Category: Viral

With the passing years and the fact people just don’t really watch television reruns anymore outside of The Office, Friends, and Seinfeld, it’s easy to forget just how good Michael J. Fox was on Family Ties. His line reading was just perfect. Here’s this guy, Alex P. Keaton, who keeps a framed photo of Richard Nixon in his bedroom, and we couldn’t help but love him. I knew Davis Guggenheim’s Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (which premiered this week at Sundance) would deal with the status of Fox’s current health (we’ll get to that in a bit) but what I really wanted was for this movie to dive into the era when Michael J. Fox was a sensation. The film starts with Fox being asked if he wanted this documentary to be about a famous movie star who has a disabling illness. Fox responds, “That’s boring.” So, yes, I got my wish.

It’s weird to think of Michael J. Fox ever struggling. But he talks about when he first moved to L.A. from Canada he would get roles because he looked significantly younger than he was, but productions didn’t have to worry about actually dealing with an actual kid. He was getting small parts, but after selling off his furniture, he was basically down to spare change and thought he’d have to walk himself to the airport, then take a job back home picking up nails on construction sites. (I will say I was disappointed that at no time during this part of the movie is the cult favorite Midnight Madness mentioned.) As Fox put it, he still had a chip and a seat. Explaining as long as you still have a chair and one chip at a poker table, you’re not out of the game. And his last hope was Family Ties and NBC head Brandon Tartikoff wasn’t a fan of Fox and that’s kind of a problem. Fox was allowed to shoot the pilot. If it didn’t go well, that was that. Anyway, yes, it went well.

We see a lot of clips from Fox’s movies in this, but maybe not the way you might expect. Guggenheim uses an interesting device of letting scenes in Fox’s movies serve as reenactments of things that were happening to him in real life. For instance, when Fox was struggling and couldn’t get a job, we see Fox begging for a job in The Secret of My Success. When we see Roger Ebert mention that Fox should play an ornery character, we see Fox being a prick in The Hard Way.

The early ’90s seem really tough for Fox. He gets his Parkinson’s diagnosis, then uses pills and booze and work to try to escape his realities. To the point, he refers to his wife Tracy Pollan as “a single mother” because Fox was filming movies basically nonstop. And the quality of those movies were starting to have diminishing returns. (Though, from this era, I will argue Doc Hollywood and The Hard Way are both really good.)

Current Michael J. Fox seems in good spirits. Though he does fall a lot, something Fox says is just part of the deal. His family tells him to be more careful, but “careful” isn’t really the problem here. There’s literally a scene where he’s walking down the street, a fan says hello, and Fox falls down. He gets right back up, but he’s not as lucky when, off camera, he fell and broke his cheekbone on a table. He explains he had to get pins put in his cheek to restructure it. Yet, there he is, still in good spirits.

During Michael J. Fox’s most prominent run, let’s say 1984 until 1992, I was ages 9 to 17. I’ve never really thought about this before, but he really did hit the sweet spot of my most influential years, popular culture-wise. Watching Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, it’s not like I didn’t realize he was an important cultural figure for me – and a lot of us – but it made me realize just how much. And it really makes you realize how hard he worked for it. He filmed Family Ties and Back to the Future at the same time for three months. He didn’t have to do that. He could have passed on Back to the Future after they came back to him after Eric Stoltz didn’t work out. But he knew what that movie would mean for his career, so who needs sleep for three months?

Michael J. Fox in this doc says none of that was real. At the height of his powers, the foundation was made of paper. It’s fleeting. I get what he’s saying – being an actor in movies for a living isn’t going to last forever; there’s a shelf life that’s shorter than most jobs – but I don’t agree it’s not real. At least not in his case. He’s given me and so many others so much joy over the years, joy that’s not always easy to come by. That certainly is real.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Arguably one of the biggest nights of the year, Super Bowl LVII, will be hitting television screens on February 12. The annual sporting event, which will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, typically draws millions of viewers yearly. 2023 will be no different. This year, Rihanna will join legendary performers — artists like Beyonce, Prince, and Michael Jackson — when she takes the stage for the Super Bowl halftime show.

The “Lift Me Up” singer made the announcement on social media this past September, sharing a pic of herself holding a football. Recently, the new mother dropped a teaser trailer of her upcoming performance, only amping up the anticipation.

