Month: September 2024

The Atlanta Falcons needed a miracle to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football this week. That miracle came in the form of a 6-play, 70-yard drive that took just over a minute in the waning moments of the game, with Kirk Cousins marching the Falcons down the field in Philadelphia and connecting with Drake London for a game-winning touchdown with only 34 seconds remaining.

Atlanta went on to pick off Jalen Hurts on the ensuing possession to secure a 22-21 win. As for the drive itself, viewers of the ManningCast were treated to some pretty fortunate booking, as longtime Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan joined Peyton and Eli Manning as it happened. In the aftermath of the game, Omaha Productions uploaded the full conversation that the three had during the drive, which you can watch right here.

The thing with the ManningCast — which has been a successful MNF simulcast for ESPN ever since it launched a few years back — is that for all the big name celebrities from outside the world of football that it books, it’s at its absolute best when Peyton, Eli, and someone else who knows the game are able to break things down in real time. The fact that Ryan is a Falcons legend was an added bonus here, but stuff like Peyton getting riled up because Kyle Pitts didn’t hand the ball right to the official after getting a first down and therefore let a few extra seconds melt off the clock is the kind of insight you can only get from a football genius.

There are a few game shows that everyone at home watching thinks they would dominate, because on your couch it’s all so clear in your mind. Wheel of Fortune is the greatest example of a show that really magnifies who can handle the pressure of being on that stage with big money on the line, as the puzzle might be easy to solve at home but things move much quicker behind the wheel with the camera on you.

Family Feud is another game show that is far easier in your living room, as the answers always seem so clear but on that stage with Steve Harvey pressing you for an answer, things can get scrambled. That’s especially the case in Fast Money, when the clock is ticking and you’re just trying to spit out the first thing that comes to your mind. Some can handle that pressure, while others struggle, and on Monday night we got a shining example of coming up big in the moment from Pablo Torre on Celebrity Family Feud.

Torre, playing on David Chang’s team along with Mina Kimes and Michelle Wie-West, was up second in Fast Money and needed an historic performance to win the team $25,000, as they only had 54 of the 200 points needed. Pablo, to the delight of Steve Harvey and his monochromatic olive suit, put up a Fast Money for the ages with 174 points.

Now, it’s important to note that if someone bombs the first round of Fast Money, the opportunity for big points is strong because the top answers are all available. That said, it was an impressive showing to come up with three No. 1 answers from Pablo to get the win (even with a 0) and he now has penned his name in the Celebrity Family Feud history books (I’m not sure they actually keep those) with the highest scoring Fast Money round ever.

Shaboozey’s come a long way from appearing on the Spider-Man: Enter the Spider-Verse soundtrack (that’s him on “Start a Riot” with Duckwrth). He’s since collaborated with Beyoncé on her genre-busting new album Cowboy Carter and reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 with his J-Kwon-sampling single, “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Not bad for a rapper-turned-country-singer who isn’t… you know.

The single’s success has propelled his third album, Where I’ve Been Isn’t Where I’m Going to No. 5 on the Billboard 200 (and No. 2 on the Country Albums chart), and caps the setlist for his ongoing tour for the album. You can check out the setlist below, courtesy of setlist.fm and his show at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, Canada.

Shaboozey 2024 Tour Setlist

01. “Spaghetti (Intro)”
02. “Last of My Kind”
03. “Tall Boy”
04. “Annabelle”
05. “Why Can’t Love Be the Reason”
06. “I Swear On God”
07. “Horses & Hellcats”
08. “Vegas”
09. “Drink Don’t Need No Mix”
10. “No Hands” (Waka Flocka Flame cover)
11. “Turn the Page” (Bob Seger cover)
12. “East of the Massanutten”
13. “Highway”
14. “Let It Burn”
15. “Beverly Hills”
16. “Steal Her From Me”
17. “Finally Over”

Encore:

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” x 3

Shaboozey’s 2024 Tour Dates

09/17 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
09/21 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
09/25 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
09/29 — Denver, CO @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
10/02 — Nashville, TN @ TBA
10/14 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre

Many years have passed since Chris Pratt was simply goofy Andy Dwyer on Parks and Rec. He transformed into an action/adventure star with turns in the MCU and the Jurassic World franchises, and somehow, he became a controversial go-to voice for animated blockbuster movies, but Pratt has also hit his action stride with Prime Video/Amazon‘s The Terminal List. He even very seriously pulled off an underwear-fight scene in the series adaptation of ex-Navy SEAL Jack Carr’s conspiracy-fueled books.

