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When you get deep into high-quality additive-free tequila, a funny thing happens — you can forget that people who are serious about tequila are a very small subsection of tequila drinkers, overall. That leads you to recommend bottles that go beyond what your pals are seeking and into the aficionado “hard to even find” realms. So what about folks who just want a solid, non-burning sip from their grocer?

That’s where most tequila drinkers reside, after all. In the middle of the price bell curve looking for the widely available stuff.

To help guide you to the best of the best, we’re ranking some of the most popular and easiest-to-find bottles of tequila on store shelves today. To populate this list, I’ve scanned through multiple grocery liquor aisles making a note of the most common bottles. Because this is a list aimed at more casual tequila drinkers, I decided to focus on expressions you can find for under $50.

Here is how the most popular-meets-affordable brands rank!

10. Jose Cuervo Silver

ABV: 40%
Price: $19.99

The Tequila:

The first thing you need to know about Jose Cuervo is that it’s what is called a “mixto.” That means it’s not made from 100% blue agave, that’s part of the reason why it’s so cheap. If you’re mixing this up in a big batch frozen margarita maker and packing it with sugar and sweet mixers, you’re not going to really taste the harshness here. However, if you plan on taking shots with this one, or mixing it up in a traditional cocktail, it’s going to burn, and not in the good way those agave-forward bottles tend to.

Produced at NOM 1122, Casa Cuervo, the agave here goes through acid thermal hydrolysis cooking (which sounds delicious right?) and is extracted via a diffuser before being twice distilled.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Harsh on the nose, I’m getting a heavy dose of kerosene, burnt plastic, and nail polish remover.

Palate: A lot of spice with white pepper. It has a cheap vodka-like burn to it.

Finish: The burn is intense, which makes it a bit hard to latch on to any flavors on the finish. I’m tasting a touch of agave under all the alcohol harshness, enough to know that this is tequila and not something else.

The Bottom Line:

The sort of frat-house tequila that can make you swear off the stuff forever. If you’re entertaining a big crowd and making a huge batch mixed drink that
gets the job done, this tequila works, but for anything else, you have other options out there for a few dollars more.

9. Hornitos — Plata

ABV: 40%
Price: $21.99

The Tequila:

I have a certain nostalgia in my heart for Hornitos Plata. It’s the first bottle of tequila that I was really into, the tequila that made me claim the spirit as my own. Having said that, I hadn’t had Hornitos Plata for years and when I tasted it again I was shocked at how far away it is from what I like about tequila.

This tequila is produced at NOM 1102, Tequila Sauza, and is made from agave that is cooked and extracted in an autoclave and diffuser. It is then fermented in stainless steel tanks, and twice distilled. At least it’s made from 100% blue Weber agave, which is a slight step up from what you’ll get from Cuervo silver.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: A lot of ethanol on the nose, very chemical and harsh. With a big whiff, I can smell the slightest hint of lime.

Palate: A surprising amount of agave on the palate here, with a dusty black pepper flavor mixed with some salt.

Finish: A harsh medicinal burn followed by a vegetal quality.

The Bottom Line:

For the money, you can probably find something that tastes more like agave. This is harsh, smoother than Cuervo, but still very. metallic and chemical.

8. Cazadores Reposado

ABV: 40%
Price: $23.99

The Tequila:

As you might have noticed this list isn’t populated with too many reposado tequilas, so Cazadores is a good option if you want something a bit more mellow and smooth than what you’ll get out of a blanco. Cazadores is produced at NOM 1487, Bacardi Y Compañia, and is made from 100% blue Weber agave that is cooked and extracted via an autoclave and diffuser, fermented in stainless steel tanks to the sounds of classical music (a surprisingly prevalent trend in tequila for some reason) and twice distilled in a stainless pot with a copper coil.

Once distilled, the tequila is then rested for two months to a year in virgin American oak barrels to reach the reposado state.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Heavy wafts of vanilla and caramel over nail polish remover.

Palate: That vanilla from the nose is the primary note on the palate joined by caramel candies, a slight hint of pepper and cinnamon, and a
noticeable minerality.

