Beloved series Carpool Karaoke has returned for its second season, which is set to debut on Friday (December 9). Ahead of the series’ upcoming release, Apple has unveiled its lineup of guests, which includes everyone from Duran Duran and Nikki Glasser to Sandra Oh and Hilary Clinton.
Legendary Chicago band Wilco, Ciara and Russell Wilson, and Method Man will also appear in the Apple original series.
The series started as a segment on James Corden’s Late Late Show. The bit would later be developed by Apple TV+ into its own series in 2017. Here are the official descriptions for each episode:
Sandra Oh & Duran Duran: It’s a dream come true for lifelong superfan Sandra when she meets her idols for the first time—and even performs with them.
For All Mankind Cast (Jodi Balfour, Edi Gathegi, Joel Kinnaman, Krys Marshall, Coral Peña, Shantel VanSanten, Cynthy Wu): In space, no one can hear you scream—but can they hear you sing “Spice Up Your Life”? The cast of the Apple Original is determined to find out.
Nikki Glaser & Wilco: The iconic Chicago band goes on an adventure with megafan Nikki, featuring a cameo by the great Mavis Staples and a Ferris Bueller homage.
Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton & Amber Ruffin: Hillary and Chelsea turn to their gutsy pal Amber for support as they sing along to empowering anthems—with an assist from Vanessa Williams.
The Bacon Brothers: This duo celebrates their longtime band by covering songs from other sibling acts—plus, Michael teases Kevin for his years of fashion fails.
Method Man & Chris Redd: From Stevie Wonder to DMX—and even Nickelback—the rapper/actor and comic riff through their playlist and a round of Black Facts.
Ciara & Russell Wilson: The power couple combines their passions as they sing along to Ciara’s bangers and hit the football field for a climactic pass.
Check out the trailer for Season 2 of Carpool Karaoke below.
Today in news that sounds way too good to be true but it is true: Reese Witherspoon is abandoning NFTs and reprising the role of the hardworking, very annoying, but also relentlessly charming Tracy Flick from the 1999 film Election in a sequel for Paramount+. Varietyreports that the film is titled Tracy Flick Can’t Win and will debut on the streaming service Paramount+. The original film’s co-writer and director Alexander Payne is returning as a writer and director. Payne is co-writing the film with Jim Taylor.
In the 1999 film, based on Tom Perrotta’s novel of the same name, Witherspoon played high school student Tracy Flick, who runs an intense campaign for school president. A social studies teacher played by Matthew Broderick attempts to sabotage her campaign. The movie received an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay, Witherspoon was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance, and it won the Indie Spirit Award for best film.
The sequel will be adapted from Perrotta’s follow-up novel (also called Tracy Flick Can’t Win), which came out in June 2022. Here’s a description of the book, from its publisher Simon and Schuster:
Tracy Flick is a hardworking assistant principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey. Still ambitious but feeling a little stuck and underappreciated in midlife, Tracy gets a jolt of good news when the longtime principal, Jack Weede, abruptly announces his retirement, creating a rare opportunity for Tracy to ascend to the top job. Energized by the prospect of her long-overdue promotion, Tracy throws herself into her work with renewed zeal, determined to prove her worth to the students, faculty, and School Board, while also managing her personal life—a ten-year-old daughter, a needy doctor boyfriend, and a burgeoning meditation practice.
Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter will produce the film for Hello Sunshine, a Candle Media company, alongside Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa of Bona Fide Productions, with Perrotta executive producing.
When Armani Caesar dropped her 2020 debut The Liz, it was a fitting vibe for the grungy time we were in. Now that outside is completely open, Ms. Ceasar is once again, stepping to the plate with another fitting vibe for the times in the form of The Liz 2, which was released back in October. 17 songs deep, The Liz 2 features a variety of vibes taken from inspiration across the world.
One stop across the globe The First Lady Of Griselda took after the world opened back up is Houston, Texas, where she came together with the city’s own Beatking and Queendom Come to create “Sike.” In usual fashion, she pops her sh*t on the track, this time over Beatking Kong’s ass-shaking production in the poshest way ever. This week, she released the music video for the club banger, which was shot at a local high school over the course of 16 hours.
Uproxx spoke with Armani Caesar about why a Beatking and Queendom Come feature was a very necessary addition, why strippers make the best A&Rs, and how you can have dinner with her if you want to.
What made you tap in with Beatking?
I’ve always been a fan of Beatking music and early on when we started curating The Liz 2 I knew I wanted some Houston music and he’s Club Godzilla. As soon as I heard the beat and as soon as I heard Queendom, I knew I had to hop on it. I love her voice so it was a no-brainer. I was like “Nah, give me that!”
