as the titular young woman who sets out to New York City to follow a guy, but ends up finding herself instead, thanks to JJ Abrams. Cue the Sarah McLaughlin soft rock and Scott Foley’s puppy dog eyes.
If you are afraid of getting older (who isn’t) then let Grace and Frankie gently guide you through the scary unknown of the future. The sitcom stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as two formal rivals turned best friends after their respective marriages crumble. The two navigate old age and find humor in the very un-funny world of divorce.
Being cast in a Marvel movie used to be like joining a fun and exclusive club with fellow A-listers. Now it’s not a guarantee for helping a career. Actors used to beg to lead their own Marvel film, after all.
Kristen Stewart knows a thing or two about high-profile roles, but she has no interest in working on a Marvel movie. “I will likely never do a Marvel movie .. it sounds like a f—ing nightmare, actually,” Stewart said on a recent episode of “Not Skinny But Not Fat.” She is not the first nor will she be the last to side-step those franchises.
Stewart explained her reasoning, “You would have to put so much money and so much trust into one person … and it doesn’t happen,” Stewart said. “And so therefore what ends up happening is this algorithmic, weird experience where you can’t feel personal at all about it. So likely not,” she added. It’s not like Stewart needs a Marvel movie to stay afloat– she is currently gearing up to make her directorial debut with The Chronology of Water. She doesn’t really need to be running elbows with space villains.
The Love Lies Bleeding actress did say that she would be open to joining the MCU if some big changes were made. “But maybe the world changes, that’s what I’m saying. How could I tell you no when maybe one day … if Greta Gerwig asked me to do a Marvel movie, then I would do it,” she added. It seems unlikely for Gerwig to ever lead her own Marvel movie, but it also seemed unlikely that she would make a movie about a Barbie doll, and look how that ended up going.
The Beatles released “Blackbird” in 1968. Thirteen years later, Beyoncé was born (thank God), and roughly 42 years later, Beyoncé will release a cover of “Blackbird,” which is listed as “Blackbiird” on her Cowboy Carter tracklist. The highly anticipated country album is due out on Friday, March 29, serving as her Renaissance “Act II.” Cowboy Carter also finds Beyoncé covering Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and welcoming Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, and Shaboozey as featured artists.
The Meaning Behind The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” Which Beyoncé Covers On Cowboy Carter
In 2018, Sir Paul McCartney explained to GQ how and why he wrote “Blackbird,” as excerpted below:
“I was sitting around with my acoustic guitar, and I’d heard about the civil rights troubles that were happening in the ’60s, in Alabama, Mississippi, [and] Little Rock, in particular, so that was in my mind, and I just thought it’d be really good if I could write something that if it ever reached any of the people going through those problems, it might give ’em a little bit of hope. So, I wrote ‘Blackbird.’
And in England, a bird is a girl, so I was thinking of a Black girl going through this, you know, now is your time to arise, set yourself free, and take these broken wings. One of the nice things about music is that you know that a lot of people listening to you are going to take seriously what you are saying in the song. So, I’m very proud of the fact that The Beatles’ output is always really pretty positive.”
In 2016, McCartney met Thelma Mothershed Wair and Elizabeth Eckford, two Little Rock Nine members who attended his concert in Little Rock, Arkansas, as relayed by Rolling Stone at the time. McCartney posted a photo alongside them and wrote, “Incredible to meet two of the Little Rock Nine—pioneers of the civil rights movement and inspiration for ‘Blackbird.’”
Incredible to meet two of the Little Rock Nine–pioneers of the civil rights movement and inspiration for Blackbird. pic.twitter.com/QrnOQnqrFX
With Beyoncé set to drop her new Cowboy Carter album in a couple of hours, fans had wondered if she’d be having any special guests on the album — after she revealed the tracklist yesterday. We now know the record will include collaborations with Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, Willie Nelson, and Shaboozey.
However, not many people were familiar with Shaboozey, who will appear on “Spaghettii.” Here’s what to know.
