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The Rundown is a weekly column that highlights some of the biggest, weirdest, and most notable events of the week in entertainment. The number of items could vary, as could the subject matter. It will not always make a ton of sense. Some items might not even be about entertainment, to be honest, or from this week. The important thing is that it’s Friday, and we are here to have some fun.

ITEM NUMBER ONE — Bless you, Ted Lasso

I assume there are lots of good and very explainable reasons for this, but I cannot get myself to watch anything serious or heavy right now. I’m an episode and a half behind on Lovecraft Country, a very good show that feeds bad guys to monsters. I haven’t even started the docuseries on the NXVIM sex cult even though it fascinated me to no end when the articles about it started pouring out. I still haven’t finished I May Destroy You even though everyone I know who has seen it is raving about it. I want to watch all these things. Maybe I will. I hope I will. But right now I just want to watch Ted Lasso.

I reviewed Ted Lasso a few weeks ago. I said then, and I’ll repeat now, that it is so much better than it has any right to be. It is incredibly sweet and charming and it features a bunch of attractive people learning how to be nicer to each other. Jason Sudeikis sports a terrific mustache, something close to a Ron Swanson. Last week they introduced a character named Dani Rojas who is a very excitable young man who smiles all the time and chants his own name a lot. I love him. If anything bad happens to him, if he even gets a parking ticket, I will be completely inconsolable.

It’s to the point that I’ve stopped watching the screeners for the show because I want to save them. New episodes come out every Friday and I have turned it into a routine. Ted Lasso has become my Friday night show. It’s good to have a Friday night show, something fun and enjoyable and lower stress to ease you into the weekend. For a long time, I would rewatch episodes of Parks and Recreation or New Girl. Sometimes I would watch those old Characters Welcome USA shows, which got a weird dismissive reaction from some fancy people when television became very prestige-y, as though there’s not room for both Breaking Bad and a show about hotshots in sunglasses solving crimes at the beach. It’s good to have that balance in your life.

I don’t have it now, though. I’ve swung the other way completely. My brain is braising in its own juices between the pandemic and the election and everything else happening in the world. The sky was just straight-up orange in San Francisco the other day. That’s not what’s supposed to happen. I don’t want to pile bleak and dark television shows on top of that. I want to watch American football coach Ted Lasso reach the troubled youths on his British soccer team. It helps that the show appears to be targeted specifically at the “people named Brian who are me” demographic, which is the only assumption I can make after they invoked the Allen Iverson “practice” rant last week.

Ted Lasso is a very good show. I don’t want you to mistake it as some fluff because of the way I’m discussing it here. It is well-made and funny and will make you feel good. Sometimes that’s all you can possibly ask for out of a television show. Especially on a Friday night. Ted Lasso is a perfect Friday night show. The world has rarely needed one more.

ITEM NUMBER TWO — Meanwhile, on Holey Moley…

The season finale of Holey Moley was this week. I’m very sad about it, in part because I will miss our nation’s finest television program and in part because the finale did not feature either of my two favorite holes, Double Dutch Courage or Polcano, both of which are just excuses to send limbs and torsos hurtling toward the water in potentially dangerous ways. How can you not have the windmills or the zip line?! Come on! I want to see more clobbering. Ugh. Feed my bloodlust, mini-golf show!

There was one fun development, though. They introduced a brand new hole called Clownin’ Around. That’s it in the GIF up there. The contestants got strapped into some spinning astronaut thing and then had to try to putt while upside-down, thanks to a ball that was magnetized to the surface. Really just a lot going on. And none of that was the best part. The best part was this.

After every missed shot, a clown walked up and smashed the contestant in the face with a whipped cream pie. Blammo, right in the kisser. My favorite part was that it happened, again, after every missed shot. So, like, yes, everyone got smashed while hanging upside-down from moon boots, but some of them got smashed a second time after missing their standard second putts. I have always said golf needs more pie-smashing. It would make things so much more interesting. Brooks Koepka missing an 8-foot putt to lose the British Open and then a clown runs out and smushes a whole whipped cream pie into his face as the winner is celebrating. That would be good television. Great television. I’m trying to help here. Listen to me.

ITEM NUMBER THREE — Congrats to the happy couple

David Harbour and Lily Allen got married this week, which was a surprise for me because I didn’t even know they were dating. I suppose that’s more on me than anything else. Apparently it was reasonably common knowledge, or at least something find-out-able. I don’t know why I’m making a big deal about this part. It’s not like they were supposed to tell me, personally, that this was going on. I mean, it would have been nice. I could have grabbed them a gift. And I’m really a lot of fun at weddings. I mingle with all the children and grandparents, I give a great speech, sometimes I have a drink or two too many and start giving people rides on my wheelchair. Their loss, really.

It does look like they had fun, though, if the Instagram photos with fake Elvis are any indication. Sayeth the groom:

In a wedding officiated by the king himself, the people’s princess wed her devoted, low born, but kind credit card holder in a beautiful ceremony lit by the ashen skies courtesy of a burning state miles away in the midst of a global pandemic.

Refreshments were served at a small reception following.