Were you in Houston when you made it?
No, actually, West (Westside Gunn), sent it to me. He was down in Houston. I just ended up flying out to Atlanta and meeting Beatking. He was playing me some records but that was the one that actually stuck and that’s when I ended up recording it. I recorded it in the A.
Did you play it out there at the strip clubs in the A to test it out, as well?
Plenty. At all the strip clubs. Blue Flame, especially. That’s our little spot. They was definitely fucking with it. It’s a vibe.
Since The Liz dropped during the pandemic and The Liz 2 is us (mostly) out of the pandemic, how are you adjusting?
With The Liz, because when I got signed immediately after the world shut down, I really didn’t have a chance to do anything that a newly signed artist could do. Everything was just kind of in-house and at home, so being able to go out and travel again once the world did start back opening up, I was around different sounds and producers and different environments and catching a vibe that’s why this sound is so eclectic. On certain jazzy songs or songs where I am singing a little bit more on it, we were in Puerto Rico when we recorded those. There’s a couple of them I recorded in Phoenix, a couple in the A, I was just everywhere with it and back in my bag.
Since you’re signed to Griselda, do you think your image, sound, or message gets lost?
It’s good to have a female on there to be able to complete the package. I think it was always West’s intent to bridge the gap to the mainstream artists to not only tap in and work with more of a club sound or a mainstream sound like I have with “Diana” with Kodak Black. It’s still fitting. It’s still me. We all come from the same place so we still have that story. That underrated sh*t, we have to continue to keep proving ourselves. I’ve always been proving myself, I’ve always been the standout, whether it was in the studio with a bunch of guys. Whether it’s me being out in a lane of my own. I’m the only female that is looking like this and acting like this. To be able to get acclaim from various outlets and people who are featuring me and really f*cking with the music and just f*cking with me for just being authentic. I’m not trying to be anyone else but Armani.
The Liz series cover art both have Elizabeth Taylor with a third eye, can you get into what all that means with the third eye?
The picture itself, it’s of the actual painting by Isaac Pelayo. That’s his style. To take classic people whether it be someone famous or influential, that can tie into music. With Elizabeth Taylor, it’s an older picture of her on the first Liz with the third eye and that’s just showing that multi-dimensional side of me. We woke — we know what’s going on. I’m not going to be some female rapping about her ass, titties, and p*ssy. I’m not going to be the status quo. What I look like; there’s so much more. I see beyond a lot of things that are surface-level in this industry.
This new cover is a more youthful Liz. Before, where it was giving classic; that classic boom-bap sound and that classic feel with bars and spitting. This time she’s a little bit younger. She’s more in her prime but still giving elegant. Still beautiful. But also, I’m showing off a more youthful sound and tapping in with different artists that are more mainstream. I wasn’t really too crazy about being on the first one because I didn’t want people to look at my album cover and judge me. Elizabeth Taylor is also someone who played Cleopatra, so there’s the Caesar tie. It’s so many layers, I can be here all day talking about it.
I love it because you came from the strip club world, right?
Absolutely.
So you’re showing that it’s not always what you see. There’s more if you take the time to find out.
Exactly and again, it’s still giving an elegant sound to something that is gritty and grungy and hard, boom bap — but still sitting like a bad bitch with production that is out of this world. Not your typical one-two beat.
Oh, for sure! I think most of the records, club-wise, are broken in at the strip clubs before anywhere else. That’s where you can tell if a girl is making money off it, if guys is feeling it, if girls can really dance to it, and if the energy of the song is right — because it doesn’t necessarily have to be a fast song to do something.
Tell me about shooting the music video for “Sike” with Beatking and Queen.
We shot that in Houston. I flew down there for a couple of days and just tapped in, caught a vibe, and set up to shoot. It was a real fun shoot. It was at a real high school. We got to rent out the locker rooms and the gym. It was an all-day shoot that was probably 16 hours long just because of the different set-ups. They had a crane to get overhead shots. Between me, Beatking, and Queendom doing all of our parts, time was just flying so it didn’t feel like 16 hours.
What time did you guys wrap?
Like 1 or 2 in the morning. We probably started around 10 or 9 o’clock in the morning.
What did you end up doing after to celebrate the video being completed? Or did you go back to your room to rest?
I had a flight to catch so I couldn’t do too much, but I did end up going to the studio after. I had a session. I was wrapping up The Liz 2 when we shot it. This was the first video we shot for The Liz 2.
Never stop working.
Never.
You know how Beatking always has a t-shirt on with a wild-ass saying? What would your own t-shirt with a wild-ass saying?
