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Only Murders in the Building does a lot of things well. It creates a fun little mystery and drips and drops out clues over the course of the season. It plays to the strengths of its stars — Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez — in a way you’d think would be obvious to every show but is shockingly hit-or-miss out there. It’s become a cozy little relaxing watch in a sea of dark and gloomy and humorless options across the very many streaming services that exist.

But I think my favorite thing the show does well is the way it folds in guest stars. This season alone we had appearances by Mel Brooks and Matthew Broderick as themselves, with the latter popping up to poke a whole lot of fun at himself. But the biggies were Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd, the former who played a struggling actress and murder suspect, the latter who played an egomaniac movie star who was the season’s victim. My god, did it ever look like they were having a blast.

Two things are important to note here:

• The concept of Meryl Streep convincingly playing a struggling actress who flubs lines is brilliant and maybe required the best performance any actor has given this year
• I need everyone to see Paul Rudd’s character absolutely devour a cookie in his dressing room after a day’s worth of stress and fasting broke him

Looking at this guy.

This is what I mean about everyone having a blast. And what I mean about the show using its pedigree and big-name cast to lure in terrific guest stars. And it’s kind of what inspired me to write this list of potential guest stars I think would make for fun additions to the cast either in season four or just going forward, generally.

Three notes before we begin:

• Some of these are maybe reaches, for a variety of reasons, but I got excited and it’s good to have fun
• I am going to rip through each option quickly, with three bullet points under each person, just because we aren’t made of time
• I am very serious about the last item on this list, which I have teased here and put at the bottom in the hopes you’ll scroll through dozens of other lunatic suggestions

I am a professional. Kind of. But I swear some of these are good. Let’s go.

Jon Hamm

Some notes:

• Jon Hamm would be so good on this show
• I like to picture him playing like a goofy version of himself who rents a place in the building while in Manhattan for another project
• Jon Hamm has been guest starring in so many shows and this would be such a Jon Hamm move that I actually had to Google to be sure he wasn’t already in a previous season

Next

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Some notes:

• JLD has been awesome for like three-plus decades
• Veep is done and she has time
• I want her to be the murderer

Next.

Wesley Snipes

Some notes:

• This one is fun
• Let Wesley Snipes have fun
• He could play like a dude who was on a season of Brazzos with Steve Martin and holds a grudge about something

Next.

Amy Poehler and/or Maya Rudolph

Some notes:

• Tina Fey is already on the show as a cutthroat rival podcaster with blonde hair
• These two are the best and any show could use them
• Maybe just let Maya Rudolph do the voice she does in Big Mouth?

Next.

Walton Goggins

Some notes:

• Walton Goggins has never been bad in anything
• He’s so silly as Baby Billy on The Righteous Gemstones and I think we could put him in a different wig here and make it work
• I still kind of can’t believe how nice he was when I interviewed him

Next.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Some notes:

• Yes
• Picture Steve Martin and Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a scene together
• Tell me I’m wrong

Next.

Donald Glover

Some notes:

• Donald Glover is so talented and can kind of do anything but it’s good to remember he got his start being goofy as hell
• I like the idea of him as another rival podcast or maybe a private detective who mucks up the investigation for everyone
• He should grow a mustache for this part

Next.

Tommy Lee Jones

Some notes:

• Tommy Lee Jones going full The Fugitive with Steve Martin and Martin Short
• He’s good at comedy and we know this from the Men in Black movies
• My dad suggested this one

Next.

Aubrey Plaza

Some notes:

• Aubrey Plaza doing her little eye rolls at Martin Short’s antics
• Maybe she plays an old classmate or cousin of Selena’s character
• I would like this a lot

Next.

The Muppets

Some notes:

• Picture Kermit and Miss Piggy moving into an apartment in the building and blammo now the Muppets just exist in this universe
• Or maybe there’s no mention of them ever at all and then bc Statler and Waldorf are up in the balcony for a performance of Martin Short’s musical
• I will keep suggesting we put the Muppets into things until I die or someone takes my internet access away

Next.

