In a new couch gag for this Sunday’s episode, The Simpsons appears to be giving a nod to audiences who are finding ways to pass the time while bunkered at home.
The longer than usual opening segment features Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie going wild in a virtual reality world that starts with Homer diving in, Fortnite-style, to steal a plane from Ned Flanders, which he then uses to buzz the Springfield nuclear plant, presumably to stick it to his boss Mr. Burns. From there, we catch Bart snowboarding out of a helicopter and writing on the side of a mountain in a nod to his now 30-year-old chalkboard gag in the opening credits.
Meanwhile, Marge catches some waves (Who knew she likes to surf?), Lisa explores the ocean floor where she meets up with some whales, and Maggie tears up the town on a revved up tricycle. It seems like the whole family is making the most of their VR experience while responsibly self-isolating like the responsible Springfield citizens that they are. However, things soon go south for Homer as the tail of his plane explodes causing his plane to crash, and that’s apparently enough VR for him as he rips off his headset and returns to his one true love: TV.
The couch gag marks a decidedly less controversial moment for The Simpsons during the global pandemic. An old joke from a ’90s episode recently became the subject of a racially-insensitive viral meme that prompted a former Simpsons writer to denounce it in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
In lighter, less health crisis-based news, Disney+ has confirmed that it will keep its promise to fans by making classic episodes of The Simpsons available in their original aspect ratio by the end of May.
Those of us who are Gen X or older probably grew up watching M*A*S*H* or reruns of M*A*S*H* on television. (For you youngsters out there, M*A*S*H*—which stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital—was a hilarious sitcom about a medical unit in the Korean War. That probably sounds weird and wrong, but it worked.)
Facebook user Frank Vaccariello shared a compilation of M*A*S*H* scenes that perfectly reflect various elements of the coronavirus pandemic, which is impressive considering the fact that the show, which ran for 11 seasons, had 256 episodes.
“I have sincerely believed for a long time that whatever issue life puts in front of us M*A*S*H* had a solution,” Vaccariello wrote. “I had some pent up creative energy today, so I did this while you were all cleaning your closets and such…lol.”
It appears Vaccariello is right. From hand-washing to social distancing to face-touching to toilet paper hoarding, there’s a M*A*S*H* scene to match everything we’re going through. Enjoy this masterful M*A*S*H*. mash-up.
Kehlani knows what it’s like to date in the public eye. The singer was in a relationship with YG for a period of time and recorded a with the rapper before calling it quits when a fan caught him at a club with another woman. Kehlani seemingly addressed the public split with her track “Valentine’s Day (Shameful).” She also previously dated NBA star Kyrie Irving. But now, the singer is fed up with opinions about her love life. Kehlani addresses her public criticism with her smooth track “Everybody’s Business.”
Shot at her home during quarantine, Kehlani’s “Everybody’s Business” video touts the singer in her backyard sporting a purple power suit. With headphones and a mic, Kehlani passionately delivers each line and confronts gossip about her life. “I hear every word they talk / Tried not to care at all / I know it’s frontin’, don’t know me from nothin’ / Still I need to shake it off / I know I can take it all / I know they frontin,’” she sings.
The track itself is a re-work of Pharell’s hit track “Frontin’” with Jay-Z. Upon the song’s release, she called the Pharell track her “favorite.”
everybody business. flipping one of my favorite pharrell songs. laughing hysterically on the floor with some of my favorite people. in vegas wit the feels. pic.twitter.com/dPP3R12z7Y
Kehlani’s video is her second shot by herself in quarantine. Ahead of “Everybody’s Business,” Kehlani essentially broke the internet with her racy “Toxic” video.
Listen to “Everybody’s Business” above.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
100 Gecs have never been a group to operate under any of the music industry’s norms. They’re not about to start doing so during this pandemic: The duo has decided to host an online livestream music festival, and they will be doing so on Minecraft.
“Square Garden” is set to go down on April 24 from 6 to 10 p.m. EST, and 100 Gecs have instructions on their website about how to join the right Minecraft server and enjoy the performance in game. For those unable or unwilling to check out the show in Minecraft, the group is also livestreaming the event on YouTube and Twitch. The show is in support of Feeding America and is presented by Open Pit.
