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Around these parts, we enjoy light, boozy cocktails all year long. But it’s hard to dispute their special appeal during the summer months. Sun-filled, humid late-July days are well-suited to drinks made with vodka, tequila, gin, mezcal, and rum. And it’s the final spirit listed in that rogue’s gallery that we’re focused on here.

When mixing with rum, Chaz Gallo, Director of food and beverage at The Bristol Hotel in Bristol, Virginia, isn’t looking for anything too neutral.

“The most common issue with using a white rum is that guests can’t taste the rum,” he says. “Using a nice, spiced rum balances the cocktail perfectly.”

Matt Nicholas, bar manager at The Kennedy Bar in Pensacola, Florida tends to agree with the idea of cranking up the rum notes in mixed drinks.

“While traditionally an unaged white rum is used in the daiquiri and most cocktails, I prefer to use a rhum agricole which is made from sugar cane juice rather than molasses,” he says. “This gives the cocktail a fruity, vegetal flavor which adds a unique complexity to the drink.”

So what brands, in particular, do bartenders think are a good fit for summer mixing? To find that answer, we once again went to the source — asking a handful of well-known bar professionals to tell us their picks. Check them all out below.

Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum

Inga Tantisalidchai, bartender at OLEA Cellar Craft Cook in Irvine, California

ABV: 42%
Average Price: $30

Why This Bottle?

If you like a lighter take on the daiquiri, one of my favorite rums to use is Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum. Its smooth velvety texture along with its soft vanilla notes complement and balance out the acidic components of the cocktail. In addition, Papa’s Pilar is associated with the Hemingway family, which is known for their twist on the traditional daiquiri — adding a little grapefruit and Luxardo cherry liqueur.

Kirk and Sweeney 23 Reserva Rum

Tara Gillum, bartender at Steiner’s Speakeasy in Chillicothe, Ohio

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $54

Why This Bottle?

I think the type of daiquiri you are making is an important part of this question. For me, I’m a purist when it comes to rum-based cocktails like the daiquiri. Rum, simple syrup, lime. I really like making a traditional daiquiri with Kirk and Sweeney 23-year rum. This rum has a bold, almost whiskey-like aroma and flavor of caramel and vanilla. I like to use Kirk and Sweeney because the rum doesn’t get lost in the cocktail.

Tattersall Blackstrap Rum

Cassidy Flannery, bartender at Sonder Shaker in Minneapolis

ABV: 45%
Average Price: $29.99

Why This Bottle?

All summer I’ve been using Tattersall Distilling’s Blackstrap Rum in my rum-based cocktails. My watermelon daiquiri has been a huge hit. The mellow notes of smoky molasses and tobacco pair well with the freshness of the watermelon and lime juices.

Diplomatico Planas Rum

Chandra Richter, beverage development and chief mixologist at Drinkworks

ABV: 47%
Average Price: $30

Why This Bottle?

If I’m mixing a rum cocktail in summer, it’s going to be a daiquiri. And a daiquiri is a very simple and beautiful drink, especially during the hot summer months but the key is to find the right balance of rum and fruit flavors. I like to use a light rum in my daiquiris, like Diplomatico Planas. The tropical and fruity notes of the rum work perfectly with the lime flavors to create a nice balance of strong, sweet, and sour — exactly how I like my cocktails.

Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum

Stephen Lasaten, food and beverage manager at The Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas

ABV: 63%
Average Price: $25

Why This Bottle?

Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum is my pick. With its fruity scent and a high alcohol content — to remind you that there’s alcohol in your frozen drink — I find that this blends well with the sweet mixes that are used for daiquiris and various other rum-based cocktails.

Smith & Cross Rum

Ilan Chartor, head bartender of MILA in Miami

ABV: 57%
Average Price: $30

Why This Bottle?

The best rum for a cocktail for me is Smith & Cross Pot Still Jamaican Rum. If you’re a true rum lover, you love Jamaican pot still rums for their unique funk and flavor profile. Smith & Cross has notes of caramelized banana and pineapple, tropical fruits, and molasses.

