TV ratings ain’t what they used to be. In 1994, the highest-rated scripted series on TV was Seinfeld, which averaged over 30 million episodes. Thirty years later, TV’s biggest non-sports show barely gets 10 million viewers — and that’s with a Super Bowl-assisted bump.
With data provided by Nielsen, Variety shared the list of the 100 most-watched TV shows of the 2023-2024 season. NBC’s NFL Sunday Night Football is number one for the sixth year in a row with 19.8 million total viewers, followed by ABC’s NFL Monday Night Football, and Amazon Prime’s NFL Thursday Night Football. Finally, at number four, comes the first scripted series: CBS’ Reacher-lite action-drama Tracker with 10.7 million.
According to Variety, it’s the “first time a first-year TV series was ranked as the No. 1 show since Survivor premiered as an instant phenomenon in 2000,” although that’s partially due to Tracker premiering after the most-watched TV event in decades. The Taylor Swift Effect can be felt in unexpected places.
Here’s the top 10 for total viewers:
1. NFL Sunday Night Football (NBC) (19.8 million)
2. NFL Monday Night Football on ABC (ABC) (11.9 million)
3. NFL Thursday Night Football (Amazon Prime) (11.9 million)
4. Tracker (CBS) (10.7 million)
5. NCIS (CBS) (9.6 million)
6. Young Sheldon (CBS) (9.1 million)
7. FBI (CBS) (8.9 million)
8. Chicago Fire (NBC) (8.7 million)
9. Blue Bloods (CBS) (8.4 million)
10. 60 Minutes (CBS) (8.2 million)
The full top 100 list can be found here. How many shows do you watch? Or better yet: how many shows have you even heard of? You can’t convince me that 2.5 million people watch something called Farmer Wants a Wife every week. It’s simply impossible.
It’s not that unheard of for two romcom stars to date while filming, but only few of them can win the coveted MTV Best Kiss Award. However, Syndey Sweneey and Glen Powell’s on-set romance was a little more ambiguous.
While the two were filming Anyone But You last year, Powell and Sweeney were rumored to be dating, despite the pair both having other partners. Then, Powell and his girlfriend split, and it got even more messy, with rumors that Powell had cheated on his girlfriend with Sweeney.
In a new interview, Powell told GQ that the frenzy (and subsequent media attention) was extremely stressful for him. “At the time, [the rumours] were like, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out! I was going through a real breakup at the time. It was stressful,” he said.
But instead of denying the rumors, Sweeney thought they should embrace them. “She’s dealt with the public eye before, she’s so much more comfortable than I am. She’s so in on the joke, man,” he told the mag. Her idea was to play up the rumors in order to keep the people talking. It worked– the romcom became a modest box office hit and now there are talks of a sequel.
Powell then compared Sweeney to Bruce Wayne, who is also famously sneak, because of her business moves. “She’s a businesswoman, and she understands that who she is in the public eye and who she is in reality are two separate people. It’s Bruce Wayne and Batman. You can shoot Batman as many times as you want, it’s not gonna affect Bruce Wayne.”
Even though the two playing up their non-romance was just a tactic, Powell says it all paid off. “That insane circus around it took a normal romcom and made it IP,” he says. “It was the electricity that kept that movie going. And we made the hell out of that movie. I’m really proud of it.”
Not only did the movie make bank, but Sweeney and Powell have vowed to work together again, which means more fake dating. This is all because of Madame Web! Thanks, Dakota Johnson.
The basketball world lost one of its true characters on Monday, as Bill Walton died at age 71 after a long battle with cancer.
The two-time national champion at UCLA, two-time NBA champion in Portland and Boston, NBA MVP, and Hall of Famer had a stellar on-court career, but he is remembered by most for his unique personality that we got to see across his broadcasting career for over 30 years. Walton called NBA games on NBC and ABC, including five NBA Finals, before becoming the voice of Pac-12 basketball — or as he always called it, the Conference of Champions — for ESPN.
He was often partnered with play-by-play man Dave Pasch, who spent 12 years alongside Walton at the broadcast table, trying desperately to keep the broadcast focused on the game at hand while Walton took the audience on a journey through his mind. After the news of Walton’s death, fans began posting their favorite memories of Bill, many of which were clips of him attempting to drive Pasch crazy. Pasch went on ESPN to talk about his longtime friend and broadcast partner, offering some incredible anecdotes about Walton that were both touching and hysterical.
On Tuesday, Pasch woke up still thinking about his friend and wanted to share more about Walton with the world, so he posted screenshots of the texts Walton would send to mess with him while he was calling games.