“Girl, f*ck him.” It’s a vibe. I think a lot of girls would rock that.
I would! What else do you have going on?
I am starting a TikTok campaign for fans to enter to have a free dinner with me. All they would have to do is a video to the song and whoever has the best video will win. We picking a bunch of winners too. We not going to be stingy.
Just TikTok?
TikTok, Instagram, whoever got the best video will get dinner with me.
The Atlanta Hawks entered Wednesday night’s national TV showdown with the Knicks already banged up, with John Collins and De’Andre Hunter both sidelined with injuries, and dealing with internal turmoil after reports of a spat between Trae Young and coach Nate McMillan. A 113-89 loss in New York did nothing to ease concerns about the Hawks, particularly after Dejounte Murray left the game early with a sprained ankle.
On Thursday, Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that Murray is expected to miss two weeks with the injury, meaning the Hawks will be down three starters for the next week-plus at least.
Hawks All-Star Dejounte Murray is expected to miss two weeks with a left ankle sprain, sources tell me and @sam_amick. Atlanta now has Murray, John Collins (ankle) and De’Andre Hunter (hip) sidelined.
That is obviously not an optimal situation to be in, but particularly for a team where depth is not a strength. They are thin at both power forward and point guard behind their stars, and with Murray gone there aren’t a lot of good options. Bogdan Bogdanovic’s return is helpful in providing some backcourt help alongside Young, but without Murray it means a lot more Aaron Holiday minutes (he had to play 30 in the loss to the Knicks).
At 13-12, the Hawks are still in the middle of the pack when it comes to the East playoff picture, currently tied for fifth with the Pacers and Raptors. How far they will slide during this spell without some key contributors will very likely come down to whether Young can find his All-Star form again after a career-worst start to the season, shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 28.9 percent from three-point range. If there’s a silver lining it’s that the Hawks are entering a rather soft stretch of their schedule, facing the Bulls (twice), Magic (twice), Hornets, and Pistons in their pre-Christmas schedule, with games in Brooklyn and Memphis serving as the most difficult tests upcoming.
Top Gun: Maverick could be on a highway to an Oscar nom. The critically-acclaimed sequel to the 1980s classic has been crushing it at the box office, where it’s already circled back for another flyby, and now, the Tom Cruise film is cleaning up on the awards circuit. Top Gun: Maverick just barrel rolled into a Best Film win from the National Board of Review, who also awarded the Joseph Kominski film with Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography.
Could Top Gun: Maverick be on its way to Oscar gold? Quite possibly. If the film continues to lock down accolades heading into awards season that’s usually a good sign that an Oscar nom is on the way. Not always, but the odds are in Cruise’s favor. The sequel has been an overwhelming success with both critics and audiences who not only flocked to see it in the theater several times, but also rocketed Maverick to success on the digital video charts. The film is also set for a Paramount+ release just in time for the holidays where it will almost definitely shatter streaming records.
Of course, the film’s biggest success is getting co-star Glen Powell onto the coveted Tom Cruise Christmas Cake list. Sure, being in one of the year’s top pictures that’s got a clean shot at an Oscar is neat, but joining the elite ranks of cake recipients is the real action. Is an Oscar made with white chocolate, coconut, and an ornate box wrapped by Tom Cruise’s assistant? No. No, it is not.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
If you’re missing Key & Peele, we have some good news for you. Multiple seasons of the Comedy Central series will arrive on Netflix in November, so you can get your Hingle McCringleberry on, right from the comfort of your living room. In the meantime, you can enjoy Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s voices (along with that of Angela Bassett) as they play plotting demons who tangle with a teen who digs punk rock. Watch it on Netflix.
Sorry to Mariah Carey but Lindsay Lohan is taking her place as the rightful queen of the holiday season this year. Her throne sits atop the bones of all the Hallmark movies she had to slaughter to get here and every Netflix Christmas flick that follows in her wake will shudder when those first few bars of “Jingle Bell Rock” begin to play. This is the future every millennial raised on The Parent Trap — and the Disney Channel Original movie Life-Size starring Tyra Banks — has manifested. In all seriousness though, this thing looks cute. Lohan plays a hotel heiress who, after a skiing accident, loses her memory and must live amongst the peasants of a snowy mountain town. While there she bonds with a sheriff/single-dad played by Glee’s Chord Overstreet and, presumably, realizes her former life wasn’t as picture perfect as she thought. Watch it on Netflix.
