Yesterday, a clip from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert dropped that got our cocktail senses tingling. In the clip, Tom Hanks introduced Colbert to his new, signature cocktail — The Diet Cokagne (yes, Hanks pronounces it like “cocaine”). The drink is a simple mix of Diet Coke and champagne that Hanks created and wowed his family and friends with one late night at a party. But is it — or can it — be any good, really?
Really???
I had to find out.
Look, adding sweeteners to champagne has been around along as champagne has. Kir Royal adds creme de cassis. The Champagne Cocktail adds a bitters-soaked sugar cube to the bubbly. A French 75 adds lemon and sugar. So adding a little sweet and caffeine-heavy Diet Coke to the mix isn’t that far out of the realm of possibilities. Plus, there’s a long tradition of adding Coke to cheap red wine that spans everywhere from Spanish tapas bars to college dorms in the U.S. It’s believable that this could be a tasty cocktail, is what I’m getting at.
But will it blow me away the way it did Hanks’ family and friends and even Stephen Colbert when he tried it live on the show? Let’s find out by making one.
Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of the Last Six Months
Add the Diet Coke until the glass is about 2/3 full. Top with champagne. Serve.
Bottom Line:
Zach Johnston
Stephen Colbert exclaimed, “It’s like an American Aperol Spritz!” when he saw the drink. And he’s not that far off.
CBS
It’s fine. The champagne does mellow out the more fake-sugar edges of the Diet Coke and adds a nice balance of yeasty depth and a hint of fruitiness to the mix, think apple soda. The overall flavor is better than a regular Diet Coke, that much I’m certain of.
Does that make it good? Um…Sure! It’s not without its charm. I don’t think it’s great and won’t waste any more champagne in a Diet Coke, but I can see why people like it. It’s easy. It does make the Diet Coke taste a bit better. And sure, now there’s a little kick of alcohol in your soda.
For years, Donald Glover worked to keep his music work distinct from his other endeavors thanks to the Childish Gambino persona. However, now that he’s more successful in both worlds than probably even he dreamed, the line has become blurred and he’s hinted at retiring the internet-generated name, even going as far as having a farewell show in Los Angeles a few years ago. While he’s since hinted at resurrecting the name, this week, he gave the first outright confirmation that Childish Gambino is coming back.
While on the red carpet at the Golden Globe Awards last night (Tuesday, January 10), Glover told E! News’ correspondent Laverne Cox, “I’m making music right now, I love it. I’m actually working, I’m in the studio. I’ve been bringing people in, like secret people, working on little things. But I just been, you know, making it for fun right now. But soon something will happen, I promise. Something will happen.” Regarding the past comments he’d made about retiring his alter ego, he admitted, “You don’t have to worry about that … He’ll be back.”
It’s likely that he’s backtracking now due to an abundance of free time now that his critically acclaimed show Atlanta has come to an end. And while he’s likely still got plenty to do while developing projects like a Mr. And Mrs. Smith series and playing Hypno Hustler in a Spider-Man spinoff, it’s clear the music bug has bitten him all over again. Hopefully, we’ll see what he’s been working on soon enough.
(SPOILERS for this week’s BMF episode will be found below.)
BMF returned last week with a season two premiere episode that left us with plenty to talk about. Meech and Terry are still split with Terry walking away from the drug game, one that nearly cost him his eye, to begin a car-ride service with his father Charles. Meech enters a new partnership to receive a new supply of drugs and it leads to the start of the Black Mafia Family. We also learn about the fates of Big L and Lamar as well as why Detective Bryant won’t leave B-Mickie alone.
The aforementioned events in the season two premiere of BMF, titled “Family Dinner,” are soundtracked by songs that help to accentuate the emotions behind each scene. You can find a list of them belong as well as details about the scenes that they are heard in.
Sunshine Anderson — “Heard It All Before”
This is the first song we hear in the episode. It plays at the 02:42 mark as older Terry (played by Mustafa Harris) is on the phone with his significant other as he prepares to get out of the country. His plan goes left when Detective Bryant and a SWAT team break into the house to arrest him and other members of BMF.