Bill would text me during games I was broadcasting, and pretend he didn’t know I was doing it, but ask if I was watching pic.twitter.com/p9DuiufCFA
As Pasch noted, getting to share this with the world and seeing the reaction from fans is cathartic in this moment of grief, and I know fans appreciate Pasch giving us this glimpse into who Bill was. There was no act from Bill Walton when he was on air, he simply was himself, and even the bits he played out with Pasch extended to when they weren’t on camera, with Walton constantly asking “who is this?” as he texted his friend.
Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.
Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week, we got new music from Clairo, Been Stellar, DIIV, and more.
While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.
Youth Lagoon – “Lucy Takes A Picture”
Heaven Is A Junkyard was one of the best albums released last year, and Trevor Powers, who records spectral, gossamer indie rock as Youth Lagoon, has (ever so softly) kept his foot on the pedal. Back in January, he shared the excellent one-off single, “Football,” and now he’s back with another excellent one-off single, “Lucy Takes A Picture.” Inspired by a random note Powers found stashed between the bars of a metal bench at a bus stop, the Idaho musician took its message to heart: “This is the tale of my resurrection. I died so I could live again.” With its echoing percussion and gentle piano motif, “Lucy Takes A Picture” contains all the beautiful mystique of its epistolary muse.
DIIV – Frog In Boiling Water
With the contemporary resurgence of shoegaze, DIIV seems serendipitously primed to win over some new fans. Frog In Boiling Water, the follow-up to 2019’s Deceiver, is as great an entry point as any. It astutely captures what makes the New York four-piece such an incredible band, from the foreboding harmonics on “Everyone Out” to the enveloping, ethereal soundscape on “Somber The Drums.”
Horse Jumper Of Love – “Wink”
Slowcore is a quiet subgenre hinged on diaphanous arrangements, glacial BPMs, and barely audible drums. Boston trio Horse Jumper Of Love are a slowcore band, but they approach it differently: They’re not afraid to actually get loud. “Wink,” their new single, is proof of concept. While band members Dimitri Giannopoulos, John Margaris, and Jamie Vadala-Doran relish in, of course, slow tempos, their mezzo-forte dynamics are a key differentiating factor. As simple as it sounds, its effect is palpable. It’s like the three-piece, alongside Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman, is slowly scaling a mountain, making progress toward its peak step by step.
Personal Trainer – “Round”
Willem Smit, the Dutch mastermind behind art-pop project Personal Trainer, uses various subgenres like a textile artist uses fabrics. As the leader of his seven-piece band, Smit stitches ’00s indie rock, ’70s funk, and Dadaist dance music into a woozily woven, delightfully absurd tapestry. On “Round,” Smit once again distills his oddball tendencies into a song that’s impossible to ignore, not that you would ever want to.
Clairo – “Sexy To Someone”
With each album, Clairo has taken something of an auteurist’s approach by enlisting the faculties of a single producer. Rostam Batmanglij helmed her infectious debut, 2019’s alt-pop opus Immunity; the omnipresent Jack Antonoff was behind the boards for its follow-up, 2021’s hushed, toned-down Sling. Her forthcoming third album, Charm, sees her working with Leon Michels. Lead single “Sexy To Someone” strikes the middle point between Clairo’s previous two releases, not completely stripped down nor completely blown out, but serving as the connection tissue, conjoining those two ends. It’s a reminder that, even with Clairo selecting a producer for each of her records, she is at the center of it all, the true auteur herself.
Sinai Vessel – “Best Witness”
“I’m my best witness,” Caleb Cordes sings in the main hook of “Best Witness.” As the lead single for his fourth album as Sinai Vessel, it’s a fitting thesis. On I Sing, out July 26, the Asheville, North Carolina musician issues a proud declaration of selfhood. He holds up introspection as a pillar for living a more meaningful life, a vessel for his art that equally evokes fellow indie rockers like Wild Pink, Hovvdy, and Youth Lagoon. Built on a palette of muted percussion, melodic guitars, and Cordes’ quiet vocal tone, “Best Witness” is a stunning rumination on what it means to truly understand yourself.
Young Jesus – The Fool
In John Rossiter’s music as Young Jesus, his gentle, affecting songs about heartbreak, youth, and companionship take on lives of their own. Rossiter’s carefully rendered worlds are Springsteenian in sentiment yet intimate in scope. The Fool, the seventh Young Jesus album, tactfully blends Rossiter’s predilections for grand narrative and lived-in warmth. It’s a difficult balance to manage, but on songs like “Gods Plan,” “MOTY,” and “Brenda & Diane,” he pulls it off effortlessly.