Ayo Edebiri

Some notes:

• Ayo is the best
• Let her do whatever she wants
• I would also accept Richie from The Bear, like that exact character just blooped over from another Hulu show

Next.

Jason Statham

Some notes:

• Statham is so good at comedy and rarely gets a chance to show it
• It would be funny to watch like “New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs Comedy Hour” broken up with periodic scenes where Jason Statham kicks someone in the throat and then blows up their house
• This one is just for me

Next.

John Wick

Some notes:

• Not Keanu Reeves
• Like, actually John Wick, on the loose in their building
• They would have so many murders to investigate

Next.

Edi Patterson

Some notes:

• Edi Patterson is so freaking funny
• I have this visual of the team trying to interrogate her and her going Full Chaos Mode and I can’t stop smiling
• She should be in more things anyway so this is as good a place to start as any

Next.

Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson

Some notes:

• Get them on the show
• Yes, it would be weird because Sam Richardson already investigates murders on the also-terrific mystery-comedy The Afterparty
• I do not care

Next.

Rihanna

Some notes:

• Imagine if a future season opens up and someone murders Rihanna — like, actually Rihanna, as herself — and they have to investigate amidst the news coverage calamity
• Get another megastar in there next to Selena Gomez
• Let Rihanna act in a bunch of silly little flashbacks

Next.

Helen Mirren

Some notes:

• Helen Mirren is fun, as we know from Barbie and Red and all of that
• I would like there to be a show that has both Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren in it
• She’s the murderer but she killed someone with a machine gun

Next.

Rhea Seehorn

Some notes:

• Rhea Seehorn rules
• She would be great as an investigative reporter trying to figure out why so many murders keep happening in this one fancy Manhattan apartment building
• RHEA SEEHORN RULES

Next.

Nick Offerman

Some notes:

• Full Ron Swanson mustache
• Doing his little giggles
• Maybe he’s the contractor who is building them a new studio?

Next.

Andy Daly

Some notes:

• Definitely a rival podcaster
• I know I’ve suggested that a lot
• But still

Next.

Ali Wong

Some notes:

• Hey
• Remember how good Ali Wong was in Beef?
• This is a good idea

Next.

Stephen Root

Some notes:

• I have yet to encounter a television show that cannot be substantially improved by the presence of Stephen Root
• He would a great murderer on this show
• Maybe he’s the new building manager and is trying to clean up its image and things go sideways

Next.

Rick Moranis

Some notes:

• Why not?
• We can put Rick Moranis in this show
• There’s nothing stopping us

Next.

Natasha Lyonne

Some notes:

• She would be so good playing off of the three main characters in the show
• In a trench coat, smoking a cigarette, going Columbo Mode
• It’s fun to picture her voice and Martin Short’s voice having a conversation

Next.

Jiminy Glick

Some notes:

• Okay, look
• This was kind of just an excuse to post this highlight reel of Martin Short as Jiminy Glick that I’ve been watching a lot lately, but I would really like to see the podcast get so famous that they start making the publicity rounds and then Martin Short pulls double duty interviewing himself about murder
• I feel okay about making you scroll all the way down for this one

Thank you.

Revivals can be tough. On the one hand, it’s fun to think about how all of your favorite characters from old shows would do if they had access to modern technology, but on the other hand, maybe they actually got more annoying over the years. It’s a tricky balance.

The latest show to jump on the revival bandwagon is Frasier, which will be the second spinoff from the original Cheers character, played by Kelsey Grammer. Even though maybe fans are excited to see the snarky psychiatrist back in action, it seems like the actual show is a little lacking in the “good” department. Here’s what the critics are saying:

Deadline‘s Dominic Patten says that even though it might be the most innovative show on TV right now, it’s…something.

