GoneTrending

Wow, Jim Jordan had a crappy week, huh? The MAGA lawmaker learned the hard way that not everyone can be Donald Trump. In fact, no one but Donald Trump can be Donald Trump. The former president can be repeatedly indicted, and his polls soar, not plummet. Meanwhile, Jordan can’t even get elected Speaker of the House. His rank humiliation was inevitably the subject of SNL’s latest Cold Open.

Mikey Day took the reins of Jordan, who’s introduced brooding over being thrice rejected by his Republican colleagues in the House. “All I want to do is get Congress back to work so I can shut it down again,” he steams. After a visit from a baby-wielding George Santos (Bowen Yang) and a call from theater fanatic Lauren Boebert (Chloe Fineman), he receives a far more powerful visitor: James Austin Johnson’s top shelf Trump.

“Yoo hoo, is this the Loser’s Office?” Trump says upon entering. But he wasn’t there to comfort him. “I prefer the Jordans who win, okay? Like the great Michael Jordan. Or the even greater Jordin Sparks.”

Trump even dragged him over his bizarre sartorial choices, which is to say his aversion to suit jackets. “You don’t look good,” he told him. “You look like the night manager at a two-star steakhouse.”

Still, Jordan couldn’t understand why he was so epically rejected, even with Trump’s endorsement, and even after he aped his style. “Intimidation, threats. Why didn’t it work?” Jordan wondered.

But Trump knew why. “You’re not me. You’re no fun. I’m hilarious,” he told him. “You’re little Jim Jordan, I’m Donald Trump. I’m Coke, you’re Shasta.”

As of now, the House still has no Speaker, nearly three weeks after Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster and despite the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. But at least it won’t be a Trump crony — or so it seems.

You can watch the SNL Cold Open in the video above.

The Sacramento Kings are coming off of the most fun season a professional sports franchise can have without winning a title, as they snapped a two-decade long playoff drought by not only nabbing a playoff berth in the West, but earning the 3-seed. While they lost in 7 games to the Warriors in the first round, they still performed admirably and De’Aaron Fox, in particular, acquitted himself quite well to postseason play.

There really aren’t many more enjoyable seasons than the surprisingly good ones where everyone’s just happy to be there, but you only get one of those before the weight of expectations arrive. This year the Kings won’t be sneaking up on the rest of the West and they are no longer a lookahead spot on the schedule. With many of the West contenders making significant moves this summer, Sacramento took a patient approach and will want to see how this team does with one more year together before considering any larger moves. That’s more than understandable and it will be fascinating to see how Sacramento backs up the best season of the last 20 years of the franchise.

Biggest Question: How Do They Handle A Season With Expectations?

With the playoff race in the West seemingly getting more crowded this year with expected improvements from teams like the Suns, Lakers, and Warriors, the continued presence of the Nuggets, and last year’s Play-In squads all hoping for a leap, the Kings face a tall task replicating their success from last season. Plenty of people have pointed out how much they got out of their main rotation a year ago, as their top 8 all played 73 or more games, which rarely happens in the NBA — although Kings fans will also be quick to note that doesn’t take into account Domantas Sabonis playing much of the second half through a thumb injury. However, health plays a big role for every team and I’m more interested in how this Kings team deals with being a team other teams are getting up to play.

Last year the Kings put up an historic offensive season, absolutely blitzing teams by using Fox’s speed, surrounded by shooters, to get out and run in transition, while also being able to dominate in the halfcourt with the Fox-Sabonis two-man game (again, surrounded by shooting). It’s rare to have that kind of balance, and it’ll be rather fascinating to see how teams approach those two differently on defense after their sensational year with two earned All-Star appearances. Slowing Fox is much easier said than done, but teams should have more defined game plans for this Kings team and will look to try and shift at least some of the creative burden to the Kings wings to put the pressure on them, especially late in games when Fox has been so dominant.

Fox proved in the postseason last year that he isn’t shaken by additional defensive attention and pressure, and that’s going to be critical for the Kings getting back into the playoffs. Teams will be much more aware when the Kings come around on the schedule this season, and Sacramento figures to have their full attention in a way that wasn’t necessarily the case for all of last year. If they can nab a top-6 spot in the West this year, that would be an incredibly impressive verification of last year.

