Category: Worldwide

John Krasinski hosted the first new SNL of 2021, and while there was a lot to catch up on for the sketch comedy show its host was still living in the past. Krasinski waxed nostalgic about hosting his favorite show, but the monologue was interrupted by questions about his most famous role: being Jim from The Office.

Krasinski tried to explain some advice his wife, Emily Blunt, gave about hosting but was interrupted again because he looks “different.” He tried to explain that he’s been working out to play Jack Ryan for his Amazon series, but was told that the look is all wrong.

“Jim is soft,” Ego Nwodim said, playing a member of the audience asking questions. “Jim sits all day. When you touch Jim your hand goes in like memory foam.”

He’s asked to “kiss Pam” a few times, and that’s when Pete Davidson comes out to help explain what’s going on.

“I think what’s happening is that everyone’s been stuck inside for a year watching The Office nonstop,” he said, noting that Krasinski wasn’t going to escape everyone thinking he’s Office Jim anytime soon. Still, that doesn’t mean they should not try smooching to see if it helps. So they do, but not before Krasinski brings back the fourth wall-breaking stare directly into the camera just like old times.

You can watch the video, and the big smooch, above.

Early on in its ten-season run, The Walking Dead came under fire not only for a lack of diversity but for disproportionately killing off people of color. However and in the intervening years, The Walking Dead learned from its mistakes, and it has become groundbreaking in its diversity, particularly for what has been the most popular cable series of the last decade. The series now has a strong record of diversity both in front of and behind the camera.

The same can also be said of its LGBTQ+ representation, and what has been doubly remarkable about The Walking Dead is how it has never made a big deal out of its LGBTQ+ characters, from Aaron to Tara to Denise to Jesus to Magna to Yumiko on The Walking Dead to, more recently, Will and Felix in The Walking Dead: The World Beyond. Their relationships have never been characterized as “gay” or “lesbian” relationships. They are just relationships.

Recently on The Talking Dead podcast, Jelani Alladin (who plays Will on The World Beyond) spoke to that very issue. Speaking about the relationship with Felix, Alladin said, “It’s two men that happen to be in love. Period. There was no kind of need to explain anything further. I love that The Walking Dead is putting that forward. That the LGBTQ relationships are nothing different than any other kind of relationship.”

“They have the same struggles, they have the same complexities, they get mad at each other, they love each other just as hard,” Alladin declared.

Despite its long history with LGBTQ+ characters in the universe, those comments nevertheless came under fire from a few on social media. A viewer, for instance, criticized the series for how it “introduced them in the series. It’s like you forcing them in your series just to bring lbgt supporters.”

That particular comment brought a response from the official The Walking Dead Twitter account, which rightfully took umbrage with the criticism.

Another fan, meanwhile, offered the perfect response, writing, “Straight characters don’t need any type of special introduction to be accepted. Why do queer characters need to be introduced so carefully to be realistic???”

Exactly.

The Walking Dead will return on February 28th. AMC also announced this week that Fear the Walking Dead would return with the back half of Season 6 on April 11th. The World Beyond will return later this year.

(Via Out & The Talking Dead podcast)

Fresh off a holiday break that, well, missed a whole lot of things, Saturday Night Live returned for the first time in 2021 to check on what still works in the United States of America.

Rather than set the stage for the show’s return by tackling a specific political moment, Kate McKinnon addressed a wide variety of topics by hosting a pretend talk show where she interviewed one guest at a time to help the show catch up on things. First up was Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, played by Cecily Strong, who essentially covered her very real conspiracy beliefs that the Parkland Shooting was a hoax, an anti-semitic belief that wildfires were caused by a Jewish space laser and that 9/11 didn’t happen.

“So government doesn’t work,” McKinnon said. “And honestly I regret not taking that gun.”