Finish: Smooth oak on the finish with a bit more of that caramel.

The Bottom Line:

Smooth and vanilla-heavy. If you don’t like your tequila to burn, this is the bottle for you.

7. Patron Silver

ABV: 40%
Price: $41.99

The Tequila:

10 years ago, Patron was widely considered the high-end brand. Thankfully, those days are over. While Patron is good, it’s far from the greatest bottle you can find in this price range.

Patrón’s Silver is made with blue agave cooked in stone brick ovens and tahona extracted, fermented in wood fermentation tanks, and carbon filtered at NOM 1492, Patrón Spirits. There was a time when most of the general public considered Patrón to be top-shelf tequila, I think that’s down to its sweetness and drinkability.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: All over the place, I can smell some roasted agave, but there is a noticeable sweetness here as well, and a strong almost kerosene-like quality to it.

Palate: Silky with a mix of tart pineapple and juicy orange juice, with some bitter lettuce-like flavors keeping the sweetness from being too out of control.

Finish: Black pepper with an artificial lime finish. Goes down incredibly smooth.

The Bottom Line:

Sweet and easily drinkable, perhaps too much so. It disappears in a cocktail.

6. Milagro Reposado

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $25.99

The Tequila:

There are a lot, and I mean a lot(emphasis necessary) of bottles of tequila that survive purely on a cool bottle design. Milagro, with its different colored bottles for different expressions, is one of the first and most affordable brands to put a lot of investment into bottle design. This stuff just looks cool, and when you compare it to similarly priced bottles, the design might just be enough to push you to buy this instead of something else.

I’m not mad at that, especially because Milagro, especially the reposado, is pretty damn solid.

Hailing from NOM 1559, Tequila Milagro, this brand stone cooks its agave before crushing it in a roller mill, ferments the juice in stainless steel tanks and twice distills through a stainless steel pot. The tequila is then aged in American white oak barrels for 2-4 months.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Agave and oak dominate, rich confection-like notes pull you in and a hint of cinnamon lurks underneath the layers.

Palate: Unfortunately that sweetness doesn’t completely translate to the flavor, you get the roasted agave flavor and an overpowering bit of oak, but there is an ethanol-like body that weighs the whole thing down.

Finish: It ends with a burn and a small vanilla lift with a hint of zesty citrus.

The Bottom Line:

Pleasant on the nose, a bit harsh on the palate, but with a nice finish that juggles sweet vanilla tones and some bright zestiness.

5. Teremana Reposado

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $32.99

The Tequila:

The Rock’s tequila! Celebrity tequilas in general get a lot of criticism in the tequila space, and there are some good reasons for that. One of those reasons though is usually the price point but I want to push back on that. Yes, celebrity tequilas tend to be a bit pricier than the other mass-market bottles, a bottle of Teremana Reposado is more than double the cost of Jose Cuervo. But, Teremana, and the other celebrity tequilas, are made better and usually follow a more traditional production process.

So that more expensive price is justified. Can you find other bottles that offer the same slow-cooked production method for cheaper? Absolutely, but not as easily. So don’t be quick to write these bottles off as celebrity vanity projects.

You might be surprised to learn that the Rock’s Teremana, is pretty damn good. The tequila is produced at NOM 1613, Destileria Teremana De Agave, where it is the only brand in production. What other bottle on this list can claim the same? The agave used in Teremana is cooked low and slow in stone/brick ovens for three days, roller mill extracted, proofed down with well water, and fermented in open-air stainless steel tanks before being twice distilled in copper pots.

The tequila is then aged for six months in used bourbon barrels.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Pleasing butterscotch notes and roasted agave.

Palate: Floral honey with some sweet vanilla and browned butter.

Finish: A mix of orange zest, oak, and juicy melon.

The Bottom Line

Better than you expect, don’t sleep on it just because it has Dwayne Johnson’s name on it.