While clearly a subscriber lunge for Paramount+ in this age of streamer contractions, this 10-episode revival is indeed so blatantly a throwback to a very different era of television that to try to taint it as mere nostalgia is to miss the point. A little thinner on top, a little meatier around the middle, and sometimes a bit slower in its sitcom delivery, Frasier 3.0 emerges eternally itself in an ever changing world and media landscape.

From the too loud studio audience laughs, the staging, the set-ups and timing, the lighting, the improbabilities, the in-jokes (Yes, we are listening), and most of the conundrums and tropes the 2023 narrative employs, Frasier the revival strength is being exactly what you would expect if Frasier had never ended in the first place in 2004 after 11 seasons

IndieWire‘s Ben Travers insists that the series is a bit of a letdown:

Far from a catastrophe, the revival is still a disappointment (unless recent experience has taught you to lower the bar all the way to floor) because it so clearly lacks, for starters, the original’s zany energy. Frasier, at its peak, has a remarkably quick wit, deploying a flurry of jokes and quips that undercut the Crane brothers’ pretentious tendencies via their escalating embarrassments. But far more noticeable in its absence is the camaraderie that Frasier inherited in Cheers and came to love in Frasier; the stand-out supporting characters that have not only always been there for Frasier, but that Frasier has relied on to make his life —and his shows— that much better.

Meanwhile, Time‘s Judy Berman was not impressed by the “wilted salads and expired eggs” of the new series:

The tone feels off, too. It’s nice that the new episodes were filmed in front of a live audience, but their laughter, which reads as artificial in 2023, makes the revival feel too much like a kitschy throwback. Frasier’s quest to prove, after a couple of decades as an overeducated talk-show host, that he’s got more substance than, say, Dr. Phil, makes for a decent premise. But his guilt over passing his daddy issues onto the next generation is more of a bummer than a light comedy can support. The show needs more jokes and less earnest emoting, at the very least. Still, I’m not convinced that any amount of tweaking would be enough to justify its existence.

Rolling Stone‘s Alan Sepinwall was unimpressed with the lackluster jokes and the inconsistencies with Frasier’s character:

There are occasions that remind you of Grammer’s genius, like a silently pained Frasier struggling to choose between being loyal to Alan or getting admitted to an elite Boston club. There just aren’t enough of them to compensate for everything else, especially when the show takes such a pick-and-choose approach to all the things we know about Frasier.

Nick Hilton of The Independent says that Grammer does his best in the starring role, even if the content is nothing special:

The fact that there is something to enjoy in this return to the Craniverse is testament to the joys of Cheers and Frasier, not to mention Grammer’s effective turn in the lead role. Little may remain other than a title and an endearing snobbery, but, just like Theseus’s ride before it, the spirit of Frasier remains intact. Not quite seaworthy, perhaps, but just about afloat.

If you want to give it a shot, the series will premiere on Paramount+ on October 12th.

In 1995, Bill Watterson walked away form Calvin and Hobbes, his wildly successful comic strip that the Ohio artist tirelessly protected from merchandising offers and Saturday morning cartoon pitches. After retiring from the public eye and giving exceedingly rare interviews, Watterson has returned after 28 years with his new fable The Mysteries.

Gone are the philosophical wonderings of a young boy and his stuffed tiger, and in its place is a completely different style of storytelling that reflects Watterson’s interests since leaving behind his iconic comic strip.

“He’s been working creatively, painting and doing other types of art, since he ended the strip,” Jenny Robb, head curator of the Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, told The Guardian. “From that standpoint, it makes sense that eventually he would find a project that he wanted to share with his audience.”

“This is pretty exciting and monumental that he’s releasing a whole book,” Neal Martell, author of Looking for Calvin and Hobbes said. “I’m surprised and yet not surprised – surprised in the sense that he’s putting something out, not surprised that since he is putting something out, it’s so wildly different from what he did on Calvin and Hobbes.”