50 Cent — “Wish Me Luck” Feat. Charlie Wilson
This is the theme song of BMF. It plays at the 08:01 mark in “Family Dinner.” While 50 Cent and Charlie Wilson’s voices are only heard on it, the song also features Snoop Dogg and Moneybagg Yo.
Armando — “You With Me”
This Armando record plays at the 13:36 mark as Terry is taken aback by Markeisha’s beauty as she walks into the gym for a basketball game at St. Cecilia. There isn’t much record of this song online, but the BMF public relations team confirmed that this is the song that plays at that moment in the episode.
Albert King — “Born Under A Bad Sign”
We hear Albert King’s “Born Under A Bad Sign” at the 19:15 mark as Meech reconnects with K-9 to return his cocaine. K-9 had Meech bring it back from Las Vegas with the goal of seeing how fast and efficiently he could get it done. Meech accepts the job with the hope of gaining K-9’s trust to enter a partnership.
Marlon Coles — “Cool In You”
Marlon Coles’ “Cool In You” plays at the 30:33 mark after Terry’s second meeting with Markeisha. He runs into her at a Detroit insurance company, where she works as an associate. It’s clear that Terry is falling for Markeisha as the song plays as he imagines getting intimate with Markeisha despite laying next to his girlfriend LaWanda.
E-Hart & Don Caban — “Chasing Paper”
You can hear this record at the 36:00 mark as Meech returns to K-9 to once again convince him that he should allow Meech to move his product. Meech succeeds in his mission, but this interaction also ends with him enjoying a plate of steak and learning that K-9 killed Big L on his behalf.
The Delfonics — “Ready Or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love)”
The Delfonics can be heard at the 50:20 mark just after we learn that Lamar is alive. Heading into season two, we assumed that Lamar was dead after he was hit during a shootout with Meech. While he was severely injured and left in a coma, Lamar survived the gunshot and we can almost be sure that he’ll set out to retaliate against Meech.
New episodes of ‘BMF’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am EST and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm EST.
After Ke Huy Quan locked down a Golden Globes award for his performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once, the actor made it known that he’s absolutely game to reprise his role as Data in a sequel to the 1980’s classic The Goonies. Quan, who also famously played Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, encouraged the Globes press room to ask Goonies producer Steven Spielberg about the status of sequel before the actor revealed why one has never materialized over the decades.
“Honestly, for the last 30 years, we’ve tried to do a Goonies 2,” Quan said via Entertainment Weekly. “When I was much younger, I wished it would come to pass because that’s the movie I thought I would need to make a career comeback. Honestly, we had numerous scripts, but there was not one script that felt like it would be up to what the original was.”
Quan also revealed that the death of Richard Donner, who directed the original film, also put a damper on the prospect of returning to the iconic film. However, the actor is still ready if a decent script materializes. “I really don’t know if there’s going to be a Goonies 2,” Quan said. “But, I would be open to revisiting that character, Data, if there is an opportunity.”
In the meantime, the actor is already in the midst of a different kind of Goonies reunion. Quan recently revealed that Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk in the original film, is his entertainment lawyer and helped him score a part in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
“When the producer of our movie was trying to make my deal, he said he never imagined that he’d have to talk to Chunk and Data for his movie,” Quan told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of his Golden Globes win.
Growing up in Lexington, Marcus Floyd saw plenty of horses. He saw the city taken over by horses when the Kentucky Derby and its crowd descended on it every year. When he moved to the suburbs just outside of New Circle, the state highway built in a loop around downtown Lexington, he started seeing them in his periphery nearly everywhere he went.
“Everything on the inside, it’s kinda like the inner city. Everything on the outside, though, is where all the horse farms are. So I live on the outer ring,” Floyd explains over Zoom. “And that’s where all the horse farms are at, just littered up and down the street.”
