Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman had the longest of mistiest paths to becoming a TV show, three decades after the DC Vertigo comic’s debut. The hesitation was down to the fantasy author resisting several awful movie attempts, and too much could have gone wrong in adapting the infinitely layered fantasy story, but Netflix brought a lugubrious and stunning spectacle to life, full of Life Amid Death as the first three graphic novels were initially adapted.
The second season has taken years to come together, which isn’t unheard of for a Netflix fantasy series with heavy VFX. Sadly, however, this could also conceivably be the final season, given that several Gaiman projects (like Amazon’s Good Omens) have been cut short, cancelled, or apparently indefinitely paused in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against the author (as initially reported by Tortoise Media). Those accusations do make the show’s bonus “Calliope” story hit differently than when the episode first surfaced, but The Sandman‘s second season is still coming, so let’s (awkwardly) sift through what we can expect.
Plot
No doubt, the lead-up to this second season has been handled differently than the show’s debut, given a hard-to-ignore backburnering of Gaiman, who was previously front and center in Netflix’s behind-the-scene looks and not even mentioned in featurette counterparts, which instead now have showrunner Allan Heinberg in the spotlight. In the below Netflix video, star Tom Sturridge has revealed that Morpheus/Dream is now cleaning up the mess that he has created, “the consequences of which are enormous,” and which place him “in a place of rebuilding.” Heinberg adds that Dream “has reclaimed his stolen tools and missing dreams, and is now focused on rebuilding his realm and attending to his duties,” but “the sins of his past [will] catch up with him and make that impossible.”
How many episodes will we see? The first season brought 10 initial episodes and a bonus hour, but Netflix has not offered a count for the second season. However, Redanian Intelligence has passed on the rumor that we could see 12 new episodes of The Sandman when the show returns. This seems too good to be true, so we will await official word on that note, but the second season will leap headlong into Season Of Mists, the fourth graphic novel (that is considered the favorite volume of many The Sandman fans). Among countless other threads, Morpheus will go head-to-head again with Gwendoline Christie’s Lucifer, who will be Hell-bent upon revenge, but Dream also has much personal business, long after he condemned his lover, Nada, to Hell.
– “The Song of Orpheus”
– “More Devils Than Vast Hell Can Hold”
– “Brief Lives”
– “Family Blood”
– “The Ruler of Hell”
– “Season of Mists”
In addition to plenty of Lucifer, a family dinner will being The Endless fully together with more siblings including Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, Adrian Lester as Destiny, and Barry Sloane as “The Prodigal”/Destruction. We will also meet Clive Russell as Odin and Freddie Fox as Loki.
Also, the once-hypothesized Johanna Constantine spin off is surely off the table, but Jenna Coleman did tell Screenrant that her character is back. She added that the already gorgeous series will be “probably more visually stunning than it was the first year,” and that the scale of the series has grown. From that statement, we can assume that, as Gaiman previously disclosed, this is has remained a very expensive series to produce.
That detail doesn’t bode well for a third season to dive further into the The Sandman‘s ten graphic novels, especially given the troubled status of other Gaiman adaptations. For that to happen, viewership would need to be huge.
Cast
Returning members of the Endless include Dream/Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), and Despair (Donna Preston). New siblings include Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, Adrian Lester as Destiny, and Barry Sloane as “The Prodigal”/Destruction. As noted already, Gwendoline Christie will reprise Lucifer, and Jenna Coleman will return as Johanna Constantine.
New characters will include Orpheus, son of Dream (Ruairi O’Connor), Puck (Jack Gleeson), Wanda (Indya Moore), Nuala (Ann Skelly), Loki (Freddie Fox), Odin (Clive Russell), and Cluracan (Douglas Booth).
In the voice acting realm, Patton Oswalt will be back as Matthew the Raven, and he will be joined by Steve Coogan as Barnabas the dog.
Release Date
Netflix hasn’t pinpointed a release date yet but committed to The Sandman gracing dreams again in 2025.
Trailer
Without a proper trailer, the suggestion is that the series won’t return until at least summer, but if you did miss the bonus episode with “A Dream Of A Thousand Cats,” this episode previews that story as well as “Calliope.”