Ri also dropped a limited edition Super Bowl-themed collection with her Savage X Fenty lingerie company earlier this month. The “Game Day” collection will feature 17 sporty styles, including varsity jerseys, hoodies, sweatpants, and more.

But before the billionaire singer takes the stage, several other acts are expected to appear. Country star Chris Stapleton will be opening the show with a rendition of the national anthem. Emmy award-winning Abbot Elementary actress Sherly Lee Ralph is expected to sing the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice.”

The lineup doesn’t stop there. Iconic producer, singer, and songwriter Babyface will be singing “America the Beautiful” at the ceremony.

Super Bowl LVII premieres Sunday, February 12, with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET

It has now been nearly a year since Russia launched its attack on neighboring Ukraine. While Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin cronies led the Russian president to believe it would only be a matter of weeks until they could overpower their neighbors to the west, nothing has quite worked out the way Russia planned.

In recent weeks, intercepted calls to home to Russia have suggested that many of Russia’s soldier fatalities have been the result of friendly fire and/or drunken commanders. And Putin himself has admitted that Russia’s military leaders are not doing a great job of providing soldiers with their most basic necessities. Just last week, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky even suggested that Putin might not even be running the show anymore, as some people suspect that he is dead.

Whatever the case, it’s an embarrassing situation for Russia all around, as the country has long touted itself as a global tough guy you wouldn’t want to mess with. And now, as The Daily Beast reports, even the country’s plan to gain the upper hand by bringing in a private corps of 50,000 mercenary fighters has gone totally sideways. Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization, has reportedly brought in approximately 50,000 Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine — several of them coming from Russia’s prisons. But it’s estimated that only 10,000 of those recruits are still alive and/or fighting.

The Moscow Times reported that Olga Romanova, the head of Russia Behind Bars, said: “According to our data, 42,000 to 43,000 [prisoners] were recruited by the end of December. Now they are, most likely, already over 50,000. Of these, 10,000 are fighting at the front, because all the rest are either killed… or missing, or deserted, or surrendered.”

While the Russian soldiers who claimed the town of Soledar in recent weeks are reportedly mostly Wagner soldiers, that victory was said to have come “at an extraordinary cost,” according to White House officials.

Zelensky, too, confirmed this when he remarked that, “The area near Soledar is covered with corpses of the invaders. This is what madness looks like.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

(Spoilers from The Boys will be found below.)

Who would have thought that it would be possible to feel slightly sorry for The Deep by the time that The Boys Season 3 rolled around? Chace Crawford’s character began as a sexually assaulter of a Supe, who then fell into a cult and came back and worked towards some form of twisted redemption. Then Homelander, who’s also rape-y and even more malignant, made The Deep eat his true love, Timothy The Octopus, while the little critter was still alive. Here’s how that looked if you wanted a refresher.

This was only one of a handful of situations that made Crawford believe that he might never work again, but the Timothy thing hit The Deep where it counts. Is it no wonder that he might be hitting the weights hard for his Season 4 arc? Crawford seems to be into it even as The Deep has some sh*t to work out. Witness the Instagrammed proof:

Yep, The Deep must need to blow off some serious steam. And you know, Crawford is allegedly not welcome at aquariums anymore, either, but I can’t wait for the inner dialogue to arrive because, man, poor Timothy. RIP into infinity.

Things are going from bad to worse for embattled Republican Representative George Santos.

The recently-elected Congressman from New York has fielded a dizzying number of damning accusations by Democrats and the press but now, he’s facing off against members of his own party who aren’t happy he lied about … well, basically everything. And he’s doing it the only way he knows how, by whining on Twitter.

Santos — who maybe embezzled donations, probably took part in a Ponzi scheme, and definitely lied about his drag queen career and his collegiate volleyball record — took to social media to express disappointment with comments about his long (and very weird) con by fellow Republican John Kennedy. The Senator from Louisianna recently slammed Santos in the press describing him “as nutty as a fruitcake” and comparing him to Glenn Close’s deranged and vengeful character who actually boiled a rabbit to get back at her ex in the film Fatal Attraction.

“That is why I called him a bunny boiler,” Kennedy reportedly said. “I don’t know if you’ve seen Fatal Attraction but there are people like that out there.”

We’re guessing Kennedy meant that as a dig against Santos’ questionable mental state, and it seems like the young Congressman assumed the same. He posted on Twitter that he was hurt by Kennedy’s turn of phrase.