4. Casamigos — Tequila Blanco

ABV: 40%
Price: $43.99

The Tequila:

One of the best-selling and most visible tequila brands on the market right now, Casamigos is everywhere. It’s at restaurants, sporting events, your local bar — the people have spoken, they love Casamigos. George Clooney is one of the few celebrities who launched a tequila brand (now sold to Diageo) and doesn’t get a lot of criticism, probably because Casamigos is a pretty good bottle. It’s not a bar cart staple for me, but it has a people-pleasing flavor that is easy to like.

It’s produced at NOM 1609, part of Diageo, where the agave is cooked in stone brick ovens, roller mill extracted and fermented, and rested in stainless steel tanks. This tequila is made with deep well water which gives it a lot of minerality.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Black pepper, green grass and agave dominate the nose. There is a subtle harshness to the scent that makes my eyes water a bit, especially after the sweetness of the last pour.

Palate: Very nice on the palate, I’m tasting strong asparagus notes mixed with a zesty orange rind flavor, a bit of vanilla sweetness, and more black pepper.

Finish: I like the finish here, it’s harsh and spicy, but in the best way. It continues to burn on the tongue once you’re done with it. A cool sensation.

The Bottom Line:
Addictive, spikey, and agave-forward, while also having a lot of people-pleasing vanilla notes.

3. 818 — Tequila Blanco

ABV: 40%
Price: $29.99

The Tequila:

There isn’t a celebrity tequila brand that gets more flack than Kendall Jenner’s 818. I think what’s behind that is that the public is a bit exhausted with the Kardashian/Jenner family, and, well, sexism. I’ll spare you going to deep on this (if you’d like to read my full thoughts, do so here), but I will say that out of all the celebrity tequilas, 818 is by far the best.

Produced at NOM 1607, Grupo Solave, the agave here is cooked in stone brick ovens, tahona extracted, and fermented in stainless steel tanks.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Strong dessert vibes on the nose, I’m getting a lot of vanilla and roasted agave from this one. There is an apparent mellowness here, almost like an aged expression.

Palate: Sweet and super smooth. I’m tasting some fruity berry notes and a hint of cream. One of the least harsh unaged expressions I’ve ever tasted.

Finish: The vegetal notes come out at the aftertaste. It still goes down smooth and has a dessert-like quality to it, but the aftertaste brings forth vegetal flavors. A hint of green bell pepper and green grass.

The Bottom Line:

Yes, it’s sweet, it’s supremely smooth, and it’s easy to drink. All things a tequila snob would argue aren’t characteristic of this agave-forward spirit. But the subtle and shifting flavors make this a true joy to drink.

2. Espolòn — Tequila Blanco

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $27.99

The Tequila:

Well under $30, Espolòn is present at every market and liquor store I’ve ever been to, and there is a good reason for that. It’s cheap, and more than any other bottle on this list in this price range, it punches way above its weight. If you’re looking for an affordable bottle of tequila that tastes bright and agave-forward and is very drinkable and pleasing on the palate, you’re not going to find a better bottle than this.

The tequila is produced at NOM 1440, Campari Mexico, where it is one of three brands. The agave is cooked in an autoclave and roller mill extracted, fermented in stainless steel tanks, and twice distilled in a stainless pot with a copper coil.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: A strong ethanol scent dominates with some zesty citrus notes lurking underneath the alcohol. Not the best nose.

Palate: Juicy pineapple with earthy black pepper qualities hover over a base of roasted agave. There is a slight vegetal quality here, but it leans more on tropical sweetness.

Finish: Buttery and vegetal, the finish here is surprisingly pleasant for its price point.

The Bottom Line:

The nose matches what you’d find in this price point, but the flavor is bright, zesty, juicy, and tropical, with a lot of agave character.

1. Don Julio Blanco

ABV: 40%
Price: $47.99

The Tequila:

Don Julio has a reputation as being a top-tier tequila brand, and while there are a lot of bottles in this price range that I would grab before this, most of those bottles are a bit harder to find. So when your options are limited, Don Julio’s blanco is a no-brainer choice and of the most popular brands, easily the best.

Don Julio’s blanco is made from 100% blue agave cooked in stone brick ovens, roller mill extracted, and fermented in stainless steel tanks at NOM 1449.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: A medley of roasted agave and vanilla bean on the nose, it almost has a slight baking spice quality to it. Very inviting, like fresh cookies out of the oven.