It’s one thing to be inundated by what’s essentially a cultural feature of a place that, through its ubiquity, turns geographic; all cities have them. It’s entirely another to have that feature turned into a vehicle that would ultimately propel Floyd onto the pages of Vogue and the radar of Luka Doncic, even if that feature — horses — has been a human vehicle for most of our shared history.
Horse Kicks, a promotional feature launched out of the Visit Lex tourism campaign from Lexington-based agency Cornett Group, started on a simple enough conceit: sneakers, but for horses. Though many a serious hype beast lost their minds over this happening to something as revered as the Jordan 1, the initial idea was as playful as it was practical. Tapping into Kentucky’s longstanding and proud equine history, and combining it with the fervent support of the University of Kentucky’s basketball program, the Cornett Group really only wanted a show piece to underscore the belief of horses as athletes, and to garner some attention around the Breeder’s Cup race. Enter Floyd.
“It’s crazy how god works, because, there’s another big artist in Lexington — well there’s several — but one of ’em, Billy [Hobbs] with Tru Customs, he does all the UK basketball players, football, he’s the household name in Lexington,” Floyd stresses. “So they had hit him up and asked if he could make a sneaker for a horse, but he declined because he just does paint. And that’s not what they were looking for.”
Hobbs put the Cornett Group in touch with Floyd, who started his own sneaker customization company, Infinite Kustomz, in 2017. Initially, Floyd was creating his designs primarily using paint and superficial decor, something he’d been doing since he was a kid painting on his football cleats — “They looked good for like, maybe 30 seconds before paint fell off,” he says with a chuckle — but started to feel as if something was missing.
“I can remember telling my wife that I feel like I was missing something,” Floyd recalls. “I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I remember being satisfied because I made a Halloween costume for my daughter, and I was like, man, that was awesome. If I could do that every day, I’d be in heaven.”
More than the finishing touches of custom work, Floyd loved the tactile aspect of working like this — learning about and manipulating fabric, the potential to create something, start to finish, exactly how he’d imagined it. In 2021, he made the trip to L.A. to attend the Shoe Surgeon Academy, a sneaker customization-focused school with workshops and classes where Floyd learned how to sew and make patterns.
“I love the different fabrics. I love art, I love drawing, I love the paint, but being able to select different fabrics and pair that together, the textures, the sound of the sewing machine,” Floyd smiles, “that’s what really drives me.”
Floyd describes the feeling he got through finishing those classes as “complete.” When the Cornett Group got in touch and shared their initial idea for the campaign, he knew he was ready to take the project on. He also knew he had to do it his way.
“Originally they said, hey man, we just want something to look cool. ‘Cause like I said, it was just for them,” Floyd says. “For me, I’m an artist, but I do stuff for people of all calibers, so I wanted to make sure that it was wearable for them. Because I wanna make sure that somebody hits me up, I can tell ’em, yeah, you can put this on a horse. So that was the first thing I did. I researched horse shoes.”
Floyd, who works nights doing maintenance at the Toyota factory in Lexington, began looking into workable prototypes he could use as a base for his designs: horse boots used for protection, for competition, for travel. He credits his ability to pattern and break things down with the job he does on third shift.
“I’m able to figure things out because that’s just what I do all day at work,” Floyd says. “I go to work at 10:30 PM get off at 6:30 AM, and then I come into my little office with my little studio and create.”
He soon found himself inundated with styles and varieties he had no idea existed, but he notes that “obviously” none of the boots had the shape of a human sneaker. He finally settled on a boot used to secure a horse’s hoof when it has to be medicated because of its support, malleability, and padding — the traits are closest to a human sneaker.
The agency was so happy with the initial prototype that Floyd quickly made them three more, another pair of Jordan 1s, Yeezy Boosts, and a pair of New Balance 650s. The campaign blew up beyond what anyone initially predicted. Floyd and Horse Kicks made appearances everywhere from CNN to Paper Mag, Equestrian Living to Vogue, and the requests for custom work began to pour in. Some of it was very close to home.