This flavor profile makes for an extremely fun and refreshing cocktail.

Ron Zacapa 23 Centenario Rum

Darron Foy, bar manager at The Flatiron Room in New York City

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $49.99

Why This Bottle?

I was given a bottle of Ron Zacapa 23 Centenario by a friend of mine when I moved to New York in 2016. I was very intrigued by the velvet texture and the honey, apricot, and oak notes. But I remember drinking it mostly neat. The same friend told me to try it in some classics — pina colada, dark ‘n’ stormy — to see how it worked and the first attempt was a daiquiri.

In my opinion, it creates a richer, fuller-bodied daiquiri due to the aged rum — between six and 23 years of age. It exaggerates the lime and sugar with hints of stewed fruit and ginger while reigning in the sweeter notes due to its robust backbone of leather and tobacco.

Foursquare Probitas Rum

Jacob Mata, bar manager at Garden & Grain in Pensacola, Florida

ABV: 47%
Average Price: $29.99

Why This Bottle?

When making rum-based cocktails I prefer to use a blend of rums. Doing this adds depth and complexity to a cocktail. In a Daiquiri I prefer to use an island blended rum called Probitas with just a small measure of an Avua Cachaca. Probitas is a blend of three different rums from two of the most iconic and respected distilleries in the rum world, Foursquare Rum Distillery in Barbados & Hampden Estate in Jamaica.

Probitas is rich in tropical flavors including banana, guava, vanilla, and more. With the addition of Avua Cachaca with its bright flavors of wildflower, Lemongrass, and dried herbs you’ve got yourself a perfect daiquiri for a hot summer day.

Real McCoy 5-Year-Old Rum

Liam Odien, beverage director at Playa Provisions in Playa Del Rey, California

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $29.99

Why This Bottle?

Real McCoy 5 Year, for me. It’s delicious, affordable, and it has enough age and body on it to hold its own in the cocktail without overwhelming the other ingredients. Daiquiris, in particular, I think, are at the mercy of their base spirit, which can be something of a pitfall. The benefit, though, is that if you love a particular rum, it will probably shine.

As always, the best drink is the one you want.

Neisson Rhum Agricole

Ryan Anderson, complex director of beverage at Ace Hotel in New Orleans

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $50 for a liter

Why This Bottle?

Always and forever, I will prefer a Rhum Agricole to any other mixing rum. Rhum Agricole, specifically from Martinique, adds a complexity of flavor that is so unmistakably earthy and floral. Rhum production in Martinique utilizes fresh sugar cane to make their spirit as opposed to using molasses, which is how most of rum is made.

Coconut Cartel Rum

Kyle Jones, owner of Bon Vivants in Nassau, Bahamas

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $36

Why This Bottle?

My go-to rum is without a doubt Coconut Cartel Rum. It is a delicious Guatemalan añejo rum that is cut with coconut water which makes it so unique and tasty. That little hint of salinity and real coconut adds a delicious layer to your cocktail.

It’s also amazing to enjoy on the rocks with fresh coconut water ice cubes.

Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

Sebastien Derbomez, William Grant & Sons manager of brand advocacy

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $20

Why This Bottle?

I think Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is a perfect choice. It’s a blend of Caribbean rums that are infused with spices including vanilla and cinnamon, so it brings a ton of extra flavors to your favorite cocktail. The addition of ginger syrup in your cocktail ties up wonderfully with the spices from Sailor Jerry, I highly recommend it. Enjoy responsibly.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

Alfonso Ribeiro has accomplished a lot in his career on television, which means he’s a man known for many things. To a number of folks, the Fresh Prince star may be best known as Carlton, with a dance named after him and some meme-worthy moments that make the rounds during basketball season.