Palate: A warm chocolate quality begins our journey, it starts sweet and then quickly turns into a spicy burn with green tea and green pepper flavors dancing on the tongue.

Finish: Peppery celery and zesty citrus dominate the finish. Highly vegetal and almost juicy.

The Bottom Line:

If you’re looking for a truly great bottle and the options at your local market are limited, there is a high chance Don Julio Blanco will be there and a definite chance it’ll be the best bottle in attendance.

Cher has been dating Alexander Edwards, a music executive, since 2022. People don’t need an excuse to peer into Cher’s love life, but the 40-year age gap between her and Edwards has been a constant source of intrigue. Last December, the 2024 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee visited Chicken Shop Date and advised everyone to “go out with a younger man” at least once.

This week, Cher stopped by the Jennifer Hudson Show for an extensive interview, and Hudson took the opportunity to ask about Cher turning down Elvis Presley way back when, which led to Cher opening up about her present-day approach to dating.

“I’m really shy when I’m not working and kind of shy around men,” she said. “And the reason I go out with young men is because men my age or older — well, now they’re all dead, but before, they were always terrified to approach me. Younger men were the only ones [who would].”

Cher will turn 78 later this month.

Elsewhere in her conversation with Hudson, Cher discussed her evolving her fashion through the years, becoming friends with Meryl Streep while filming Silkwood in the eighties, struggling to reinvent herself, and more.

Watch the Jennifer Hudson Show clip above.

Remember when we were kids and we’d get asked the question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

So often the responses would be fairly glamorous jobs—doctors, marine biologists, firefighters, performers, etc.—all based on simplistic ideas of what the job might be like versus what the job actually entails.

Recently, user stiengineer asked the Reddit community, “What’s a misconception about your profession that you’re tired of hearing?” And the responses—from graphic designers to vegetable farmers and everywhere in between—just go to show that unless you’ve actually worked in an occupation, you’re probably making a few assumptions about it. (Spoiler: no job is without its fair amount of work.)

Check out what some professionals wrote about their often misunderstood jobs that prove the grass isn’t always greener in the workplace.

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1. “I’m a librarian, and people think we just read books all day. In reality, we manage databases, assist with research, and conduct community programs.”

Another librarian added:

“The cardigans are 100% fact, though. The back room and the stacks are two wildly different temperatures all the time.”

2. “I drove a taxi. We don’t meet a lot of famous people. Not all passengers are unhinged lunatics.”

3. “As an electrician, the misconception that it’s not a skilled profession is frustrating. It requires rigorous training and adherence to safety standards.”

4. “Vegetable farmer. We get so many applicants wanting to ‘connect to the soil,’ yet have never touched a shovel before. So many people don’t seem to understand that farming is manual labor with long hours and hardship every day. And It’s all just to limp by. We aren’t making much money.”

5. “I run an animal rescue and I get a lot of people who think they’re just gonna cuddle animals. A shocking number of people are very upset there’s poop and manual labor involved.”

6. “Fire Sprinkler Designer here: Fire Sprinkler water IS NOT clean and clear like the movies depict…That water more than likely has been in those pipes for decades and is filled with corrosion and cutting oil. As soon as a sprinkler goes off, you are getting doused with black tar water…”

via GIPHY

One person commented:

“Oh so that’s why I’ve seen so many people complain that their furniture got ruined by fire sprinklers going off! It’s quite obvious now that you pointed it out, but I always thought it was weird so many things could get so badly damaged ‘just by getting wet.’”

Yep, we all learned something today.

7. “As a software developer, I’m tired of hearing that we’re all just nerdy guys who code in dark rooms all day. It’s actually highly collaborative.”

8. “I’m a graphic designer, and no, I can’t just whip up a complex project in an hour. Good design takes time and thought.”

This prompted a few graphic designers to chime in.

One wrote:

“Most of the time I’m trying to protect the client from making really bad decisions because they feel they could ‘do it themselves if they could just draw a little better.’”

