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Finding a great deal in the whiskey world feels like it’s getting harder and harder. The aftermarket sending prices on the good rare stuff into the stratosphere (if you can even find it) certainly supports that narrative. But over-priced aftermarket Pappy, Blanton’s, or Jack Daniel’s isn’t the whole story of whiskey right now. We’re living in a bonanza of great whiskey. That means with a little sleuthing, you can actually find amazing whiskey — cask strength beauties, bottled in bond heavy hitters, special oak finished bottles, single barrel dreams, and small batch gems — for a great price.

I’m going to save you a step and list 10 great whiskeys — bourbons, ryes, and scotch — that are a great deal right now. These are mostly special barrel picks of iconic or craft brands where you’re getting something truly special for a, well, better price than the mainstream stuff. I’m also adding some bottles that are simply a great deal overall (and you can get them right now pretty easily).

Overall, this is about finding and drinking great whiskey without breaking the bank. That doesn’t mean that these are budget options at all. This is about the good stuff that is actually a good deal in a world where inflated prices are an accepted reality.

In the end, look at my tasting notes and find a great whiskey that speaks to you. And then click on those price links to see if you can get a bottle in your neck of the woods. Let’s dive in!

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10. Bardstown Bourbon Company West Virginia Great Barrel Company Blended Rye Whiskey

ABV: 55%

Average Price: $149 ($20 off)

The Whiskey:

This nationwide release is a collaboration with Bardstown Bourbon Company and West Virginia Great Barrel Company, one of the most interesting cooperages in the game right now. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of 95/5 rye from Indiana that’s about seven years old and a 12-year-old 100% corn whiskey from Ontario. The blend was then refilled into infrared toasted cherry oak barrels for a final maturation run before mild proofing and bottling.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a rich cinnamon bark touched with apple cider, sharp spearmint, and marzipan with a soft layer of chamomile tea cut with honey and rose water lurking beneath.

Palate: The palate is luxurious with a thick cherry stew over clotted cream and scones next to smoldering apple, cinnamon, and cherry bark, a sense of old sweet oak staves, and cellar funk.

Finish: The end has a dried cranberry dipped in dark chocolate vibe next to more of those spice and orchard barks with this fleeting sense of tannic sharpness and cherry cola spice.

Bottom Line:

This really just works wonders as an easy sipper and killer Manhattan base (thanks to that deep and woody cherry vibe), proving Bardstown Bourbon Company is a true titan of modern whiskey blending.

Plus, it’s $20 off right now. That’s a little extra scratch in your pocket on a great bottle of whiskey.

9. George Dickel Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey Aged 9 Years (SIB43)

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $48

The Whisky:

This is Dickel’s signature whisky aged for nine years and bottled from single barrels. That means this is made from a classic Tennessee whiskey mash of 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley. That whiskey was left to rest for 12-and-a-half years in a single-story warehouse. For this release, Reserve Bar picked a barrel and bottled it with a touch of proofing water.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The higher ABVs add depth to the cherry cola notes on the nose as the sweet syrup lurks in the background next to eggnog spice, salted peanuts, and a touch of dry wood.

Palate: The palate delivers on those notes while leaning into the cherry and vanilla while the spices kick up and notes of soft leather, dry reeds, and maybe a touch of wicker arrive late.

Finish: The end is slightly fruity but leans more into cherry tobacco with a dry and woody end.

Bottom Line:

While this is packaged as a Dickel 9-Year, it’s actually almost a 13-year whiskey. That alone makes this a steal. One, you’re getting a whiskey that doesn’t exist otherwise as a label. Two, you’re getting a great and older whiskey at the same price as the actual Dickel 9-Year.

8. Legent Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Partially Finished in Wine & Sherry Casks

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $37

The Whiskey:

This bottle from Beam Suntory marries Kentucky bourbon, California wine, and Japanese whisky blending in one bottle. Legent is classic Kentucky bourbon made by bourbon legend Fred Noe at Beam that’s finished in both French oak that held red wine and Spanish sherry casks. The whiskey is then blended by whisky-blending legend Shinji Fukuyo at Suntory.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Plummy puddings with hints of nuts mingle with vinous berries, oaky spice, and a good dose of vanilla and toffee on the nose.

Palate: The palate expands on the spice with more barky cinnamon and dusting of nutmeg while the oak becomes sweeter and the fruit becomes dried and sweet.

Finish: The finish is jammy yet light with plenty of fruit, spice, and oak lingering on the senses.

Bottom Line:

This sherry-finished bourbon is spot on. The whiskey has a great texture and depth, making it a great sipper or cocktail base. If you want to make a great Manhattan or just have an everyday easy sipper around, get this bottle.

And look, this isn’t on sale or a new barrel pick. It’s just an amazingly well-made whiskey that deserves a lot more hype. Sherry-cask-finished bourbon rarely works this well. Plus, it’s under $40 per bottle. Go get some!

7. Chattanooga Whiskey Straight Bourbon Whiskey Tennessee High Malt 111 Proof

ABV: 55.5%

Average Price: $49

The Whiskey:

This Tennessee whiskey is hewn from a mash bill (recipe) of classic yellow corn, malted rye, caramel malted barley, and honey malted barley. The ripple here is that the fermentation of those grains with water and yeast lasted for seven whole days (basically three times as long as most fermentation runs). The distilled juice was filled into toasted and charred oak and left alone for over two years. The final batch was pulled from no more than 12 barrels for this release.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Chocolate malts cut with spiced cherry syrup drive the nose with a hint of cinnamon bark and eggnog nutmeg next to soft orchard vibes.