Who Is Shaboozey? Meet The Singer On Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter
Shaboozey is a 28-year-old rising musician from Virginia. He has released two albums influenced by country, including 2018’s Lady Wrangler and 2022’s Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die — which is likely how he ended up on Beyoncé’s radar.
He also contributed a song with Duckwrth called “Start A Riot” to the soundtrack of 2018’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.
For those looking to check out Shaboozey’s recent tunes before Cowboy Carter is out, he has released two singles this year. The first, “Anabelle,” is a catchy blend of rock and country, and is a perfect introduction to his talent as a vocalist. His most recent song is “Vegas,” a slower track that leans more into the country inspiration, as the instrumental incorporates a whistling sound out of a western movie.
Cowboy Carter is out 3/29 via Parkwood/Columbia. Find more information here.
After barely surviving a brutal snow plow accident last year, Jeremy Renner has officially returned to the world of Taylor Sheridan. The actor can be seen in the explosive new teaser for Mayor of Kingstown season 3 where he’s back as tough as nails Mayor Mike McLusky.
The Paramount+ series follows Renner’s character as he rises from a prison inmate who did some dark deeds while behind bars to running the town he swore he would leave. Clearly, Mike McLusky is no angel, but he might be exactly what Kingstown needs as he grapples with the sins of his past and of his own family.
Renner’s return to the role was in doubt following the snow plow accident that left him severely injured. However, the actor has pulled off a surprising recovery that’s left his Avengers co-stars in disbelief at how quickly he rebounded. Renner returned to the set of Mayor of Kingstown in early January, and based on the teaser, he brought his A-game.
Here’s the official synopsis:
MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN follows the McLusky family, power brokers in Kingstown, Mich., where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.
Mayor of Kingstown season 3 premieres June 2 on Paramount+.
Rico Nasty is constantly evolving. When the world first met the Maryland rapper, she was hip-deep in the “sugar trap” subgenre she’d invented — think Lil Uzi Vert’s woozy cloud rap with much more saccharine sounds. Then, she broke out with the fist-pumping rage rap anthem “Smack A Bitch.” But just when fans began to define her by that sound, she shifted again on each of her last two albums, Nightmare Vacation and Las Ruinas.
She’s doing so again on her latest project, HARDC0RE DR3AMZ, a joint EP with German producer Boys Noize. After previously working with Boys Noize on tracks like “Girl Crush” and “Money” with Flo Milli, Rico is leaning all the way into the producer’s EDM trappings on her latest, as seen in the EP’s first single “ARINTINTIN.”
And while her pivot to EDM is only a piece of a larger reclamation of the form by Black artists like Cakes Da Killa, Channel Tres, Duckwrth, and Leikeli47, Rico is naturally going to do things her own way. Uproxx reunited with our first-ever cover star via Zoom and as we vibed like a family reunion, she gave us her take on EDM, traveling, and why rage rap is now “really f*cking boring.”
Is there anything you would like for me to know about HARDC0RE DR3AMZ going into it? I would love to know how this one advances you guys’ previous collaborations, how it builds on those.
Our first song was “Girl Crush” and it was some really cool UK grime mixed with German techno. That was my first experience with Boys Noize and just dance music in general. After that, we did “Money” with Flo Milli, and obviously we did songs in between that never came out. It was super fun watching him go out and perform the song, as well, for hella people. And then it was also fun performing the song and barely have been performing the song and everybody knows it because he’s played it so many times.
I met Alex or Boys Noize through Kenny Beats, which was how I got introduced to the EDCs, the Hard Fest, going to Berlin, going to raves. And early on I tried to incorporate that into the relationships that I have with my fans, how the rave kids be like Blur and shit like that. The rave culture is all about looking out for one another and loving one another. So I try to incorporate that with the moshing and all the other shit that I do. Now, I travel a lot and do a lot of shows overseas and they still love to dance out there, so I just wanted to do something that I never did before and really dive into what that could sound like.