While another added:

“I had a client one time who didn’t like a color we chose. I asked her what color she would prefer and her answer was ‘I saw this real pretty purple one time. I want something like that.’ When asked what shade of purple it was or what the item was so we could get an idea, she scoffed and said ‘you’re the artist, you should know.’”

9. “Lawyer here. Just because you fail to understand a nuance doesn’t mean it’s a ‘loophole.’”

via GIPHY

Another lawyer shared:

“The one that gets me is the idea that we’re unethical tricksters just trying to run up our fees. First, there are some slimy lawyers out there, but I think as a whole we’re probably more ethical than the general population. Our entire career depends on having a license that can be taken away for minor ethical lapses.”

10. “I’m a long time caregiver to mother who lives with dementia. For some reason, people don’t consider it ‘work.’ That includes doctors. I’m on call 24/7. I can’t leave for long periods of time. My own health went to shit. Geriatric care costs are astronomical. Yet, all people hear is ‘you’re not working.’”

11. “People think being a chef is glamorous thanks to cooking shows, but the reality is long hours in a high-stress environment.”

via GIPHY

One chef lamented:

‘”’You must eat so well!’ I eat cold pizza while crying, actually.”

And last but not least…

12. “I’m a locksmith, and people often think it’s just about cutting keys. It involves complex problem solving and security expertise.”

South Asian women across the country are finding social support in a thriving Facebook group devoted to them.

The Little Brown Diary has over 40,000 members, primarily between the ages of 20 and 40, and 100 subgroups devoted to niche topics. Some of these include mental health, entrepreneurship, career advice, and more.

Members of the group can discuss their experiences as South Asians, inner conflicts they face, and even bond over their favorite hobbies. The Facebook group has become a safe place for many of its members to find support in the most transformative periods of their lives. These include:

• Supporting women in domestic violence and sexual assault circumstances
• Sharing mental health and suicide resources
• Connecting members to support each other through grief and loss
• Helping members find the strength to get a divorce or defend their decision to be childfree
• Helping them navigate career changes
• Helping to find friends in a new city
• Finding a community of other neurodivergent people in their shoes

“I joined the online community because I was looking for that sense of belonging and connection with others who shared similar experiences and backgrounds,” expressed Sandhya Simhan, one of the group admins.

“At the time, I was pregnant and eager to find other desi moms who could offer support, advice, and friendship during this significant life transition,” she says.

Another group admin, Henna Wadhwa, who works in Diversity and Inclusion in Washington, D.C., even uses the group to inspire new areas of research, including a study on ethnic-racial identity at work.

“I was surprised and excited for a group that brought together South Asian/brown women. I wanted to meet other women with similar research interests and who wanted to conduct academic research on South Asian American women,” Wadhwa says.

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While social media isn’t always the best place to spend our time, studies show that the sense of community people get from joining online groups can be valuable to our mental health.

“The presence of LBD has allowed so many South Asian women to truly feel safe in their identity. The community we have built encourages each person to authentically and freely be themselves. It is a powerful sight to witness these South Asian women be vulnerable, break barriers, and support each other in their journeys,” says Wadhwa.

Hena and Neesha

According to an article in Psychology Today, a study on college students looked at whether social media could serve as a source of social support in times of stress. Turns out, these students were more likely to turn to their social media network rather than parents or mental health professionals for connection. The anonymity of virtual communities was also seen as appealing to those experiencing depression.

“The social support received in the online group promotes a sense of well-being and was associated with positive relationships and personal growth,” the article states.

This is why finding a community of like-minded individuals online can have such a positive impact in your life.

“There are almost half a million women in our target audience (millennial South Asians in North America) and about 10% of them are part of LBD. It’s been a game-changer for our community. LBD is all about embracing your true self and living your most authentic life. It’s amazing to see how the members support, relate, learn, and lift each other,” says Wadhwa and Simhan.

I never thought it was possible for me to forget my child in the car—until the day I did.

I was a super conscientious mom, reading all the parenting books, cautious about health and safety, 100% committed to my children’s well-being. I held my babies close, figuratively and literally, wearing them in slings and wraps much of the time and taking them everywhere. They were like physical extensions of me–how could I possibly forget them?