X-Factor: Keegan Murray

If they’re going to do that, they will need continued growth from the guys between Fox and Sabonis. If teams are sending more attention at those two, it should open up opportunity (or add pressure, depending on your viewpoint) for guys on the wing. The player with the most room to grow is Murray, as last year’s No. 4 overall pick had a terrific rookie season averaging 12.2 points per game and hitting 41.1 percent of his threes. That said, the vast majority of Murray’s production came off of assists, and I think this year the Kings will be asking him to open up his own playmaking ability.

He’s shown some flashes of that in the preseason and there are plenty of people around the league that think he is a candidate for a major step forward this year. That said, going from being a highly efficient spot-up threat to being an efficient scorer and creator is not an easy jump to take and there figure to be some growing pains involved. However, it’ll be worthwhile for the Kings to work through those growing pains, because they need to know if that’s a role he can take on long-term. Last year’s playoff series with the Warriors showed that Sacramento’s offense needs a little more variety on the wing, because when the three-point ball goes cold those guys need to be able to alleviate some of the pressure on Fox and Sabonis, who face increased attention in the postseason. If Murray can become not just a release valve as a shooter but as a secondary creator capable of attacking defenses who have tilted the floor to slow Fox and Sabonis, that would be massive for this Kings team trying to take another stride forward as a team without making major additions to the roster.

Every single week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.

TIE: 10. Rick and Morty (Adult Swim series streaming on Max)

The voice(s) of Justin Roiland are (not) back, and the good news is that the new guys are filling the bill quite well. So, come for more Mr. Poopybutthole and stick around for showrunner Scott Marder and co-creator Dan Harmon righting the ship after a highly uncomfortable set of circumstances. Even if you aren’t usually into this brand of humor, it’s worth sitting down and appreciating how thousands of voice-work auditions settled upon two actors who are keeping this long-running and frenetic train going.

TIE: 10. The Burial (Amazon Prime film)

Jamie Foxx stars as a flashy attorney, Willie E. Gary, in this inspired-by-real-life story about Jeremiah Joseph O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones), who sued the Loewen funeral company in order to save his own family-run funeral home. What transpires is a fiery and funny story that manages to deftly handle racial injustice and corporate corruption while also doing a public service on never settling for a handshake deal. It’s not the most groundbreaking legal drama but nonetheless solid meat-and-potatoes legal fare, especially with supporting roles filled by Jurnee Smollet and Alan Ruck.

9. Lessons In Chemistry ( Apple TV+ series)

Brie Larson brings a current book-club staple to life for those who devoured the debut novel by Bonnie Garmus. It’s a feminist story and provides plenty of layers for Larson to relish, long after her Oscar turn in ROOM. Also, she probably didn’t mind taking a break from those physical MCU roles to portray a brilliant female chemist who finds zeitgeist-straddling success in the most unexpected place.

8. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (Paramount Pictures film streaming on VOD and Amazon Prime)

Tom Cruise literally goes to (and jumps off of) the ends of this twisted earth to entertain as many people as possible. He succeeds, even if the cast and crew went through hell to finish a blockbuster studio project during unusually fraught times. He is accompanied by Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, and Simon Pegg, who all add their own flavor to make this movie about more than keys and Tom’s cliff-jumping and speeding-train antics, and now, you can watch these daredevil stunts in the privacy of your own home.

7. Bottoms (MGM film streaming on Amazon Prime)

The rise of Ayo Edebiri continues, far away from the kitchens of The Bear. She stars alongside Rachel Sennott, who also seems to be everywhere right now, and thank goodness that this project is much better than whatever The Idol was attempting to accomplish. This is, of course, a cringe comedy in the spirit of PEN15, and the two lead (queer) characters go about launching a “Fight Club” of sorts, only in a quest to lose their respective virginities. This film will spark conversations, so know that going in, and also enjoy how these characters are not merely portrayed or their sexual orientations. Rather, it’s the heterosexual characters who stumble into classic archetypes.

6. Reptile (Netflix film)

This film is not a cerebral affair, and that’s just fine. It does, however, re-team Benicio Del Toro and Alicia Silverstone with the former playing a hardened detective who attempts to solve a case where a killer metaphorically sheds his outer skin to blend into society. However, the film also rolls around in the trope where a conspiracy begins to make itself known, and of course, it happens to get very personal for the law enforcement officer in question. For some reason, the detective is also stressed out by kitchen remodeling. Good times!