Here’s the official synopsis for The Mysteries:

In a fable for grown-ups by cartoonist Bill Watterson, a long-ago kingdom is afflicted with unexplainable calamities. Hoping to end the torment, the king dispatches his knights to discover the source of the mysterious events. Years later, a single battered knight returns.

For the book’s illustrations, Watterson and caricaturist John Kascht worked together for several years in unusually close collaboration. Both artists abandoned their past ways of working, inventing images together that neither could anticipate—a mysterious process in its own right.

The Mysteries is now available wherever books are sold.

(Via The Guardian, Simon & Schuster)

Drake‘s been accused of his fair share of “soft” misogyny but he certainly wasn’t going to take derogatory comments from hardcore misogynist Andrew Tate. Tate, who was arrested and accused of human trafficking in Romania late last year, derided men from Canada in a recent episode of his podcast, and Drake didn’t take too kindly to having his manhood questioned.

Tate’s comments are usually vile in general, but in this case, he was just straight-up rude and wrong. “There’s no men in Canada,” he asserted. “Imagine being from Canada. Imagine saying, ‘I’m a man.’ ‘From where?’ ‘From Canada.’ What? That doesn’t go together. You’re not, bruv. Of course not. There’s no men in Canada.”

Drake didn’t mince words with his response, commenting under the video, “Green light” — a reference to putting a hit on someone.

Of course, were you to ask Drake’s detractors like Azealia Banks, Joe Budden, and Pusha T, this is pointless posturing on his part, but again, that could just be due to the “nice guy” reputation Canada has cultivated over the years, despite participating in the same sorts of genocide as the nation’s neighbors to the south (and let it be known that Canada’s ratio of guns to human beings rivals the US’s. The murder rate’s just lower because they have free health care).

Does Drake actually have the power to put a “green light” on the podcaster? That doesn’t seem likely — he did add a laughing emoji, after all. Maybe recording For All The Dogs and hanging out with 21 Savage just has him feeling tough lately.

Shortly after Secret Invasion started streaming on Disney+, Marvel found itself targeted by backlash after fans learned that the opening credits were made with AI. Well, surprise, it’s happening again.

According to a new report, Loki Season 2 is under fire for using AI-generated art for its official poster. AI art is still extremely controversial over justifiable fears that image generators are being trained on artists’ work without their consent (or compensation) and will ultimately replace human created art.

As for how fans were able to figure out the poster was made using AI, note the Roman numeral “IIII” just to the left of Tom Hiddleston’s face as well as abnormal poses for the characters:

Loki’s use of AI art was first noticed by illustrator Katria Raden who was able to find the original stock image that was used in the poster, which presents a major problem.

Via The Verge:

AI-generated stock imagery is a real issue for many creative professionals. As Raden notes: “licensing photos and illustrations on stock sites has been a way many hard-working artists have been earning a living. I don’t think replacing them with generated imagery via tech built on mass exploitation and wage theft is any more ethical than replacing Disney’s own employees.”

Despite the now-second AI controversy for Marvel, the Loki Season 2 premiere delivered record ratings for Disney+. According to Variety, it trailed just behind The Mandalorian Season 3 premiere and is reportedly primed to beat Ahsoka‘s five-day total for views.

(Via The Verge, Variety)

If you’re not an avid gin drinker and you’ve tasted some version of the popular spirit, there’s a good chance it was London dry gin. For the uninitiated, London dry gin is (like all gins) a juniper-infused spirit that often features aromas and flavors from additional herbs and botanicals. It’s well-known for its juniper berry-forward, herbal, earthy, dry flavor profile. It’s also the baseline for a variety of iconic cocktails, including the martini, gin gimlet, and the beloved gin & tonic.

Not all gin is good gin, of course. But the good news is that you don’t have to spend an uncomfortable amount of money to get a solid bottle. You can find quality bottles of London dry gin for under $25. Yes, you read that right. Flavorful, balanced, highly mixable, juniper-filled gins cost less than a meal at a fast-casual restaurant.