Black Doves might be the perfect streaming spy series. That’s a sweeping statement amid a sea of streaming spy shows, but I’m sticking to it. The Keira Knightly and Ben Whishaw-starring series features inexplicably likable characters despite the awful things that they do. The story is John Wick-like with a cozy holiday backdrop and no amount of schmaltz. The action is well choreographed and the comedy black. And perhaps most importantly, the six-episode first season is tightly paced and sharply written.
Did the season leave viewers wanting more? Well yes, but also, the season did not contain a second of wasted time. No superfluous side stories surfaced, and the season still managed to flesh out full-fledged and rounded characters and backstories amid martial arts and gunfire. Viewers could take comfort in knowing that a second season had already been announced, so Helen and Sam’s best-friend dynamic would continue onscreen. Yet a natural question exists, which is whether the next season will be of longer duration.
How Many Episodes Will Be In Black Doves Season 2?
Netflix hasn’t officially spoken on the subject, but it’s important to note that the series was publicized on the streamer’s social media accounts as “a six-episode spy thriller.” This could have been a preemptive measure, so that people wouldn’t expect an eight or ten episode season and feel disappointed after six hours of viewing time. That element of surprise was a leading reason why The Diplomat fans were so upset when the Keri Russell series dropped a second season cliffhanger after six episodes when the first season held eight. Amid that backlash, showrunner Deborah Cohn revealed that the next season would be eight episodes long.
Whereas Black Doves was very upfront about a six-episode structure going into the first season, so it’s likely safe to assume that this is the same plan for the future. And sure, a slight bitof obligatory grousing about six episodes did happen on social media, but the overwhelming sentiment is that Helen and Sam’s spy-assassin pairing was perfectly packaged, and they’re looking forward to more. Communication rules, and these gloriously messy characters cannot return soon enough.
Black Doves‘ first season is streaming on Netflix.
Nobody can predict for sure what reality will being next year (especially considering current events), but there will be one certainty: plenty of new TV will be coming along with accompanying reasons to sit down and escape into another world. The streaming services will be running hot while the temps are frigid, so here are the must-see shows for January:
The Night Agent: Season 2 (Netflix series 1/23)
Is Peter outta the basement for good? Presumably so, but he still has to earn his stripes in the Night Action program, which will take him abroad to Thailand. This season, he and Rose will find themselves dodging an intelligence broker, although Netflix hasn’t revealed whether they’ll mostly do so from different continents. Still, there should be enough goodwill from Peter helping save the president’s life to let him hang with Rose in person for more than one scene. You know, so nobody gets upset at a lack of Gabriel Basso shirtlessness.
The Couple Next Door: Season 1 (Starz series debuting 1/17)
Immediately after the latest Outlander season concludes, Starz will launch the next series starring Sam Heughan, and no kilts will be involved unless they’re hiding them from previews. He will portray a hot cop who lives in suburbia where neighbors get a little too personal. After curtains flutter aplenty, infidelity starts floating around in heads, and of course, a thriller series cannot let that stone go unturned. Before long, lives become sexually entangled in a way that will change two couples’ lives forever [cue dramatic music].
Severance: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series debuting 1/17)
The “work-life balance” satire will return after three years away, so hopefully, that wait will have been worth the sci-fi that will unfold. Creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller will bring back the core four (Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan) so that Milchick can continue to terrorize them while the mystery of Mark’s wife continues to unfold. These whistleblowers are now “The Face of Severance Reform,” although the ominous environment will give way to a snowy retreat and more goats. Ms. Cobel still seems sinister as hell, and Gwendoline Christie portrays a truly frightening looking character. It’s enough to make everybody want to call in sick, whether Innie or Outie.
American Primeval (Netflix limited series 1/9)
Creative minds behind Friday Night Lights, Narcos, and The Revenant have come together for this Neo-Western limited series in which Taylor Kitsch and Betty Gilpin go through hell on earth. The year is 1857, and they’re fighting through frigid elements amid the Mountain Meadows Massacre, during which Mormon soldiers killed hundreds of pioneers at the behest of Brigham Young. This clash involves Indigenous nationals also rising up to fight for their own survival within the same contested territory, and this ain’t Yellowstone, but there’s no question that Netflix wants to capture a piece of that pie with this series and the upcoming The Abandons.
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches: Season 2 (AMC series debuting 1/5)
AMC’s other Anne Rice series will return with Alexandra Daddario’s Rowan Mayfair having given birth to a demon, and now, she’s got to sort out the supernatural mess. He might be a monster or a healer, but ultimately, Rowan must do what’s possible to keep her family safe. This isn’t as free-wheeling of a series as Interview with the Vampire, which should return later in the year.