Palate: That chocolate maltiness leans into honey-dipped graham crackers with a hint of allspice and clove over gingerbread and dark-chocolate-covered dried cherries.

Finish: A hint of cinnamon bark dark cherry tobacco mingles with malty spiced vanilla cookies and a hint more of that honeyed sweetness with deep chocolate lurking beneath it all.

Bottom Line:

These new and exciting malt experiments from Chattanooga are some of the best whiskeys hitting shelves right now. This isn’t necessarily collectible or anything like that, it’s just really f*cking tasty. That’s what makes this a must-buy right now. This whiskey outclasses bottles twice or three times its price. That’s a deal!

6. Old Potrero Single Barrel Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey (S1B45)

ABV: 65.16%

Average Price: $86

The Whiskey:

This whiskey is a bit of a throwback with a West Coast vibe. The juice is 100 percent rye whiskey made at Anchor Brewing in Potrero Hill, one of San Francisco’s most iconic spots for booze. As of this year, the spirit is being distilled on the waterfront in San Francisco but still carries that Anchor Brewing heritage. With that move, the bottle also got a brand new design that leans into San Francisco’s sea-faring history.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Molasses heavy bran muffins mingle with dry cinnamon sticks, Granny Smith apple skins, and Red Hots next to rum-raisin and a twinge of an old oak stave.

Palate: The palate leans into ginger snaps with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg next to vanilla pudding right out of the cup and a dry sense of cedar kindling.

Finish: The end holds onto the dry woodiness with a layer of salted caramel raisins and vanilla candy on the very end.

Bottom Line:

This is such a unique and delicious rye. Generally, you’ll find their six-year-old small-batch rye for about $70. In this case, you’re getting a phenomenal barrel pick single barrel version that’s over seven years old and full cask strength. So for basically $15 more you’re getting a massively bigger rye that just delivers so well.

5. New Riff Single Barrel Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (S1B29)

ABV: 54.25%

Average Price: $58

The Whiskey:

The juice in the bottle is New Riff’s standard bourbon mash of 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. The spirit is aged for at least four years before they’re bottled individually without cutting or filtration.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose on these tends to be soft, kind of like freshly baked rye bread, with notes of eggnog spices, slick vanilla flan, thin caramel sauce, and hints of spicy orange zest.

Palate: The palate amps everything up as the orange peel becomes candied and attaches to a moist holiday cake, dried cranberry and cherry, more dark spice, a touch of nuttiness, and plenty of that vanilla.

Finish: The end takes its time as the whole thing comes together like a rich and boozy fruit cake as little notes of leather and tobacco spice keep things interesting on the slow fade.

Bottom Line:

This is all about access. New Riff — for as much as I love them — is still largely only available in Kentucky (and Ohio). That means that unless you’re in the Ohio Valley, you’re not going to find these. Luckily, Reserve Bar has you covered with a single-barrel New Riff that not only slaps but is available outside of Kentucky. See, you’re already saving money by not having to fly to Kentucky to pick one of these up.

4. Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye (S1B14)

ABV: 57.5%

Average Price: $62

The Whiskey:

This is Knob Creek’s famed rye whiskey in a single-barrel format. Those barrels are usually barreled at cask strength or cut down to a consistent 115 proof. In this case, we’re looking at a barrel pick by Reserve Bar.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose is full of green herbs like dill and mint next to a dollop of floral honey and plenty of barrel char.

Palate: A hint of rye bread crust sneaks in early on the palate before black pepper gives way to dried chili pods, a hint of vanilla pudding with cinnamon, and dark cherries.

Finish: The barrel builds with the spices on the finish before dark chocolate powder, candied pecans, and creamy vanilla smooth everything out for a soft finish.

Bottom Line:

Knob Creek’s rye in a single barrel format is the true essence of the Beam rye whiskey that delivers on every level. Regular Knob Creek Rye is usually around $30-$35, so you are paying almost double. But that’s kind of beside the point. This is stellar whiskey that you should have on your bar cart.

3. George Dickel Tennessee Whisky Singel Barrel Aged At Least 15 Years (S1B43)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $60

The Whisky:

This is a very old whiskey for a great price. The whiskey is from single barrels, aged 15 years or more, and the proof varies accordingly (sometimes it’s cut with water, too). Like the 9-year single barrel, this is made from an 84% corn mash and stored in Dickel’s famed single-story warehouse.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This is all about the cherry pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream next to a slight apple-tobacco vibe with a clear multi-vitamin chalkiness.

Palate: Red berries lead toward a cherry-choco soda pop, more vanilla cream, and a light touch of bourbon-soaked oakiness on the taste.

Finish: That woodiness leans into a musty corner of a cellar as a spicy cherry tobacco finish leaves you with a dry, almost chalky, yet sweet mouthfeel.

Bottom Line:

Okay, here’s the rub. This is actually a 17-and-a-half-year-old whisky from Dickel. Dickel releases a 17-year expression late last year. George Dickel 17 is over $300 per bottle. While that release is not a single barrel, it does have a little higher ABV. Still, $60 for a very, very similar whisky compared to $300+ is a great deal.

2. Stellum Bourbon Single Barrel Perseus Selected by Topflight Series by ReserveBar

ABV: 57.59%

Average Price: $52

The Whiskey:

Perseus is the latest in the astronomical lineup from Stellum Bourbon. This whiskey starts off with a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. That hot juice then rests for at least four to six years before single barrels are picked for bottling. In this case, ReserveBar snagged this barrel for their Top Flight program as a special barrel pick.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Candied pecans cooked into crispy, vanilla-forward waffles dance on the nose with a touch of sour cherry tossed in sea salt, a deep winter spice bark medley, and old leather tobacco pouches.