But in the years since Fresh Prince went off the air, Ribeiro has become a go-to game show host, framing his life around a rigorous filming schedule to helm shows like America’s Funniest Videos and Catch 21. By now, he’s a seasoned veteran in the industry, working to balance heavy taping schedules with family time and life amid a pandemic.

Uproxx talked to Ribeiro by phone last week, before the NBA Finals ended and his friend Chris Paul fell just short of a championship. We discussed game shows, representation on television and what it means to be a not-so-nice sports meme.

Uproxx: I can see the Cheez-It bag behind you so I have to ask about the promotional work you’re doing. I loved that you were pitching this on your Instagram and it kind of sounded like you were an old-time game show host. Where they, you know, they stopped play right there and then you pitched some products. Was that the inspiration behind that?

Alfonso Ribeiro: You know whenever you team up with a company, you try to make things that are organic to yourself, you know? What are the things that I’m doing right now in my career in my life that would actually lend itself perfectly for product. Obviously people remember my Fresh Prince days, but right now I’m basically a TV host, so doing it more like a host thing, it kind of makes it a lot of fun. It makes it very me and it makes it what I’m doing right now.

And it’s a great product and a great match with both of us. Launching this campaign, you know, we want to get people to enjoy lunch the way lunch should be enjoyed. And not just like a past-by meal that you throw something together in the middle of the day. So we’ve teamed up together to enter this sweepstakes where, I’m gonna show you what we don’t want. We don’t want people eating this for lunch anymore.

[Ribiero presents a very sad-looking sandwich on a sparse plate to me on the Zoom call]

We want people to enjoy their lunches so rather than that, you know, let’s jazz it up. Let’s take people out of their rut, show me the best sandwich you can make. Show me the greatest lunch you can add your Cheez-It Snap’d to it to create. We want better meals, a more fulfilling meal, a fun meal. So we want people to go on to my Instagram and my Facebook and enter to join the competition.

It’s gonna be a lot of fun. So they can just use the hashtag #SnapdMySandwichEntry and tell us all about your stories and whoever tells us the greatest story and shows us the best sandwich, or really the worst sandwich that they can have for their for their meal, they have a chance to win a year’s supply of Cheez-Its Snap’d and also $10,000 to level up their lunch. So we’re we’re very excited about doing this. Hopefully people can jump in and make lunch special again.

I think you know during the pandemic one of the things that suffered for a lot of people is lunch because they’re likely working from home and a lot of different things are happening. I was curious what changed for you during this. Obviously you’re shooting a couple different things and trying to stay active but you’re with your family as well the last year. What what’s been different for and just trying to work and get through all this?

Well, it’s all been it’s all been different obviously and every way, right? In the beginning, obviously it was just basically staying home. So you’re not really making anything special. Breakfast doesn’t become special dinner isn’t special, lunches aren’t special and you just kind of go through the day and you eat when you eat. And it’s very, very boring. Then obviously as the year went along and the pandemic continued, we bought an RV and so we went and drove, you know, over 20,000 miles around the country.

So it changed big time for me, but you know, the weird thing is and my wife would would pop me in the back of the head. But like, if you’re driving from city to the city, I mean, I’m literally eating lunch in my driver’s seat, like just something that I can just throw in my mouth. So lunch became that meal that was just a pass-by. It was just something to give me some energy just so I can continue driving. So the idea of now that we’re back at you know, kind of getting back into life getting back out in the world — even if you’re working from home — make lunch special.

You go to Spain and siesta is the most important meal of the day. Whereas here in America, we don’t really make it very special. So the idea of being able to you know, Snap’d that, you know, jazz up your your lunchtime is something that I think people need to do, you know. It’s an important meal, it makes you happy.

I wanted to ask about about your game show work because I’m a big fan and thankfully we cover shows like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune a lot. When you get a new gig in game shows, a lot of game shows are cyclical and they’re taking from old shows, maybe reimagining things a bit. But when you start do you try to bring what you’ve given on screen because that’s what they’ve hired you for or do you try to do something a little bit different for with each role?