I’m interested to see how your fans react to it because obviously you’re known more for the thrash rap, screamo, sugar trap, that sort of thing. And this is a left turn.
Yeah, but we always do that. I mean, when everybody thought that I was sugar trap, I went rage, and now I just keep growing and liking different stuff and literally f*ck anybody who’s expecting me to make something like “Smack A Bitch” anymore. It’s been years, bro.
One thing I hate the most about music is that everybody thinks you’re just going to drop this project and never drop music again, and they don’t allow you to be an artist anymore. I’m an artist. I want to try sh*t. I want to do stuff I never did before. I’m living my life. I’m going places I’ve never been before, eating sh*t I never ate before. I’m around people I’ve never been around before. Of course, sh*t is going to be different. Because I’m a rapper, I’m going to rap, but sometimes a girl wants to have fun. Sometimes I just want to make music that’s c*nt. What’s wrong with that?
Absolutely. And you know what I think is genuinely interesting about you coming around to EDM is that I’ve noticed an industry-wide thing: Black people have come back to EDM. EDM and hip-hop have always been kind of interconnected.
Yeah. ASAP Rocky and Skrillex.
Even before that …here comes old Uncle Aaron. I’m going to tell you there was a group called the Jungle Brothers back in the ’80s. And they were mixing house in with the hip-hop, and they had a song, “I’ll House You.” And people were like, “What is this?” But hip-hop was so new, it wasn’t like, “Oh, you can only do this anymore. You can’t smile, you can’t dance, you can’t have fun.”
I think it’s the energy of it, man. Truly. Black people have been at the forefront of almost every genre. When you look back on electronic music… like, I said that ASAP Rocky song because I remember being on YouTube really heavy. That was the beginning of shit going viral. And I remember it being like two worlds colliding because at that time it was like electronic music but it was called dubstep at that time.
It’s also weird because I hear so much dubstep influence in hyperpop now. There’s a lot of young Black artists that are in hyperpop and I feel like hyperpop is damn near an art version of electronic music.
I do love the way it’s a conversation. It’s like we start something, it changes, but then when we come back to it, it’s like, “Ah, nah, we going to-
Make something new.
Yes, absolutely. With that being said, what was the criteria for the songs that made it onto this EP as opposed to ones that maybe you held onto or just cut entirely?
I feel like they had to sound like I was making dance music and not too much rapping or too wordy with lyrics to where people can’t … It’s not fun to dance to when you’re thinking so hard. I wanted catchy stuff. “Vvgina” is my favorite song on there because I always wanted to make a really, really sad song a happy song, and that’s what that is.
It’s one of those sneaky ones.
The “Pumped Up Kicks.”
Some Rico Nasty lore that we explored the last time we talked was how much we both loved anime growing up, and I had been working on this piece when Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, died. And I wanted to get you on it so bad and I just didn’t have the time to get you on it.
That would’ve been insane.
I’m just going to ask you a question that I asked everybody. If he was here, what would you want to say to him right now?
He’s a bad bitch. The baddest bitch.
So what’s something that you want people to take away from HARDC0RE DR3AMZ when they listen to it? Like the main idea?
I want them to take away that we’ve become f*cking boring. Everything is so f*cking boring, y’all, and I feel like if you’re going to have fun, whether it’s in the car by yourself or you’re going to have fun, I’ve always provided that space for us to have fun. And I feel like somewhere along this road that I’ve taken with my fans, everything just became being angry. We’re so f*cking mad all the time. We’re screaming. We’re doing all this. It’s like, “Why the f*ck? Why do I have to be like that forever?” That’s what I want them to take away from it. Let’s just vibe, man. Just vibe. Let me cook. Period.
HARDC0RE DR3AMZ is out 3/29 via Sugar Trap/Atlantic Records/Big Beat.
Rico Nasty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
For the past several months, Manhattan Beach, California native Tanner Adell has been pushing her debut album, Buckle Bunny, and its breakout single of the same name, working hard to crack the color ceiling on country music with a unique take on the genre blending hi-hop rhythms with country’s traditional twangy guitars.
