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Britney Spears’ The Woman In Me memoir doesn’t even officially release until Tuesday (October 24), but excerpts have already spawned numerous headlines — from shaving her head in 2007 to romances with Justin Timberlake and Colin Farrell. Most of those pre-release headlines upset Spears, but her audition for the classic 2004 romantic film The Notebook feels like harmless territory.

On Monday morning (October 23), The Daily Mail published Spears’ never-before-seen audition tape. The clip shows a young Spears reading lines as a young Allie, whom Rachel McAdams ended up portraying, opposite Ryan Gosling, who played a young Noah. About 45 seconds in, Spears begins crying but impressively powers through her lines.

The Daily Mail obtained the tape from casting director Matthew Barry. The audition took place in Los Angeles on August 18, 2002.

“Britney wasn’t just good — she was phenomenal,” Barry told the UK publication. “It was a tough decision. Britney blew us all away. Our jaws were on the floor. I was blown away. Absolutely blown away. She brought her A-game that day.”

On October 17, People published an excerpt from The Woman In Me — her first of two books? — in which Spears reflected on her first film, 2002’s Crossroads, and her The Notebook audition. Spears wrote about how the Crossroads experience “wasn’t easy for me.” She continued, “My problem wasn’t with anyone involved in the production but with what acting did to my mind. I think I started Method acting — only I didn’t know how to break out of my character. I really became this other person.”

That directly correlated with her audition for Allie and The Notebook, as she wrote, “That was pretty much the beginning and end of my acting career, and I was relieved. The Notebook casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams, and even though it would have been fun to reconnect with Ryan Gosling after our time on the Mickey Mouse Club, I’m glad I didn’t do it.”

The Woman In Me is out 10/24 via Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster. Find more information here.

They say there’s truth in comedy. I don’t know who “they” is, but they don’t sound very funny. They make a good point, though. I used to joke that I owe an admittedly alarming amount of my happiness to whoever (I’ll call them, let’s say, “Moe”) decided The Simpsons reruns should air at 6 and 6:30 p.m. on my local Fox affiliate growing up. Watching back-to-back episodes while my mom and I ate dinner, basking in television’s warm glowing warming glow (shout out to the old-school Uproxx fans), are how I became obsessed with TV, and The Simpsons in particular. If it wasn’t for “Moe,” I might have had a different career, and I definitely wouldn’t have ended up at my favorite real-life bar recreated to look like my favorite fictional bar from my favorite TV show last week.

If you’re ever in Austin, Texas, make sure to visit Nickel City. Especially in October, when the dank-free bar is turned into Moe’s Tavern for the Halloween season. The attention to detail this year is Universal Studios-level. Some of my favorite deep cuts included: a Mr. Sparkle neon sign; boxes of Krusty’s Non Narkotik Kough Syrup throughout the bar; an Absolut Krusty bottle; a jar of pickled eggs by the bartenders; a door marked “NOT Killer Whales storage”; and a Nuke the Whales poster. Gotta nuke something.

The extensive food and drink menu did the thing more themed restaurants should do, which is that every item was a Simpsons reference. There was no lazy “Homer’s burger.” Nickel City was making Malk Punch and the Flaming Moe (no Flaming Homer, sadly), while the outdoor food truck Delray Cafe was serving the Frying Dutchman and the Clogger.

There were also cardboard cutouts of various characters (the disco ball hanging above Disco Stu was a nice touch), Simpsons episodes playing on the TV, a Simpsons arcade (featuring that iconic Lisa quote: “Embrace nothingness”), a chalkboard gag, 40s turned into Duff Beer; and, at least last Thursday and Friday, an actual Simpsons writer.

Bill Oakley co-wrote some of the best episodes of the show, including “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy” (which had a resurgence in popularity this year thanks to Barbie), “Sideshow Bob Roberts,” and the two–part “Who Shot Mr. Burns” cliffhanger, along with Josh Weinstein. The pair — who would go on to create the cult favorite Mission Hill — were also the showrunners for seasons seven and eight, meaning they’re the comedy geniuses who oversaw “Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily,” “22 Short Films About Springfield” (Oakley wrote the heavily memed “Steamed Hams” segment), and “You Only Move Twice.”

There’s a good chance that something he wrote has become part of your everyday vocabulary. Oakley was at Nickel City to talk to Simpsons fans, who patiently waited in line to have their posters signed or gush about how much The Simpsons (or Mission Hill, or the food-focused Steamed Hams Society) meant to them.