The first season adapted the book simply titled as The Terminal List, but as with Reacher, plenty of source material exists to bounce off for new seasons (and a prequel show also in the works and starring Taylor Kitsch as Navy SEAL Ben Edwards). Now, Pratt isn’t as jacked as Jack Reacher, but he’s doing fine. Let’s talk about what to expect from Pratt’s second season as James Reece.

Plot

Pratt will be back as former Navy Seal James Reece, who previously compiled a death list while seeking vengeance for the murders of his family. The second season of Terminal List will move into adapting Carr’s True Believer book, in which Reece is laying low in South Africa’s nation of Mozambique after being declared a domestic terrorist by the CIA. In the book, the agency locates him and makes him a The Godfather-type offer, and this leads Reece to hop back into the line of fire to search for an Iraqi ex-commando coordinating terrorist attacks. If that sounds complicated, then get ready because because this mission has hidden layers to make it a truly unpredictable ride.

Obviously, we can expect some crossover of James Reese into the Dark Wolf spin off, too, and Pratt has documented his time on the set of that Taylor Kitsch-led series. On the series proper, however, Pratt vowed to give the audience, “more military authenticity and heart-pounding action” because “You spoke. We listened.”

Mayans M.C.‘s J.D Pardo. will also return as FBI Task Officer Tony Layun, although when he promoted Prime Video/Amazon’s Road House (starring Jake Gyllenhaal), he stayed understandably mum on dropping hints. After all, nobody wants to land on a pretend-Terminal List for letting spoilers fly.

Cast

Pratt will lead the vengeance game again, perhaps with Riley Keough in flashbacks as Reece’s late wife. The cast also includes Taylor Kitsch (as CIA operative Ben Edwards, an ex-SEAL Reece buddy) along with Constance Wu, Arlo Mertz, and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Characters who have already been taken out were portrayed by Jai Courtney and Patrick Schwarzenegger.

Release Date

The series has been filming most of this year, so we could see a return in early 2025.

Trailer

No trailer has surfaced yet, but we should see a teaser soon. In the meantime, here’s a complication of first-season action scenes for the adrenaline junkies out there.

Yesterday (September 16), Diddy was taken into federal custody on charges that weren’t publicly specified at the time. Now, we know: Variety reports that according to legal documents, Diddy has been charged with “racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution.”

Diddy is reportedly set to appear before a judge this morning, at which point the charges will be read. TMZ notes that outside the courthouse today, Marc Agnifilo, Diddy’s attorney, said he will “fight like hell” to get Diddy released on bail. CNN also notes Agnifilo told reporters, “He’s not guilty. He’s innocent of these charges.”

Agnifilo also issued a statement following the arrest yesterday. It reads:

“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community.

He is an imperfect person but is not criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation, and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Father John Misty had a critical hit with his latest album, 2022’s Chloë And The Next 20th Century. It’s a tough act to follow, but now he’s ready to do it: Today (September 17), Misty announced a new album, Mahashmashana.

He also shared a video (in portrait orientation, interestingly) today, for the song “Screamland,” a seven-minute dynamic anthem. Meanwhile, A press release notes of the album title, “Mahāśmaśāna (महामशान)— great cremation ground, all things put going thither.”

Watch the “Screamland” video above and find the Mahashmashana cover art and tracklist below, along with Father John Misty’s upcoming tour dates.

Father John Misty’s Mahashmashana Album Cover Artwork

Father John Misty’s Mahashmashana Tracklist

1. “Mahashmashana”
2. “She Cleans Up”
3. “Josh Tillman And The Accidental Dose”
4. “Mental Health”
5. “Screamland”
6. “Being You”
7. “I Guess Time Makes Fools Of Us All”
8. “Summer’s Gone”

Father John Misty’s 2024 Tour Dates

09/17 — Bozeman, MT @ The ELM *
09/18 — Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory *
09/19 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena ^
09/20 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena ^
09/23 — Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center ^
09/24 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center ^
09/25 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s *
09/27 — Glendale, AZ @ Desert Diamond Arena ^
09/28 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena ^
09/29 — San Luis Obispo, CA @ Fremont Theater *
10/01 — San Diego, CA @ Pechanga Arena San Diego ^
10/03 — Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum ^
10/04 — Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum ^

* with Omar Velasco
^ with Kacey Musgraves and Nickel Creek

Mahashmashana is out 11/22 via Sub Pop. Find more information here.

NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson oversees “seven hours of commercial-free football” every Sunday during the NFL season, so it must be a relief whenever he can talk about anything else — especially if it involves Dua Lipa.

Over the weekend, Hanson was doing his fast-talking thing when he noticed a CBS promo for the “Houdini” singer’s interview on 60 Minutes later that night. “And a TV timeout there [in the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals game], you’re not missing anything. We’ll come right back to the score — you could stay with Dua Lipa for a second if you want. No one’s going to complain about that,” he said as a clip of Dua Lipa dancing played. “Apparently that’s on 60 Minutes tonight. We’ll see you then, Dua.”

You can watch that moment here.

As for the 60 Minutes interview itself, Dua Lipa talked to Anderson Cooper about her upcoming Radical Optimism Tour. “I’m still, like, getting my timing while I’m rehearsing, those first beginning notes, the (singing), they’re really fast,” she said. “So I just have to, like, practice to make sure that I don’t slow the song down and miss my timing.” The tour begins in March 2025 and extends to October. You can see the full dates here.

Earlier this month, Bon Iver teased… something. On social media, Justin Vernon shared a black-and-white video featuring a clapperboard doing its thing before revealing Vernon, facing the camera with the brim of his cowboy hat obscuring his eyes. It also linked to his website and included a pre-save link for something without a revealed title.

Well, now we know more about what’s going on: Today (September 17), Bon Iver has announced “SPEYSIDE” (stylized as “S P E Y S I D E”), a new song. The track is set to drop this Friday, September 20, and here’s just about all we know about it at the moment: Aside from Vernon singing and playing guitar, the tune features regular collaborator Rob Moose on viola, with production from Vernon and Jim-E Stack.

There’s currently no word on if this means a new Bon Iver album is on the way. If there is, it would be the first since 2019’s i,i, although Vernon and The National’s Aaron Dessner teamed up to release the Big Red Machine album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? in 2021. Vernon has also delivered a regular stream of collaborations over the past few years, most notably including multiple songs from Taylor Swift’s albums Folklore and Evermore. Most recently, towards the end of 2023, he joined Zach Bryan on “Boys Of Faith.”

At this point in the 2024 presidential election cycle, most celebrities have made it clear where they stand when it comes to their candidate of choice. Pharrell, though, would prefer that most of those celebrities pipe down.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pharrell was asked if he’d let either Democrats or Republicans use his music as part of their presidential election campaigns, and he responded:

“I don’t do politics. In fact, I get annoyed sometimes when I see celebrities trying to tell you [who to vote for]. There are celebrities that I respect that have an opinion, but not all of them. I’m one of them people [who says], ‘What the heck? Shut up. Nobody asked you.’ When people get out there and get self-righteous and they roll up their sleeves and sh*t, and they are out there walking around with a placard: ‘Shut up!’ So, no, I would rather stay out of the way, and obviously, I’m going to vote how I’m going to vote. I care about my people and I care about the country, but I feel there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and I’m really about the action.”

Find the full interview here.

A newly filed lawsuit might have Miley Cyrus smelling the inside of a court rather than fresh roses. According to TMZ, Miley’s Grammy Award-winning and chart-topping hit “Flowers” is being accused of “intentionally copying” a beloved Bruno Mars record.

In documents obtained by the outlet, Tempo Music Investments is looking to restore the intellectual property protections of Bruno Mars’ song “When I Was Your Man.” The company claims to have an ownership in the track’s copyright, which they want the courts to enforce, despite Bruno Mars allegedly not being named as co-plaintiff in the suit.

A representative Tempo Music argued that “substantial” piece of Mars’ track through the melody, harmony, chorus, and even lyrics of “Flowers” are pulled directly from Bruno Mars’ 2012 record.

To be specific, Tempo Music referenced one of the single’s most standout elements, its chord progressions. Later in the filing, Tempo Music accused Miley along with “Flowers” producers and even her record label of having direct access to Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man.”

Tempo Music is seeking financial damages, although the exact amount doesn’t seem to be disclosed. The company is also asking the courts to prohibit Miley from performing the record and ceasing any further distribution of “Flowers.”

The similarities are hard to ignore. Upon “Flowers” release, fans immediately drew attention to it. However, supporters find the lawsuit odd given that Bruno Mars doesn’t appear to be connected in any way.