To prove it, I picked eight London dry gins and blindly tasted them. I nosed and tasted each and ranked them based on balance, flavor, and overall quality as a mixer. This isn’t a sipping-based test!

Today’s Lineup:

• Tanqueray
• Gilbey’s
• Broker’s
• Bombay Sapphire
• Beefeater
• New Amsterdam Stratusphere
• Burnett’s
• Gordon’s

Read to the end to see how your standard gin pour fared!

Part 1: Under $20 London Dry Gin Blind Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Juniper, orange peels, and some spices, along with a harsh alcohol aroma make for a very interesting nose. The palate is heavy on pine, orange peels, and cinnamon, and not much else. The finish is kind of bitter and there’s a lot of uncomfortable heat. Not a great gin.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

The nose is heavy (almost too much) on piney juniper. There are also notes of lemongrass, licorice, and other spices. Drinking it continues this trend with a bold kick of pine needles, orange peels, menthol, and licorice. The finish is warming, dry, and pleasant with more juniper flavor.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

The nose is all pine, lemon, ripe orange, coriander, lavender, and licorice. The palate is more expansive than the nose with hints of coriander, pine needles, lemon, wildflowers, and peppery spice. This full-flavored gin finishes dry, slightly acidic, and is filled with warming but not unpleasant heat.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

The nose is heavy on juniper, but it’s hard to find a second aroma. Maybe hand sanitizer? Rubbing alcohol? Something at least mildly abrasive. The palate also heavily leans into piney juniper. There’s also some citrus, but overall, the harsh heat makes it difficult to drink on its own.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find a heavy wallop of piney juniper and some backing flavors of coriander and citrus. Overall, not a bad start. Drinking it reveals more juniper as well as some mint, licorice, citrus, and more spice. It’s not a bad mixing gin, but a little heavy on juniper and has a little too much heat on the finish.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

This is definitely a unique gin, as orange aromas seem to be more abundant than the expected juniper. There are also some underlying cracked black pepper, coriander, and cinnamon aromas on the nose. The palate continues this trend with a ton of borderline synthetic-tasting orange up front followed by piney juniper, coriander, and maybe some mint.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

The nose begins with pine and moves into orange peels, lemon zest, licorice, and gentle floral aromas. Sipping it brings forth notes of orange zest, lemongrass, anise, juniper, and cracked black pepper. It’s a spicy, sweet, earthy gin that mixes well into classic gin cocktails.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

A nose of pine needles, mint, anise, and lemon peels greets you before your first sip. The palate is well-balanced with juniper up front followed by lemon zest, orange peels, licorice, coriander, and pepper. The finish is a warming, dry combination of citrus and pine.

Part 2: The Rankings

8) Burnett’s (Taste 4)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $18 for a 1.75ml bottle

The Gin:

You’d have a hard time finding a cheaper London dry gin that doesn’t similarly resemble rocket fuel. That’s a lot of booze for $18. Produced for more than 200 years (making it one of the oldest brands in England), this juniper-heavy gin comes in a plastic handle, so… you know.

Bottom Line:

This is truly a bargain London dry gin. It tastes like it. Hide this gin in a drink with a lot of other flavors or you’ll regret it.

7) Gilbey’s (Taste 1)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $14

The Gin:

Gilbey’s is another plastic handle, cheap London dry gin that’s crafted to be used as a mixer only. It’s flavored with a blend of 12 herbs and botanicals including the always present juniper as well as coriander, lemongrass, orange peel, cinnamon, and other spices.

Bottom Line:

Gilbey’s is another gin you might want to avoid unless you want to really hide it in a complex cocktail. But at that point, why devalue your complicated drink with this?