She just got a big hand in that regard from Beyoncé, whose Cowboy Carter album is expected to blow the roof off country music completely. And she’s bringing the “Buckle Bunny” singer along for the ride, placing her distinctive voice front and center on “Blackbiird,” Beyoncé’s cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” which appears on the album. So…
Who Is Tanner Adell?
Born in Lexington, Kentucky and raised in Manhattan Beach, Adell taught herself guitar growing up, moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2021 to pursue her dream of country music stardom.
“Buckle Bunny” is her breakout song, and has been bubbling on the periphery of country music’s mainstream, generating a buzz on social media as she works the record with a steady stream of performance videos and social posts, a la Flyana Boss’ “You Wish.” Clearly, her gambit paid off; in the song, which reclaims a sometimes derogatory term for female groupies of rodeo cowboys, she describes herself as “Beyoncé with a lasso.” Now, she’s on a song with Beyoncé herself. That star is on the rise.
Every generation has an iconic villain, like Freddy or Jason or the blue guy from Megamind. But the latest bad guy to wreak havoc on the world is someone who we all thought we could trust as a lifelong friend. His name is Winnie the Pooh and he’s evil now, in case you haven’t heard.
Mr. Pooh is the main antagonist in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, which just hit theaters a year after the demonic bear was introduced in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
The second installment brought in some of Pooh’s evil little friends Tigger, Piglet, and Owl. But the hundred-acre wood story doesn’t end there: the franchise just announced a third installment, aptly titled Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3. There is no rest for this bloodthirsty bear.
According to Variety, the third installment has a much larger budget and introduces Rabbit, who you might remember is a bit of a freak. If you thought Tigger was bad, this bunny definitely has murderous capabilities.
Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey might have initially seemed like a viral marketing joke, but the $50,000 budget film managed to rake in $5.2 million last year, making it one of “the best budget-to-box office ratios in cinema history.” That’s enough money to purchase roughly one million bottles of honey, assuming you weren’t murdered by Pooh on the way to Whole Foods.
Where could we go from here? Don’t worry, the folks at Jagged Edge Productions ensure that there are plenty of spooky stories to tell. The company announced that this is just the beginning of the “Poohniverse” which will feature an Avengers-style take on beloved public domain characters like Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and everyone’s favorite barista, the Mad Hatter.
Meanwhile, Mickey Mouse has his own plan to take over the horror world, so he doesn’t feel too left out.
Hacks, which deftly closes the comedy generation gap, will soon return for its third season, in which Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder are joined by frisky Christina Hendricks. The season has seen its fair share of delays following not only a medical emergency but also Hollywood largely going on strike for six months. Now, the show must go on, and Deadline visited with the cast ahead of the show’s May return.
These interviews went down on location, which brings up an interesting tidbit, given that the show is primarily set in Las Vegas, other than tidbits in Los Angeles and despite the road trip of the second season. How much of the show is actually filmed in Vegas? Well, until this upcoming season, not too terribly much. At least, not the parts that included Jean Smart’s comedienne extraordinaire, as she told Deadline:
Spirits are high this night in Vegas, one of only two or three for the cast and crew this entire season. The show predominantly shoots in LA, and has only completed a couple of days of location shooting in Sin City since the show first began. “This is the first time I’ve shot a single frame of the show in Vegas,” says Smart.
For real? Yes. Einbinder’s character is shown in casinos and such, but it doesn’t appear that she spends too much time in Vegas, either. As she related to Deadline, “I was here for a trip a couple of days between Seasons 2 and 3, and I remember a Blackjack dealer telling me she couldn’t believe we didn’t shoot more of the show here.”
Fortunately, Hacks is not greenscreen-ing it — because that would be bizarre, even for the chainsaw scene — but that’s movie TV magic, y’all.
Hacks returns (with Jean Smart actually in Vegas) on May 2.
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