Palate: The taste moseys through salted dark chocolate squares next to maple syrup-dipped graham crackers, dried wild sagebrush, and a rush of sharp spearmint with black cherry lush sweetness at the base.

Finish: That black cherry drives the finish toward salted caramel and dried red chili pepper spice next to a whisper of orchard bard, woody spice, and soft and chewy tobacco.

Bottom Line:

This is great whiskey. Great. Stellum whiskey bottles like this also end up around $100 and this is half that price. Again, that’s a great deal, folks!

1. Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky The Distillers Edition 2023

ABV: 45.8%

Average Price: $113

The Whisky:

The 2023 Distillers Edition is a classic Talisker that’s aged by the sea and finished for six months in Amoroso sherry casks. The whisky was distilled in 2012 and bottled at 10 years old. It was then finished in another Amoroso sherry cask, making it “double cask” matured.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose runs deep on this whisky with mild hints of beachside campfire smoke whispering in the background as hints of red fruit, wet driftwood, and green peppercorns draw you in.

Palate: The palate embraces the red berries with a slight tartness next to the sweetness as the peat remains dry and distant and tied to the brine of the sea with an almost oyster liquor softness.

Finish: The finish lingers for just the right amount of time as sweet berries and dry peat lead towards soft dark cacao powder with a tiny note of vanilla and one last spray from the sea.

Bottom Line:

This is as close to a perfect whisky as you can get at this price point. It’s sophisticated, dynamic, and delectable. It’s cliched but I have to say it. And look, this isn’t a “deal” per se. This is a new release of a bottle of whisky that punches way above its price point. Talisker 18, which is what I would compare this to quality-wise, costs around $250. This is half that price for a whisky that’s 100% just as good. You can do that math.

Record label stuff can be confusing for music fans. In addition to the complex web of company organization charts and subsidiaries (Uproxx, for instance, is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group, which also contains Warner Records, Atlantic Records, 300 Entertainment, and more), artists themselves make things even more confusing thanks to their naming labels after rap crews and street families, trading chains amongst themselves, and generally making it seem like everybody is signed to everybody else.

Case in point: rap fans have been speculating that buzzing Bronx rapper Ice Spice has signed to Nicki Minaj‘s new label after the two collaborated on the remix of the former’s “Princess Diana” this week. On DSPs, the distributor for the track is listed as 10K Projects (Ice Spice’s label, which is also home to Trippie Redd, Aitch, Jeleel, and Iann Dior) and Heavy On It, which is the name of Nicki’s new endeavor, further feeding the speculation online.

However, it seems unlikely that Ice Spice would end her current record deal — which comes with the backing of Virgin Music Group, a subsidiary of Universal — less than a year after signing it. Nor would it make good business sense to further dilute her shares of her own music by adding another name to the pot — although other artists have had multiple concurrent deals, usually they had them before signing to one with major backing.

So, no, Ice Spice probably isn’t signed to Heavy On It. Nicki’s new label’s name was only added to the track to ensure she gets her share of profits from the streams/sales thereof, not to suggest a new affiliation for the new “rap princess.”

The “Princess Diana” remix is out now via 10K Projects and Heavy On It.

There’s no doubt that Barry marks a clear waypoint in Bill Hader‘s creative life. Across the show’s three complete seasons, he went from being known primarily as a chameleonic SNL legend to one of the most critically acclaimed actors of our time and a writer and director of equal measure (our Brian Grubb calls the new season “a final performance for the ages”).

As we discussed in our recent talk, through the show, Hader has developed a specific storytelling and visual style and learned to let his insecurities have a seat at the table. With all of those benefits, then, the question that first comes to mind is why would he decide to end the show after this fourth season (which premiers Friday night on HBO)? Because the characters told him too, that’s why.

In the following interview, we discuss that, why he’s not worried about what comes next, Barry’s thoughts on heaven and hell, psyching himself up for scenes, and being a sponge when it comes to great films and filmmakers.

When did you start to feel this was probably going to be it and were there other ideas (for season 4) that you entertained before you got to that point?

I think as you’re outlining it, you kinda realize it naturally wants to end here. The cat’s out of the bag, so it feels like the ball’s rolling downhill story-wise. I don’t know. There was never a moment of, “Oh gosh, if this happened, then maybe we can keep the story going.” You could have entertained some things to keep a show going, like if it shifted and it becomes a totally different thing. More of a fugitive-type show or a guy-in-prison-type show. But that never was really interesting to me. The characters kinda dictate where it goes.

I’ll be honest, I try to keep things going probably longer than they should. Are you that kind of person or is it very easy for you to say, no, this is the conclusion and move on?

Yeah, it’s very easy (for me) to do that. I’ve kinda been like that just generally in my life. Maybe I get bored easily, I don’t know. But you just kinda go, “This feels (like) it. I think we should hit end on this.” Because my training was at Saturday Night Live, the feeling is you always know you’re going to come up with another idea or you’re going to come up with a new thing. You kinda have to. So seeing something come to an end, a conclusion is part of the process.

So there’s no existential threat of, “Oh, I’m never going to work again. I’m never going to come up with a great idea?”

Oh, that’s always there. (Laughs)

You have to push back against that?

You have to work through that. But that’s at the end of every season. You always have that. You have that every day you’re writing, “I don’t know if this works, what are we doing?” (Laughs) That self-doubt and any sort of insecurity, you got to let it in. For years, I would try to push it out and pretend it wasn’t there. And there’s something much healthier about allowing it to come in and hang out with it a bit and then work through it.