The segment also introduced “Derrick Boner” as the majority shareholder of GameStop, touching on the stock market for the first of many times in the episode. OJ Simpson made an appearance as well, as did John Krasinski as Tom Brady, who apparently still works. In fact, Brady was pitched as “the only goddamn thing this country can still rely on.” Except, of course, that he’s a Trump supporter.

You can watch the full video above to see what’s broken in America. There’s a long list of things they didn’t get to, somehow, but with four more new SNLs on the way they just might keep this segment running each week to fully catch up.

Since Twitter banned his account for spreading misinformation, Mike Lindell has been forced to spout his nonsense on Fox News and The Joe Piscopo Show, a radio program hosted by the former-SNL cast member. But where does Lindell gets his cuckoo theories? SNL (the actual show, not the Piscopo show) has a guess for the source.

The MyPillow guy, played with “hard-earned credibility” by Beck Bennett, appeared during the first Weekend Update of 2021 to push back on accusations that he had anything to do with the failed coup at the Capitol. “Well, hold on there, Buck-o, I didn’t inspire no insurrection, nobody,” he told Colin Jost. “I’m just a normal American ex-crack addict turned pillow CEO and adviser to a former president.” Lindell then raved about his pillow, not only because it’s more comfortable than sleeping on dirt or cement, it also has “fantastic political ideas.” He doesn’t talk to his pillow, though, he listens.

“What’s that, MyPillow? Uh huh. Really? Wow!” he said with the pillow by his ear. “MyPillow said Dominion overran the voting machine algorithms, so that China could swing it for Biden, with Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong Un, and Chrissy Teigen!” When Jost told Lindell he was all over the place, the pillow whisperer replied, “No, you’re on crack again!”

You can watch the clip above.

Before he went on Saturday Night Live to be the guest musical performer, Machine Gun Kelly, real name Colson Baker, shared on Twitter how much the experience mant to him. “I remember when I was a kid watching @nbcsnl every weekend with my aunt and my dad,” he wrote on Twitter. “Since they aren’t here to see this moment, I’m going to perform the song I wrote for them on the show. Hopefully I’ll feel them there.” As he kicked the night off with the song “My Ex’s Best Friend” off last year’s Tickets To My Downfall — a track that pretty clearly isn’t about them — fans were expecting him to perform “Lonely” as his second song.

“Lonely” is also off his latest record, which marked a pivot toward a pop-punk sound and away from his previous rap-inflected sound, and addresses Kelly’s feelings about losing his father too soon. It’s a fitting song to close out his time on SNL, not just because of what he shared about watching the show being a family affair, but because these emotions of loss, grief, and loneliness are pervasive right now during the coronavirus pandemic that has been plaguing the world since last year. Watch his performance above.

Pete Davidson started the first episode of Saturday Night Live in 2021 by kissing John Krasinski during his opening monologue, and he ended that same episode getting throw off stage.
Machine Gun Kelly preformed a pair of songs on SNL but he saved his best move on stage for the closing credits of the show. The closing credits are a time for celebration, or maybe sending a message to the audience in the few moments before the show’s cast and crew get a moment of recognition in the credits. But sometimes weird things go down, like a member of the cast getting picked up and maybe that not going very well.

That was the case on Saturday, as Kelly abruptly picked up Davidson in an attempt to, well, that’s unclear. But the move didn’t go well: Kelly lost his balance almost immediately and fell backward, throwing Davidson right off the SNL stage.

Kelly had started the credit roll by doing an elaborate set of handshakes with members of his band and episode host John Krasinski, but he then set his sights on Davidson to disastrous results. It’s even funnier that the whole thing went horribly wrong right as Lorne Michaels’ name popped up.

People certainly took notice of the spill on social media. Even the SNL Stats Twitter account got in on the act.