Here’s how. My oldest was nearly 4 years old when I had my second child. One day, when the baby was a few weeks old, our family was out running errands. Everyone was hungry, but I needed to grab something from Michaels craft store, so I dropped my husband and 4-year-old at home first to start dinner. The baby was sleeping in her car seat and I decided to take her with me in case she woke up and needed to breastfeed.

Somewhere between our driveway and Michaels, I completely blanked that I had a baby in the car.

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I hadn’t been in a car with a child for several years without any sound—my oldest was always talking or singing or something. It was never quiet in the car unless I was alone, so my sleep-deprived brain interpreted the silence of my sleeping baby in the car as me being alone.

I got to the Michaels’ parking lot, got out of the car, locked the door and went inside. I grabbed a shopping cart and headed to the back of the store to pick up whatever I needed. When I flipped down the plastic seat on the cart where you put a kid, it triggered the awareness that I didn’t have a child with me and everything stopped. Even 19 years later, I can perfectly picture the moment it dawned on me what I’d done when the world went into slow-motion as I ran through the store and out to my car.

There she was, blissfully snoozing away in her car seat, totally unaware of my panic. It was a cool evening and she was only in there for 5 minutes, tops, but it was an eye-opening and humbling moment. If a brain blip like that could happen to me, it could happen to anyone.

That’s the idea behind a new heatstroke prevention PSA from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council called “Never Happens.” The message is powerful, as there are so many things we swear we would never do as parents that we end up doing. Some of those things are conscious choices as we realize parenting is far more complex than we thought, but some are a result of being fallible humans with imperfect human brains. The key is recognizing that fact so you don’t fall into the trap of “I would never.”

Watch:

Pediatric vehicular heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related fatalities for children 14 and younger. No parent thinks they could possibly forget their child in a car, but that’s how more than half of car heatstroke deaths in children occur. According to the NHTSA, heatstroke statistics can be split into three main scenarios:

– 52.7% of hot car deaths happened because a child was forgotten in a hot car

– 25.8% of deaths happened because a child gained access to an unlocked car and became trapped

– 20.1% of deaths happened because a child was left behind in a vehicle, and the parent/caregiver did not realize how quickly internal car temperatures can rise.

A child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s, so we can’t use ourselves as a gauge of how long is too long to be in an enclosed car.

“The inside of a vehicle is never a safe place for a child to play or be left alone, because hot cars can be deadly for children in a matter of minutes,” Sophie Shulman, NHTSA’s Deputy Administrator, tells Upworthy. “No one wants to think they could forget their child, but the facts show it can happen to anyone. Our ‘Stop. Look. Lock.’ campaign educates and empowers parents and caregivers to make simple changes to prevent unimaginable tragedies.”

Some of those simple changes might include putting your purse or wallet in the back seat, keeping an item like a teddy bear in the backseat and placing it in the front seat whenever you have a child in the car with you. Both of those simple visual cues could be life-saving. And always lock your vehicle after getting everyone out of it so a child can’t get in.

Never think it could never happen. Then, take proactive steps to ensure that it never does.

Back in February, Calvin Harris insinuated that he was looking into a career change. Fortunately for his fans, though, he was only referring to the part of his DJ gig that requires him to play live sets around the world into the wee hours of the morning. He’s still all for producing the music that other DJs can play at clubs — and today, he teased his next song, which will be perfect for doing just that.

The new song — a collaboration with Miley Cyrus — will be perfect for day and beach parties, as he demonstrated with the video teaser he posted to social media. The video captures a peaceful afternoon on the shore, with Miley’s sunny vocals cruising along a mellow, house-oriented beat. Miley sings, “We were dancing, we were wild in the ocean,” making the clip a fitting companion for the song snippet. And while the snippet is seeing significant pickup from fan pages across the social media spectrum, Harris hasn’t given any indication of just when the song will be dropping.