5. Loki (Disney+ series)

If you already felt like Miss Minutes is up to no good, then this week’s episode will confirm that hunch and possibly cause some nightmares. That’s the correct vibe for the spooky season, and thank goodness that Loki and Mobius are delivering exposition again together like no other pair on TV right now. Let’s fill the whole MCU with Lokis because a classically trained theater actor happened to stumble into a comic book franchise, and although the trickster ice-giant may have been underestimated, this still manages to be the most enjoyable TV show of the crop.

4. The Devil On Trial (Netflix documentary)

If you’ve seen The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), then you are already familiar with the skeleton of this documentary. This film doesn’t, unfortunately, star Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga but follows the case of David Glatzel, who was allegedly the victim of Devil possession and then a failed exorcism by the dynamic duo. Man, you gotta hate it when that happens, but true crime fans will not be able to stop watching the narrative as it follows that demon’s alleged body jumping to Arne Cheyenne Johnson, whose later criminal defense got supernatural.

3. Fair Play (Netflix movie)

Phoebe Dynevor (long past Bridgerton territory) and Alden Ehrenreich (who is having a remarkable year between this, Oppenheimer, and Cocaine Bear) star in this erotic thriller that begins and ends with blood in two unpredictable manners. As well, those incidents embody the opposite ends of a twisting dynamic that might not only make you terrified of hedge funders but also leave you examining some of your own past relationships. The film does require a trigger warning for certain violent scenes, but the ending is a cleansing one following a pair of riveting performances by the leads.

2. Gen V (Amazon Prime series)

This week’s WTF cameo could have gone a very different way, but thank goodness that co-showrunner Michele Fazekas and creator Eric Kripke switched things up for a Jensen Ackles/Soldier Boy appearance instead. This The Boys spinoff has already been renewed for a second season, and that arrived as a welcome sign to an audience who is already growing attached to these characters, even after the show delivered a fiery gut punch by killing off a seemingly pivotal member in the pilot.

1. The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Netflix series)

Mike Flanagan and Edgar Allan Poe fans shall be overjoyed to watch this delightful meeting of the minds, albeit in a posthumous manner for one side of the horrifying equation. Once you’re done watching, do come back and read our death ranking and also wonder, exactly, how Carla Gugino can not only pull off a wealth of Flanagan characters in various shows but also various forms in this one climactic series. This isn’t a literal telling of the Poe story but one that successfully incorporates modern ills while skewering the concepts of wealth, privilege, and power.

Hitting the Saturday Night Live stage for the second time tonight, Bad Bunny celebrated his new album Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana with a performance of the instant fan-favorite “Monaco.”

While on stage, Bunny was seated in the middle of a large supper table, as he channeled the leader of a mafia. Joined by a group of fellow mafiosos, Bunny once again maintained an impeccable stage presence, as he turned up his charisma.

The performance slightly mirrored the mafia-themed music video for “Monaco,” which stars Al Pacino. Earlier in the week, Bunny made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, during which, he said that Pacino is his uncle.

Shortly after, Bunny clarified that he was joking, however, he said that the experience of working with Pacino was “a dream come true.”

Tonight marks Bunny’s second time performing on Saturday Night Live, but his first time hosting. Earlier in the night, Bunny had the audience in stitches with his monologue, during which, he shared hilarious stories, in both English and Spanish. He also delivered laughs in a dramatic, telenovela-themed sketch, which told the story of a fictional, wealthy family.

You can see the performance of “Monaco” above.

In his first musical performance of the night, Bad Bunny took to the Saturday Night Live stage, performing “Un Preview” from his new album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana.

Ahead of the performance, Lady Gaga made a surprise appearance to introduce Bunny, who then commands the stage, dancing in front of a coin-operated horse, against a white backdrop.

Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana has been out for over a week, and Bunny is still riding the high of dropping the album. The album became the most streamed album on Spotify in a single day within the first 24 hours of its release. And this performance was simply “un preview” of what to expect from his upcoming tour.

Gaga isn’t the only famous friend of Bunny to make a surprise appearance. Earlier in the night, Bunny was joined by The Last Of Us actor Pedro Pascal in the middle of his opening monologue. In a dramatic telenovela-themed sketch, Rolling Stones lead vocalist Mick Jagger made an appearance, playing an actor who was starring as the patriarch of the fictional Padilla family.

As his star-studded list of supporters would suggest, Bunny’s music has proven timeless for fans across various generations.

You can see the performance of “Un Preview” above.

It was a star-studded night on tonight’s broadcast of Saturday Night Live. While Bad Bunny was certainly the star of the show, some of his special friends swung by, amping up the razzle-dazzle.