6) Gordon’s (Taste 5)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $17

The Gin:

One of the oldest gins in the world still in production, Gordon’s London Dry Gin was first launched by Alexander Gordon back in 1769. The most popular gin in England since the 1800s, this value spirit is also the top-selling London dry gin in the world.

Bottom Line:

There’s a reason Gordon’s is so popular. It’s cheap and a decent mixer. Don’t expect any more than that though.

5) New Amsterdam Stratusphere (Taste 6)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $17

The Gin:

New Amsterdam has long been known for its value gins and its New Amsterdam Stratusphere London Dry Gin is no different. Instead of the usual one-trick pony of the Juniper-forward classic London dry gin, the distillers at New Amsterdam opted to create a two-trick pony — juniper and citrus.

Bottom Line:

This is the bottle of London dry gin to pick up if you prefer your drinks to have more of a citrus lean and less of a juniper presence.

4) Tanqueray (Taste 2)

ABV: 47.3%

Average Price: $21

The Gin:

Tanqueray is a big name in the London dry gin world, yet it remains surprisingly reasonably priced. Distilled four times, this iconic brand doesn’t rely on a parade of flavors as it contains four herbs and botanicals. They are juniper, licorice, angelica, and coriander. All are quite present on the palate.

Bottom Line:

Tanqueray is a classic London dry gin. It has everything you could want and leans heavily into juniper. A great mixer.

3) Beefeater (Taste 8)

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $21

The Gin:

Beefeater is the nickname for the Yeomen Warder of King Charle’s Royal Palace and the guardians of the Tower of London. It’s also the name for one of the most popular London dry gins in the world. This classic gin is flavored with nine herbs and botanicals including juniper, lemon peel, and Seville orange.

Bottom Line:

This might be one of the most well-balanced London dry gins on the market. This is one for fans of juniper who also don’t want it to be totally overwhelming.

2) Broker’s (Taste 7)

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $21

The Gin:

Based on a 200-year-old recipe, Broker’s London Dry Gin is made with ten herbs and botanicals including juniper, sage, lemon, lavender, orange peel, licorice, and more. To flavor the gin, the ingredients are steeped for 24 full hours in pure grain spirit.

Bottom Line:

This gin is spicier than some of the others on the market and that’s a good thing. It will give your favorite drink a memorable, warming, spicy kick.

1) Bombay Sapphire (Taste 3)

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $22

The Gin:

There are few gins as well-respected and well-known as Bombay Sapphire. And yet, it remains fairly priced. This classic gin gets its flavor from the addition of ten specific ingredients including juniper berries, orris root, angelica, coriander, almond, lemon peel, licorice, cubeb, cassia, and grains of paradise.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to well-balanced London dry gins, it’s difficult to beat the appeal of Bombay Sapphire. I didn’t know I was picking such a stalwart as the champ but did nonetheless — what can I say? It’s good! And it ticks all the London dry gin boxes.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

There are many things I learned when nosing and tasting these gins. Clearly, it requires patience to meander past the flavor of heavy juniper found in some of these expressions. But the main takeaway is the idea that you can go cheap with gin, but not too cheap. There’s a big difference between a $21 gin and a $18 handle of gin in terms of overall flavor as well as harshness.

Your best bet, even if you want to save some cash, is to not go too cheap. You’ll regret it. And your cocktails will be worse because of it.

In April, Wednesday dropped their fifth studio album, Rat Saw God. The body of work features singles “TV In The Gas Pump” and “Bath County.” Today (October 10), Wednesday shared the trailer for their documentary, Rat Bastards Of Haw Creek, and their 2024 tour dates.

Wednesday’s 2024 tour will kick off on January 19, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Across the shows next year, Lowertown, Das Blisschen Totschlag, Hotline TNT, They Hate Change, and Draag will serve as supporting openers. For select dates, Karly Hartzman & MJ Lenderman will have a solo show with support from Dan Wriggins. Before their official tour, Wednesday will appear at several festivals, including Atlanta’s Highball and Paris’ London Calling.