“I am saddened that a distinguished senator from the GOP, whom I’ve respected would use such derogatory language against me,” Santos wrote. “Language like that is hurtful and divisive and has no place in Congress.”

The irony that a pathological liar who giddily flashed white power signs during a publicized congressional meeting would be offended by any type of derogatory language is rife, but Santos’ disgust at being compared to Glenn Close makes one really question his drag credentials. Trixie Mattel would never.

(Via RawStory)

Earlier today, Michelle Yeoh received a much-deserved Oscar nomination for her role in the mind-bending hit Everything Everywhere All At Once. It’s been a long time coming: Yeoh has been acting for nearly half a century and steadily built an iconic career in various martial arts films and action roles.

Naturally, a lot of people have been celebrating the achievement, while others are confused at her being called the first person who “identifies as Asian” to be nominated for best actress at this year’s Academy Awards. The wording is pretty important, though.

While Yeoh is being called the first Asian-identifying actor to be nominated in the best actress category, there have been been a few people with Asian ancestry who have secured nominations (and awards). Merle Oberon was first nominated in 1936 after her role in The Dark Angel, though she reportedly hid her ancestry while working in Hollywood. Actress Vivien Leigh also came from western Asian ancestry on her mother’s side, though she also did not identify as Asian.

Despite the confusing phrasing, it’s still an important milestone that has taken much too long to reach. Yeoh’s performance and the subsequent nomination are a win for under-represented minorities in the industry. The actress told The Hollywood Reporter after learning of her nominations, “It’s taken a long time. But I think this is more than me. At the present moment, constantly, all the time, having Asians walking up to me saying, ‘You can do it, you’re doing it for us.’ It’s like, ‘I understand. I totally understand.’ All this time, they’ve not been recognized, they’ve not been heard.”

Hopefully, fellow award shows can follow in the Academy’s footsteps!

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

When Tucker Carlson started promoting the benefits of testicle tanning on his show, in many ways it seemed like the Fox New host had his personal rock bottom. But that was before he admitted how horny he was for the animated Green M&M in the candy company’s long-running commercials.

Last week, M&Ms unveiled some new versions of their colorful classic candy characters in order to make them more inclusive, but all Carlson saw was red — in the form of the Brown M&M, whom he dubbed “less sexy.” Weirdly, no one on the set cut off his mic, so the host kept going, insisting that: “M&M’s will not be satisfied until every cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous, until the moment you wouldn’t want to have a drink with any one of them. That’s the goal. When you’re totally turned off, we’ve achieved equity.”

The real takeaway here is how infatuated Tucker must have been with the Brown M&M that at some point had WANTED to take a tiny piece of candy-coated chocolate out for a drink. And yet he still wasn’t over it by Monday night — and this time even brought the poor old Green M&M into the conversation. The way Carlson sees it, M&M’s attempt to be “woke” is what has led to his lack of lust for the new characters: “In its ad campaigns, Mars set about making its M&M characters as unattractive as possible because when you’re intentionally repulsive, it’s clear that you’ve got the right politics.”

That statement doesn’t really check out, because it would imply that Tucker has the right politics. But Carlson wasn’t done in explaining how the candymaker de-sexified its cartoon candy mascots:

So the Green M&M lost her sexy boots; the brown M&M her stiletto heels. The Orange M&M, meanwhile, became a poster boy for the mental health crisis and would henceforth ‘acknowledge and embrace his anxiety.’ Because America badly needs more neurotic candy.

Then, late last year, Mars went further: The company added obese and distinctly frumpy lesbian M&Ms to promote ‘feminism and body positivity.’ In other words, explained the Mars corporation, it’s good to be fat — have some more M&Ms.

Carlson noted that he first reported on the story last year and had pledged a “deeper investigation” into the matter — because why would a network with “News” in its name dare not to investigate this travesty? But before Tucker and co. could reportedly complete their investigation, “Mars announced that it’s suspending its ad campaign,” Tucker said.

He then went on some nonsensical tear about other people condemning him and his show for attacking M&Ms for being political in the first place. It all got a bit confusing and went a bit off the rails, which you can see for yourself above.