Hmm, I wonder what kind of refreshments one has after a shotgun Vegas celebrity wedding officiated by a man pretending to be Elvis Presl-

Yeah, I suppose this checks out. They seemed to have a very nice time. Without me. I’m not upset.

This all also serves as a nice reminder that Lily Allen has a bunch of fun songs that sound upbeat and fun but are actually mean as all hell, which I love. There’s this one and this one and my personal favorite, this one…

… which is a song about what a loser her little brother is and uses his real name for the title and guess what: her little brother grew up to be Alfie Allen, best known as Theon Greyjoy from Game of Thrones and the punk Russian monster who killed John Wick’s dog and set the events of the entire franchise in motion. That’s a lot to think about! She should update the song with all the crappy things his characters have done. Maybe after the honeymoon.

ITEM NUMBER FOUR — I’m listening…

Hey, did you want an updated version of Scarface set in the present day and directed by Luca Guadagnino of Call Me By Your Name? Well, I hope you did because you’re probably getting it anyway! Let’s see what he has to say about all of this.

“The truth is that I’m interested in the Tony Montana character. He’s a symptom of the American Dream. And I think that these movies are made for their times. My own Scarface will arrive 40 years after the previous one. I think the important thing about these movies is not the fact that they’re lush and fundamental like Brian De Palma’s one. The important thing is knowing that Tony Montana is an archetypal character.”

I can dig that. Tony Montana is an extremely American character, in that he started out hungry and then consumed and consumed and then bought a tiger and killed his best friend and tried to have sex with his sister and then ended up full of cocaine and bullets and dead in his mansio-…

Wait. It appears I have veered away from the subject. I do that sometimes. But Guadagnino actually makes a good point. It is a classic story, a tragic one about the rise and fall of a man who wants everything and ends up with nothing. We can — and probably should — make a new one every 40 years. That’s reasonable. Like how we make a Scrooge movie every few Christmases. But with drugs. And guns. But otherwise the same. Kind of. Tell me more.

“The important things are: A. It has to be well done, the script has to be great – and it is. B. Our Tony Montana has to be current. I don’t want to imitate anything. C. This movie has to be shocking.”

Okay, I kind of can’t wait to see this now. I’m picturing Timothee Chalamet in a Miami nightclub with an Uzi and… hmm. What’s shocking? An elephant? That speaks Spanish? And supports Trump? I don’t know. It’s probably good Luca Guadagnino is doing this instead of me.

ITEM NUMBER FIVE — Diana Rigg knew her way around a good zinger

Diana Rigg passed away this week. Most people under the age of, oh, let’s say 45 probably know her best as Olenna Tyrell on Game of Thrones, which is fair, because she was so good in that role. Just endless zingers and burns, all the time, whenever someone crossed her. Sometimes when they didn’t cross her. Sometimes she was just hilariously mean for no apparent reason, which does not seem like a fun trait in a person you know but is very fun to watch from the safe distance of your own home. She also — spoilers here, I guess — assassinated Joffrey at his own wedding via poison she hid in someone else’s necklace. That was cool. I’ve never rooted for a child’s death harder. I felt great about it. No regrets.

Diana Rigg had a long career before that, though, including a role as London fashion magnate Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper, a movie I just wrote about last week. She delivers a string of zingers in that one, too, most of them directed at her sleazebag brother Nicky (played by a scenery-chomping Charles Grodin), but at least one vicious fireball directed at this poor model.

Maybe you don’t think this is all that bad. Maybe you think her lines as Olenna Tyrell were meaner and more hurtful. That’s fine. You’re allowed to have your own opinion. But do me this favor: Next time you see a woman dressed in a fancy designer dress, walk up to her and say “That outfit’s the pits” just as dismissively as you possibly can. See how that works out for you. Report back.

My point here is that Diana Rigg was pretty great. The Muppets agree.

You know you lived a good life if the Muppets write a tribute to you when you pass.

READER MAIL

If you have questions about television, movies, food, local news, weather, or whatever you want, shoot them to me on Twitter or at [email protected] (put “RUNDOWN” in the subject line). I am the first writer to ever answer reader mail in a column. Do not look up this last part.

From Ryan:

I assume you saw the news that Fast & Furious 9 is officially going to space. I know you’ve been beating this drum for years so I imagine it feels great to be proven correct. My question is this: If they do indeed go to outer space in this movie, how can they possibly raise the stakes for the next movies? Where can you go after you’ve been to space? It is quite literally the final frontier, after all.

Ryan, this is an excellent question. I believe you are referring to the quotes from Michelle Rodriguez this week that (kind of) (maybe) confirmed the previous quotes from Ludacris that at least one character ends up in the cosmos in the upcoming, delayed ninth Fast & Furious movie. Here is her exact quote, for the sake of accuracy:

“Oh, no way! How did you guys find that out? See what happens? People start talking behind the scenes, man. When a movie doesn’t come out and forget about it, things get out. Nobody was supposed to know that… Oh, well, no, I’m not, I’m not, I’m not lucky enough to hit space, but we did get a female writer and showed a lot of love, I think, on this one.”