Thank goodness Henry Cavill didn’t sign on to play Superman again before filming this sequel, or there’d be another The Witcher-esque switcheroo in the works. Cavill is back, but more importantly, Millie Bobbie Brown returns as the sassy younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. One of the bigger plot finds roots in the real-life Bryant & May match factory atrocities, but somehow, the overall mood stays light. Enola sets up her own detective shingle and goes undercover, so you can only imagine what hijinks will ensue. Watch it on Netflix.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story stars Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe as “Weird Al” Yankovic, obviously. The fake biopic depicts the world’s premier polka-loving pop song parodist as a hard-drinking sex maniac, obviously. It also stars Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey, and Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento, obviously. Should you watch Weird: The Al Yankovic Story this weekend on the Roku Channel? Obviously.
Well, guess what: Scrooge is back. In animated form. In a trippy new animated story that features the voices of people like Luke Evans and Olivia Colman. Which is… fine. It’s fine! There’s a reason this story has been told 800 times. People love it! Now, you could just watch The Muppet Christmas Carol instead, if you want. That’s an option. But this is here now, too. So there’s that. Watch it on Netflix.
Netflix dives into another extremely British tale of class-crossing love affairs, this one based on a novel from the 1920s that was banned in many countries for obscenity but is now just a movie you can watch by clicking the button next to, like, The Crown. It’s kind of wild if you think about it, so… let’s not! Watch it on Netflix.
Amy Adams returns in her breakout role, but she’s a princess who actually isn’t having as much fun as she imagined would be the case. Giselle is still married to Robert (Patrick Dempsey), and they’re still searching for their fairy tale. Maya Rudolph climbs onboard for a semi-evil role as a villain of suburbia, and this is all very G-rated material again because c’mon, Disney. The story will be as charming as always, but the real attraction is James Marsden’s returning Idiot Prince. Basically, I just want the Idiot Prince to get plowed down at every opportunity again. Watch it on Disney Plus.
Bullet Train is chaos. Bloody, funny, frivolous, superficial chaos. Nothing and everything happens in this film about a group of assassins all vying for a briefcase that may just offer the biggest payload of their respective careers thus far. It’s jam-packed with action — the fast-paced, tightly-choreographed kind that gives you whiplash if you stare too long – and with a cast of A-listers, the best of which being Aaron-Taylor Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry, who play a pair of Brit brothers constantly bickering on the job. It’s got enough twists and surprises to keep you entertained plus Brad Pitt unironically sporting a bucket hat for its two hour runtime. It’s just plain fun. We wish there were more movies like it out there. Watch it on Netflix.
Apple TV+ is getting into the Christmas movie game with this musically inclined re-telling of that classic Dickens tales. Ryan Reynolds plays the modern-day Scrooge here, a guy named Clint Briggs who doesn’t take his holiday haunting lying down. Will Ferrell plays the Ghost of Christmas Present who’s determined to inject a bit of cheer into the proceedings no matter how many musical numbers and tap-dancing solos it takes. As far as Charles Dickens adaptations go, you could do a lot worse. Watch it on Apple TV Plus.
In the mood for some space-related superhero business this holiday season? Great! Why not?! Here we have the Guardians of the Galaxy — Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Kevin Bacon a little bit — doing a bunch of Christmas things, for you, all month long. Is it kind of cute and sweet? Sure. Would we pay decent money to have our own lil Groot decorated like a Christmas tree? Of course. Would it be fun if they made a movie next year where Hulk had to take over for Santa due to an emergency? It’s worth considering. But for now, there’s this. Watch it on Disney Plus.
The Reno 911! gang is back, ringing in the holidays with a nod to It’s A Wonderful Life, decaying shopping malls, and American weirdness. Not to oversell, but this laugh-until-your-face-hurts special once again proves that Tom Lennon, Niecy Nash, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Cedric Yarbrough, and company are operating at the top of their game as a collective. Watch it on Comedy Central.
Guillermo del Toro made a stop-action version of the classic “liar puppet becomes a real boy” story and guess what: it’s great! Smart people are saying it’s the best Pinocchio since the first one, which is both high praise and a decently sick burn on the other version that just came out a few months ago. Either way! Feels like a fun one to watch with the family over the holidays. It’s definitely better than, like, talking. No one wants to do that. Let the adorable wooden puppet fill the air with his sweet journey toward being a human. Watch it on Netflix.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
Imagine if Lost took place on a transatlantic steamboat and you’ve got the gist of this mystery-drama. Made by the same twisted geniuses that gave us Netflix’s Dark series, this show follows a group of passengers hailing from all over Europe who find themselves stuck on a cursed ship bound for America. After the recent disappearance of another company ship months earlier, everyone on board is a bit on-edge and the tension only escalates when passengers start dying, weird time loops start popping up, and a boy who should be dead arrives with an ominous-looking pyramid that makes everything go haywire. Watch it on Netflix.