With That ’90s Show now streaming on Netflix, the showrunners are opening up about bringing the original That ’70s Show cast back for the new spinoff. Two of those cast members, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, are currently married in real life, which added an extra layer of fun to their characters reuniting on screen. Or at least that was the intent.

According to co-creator Bonnie Turner, Kutcher immediately returned to his old habit of memorizing his lines in the Forman basement. While the actor was stoked to be back on the show, Kutcher had a bit of a freakout when he fell asleep on the basement couch. Via Buzzfeed:

“He said, ‘When I woke up, it was Mila standing over me, and I opened my eyes. I looked around and I was in the Forman basement with my wife staring up at the [lighting] grid, dressed as Jackie. It was the strangest feeling I’ve ever had. I literally didn’t know [what year] I was [in] for a minute,’” Bonnie recalled.

Having a terrifying moment of being lost in time aside, Kutcher was reportedly so game for coming back as Kelso that he constantly practiced his “Damn, Jackie” line delivery while at home with Kunis.

“I guess Ashton had kept all the old Kelso wardrobe. He was texting me pictures of him in Kelso’s old winter jacket. Then Ashton was sending me videos of him playfully annoying Mila by running around their house going, ‘Damn, Jackie,’” co-creator Gregg Mettler told Buzzfeed. “They were just very excited to return to a place that was so special for them.”

That ’90s Show Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

(Via Buzzfeed)

When it comes to true believers in Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen, there hasn’t been a more dedicated solider in that fight than MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. The embattled businessman claims he’s already spent over $30 million on investigations that voting machines were rigged, but all he has to show for it are multi-billion dollar lawsuits filed by the software companies behind said voting machines. However, the damage didn’t stop there.

While positioning himself for a contentious campaign to become the new head of the Republic National Convention, Lindell recently revealed that his election fraud evangelizing did not boost sales to his MyPillow brand. Instead, it did the opposite, and the company started hemorrhaging money as product was dropped by retailers like Walmart. Via CBS News:

Dominion’s lawsuit claims it’s all been good for his business and that “Lindell has increased MyPillow sales by 30-40% and continues duping people into redirecting their election-lie outrage into pillow purchases.” Lindell says that is not true.

“Now let me tell you the facts about MyPillow. When I tried to get this out to the people, MyPillow lost $100 million in retailers. We are not up 30-40% — we are down. We are down. I had to borrow money,” Lindell told WCCO.

Why it’s wild that Lindell admits he blew a $100 million hole in his MyPillow empire, nothing can beat the fact that there is actually a serious chance he could actually become the new chair of the RNC. According to Vanity Fair, the race is highly competitive, but also a “total sh*t show,” which is fertile ground for a guy like Lindell to take control. And all it cost him was roughly $130 million and the complete destruction of his once lucrative pillow brand.

(Via CBS News)

After years of waiting, there will finally be a second season of Invincible, Amazon’s superhero comedy from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. The animated series, based on the hit comic book franchise, follows young Mark as he learns the ins and outs of being a teenager who also happens to be the son of the super-powerful Omni-Man. As Mark discovers his own powers, he also learns that being a superhero is a lot less fun (and a lot bloodier!) than people expect.

Season two will pick up after the events of season one when Omni-Man and Mark had their devastating showdown after Mark realized what type of guy his dad really is. Spoiler: he’s a bad one who killed the Guardians of the Earth in cold blood. But he might not be gone for good!

The good news is that the key cast is returning for another round, including J.K. Simmons as Noah/Omni-Man and Steven Yeun as Mark/Invincible. We also got another look at Seth Rogen’s Allen the Alien in the season two teaser that was released earlier this month. Also appearing in season two will be Sandra Oh, Gillian Jacobs, Mark Hamil, Jason Mantzoukas, Zachary Quinto, and Mahershala Ali.

As for when the episodes will premiere, there hasn’t been a confirmed date, though “late 2023” seems to be the aim. After all, there is a lot of stuff to do in order to make a TV show, which Mark explains in the meta-trailer: “I’ve been busy writing, designing, storyboarding, voice acting, key posing, in-betweening, cleaning up, color slapping, comping the whole thing, and all that for, you know, roughly thousands of shots. So, it’s kind of a lot.” It’s been almost two years since season one concluded, so the wait will likely be worth it…or we will have to deal with the wrath of a really mean dad. Either way, it will be good!

Season one of Invincible is available on Amazon Prime.