Okay, three things about this:

• If they do indeed go to outer space, this will be the second time I called a ridiculous plot development, after I predicted the appearance of a submarine in the eighth movie
• There still remains a 40-50 percent chance this is all just trolling, which would be cruel in a very specific way that targets me, personally
• I really like that I got to type the phrase “confirmed the previous quotes by Ludacris” just now

To answer your question, I… I kind of don’t know. Things start getting weird after space. Like, is time travel on the table? The series has been teetering on the edge of sci-fi for a bit, with its magnet planes and scenes where The Rock removes his own cast by flexing super hard, but… yeah, time travel is probably too much. Maybe Vin Diesel will jump the Grand Canyon in a neon Honda. It’s all very exciting, these unknowns in front of us. And we still don’t know how Han is alive after his death was depicted in multiple movies. Is this a necromancy situation? Did they bring him back with voodoo?

Everything is on the table, in every possible way. It’s thrilling.

AND NOW, THE NEWS

To Italy!

A brown bear dubbed “Papillon” after repeated escapes from its enclosure in Italy was recaptured 42 days after its most recent escape.

Papillon, a 4-year-old male bear officially known as M49, escaped from its enclosure at the Casteller wildlife park in Trentino province July 27 by climbing over three electrified fences and breaking through a barrier of metal bars.

I respect this bear so much.

The bear was returned to Casteller, where officials said work is underway to strengthen the enclosure and prevent future escapes.

“No jail can hold me,” said Papillon the Bear, out loud, in English but with a thick Italian accent (“No jail-a can-a hold me”), in both every daydream I’ve had since reading this story and in the screenplay for a Lion King-style live-action film titled Escape Bear that I will have completed by Sunday evening at the latest.

Papillon had previously escaped twice in 2020. Officials said he was recaptured from a previous escape in April, and the bear escaped again only hours later with a female bear from the park.

And now my screenplay has a love interest. This is all coming together so well. Do you think I should invite him to the premiere, or should I just put out a press release with the date and location and let him figure it out himself. I think he might prefer that option. I have no doubt that my sweet boy Papillon the Bear can figure out how to escape his enclosure again and get from Italy to Hollywood. It’ll be great marketing. And then the story of his journey will be the sequel.

Welcome to the Papillon The Bear Cinematic Universe.

During the Miami Heat’s gentleman’s sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks, propelling them to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2014, Jimmy Butler was the Frankenstein of stars. He leveraged strength to carve out space as a driver like Kawhi Leonard. He paraded to the free throw line like James Harden. At times, he took over in the clutch like Chris Paul. He toggled among any on-ball defensive assignment thrust upon him like Ben Simmons.

Across five games, Butler averaged 23.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.8 steals on 68.2 percent true shooting (53.2/45.5/85.2) with an .871 free throw rate, generating elite scoring efficiency against the NBA’s top-ranked regular season defense. If anything, he was too deferential and passive throughout the series, going long stretches without a shot or imprinting himself as an on-ball creator. To his benefit, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer limited Wesley Matthews’ minutes (129 in five games) and Matthews was the only guy who routinely flustered Butler. That is only tangentially related, though. Butler dissected Milwaukee as an initiator the same way he’s dissected teams for over half a decade, wielding outlier ankle flexibility, precise footwork, and functional strength to compromise defenders and generate advantages.

Despite not being much of a pull-up shooter — and he’s never been a high-level one — Butler is consistently able to inhabit the paint. While not quite as strong as Kawhi or LeBron, Butler is a ridiculously powerful wing who methodically plows through defenders or dislodges them to venture as he prefers. All he requires is a sliver of an advantage. He has economical footwork and keeps the ball close to his body, preventing guys from poking it loose. His handle is not flashy or dangerous like Kyrie Irving’s or Steph Curry’s, but it is undoubtedly an asset. Few players can disrupt him without risking a foul.

He also busts out hop-steps and jump-stops, paired with a quick second leap, to enact subtle advantages. He’s also patient as a ball-handler. The Bucks did not do enough to deter him from his spots on the floor and he regularly found his way inside — 42 of his 62 field goal attempts came in the paint.

His strength shines through on these buckets, but much of it is primed by the footwork and pivoting. Every step and decision is calculated and intentional to compensate for his finite off-the-bounce shooting. Most defenders do not and should not respect him when he’s taking a three or a long two, so he has turned toward other avenues to serve as a viable go-to creator.

Most fascinating, even more so than the footwork and strength, is his ankle flexibility. Particularly challenging to recognize in real time, freeze a clip and you’ll notice the bionic joints enabling his slashing aptitude. So many players are limited by rigid limbs and joints that can often be mistaken for burst, handle, or explosion deficiencies. Butler is not one of them. He bends, contorts, stops, and starts without fear of his ankles withering under the stress.

Ankles are not usually pliable like Butler’s; his right ankle is at an ~45-degree angle in the first picture! They allow him the edge he needs on the margins to continue thriving while he distances himself from the three-ball and leans into this interior-oriented shot profile as a perimeter-oriented creator.