Does that make the work better, do you think? Letting that in?

Yeah, and I think it goes into the work. I think sometimes it finds its way into the story. Any sort of insecurity or these feelings, they become part of it. You find ways to put into the characters without even thinking about it sometimes.

Why is it so important that we see Barry encounter some consequences? Is it that we can’t have him be a sympathetic character?

You just walk through it beat by beat going what would honestly happen? I don’t think in the writing and when we’re editing or whenever that any of us really have that much sympathy for Barry. We all actually think he’s pretty stupid. He’s pretty dumb. And I don’t think he’s a very deep thinker. I think he likes the ideas of things.

With all the characters, you want to make them human and have something that is just a human trait. You just want them to be recognizably human. And I think in doing that, you can feel some sympathy for him because you can understand maybe, “Oh, I’ve had those feelings. I can relate in some way.” But it was important for me, during season three, to go okay, his back is against the wall, and Cousineau knows about him. So it’s only a matter of time before he yells at Sally. He gets verbally pretty awful with her in a scene. And I remember a lot of people go saying, “Oh my god, Barry’s a bad guy.” and I’m going “Yes. He killed Chris in season one. He is not a good dude.” (Laughs)

He’s not boyfriend material.

Yeah, he’s not boyfriend material. So in this season, now he is in prison and in the first couple of episodes, I feel you are seeing him doing what he does best, which is act like the victim and feel sorry for himself. And he’s seeing this thing that he wanted go away and he becomes kind of a trapped animal.

Speaking of the prison scenes, when you’re in one of these heavy scenes with an emotional outburst by yourself and you don’t have a partner to play off of, how difficult is that? How do you find your level? Like, do you need to reign yourself in?

There’s a scene in a bathroom in the first episode where I kinda lose my mind. And that first take I did I could tell even midway through it, I’m only doing this halfway through. And then I don’t know what happens, you bring the day in, you think about how tired you are and how stressful this all is. And for me, you let what we’re talking about (in); those insecurities, you allow them to come in and go, “I’m wasting everybody’s time here. I’m really not doing a good job.”

I remember the second take is the one we used and when I started that take, I did something I hadn’t done or planned: I slapped myself. And our stunt coordinator, Wade Allen, who’s a great guy, when I slapped myself, I could hear him behind the wall go, “Here we go.” (Laughs)

(Laughs) So that’s the key then to every scene now.

That’s the key, I just gotta start hitting myself, like, “Here we go. Alright, here he is! This is the guy.” And then I hurt my hand. I busted my hand in that scene. So for the subsequent scene between me and Stephen Root, if you notice, I’m only really using my right hand because my left hand is completely bandaged and got super jacked up.

Do heaven and hell exist in the world of this show and does Barry believe that it does?

I think Barry very much believes it. I think, especially this season, he is super concerned about his legacy and where he’ll end up. Later in the season, he becomes incredibly concerned. But yeah, I do think in Barry’s mind that heaven and hell exist, and it seems like he’s much more concerned with that than what is happening on Earth. (Laughs)

He’s much more concerned about what he can do to go someplace, ascend to someplace than he is like, “Well, what can I do here now in the moment to maybe make things better?” And he’s not really reflecting on, especially his anger. I don’t think that’s a thing he thinks about. He thinks (more) about these ideas of what a pious person is, I guess, than being one.

I never pick up on these things, so I enjoy asking you about this when we talk: are there any specific movies, any specific scenes in other films or TV shows set in a prison that you wanted to touch on this season? Anything that inspired anything?

No. We didn’t watch any prison movies or anything. I will say when I started the show and I directed the pilot, I watched a lot of things to get inspired. And mostly it was older movies because you have to shoot on a pretty quick schedule on television, and I knew I didn’t want to shoot with a lot of cameras. And so I’d watch old movies because I would see how they would block things and do things and make them. I’d watch something like The Asphalt Jungle or The Third Man or something, and you could count the setups and go, wow, that’s not a lot of setups. And actually, it’s a really effective scene.

And so it started out as that, and then I hope what’s happened is I feel at least that I have a style now that I like for this material. And so it was just really keeping with that style and really what dictated it was more of telling the story and what’re the emotions that are within that story and how to show it without telling it.

I would definitely agree. I don’t want to spoil those scenes because they’re further out, but the scene on the mountain — I just love the screwball comedy-infused thing of that because it’s so just calamitous. It’s like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. Or even the Dave & Buster’s thing around the table.

Well, we even say Wile E. Coyote. I mean, it becomes very clear we’re doing a Wile E. Coyote thing. Those are two instances where you’re doing a thing and then as you’re doing it you realize, oh, this is from those movies. That scene at Dave & Buster’s (it’s like), “Oh. this is that scene in The Untouchables with De Niro, with the baseball bat walking around the table.” But you kinda don’t consciously do it. It’s just so embedded in your system. It’s like the end of season two. It wasn’t until I was mixing the last episode that I went, “This is a lot like Taxi Driver.” (Laughs) It’s like, oh man, I clearly like Taxi Driver.” Or Unforgiven and that whole thing. You go, oh, okay. “Oh, it’s raining. Is it raining at the end of Unforgiven? Oh, it is. Oh Bill, come on, man.” It’s just there.

Then it becomes an homage.

Yeah, exactly! It’s an homage where you don’t realize how much you’re… The only thing we consciously watched ever was the opening of Ashes and Diamonds, the Andrzej Wajda movie. That was the only thing I consciously would show the DPs, Paula Huidobro and Carl Herse to be like, I love this feeling in the opening scene of that movie, but that was it.