They’re not the only performers set to participate. In fact, they’ve wrangled a pretty sweet lineup: Also performing will be Charli XCX, Kero Kero Bonito, Cashmere Cat, and even Parry Gripp (remember “Raining Tacos” and “Hamster On A Piano (Eating Popcorn)“?). Charli and Kero Kero Bonito’s inclusion isn’t exactly surprising, considering they, along with Rico Nasty, collaborated with 100 Gecs on “Ringtone Remix.”
Late-night television is one of the many segments of the entertainment industry to shift its business model, with well-known hosts like Jimmy Fallon, Trevor Noah, and more conducting their interviews via video call from the safety of social isolation. Likewise, the stars that they call have become much more outspoken about inequality and the shortcomings of our social systems in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, which has affected nearly everyone — although it’s definitely hurt the middle class much more.
The latest guest on The Tonight Show, Pharrell, spoke to this disparity during his video call with host Jimmy Fallon, addressing the historical inequity in healthcare availability that has made the COVID crisis more difficult for people of color. Pharrell also addressed the misconceptions surrounding the disproportionate effect the coronavirus’ spread has had on communities of color, doing his best to dispel some of the myths that have cropped up in its wake.
“There’s this narrative that people who look like me — darker or light, brown and Black folks — that we don’t know how to take care of ourselves,” he said. “We’re twice as likely to get asthma and all these other crazy things and it’s not that. It’s just that the healthcare is disproportionate and you’re seeing the effects of that right now in the way that this thing is spreading and who’s getting the help, how they’re getting the help: There’s access. There’s historical injustices with healthcare with people of color. Those things systemically contribute to the disproportionate access. This is definitely affecting people of color in a different way.”
Pharrell thanked Jimmy for allowing him to use the platform to speak about the topic, because while it’s been touched upon in other sources, the vast majority of Americans won’t hear this reasoning. Pharrell also explained the origins of his Something In The Water Festival and how he’s been staving off quarantine boredom.
The NBA G League is showing it is serious about creating a legitimate path for amateur players to bridge the gap between high school and the pros, and five-star recruit Jalen Green will become the first to try it out. After strongly considering signing Auburn and Memphis, the NBA added several new elements to the G League Select Contract that ultimately enticed Green to opt out of college.
“I wanted to get better overall and prepare myself for the NBA because that’s my ultimate goal,” Green told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “Everything was planned out right and set up for me to succeed.”
Those plans include the option to use a full scholarship given out by the NBA, a $500,000 salary, and a newly formed Select Team, which The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported will likely be put in southern California and play an abbreviated 20-game schedule (the G League usually plays 50 games). Green will also, as a professional athlete, be eligible to earn sponsorship money, while college athletes cannot.
Green won’t be the only blue-chip 2020 recruit on the select team, as five-star forward and former Michigan commit Isaiah Todd will join him.
Five-star prospect Isaiah Todd, who decommitted from Michigan, is expected to sign an NBA G League deal and join the new Southern California team featuring Jalen Green, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA@Stadium.
According to a press release from the G League, “details of the new team Green will play for, which will be unaffiliated with any existing NBA G League franchise or NBA team, are forthcoming.” Among the questions that will be ironed out by NBA commissioner Adam Silver and G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim is who else fills out the Select Team roster, who their competition is during the abbreviated schedule, and what facilities the team will use.
Currently, the Lakers’ and Clippers’ affiliates reside in South Bay and Ontario, respectively, so perhaps the Select Team will work with those franchises to use their facilities. The NBA’s obvious commitment to this plan could mean they invest in a new, more permanent facility elsewhere in southern California.
The NBA and its teams are awaiting an agreement with the NCAA on a reduction in the age limit whereupon young players can turn pro, from 19 back down to 18. The latest reporting has the 2022 NBA Draft as the soonest such a change might happen, meaning this Select Team plan could be in place for multiple seasons. Even if players are soon able to jump from preps to the pros, the Select Team may remain a viable option based on the immense investment the NBA is putting into it.