All of the traits and skills prevalent in his scoring arsenal, strength, footwork, ankle flexibility, and protective handle were on display with his facilitating. Despite not representing the most proactive or dazzling of playmakers, Butler’s proclivity for populating the heart of defenses, as well as composure and prompt decision-making, contrives passing windows.

Anchoring him with shooters on the perimeter and a play finisher inside (Bam Adebayo) lessens the complexity of his reads. Butler could attract help, scan through his outlets and proceed. He averaged 10.8 potential assists in the series (14th among 99 conference semifinals participants) and was 12th in assists adjusted (6.8), which consolidates the total sum of a player’s or team’s assists, free throw assists, and secondary assists. Butler’s distributing reinforces the value of paint touches and size, allowing him to spot more options for initiators. While his distributing resume against Milwaukee was not gaudy, it was highly effective.

He didn’t solely operate as a lead handler, embracing versatility as a screener, roller, and cutter to dispel the already misguided notion that winning occurs on Butler-led teams only when he dictates the terms and is ball-dominant. For long periods, he was content setting picks for fellow initiators — most commonly Goran Dragic — diving to the rim, popping for threes or enticing switches for him to exploit. Other times, he blended into the background, helping to facilitate Miami’s screen- and motioned-based offense as a pick man or cutter.

He provided a slate for stylistic diversity offensively, both in how the Heat approached on-ball creation and maximized their stable of wing shooting, headlined by Duncan Robinson, Jae Crowder, and Tyler Herro. Butler is a downhill bruiser intent on slashing to the rim; Dragic is the complement as a savvy pull-up scorer. The duality and malleability of his role in this series resembled that of an idealized Ben Simmons, a concept many clamor for but has escaped Butler’s former Sixers teammate for much of his career. Butler is not the passer or finisher of Simmons, though the fundamental theory remains, and Butler has excelled through this dichotomy. Perhaps more worthy of praise in this discussion of Jimmy Butler is his embracing of contact and how willing he is to simply crash into or barrel through rim protectors in pursuit of a bucket. Not everyone is conditioned to accept that physical toll. Butler is, which broadens his deployment.

This series also showcased the merits of his defensive versatility. Miami’s scheme to slow down Milwaukee necessitated these services and he flourished in the first three games — beset by undisciplined off-ball sequences and apathy on the ball in Games 4 and 5 after claiming a 3-0 lead. The Heat founded their approach upon three switchy wings and an agile center in Adebayo, Butler, Crowder, and Andre Iguodala, confident they were mobile and brawny enough to combat Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez, and Khris Middleton. That bet, of course, delivered, and leaves them four wins away from the Finals.

Butler spent the majority of his time guarding Middleton, but comfortably switched onto seemingly everyone in the Bucks’ rotation. While Middleton too seamlessly reached many of his desired zones around the floor against Butler, this switch-heavy gambit prevented Milwaukee from pressuring the rim to the degree it was accustomed. Middleton excels at making difficult shots and the Bucks were unable to collapse Miami’s defense to manufacture efficient offense. Much of this stemmed from Butler and his on-ball exploits, capable of handling his assignment without help or shaded positioning that threatens the structural integrity of a defense.

Every good offense thrives off of advantages. The Heat, in large part because of Butler, did not concede them and held the opposition to a 106.6 offensive rating, sixth among the eight conference semifinal teams (this is largely just a trivial reference point, given everyone is playing a different opponent).

In offering relative resistance on the ball against each of the Bucks’ offensive pillars, Butler solidified Miami’s philosophy, more of a vital linking cog than individual hinge. Without any of the hulking front-court quartet, the plan was unlikely to fare as well as it did. Off the ball, though, Butler was a consummate freelancer and punctual helper. He banked on the Bucks lacking the playmakers — and, even, the shooters in some cases — to manipulate his overzealous tendencies and won out. Mostly, though, his ball-hawking instincts and aggressive rotations dissuaded drives and actions to stymie possessions or yielded turnovers for transition run-outs.

Whether it was operating at the nail, where he’s among the NBA’s best defenders, altering shots inside, or plunging into plays as an agent of chaos, Butler thrived during the first three games. Despite shifting into autopilot for much of the final two games, he inflicted havoc as Miami staked a 3-0 lead, fronted by its two-way star.

Explaining Jimmy Butler’s performance against the Bucks through a jack of all trades, master of none angle would be understandable, although ultimately, that’s off-base. When the sport is reduced to scoring, passing, and defense, that assumption carries legitimacy. But his blend of paint frequency, foul-drawing (10.8 free throws per game), and two-way adaptability all enabled the Heat to adhere to a game plan designed by, arguably, the NBA’s best coach.

Miami is the sort of opportunity Butler has long sought. Amid this playoff run, he is extinguishing talking points written at previous pit stops on his journey to South Beach. Oscillating between five-position on-ball irritant and off-ball roamer defensively while donning any offensive cap required, Butler is proving he might’ve always been right about himself. Prickly and demanding as he is, this is merely how he hunts for wins. All it entailed was the proper ecosystem to justify those characteristics, vindicated by his wide-ranging, end-to-end, piecemeal brand of stardom.