“This guy reached out, said, hey man, if you ever need a horse to try your prototypes on or anything, this is where I’m at,” Floyd pauses. “And his address is literally down the street from me.”
As someone who loves the creative range and freedom in the work that he does, Floyd is aware of the dangers of getting pigeon-holed as the guy who makes sneakers for horses. Still, Horse Kicks have thus far yielded some high-profile partnerships where Floyd gets to flex his creative muscles while making sure people (and, now, their horses) are happy and look good. He’s working with the Compton Cowboys on custom shoes, as well as with James and Jas Prince, the Houston rap lineage who own a ranch and ride their own cow horses during roundup.
“Not only am I doing Horse Kicks, I’m gonna send him a set of — let me show you,” Floyd holds up a package of custom hard shell boots that fit around a horse’s shin, protecting them from their own hoofs and any stray knocks by cattle in the process of roping. He wants to finish them in alligator.
Floyd also understands where Horse Kicks have become an unlikely — sorry, but I had to — Trojan Horse for combining his business and passion with another of his loves, pro sports.
When Doncic’s team reached out to Floyd to make custom Luka 1s for Dorian Finney-Smith’s new horse, Stevie, he jumped at the chance. This past summer, Finney-Smith used some of this contract extension money to buy a horse, which Doncic started teasing him about. For Finney-Smith, who started riding a few years ago after taking to it on vacation, getting Stevie represented fulfilling a promise his late brother made to their mom about buying her a horse.
The tiny sneakers, all-red custom For The Love Luka 1s, took Floyd about 40 hours to make, and were delivered to Finney-Smith by Doncic in a custom built red model Trojan Horse on wheels. Floyd made a second pair for charity, auctioned off with the proceeds split in half between The Luka Doncic Foundation and the Finney Family First Foundation.
Marcus Floyd/Infinite Kustomz
“I am a Luka fan,” Floyd says when asked if he’s a fan of the NBA. “I love Luka’s game. He’s so methodical, I fell in love with his game. But you gotta understand, I’m a Reggie Miller fan. I’m a Dirk Nowitzki fan. Like, he falls into their kind of game, where they’re not really the fastest player, but they get it done. They still score. It’s something beautiful about how they shoot the basketball.”
Doncic, in particular, getting in touch with Floyd is almost serendipitously fitting, as Doncic’s methodical approach to his game mirrors Floyd’s own methodical approach to his work. But it’s been a purposeful achievement Floyd’s been able to look to through some of the setbacks he’s faced with Horse Kicks initial wave of popularity.
Floyd’s original Infinite Kustomz Instagram account, which he’d grown into a “decent following” since 2017 and exploded when it was tagged in all the initial Horse Kicks coverage, was flagged by Nike and shut down. He’s since started a new one, but all part-time creators can understand how hard it hits to lose something you’ve built incrementally over time. Moreover, Floyd started customizing sneakers because he loved them. He points out that any of his work, Horse Kicks or otherwise, start with the original product.
“We bought their shoe, we tore it up, I broke it down. So the Horse Kicks that you see, those are, at one point they were, Nike products,” Floyd says. “I just didn’t make a Nike from scratch. The Adidas and the New Balance are all just like the Luka, all of them have been deconstructed from a shoe and fit to look like their predecessor. But Nike was not feeling it. I think they thought I was just gonna mass produce Nikes, but that wasn’t the case. I feel horrible about that because I was like, they don’t understand what this is. It’s just art. I hadn’t even sold anything. The only thing I had sold at that point was a service, because they provided the shoe to me.”
It’s been an ongoing catch-22. For Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement ceremony, Floyd created a pair of custom Air Force 1s for the event’s host. There’s footage of Coach K eyeing the shoes on stage, and Nike later shared photos of the blue snakeskin, Duke emblemized sneakers.