Pre-sale for the shows begins tomorrow, October 11, at 10 a.m. local time. The general ticket sale will start soon after. Find more information here.

Watch the trailer for Rat Bastards Of Haw Creek above. View Wednesday’s complete 2024 tour dates below.

10/21/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ Highball Festival
10/25/2023 — Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere #
10/27/2023 — Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling Festival
10/28/2023 — Hamburg, DE @ Molotow ^
10/29/2023 — Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen ^
10/30/2023 — Berlin, DE @ Frannz ^
11/01/2023 — Cologne, DE @ Bumann & SOHN #
11/02/2023 — Zurich, CH @ Bogen F #
11/03/2023 — Luxembourg, LU @ Rotondes #
11/05/2023 — Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds #
11/06/2023 — Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall #
11/07/2023 — Glasgow, UK @ Mono #
11/09/2023 — Dublin, IE @ Workman’s Club #
11/10/2023 — Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club #
11/11/2023 — London, UK @ Pitchfork Festival London
12/08/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon +
12/09/2023 — Ojai, CA @ Deer Lodge +
12/10/2023 — San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop +
12/12/2023 — Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios +
12/13/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern +
01/19/2024 — Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre $
01/20/2024 — Winston-Salem, NC @ SECCA $
01/21/2024 — Boone, NC @ Lily’s Snack Bar $
01/22/2024 — Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry $
01/23/2024 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club $
01/25/2024 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
01/27/2024 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Music Hall $
01/28/2024 — Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop $
01/30/2024 — Nashville, TN @ Eastside Bowl $
02/01/2024 — Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s $
02/02/2024 — Pensacola, FL @ The Handlebar $*
02/03/2024 — Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits $*
02/04/2024 — Orlando, FL @ The Social $*
02/06/2024 — Miami, FL @ Gramps $*
02/08/2024 — Savannah, GA @ Lodge of Sorrows $
02/09/2024 — Athens, GA @ 40 Watt $
02/10/2024 — Chattanooga, TN @ Cherry Street Tavern $
05/14/2024 — Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf %
05/15/2024 — Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom %
05/16/2024 — San Diego, CA @ Quartyard %
05/17/2024 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
05/18/2024 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore %
05/20/2024 — Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %
05/21/2024 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre %
05/22/2024 — Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre %
05/24/2024 — Missoula, MT @ Zootown Arts Community Center %
05/25/2024 — Bozeman, MT @ The ELM %
05/28/2024 — Denver, CO @ The Gothic Theatre %
05/30/2024 — Omaha, NE @ Slowdown %
07/27/2024 — Greenville, SC @ Altered States Libation & Arts Festival
08/23/2024 — Málaga, ES @ Canela Party

# with Lowertown
^ with Das Blisschen Totschlag
+ Karly Hartzman & MJ Lenderman solo show with support from Dan Wriggins
$ with Hotline TNT
* with They Hate Change
% with Draag

It would probably be a college student’s worst nightmare to have his dad crash a frat party. Unless of course that dad is Will Ferrell.

Over the weekend, Ferrell was seen behind the DJ booth at a Sigma Alpha Mu party for his alma mater, the University of Southern California—the same college his son Magnus attends—channeling his popular role of Frank the Tank from “Old School.” Minus the streaking.

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Videos show the comedy actor in full DJ garb (black tracksuit, backwards baseball cap, shades, giant headphones) as he blasts songs like “Eye of the Tiger” and Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “Watch the Throne” hit “N—-s in Paris” to the crowd.

@lupetwins8803 #uscfamilyweekend @@WillFerrellOfficial #uscfootball ♬ original sound – Lupitatwins

Though the younger audience didn’t seem to recognize the songs (yes, really) Ferrell still got their heads bobbing along to the beat.

This is not the first time Ferrell has revisited his former college. Back in 2017, the “SNL” star went viral for his zinger-filled commencement speech to USC’s class of 2017, which also, unsurprisingly, included some signing as well.