Kevin Nealon is a performer probably best known for his run on SNL from 1986-1995, during which he served as host of the show’s famed “Weekend Update” segment for a time. You may also know him from movies like Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer, and for his roles on shows like Weeds and Man with a Plan.

On Saturday, September 12, Nealon is doing a virtual comedy show — Kevin Nealon: Behind the Mask — on a new interactive platform called RushTix. The show will feature personalized shoutouts from Nealon, and friends can watch the show “together” virtually with an integrated chat. Tickets for the show can be obtained here.

Kevin was nice enough to take a few minutes out of his schedule recently to take part in our vaunted 20 questions questionnaire series.

1. You walk into a bar. What do you order from the bartender?

At my age, parking validation.

2. Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

On Instagram, it would be @SukiYeagley, who has amazing posts – and she’s also my wife. I also like @SeilerPaints because he’s a mentor to me in the art world.

3. What’s currently waiting for you on your DVR or in your streaming queue?

Away with Hilary Swank and Somebody Feed Phil, both on Netflix.

4. It’s your last meal — what are you going out with?

I’m going out with a ten-course meal, something that is going to take a long time to chew. Possibly a bubblegum steak.

5. What websites do you visit on a regular basis?

I like gumroad.com for their art supplies and tutorials.

6. What’s the most frequently played song on your mobile device?

“If the World Was Ending” by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels, and “Can We Still Be Friends” by Todd Rundgren. I’m very sentimental in these COVID times.

7. If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice what would it be?

Learn more about politics, and get involved in more civic duties.

8. What’s the last thing you Googled?

“Rattlesnake bites”

9. Dogs or cats?

Dogs

10. Best concert of your life was…?

The first time I saw James Taylor in concert, in Waterbury, Connecticut. I think I was 17 at the time.

11. What book are you most likely to give as a gift?

“How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie

12. What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

My publicist transcribing this interview after I’ve had shoulder surgery.

13. South Park or Family Guy?

South Park.

14. You have an entire day to do whatever you want. What would you do?

I would binge-watch our Ring doorbell footage.

15. What movie can you not resist watching if it’s on?

It’s a Wonderful Life.

16. The sports team or teams you’re most passionate about?

I would say the hockey team from the movie Slap Shot with Paul Newman.

17. Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

At home when I was 17, a homecooked meal by my mother. It was just before that James Taylor concert.

18. The last movie you saw in a theater?

Knives Out with my son.

19. Who was your first celebrity crush?

Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie.

20. What would you cook if Nic Cage were coming to your house for dinner?

It would be the same meal I would have for my last meal, only it would be two courses.

PREVIOUSLY: Melissa Fumero

T.I. reunites with Young Thug once again on his latest single, “Ring.” Over a rumbling beat produced by ChopsquadDJ and DY Krazy, the Atlantan rappers trade bars with a back-and-forth flow that highlights their yin-and-yang chemistry and clever lyricism. For both, it’s a return to form, finding them focusing more on their raps than on melodies or high concepts — just straight rhymes and flexing, splitting the subject matter evenly between threats for their enemies and boasts for their admirers.

It’s T.I.’s first new track since 2019’s “Sabotage,” but it’s just one of many Young Thug features in 2020. The YSL founder has popped up on songs from Aminé (“Compensating“), DaBaby (“Blind“), and Gunna (“Dollaz On My Head“) this year, while also making appearances on Lil Dicky’s comedy show Dave and in the popular shooting video game Fortnite as part of an in-game concert featuring Diplo.

T.I. has had a busy enough year as well, but for entirely different reasons. Taking a break from releasing new music, T.I. instead volunteered in his hometown passing out meals to people affected by the pandemic with Killer Mike. He did, however, collaborate with South African rapper Nasty C to address police violence on “They Don’t” and headline a Juneteenth livestream concert with Common and Mick Jenkins. Longtime fans are likely excited to see him getting back to dropping new songs, especially ones that show he’s still just as tied into the vibrant ATL rap community as when he and Thug made “About The Money.”

Listen to T.I.’s new song ‘Ring’ featuring Young Thug above.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Over the years, Donald Trump has told some truly wild lies — this sentence could be about literally anything — about September 11.

In 2019: “I was down there also, but I’m not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you.” No, he wasn’t.

In 2016: “Everyone who helped clear the rubble — and I was there, and I watched, and I helped a little bit.” No, he didn’t.

In 2015: “Many people jumped and I witnessed it, I watched that. I have a view — a view in my apartment that was specifically aimed at the World Trade Center. And I watched those people jump.” His apartment was over four miles away from the Towers.

Also in 2015: “And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering.” No, they weren’t.

In 2001, literally hours after the buildings fell: “40 Wall Street actually was the second tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually before the World Trade Center the tallest, and then when they built the World Trade Center it became known as the second tallest, and now it’s the tallest.” Reprehensible, but also, no, it wasn’t.

The Daily Show put together a compilation of Trump’s most bizarre and outlandish lies about 9/11, which you can watch below. But if you do, you’re a hater and/or loser.