I was one of those neeeeerrrrdddsssss. I met up with Oakley the next day at Top Notch (as made famous by Dazed and Confused), fully intending to officially interview him. Instead, I turned into Chris Farley talking to Paul McCartney. “You remember when you wrote the episode where the Simpsons go to Australia? That was awesome.” I pulled it together enough to ask what else he planned to do in Texas. Oakley replied he was going to see one of the world’s largest collections of McDonald’s merchandise. “The most amazing tour since my secret tour of Area 51!” he wrote on X following the visit. We all have our own obsessions that we geek out about. To the people at Nickel City, it was The Simpsons; to Oakley, it was Garfield Happy Meal toys.

I realize that not everyone will be able to visit this particular pop culture Halloween makeover, but if there’s one near you, please go. They’re a blast. I talked to multiple strangers, something I would normally actively avoid in a bar, because I knew we had something in common: a love of The Simpsons.

Bill Oakley is a big reason for that — him, and “Moe.”

After The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon said au revoir until Season 2, the franchise’s first spinoff is back in motion for its final reanimation, and the Season 8B trailer teased several reunions like Victor Strand and (somehow) Troy. The trailer also suggested that Madison could still — maybe? — reunite with her daughter, Alicia, before the show ends.

There are shades of “should we trust….?” going on with both Victor and Troy, but the latter would be the character most likely to f*ck with Madison because, well, let’s just simplify things by mentioning that Victor and Madison go back in a good way, whereas Troy and Madison do not. Also, Troy can’t be thrilled with being left for dead, so he definitely still has an axe to grind with Madison, and he delivered some “news” about Alicia. She was, of course, last seen with her feverish character choosing to leave her companions at the end of Season 7.

On this week’s FTWD episode, Troy presented Alicia’s prosthetic arm as “evidence” that he killed the fan-favorite character and left her to roam as a reanimated corpse — a fate even worse than death. Yet can Troy’s word be trusted? Here’s what co-showrunner Ian Goldberg told Entertainment Weekly:

“Well, it’s complicated because he does have her arm. That’s definitely Alicia’s arm. At the same time, Troy has not always proven himself to be the most trustworthy character, so we’ll have to see in these final few episodes what the truth is of what happened. But we will be exploring that further, and we will be answering exactly how he got that arm.”

Additionally, Comic Book spoke with both Goldberg and co-showrunner Andrew Chambliss, and here’s how that shook out:

“Whether Troy is telling the truth is something that you’re just going to have to watch the rest of the season to find out,” Goldberg told ComicBook. Added Chambliss: “We will definitely find out whether or not Troy’s story is true, and what actually went down between Troy and Alicia.”

So, who to believe? It really doesn’t seem likely that Alicia could survive a walker bite, amputate her own arm, sustain fevers and radiation poisoning (possibly a key combination, if June’s previous hunch on a virus cure is to believed), and all that, only to be taken out by Troy. That would be an outcome that spits in the face of Alycia Debnam-Carey’s character. Speaking of which, Debnam-Carey presumably left the series to work on other projects like The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart and Saint X. One would think, however, that she could squeeze in a quick finale appearance, especially since Goldberg was so adamant about the full-circle outcomes for main characters. We shall see!

AMC’s Fear The Walking Episodes airs on Sunday nights.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon returns this week with a slate of guests including Julius Randle, John Stamos, Cameron Diaz, Tim Grover, and more. The musical guests include Depeche Mode, Eslabon Armando, Jorja Smith, and Tyla. You can check out more on the musical guests for the week of October You can check out more on the musical guests for the week of October 23-27 below.

Tyla — Tuesday, October 24

The South African singer-songwriter will solidify her burgeoning presence stateside as she opens the week, presumably playing her July 2023 hit “Water.” “Water” made Tyla the first South African soloist to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 since Hugh Masekela’s “Grazing in the Grass” 55 years ago.

Eslabon Armado Feat. Gabito Ballesteros — Wednesday, October 25

Eslabon Armado is a Mexican-American regional Mexican group. They’ve got six studio albums under their belts, garnering two Billboard Music Awards, two Billboard Latin Music Awards, and two Latin American Music Awards. Their latest album Desvelado was released in April.