But Ferrell isn’t the only musically inclined person in his family. That’s a trait clearly passed down to his son Magnus, who announced on his Instagram page that he’ll be releasing some new tracks on Oct 15.

@lupetwins8803 #usc#uscparentsweekend ❤️💛❤️💛 #fighton✌️ ♬ original sound – Lupitatwins

And perhaps the sweetest part of this viral moment is seeing how close Ferrel is to his son, something the father has previously labeled a parental priority. Back in 2008 for an interview with PEOPLE, he advised that moms and dads talk to their children “at least once a week,” adding “If you’ve got time, do it two or three times a week, but otherwise, I find the times where I let weeks and weeks go by without talking to my children, that adds up.”

There you have it folks—Will Ferrell, great music and awesome parenting…all rolled into one fun story.

Mischa is a mixed-breed dog discovered in a forest in Romania with her two siblings in March 2021. It’s believed she was just a month old when she was rescued. “They [Mischa and her siblings] were terrified of humans. If they hadn’t of been rescued, they all would of died from cold and hunger in the forest,” Paula Biddle, a volunteer at Noah’s Ark Dog Rescue in East Anglia, England, told Newsweek.

Even though Mischa’s and her siblings were fostered, she was returned to the kennel after she was sent to “didn’t work out with the resident dog.”

After spending just about all her life in kennels, the rescuers felt they were running out of time with Mischa because of her deteriorating mental state. As time passed, Misha “got more scared and started to shut down; she wouldn’t come near us at the kennels so we had to do something,” Biddle said.

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​But on October 1, over two and a half years since being moved to a kennel, Mischa was fostered by Trish Edwards, who saw her story on the Noah’s Ark Dog Rescue’s TikTok page.

The video of her first moments outside the kennel shows how Mischa’s attitude completely changed once she was in a comfortable home environment. “We were all amazed at how different she was,” Biddle said.

@noahsarkdogrescue

Remember the video of terrified Mischa? Well she has gone into foster and the difference by the afternoon was amazing. We can’t thank the family enough fir giving Mischa a chance of a happy life. #dogrescue #thisisrescue #adoptdontshop🐾 #rescuedogsoftiktok #noahsarkdogrescue #dogadoption #kennellife #dogfoster #terrifieddog

The video shows what can happen to dogs when they are fostered or find a forever home. “What a beautiful and lovely dog. Terrified to the bone, but still no aggression. Hope she has found her forever home,” Jewelry by Jorika wrote on the post. “All they need is a chance and a bit of love and patience,” JohnnyMoore128 added.

If you’re interested in helping a dog like Mischa, learn more about becoming a dog or cat foster from the ASPCA.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is the highest-grossing concert film of all-time, and it’s not even out yet. The movie, which was shot over three nights of Swift’s Ticketmaster-breaking tour, has already earned over $100 million in advance ticket sales globally, surpassing the total theatrical run of previous record-holder, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($99 million).

Swift made the unusual (and profitable) decision to bypass the studios and sign a distribution deal for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour directly with AMC. She bet on herself, and it’s going to pay off. Literally. Variety reports that “Swift’s camp will receive roughly 57 percent of ticket sales, with theaters keeping the remaining revenues and AMC taking a small distribution fee.”

Based on the Eras Tour movie’s massive pre-sales, Swift’s camp will receive at least $60 million, a sum that should climb even higher beyond opening weekend. That’s to say nothing of home entertainment. After its theatrical run, Swift can carve out a separate deal there — and may even choose to self-distribute again, partnering with a company like Apple to release the movie on iTunes.

There’s only so far new money goes — but $60 million, on top of the countless millions she earned from the tour itself, is a good place to start.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour premieres in over 8,500 movie theaters across 100 countries on October 13th. It’s rated PG-13 for seductive dancing with a chair.

(Variety)