On Call: Season 1 (Prime Video/Amazon series debuting 1/9)
The cinema verité effect meets police drama in this series starring Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente along with Eriq La Salle, Lori Loughlin, and Rich Ting. The show, according to Deadline, “explores the morality of protecting and serving a community” with veteran officers and rookies coming together in a half hour series that mixes challenges facing contemporary law enforcement with a variety of footage sources, including body cams. The tone will be a serious one, and this ain’t 9-1-1, y’all.
The Pitt: Season 1 (Max series debuting 1/9)
More first responder-types will light primetime up while putting former ER star Noah Wyle back in scrubs for a dramatized series that will attempt to tackle a real-time hour in each episode. The end result aims for realism surrounding what healthcare workers must face on a daily basis as Wyle’s Dr. Robby helms the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital’s emergency department. This looks stressful as hell but also like undeniably captivating viewing material.
Apple TV+
Prime Target: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series debuting 1/22)
The White Lotus bad boy and One Day lover dude dives into conspiracy-thriller land as a mathematical genius who might have cracked the code that can control every computer on Earth. This does not sound malignant at all, and he will soon find himself under the observation of an NSA agent portrayed by Quintella Swindell. Will they hook up, too? Hollywood usually goes there in thriller mode between two attractive leads, but this is a Ridley Scott production, so do not expect the most straightforward storytelling path.
The Recruit: Season 2 (Netflix series 1/30)
Not to be content with releasing The Night Agent‘s second spy season this month, Netflix is also dropping the show in which Noah Centineo has the worst time as a fledgling CIA lawyer. This year, he’ll be embroiled in a South Korean espionage scandal, and as a series description reveals, “the bigger threat just might be coming from inside the Agency.” This might come only as a surprise to Noah Centineo’s CIA lawyer himself, and ideally, the show will include followup on whether Max will live or die after her daughter pulled the trigger.
IMDb’s “Top 250 TV Shows” list, as voted on by the website’s users, is a useful metric at what’s considered the “best” that television has to offer. The ranking is topped by Breaking Bad, followed by two installments of the BBC’s Planet Earth miniseries and three HBO programs (Band of Brothers, Chernobyl, and The Wire). There’s actually only one still-active series in the top 15: Bluey.
In an equally impressive achievement, the Disney+ animated series from creator Joe Brumm is also the most-streamed show of 2024 (and the most delightful). That’s according to The Hollywood Reporter, which called Bluey the year’s “streaming champion” and noted that it will come close to matching the minutes-viewed record set by Suits in 2023.
Bluey has “amassed more than 50 billion minutes of streaming time on Disney+” this year alone. That’s around 95,000 years! It’s been in the top-10 of Nielsen’s streaming list since October 2022, and “currently holds a roughly 7 billion-minute lead for this year over Grey’s Anatomy.”
It’s tough to compare cable/broadcast vs. streaming numbers, but it seems safe to call Bluey the most-watched TV show of 2024. Even bigger than the record ratings for the final season of Yellowstone. Maybe that’s the real reason Kevin Costner left: he wanted to take over as the new voice of Bandit.
2024 is coming to a close — which means it’s time to look back at all the big online moments that helped define the year. We’re talking about the happenings, trends, and jokes that resonated with us most. This stuff crossed cultural and ideological lines, amusing or annoying us to no end.
In other words, we’re talking about memes. Defining a meme used to be much easier, but now that we’re dealing with a household word that even your grandma knows, we feel the term meme is a much larger umbrella than, say, five years ago when a meme was a simple joke image or GIF passed around on social media sites amongst terminally online people. These days it feels like modern life itself is a meme.
I suppose the best we can do is let the memes themselves define what memes are. So here is 2024’s year in memes. Our favorite, the funniest, and for better or worse, the most pervasive. These were the memes we found inescapable in this very very strange year on Earth.
Emotionally Unloading On Elmo
X
Social media has led to all sorts of weird marketing moves, like those fast food social accounts that have built a following from being snarky and rude to each other. And then there is Elmo. A wholesome, bastion of optimism and empathy. What happens when you subject such a thing to the internet? Shit gets weird.