Jorja Smith — Thursday, October 26

British singer Jorja Smith is just weeks removed from the release of her second studio album, Falling Or Flying, which included singles “Little Things” and the title track featuring J Hus. The album’s release marks a triumphant comeback for Jorja, whose 2018 song “Blue Lights” earned her a massive co-sign from Drake.

Depeche Mode — Friday, October 27

The New Wave staples were the recipients of some truly stellar timing earlier this year when, after announcing their first tour in five years to promote their fifteenth album, Memento Mori, their 1987 single “Never Let Me Down Again” was featured on HBO’s The Last Of Us, bringing them back into the upper atmosphere of public awareness.

In February 2021, Uproxx’s Steven Hyden ranked Led Zeppelin’s 50 best songs, and “Stairway To Heaven” came in at No. 4. For those wondering why it wasn’t No. 1, Hyden explained, “It’s so epic and sweeping and beloved and overplayed and seriously it’s way overplayed but it’s still awesome and here comes that guitar solo sweet Jesus but man the overexposure eventually embarrassed Robert Plant so much that he couldn’t sing it with a straight face.”

As per NME, Plant performed “Stairway To Heaven” live for the first time since doing so at London’sThe O2 in 2007. On Saturday (October 21), Plant was back in the UK at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire for An Evening With Andy Taylor And Special Guests benefitting Cancer Awareness Trust. Attendees posted Instagram and YouTube snippets of Plant singing the fifth verse of “Stairway To Heaven.”

The charity concert organized by Duran Duran’s Taylor, who was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2018 (as per Billboard), also included Ella Henderson, Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley, Pink Floyd’s Guy Pratt, David Palmer, and Katherine Ryan.

“Stairway To Heaven” is housed on the band’s 1971 album Led Zeppelin IV, the same year Led Zeppelin performed “Stairway To Heaven” for the first-ever time at Ulster Hall in Belfast, Ireland.

Belfast Telegraph‘s Gerry Fitzgerald was in attendance and reflected on it in 2007, writing, “That night in the Ulster Hall was the first public performance of Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway To Heaven,’ and we didn’t like it. Too ‘ballady’ for Led Zeppelin was our thoughts. It didn’t really sound like them — at least not until the last minute of the song when Jimmy Page launched into that now famous guitar riff. ‘Stairway To Heaven’ went on to become one of the all time rock classics that has stood the test of time — sure what do I know about music anyway!”

Throughout the past week, some of the biggest artists have taken over various television shows to deliver incredible performances. Some of those might have been missed in the day-to-day shuffle, so continue scrolling for a roundup of some of this week’s best.

2 Chainz & Lil Wayne

Fresh off the announcement of their upcoming second joint album, Welcome 2 Collegrove, veteran punchline slingers 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne stopped by 30 Rockefeller to bring a foggy performance of the album’s first single “Presha” to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Caroline Polachek

Stephen Colbert and The Late Show invited avant-garde pop star Caroline Polachek to perform her new single “Dang,” which she did with a “sexy teacher” motif complete with a PowerPoint presentation full of charts and graphs of odd and silly graphics that even included the Pro Tools waveform of the song with an arrow pointing “You Are Here.”

Chelsea Cutler

Chelsea Cutler’s new single “Your Bones” is taking over TikTok and millennial/zoomer wedding playlists, and we’re happy to report the lovely song played just prettily live on Jimmy Kimmel with a pair of violinists, a piano, and drummer backing the singer, who Uproxx’s own Megan Armstrong interviewed about her new album Stellaria earlier this month.

Daniel Caesar

Daniel Caesar is back despite some missteps, proving that talent trumps controversy when the talent is this strong. His stripped-down performance of “Always” from new album Never Enough lit up the Late Show With Stephen Colbert stage after his sold-out Madison Square Garden show.

Feist

The Tonight Show stage proved the perfect setting for an intimate performance of Feist’s mellow new song “Hiding Out In The Open.” Keeping things simple Feist went with a cozy band setup and a trippy mirror effect in the background.

Lil Yachty

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m really feeling Yachty’s whole Tame Impala cosplay era. Rather than being a snot-nosed hipster about the whole thing, I’ve been digging the vibes and performances, like this one of “We Saw The Sun” from Jimmy Kimmel Live! They’re certainly the part of his Field Trip Tour I’m looking forward to the most.

Myke Towers

The background off Myke Towers’ Jimmy Kimmel Live! performance of “Lala” may give you Rocky Horror Picture Show flashbacks but it’s effective in bringing a striking visual aspect to the otherwise simple performance. Myke looks like he had a lot of fun out there.