In a hilarious sketch, Bunny and Marcello Hernandez star in a novela called El Pasion De Las Padillas. And as with any novela, the stakes and drama were at a high. In the sketch, Bowen Yang directs a scene, which Bunny and Hernandez just can seem to get right. In tandem with the filming, Punkie Johnson further delivers on the comedy with her misunderstandings of Spanish, which lead to some quick-witted jokes, and ultimately, Johnson’s own show.

But shortly before, as drama ensues between Bunny and Hernandez, whose characters are playing brothers in the scene, the patriarch of the Padillas arrives to set. The father? The one and only Rolling Stones lead vocalist Mick Jagger.

Last Friday, Bunny released his fifth studio album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, which has since received much acclaim. This weekend, Jagger is also riding a high with his Rolling Stones bandmates, as the British rockstars just released their 26th album, Hackney Diamonds.

You can see the SNL sketch above.

Bad Bunny pulled double duty tonight (October 21) on Saturday Night Live, as both the host and the musical performer for this week’s episode. His new album title, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana, translates to “Nobody Knows What’s Going To Happen Tomorrow,” but we can bet this record will bring in a promising season in his career.

Kicking off the show with a bang, Bad Bunny delivered a humorous opening monologue, during which, he assured the audience that he is capable of hosting the show in both English in Spanish.

“I can order McDonald’s in English, I can have sex in English, but I prefer sex in Spanish,” Bunny said.

He continued, delivering his monologue in Spanish, and during this portion, a subtitle reading “Speaking In Non-English” appeared on-screen. This alludes to a situation last season, when Pedro Pascal was hosting, and delivering his opening monologue in Spanish. The subtitles read “Speaking In Non-English,” to the chagrin of Spanish speakers.

Bunny was not having this, and immediately asked the powers that be to make the necessary corrections.

The subtitle then read “Speaking In Sexier Language.”

Shortly after, Pascal himself made a surprise appearance in the monologue.

Tonight marks the Puerto Rican superstar’s first time hosting SNL, his second time as the show’s musical guest, and his third overall appearance. In April 2020, Bunny appeared in a special “at-home” episode of SNL at the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and performed as the musical guest in a February 2021 episode, with Bridgerton actor Regé-Jean Page hosting.

You can see Bad Bunny’s full opening monologue above.

Michigan State’s football program has not been having a good year, as the Spartans entered Saturday night’s rivalry game with Michigan at 2-4 and are playing for an interim head coach after firing Mel Tucker for alleged sexual harassment earlier this season.

Things did not get any better on Saturday night, as the team got crushed by Michigan as the Wolverines rolled up 42 points in the first three quarters before calling off the dogs in the fourth. Adding to the dreadful night from the Spartans was a trivia video that got played during warmups on the jumbotron that attracted some unwanted attention. That was because there was a question about Adolf Hitler that included just having his photo up on the screen that looked truly awful if you just looked up and saw it without context.

Even with the context of being a random trivia game that was asking, for some reason, where Hitler was born, it’s not good and in the middle of the fourth quarter the Michigan State athletics department had to issue a statement apologizing for the video.

The third party video mentioned in the statement is just a trivia video from The Quiz Channel on YouTube, which was apparently not looked at well enough to realize that running a video that features a photo of Hitler might not be a good decision for a stadium jumbotron.

All week long, Mack Brown warned his No. 10 North Carolina team against eating “the poisonous cheese” in the veritable rat trap, so to speak. He knew a 1-win Virginia team coming to town might have his team feeling overly confident.

The warnings didn’t work, and whatever cheese the Tar Heels collectively bit into before the Virginia game was indeed poison of some kind as they fell 31-27 to the Cavaliers at home.

The game was sealed on a Drake Maye interception in the game’s final moments with the Heels trying to find a game-winning miracle, but it felt over long before that. UNC’s defense came into this game ranked 55th nationally in total defense, but played more like last year’s unit that ranked as one of the nation’s worst.

The Tar Heels have been known in the second Mack Brown era as a team with a really good offense but a struggling defense, a quarterback under center in Sam Howell and Drake Maye that seems destined to play on Sundays but can’t always be enough of a hero to outscore what the defense allows.

UNC and Maye scored on six of its first 10 drives, but the five punts were more than normal. After a field goal with 12:08 to go, though, UNC would not score again in its final three drives.