Marcus Floyd/Infinite Kustomz
Floyd is at least able to see a silver lining in, as well as take some humor from, events like that and the attention Horse Kicks have brought him. He’s been contacted by the Seattle Seahawks to make custom cleats for the league’s My Cause My Cleats campaign, and is putting the finishing touches on a new pair of Horse Kicks, his biggest yet for a horse named Master in Florida’s Pegasus World Cup — “This thing is a huge horse,” he stresses. “The hoof is about eight inches across.”
He’d like to keep riding the momentum of Horse Kicks to potentially prototyping the idea through a Black-led company like Fctry Lab, and to embrace the collaboration and relationships between athletes and their horses. A dream client, Floyd mentions as a diehard Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, would be Devin White, who rides and credits horses for getting him through a period of profound grief.
It’s fair to say that Floyd noticing horses has been what’s got him noticed, but more than what’s always been on his periphery and the surprise career growth horses have given him, Floyd’s work is about connection. Noticing and taking care with the smallest of details, down to the seams, for a finished product that fosters connectivity and generates joy. Customization is after all just precise, painstaking personalization, which are all the things we make a life with.
Among the many, many men trolling Megan Thee Stallion during Tory Lanez’s assault trial, perhaps the highest-profile one was 50 Cent. While Drake issued a tone-deaf punchline on his and 21 Savage’s joint album Her Loss, 50 outright cast doubt on Meg’s entire account of Tory’s attack on her in 2020, comparing Meg on Instagram to Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor who was convicted of five felony counts of disorderly conduct for apparently staging a hate crime on himself in 2019.
However, in the wake of Tory’s conviction for assault for shooting Megan in her feet, it seems 50 Cent has changed his tune. While appearing on Los Angeles radio show BigBoyTV, he told the veteran host, “I’m gonna apologize to Megan Thee Stallion. I said some things, and it was because… On social media I posted things that — when she was with Gayle [King] — she said, ‘Were you intimate with Tory Lanez?’ And she said, ‘What?’ and it was like, ‘No.’ And I was like, ‘Ah, she lying.’ At that point I knew she was lying, it wouldn’t be no reason for them to be around each other. From that it felt like she was lying, to me.”
50 said he realized the error of his ways, though, upon hearing the audio of Tory’s panicked phone call to Kelsey Harris on the night of the shooting. when I heard the phone conversation… That made me feel like, ‘Oh shit,’” he admitted. “‘Now I know what happened.’ I’m sure that was probably what swayed people in court, too.”
That would constitute 50’s second apology to Meg for discrediting her after he previously posted a meme making light of the shooting which he later deleted. “Damn, I didn’t think this sh*t was real,” he wrote. “It sounded so crazy. I’m glad you’re feeling better and I hope you can accept my apology. I posted a meme that was floating around. I wouldn’t have done that if I knew you was really hurt. Sorry.”
Perhaps, in the future, he’ll consider this before rushing to get a laugh at someone else’s expense… but there’s little reason to suspect that will be the cast.
Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images
While being a serial liar is definitely not an admirable quality in anyone — particularly in a politician — there can come a point where a person’s ability to spout off falsehoods as if they’re absolute facts becomes… morbidly fascinating? It’s one of the reasons why people are so interested in alleged con men like Bernie Madoff. And likely part of the reason we can’t get enough of hearing about George Santos’ many, many, MANY lies.
To be clear: The fact that a person running for public office would lie about everything from their educational and work backgrounds to their mother dying on 9/11 is downright despicable. But as more and more of Santos’ lies are exposed, the more intriguing his whole tale becomes. And the latest untruth that’s been uncovered about the controversial New York congressman, according to The Daily Beast, is his claim that he was one of the first people in the U.S. who was diagnosed with COVID-19.
As Decca Muldowney writes, New York state confirmed its first case of COVID on March 1, 2020. Less than a month later, on March 30, Santos — who was then mounting his first campaign to run for congress in New York’s 3rd congressional district — told his harrowing tale about surviving COVID while appearing as a guest on a local podcast.
Santos claimed that he began showing symptoms of what he referring to as “the Chinese flu” on March 9, 2020 and was hospitalized just two days later. “It was really bad,” he said. “Fever, body aches.”