At the start of this year Elmo posed a simple question on X: “Elmo is checking in! How is everybody doing?” to which countless X accounts emotionally unloaded on the Muppet, causing the official Sesame Street X account to jump in tweeting: “Thank you, @Elmo, for checking in with reminder for us to pause and take a mindful moment to focus on how we’re feeling.” and then dropped a link to a website about emotional well-being.
It’s safe to say as the calendar turns to 2025, Elmo probably won’t be checking in.
The Willy Wonka Experience
Facebook
If you could say one thing about this year, it’s that it has felt incredibly long, so it’s easy to forget that the Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow — which gave us countless images of what might be the saddest place on earth — happened this same year that we’re currently in.
What better way to represent the disaster that was this “experience,” than the sad Oompa Loompa lady? Through her now iconic image, she telegraphed to the world: “look at this disaster that I’ve been dragged into,” and now as we hit 2025, we’re all feeling the same way.
Some of the best, most resonant songs are the simplest, and one of the easiest and most universal things to write about is being incredibly horny. Which is why Tinashe’s horned-up anthem “Nasty” had us all singing “I been a nasty girl, nasty, I been a nasty girl, nasty.”
The hook not only became a TikTok go-to for everything from cat videos, to… well… horned-up dances, but the song also gave us the phrase “Is somebody gonna match my freak?” which has become a popular meme template.
Hawk Tuah Girl, Talk Tuah Podcast, And Celebrity In The Year 2024
Haily Welch, aka Hawk Tuah Girl, showed us that the internet celebrity to podcaster to alleged crypto coin scammer pipeline is alive and well! If you don’t know who Hawk Tuah girl is — do you get all your meme news from our end-of-the-year list?— here is the rundown: back in May some YouTubers hit the streets of Nashville talking to bar hoppers and randomly asked Ms. Welch “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?” to which she replied, “You gotta give ‘em that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang.” And well, the rest is history.
Will Hawk Tuah girl live on in 2025? Probably! Hawk Tuah girl has been quiet since the whole meme-coin controversy, but people love a redemption arc, so don’t write her off just yet.
The Paris Olympics
The summer Paris Olympics were the gift that kept giving for everyone who is terminally online. There was the somehow controversial opening ceremony, which hardcore Christians took as mocking Christianity (it wasn’t), the many memes that grew out of the Olympic shooting event, everyone’s favorite breakdancer Raygun, and oh yeah, and a French pole vaulter lost his event because the pole got caught on his junk.
We could describe to you all the funniest images from the Paris Olympic games in great detail, but can’t for the life of us remember who won what.
As a massive Charli XCX fan, this summer’s collective obsession with her felt like a long time coming. Us hardcore Angels have been talking about Charli like this since the singer first linked up with the late producer Sophie, so it was nice to finally have the rest of the world on board.
Not everything about Brat summer panned out. “Kamala Harris is brat,” comes to mind, and we sincerely hope we never have to see another person doing the “Apple Dance,” again, but it also gave us old people on the news trying to figure out what “brat” means, and oh yeah, quite possibly the best album of the year.
Brat’s success also reflected a changing of the guard in modern pop. In 2025, we want less squeaky, clean, highly composed pop stars, ala Taylor Swift, and more messy, genre-pushing, experimental provocateurs like Charli.
If you yourself haven’t used the word “demure,” in the last five months, your younger siblings or cousins have definitely proclaimed something as “very demure, very mindful.” It can all be traced back to TikToker Jools Lebron, a beauty influencer who explained the importance of keeping your work makeup simple.
“see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful. I don’t come to work with a green-cut crease. I don’t look like a clown when I go to work.” If I could tell you how or why this term took off, I’d be a very rich person.
Either way, “demure,” was the flip side to Charli XCX’s Brat Summer. If the Brat album cycle was all about unleashing our inner party girl, the demure trend has us all channeling our inner Rory Gilmore.
The Rizzler, A.J. & Big Justice
We could do a whole article devoted to the Rizzler, A.J. & Big Justice — but we won’t because… we really don’t want to. Here is all you need to know about this trio. The Rizzler became an overnight internet sensation after dropping a wholesome video dressed like Black Panther, he does a thing called “The Rizz Face,” and is essentially a mini DJ Khaled. A.J. and Big Justice are a father-son duo who rate Costco foods.
