Category: News

After more than two decades of torturing parents and offering a horrible example for preschool-aged children, the era of Caillou has finally ended. The Canadian kids’ show started in 1997, kept churning out new episodes until 2018, and now the will be taken off the air, finally.

As a huge fan and ardent defender of PBS—especially the network’s generally excellent children’s programming—it pains me to launch such a passionate criticism. But seriously, how on Al Gore’s green Earth did this show last for this long?

My children were born during Caillou’s early years. Having been raised myself on a steady diet of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, I felt confident that PBS Kids’ shows would be healthy, educational entertainment for my own children as they entered the preschool phase, and for the most part, PBS delivered. In addition to the awesomeness of Sesame Street, my kids got to explore the alphabet through Martha Speaks, dive into scientific questions with Sid the Science Kid, and build reading skills and curiosity with Super Why. My kids loved learning while being entertained, and I loved that they were learning while being entertained.

Then there was Caillou. I’m not sure if I have the words for my depth of loathing for that character, and I’m someone who loves all (real) children. I’m not the only one who feels this way. For years, Caillou has been a running joke in the parenting world, regularly taking first place in the “Most Annoying Kids’ Show” category. Social media erupted in virtual celebration at the news of its demise.

Check out these moms sharing their undying hatred for Caillou:

Moms Share Their Undying Hatred For Caillou

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The agony is real. The first time I watched an episode of Caillou, I was gobsmacked by how whiny, bratty, and tantrummy he was. He’s four, which is a challenging age for sure. But in my opinion, all Caillou did for parents of young kids was make those years even more challenging.

First of all, the whining was absolutely incessant. And his voice made it worse. Like, I don’t know how any parent could sit through an entire episode of Caillou “Waaaaahhh“ing without wanting to poke their ears out with a crochet hook.

Secondly, his behavior was atrocious half the time. The episode where he pinched his baby sister in her crib until she cried? That’s not an idea I’d wanted to plant in my preschooler’s head. The way he talked to other kids? Ugh. Just no.

And therein lies the major problem with Caillou. Preschool-aged kids imitate what they see. That’s the developmental stage they are in. As a parent, I watched every kids’ show through the lens of “Is this how I want my child to behave?” and when it came to Caillou, the answer to that question was “LORDY NO” nine times out of ten.

But honestly, the adults in the show were almost as bad. It would be one thing if the storylines showed parents helping kids how to work through their feelings or problem solve, but Caillou’s mom was bafflingly hands-off. It seemed like there was never any real resolution to the issues, and preschool-aged kids don’t have the capability of processing a character’s emotional story arc to take a moral from the end anyway. Older kids, yes. But the age of kids who actually enjoy Caillou? Nope.

Check out these few clips and see if this is what you’d want your young child imitating:

Caillou Being a Brat Comp.

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I literally didn’t allow my kids to watch Caillou because he was such whiny little douche nozzle, his parents were mostly useless, and I didn’t feel like making parenting any harder than it needed to be.

(For the record, my 20-year-old has thanked me for banning Caillou from our house. She agrees that he would have served as a terrible example to follow and can’t stand to hear his voice either.)

Goodbye and good riddance, Caillou.

From the looks of it, Saweetie is close to releasing her upcoming Pretty B*tch Music album, as the West Coast rapper has increased her activity over the past few months. Following her last release, “Back To The Streets” with Jhene Aiko, Saweetie kicks off her 2021 campaign with her new single, “Best Friend” alongside Doja Cat. If there’s one thing the “Say So” rapper can be trusted to do on her guest appearances, it’s to provide a solid verse to increase the quality of the song and that’s exactly what Doja does. Walking together with confidence, Saweetie and Doja Cat show each other love for their appearance, demeanor, material possessions, and more on the uplifting track.

The song also arrives with a video that finds the two rappers enjoying a day filled with sisterly activities. From brushing off thirsty men (including Netflix comedy mainstay King Bach, who gives the pair a great opportunity to teach a lesson in feminism and call out his virtue signaling ways) and shopping their lives away to skinny dipping and tanning by a pool, Saweetie and Doja show why they’ve given each other the “best friend” title.