Sylvester Stallone portrays a mafia capo who’s not swimming with the fishes. However, he might as well be on Mars in this Taylor Sheridan-created series that takes him to Route 66 and the land of the Golden Driller. Tulsa’s experiencing a hotspot-like effect these days in the midst of Reservation Dogs and following Watchmen, but it’s going to be quite pleasurable to see him as the O.G. who’s dropping a “nice little place you got here” in a weed dispensary. This show looks to be full of 1980s-style one-liners that could put the Sly and Arnold movies of yesteryear to shame. Watch it on Paramount Plus.
Yes, Rob Zombie and Tim Burton are all up in the goth-nostalgia resurrection this fall, but while Zombie veers into wild kitsch, Burton decided to reinvent his character’s mission a bit while creating a “eight-hour Tim Burton movie.” Call it a passion project, of course, while Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán step in as Morticia and Gomez, respectively, and Jenna Ortega slides into view as the title character. Don’t expect a typical reboot feel. Rather, Wednesday is on some missions here, and the show justifies its existence as a separate entity. Watch it on Netflix.
How do you end a show the “right” way? Do you try to say something profound, pay off longtime viewers with fan service, or end with a shocking twist? For Dead To Me‘s just-released final season, the answer is an emphatic yes to all of the above as creator Liz Feldman delivers a triumphant close, leaning on the otherworldly onscreen chemistry of stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as they lead us through the twisty chaos of the show’s central story while dealing with heavy matters of life, family. love, and death before ending on high with a tear and a tease. Watch it on Netflix.
The first season of this spy drama was a trip. There were twists and turns and Emma Corrin from House of the Dragon and at one point Gary Oldman’s character farted himself awake. It was a pretty good time, even if it got dark at times. If you worked your way through season one, it’s time to dive in again. If not, it’s a great time for a binge. You have lots of options, is the point. Watch it on Apple TV Plus.
Surprisingly enough, reboot fatigue didn’t happen here. This series sparked enough interest to generate another season of a show that doesn’t have Penn Badgley, Blake Lively, Chace Crawford, or Sebastian Stan, but it’s still got scandal. Gossip Girl’s pulling plenty of strings, of course, while soaring through Manhattan’s most elite circles. As well, the show manages to stand apart from the original with plenty of rightful drama revolving around the new gang. Even if this series doesn’t seem like your type of show, you might not be able to resist getting caught up in the glossy-trash vibe. Watch it on HBO Max.
The Royal family can’t be thrilled about this docuseries that follows not too long after The Crown (fictionally) made Prince Charles look like the pettiest of future kings. This Netflix project follows up on Meghan Markle’s allegations of not-so-great treatment from the Windsors and Prince Harry’s decision to essentially put half a world between all of them. So get ready for all of the controversy to spill forth and for Piers Morgan to probably blow a few fuses in the aftermath. Watch it on Netflix.
It’s easy to think of Mythic Quest, now in its third season, as Rob McElhenney’s “other” show, but that would be a mistake. Yes, sure, he’s best known for the incredibly long-running Always Sunny, which is fair because that show rules. But this one is great, too. It’s sweet and mean and funny and everything a workplace comedy — this time in a video game studio — should be. No television show did a better job of grasping the pandemic while it was still new and really scary, too. Do not miss this because you relegate it to second-tier Mac status. This is the good stuff, too. Watch it on Apple TV Plus.
The downside of ambition is explored as sleights move from fuel to an acid rotting the man behind Chippendales to his core even as his creation — clubs featuring all-male strip shows — approaches the apex of its popularity. Starring Kumail Nanjiani in arguably his best work, this 8-episode event series leans into the debauchery of the ’80s as it tells a (true) story about an awkward, hard-working immigrant who dreamt of becoming the next Hugh Hefner before self-destructing. Watch it on Hulu.
Brendan Fraser’s back as the eternally frustrated disembodied brain inside of a robotic body. It is his finest performance (yes yes, we know there’s Oscar chatter elsewhere), and he’s backed up by Diane Guerrero as many iterations of Crazy Jane, along with Matt Bomer as Negative Man, April Bowlby as Elasi-Girl, and Jovian Wade as Cyborg. DC’s misfit superheroes are facing what might be certain doom, but at least some of them other than Fraser’s Cliff got to have a collective orgasm already. Watch it on HBO Max.
I hear what you’re thinking here. The title of this show doesn’t sound particularly fascinating. Maybe it even sounds a little bit pretentious. Yet this show’s actually a satiric little jaunt that turns marriage-divorce drama on its head. Jesse Eisenberg plays the dude whose wife, played by Claire Danes, leaves him and then quite literally leaves the building. He’s suddenly in the midst of parenting and awful dating experiences, and all of this wouldn’t be as fascinating if Eisenberg wasn’t so good at being awkward. He’s flanked by Lizzy Caplan and Adam Brody (there are worse companions out there) while trying to find his way. Watch it on Hulu.