No matter what we do: I talk (cinematographer) Robby Müller or we’ll talk about Alex Webb photos, or we’ll talk all this stuff, and then you do it and you cut it together and you go, “Man, this looks like the Coen Brothers.” (Laughs) And I love the Coen Brothers. I remember being at SNL thinking I was doing stuff, and then I’d watch and I’d go, “God, I love Phil Hartman.” (Laughs) You can’t escape those things.

We’re all sponges with how much TV and how many movies. My parents I know did not absorb 1/50th of the pop culture stuff that I have.

No, and my kids are totally different too. Now, they don’t even watch full things. They’ll watch half a movie, stop it, and they watch a TV show, then they go back to the movie, then they watch this because it’s all streaming and I think it’s bad. It’s not healthy.

It’ll be interesting to see what the culture churns out over the next 15, 20 years.

Yeah, everybody’s growing up with a video camera in their hand.

In a way it’s good, in another it’s terrifying.

But I think there also might be you have a chance of someone and people creating a new visual language, which is really exciting. So I hope it becomes that in an interesting way, rather than lowering the bar.

Yeah. So far little mixed results.

A little mixed results. Yeah, I agree. (Laughs)

The fourth season of ‘Barry’ debuts Sunday night on HBO

It’s barely been two days after Warner Bros. Discovery officially unveiled Max, and already, the new streaming service seems to be trolling the competition. A new online ad featuring Game of Thrones appears to take a swing at Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

First spotted by The Hollywood Reporter, the new ad shows Daenerys Targaryen sitting on the Iron Throne with the tagline, “The One to Watch When You Want to Rule Them All.”

You can see a screencap below:

Obviously, “One ring to rule them all” is an iconic line from Lord of the Rings. However, the tagline for the ad also works in the context of Daenerys, who wanted to rule all of Westeros, but there does seem to be a clever hint of boasting at play.

Both Game of Thrones and its prequel series House of the Dragons were massive ratings juggernauts for HBO, but The Rings of Power wasn’t so fortunate: More than half if its audience didn’t even finish the first season.

Via THR:

While Amazon, like other streamers, provides only limited data — and internally, it held information even more closely than usual on the series — sources confirm that The Rings of Power had a 37 percent domestic completion rate (customers who watched the entire series). Overseas, it reached 45 percent. (A 50 percent completion rate would be a solid but not spectacular result, according to insiders).

The Rings of Power is still on track for a second season, but that’s not the kind of numbers you want to see for a show whose first season almost cost a billion dollars. Max throwing salt in the wound probably doesn’t help either.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Looking for an antidote to the negative news cycle? Look no further, cause we’ve got you covered.

In this week’s roundup, you’ll find a delightful surprise proposal, a NICU nurse with a huge heart, a 3-year-old who starts his day in the best possible way, an emotional groom being supported by his besties, a cat aggressively adopting her human in a parking lot and more.

I know I’m a bit biased, but I think this week’s list of things that made us smile is especially smile-worthy. So kick back, relax and let these waves of joy wash over you.

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1. A teacher thought she was running to break up a fight. What greeted her was the exact opposite.

@lilythern

#fyp #touchingmoment #middleschoolersbelike #loveit

Talk about a surprise proposal. Let’s also talk about how she ran straight toward the fray, and in heels no less. Read the story here.

2. Family showing up on Day 31 after No-Baby-Visitors-for-30-Days rule expired is sheer joy

See on Instagram

“I already sanitized! I already sanitized!” The eagerness to get first hands on that baby—too precious.

3. NICU nurse with a huge heart adopts a 14-year-old mom who gave birth to triplets

Katrina Mullen had been a teen mom herself, and when her former patient was going to be put into foster care along with her three babies, she didn’t hesitate to welcome her into her family. Read the incredible full story here.

4. 3-year-old wakes up at 5:30 a.m. and immediately asks Alexa to play ‘I’m Still Standing’ so he can dance to it

@narisekiraaaax

5:30am wake up call from my darling son – this bedroom camera captures some of the funniest things 🤣 • #kidsoftiktok #momsoftiktok #mumsoftiktok #mumlife #toddlersoftiktok #newtrend #camera #caughtoncamera #capturedoncamera #imstillstanding #taronedgerton #eltonjohn #dancing #kidstiktok #dancetok #funny #familiesoftiktok #family #hotel #confidence #boymom #mumofboys #uk

Now that’s how you greet the day. Go, Vinnie, go!

5. A gift for Gen Xers: Check out this trip down old-school dance memory lane

See on Instagram

6. This best man and groomsman supporting an emotional groom has people celebrating genuine friendship

@angelabrushephotography

When Pete saw Maddie 🥹 #fyp #groomreaction #emotionalmoments #weddingtiktok #firstlookwithgroom #weddingphotographer

The groom and best man have been best friends since preschool—and they’re both named Peter! Read the full story and see the bride make her entrance here.

7. Teenager performs a surprise haka for his mom at her college graduation

@shay_anar

Very proud of you mum 4 very long and hard years finally paid off!! 💯

Such a powerful expression of love and respect for his mama. Read the full story here.

8. They surprised their 93-year-old grandma after not seeing her for three years and she’s beyond thrilled

See on Instagram

9. Cat aggressively adopts a new owner in a parking lot and finds a home with ‘not cat people’

@dretontheborder

#catrescue #catrescueroftiktok I am not a #catperson but maybe now I will be after today. I #Love my #son has a #huge #compassionate #heart #momsoftiktok #rescate #gato

Some people adopt cats and some people are adopted by cats through the Cat Distribution System. If you’ve never heard of the CDS, see how it works here.