The song was the subject of some controversy even before its release, as the “Tap In” rapper called out her label last month for accidentally releasing it early. Then, Roc Nation duo Ceraadi accused Saweetie and Doja of plagiarizing the video’s concept based on previews the two shared online. Luckily, it appears both situations only increased anticipation for an official release. That’s ideal for Saweetie, who is preparing for what appears to be a huge year for herself. The Bay Area act is expected to release her Pretty B*tch Music debut at some point this year, but until then, fans can catch her on an upcoming episode of Grown-ish.

Press play on the video above to hear “Best Friend.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

We’ve said it before and we’re not going to quit beating this drum — Chef José Andrés is an absolute saint and the closest thing the culinary world has to a superhero. While most of us were glued to our TVs yesterday, witnessing insurrectionists descending on Capitol Hill, José Andrés was hard at work making sure the people working long hours and tasked with cleaning up after the chaos were well fed.

A mere four hours after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s 12-hour curfew went into effect at 6 p.m. EST, Andres was loading up 120 pizzas from a Bethesda Maryland Domino’s into one of his World Central Kitchen trucks to feed National Guard members, the D.C. police, and cleanup crews dealing with the damage from earlier in the day.

After the delivery, Chef Andrés then opened his kitchen at Penn Quarter’s Jaleo.

“I don’t know what else to do right now…” Andres posted on Twitter around 1 a.m ET. “Pizzas weren’t enough for everyone… many have been working over 30 hours nonstop. So we turned Jaleo in WCK kitchen cooking 100s of hot stews on this cold night… plus fried egg sandwiches & fruit.”

By 2am., Chef Andrés was behind the grill preparing nearly 700 meals for responders working in the D.C. area. World Central Kitchen CEO Nate Mook shared photos of Chef Andrés in action as well the meals being prepared, which look pretty astounding despite the lack of prep time.

Andrés World Central Kitchen is a non-profit devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters. You can support their mission here.

Veteran DJs Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia will pay homage to their longtime friend and collaborator MF DOOM tonight on their Stretch and Bobbito Radio on Apple Music Hits show, playing exclusive interview’s from DOOM’s original group KMD, as well as bringing in guests from all over hip-hop to salute the late masked rapper, who passed away on Halloween last year, although his death wasn’t announced until New Year’s Eve.

It was Bobbito who helped MF DOOM — formerly known as Zev Love X of ’90s rap trio KMD — reinvent himself, signing the mysterious MC to his Fondle ‘Em imprint in 1999 and recording his Operation: Doomsday solo debut. It’s Bob’s voice that appears at the end of “Rhymes Like Dimes,” offering an iconic ad-libbed outro that has been imitated and appreciated throughout hip-hop ever since.

Stretch and Bobbito were also instrumental to KMD’s initial rise, interviewing the group on their WKCR radio show in the early ’90s. One of those interviews will be unvaulted for the first time in 25 years on tonight’s show, while guests like Dante Ross, El-P, Just Blaze, Pete Nice, and Prince Paul will stop by to reminisce about their exploits with DOOM and discuss his legacy.

You can listen to the show live or on-demand tonight at 7pm PT/10pm ET at apple.co/_StretchAndBobbito.

Pieces of a Woman (Netflix film) — Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf star as Martha and Sean, respectively, who experience an unimaginable tragedy when a home birth goes wrong. Martha then undertakes a yearlong odyssey while coping with grief and her relationship with Sean, which (unsurprisingly) strains under the pressure of their mutual loss. Meanwhile, Ellen Burstyn plays her overbearing mom, and Molly Parker plays the publicly shamed midwife. Look for this movie to be a big awards contender.

Star Trek: Discovery (CBS, 10:00pm EST) — The crew’s still in the midst of their guise while Burnham’s hard work on a mission to help the U.S.S. Discovery get home, and Tilly’s engrossed with helping Stamets.

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (ABC, 8:00pm EST) — This evening’s contestants include the irrepressible Leslie Jones, Chandra Wilson, and Tony Hawk.

The Hustler (ABC, 10:00pm EST) — There might be some melon-stabbing going on while the group takes on trivia questions for money while “The Hustler” among them keeps doing his or her secretive and enigmatic thing.