The first season of Abbott Elementary was a feel-good network sitcom that caught a massive wave of popularity and won a bunch of Emmys in a time when feel-good network sitcoms are kind of not supposed to do that. Credit for this goes to creator and star Quinta Brunson, who realized that an underfunded inner-city public school was exactly the right place to show us people with good hearts working inside a system that can be cold. Kind of like Parks and Recreation but in Philadelphia. The second season is underway and does not appear to be missing a beat. This is basically a miracle, all around. Watch it on Hulu.
The first season of The White Lotus took the world and the internet by storm with its combination of misery and drama and beautiful Hawaiian scenery. Season two takes the action to a new resort in the White Lotus chain, this one in Italy, and replaces almost the entire cast. “Almost” being the key word here because Jennifer Coolidge is back as Tanya. Which is good. More shows should be about Jennifer Coolidge going to fancy hotels around the world. This is a nice start. Watch it on HBO Max.
We believe that while certain beer styles fit better during specific times of the year, there are also beers that can easily be enjoyed any day and any old time. Winter, spring, summer, or fall. And there might be no better, do-it-all, any-time beer than the classic, crisp pilsner.
Just think about it…
If you had to commit to one beer style to drink in the middle of a long stretch of humid summer heat AND the frigid, winter chill, which style would you want? We think the pilsner is the only correct answer. This straw-colored, crisp, easy-drinking beer goes down easy whatever the weather.
Since pilsners are great any time of year, they’re also a perfect respite from the robust, rich stouts and porters of the season. But instead of simply grabbing just any pilsner, we suggest trying something a little underappreciated and undervalued. Keep scrolling to see eight great underrated pilsners, ranked by overall flavor.
We know that Miller High Life is referred to as the “Champagne of Beers,” but it doesn’t have the word in its name and it definitely doesn’t mention velvet anywhere. This crisp, easy-drinking pilsner’s name conjures up images of velvet paintings, good times, and no-frills beer.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is all cereal grains, sweet malts, citrus, and light pine. It’s not overly exciting by any means. The flavor follows suit with light citrus, caramel malts, and gently bitter pine. It’s not a very flavorful beer. It’s light, fairly watery, and… serves its purpose.
Bottom Line:
Upland didn’t make this beer to blow the beer community away. They made it to bring back a crisp, easy-drinking, no-frills beer. That’s all it is.
This German-style pilsner is named for the city where Destihl is brewed (Normal, Illinois). It’s known for its light pale color, floral hops, and bready malts, it’s a crisp, refreshing beer for any time of year.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find light citrus zest, bread-like malts, sweet cereal grains, and lightly floral hops. The palate follows suit completely with caramel malts, citrus, and herbal hops. It’s crisp, sweet, and fairly simple.
Bottom Line:
Destihl Normal Pils might be the most aptly named beer. It tastes just like a “normal” pilsner. It’s not going to blow your mind, but it’s pleasant enough to come back to again and again.
This crisp, simple German-style pilsner has been brewed by Breakside since 2012. It gets its classic flavor from the addition of Pilsner and Carapils malts as well as Hallertau, Liberty, and Mittelfruh hops.
Tasting Notes:
Before your first sip, you’ll find aromas of cereal grains, sweet honey, bready malts, and floral hops. Drinking it reveals a more bready malt backbone followed by light citrus, honey, and herbal, earthy hops at the finish. It’s well-balanced but fairly light in the flavor department overall.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for an easy-drinking, classic German-style pilsner with little to no frills, this is a great beer choice for you. If you’re looking for more flavor, look elsewhere.
This straw-colored, 5.5% ABV German-style beer is authentic as American-made pilsners can get. Brewed with both German hops as well as German malts, it’s known for its clean, crisp, slightly sweet, floral flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Bready malts, honey, cereal grains, lemon zest, and freshly cut grass greet your nose before your first sip. The palate is highlighted by notes of cracker-like malts, fresh hay, cereal grains, citrus zest, and herbal, floral, slightly bitter hops. It’s light, refreshing, and balanced.
Bottom Line:
Highland Pilsner is a great beer for authentically made American pilsners. Its German malts and hops give it a traditional flavor profile that’s sure to impress pilsner fans.