Fox News’ response to President Trump’s COVID lies to the American people (as revealed, far too late, by Bob Woodward’s new book) has been, at best, dismissive. Tucker Carlson swiftly blamed Lindsey Graham for how Trump blabbed about how he downplayed the virus’ deadliness to the American people. Things only grew worse, though, when Lou Dobbs got ahold of the story, and Seth Meyers went to town on not only Dobbs but Sean Hannity and the rest of Fox News after what he saw on air.

You can watch the results in the above video, but it all began with Dobbs strangely deflecting from the situation with a “President Trump today had a great day. A day that any president could only dream of.” To that, Meyers reminded everyone of former Iraqi diplomat Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, a.k.a., “Baghdad Bob,” who famously denied the presence of American tanks in Baghdad while they could be heard in the background. And Dobbs received a similar nickname (“Baghdad Blob”) with a twist:

“I’ve heard of brown-nosing, but apparently Dobbs is in there so deep his hair turned brown. Normally when an old man says something like that you have to tell him, ‘Grandpa, Harry Truman is dead!’”

Meyers then turned his attention to Sean Hannity, who (previously) famously deflected from the confirmation that Trump attempted to fire Robert Mueller by airing a high-speed car chase. In this instance, Hannity declared that Trump had done the right thing by attempting to avoid panic by lying about a virus that’s now killed over 190,000 Americans and counting. From Meyers:

“Oh yeah, totally, Trump is the picture of calm and poise. He’s spent the last four years claiming that caravans of migrants are coming to kill everyone and airplanes full of mysterious black-clad thugs were flying cross-country to burn down American cities. He’s the human embodiment of yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. Of course, nowadays you can cause a panic by yelling ‘crowded theater.’”

It’s business as usual for Hannity and Dobbs. As for Trump, he pushed back with a lie when confronted by a reporter over his COVID lies, and then he talked about how he watched about eight hours of Fox News in one night. Well, no one accuse Dobbs and Hannity of not knowing their audience.

(Via Mediaite)

Dua Lipa recruited a bevy of talent to help her out with Club Future Nostalgia: The Remix Album. With The Blessed Madonna by her side, Dua wrangled contributions from the likes of Mark Ronson, Yaeji, Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, Gwen Stefani, and Blackpink. While the album seemed like it might be a big last hurrah of Future Nostalgia remixes, that has proven not to be the case.

Today, she shared yet another remix, this time a Kaytranada rework of “Don’t Start Now.” He did a fabulous job with the track, completely re-contextualizing it into a smooth, groovy, and understated house number.

Dua previously said of the album, “The last few months have been surreal. I’ve watched you all dance in your homes and on your Zoom parties to Future Nostalgia like you were in the club with me. It brought so much joy to my days spent at home, even though I would’ve much rather been playing these songs live for you all on the road. During this time, I decided to take the party up a notch with the incomparable The Blessed Madonna, who secretly helped me to craft the mixtape that would become Club Future Nostalgia. We invited some friends and legends to join in on the fun with us.”

Listen to the Kaytranada remix of “Don’t Start Now” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

When it comes to pandemic delays, Fargo got off relatively easy. The fourth season was originally set to premiere in April, but following a production shutdown, it was put on the shelf until September, which is not that bad in the grand scheme of things. With new episodes just around the corner, comedian Chris Rock couldn’t be happier because, finally, the world will get to see him play gangster Loy Cannon.

While sitting down for a virtual panel ahead of the fourth season, the 55-year-old Rock expressed his enthusiasm for tackling a role that’s very different from what he’s usually offered: Someone his own age. “It’s like I kind of got really famous at 35 or whatever, 37, and everything that’s offered to me is kind of like a man-boy, so it was great to actually play a grown-ass man,” Rock said.

The former Saturday Night Live alum also elaborated how he based the role on his own grandfather and co-star Glynn Turman. Via TV Guide:

Black men of an older generation who carried themselves with dignity in defiance of the racism they faced. “I’m born February 7th, 1965, in Georgetown, South Carolina,” Rock said. “The odds that I was not in a segregated wing of a hospital are slim. Me. It’s not that long ago. I was born in South Carolina. My mother was born in South Carolina and my father was born in South Carolina, so I know Loy Cannon very well.”

This isn’t the first time Rock has expressed his appreciation for landing the Fargo role. Back in March, he told Entertainment Weekly that this is “the best part I’ve ever done and, honestly, probably the best part I’ll ever have.” Rock even likened the role to Morgan Freeman starring in The Shawshank Redemption. “He’s amazing. He’s made a kazillion dollars since then. He never got a part that good again.”

Fargo season four premieres September 27 on FX and the next day on FX on Hulu.

(Via TV Guide)

2020 has been a strong year for Angel Olsen covers. She sang the 1929 classic “More Than You Know” in the SiriusXM studio in January, she covered Roxy Music from her living room in March, and she and Hand Habits took on a Tom Petty cut in July. Now she has again dipped into the musical wells of others for a cover, this time going with The Beatles member George Harrison, tackling his “Beware Of Darkness.”