Jimmy Kimmel LIve — Tessa Thompson, Paul Bettany, Steve Earle

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Ricky Gervais, Daisy Edgar-Jones, The Avett Brothers

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Michael Sheen, Jo Ellen Pellman

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Bill Hader

In case you missed these recent picks:

Cobra Kai: Season 3 — (Netflix series) The good news? This The Karate Kid revival is still as much of an adrenaline shot as the last two rounds. The bad news? It’s also infuriatingly good. After Johnny and Daniel’s combined bad moves contributed heavily to Miguel landing in a hospital bed, Johnny’s looking for redemption. While he does the hard work in the hospital — and Kreese re-takes the dubious reigns of the Cobra Kai dojo, which makes me worried about him instructing Hawk to be even more of an anger-bear monster — Daniel-san heads to Okinawa, where an old rival is ready for him. The soul and fate of every sensei (and their students) are up for grabs.

Vikings: Season 6B — (Amazon Prime) The final ten episodes of the History Channel series are making their debut on streaming first. The epic saga comes to a close with grave consequences from the confrontations between the Vikings and the Rus. Ivar the Boneless has a last reckoning with the King, and there’s unfinished business all over England. Get ready for (of course) a violent and bloody end to the show.

The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: Part Four — (Netflix series) The Riverdale spinoff will come to a (planned) end with this installment starring Kiernan Shipka. This time around, the Devil-afflicted Nick’s attempting to win Sabrina back after surrendering to his darker urges, but The Eldritch Terrors have descended upon Greendale, and The Void could truly be the End of All Things. Can the Fright Club save the day? I’m (strangely) pulling for Harvey over here. And Salem the Cat. Meow.

When we interviewed Mel D. Cole last week about his career shift from photographing hip-hop stars to political flashpoints like Black Lives Matter protests and Trump rallies, we were struck by the psychic distance he was able to take from the chaotic scenes he’d encountered. After decades of living fully in the hip-hop world, knowing and being friendly with those he photographed, he seemed to have adjusted almost immediately to the more distant remove of the documentarian. Even when his own safety was at stake:

I got to the point where, when I would go to these protests and counter-protests, and there were clashes, I would stay on the other side of the barricade. It’s a little bit more interesting, after spending months embedded, basically, with Black Lives Matter, so it’s like, “Why not be on this other side in this?” Especially when they weren’t fucking with me, they weren’t telling me to leave. They weren’t telling me all the classic, “Fuck you. Get the fuck out of here!” kind of shit. I’m like, “I’m going to take advantage of it.”

Is it easy to do that shit, being a Black man? Fuck no! It’s not easy, because sometimes it’s like, “Fuck.” I forget that I have the camera, and I have this white guy yelling — not necessarily at me, but at someone that looks just like me. It’s like, “Fuck.” I want to scream back at him but I just try to keep it as professional as possible.

Cole’s approach to photojournalism was clearly on display yesterday — when he attended the various protests-turned-riots-turned-full-blown-insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The photos below show the acclaimed photographer doing what he does best: telling human stories through his lens. In some cases, that means taking detailed portraits of Donald Trump supporters full of telling details; in others, it means snapping into action to catch moments of drama, as protesters and counterprotesters race to clear pepper spray from their eyes; in others still, it means stepping back and capturing the magnitude of the insurgence through his lens.

Taken all together, Cole’s images have something powerful to say about yesterday’s riots, the scene in D.C., and life in America at the dawn of 2021.

It’s been a hot minute since NBA teams have made the ceremonial trip to the White House that all teams make after winning a championship. Following the Golden State Warriors’ title victory in 2017, the team made it clear that it had no interest in visiting Donald Trump. After that happened, Trump cemented his status as the most middle school president of all-time by posting that they weren’t invited in the first place.

One person who spoke out against Trump after that happened was then-Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, who famously referred to Trump in a tweet as “u bum.”

James’ sentiment that going to the White House was an honor prior to Trump’s arrival in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue must have stuck with him, because according to a new report by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, James and the Los Angeles Lakers would like to bring it back sometime this season. That’s because Trump will be out of office within the next two weeks, replaced by President-elect Joe Biden.

While Haynes reported that there are logistical issues to this — namely the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — getting recognized by Biden is something the organization would cherish, in part because it was unable to have a traditional title celebration due to the pandemic.

Members of the franchise — from players to management — see it as a pleasure and an honor to have their accomplishment recognized by the incoming president, but reconvening the tradition this season shall depend on logistics, sources said.

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The Lakers were unable to celebrate their title among a customary city parade due to the ongoing pandemic, which further adds to the desire to celebrate with Biden, who LeBron James publicly endorsed for president.