This 4.9% ABV Kellerpils-style beer is made with a mix of Colorado malts and Czech hops and yeast. It’s a crisp, balanced beer that bridges the gap between old-world techniques and American craft beer.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a symphony of sweet grains, yeast, citrus peels, fruit esters, and floral, herbal hops. The palate continues this trend with more yeast, bready malts, freshly cut grass, lemon zest, and herbal, earthy hops trying everything together. The finish is dry, crisp, and refreshing.
Bottom Line:
TRVE Cold is a little different from some of the other pilsners on this list — it’s a kellerpils, sublimely dry and highly drinkable.
Another kellerpils, Crooked Stave Von Pilsner is brewed using floor-malted barley and German hops. It’s unfiltered, clean, and loaded with sweet malts and floral, herbal, and slightly bitter hops. It was crafted to taste like a traditional pilsner like those made for centuries.
Tasting Notes:
Cereal grains, pilsner malts, lemongrass, and earthy, herbal piney hops are prevalent on the nose. On the palate, you’ll be treated to more lemon flavor, cereal grains, bready malts, yeast, and mineral, earthy, floral, slightly bitter hops. The finish is a gentle mix of sweetness and bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This beer ticks all the pilsner boxes. It has a nice malty backbone, light citrus, and a nice hoppy bite. It’s very well-balanced and highly refreshing.
You might have some difficulty pronouncing this beer’s name, but you shouldn’t have any problem drinking it. According to Urban Chestnut, “Stammtisch” is a German word used to refer to a table of regulars at a bar or restaurant. It’s brewed with Hallertau and Strisselspalt hops and is supposed to be enjoyed with your group of “regulars.”
Tasting Notes:
Complex aromas of bready malts, cereal grains, clover honey, pale malts, and grassy, herbal hops start everything off well on the nose. Drinking it brings forth flavors of yeast, fruit easter, bready malts, honey, citrus zest, and herbal hops. The finish is sweet, malty, and memorable.
Bottom Line:
While this pilsner is fairly well-balanced and loaded with flavors, it’s maltier and sweeter than some of the other beers on this list and it’s definitely not a bad thing.
Half Acre is the type of brewery that makes only great beer. Its Pony pilsner might not have the accolades of some of its other beers, but it deserves your attention. This year-round pilsner is known for its mix of bread-like sweet malts and herbal, floral Noble hops.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is fairly light with cracker-like malts, honey, lemon zest, wet grass, and herbal, piney hops. The palate picks it up a bit with notes of lemon peel, orange zest, honey, cereal grains, bready malts, and floral, herbal, Noble hops. It’s crisp, clean, and highly drinkable.
Bottom Line:
It’s tough to pick between a handful of well-made pilsners and choose only one winner since they’re all fairly similar. But Half Acre’s Pony Pilsner is totally crushable while also being filled with flavor. A truly memorable beer.
There was a celebratory atmosphere across the world of sports, as Griner’s detention for the minor offense of having hashish oil cartridges in her luggage has been a dark cloud over basketball and only exacerbated tensions between the United States and Russia. However, some chose to express frustration rather than celebrate the swap the Biden administration agreed to, as it meant U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who has been in Russian custody for four years, was staying there. Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons was among those, as his tweets following the Griner news breaking became quite the talking point online.
TwitterTwitter
Many were quick to point out to Parsons that he needed to study up a bit more on the situation, with his mentions being flooded with replies linking to the Whelan family’s statement, which noted their disappointment that Paul remained in Russia but commended the administration for getting a deal done rather than waiting for one that would never be available.
NEW from the Whelan family: “There is no greater success than for a wrongful detainee to be freed & for them to go home. The Biden Admin made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, & to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to..”
That’s never what you want, and unsurprisingly Parsons tweeted out an apology later noting that he had spoken with people he trusted and further educated himself on the situation, noting his initially tweet was “out of emotion.”
Twitter
It’s honestly a good lesson to us all in these situations where we are encouraged to have a take immediately about a lot of things that are incredibly complex that it’s often best just to not tweet. Parsons quickly learned that lesson as someone with a massive platform, and as he noted in his apology, this was the best that could be done in the situation based on all the reporting available to us publicly. Matters of foreign diplomacy, particularly those involving a regime like in Russia that’s not friendly with the U.S., are quite delicate and complicated, and even if you’re one of the best players in the NFL, it’s just an area well outside most of our expertise.
That said, Pass Rush Limbaugh is some inspired work from the internet and that’s something we can all enjoy.
There’s a lot you can tell about a person by their search history (unless they’re a murder-mystery writer, in which case no one should jump to conclusions). And our search habits on the whole can tell us a lot about ourselves as a collective as well.
For better or for worse, what we look up on the internet is an indicator of what we care about, and Google’s Year in Search report gives us some insight into what we cared about this past year.