Like the Roxy Music cover before, this new one is a simple video Olsen shot in her living room. After a false start, she tenderly worked through the song on acoustic guitar. Olsen dropped the video on Instagram and shared praise for the track, as well as its lyrics:

“The original is pretty great. I’m just messing around like a tired sad sh*t

Words are good too:

‘Watch out now, take care
Beware of falling swingers
Dropping all around you
The pain that often mingles
In your fingertips
Beware of darkness
Watch out now, take care
Beware of the thoughts that linger
Winding up inside your head
The hopelessness around you
In the dead of night
Beware of sadness
It can hit you
It can hurt you
Make you sore and what is more
That is not what you are here for
Watch out now, take care
Beware of soft shoe shufflers
Dancing down the sidewalks
As each unconscious sufferer
Wanders aimlessly
Beware of Maya
Watch out now, take care
Beware of greedy leaders
They take you where you should not go
While Weeping Atlas Cedars
They just want to grow, grow and grow
Beware of darkness.’”

Watch Olsen cover “Beware Of Darkness’ above.

Discovering the truth about love and the realities of the world is such a depressing thing to wake up to as a teen. Teenage Fever is rising R&B singer Kaash Paige’s dreamy interpretation.

Her heavenly, airy vocals are somehow also filled with the pangs of teenage angst. Her lyrics are a guide through her journey in trying to figure out who she is, though it seems like she always had an idea since high school.

Growing up in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the Def Jam signee, born D’kyla Woolen, always knew that school wasn’t for her. And after trying, she knew that working a regular job wasn’t for her, either. “I want to chill, make some dope music and just be able to live my life,” the singer told Uproxx over the phone of her decision to commit to making music.

So far, that decision has been working quite nicely for her. Last year, she had Kylie Jenner lip-syncing to her Billboard hit “Love Songs” and impressed with her EP, Parked Car Convos. Opening up to Uproxx on the creation of Teenage Fever and the agony of teen growing pains, Kaash told us that ultimately, she just wants those tuned into her vibes to feel something.

Teenage Fever. What does that mean and why did you title this project that?

I thought of Teenage Fever because I’m 19 years old. It’s really my last year of being a teen. I just wanted to put every emotion that I went through in the lyrics and the songs. In the production, I feel like the songs and the energy just makes you feel either super excited or moody.

To me, this sounds lovey, but also kind of emo. How would you describe it?

I would describe my sound as euphoric. My music makes you feel a certain type of way. I love when you can listen to a song and you can feel high or feel sad or feel happy. That’s capturing music. It just captures a moment in your life where you have emotion. I want my music to make you feel a certain type of way.

How much are you a part of the process of picking out your beats and then putting together the tracklist?

In the end, I’m all hands on. My bro, he’s in college, I just went to his dorm room. We recorded all those songs in a dorm room and just pretty much just vibed out. Take which one would sound good to transition into one another and just produced them all together. The majority all my homies did my beats for me, and I was there every single time just on the keys.

It takes some people a while to know what they want to do, but it sounds like you knew early on in high school.

In middle school I wanted to be like everybody else, because everybody else was cool. I didn’t know that being yourself was the best.

When I got to high school and I started really getting to know myself, I’m like, damn, what do I want to do? I wanted to go to college for track and I wanted to be in the Olympics, but I was like I can’t keep doing sports. Practice is tiring as hell. I just don’t want to do that. I want to chill, make some dope music, and just be able to live my life. I was sending my shit to record labels knowing they’re not going to respond back.

It was God’s timing. This man reached out to me on Instagram. He was like, “I want to work with you. I want to fly you out to New York.” I’m like, damn, n****’s lying already. That’s crazy.

I had got a call when I was in the garage with some of my bros. They’re like, “I think you’re amazing. I want to fly you out to New York.” I’m like, “Bro, what? Why are you playing on my phone?”

So I called my mama. I remember three days before that, I went out to eat and my mom kept texting me saying, “You need to get a job.” I had jobs, but I really couldn’t stand them. I was just quitting jobs. I don’t want a job and I don’t want to go to school. I just felt like my life was going to change. Then it was literally those days after I got that call.

What does your mom think now?

She cool now. My mom, she wasn’t strict, but it was like I couldn’t do music. The only way I was doing music was when her and my real dad were together and he used to record me in the little studio that we had in the house. Whenever they got a divorce, I kind of had to sneak my way to studios. I would tell her I’m going out to eat in Dallas with my friends. Lowkey, I’m really at the studio recording some shit for SoundCloud.

What jobs did you work that you quit?

The first job I ever had was Cheddar’s.

I love Cheddar’s!

Cheddar’s is fire. I was getting free food every day. Then I worked at Journey’s. I worked at Zumiez. Then I worked at Pei Wei. Then I worked at Salata. Then I worked at Chicken Express. I worked at Chicken Express for a damn day though.

I can’t work at food spots. The day I quit Salata, somebody was like, “Yo, can you clean?” It was something like cleaning the trash cans. I said hell no. I was like y’all are tripping. I had to quit. I was like, “Bro, I can’t do that.” I do that at the crib, you feel me? That’s nasty to me. I was just like I just don’t want a job.

What happened at Chicken Express? Is there something we should know?