Santos said his fight with the virus was particularly difficult because “I have an immunodeficiency and I have acute chronic bronchitis. I also battled a brain tumor a couple of years ago” he said. “I had radiation done, which really lowers your immunity in general. Radiation isn’t a game. I’m susceptible to cancer. It’s in my DNA.”
Is any of this true? Who knows. But it all seemed to be an elaborate setup for Santos to talk about how the reaction to COVID was seriously overblown and that while people were calling him a “survivor,” he didn’t necessarily feel worthy of the term. “It’s just flu,” Santos said.
Initially, he laid out a complex timeline of his illness and treatment. But following that initial interview, Santos never made mention of previously having a brain tumor and/or undergoing radiation for it again.
Following Donald Trump’s diagnosis with COVID, and subsequent hospitalization for it, in October 2020, Santos apparently saw this as a great publicity opportunity for himself and his campaign. So he became a familiar face on TV as a COVID “survivor,” sharing his own story and explaining what then-president Trump might be going through. Which is where Santos’ entire timeline of the events began shifting to fit whatever narrative or group he was trying to play to. He began stating that he became symptomatic sooner and that he was one of the first people in the state of New York — and the country — to fight COVID and survive.
A year ago today I was hospitalized unable to breath. Later in the week my test came back positive for #COVID19. I was bed ridden for 10 straight days from the 5th-15th. Never in my mind would I think we’d still be fighting this invisible but deadly enemy for this long…
Just a few months later, the date and details of his infection changed again:
A quick correction for you, I was infected with Covid in February 2020 and tested positive at Elmhurst hospital in March 7th there was no pandemic then. I was caught my surprise and took this plague serious very early on. Plenty of media to prove this.
What’s the difference between belief and faith? It’s a big question, and one Chicago-based band Fran grapples with on their sophomore album. Online theology classes taken during lockdown led lead singer Maria Jacobson to ask questions about belief systems and how things like social media, relationships, and capitalism relate to religion.
Finding a home for her religious and worldly ruminations, Fran created Leaving an 11-track album that’s a kaleidoscope of grounding moments, existential outbursts, and personal anecdotes underscored by Jacobson’s arresting vocals lying somewhere in between Weyes Blood and Jessica Pratt.
To celebrate the impending release of Leaving, Jacobson sits down with Uproxx to talk Nina Simone, astrology, and a Steely Dan drag show in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Here’s six: sexy rock you can cry to.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
I would love it if people were like, “despite how unrecognizable life has become in the past 30 years, Fran reminds me what it’s like to be a human.”
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
Chicago always, but we have had some really great shows in Atlanta! I love playing there.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
I think my close friends, specifically Marlee and Tony. They are the ones who I sent my earliest voice memos to of my earliest songs and they were like, this is great, we want more! You need that kind of encouragement and reassurance when you’re first starting out. I wouldn’t still be doing this if it weren’t for their kind and careful listening. The first Fran fans!
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
Grand Tetons National Park. We went on a gorgeous hike up into the snowy part and then came back down and grilled steaks and veggies on a tiny grill with boxed rice pilaf and whiskey.
What album do you know every word to?
Compare And Despair by Youbet.
What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?
The Cranberries at the Riviera in 2009.
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
A suit so everyone knows you came to work today.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?
I’m not sure, but I do remember one time that one of my bandmates got rather drunk after our show and insisted on playing Philip Glass on the way to the Airbnb. A strange and hilarious choice for a quick car ride at the end of the night.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
“brandi glanville boyfriend 2023” iykyk
What album makes for the perfect gift?
I just gave my brother in law Little Girl Blue by Nina Simone which I think is a great gift for anyone. It’s one of my favorite albums. I also could sing along with it front to back.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
I think the weirdest configurations are when you crash where the house show just happened because usually you’re sleeping on the floor and you’re drunk because you don’t have to drive and you have to wait for the party to end. We’ve done that in Denton, Louisville, Athens, GA…..