Life in quarantine is hard; you’ve got to find ways to fight the boredom and stay entertained while self-isolating indoors. Fortunately, social media and the internet have provided a wealth of options, from living room concerts to beat battles curated by one of hip-hop’s premiere producers. Speaking of “premiere” producers and beat battles, one of the challengers from the most recent Verzuz battle is joining Uproxx’s own entry to the canon of quarantine entertainment as our Brooklyn-bred host with the most takes his show to the streams.
That’s right, People’s Party With Talib Kweli is streaming live this week on Instagram with special guest RZA. RZA, of course, is hot off the eye-opening beat battle with DJ Premier this past weekend and ready to talk all things beats, rhymes, and hip-hop with Kweli — no studio set, no desk, no problem. RZA will also talk meditation, his battle with Premier, and his upcoming projects, along with answering fan questions from the comments.
Uproxx Studios
The show is set to go live Friday, April 17 at 7pm EST/4pm PST on @UPROXX on Instagram.
People’s Party is a weekly interview show hosted by Talib Kweli with big-name guests exploring hip-hop, culture, and politics. Subscribe via Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.
When Better Call Saul started, the big question on everyone’s mind was “When will lowly Jimmy McGill, the sad-sack younger brother of legendary attorney Chuck McGill, transform into the fast-talking Saul Goodman character we meet in Breaking Bad?” This was understandable. Saul was right there in the title. It wasn’t a difficult equation to put together.
A strange thing happened on the journey from there to here, though. With the fates of so many characters already spelled out for us (Jimmy/Saul/Gene: Omaha Cinnabon; Mike: dead; Gus: dead; Hank: dead; Huell: motel), the focus shifted to the characters whose fates we don’t know. Most notably, it shifted to Kim Wexler, a character who plays a huge part in this series and no part at all in the one that takes place after this series. This leads to the not-unreasonable conclusion that something happens between now and then. Something bad. At the very least, something… not good.
That day is getting closer. It might even be here as soon as this coming Monday’s season five finale. I’m very nervous. Some of you are too, I imagine. And so, to help us all, collectively, deal with that nervous energy, I have created a list of a few potential outcomes for Kim Wexler, ranked from least to most likely. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. Other things could happen. Some of these are just excuses to make pretty terrible jokes. I’m sorry. I’m struggling here. Cut me some slack, okay?
8. Stays married to Jimmy, no harm comes to her at any point, exists perfectly happy and healthy throughout the entire run of Breaking Bad without being mentioned or alluded to a single time
Yeah, no chance. It says a lot about how unlikely this is that I have it ranked before the joke-y entries. I just don’t see how it’s feasible, for a million reasons, but mostly because it would mean she stuck with him through his entire criminal rise and then he just up and left her to flee to that Omaha Cinnabon without so much as a goodbye. Say what you will about Jimmy McGill, he’s not that guy.
The only reason I’m even including this option is because I now kind of want a second spinoff that runs on the exact Breaking Bad timeline but just shows us Kim Wexler’s perspective of the whole thing. That would be fun. Something to consider.
7. Leaves Jimmy for Lalo and they have three children who grow up to be an unstoppable combination of ruthless, crafty, and charming, and the whole family eventually moves to Hawaii and takes over the entire state
AMC
You saw Lalo’s face when she was yelling at him. There were sparks in that room if not a crackling open flame. You saw that, right? No? It was just me? Possibly because I adore Lalo even though he’s a diabolical monster? Maybe because of his mustache? Hmm. I will need a few moments to think about this. Possibly more than a few. Give me the weekend, at least.
You can’t deny that they’d be an unstoppable team, though. Lalo’s charisma and athleticism and ruthlessness combined with Kim’s drive and quick-thinking. They could take over the drug market for the entire Southwest. Or, as I indicated above, move to Hawaii and take over the whole chain of islands instead. I think they would like Hawaii. I have this image in my head of Lalo in a tourist-y flower print shirt, with his feet up on a patio table and an umbrella drink in his hand. Kim is still in a suit jacket. She has work to do. She’s the brains of this operation.