Victoria Monét

“On My Mama” has been a quiet hurricane sweeping the nation, proving it’s got legs like its singer, Victoria Monét. Those legs got a workout on The Tonight Show as she stepped out in a bedazzled throwback 2000s-inspired baggy ensemble, paying homage to the origins of the song’s central sample. The live band really opens up the beat.

Blink-182, with Tom DeLonge back in the fold, is in the midst of a reunion tour that has run out of North American dates, but which wraps up with some New Zealand shows in March. Since then, though, they released a new album, One More Time…, which they dropped this past Friday. Naturally, fans are wondering if that album will get its own tour.

Now, we know the answer is yes: Today (October 23), the band announced the One More Time Tour. The North American dates start in June 2024 before wrapping up in August. Tickets go on sale on October 27 at 10 a.m. local time, so find more information on the band’s website.

Find Blink-182’s 2024 tour dates below.

02/08/2024 — Perth, Australia @ RAC Arena ^
02/09/2024 — Perth, Australia @ RAC Arena ^
02/11/2024 — Adelaide, Australia @ Entertainment Centre ^
02/13/2024 — Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena ^
02/14/2024 — Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena ^
02/16/2024 — Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena ^
02/17/2024 — Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena ^
02/19/2024 — Brisbane, Australia @ Entertainment Centre ^
02/20/2024 — Brisbane, Australia @ Entertainment Centre ^
02/21/2024 — Brisbane, Australia @ Entertainment Centre ^
02/23/2024 — Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena ^
02/24/2024 — Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena ^
02/26/2024 — Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena ^
02/27/2024 — Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena ^
02/29/2024 — Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena ^
03/02/2024 — Auckland, New Zealand @ Spark Arena ^
03/04/2024 — Christchurch, New Zealand @ Christchurch Arena ^
03/15-17/2024 — Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Lollapalooza Argentina
03/15-17/2024 — Santiago, Chile @ Lollapalooza Chile
03/22-24/2024 — São Paulo, Brazil @ Lollapalooza Brazil
03/23-26/2024 — Bogotá, Colombia @ Estereo Picnic
03/27/2024 — Lima, Peru @ Estadio San Marcos
04/02/2024 — Mexico City, Mexico @ The Sports Palace
04/03/2024 — Mexico City, Mexico @ The Sports Palace
04/05/2024 — Mexico City, Mexico @ The Sports Palace
04/06/2024 — Mexico City, Mexico @ The Sports Palace
06/20/2024 — Orlando, FL @ Amway Center !
06/21/2024 — Miami, FL @ Kaseya Center !
06/24/2024 — San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center !
06/25/2024 — Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena !
06/27/2024 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena !
06/30/2024 — San Diego, CA @ Petco Park !
07/02/2024 — Glendale, AZ @ Desert Diamond Arena !
07/03/2024 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena !
07/06/2024 — Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium !
07/08/2024 — Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center !
07/09/2024 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center !
07/11/2024 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center !
07/13/2024 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center !
07/14/2024 — Quincy, WA @ Gorge Amphitheatre !
07/21/2024 — Queens, NY @ Citi Field !
07/23/2024 — Boston, MA @ Fenway Park !
07/24/2024 — Hartford, CT @ The Xfinity Theatre !
07/26/2024 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center !
07/27/2024 — Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena !
07/29/2024 — Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena !
07/30/2024 — Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena !
08/01/2024 — Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena !
08/02/2024 — Indianapolis, IN @ Gainbridge Fieldhouse !
08/06/2024 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center !
08/07/2024 — Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum !
08/09/2024 — Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center !
08/10/2024 — St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center !
08/12/2024 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena !
08/13/2024 — Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center !
08/15/2024 — Toronto, Ontario @ Rogers Centre !$
08/26/2024 — Belfast, Northern Ireland @ SSE Arena %
08/27/2024 — Dublin, Ireland @ Royal Hospital Kilmainham %
08/29/2024 — Glasgow, Scotland @ OVO Hydro %
08/30/2024 — Glasgow, Scotland @ OVO Hydro %

^ with Rise Against
! with Pierce The Veil
$ with Alexisonfire
% with The Story So Far

One More Time… is out now via Columbia Records. Find more information here.