Virginia’s final go-ahead touchdown came with more than eight minutes to go, plenty of time for UNC to muster up a score. But the one time UNC got a break on a Virginia goal line fumble with 4:50 remaining, it couldn’t cash it in.

The drive started promisingly with plays of 33 and 29 yards to reach the Virginia 18-yard line. But facing 4th and 12 on the 20, UNC elected to go for it with 3:12 to go rather than cut the lead to 1 point and did not convert.

Virginia had to have a stop, and it did get it, getting the ball back with 1:12 to go. But the Tar Heels were not able to stop the clock as often as they’d have liked and after reaching Virginia’s 48-yard line with less than a minute to go and no timeouts, Maye threw the pick with 26 seconds to go and that was it.

UNC’s defense allowed Virginia to post a season high in yards against FBS opponents (436) and a season-high in rushing yards with 228. The Tar Heels had six penalties, but often at the worst possible moments, including a hold that wiped out a potential touchdown. UNC lost its starting punter to a season-ending injury a few weeks ago, and his replacement had a 16-yard punt. Virginia dominated special teams.

The Tar Heels held the ball nearly 15 minutes longer than Virginia and ran seven more plays, but it didn’t matter. Virginia’s offensive line had been bad entering the game, but it allowed UNC to sack quarterback Tony Muskett just twice and paved the way for a physical running game that UNC struggled to stop.

Now, the Tar Heels’ undefeated season and any hope, albeit slim, at a College Football Playoff berth are gone. And it happened at home, against a team that had not beaten an FBS opponent in over a year.

Pitt only trailed for 7 seconds of the game on Saturday, but make no mistake — the seeds of the Panthers’ ugly loss at Wake Forest on Saturday had been sown long before third-string Wake Forest QB Santino Marucci found Cameron Hite for the go-ahead touchdown.

Pitt got a huge win last week at home over Louisville, the Panthers’ first win over an FBS opponent this season. It was the first start for quarterback Christian Veilleux, and while he wasn’t perfect, he did a solid enough job that there was confidence he’d lead them to another win. And he completed 7 of his first 8 passes at Wake, including one for a touchdown.

Wake was coming into the game losers of three in a row and on a third-string quarterback in Marucci without a lot to feel good about. Wake was blown out by Georgia Tech at home for its first loss, then fell in a close-in-score-only game at Clemson 17-12 before proceeding to get blown out by a bad Virginia Tech team on the road.

Pitt came in the far more confident team, and it showed. Until it didn’t.

Pitt out-gained Wake 116-24 in the first quarter, had the ball for nearly 12 minutes to just 3 for Wake and eight first downs to none for the Demon Deacons. But it led just 7-0.

The game was 7-7 at the half, but Pitt’s yards per play dipped to 2.8 in the second quarter. The way both teams had been playing on offense, it was unclear whether either would score again.

The teams exchanged punts and three-and-outs and all-around bad offensive possessions before Marucci threw a interception at the Pitt 34-yard line, setting up a Pitt field goal to put the Panthers up 10-7 with 13:07 to go.

That felt like it could be enough. Wake punted again on its next drive, and Pitt got across midfield before its next drive stalled. Wake got it back with 6:05 to go and finally put a touchdown drive together, going up 14-10 with 3:02 remaining.

But Pitt quarterback Christian Veilleux, only in his second start, drove the Panthers down the field and found Bub Means for a 22-yard score with 1:30 to go.

Pitt’s odds went up even more after it intercepted Marucci again once Wake had driven to Pitt’s 37-yard line with a minute left. But Donovan McMillon got back-to-back unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after the interception and pushed the Panthers back from their own 28-yard line to their own 7.

It seemed like Pitt would overcome even that, as long as the Panthers could keep the football. Pitt ran it up the middle twice for a total of two yards. On 3rd and 8, Veilleux kept it and slid for what looked to be a first down — except he had started his slide too early. And on their own 16-yard line facing a 4th and 1, Pitt punted.

And to add to the string of mistakes, it was a bad punt by Caleb Junko — just 32 yards.

Wake’s drive started near midfield almost solely because of the multiple miscues. Marucci converted a 3rd and 11 and a 4th and 1 with pass plays of 10 and 24 yards, respectively, and then found Hite yet again for a 15-yard touchdown with just seven seconds left.

Both teams have looked like shadows of their former selves this season, but this loss will especially sting for Pitt as a win was in its grasp, and that win was a chance to change the momentum of their season.