Contrary to popular assumption, the Rizzler is not related to A.J. & Big Justice but has starred in many videos with the duo, including the above “We Bring The Boom (Crew Version),” which is essentially a real-life version of the DK Rap. The internet isn’t known for making celebrities out of wholesome family content, yet this trio exists. There is no edge here, no controversy, just wholesome, family-fun with three undeniable characters.
The Rise Of Moo Deng
The people of the internet are simple people. Give us a video of a cute animal, and that’s all we really need to become obsessed. Case in point: Moo Deng, a pygmy hippopotamus from Thaliand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, that essentially does what every hippopotamus does. Eats, sleeps, lounges around and acts grumpy — and yet, the internet can’t get enough because she looks f*cking cute doing it.
It has led many to proclaim Moo Deng as “goals.” We all just want to be loved for doing absolutely nothing but living and looking cute while doing it. Moo Deng even made an appearance on SNL’s Weekend Update. Be sure to watch that above.
Megalopolis — “Go Back To The Club”
I mean, where do we even begin with this movie? Megalopolis is a mess. Was it made by one of the greatest American filmmakers of all time? Yes, but a mess is a mess!
We could do a deep dive into everything weird about this movie — and there is plenty — but instead we will leave you with this now iconic scene. This simple 1-minute clip gives you an idea of the whole bizarre tone of this movie.
Megalopolis may not be the masterpiece some had hoped it would be, but at least it has the weirdest line read in the history of cinema in Adam Driver’s “so go back to the club” moment.
Sometime in September flyers started appearing around Greenwich Village advertising a Timothée Chalamet look-alike competition with a cash prize of $50. It’s the sort of weirdo sh*t New York used to be known for, so the fact that it existed in the first place was enough to give us joy. What nobody expected is that so many people would show up.
On October 28th, New York’s Washington Square Park, over 2,000 people flooded into the small park with Chalamet lookalikes. Timothée himself even showed up!
As a result of the resounding success, we’ve had several lookalike contests since then, including a Dev Patel version in San Francisco, a Jeremy Allen White competition fittingly in Chicago, and a Glen Powell version in Austin.
When a person vaguely resembles a celebrity, it’s not that strange, but when you see multiple lookalikes in one place at one time, it’s incredibly eerie.
Just A Chill Guy feels like an old-fashioned meme. It’s not some big pop cultural moment that is going to be covered on the news, it’s just a simple image on the internet that serves as a shorthand for a feeling and way of life.
First posted on October 4th, 2023 by X user @PhillipBankss, Just A Chill Guy was described by its creator as “my new character. his whole deal is he’s a chill guy that lowkey doesn’t give a fuck.” That tweet made little waves, but in the subsequent year, this image was shared countless times, inspired a meme coin (because of course it did), and has served as a shorthand for an unplugged personal brand and way of life that looks at the impending doom of our present day, and shrugs it off.
On Monday, rapper Joe Budden was charged with lewdness following an incident where his neighbor claimed seeing him “completely naked.”
The Edgewater Police in New Jersey released a statement that on December 4, authorities were “dispatched to an apartment complex for the report from a resident that a man was standing outside of their apartment door completely naked. The caller recognized the man as a neighbor, Joseph Budden Jr., a 44-year-old male.” The caller was alerted to Budden’s presence by their Ring doorbell camera. According to the report, “The video depicted Budden attempting to enter a code into the door keypad several times before reentering his own residence across the hall.”
“These charges are merely accusations,” chief of police Donald A. Martin noted in the press release. “The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Budden’s attorney, Nima Ameri, told TMZ, “Mr. Budden is saddened by Police Chief Martin’s press release. Mr. Budden has been waiting weeks for his cross complaints to be processed which include substantially more serious charges include possible felony charges against the persons behind these charges against him. The Chief has in our opinion sat on those but instead used his time to gain some free publicity for himself. Chief Martin should seek publicity by doing notable policing not inflaming disorderly person allegations.”
Ameri continued:
“The allegations against Mr. Budden are a minor charge, not even resulting in an arrest. A charge Mr. Budden is looking forward to beating in court on the merits, not in the press. The Chief’s comments are reckless, and in our opinion racially motivated. Our research has not shown a single press release on a disorderly person charge on the police website this year. His choice to single out Mr. Budden in our opinion is self motivated and based off of Mr. Budden’s race and celebrity status.”