The upbeat and summery vibe of the song has led to speculation that Harris’ next project could be a continuation of his Funk Wav Bounces series, which has lain dormant since Vol. 2 in 2022. If it is, it’ll certainly enter a more accepting climate for the nu-disco, deep house sort of production that marks the Funk Wav albums than its predecessor. Thanks to Beyoncé and a handful of dance-centric rappers like Drake and Channel Tres, music listeners are better primed for its pop-EDM leanings than they were coming out of a global pandemic. Meanwhile, such a collaboration is a great way to start; Cyrus is white-hot after her country collab with Beyoncé and enlisting Pharrell to produce on her next project.

Stay tuned for more info on the eventual release of Harris and Miley’s latest collab.

The Sandman series was worth the (decades-long) wait for Neil Gaiman, who famously sabotaged a film adaptation by leaking a script that was absolutely terrible. Now, he has the perfect Morpheus/Dream in Tom Sturridge, who never dreamed it possible that some of his co-stars hopped away to film cameos in the new spin off series, Dead Boy Detectives, on Netflix.

After less than two weeks, the ghostly show is sitting at #2 on the Netflix Top 10 for TV (behind Baby Reindeer), and although there’s been no confirmation on a second season yet, The Sandman is currently filming its sophomore round of episodes. Will there be any more crossover cameos between the two projects? Well, it was news to Sturridge that any of them existed at all. As Entertainment Weekly reveals, he was surprised to hear that Kirby Howell-Baptiste made a Dead Boy Detectives appearance as Death:

“I didn’t know you did this,” a shocked Sturridge tells Howell-Baptiste after EW asks her a question about her cameo appearance in the Dead Boy Detectives premiere.

“Yeah, I snuck off to Canada,” Howell-Baptiste says impishly. “I shot on a different show!”

“How long were you there?”

“One day. I mean, I flew in, I shot, and I left the next day. It’s been a family secret!”

“It feels…kinda weird,” Sturridge says.

Somebody sounds like he’d like to make a cameo? Surely, co-creator Steve Yockey would not turn down that opportunity. Along with Death, Despair (Donna Preston) has already made an appearance on the spin off, and Yockey revealed that he’d also love to see Desire (Mason Alexander Park) if the show returns. Let’s get Morpheus in there as well. Give him the 1300s Oasis-brothers hairstyle, too.

The first season of Dead Boy Detectives can be binged on Netflix.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Grandparents are often stereotyped as doting and eager to be a big part of their grandchildren’s lives. In movies and TV, we often see parents of child-free women begging them to have kids so they can be grandparents.

However, that’s not always the case. Many grandparents are unable to help raise their grandkids because of their location or health. There are also far too many who aren’t that eager to do the work.

For many parents, the presence of grandparents who actively participate in raising their kids can be a game-changer. The support they provide, whether it’s watching the kids on a Friday night or picking them up from school, can significantly ease the juggling act of modern parenting.

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Kelsey, a popular TikTok and Instagram mother of two, recently celebrated the joy of having “voluntarily involved” grandparents, calling them the biggest “parenting flex.” Of course, the subtext of the post is that, unfortunately, many grandparents are uninvolved with their grandchildren’s lives and their families could use their help.

Warning: Strong language.

@kelsey_p90

Top tier 🙌🏻🙌🏻 #fyp #foryourpage #foryou #momtok #mom #moms #momlife #momsbelike #momsoftiktok #sahm #grandparents #grandparentsoftiktok #grandma #grandpa #parenting #parentsoftiktok

“Without question, the biggest parenting flex isn’t the mom car, not how much you make a year. It’s not how well-behaved your kids are,” Kelsey starts her video. “Biggest flex is having involved grandparents. Voluntarily involved. Holy f***, having that midday struggle with my children and then getting that text from grandma: ‘Hey, can I pick so and so up for a sleepover tonight?’ Ha ha ha, funny, you should say that! Her bag has been packed. Never unpacked it. She’s ready.”

She noted that “voluntarily involved” grandparents aren’t just doing the bare minimum. They’re stepping up and taking charge of their role in the family.