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
I had been dating my current partner for about 4 months and Costar told us to get a tattoo together. So we walked to this place near our house and I got a tiny “c” on my knee. I figure if we break up I can turn it into a moon or a circle.
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
Steely Dan.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Lately it feels like anyone who has played my music with me is doing the nicest thing ever. It is a real gift.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
I know it’s hard but don’t ever for one second spend any time worrying about what some dude is thinking.
What’s the last show you went to?
I saw an incredible drag show at Cafe Mustache in Chicago where the performances included “Do It Again” by Steely Dan and “I Want You to Love Me” by Fiona Apple. Also an amazing Chicago musician Fetter played.
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
I haven’t had that kind of cable access in a while but I remember one sad spring break in high school where I watched this strange Ashton Kutcher/Amanda Peet movie every day called A Lot Like Love because it was on every day for some reason. It then became one of my favorite movies until I watched it again recently.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
I am pretty good at cutting hair!
Leaving is out 1/20 via Fire Talk. Pre-order it here.
Both Jeopardy! and Wheel Of Fortune continue to be staples of the game show universe, and while the former has shown that replacing a legendary (and late) host isn’t ideal, sometimes it’s necessary, and it works. Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik have successfully carried on the torch of Alex Trebek, and that franchise will continue with multiple spinoffs already on the air or in the works. Whereas Wheel viewers may have received a bit of recent scare. Vanna White recently declared that she couldn’t imagine how the show could continue if either she or Pat Sajak retired, which means, maybe, that the thought was in her head? No, let’s not think that way.
For the time being, it’s enough to know that Pat Sajak could be twerked upon for many more years. Deadline reports that ABC has reupped both series for another five years, atop the 30+ years that both shows have already existed. Here’s the good news:
Deadline understands that it has renewed both shows, which are the two-most watched shows in syndication, for five years through the 2027-2028 season. This will take Wheel of Fortune through its 45th season and Jeopardy! through its 44th season.
It comes five years after its last big increase was announced, which saw ABC beat Fox to keep hold of both shows for the 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons after Fox came in with a rival bid.
What’s the bad news, you might ask? As of now, there isn’t any on this subject. Unless someone threatens to never bring Snoop Dogg back onto Wheel Of Fortune, in which case, there would be no sunshine in this world. Someone get him on there for an annual run, please.
In recent weeks, a couple of topics have been hotly discussed in the music community. There’s “nepo babies,” or artists whose parents or other relative(s) paved the way in the entertainment industry before them. Later, Foo Fighters revealed they planned to continue on as a band after Taylor Hawkins’ death. To tie those things together, Foo Fighters fans have been discussing who they think should take over Hawkins’ spot in the band, and one of the most-mentioned names was Rufus Taylor, drummer of The Darkness and son of Queen drummer Roger Taylor.
Now, in a new interview with MusicRadar, Taylor, who performed with Foo Fighters at the Hawkins tribute concerts last year, has discussed his relationship with Hawkins and Foo Fighters, explaining that Hawkins took notice of how Taylor didn’t try to use his family name to get ahead in the music business. He said of Hawkins:
“He always supported every single thing I ever did. He always said that I approach drums and music the hard way, which I really respected him for saying. The fact that he noticed stuff like that was just so cool to me. […] I auditioned for a bunch of stuff. Even for the We Will Rock You musical. I just did a bunch of really hard work before venturing into the… bigger leagues, I guess. I was really touched by how he picked up on that stuff. I had a lot of people slating me at the time because I’d just started playing drums professionally. They just always assumed it was to do with my dad, but Taylor just always got that, where most people didn’t.”
He also called Hawkins “my hero, my mentor, my big brother” and detailed their relationship, saying, “I think I was six years old when I first met him. My dad introduced me to him as his close mate. I was instantly just in love with the guy, I just thought he was the coolest person I’d ever met. He was always really sweet to me. We just kind of clicked together immediately, and the more I grew up, it was just strange how similar we were — a lot because I idolized him and everything — but we ended up like twins, in the end.”
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