Earlier this month, Budden address his absence from The Joe Budden Podcast. “I just sleptwalked somewhere I shouldn’t have sleptwalked,” he told his co-hosts, according to Billboard. “You know how I sleep — buttass. Nice nakedass. Good naked sleepwalking. I just did it again.”
All things considered, 2024 was a pretty good year in sports. The biggest events lived up to the hype and the biggest stars gave us some iconic performances. However, it wasn’t just a big year for sports between the lines, as 2024 continued to bring together the worlds of sports and music in some major ways.
Today, as the year is winding down, we wanted to look back on some of our favorite moments from 2024 where sports and music came together to give us some unforgettable moments.
DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook going on stage at The Pop Out
One of the most compelling things in 2024 was the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, and while this is very much in the eye of the beholder, I suspect most people will say Kendrick won. His victory lap came on Juneteenth, when thousands packed into the Kia Forum for The Pop Out. This included a number of celebrities — LeBron James and James Harden, for example, were seen in the crowd — but the defining moment came at the end, when Kendrick did “Not Like Us” five times in a row. More and more people hopped on stage as he kept repeating the song, which included DeRozan and Westbrook for his fourth performance.
DeMar DeRozan’s cameo in the “Not Like Us” video
Did it ruffle Drake’s feathers? It sure seems like it. But DeRozan eventually revealed that he has a long history with Lamar, a fellow Compton native who he considers “basically family.” He got shouted out in the song, and for a moment, the now-Kings star was in the biggest music video of the year.
Usher’s star-studded Super Bowl halftime show
The halftime show usually shows up on lists like this, but even acknowledging that, Usher’s performance was spectacular. He’s long been an incredible entertainer and has a lengthy discography that lets him go in a ton of different directions, both of which are crucial for a good halftime show. He was fantastic, as were the numerous artists who joined him at one time or another — Alicia Keys, will.i.am, Lil Jon, Ludacris, H.E.R., and Jackson State’s revered marching band Sonic Boom of the South were all part of the show.
Beyoncé’s Christmas Day performance
While the NBA ended up having the better slate of games on Christmas Day, the NFL had one thing they could not match: Beyoncé, who performed a Super Bowl halftime show-caliber set during the otherwise boring game between the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens. She mixed original tracks off of “Cowboy Carter,” including her covers of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” and her 2023 track “My House.” Shaboozey and Post Malone joined her on stage, as did Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy.
Simone Biles’ incredible “Ready For It?” floor routine that Taylor Swift loved
Biles triumphantly returned to the Olympic stage this year after a difficult 2021. This time around, she was nothing short of dominant, winning three golds and a silver in Paris. Before she got there, though, Biles threw down a spectacular floor routine set to “Ready For It?” by Taylor Swift. It went viral, got back to Swift, and completely blew her away, which she made clear with a tweet the following day.
Céline Dion at the Olympics
Dion’s first public performance in four years was worth the wait. The legendary Canadian singer, who has gone through a public battle with stiff-person syndrome, wrapped up the Opening Ceremony at the Summer Olympics in Paris with a performance of “Hymne à l’amour” while standing on the Eiffel Tower. It was a gigantic moment, one that the entire world was watching, and Dion met it with a performance that no one else on earth could replicate.
USA women’s water polo superfan Flavor Flav
The co-founder of Public Enemy was a constant presence in the stands in Paris, primarily for the U.S. women’s water polo team after he learned that the athletes have to work to support themselves as they chase their Olympic dreams. He went on to sponsor the team, hung out with Guy Fieri at one of their games, and made it a point to support other American Olympians, too, like when he showed Jordan Chiles some love after her bronze medal in individual floor exercise was taken away.
Summer Olympic correspondent Snoop Dogg
Snoop getting turned into a professional fan of American athletes in Paris was hilarious. Yes, he made a ton of money to promote the Olympics on NBC, but it also seemed like he had the time of his life going to random events and being himself. We did a run through of his best moments in France right here.
The continued rise of Flau’jae Johnson
On the court, Flau’jae is one of the brightest stars in women’s college hoops. She’s gotten better and better every year for the LSU Tigers, and as of this writing, she leads the undefeated, sixth-ranked Tigers in scoring, going for 20.3 points per game on 51.3 percent shooting from the field and 39.7 percent shooting from three. Off of it, she continues to be one of the best up-and-coming rappers in the game. She dropped her album “Best Of Both Worlds” earlier back in June, which included guest verses from NLE Choppa, Lil Wayne, and 2Rare.