Been Stellar – “Pumpkin”
Next month, the NYC post-punk five-piece Been Stellar will share their debut album, Scream From New York, NY. And they’ve given us another preview of it, “Pumpkin,” which gradually picks up steam from its muted, subdued palette; the volume steadily increases, and just as a moment of catharsis seems like it’s about to hit, everything withers away, exhibiting Been Stellar’s canny self-restraint, indulging in only what they deem fit.
Fashion Club – “Rotten Mind”
Pascal Stevenson has worked with countless indie artists. Her resume includes names like Sasami, Girlpool, and Cherry Glazerr, just to name a few. But she also makes wonderful music of her own as Fashion Club. “Rotten Mind,” featuring the Buffalo songwriter Julie Byrne, belies its tender instrumentation with an excoriating critique of bigoted hypocrisy. “It’s not love / It’s just a filthy habit you can’t wish away,” she sings toward the song’s end, her voice rising ever so subtly with each word.
Marina Allen – “Deep Fake”
You’d expect an artist with a song like “Deep Fake” would largely be concerned with the burgeoning dystopian milieu we all live in, interrogating technological malfeasance and the surveillance state embodied by modern life. But Marina Allen doesn’t go full doom-and-gloom on Eight Pointed Star, her forthcoming album out June 7. “Deep Fake,” rather, is a paean to self-love and how that inner compassion can be realized through confronting our nefarious, societal mechanisms, like the song’s namesake. “Deep Fake” is urgent, but it conveys that urgency with a reminder to grant yourself some kindness.
Elsewhere, Muni Long recruited pop royalty for a “Made For Me” remix, Romy Mars enjoyed a pop girlie coronation, and Alexander 23, Jeremy Zucker, and Lauv channeled Step Brothers for their “Cozy” video.
Check out all of that and more in Uproxx’s Best New Pop Music roundup below.
Charlie Puth — “Hero”
Charlie Puth’s musicality is well-documented. In some ways, he’s an artistic tactician — known now for documenting how he pieces together a song’s multi-layered production on TikTok — which makes “Hero” all the more refreshing because it serves as a reminder that Puth’s songwriting is as resonant when paired with a light, more simplistic pop soundscape. “I just wanted you to know I f*cking care, she said,” Puth sings, weaving between his familiar melodic delivery and soaring high-register runs. “I don’t need a hero, I don’t want to be saved (I don’t want to be saved) / But I said I’ll be here every night and day.”
Alexander 23, Jeremy Zucker, and Lauv did what needed to be done. Their “Cozy” video scratches the itch for the ever-elusive Step Brothers sequel, except Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly’s raunch is replaced by endearing comedic moments during the best sleepover ever. Alexander 23, Lauv, and Zucker built their respective artistic reputations on relatable, sentimental songwriting, so it checks out that “Cozy” is extra sweet — like a three-headed cuddle bear. “And I don’t know what it is, it’s like you know me,” they sing in the chorus. “And there’s a thousand reasons why / We should stop and say, “Goodnight” / But I don’t care ’cause you’re so damn cozy.”
Romy Mars — “Stuck Up”
Romy Mars is much more than her viral TikTok about her famous parents grounding her. The seventeen-year-old made her musical debut with two Claud-produced songs, “Stuck Up” and “From A Distance,” presented as a double A-side single. “Stuck Up” particularly stands out, with Mars’ descriptive lyrics about a fleeting, intense summer romance complemented by an upbeat soundscape.
RM — “LOST!”
The direction of RM’s solo career is anything but lost. Across Right Place, Wrong Person, his freshly released solo sophomore album, the BTS superstar blends genres and allows the music to breathe. Standout track “LOST!” crams those characteristics into a hypnotic four-minute sprint that gives the listener no choice but to get lost in RM’s world. The video, creative directed by San Yawn, is additionally enticing, generating over 4.8 million views in three days.
Muni Long, Mariah Carey — “Made For Me (With Mariah Carey)”
Mariah Carey’s remix tour continues. Earlier this year, Carey hopped on Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?” remix. And last week, Carey put her fingerprints on Muni Long’s recently platinum-certified R&B groove “Made For Me.” Long’s remix with Carey is still peak R&B, but any song that features Carey’s iconic high-pitched vocal automatically qualifies as pop.
“When I got the call from [Jermaine Dupri] to work on the ‘Made For Me’ remix, I said yes immediately,” Carey said in a statement, per Rolling Stone. “Muni is an amazing writer and performer, and this collaboration is a match made in heaven!”