Back in the summer of 2019, news broke in the middle of the night that the Thunder were trading Paul George to the Clippers for a package headlined by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander coming off of a strong rookie season and a boatload of picks. The trade was, effectively, a 2-for-1 for L.A., as trading for George was also the way they were going to secure Kawhi Leonard in free agency, and the Thunder were able to extract more for George because of it.

Four years later, the Clippers have never quite lived up to expectations as George and Leonard have never stayed healthy together, with L.A. having a ceiling of the conference finals so far with the star duo. Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, has developed into a superstar in OKC and they enter this season with real hopes of crashing the playoff party in the West. One of SGA’s vets in L.A. as a rookie was Lou Williams, who was on FanDuel’s “Run It Back” show on Monday as they talked about the Thunder adding Chet Holmgren this year, and after patting himself on the back for being a “great vet” for SGA, he was asked if he thought Gilgeous-Alexander would be this good and gave an emphatic “absolutely.”

“Absolutely,” Williams said of whether he though SGA would be great. “We were heartbroken when he got traded. We were crushed that he got [traded]. Even though it was for PG. We knew who PG was, but we had spent so much time and energy and being instrumental in his career and his development, just making sure he’s getting extra shots. And he was so open to information and so open to learning and wanted to be great, we knew he was gonna be one of those players.”

I will fact check this just a little bit by noting Lou Williams popped up on Patrick Beverley’s Instagram celebrating the trade in Vegas the night it broke and heartbroken wouldn’t exactly be the word I’d use to describe it. That said, I do believe Williams did want to see Gilgeous-Alexander continue to grow in L.A. and was an early believer in his potential, and I’m sure there were emotions all over the place that night and in the ensuing days. That belief has certainly been proven correct, and the Thunder are surely appreciative to be reaping the benefits of SGA’s rise to stardom.

Jay-Z hosts an annual Roc Nation Brunch, but he’d probably bypass his own star-studded soirée if given the option to deposit $500,000 into his already-overflowing bank account.

Hov sat down with Gayle King for the latest CBS Mornings, where King asked him to settle a years-long online debate with various mutations. “If you a had choice between getting paid $500,000 in cash or lunch with Jay-Z, which would you choose?” King asked.

Jay-Z barely needed two seconds to think before shrugging and saying, “You gotta take the money. What I’m gonna say?” King’s counterpoint was that wisdom garnered from Jay-Z during lunch would pay endless dividends, but Jay-Z wouldn’t be swayed. “You got all that in the music for $10.99. That’s a bad deal! I wouldn’t tell you to cut a bad deal.”

He continued, “Take the $500,000, go buy some albums, and listen to the albums. It’s all there. If you piece it together and really listen to the music for the words, for what it is, it’s all there. Everything that I said was gonna happen, happened. Everything I said I wanted to do, I’ve done. There’s the blueprint. The blueprint — literally — to me and my life and my journey is there already.”

There you have it. While King got Jay-Z’s answer, an Instagram user named K Rich briefly bonded with Jay-Z over the question during last week’s Monday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers. In the Instagram video, K Rich told Jay-Z he would “take that $500K!” Jay-Z walked over to fist-bump him and say, “Be good, man.”

Watch that clip below, and watch the CBS Mornings snippet of King with Jay-Z above.

In late September, the Writers Guild Of America strike ended after 148 days, and late-night television shows seamlessly slipped back into their schedules throughout October. Well, for the most part. Stephen Colbert hosted The Late Show remotely last week due to testing positive for “COVID (Taylor’s Version).”

Regardless, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert must go on. This week, according to press release and the show’s Instagram, Colbert will welcome the Talking Heads to the couch, but the below musical guests are scheduled to perform.

Arlo Parks — Monday, October 23

Arlo Parks’ sophomore album, My Soft Machine, was described in an Uproxx “Best New Indie Music” weekly round-up as “a touching flash of intimate slam poetry against a sprawling sonic backdrop.” Viewers of The Late Show will be able to judge for themselves during tonight’s (October 23) episode. The show’s scheduled guests are Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez.

Parks will also bring her My Soft Machine Tour across North America in early 2024. See all dates here.

Caroline Polachek — Tuesday, October 24

Jim Gaffigan will warm the audience up for another performance from Caroline Polachek, who brought “Dang” to The Late Show last week. In June, Polachek’s Desire, I Want To Turn Into You was named among Uproxx’s “Best Pop Albums Of 2023 So Far.”