The trip, when it has occurred in the past, is traditionally saved for when a team travels to play the Washington Wizards. The Lakers are not scheduled to head to D.C. during the first half of the NBA’s season.

Former Chairman of the House Oversight Committee and current Fox News contributor Trey Gowdy appeared on the show earlier today and lasted all of three minutes before losing it over questions of whether Trump incited the mob that attack Capitol Hill yesterday.

Gowdy spoke to anchor Sandra Smith about the mayhem that broke out on Capitol Hill on the afternoon of Jan. 6th as both the Senate and the House of Representatives prepared to meet to ratify the Electoral College votes of each state which would declare Joe Biden the winner of the presidential election. MAGA followers working with QAnon leaders stormed the capitol building, barreling through police barricades to ransack the building in a truly disturbing attempt to hold Congress hostage and contest the results of the election. And they did so, in part, because Trump encouraged them to.

The president held a rally that same day in D.C., urging his supporters to “march to the Capitol,” telling them “you’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong.” For Gowdy, that seemed like a clear-cut invitation to do violence in his name, but the political analyst lost it a bit when Smith appeared to be naive to the implications of Trump’s words.

“I don’t know how reasonably foreseeable it should be for cops that tens of thousands of people are going to be told to go fight, that an election was stolen from them, to go fight, to blame Mike Pence and Tommy Cotton and Ken Buck and other Republicans…” Gowdy responded when Smith questioned why the security around the Capitol seemed to be lacking.

The anchor interrupted him, asking “Who told them to do that?”

And that’s when Gowdy had had enough.

“Did you listen to the president’s speech yesterday?” he asked incredulously. “Then you tell me. Who said that? Who said go fight? Who blamed Mike Pence and blamed Republicans and said the election was stolen?”

Gowdy went on to bemoan the future of the Republican party, insisting these terrorists needed to be punished to the full extent of the law and speculating what this insurrection means for the upcoming inauguration in a fairly off-the-cuff, frank talk. He also encouraged people to help the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in their search for those who broke the law yesterday and urged his fellow Republicans to step up when it comes to quelling the misplaced civil unrest that led us here.

(Via Mediaite & Raw Story)

It’s been a while since the last episode of UPROXX Sessions, but your favorite performance show is back with a bang for 2021. We’ve got some big surprises planned this year, so stay tuned. For the first episode back, we thought it’d be fitting to host another return — Dallas rapper Dorrough has come through with some “Brand New” heat for the new year, as well as a new identity, Six 3. You may remember Six 3 as the voice behind the 2009 hit “Ice Cream Paint Job,” which peaked at No. 27 on the Hot 100 that year.

While the Lone Star State mainstay never truly went away, releasing albums in 2010, 2017, and 2018, “Brand New” represents a stylistic rebirth — even if it treads familiar territory, content-wise. The time out of the national spotlight hasn’t dulled Six 3’s refined performance at all, and his energy is exactly what longtime UPROXX Sessions fans have come to expect thanks to previous appearances from IV4, Toosii, DaniLeigh, and BRS Kash.

Watch Dorrough’s performance of “Brand New” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

Marvel Studio head Kevin Feige’s Star Wars movie was noticeably missing from the mountain of announcements during Disney’s Investor’s Day, which certainly delivered on its promise to massively expand the franchise, but the secretive project is still moving full steam ahead. Former Rick and Morty writer Michael Waldron has officially signed on to pen the screenplay after working with Feige on the upcoming Loki series for Disney+ and the currently in production Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Via The Hollywood Reporter:

The Feige-produced project was not mentioned during Disney’s recent Investor’s Day and is considered in deep development, a sub-tier the company hopes to keep as secret as possible before bringing it to the fore such as Rogue Squadron, the feature project to be directed by Patty Jenkins.

While little is known about Feige’s film set in a galaxy far, far away, that hasn’t stopped Marvel actors from jumping at the chance to be in a Star Wars movie. Shortly after news of the film’s development took the internet by storm, both Captains Marvel and America threw their hats in the ring. Brie Larson was the first out of the gate with a photo of herself decked out in full Jedi garb while wielding a lightsaber next to C-3PO.

A day later, Chris Evans got in on the act by responding to a Collider tweet asking, “Which MCU actor would you like to see pop up in a #StarWars movie?” Evans’ answer was direct and to the point: “Me.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)