Astrid S — “I’m Sorry, I Love You”
I’m not sorry; I love this song. Astrid S’ Joyride is perfectly titled, as she described it on Instagram as her “mini summer roadtrip album,” and “I’m Sorry, I Love You” is begging to be blasted at sunset while driving with the windows down. The song is actually biting, with the Norwegian singer-songwriter calling out a selfish lover (“Can’t admit you’re not right, you’re not able / But when I get out the shower / There’ll be gas station flowers on the table”) and feeling unfairly confined, while maintaining a free sonic spirit.
Nelly Furtado, Tove Lo & SG Lewis — “Love Bites”
Direct any questions about Nelly Furtado’s impact to Taylor Swift, who gushed to Furtado about “I’m Like A Bird” at the 2023 MTV Music Video Awards. Furtado performed “I’m Like A Bird” and other iconic Timbaland-produced hits during her newly posted NPR “Tiny Desk Concert,” but she isn’t relying on nostalgia. “Love Bites” with Tove Lo and SG Lewis proves Furtado didn’t lose her fastball. Lewis’ high-energy dance-pop beats adds an extra charge to Furtado and Tove Lo’s empowered lyrics about indulging in lust.
NewJeans — “How Sweet”
K-pop powerhouse NewJeans dropped their How Sweet EP, comprised of “How Sweet” and “Bubble Gum” as well as instrumental versions for each track, and “How Sweet” warrants title track stature. NewJeans’ “How Sweet” video is extremely ’90s coded, which is always a winning strategy. The song combines English and Korean lyrics, displaying Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein’s collective world-beating versatility.
Bbno$ — “It Boy”
Frankly, I’ve just had this stuck in my head for a week: “I-T B-O-Y, B-B-N-O-dollar sign / That’s me, that’s right / That’s me, that’s right / I-M H-I-M, the Gen Z Eminem.” Bbno$ has perfected crafting unapologetically braggadocious yet slightly self-deprecating hooks, and “It Boy” shows him firmly in his bag.
21 Savage’s ongoing American Dream tour is a solo run following his 2023 tour alongside Drake, dubbed the It’s All A Blur Tour. Now, those worlds have collided.
In Toronto last night (May 28), 21 brought out Drake towards the very end of his set for a brief It’s All A Blur Tour reunion. Drake joined for two songs: “Knife Talk” and “Rich Flex.”
21 Savage brings out Drake at Budweiser Stage in Toronto tonight
The name “Max” appears in the title of every Mad Max movie, but it’s usually another character who stands out more than Mr. Rockatansky. In Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, for instance, it’s Aunty Entity (RIP Tina Turner), while The Doof Warrior was the breakout character from Mad Max: Fury Road. Who is the ensemble MVP of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga? I’m tempted to say my beloved Pissboy, but the correct answer is Mary Jabassa, Furiosa’s mom.
“My mother… she was magnificent,” Furiosa says about her mom. Boy, was she. One of the Many Mothers in the Green Place takes quick action when her daughter is kidnapped by warlord Dementus’ raiders. She tracks down and kills the men who took Furiosa, and looks rad as hell on a bike while doing so. The entire opening sequence is thrilling — and comes to a tragic conclusion – and a big reason for that is model-turned-actress Charlee Fraser, who gives a remarkable, largely-silent performance as Mary Jabassa. She plays Mary like The Terminator: she has one objective, and she’ll do anything to achieve it.
Fraser’s performance is even more impressive when you learn Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is technically her first movie. The only other title in her filmography, Anyone But You (she plays Glen Powell’s charming ex-girlfriend, Margaret), came out before the Fury Road prequel, but was filmed second.
Fraser is quickly gaining fans, including Hideo Kojima
“Mad Max: Furiosa.” Anya and Chris are great, but what is even more blinding this time are these two.
These two new characters are too cool! The actors who played them are sure to be a breakout hit. Furiosa’s mother, Mary, is played by Charlee Fraser, who was also in “Anyone… pic.twitter.com/H28YSegJhW
Below, you can find more reactions to her MVP performance.
when furiosa’s mom headshotted that one guy and he fell straight into the sand with his feet sticking up like a cartoon character pic.twitter.com/8AesgKOOm8
one of my favorite things about FURIOSA is how Miller drops an actor you’ve never seen (Charlee Fraser and Alyla Browne) into a riveting role and delivers a performance with incredible physical precision and nuanced emotion that commands the screen, all with barely any dialogue https://t.co/MjgcWsXR12
Taking great pleasure in informing all my friends losing their minds over Charlee Fraser in FURIOSA that they also just saw her (in her film debut!) in ANYONE BUT YOU a few months ago pic.twitter.com/1dRbGTJYta
furiosa’s mom I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out with me and smoke weed and fill our bellies with diet soda and play Burnout Revenge on the PS2
Dead & Company, the new band that features original Grateful Dead members, shared a gallery of Walton photos on Instagram and wrote:
“Fare you well, fare you well, we love you more than words can tell.