Travis Kelce on stage at the Eras Tour
Kelce has been a fixture at the Eras Tour for quite some time now — as it turns out, dating Taylor Swift means getting tickets for this was much easier than it was for the rest of us. In June, he even made a surprise appearance on stage in London, as he hopped on stage as one of the dancers during Swift’s performance of “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” at Wembley Stadium.
We’re hours away from 2025, and as always, a handful of broadcasts will be ringing in the new year. Music is always a big part of the festivities, so read on to learn who’s performing.
Who’s Performing On Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest?
As Deadline notes, performers from the West Coast Party will include Alanis Morissette, Reneé Rapp, Dasha, DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic Live! starring Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Ernest, HARDY, Kesha, Laufey, Natasha Bedingfield, and T-Pain.
Meanwhile, Blake Shelton will perform from Las Vegas, Luis Fonsi from Puerto Rico, and TLC from Times Square in New York. Speaking of Times Square, Carrie Underwood will be performing there just before midnight, alongside Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Additional performers include Lenny Kravitz, Teddy Swims, Tinashe, Cody Johnson, and Thomas Rhett.
Who’s Performing On New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper And Andy Cohen<?
CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper And Andy Cohen has quite the lineup as well, featuring 50 Cent, Sting, Meghan Trainor, Shania Twain, Diplo, Lil Jon, and Mickey Guyton. Comedians Whitney Cummings, Amy Sedaris, Sasheer Zamata, Ziwe, and Adam Devine are also involved.
Who’s Performing On New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash?
Then there’s CBS’ New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash, featuring Kane Brown, Jelly Roll, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Shaboozey, Chris Stapleton, Post Malone, Lainey Wilson, Brittney Spencer, and others.
More than 25 years after his debut, the roar from the crowd never gets old for Adam Copeland.
His return Saturday night at the conclusion of Worlds End in Orlando was a scene he’s played over and again. His music blasts over the arena speakers and almost immediately, people know who it is. All the energy is directed at him as his pyro hits and the building loses its collective mind.
It’s hard to explain, Copeland says. He compares it to musicians performing, a football player scoring a touchdown, and it’s part of the reason at 51 years young, despite another setback, another injury, and another surgery, he’s not ready to hang his boots up just yet.
“I think that’s part of the pull, right? And that’s why you see folks who don’t need to still be doing this doing it because it still hits that core. You can’t really explain it, man,” Copeland tells Uproxx Sports. “If you could bottle it, you’d be a trillionaire.”
On Wednesday night’s AEW Dynamite — which will be the first show simulcast on TBS and streaming on Max — we’ll get our first look at Rated FTR, marking Copeland’s first in-ring action in seven months when he joins Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler against Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta of the Death Riders.
Copeland says he’s been training in the ring for about three months getting prepared for his return, which takes place in Asheville, North Carolina on a special Fight for the Fallen episode of Dynamite. Through Fight for the Fallen, AEW will help provide support and resources to those impacted by Hurricane Helene directly through organizations already on the frontlines of disaster relief efforts.
Asheville, which was among the cities devastated by the hurricane earlier this year, currently is home for Copeland, Harwood, and Wheeler. The support from AEW CEO Tony Khan and AEW has been “amazing,” says Copeland, and goes beyond Wednesday night’s efforts.
“I was cleared and ready to come back and I had the conversation with Tony trying to work out what do you want me to come back to? And he was like, do you. Don’t worry about coming back right now because life, right? He understands that and he gets that and respects it, and because we did have a lot of work here to do, not just for our household and everything, but for the community,” Copeland says. “I’m just really happy that we’re doing this show here. It’s my first one back in the place that I now call home with two of my best buddies who also call this home. It’s storybook in that regard.”
Copeland’s return to the ring coincides with AEW’s monumental simulcast, a nod to his star power alongside FTR for the show’s live debut on Max. Copeland says at this point in his career, he’s a utility player — he can slot in wherever AEW needs him on the roster, whether it be in the opening act or in this case, the main event.
“I understand that at times, you need me to bat first or clean up. And so that’s where I feel like, okay, that’s my role right now. We’re coming back, fresh off an Emmy nomination, it feels like the time to go, okay, we should probably use this talent who’s in the midst of some pretty cool things happening and highlight that, that’s just business,” Copeland says.