10. May we all receive the level of emotional support this guy gets from his good doggo

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Post-work cuddles and tail wags for the win.

Hope that gave you the boost of serotonin you needed today! If you enjoyed this post and would like to receive more like this in your inbox, join our free newsletter, the Upworthiest, here.

Chlöe just unveiled her debut solo album In Pieces and is on an extensive tour to bring the new music to her fans. (She also recently delivered a terrific UPROXX Sessions performance and had her own UPROXX cover story last summer.) Meanwhile, her sister and collaborator Halle Bailey is thriving in the limelight in her role as Ariel in the new The Little Mermaid movie.

In her appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Chlöe talked about how happy she was for Halle when she watched the trailer for the movie.

“I was screaming and I was crying,” Chlöe said. “I was just screaming because she is a real-life mermaid, a siren, graceful in all her beauty. And people get to see what I’ve always seen since we were little girls.”

Chlöe also recently said that fans who talk trash about her solo career were never fans in the first place.

“The thing is,” Chlöe began, “the same people who say that weren’t fans of Halle and [me] when we had our Ungodly Hour album out, The Kids Are Alright. So, it’s a bunch of people who are just putting in their two cents now just to really say things. Sis and I, we’ve been underground for a minute and the same people who talk weren’t around then or giving us our props then, and it’s like now they want to talk trash for some reason.”

For the second time in five seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets will clash in the 3-6 matchup of the Eastern Conference’s first round. Just like 2019, Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris are figureheads for the Sixers, while Spencer Dinwiddie remains a lead guard for the Nets, albeit following recent pit stops with the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks.

Philadelphia wrapped up the regular season at 54-28, fifth in net rating (plus-4.3), third in offensive rating (118.3) and 10th in defensive rating (114.0). Brooklyn finished 45-37, 14th in net rating (plus-1.0), 14th in offensive rating (115.4) and 15th in defensive rating (114.5). After dealing Kevin Durant in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and a wealth of future draft picks, the Nets were 12-15, 22nd in net rating (minus-2.0), 23rd in offensive rating (113.8) and 17th in defensive rating (115.8).

Post-Durant trade, these teams met once, on Feb. 11, in Bridges and Johnson’s first games as Nets. Brooklyn led for more than 45 minutes, but its offense collapsed down the stretch, scoring just two points over the final 6:52, and the Sixers stole a victory, 101-98. That Feb. 11 defeat actually proved to be one of Brooklyn’s better defensive showings after reshaping its roster, only posting a better defensive rating than the night’s 112.4 mark seven times in 26 other games.

Despite the presence of Bridges, Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Royce O’Neale and Nicolas Claxton in the rotation, the Nets struggled with cohesion and communication in their switch-heavy scheme. Against the Sixers, those aspects didn’t plague them. They bogged down some of the potency of the Embiid-Harden two-man game, flustered Tyrese Maxey inside the arc (4-of-11 shooting, 12 points) and closed out promptly against their litany of shooters. Embiid and Harden nonetheless thrived, totaling for 66 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Ahead of their series showdown, we’ll take a look at the keys for both teams, as well as X-Factors that could help swing the outcome to one side or the other.

Key for the Sixers

On March 4, in a riveting road win over the Milwaukee Bucks, James Harden dropped 38 points, 10 dimes, nine boards and one steal. In the ensuing 11 games he laced up for, he averaged 16.2 points on 52.1 percent true shooting. He also sat out four consecutive games in late March because of left achilles soreness. Since missing those contests, he’s looked better, though below All-NBA form, averaging 16.6 points on 57.2 percent true shooting.

Philadelphia needs him to be Embiid’s All-NBA co-star. His passing stirs the entire offense and primes the big fella for bucket after bucket off of ball-screens. Whether he can turn the corner on switches and out of pick-and-rolls against Brooklyn’s gut of defensively fluent wings, as well as Claxton, is crucial offensively.

According to Synergy, Harden ranked in the 84th percentile on points per possession in isolation during the regular season. He may not be the effervescent scorer of yesteryear, but he can still torch switches and ill-equipped defenders in space with his pull-up shooting, strength and craft. Brooklyn will switch a lot of his pick-and-rolls with Embiid, who has absolutely crushed mismatches this year and throughout his career.

If head coach Doc Rivers continues staggering Harden and Embiid, something he generally, consistently embraced after the All-Star Break, Embiid won’t be a release valve for Harden at every moment. He’ll have to get downhill and catalyze chances for himself and others to prop up Embiid-less minutes. If he can do that regularly, Philadelphia will be in good shape in the short- and long-term. If he can’t, the offensive potency that headlines its title chances and presumptive hopes of a comfortable Round 1 series become much more hazy.

Key for the Nets

Unsurprisingly, Brooklyn tumbled from 10th in offensive rating with Durant around to 23rd once he headed to the Phoenix Suns. The offense is predicated on a heavy diet of Bridges pull-up jumpers and Dinwiddie-Claxton pick-and-roll. In the 26 full games Bridges played for Brooklyn this season, he averaged a sizzling 27.2 points on 60.9 percent true shooting. The Nets tabbed him as their primary scoring option and he’s thrived. Maintaining that effectiveness in the playoffs, when defensive schemes and attention typically grow sharper and more pointed, will be a question for him to answer. Embiid also posed issues for Dinwiddie in pick-and-rolls when they met in mid-February. Do the Nets have a counter to spring him and Claxton loose downhill?

One place they did excel offensively against Philadelphia two months ago was in the open floor. According to Cleaning The Glass, their transition frequency was 22.5 percent (96th percentile), where they generated 115 points per 100 possessions. That only ranks in the 36th percentile, but it’s still a substantial upgrade over the 90.5 points per 100 possessions (28th percentile) they yielded in the half-court.