“Ones that you can text like, ‘Hey, can you fly up this weekend? We need your help.’ ‘Sure, no problem!’ I don’t know what kind of reaction that was. But it came within the depths. Nothing beats it. Nothing beats a grandparent that wants to do more than required to get that yearly Facebook Happy Birthday Grandma post,” Kelsey continued.

Unfortunately, many moms and dads don’t have parents they can rely on to help them raise their kids and it’s a big loss. “A lot of the times, people don’t have help, and I am sorry,” Kelsey said. That f****** blows. We know it’s their loss. We know. Who doesn’t want to be involved with their grandchildren?”

Many commenters shared why raising kids without grandparents is so hard.

“I recently read a quote that said ‘uninvolved grandparents never intended to be parents themselves’ everything made sense,” Isabel Cardenas wrote. “You definitely got that right. That is the biggest flex of all time. There’s not enough money in the world that would take the jealousy I have for people who receive that type of love freely,” Katy Alltop added.

Kelsey shared her thoughts on why some grandparents aren’t voluntarily involved with their grandkids.

“I think a lot of times grandparents have the point of view like ‘I did my time, I raised my children, now it’s my time to do whatever I want.’ They don’t want to be tied down with babysitting and other commitments,” she told Upworthy. “Which I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing! They deserve a fun retirement. I would never want to force a grandparent (or anyone really) to be a part of my children’s lives. But it is so nice to see so many grandparents who go out of their way to foster relationships with their grandkids and who want to spend quality time with them (not just to give mom and dad a break).”

In conjunction with Star Wars Day, a.k.a. May the 4th Be With You, The Phantom Menace is being re-released into theaters nationwide this weekend. It’s about time kids got to see Watto the way he was intended to be seen: in horrifying resolution on the big screen. But if that’s not enough Star Wars for you, an Austin, Texas-based location of the Alamo Drafthouse is screening the complete the Skywalker Saga and the two stand-alone films from May until July.

“In December 1977, the original Star Wars opened at the Village 4 in glorious Dolby Stereo,” said John Smith, Senior Film Programmer for Alamo Drafthouse. “Forty-seven years later, we’re finishing the story and sharing the complete saga with Austin audiences.”

All the Star Wars films — minus Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, unfortunately — will play at the Village location in Austin only. You can see the screening information below:

Opening Dates at Alamo Drafthouse Village

May 3: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
May 10: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
May 17: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
May 24: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story
May 31: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
June 7: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
June 14: Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
June 28: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
July 5: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

There’s also the opportunity to watch an entire trilogy back-to-back-to-back.

June 22 and July 19: Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy
June 23 and July 20: Star Wars: The Original Trilogy
July 21: Star Wars: The Sequel Trilogy

I hope I’m not the only one who finds it funny that The Rise of Skywalker has to share a date with another movie. Here’s an idea: instead of sitting through Episode XI again, just imagine Babu Frik hanging out with Salacious B. Crumb in Return of the Jedi. Those two would have a great time!

You can find ticket information here.

Emily In Paris cannot be (much like the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 in The Terminator) “bargained with” or “reasoned with” in terms of how inexplicably addictive each season has turned out to be. The Netflix show will continue to captivate viewers despite having very little substance and a pretty forgettable ongoing plot. It’s essentially an incredibly cheery little soap opera, which agains proves that creator Darren Star does not miss.

Of course, the main question going into the third season is whether Hot Chef Gabriel‘s revelation of Camille’s pregnancy will deter his and Emily’s undeniable mutual crushing on each other. Perhaps the show will drag that out for a few more seasons, but what really matters is that Ashley Park recovered from her health woes and returned to filming as Mindy.

Also and as Variety relays, the show will actually be doing something different this season by moving beyond Paris after star Lily Collins revealed, “While Emily’s heart will always remain true to Paris, her life takes an unexpected twist this season. Don’t be surprised to find her on a Roman holiday.”

Hmm. Well, that’s probably for the best. There are only so many times that a character can act clever with a baguette. This also explains why Collins has been posting photos of herself and Park at the “Paris wrap party” before heading to Rome.

And yup, here are the requisite touristy photos near The Colosseum. When will Emily In Paris be back on Netflix? Clues are pointing toward late 2024.

(Via Variety)