There are reports for different countries as well as a global report. Let’s start with what my fellow Americans looked up, shall we?
To be clear, these search terms were not the “top searches” or “most searched terms” on Google, but rather the top trending searches—the search terms that had a high spike in traffic over a sustained period of time as compared to the year before.
The top 10 trending searches for 2022 overall:
Wordle
Election results
Betty White
Queen Elizabeth
Bob Saget
Ukraine
Mega Millions
Powerball numbers
Anne Heche
Jeffrey Dahmer
Wow, right? Some of these things don’t seem right. I know pandemic time is weird, but Wordle was a 2022 phenomenon? (Am I the only one who would have sworn that happened way earlier in the pandemic? I guess when you play a game every day it makes it seem like a lot more time has passed.) And Betty White? (To be fair, she passed away on the very last day of 2021, so all of the tributes and whatnot happened in 2022.)
Queen Elizabeth, of course. Ukraine, ugh, yes. The fact that Jeffrey Dahmer is on here is both a testament to the power of Netflix and a disturbing insight into people’s morbid curiosity.
Anne Heche, tragic. Bob Saget, sad. Election results totally depends on your perspective, but glad to see people caring about the democratic process.
The Year in Search categories are telling as well.
For people, we had:
Johnny Depp
Will Smith
Amber Heard
Antonio Brown
Kari Lake
Anna Sorokin (Delvey)
Chris Rock
Andrew Tate
Adam Levine
Serena Williams
I just don’t think there’s even a need to comment about most of these. Yikes.
And oof, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” What a beautifully done film.
Musicians and bands is an interesting mix:
Adam Levine
Mary J. Blige
Lil Tjay
Kendrick Lamar
Migos
Tommy Lee
Kate Bush
Ricky Martin
Young Thug
Foo Fighters
Eclectic, no? Some of these I can connect to specific things that happened this year, like Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” going viral from its appearance in “Stranger Things” and Foo Fighters from drummer Taylor Hawkins’ death, but some are a mystery to me. Maybe I don’t want to know.
Let’s move away from entertainment and head to food.
Here are the top recipe trends in the U.S. for 2022:
Sugo
Cincinnati chili
Marry me chicken
Quick pancake
Mango pie
Green goddess salad
Jennifer Aniston salad
Grinder sandwich
Bella Hadid sandwich
The Bear spaghetti
Marry me chicken? I might have to Google that myself. (Don’t tell anyone, but I’m also going to Google “sugo” because I’m embarrassed to admit I have no idea what that is.)
Speaking of Googling things you don’t know—want to see what definition searches trended in 2022?
Rupee
Oligarch
Cacao
Homer
Recession
Canny
Foray
Trove
Saute
Tacit
So curious about what prompted most of these trends.
All of the above can be found on the published Year in Search lists, but Google also sent us some trends that didn’t make it into the list, such as:
Is it true that …
Is it true that TikTok is posting drafts?
Is it true that the pinky is the middle finger in China?
Is it true that Putin has cancer?
Is it true that coffee stunts your growth?
Is it true that cats have nine lives?
Is it true that Fortnite is ending?
Is it true that Queen Elizabeth died?
Is it true that Chuck Norris died?
Is it true that if you dream about someone they went to sleep thinking about you?
Is it true that Yahoo is shutting down?
What is …
What is NATO?
What is monkeypox?
What is rsv?
What is Wordle?
What is aphasia?
What is a NFT?
What is a recession?
What is vabbing?
What is Roe v. Wade?
What is the Wordle today?
How to be …
How to be a good mother?
How to be a better lover?
How to be perfect?
How to be an adult in relationships?
How to be a verified fan on Ticketmaster?
How to be a nun in BitLife?
How to be emo?
How to be that girl?
How to be enough for someone?
How to be a fashion designer in BitLife?
OK, wait. I am perpetually online and I have three teen/young adult kids. How have I never heard of BitLife when it’s in two of these “How to be” trending searches?
I kind of love “How to be an adult in relationships?” Kudos to those trying.
Interestingly, many of the global trends were similar to the U.S. searches, showing how interconnected we all are. However, the global recipes trends are very different:
It’s been quite a year and it’s good to take a moment to remember and reflect on all that’s happened in 2022. There were a lot of big things—the war in Ukraine, the passing of Queen Elizabeth and Betty White, our collective obsession with Wordle, and more. It’s also telling what’s not in these trends—notably, most references to the COVID-19 pandemic (which we are still in, despite most people being over it at this point).
Kind of makes you wonder what trending searches 2023 will bring, doesn’t it? Let’s make “street tacos” and “world peace” happen, please.
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