The Sixers have been susceptible on the break defensively all season. Only nine teams conceded a higher opposition transition rate (15.6 percent) and they were 17th in points per possession allowed in transition (127.7). At least in the starting unit, they’re generally a slow team lacking interior size beyond Embiid. With athletes like De’Anthony Melton, Jalen McDaniels, Paul Reed and Danuel House Jr. available, the bench is springier and livelier. But Brooklyn could establish some success in the open floor, especially if it can stymie the Sixers offensively on occasion, and counteract its half-court pitfalls.

X-Factors

When these teams dueled in February, Tyrese Maxey was still coming off the bench in a reserve role, where he struggled to produce efficient scoring. Three weeks later, he returned to the starting five and has rediscovered his rhythm, averaging 22.1 points on 70.2 percent true shooting over his final 19 appearances. If Harden’s individual scoring is stuck in a rut, Maxey’s blend of shooting and speed could buoy the offense alongside Embiid. Although Brooklyn has the wings and defensive anchor in Claxton to potentially perturb his 6’1 frame, his emphatic series against the Raptors, a switch-heavy team also touting various long-limbed wings, last spring (21.3 points on 63.5 percent true shooting) provides reason for optimism. Regardless, his performance may help swing a few games in either direction.

On the other side, the Nets defense will have to contain Philly’s offense without fouling. At .251, the Sixers led the league in free-throw rate. Post-trade, the Nets were seventh in opponent free-throw rate (.192). Philadelphia’s free-throw rate in the Feb. 11 battle was .387 (98th percentile). Embiid and Harden combined to go 21-of-22 at the charity stripe. They might be the foremost grifting duo (not a derogatory label) in the league. If they’re living at the line throughout this series, the offense is presumably humming. If Brooklyn is keeping them moderately in check, the offense takes a hit and relies more on shot-making. The Sixers are seventh in effective field goal percentage, so they’re by no means hopeless. It simply alters the tone of the series in some capacity and will be worth monitoring.

Welcome to our Yellowjackets Sting Meter. We’ll measure the erratic, unexplainable behavior of the show’s main lineup, ranking them according to how dangerous, deadly, and certifiably insane they appear in each episode. Who’s just a whacky worker bee and who gets crowned Mad Queen of episode four’s “Old Wounds”? Let’s find out.

When Yellowjackets crash-landed on our screens one year ago, it naturally drew comparisons to William Golding’s classic work of allegorical fiction, Lord of the Flies. In that book, a group of young boys is stranded on a remote island, tasked with governing themselves long enough to be rescued. It’s an experiment that ends in bloodshed, chaos, and the kind of savage tribalism that exposes the fragility of civilized society. With Yellowjackets, some thought the outcome might be different. Surely, teen girls couldn’t be as ruthless, barbaric, or susceptible to wildness as their male counterparts.

They were wrong, of course. The cannibalism rife in season two proves that. But even when these girls aren’t dining on the flesh of their fallen teammates and performing sacrificial rituals to appease primeval spirits, they’re still proof positive that the gendered stereotypes that plague young women on screen are as outdated as a VHS tape, as flimsy as Jeff’s blackmailing abilities.

Episode four’s “Old Wounds” proves teen girls are petty, competitive, paranoid, and power-hungry. They want for hierarchies, class structures that define who leads and who follows. And they’re willing to drown at the bottom of a lake or freeze to death in the middle of the forest, to achieve that order.

Queen Bee – Shauna Shipman

The most disturbing revelation of the episode came thanks to Teen Shauna’s outburst reprimanding the rest of the girls for pilfering what’s left of the team’s bear meat stash. Naively, I believed the group had run out of provisions, pushing them to feast on Jackie’s crispy yet tender corpse in a moment of starvation-fueled delirium. But no, they still had bear meat y’all. Apparently, the smell of Jackie’s bonfire-grilled skin was just too salivating to pass up, even for her grieving bestie.

In the present, Adult Shauna continues to toe the line between a docile housewife and a thrill-seeking criminal mastermind. She’s longingly recalling peeling the flesh from human bones one minute, asking Jeff which odor-wicking socks he wants from Kohl’s the next. In perhaps the greatest bit of evidence that she reigns as this week’s crazed matriarch, Shauna — suspicious of her daughter’s intentions after discovering she’s lied about her whereabouts for the past week — takes Callie on a girl’s trip to the middle of nowhere. The two end up coming clean about the secrets they’ve been keeping from each other, but before their heart-to-heart, the possibility that Shauna might off her own daughter felt very real. Our compliments to Melanie Lynskey.

Tai

Tai’s sleepwalking episodes continue to wreak havoc on her waking hours in the past and in the present. While Teen Tai has been subconsciously making a map of the forest via those strange symbols etched on its trees, Adult Tai has been falling asleep at the wheel, taking cross-country trips on empty tanks of gas, hitchhiking, and carting around a file folder filled with info on her surviving teammates. Sure, her “connection” to the wilderness helps the group find a still-living Javi by the end of the episode, but at what cost?

Lottie

The question of which Lottie is suffering more in episode four’s “Old Wounds” is a bit of a toss-up. Adult Lottie is having psyche-shaking hallucinations that force her to put on real clothes and seek the help of a medical professional. She’s upping her meds and slicing her hands in sacrifice to tree stumps which just doesn’t feel like “best self” behavior. But in the past?