Hopefully the pair are OK, but it will certainly go down as one of the weirder post-credit moments for the show. And judging by the reaction from others who watched it happen on stage, it won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Machine Gun Kelly is fulfilling a lifelong dream tonight by performing on Saturday Night Live, and he took a moment earlier in the week to acknowledge what this appearance means to him. “I remember when I was a kid watching @nbcsnl every weekend with my aunt and my dad,” he wrote on Twitter. “Since they aren’t here to see this moment, I’m going to perform the song I wrote for them on the show. Hopefully I’ll feel them there.” On another sweet note, he also entered the building in New York this morning carrying his new girlfriend, Megan Fox, in his arms. Romance isn’t dead?

Anyway, Kelly, aka Colson Baker, released his critically-acclaimed new album Tickets To My Downfall late last year to unprecedented success, marking a pivot from some of his more rap-inflected work toward a pop-punk sound that just worked. One of the best songs off that record is the one he kicked off his time on SNL with, “My Ex’s Best Friend,” a strange and all-too-real exploration of how dating histories can make moving on that much more complicated, but how often we’re all forced into doing it, anyway. Check out the performance above, and here’s hoping his family is looking on, and proud of this moment.

The heart and soul of the Boston Celtics left Saturday night’s showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers due to an injury. Right at the start of the game’s fourth quarter, Celtics guard Marcus Smart stepped awkwardly on his left foot and ended up going down in the heap with what looked to be a pretty nasty injury.

Smart was preparing to battle under the rim with Lakers big man Montrezl Harrell when the injury occurred, and while it was unclear exactly what was wrong, it was evident that something was up with his left leg. He eventually made his way back into the locker room with plenty of assistance, as he was unable to put weight on his leg.

After getting examined, the Celtics announced that Smart would miss the remainder of the game with a left calf strain, while Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the he will get an MRI on Sunday.

The Celtics have managed to stay afloat this year throughout a number of injuries and COVID-19 related absences, but losing Smart for any sort of extended period of time would be a gigantic blow to a team that is trying to ease Kemba Walker back into things after he missed the start of the year due to knee issues.

Damian Lillard is one of the best big shot takers and big shot makers the league has ever seen. His latest entry into his vast collection of walk-off shots came on Saturday night as the Portland Trail Blazers went to Chicago and knocked off the Bulls thanks to the heroics of their superstar guard.

Portland found itself down by one with a tick over six seconds left. There was no guarantee that Lillard was going to get a chance to win the game — Gary Trent Jr. had to win a jump ball against Zach LaVine — and in the ensuing chaos, it was evident that both teams knew the plan was to get Lillard the basketball.

Despite the Bulls’ best efforts, Lillard got the ball, but was smothered by Lauri Markkanen. That’s when Dame decided to make the best of the situation, launching a fadeaway triple from the wing that got over Markkanen’s arm and was as pure as could be as it went through the rim.

Lillard had 44 points on 15-for-26 shooting and connected on eight of his 17 attempts from behind the three-point line. That 15th made bucket and the eighth made triple were the most impressive of the bunch, although for Lillard, hitting a shot at the buzzer to give the Blazers a win has become incredibly normal.

Matthew Stafford’s tenure with the Detroit Lions is over. In a bit of news reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN, Stafford, who mutually decided with the franchise to part ways earlier this month, will pack his bag to Los Angeles to join Sean McVay and the Rams in a blockbuster deal.

Schefter reports that the Lions will get quite a haul in return: Rams quarterback Jared Goff is headed to Detroit, as will three picks. Two of those selections will be in the first round, while the final one will be in the third.

The news was confirmed by Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

As for when those picks will head to the Motor City, Pelissero reports that only the third-round selection will be in the upcoming Draft.

It’s a monster deal involving a pair of quarterbacks who have only suited up for one franchise in their NFL careers. Stafford will get to go to a Rams team that is perpetually close and boasts one of the nastiest defenses in the league, but could use something to get over the hump and will give the veteran an offense with a number of talented skill position players. Goff, meanwhile, will get a fresh start in Detroit as the team looks to build under new head coach Dan Campbell.