“So it’s my time now to move forward and compete for the title and be involved in that storyline. And at some point it won’t be and it’ll be a different thing you need me to do. And that’s really how I’ve always looked at my position. Okay, where do you need me? Slot me in. I’ll make it work.”
That last part has been key to Copeland’s growth and his ability to last in the main event scene, and it’s something he’s “prided myself on” over the course of his career. His top priority has always been to make things work, as he believes that level of consistency is something people notice.
“There’s been some things that on paper, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is going to be a challenge,’ but again, I enjoy challenges for sure. Luckily, working a guy like Moxley and against all of these guys and getting in there with Claudio for the first time, I don’t have to worry about that where you can just get in and enjoy and perform.”
Copeland couldn’t ask for a better position to return in. He says his latest setback, breaking in his tibia in May, was more annoying than anything.
“One more scar, one more plate, seven more screws and you just get moving. That’s where it was with that. But after about three months, I was up, I was moving around, I was getting around pretty good,” Copeland says. “I got back in the ring by like the three and a half month mark. I was like, okay, there we go. Now it’s just a matter of when to come back. What’s the proper timing getting in the Percy Jackson filming before and just all of that stuff.”
His injury removed Copeland from any possibility of performing during All In at Wembley Stadium, a bucket list item that he wants to cross off before his career comes to an end, although that’s not the only place he wants to wrestle before he retires.
“I’d love to wrestle in Arena México. Never worked there for CMLL or anything like that, so I think that would be great. I’ve been as a fan, at the time I was world champ — so I went to this show with a lucha mask on and I sat in the third row and watched the entire show,” Copeland says with a laugh. “Tokyo Dome. Never performed there, love to do that. And then for me, the really big one is Maple Leaf Gardens. I don’t even know what it’s called now, but I want to do Maple Leaf Gardens.”
While venues hold a special place in his heart, Copeland says the thing that gives him the most energy right now is telling a great story with a quality opponent. He points to his time with Christian early in his AEW run and the ability to weave in countless other stars, from Nick Wayne to Daniel Garcia as a way to play chess with the AEW roster.
“I think story and opponent, they go hand in hand,” Copeland says. “That for me is still the biggest thing. That’s the thing that I enjoy the most. That’s the thing I get off on is go, okay, let’s craft this story. How many months do we have? Let’s figure out some tent poles. How many other characters can we pull into it and moving parts, and then hopefully have a few different characters come out of it with intriguing stories going forward. That to me is always really fun, and without diluting it or making it confusing, getting as many different characters involved as you can.”
More than anything, Copeland is relishing living in the moment. He understands there’s an expiration date on his career, but says it’s not something he dwells on. In his eyes, all that thinking about retirement does is make you anxious, and then the moment will either pass or fail to live up to your expectations.
Copeland knows the clock is ticking. But before it hits midnight, he’s making sure all of his focus is on what he has going on as he returns to the ring.
“There’s still some really fun stories to be explored that will probably eat up a year and a half, two years,” he says. “And then I think it’s going to be time. But again, I can’t sit there and dwell on it. I have to focus on each time I’m in that ring and go, here I am. You’ve got to be in the present. Otherwise, bad things can happen, but also being in the present, I soak it all in, I enjoy it all instead of getting too far forward.”
Although Arlo Parks didn’t release a new album in 2024, she still had a pretty massive year. On Instagram, she took a moment to reflect on it while also hinting at an album to come, perhaps in 2025.
Parks wrote in the post’s caption:
“feeling reflective and happy in that quiet, sleepy kind of way. there were too many special moments to count this year, some of my favourites were definitely my Sierra Leone trip and becoming a [UNICEF] ambassador, having the most fun on tour I’ve ever had and joining [Mitski], being part of [Beyoncé’s] Cowboy Carter and all the little kismet moments in between. Made more friends than ever, danced more than ever, am more in love than ever – time to say thank you and go dark for a bit…you know what that means [eyes emoji][heart emoji] see you on the flip side.”
A new album in 2025 wouldn’t be surprising. She has so far tended to share a new album once every two years, and so far, she’s released 2021’s Collapsed In Sunbeams and 2023’s My Soft Machine, so a 2025 album would keep the bi-annual streak alive for Parks. She still had new music this year, though: She joined Khalid on “Breathe” and she co-wrote Beyoncé’s “Ya Ya.”
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