6. Gets hired by the cartel after they hear a report from Lalo about how formidable she is as an adversary and advocate
Still very much in the long-shot category only because I suspect Kim Wexler would sooner die than represent a massive international drug cartel in its legal proceedings. She just quit Mesa Verde, for heaven’s sake. If you’re having moral quandaries about helping a financial institution push money from one pile to another, you’re probably not jumping from that to being in-house counsel for a group of wealthy drug dealers.
It would be a little funny, though, to see Kim go full-on Cartel Lawyer, all the way up to and including the flashy Mercedes and reflective Aviator sunglasses. It would also be funny to see Jimmy’s reaction to this scenario, with Kim essentially becoming a better and more successful version of the thing he was headed toward becoming. The man has an inferiority complex as wide and deep as the Pacific Ocean. This one might break him. It would be fun to watch, though. Bob Odenkirk is a treasure, especially when he’s spiraling.
5. Moves to California, changes her name to Ellen Swatello, and eventually joins the law firm of Infeld Daniels, making Better Call Saul somehow a prequel of both Breaking Bad and Franklin & Bash
I don’t see how any of us can rule this one out. Not at this point, at least.
4. Gets dumped by Jimmy, who, in a moment of moral clarity, realizes the choices he’s making — and has already made — will put those around him in danger and he can’t bear the thought of it
Doubtful but not impossible. Jimmy is in a very bad place right now, with PTSD from the gunfight and what appears to be sun poisoning on 50 to 60 percent of his body. Lalo just showed up at his apartment and terrorized his wife and his goldfish. He could do anything in the next few days. He could do this, he could run to Hawaii himself before Kim and Lalo take over and then return in time for Breaking Bad, he could try to learn how to play the guitar. Pretty much everything is on the table for him right now, decision-wise, provides it ends with him running that shady law practice out of that strip mall in time for Walter and Jesse to come calling.
It’s an exciting time.
3. Ends up dead
AMC
No. I do not want to talk about this one. I do not want to think about it. I will be inconsolable if this show kills off Kim Wexler, one of the only characters left worth rooting for on the show and one of the best characters on television, full stop. Do not do this to me. I’m begging you.
We are in a dicey place right now, though. Kim is “in the game,” to quote Mike, and she just cussed out a powerful sociopath who has killed before. Also, she quit her high-paying job to follow her dream of defending the powerless, which is at best a half-step less ominous than “after I do this one last job, you and I are going to open a cute little breakfast spot on the beach.” It’s terrifying. Put her in a bulletproof vest every day until Lalo is disposed of.
2. Ends up in jail
This would be even crueler than death, in a way. Death is sadder and more final, sure, but the idea of Kim, the mostly straight shooter who occasionally grifted expensive tequila from wealthy numbskulls, ending up in prison, possibly for or related to something Jimmy did or was involved in, well… that would be a real kick in the pants for all of us. There are a bunch of ways it could happen, too, starting with Lalo framing her for something to punish Jimmy, especially now that Lalo saw her in action. He knows she’s the competent one, the protective one, the one who puts Jimmy back together when he falls to pieces.
Get a good mental image of Kim standing in a jail cell as the bars roll closed in front of her. Hear that lock clunk and lock sound. It stinks. I hate it
1. Breaks up with Jimmy before this all gets really nuts
Three reasons this option comes in at number one:
She should have dumped that loser a long time ago, for any number of transgressions, but “continuing to lie to her after he promised not to, occasionally about gunfights he was in that brought a suspicious murderous lunatic to the front door of her home” is as good a reason as any, if she’s looking for something fresh
It is the happiest possible realistic ending for her and I could really use that right now, even if the Breaking Bad universe is not exactly known for giving characters happy endings
Leaves the door open for Kim, who grew up in Nebraska, to leave New Mexico and move back home, where she could eventually bump into a very familiar-looking mustachioed Cinnabon manager in an Omaha shopping mall, which is so perfect and sweet an ending that it has no chance of working out as smoothly as I’m picturing
Whatever. Let me have this one.
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