Chicken Express is fire. It’s just the simple fact like everybody there was too pushy. They took it too serious. The food was good, trust me. I was going home like, “What y’all want to eat?” But nah, not my type of vibe. Zumiez, the way they pay is based off of commission. It was weird. The first Zumiez I worked at, I worked there for probably two days. I got fired because the girl thought I was flirting with her girlfriend, which is another manager at another Zumiez, because she hired me.

I remember when you did that interview on The Breakfast Club and people in Dallas were in your head about you saying you didn’t really know any of them because you don’t really listen to any Dallas artists.

Yeah, it’s like y’all can’t be mad because I don’t. Dallas has some crazy creatives. Everybody out there is talented, but it’s like when you’re so focused on yourself and your grind instead of trying to be a crab in a bucket and worry about somebody else and them failing, you don’t have time to worry about that. I was just too focused on trying to get where I needed to be. I feel like that’s what everybody’s heads should be like.

Man, focus on yourself. You’re worrying about somebody else’s grind, you not going to get nowhere. You’re not going to ever leave.

Also I noticed that your fans call you by your real name instead of Kaash. How does that make you feel?

I’ll be lost. They really be saying my whole government name. When somebody is a fan and they support you, they’re going to do their research and know everything about you, because they love you. I’ll be thinking it’s one of my cousins or something, but I’ll be like, oh shit. Thank you so much. I love you too.

Has it happened to you in person?

I be so damn high I just don’t be remembering like that. I just do not remember anybody calling me D’Kyla in person at all. I do remember getting chased by some kids at a gas station.

That’s cute.

They chased me to my car. It was dumb cute. They were singing “Love Songs.”

Let’s talk about “Love Songs,” because that’s the first time I ever heard a song of yours. Kylie posted herself singing it on her Instagram story, too. Where were you when you saw that and what was your reaction?

I was in LA about to do my Genius interview. I was on the call with my A&R, my project manager. Everybody kept sending it to me like, “Bro, Kylie’s blasting ‘Love Songs.’ Bro. You’re up.” I’m looking at all the stories. I just keep seeing “Love Songs.” I told her I appreciate her, but it’s like she’s not going to respond back to me. Just to even bring awareness to that song, it was just love.

How does it feel to have a billboard in your hometown of Dallas?

It lowkey feel live. I’m going to go back. When I go back it’s going to be so much love in this city. It’s going to be overwhelming as hell. That’s a major accomplishment. I’m 19 years old, that doesn’t really come too often. I’m just really appreciative and just like, is it going to keep going? To be honest with you. I want way more. That’s one, but I want billboards around the whole city.

Then the Times Square one.

Yeah. That was crazy as hell. There was people on Times Square that knew me. Just to see my first album be on a big ass billboard. That shit was hard, just being there in the flesh.

It looked pretty live.

We were so lit. Right after that, literally I went number one. Me and my team were going bananas in New York. That trip was literally for two days.

You went down there just to see the billboard?

Yeah, because I was having a party in LA the next day. I had a party for the release. It was a crazy party. It lasted from 8:00 to 4:00 in the morning. Everybody was blasted. Buddy was gone. Guap was gone. Everybody was too out of it.

It sounds like you had a good time! What’s your favorite song on the album?

My favorite song on the album has to be “Soul Ties.”

What is it about that song?

I know how it feels to be super attached. Attachment sucks. Especially if you know that person not good for you. When I made that song, I’m really into bass lines. That’s what I got from Drake. Drake is a major influence. So just feeling like you’re melting when you hear that bass line. Sitting in a car hotboxing, you’re going to feel that. You’re going to feel literally the vibrations going through your body. Whenever you listen to it, you can feel the soul ties. I just really love that song.

Right now there’s a lot of people putting out deluxe albums. Are you going to be coming out with a deluxe?

I don’t know. I feel like I might, but I’ll be so onto the next. I got hella bullets in this clip. I know I’m going to keep going and putting out more fire. I for sure want to milk Teenage Fever and just get people more aware to that album. I got crazy singles that I want to drop too, so who knows.

What types of things are you going to be doing in place of live performances and shows as we’re in the pandemic?

I have an opportunity to livestream perform in Atlanta in September. I think another one in Atlanta with Morehouse College. I’m just letting stuff come to me and just really just thinking digitally how we can go crazy. I’m trying to sell my own cartoon show on Adult Swim, so I’m really just trying to do a lot of different stuff that doesn’t really involve music as well. Being in the house, digital is all we have. So let’s just go crazy digitally with music videos and video games.

How’s the Adult Swim cartoon show going?

I’m literally with my team right now. We just making the characters. It’s going to start going crazy. My whole plan is just to set it up and bring it to my team’s attention and be like, yo, let’s try to do something with this, get it on Netflix or whatever. I’m super creative and I just know that show will be dumb funny.

What is it going to be about?

I want to call it something like Dinner With The South Five, kind of like how South Park is, but it would be based literally being in the South and it would be regular show mixed in with Adventure Time, so there would be aliens. It would just be super diverse and it’ll be about my life as an artist and just all my experiences, the crazy parties, just anything. First time smoking, first time doing anything.