In the past, Lottie is being volunteered for meaningless survival competitions by her followers who are desperate to prove she was the reason their bellies are full. (Jackie Taylors’s bones haven’t even been buried yet, you ungrateful little …) While hunting for game, Lottie has a hypothermia-induced hallucination that proves to be the highlight of the episode. She’s thrust into a ’90s-era mall as a haunting choral cover of the show’s theme song plays menacingly in the background. When she joins the players — who are dressed in era-appropriate threads — that have congregated at the most sacred of places, the food court, Laura Lee is with them, urging her to forget her Chinese takeout and wake up before she freezes to death. The whole trial ends with a shivering Lottie immersed in Nat’s old bathwater with the two girls establishing a fragile truce but we can’t imagine yet another near-death experience is what our teen witch doctor needed right now.

Nat

Teen Nat is not okay. She’s nearly drowned herself in pursuit of her dinner, she fighting for status within her friend group, and she’s shrinking like the little lying violet she is when Javi is found to be alive and well, despite her best efforts to convince Travis otherwise. Adult Nat is also trying to find her place, switching between suspicion of her host and a genuine bond with the girl she mutilated early in the season. Nat goes with Lisa to the Farmer’s Market, questioning her involvement in the cult and wondering what kind of collateral Lottie holds over her. A hint to that answer comes when they make a pit stop at Lisa’s childhood home where her overbearing mother reveals she’s tried to commit suicide in the past. As supportive as Nat is through the awkward family encounter, Yellowjackets still finds a way to remind us that this woman is maladjusted at best. Smuggling the 14th Gilly to safety by swishing him around in your mouth is just not normal behavior.

Walter Tattersall

His love of musicals aside, there’s just something off about Walter Tattersall. From the story of how he became a multi-millionaire to his expectation that he’d get to share a room with Misty at the inn to the bonkers admission that it was a Sweeny Todd reference that sparked his interest in her, it all feels contrived. You’re trying to tell us the least interesting thing about Misty Quigley is the fact that she survived in the wilderness for over a year by eating her soccer teammates? We call bullsh*t.

Misty

Other than the look of crazed excitement when issuing the ground rules for the girl’s hunt in the wilderness, Misty had a fairly quiet episode this week. She’s naturally annoyed that two of her friends might be kidnapped, but she’s thinking rationally — treating herself to a full breakfast, getting to know the locals, doing a sweep of her hotel room, and finding some time to self care with music from Evita and a refreshing eye mask. No notes.

Van

Teen Van might have some whacky theories that are proving out but Adult Van is making up for that nonsense by operating a vintage movie store called “When You Were Streaming.” Van is the coolest.

Jeff

He’s not a bad person. He’s just a bad criminal.

Citizen Detective Thread

• How did Javi survive so long on his own and what’s his connection to the strange symbols in the woods?
• Nat just shot that moose an episode earlier. How did it have time to fall into a lake and for the water to completely freeze over it that fast?
• Why does Lottie keep seeing hallucinations of Laura Lee?
• What’s in Lottie’s closet at the cult compound?
• Why does Tai have a folder on all of the Yellowjackets?
• What happened to Dr. Graham?

Showtime’s ‘Yellowjackets’ streams on Fridays, followed by TV airtime on Sunday nights.

After police spent most of Thursday looking for Drake Bell, who was considered “missing and endangered,” the former Nickelodeon star was eventually found safe. The Daytona PD confirmed that they made contact with bell, and the frantic search for the actor was called off. Bell has since broken his silence about the incident.

“You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?” Bell tweeted along with the laughing face emoji.

It appears that he’s chosen to joke about the whole thing, which might not be the wisest move, given his history with law enforcement. According to TMZ, the former child star was sentenced for child endangerment back in 2021 after he exchanged messages with a 15-year-old girl and allegedly engaged in sexual contact. While on probation for those charges, he was spotted inhaling a balloon while his child was in the car in late 2022.

Via Us Weekly at the time:

“Drake pulled up in the driveway at his house [in Los Angeles] and started to inflate a pink balloon that was in his lap. He inhaled it … [until] the balloon was deflated,” the eyewitness tells Us of the December 7 sighting, adding that the Drake & Josh alum repeated the action “six or seven times” over the course of 30 minutes. “Eventually he got out and went into his house, then he came back out and got his kid out of the rear child seat and carried him in.”

In short, there was cause to be concerned for Bell’s safety when he went missing, so the phone joke isn’t exactly landing.

(Via Drake Bell on Twitter)

Picking a favorite Nicolas Cage movie is harder than getting a Trekkie to join the Star Wars-verse.

Do you go with one of his early classics, like Peggy Sue Got Married, Moonstruck, or Raising Arizona? Or maybe Leaving Las Vegas, which eared him his first (and hopefully not last) Oscar? Or how about Face/Off? You gotta get Face/Off in there. But shoot, that leaves out Con Air, The Rock, National Treasure, Adaptation, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Mandy, Pig, and many more. Too many to choose from, honestly, but on Thursday’s episode of The Late Show, Cage somehow picked his five favorites.

“OK, I’m going to start with Pig. That’s my favorite movie I’ve ever made,” he told host Stephen Colbert. “I love Mandy, the movie that Panos [Cosmatos] directed. I love Bringing Out the Dead, that Martin Scorsese directed. I loved Bad Lieutenant, Werner Herzog. I loved a movie called Joe that David Gordon Green directed.” There’s some recency bias in his selections — the oldest of those five films (Bringing Out the Dead) is from 1999 — although he does say that he likes Face/Off “a lot.” Not enough for the top-five, but that’s what happens when you’ve made a lot of great films. And also G-Force.

You can watch Cage’s interview with Colbert above.