Bill was an irreplaceable force and spirit in our family. Father Time, Rhythm Devil, biggest deadhead ever. Over 1000 shows and couldn’t get enough. He loved this band and we loved him.
We will miss our beloved friend, @BillWalton, deeply. Rest in peace and may the four winds blow you safely home.”
Bob Weir also shared a gallery and wrote, “Yo Bill, thanks for the ride. Thanks for the wonderful friendship, the years of color commentary – and the Hall of Fame existence that you wore like headlights. Bon voyage ol’ buddy. We’re sure gonna miss you – but don’t let that slow you down…”
Mickey Hart wrote in his own post:
“Bill was my best friend, the best friend I ever had. He was an amazing person, singular, irreplaceable, giving, loving. His love for our music was beyond description. He called himself the luckiest man in the world but it was us who were lucky—to know him, to share the adventure with him. He was the biggest Deadhead in the world and used our music as the soundtrack to his life. After our shows, he would regularly send messages that said, ‘thank you for my life.’ Over 1000 shows, he just couldn’t get enough. Bill had an incredible passion for drums. After any meal at his house, we would play. There was nothing like a Bill Walton… nothing.
There are things you can replace. And others you cannot. Bon voyage, old friend, I love you.”
Bill Kreutzmann shared a particularly long tribute:
“There are incredible stories about Bill Walton that I promised him I would only tell after he passed away, and it’s not nearly that time yet because before we laugh, first we must allow ourselves to cry. Darn it. This is a mournful day. This is a period of mourning.
Sure, Bill Walton was an NBA legend. But in the Grateful Dead orbit, he was just a fan – and that made him a legend here, too. In many ways, he was our number one fan… but Bill would’ve taken issue with that ranking because, while he won many awards in his storied basketball career — including MVP — Bill insisted that the Grateful Dead was not a competition — and that all Deadheads were equal.
By that same notion, as I flash through decades of adventures with him, there isn’t one favorite memory. They all shine through. And they’re all important, because they all brought us both real happiness. And that’s special. That’s friendship.
Bill was a genuine fan that became a genuine friend and someone I always looked up to. But his towering presence was more than just literal. Whenever I play, there will now always be a hole where a seat should be, about ten rows back, center, where Bill used to stand, eyes closed, arms raised, while he felt the music running through him. That was a happy place for him and seeing him out there was one of mine. We never did have a hard time finding him in the crowd.
Similarly, when he walked into a room, you knew it – but it wasn’t because of his size. It was because of that laugh of his that broadcasted joy, and it was his easygoing smile that beamed sunshine across any space he ever entered.
So, yeah, losing Bill is an irreplaceable loss and, in simple terms, I am heartbroken. When somebody means that much to you, when their friendship is that important – that’s called love. I loved Bill Walton. As we say in the land of the Dead: May the four winds blow him safely home.”
There are also (unconfirmed) rumors that Lindsay Lohan and Tom Hardy be involved in an elaborate mystery that Benoit Blanc will solve using the power of his very authentic South accent in Wake Up Dead Man, although the movie’s official Twitter account might have put the kibosh on those.
OK everybody just calm down
— Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (@KnivesOut) May 28, 2024
Little is known about the plot of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, other than it will be a “brand-new murder mystery in an as-yet-undisclosed setting, surrounded by a new colorful cast of suspects,” according to Netflix. In a post on Twitter about the film, Johnson wrote, “I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. There’s a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies.”
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will be released in 2025.
Jennifer Lopez stars in the new movie Atlas, which is streaming on Netflix now and sees her playing a data analyst who must leverage AI to help save the planet. Beyond the screen, Lopez has had some run-ins with AI in her own life and they weren’t exactly positive.
At the movie’s premiere in Los Angeles, Lopez told Variety that she has seen advertisements created with AI that used edited photos of her face covered in “wrinkles,” to sell “skincare that I know nothing about.” Lopez said, “It’s really scary. Right away we had them stealing our faces. So, yes, [AI] is really scary.”
She added, “I think you should be respectful of AI. […] We have to be open to all possibilities. These movies that are talking about AI — especially this one — do a really good job of showing both sides.” Lopez also said, “I think this movie does a good job of showing how AI could go incredibly wrong, and this is how it could go really right.”
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