I think that ultimately it’s a combination of both, in a weird way. You’re always trying to bring what people know you as, right? Like they hire you because they like something specific that you do, but you’re always trying to make it a bit different so that it doesn’t feel exactly the same every time you do it. So it’s a little bit of both.

I’m always trying to be a bit more creative but also giving people the Alfonso that they know and hopefully love.

Yeah, especially with a show like AFV that has been on air for a long time. It’s had a couple of different hosts, people know what what to expect there, but I would assume that you obviously want to make that role your own when you take it on as well.

Whenever you’re doing anything, especially something as popular and we’re in the 31st season of the show, they know the show, so you don’t want to take away from what they already know and what they love about the show, but you still have to make it yours. No matter how you look at it, I can never be Tom Bergeron. I can never be Bob Saget. I’m going to be Alfonso.

And even through the years, I’ve adjusted my own vibe as I’ve done the show to be even more and more me every year. To continue to change the show to stay current, to stay up to date with the producers and the writers, and we’re always constantly looking at better ways to make it make it more me, make it more my vibe. So we’re trying to make sure that we give everybody what they want which is AFV and the funny videos but we’re also giving them a piece of me and constantly, you know, morphing it into the the newer and newer versions of it.

I saw you got to be on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, which I’m very jealous of. I was curious, I’ve noticed that people often like to watch Jeopardy! because sometimes very smart people miss things that more ordinary people know, like pop culture or football. And people like watching Wheel of Fortune because they like people messing up. I wanted to know now that you’ve been on the show is it harder than it maybe looks from from watching on TV?

I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily harder. I watch the show a little bit, I wouldn’t say I’m like a huge Wheel of Fortune guy. But when you’re in the moment, it’s a little bit harder to just see it and know it. It just takes a little bit longer to figure it out. So, you know, our episode it took us a bit longer to figure it out. It took us a minute to to get it, but I won some money. It just it didn’t work out for me being top guy because every time I knew the answer it was on someone else’s turn.

That’s the part that most people don’t even think about. It’s like, ‘Oh I know the answer,’ they spit it out and they think they know it. They’re like, ‘Oh, I would have won.’ Not necessarily, because if it wasn’t your turn you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to even give the answer, you know? It’s not like Jeopardy! where on every question all three people have the opportunity to answer it. It’s just the person who’s spinning.

One thing I was surprised to learn is how rigorous the Jeopardy! filming schedule is and I was wondering if all games shows are basically that rigorous, with several episodes in a day each day. If so, how do you keep energy up? How do you make things feel different when you’re filming so much in what can be a very exhausting day?

You know for me, when I did Catch 21, it was six episodes a day, four or five days a week. So you’re really working hard. You almost have to train for it, you’ve got to get your mind right, your body right, your energy right. It’s about keeping it level through the day, never letting it get too high and never letting it get too low. Lots of water, right, just and constantly hydrating and nutrition. You’re not eating a big lunch or a big dinner or a big breakfast, but you’re kind of nibbling through the day. It keeps your energy level through the day, so it’s kind of like you have to kind of change your whole system a bit to do that. So that’s that’s kind of the only way. But most game shows are all shot and produced the same way.

Once someone goes through that it seems like there’s a bit of camaraderie with game shows. I know you shout out other hosts and posted on Instagram about Alex Trebek. I know the big news in game shows is, you know, who’s gonna be the next permanent Jeopardy! host. I don’t know if you’ve been watching but LeVar Burton is a potential host that’s gotten a lot of attention. He’s spoken about representation a lot, and I know that’s something you’ve spoken passionately about as well. How important would it be to see a person of color in that role?

I think that that it’s always an important thing to continue to represent America as America is represented, you know? Where are the Asians? Latinos? Women? African-Americans? Everybody, especially during this period of time where everybody’s getting an opportunity to jump — not everybody — but a lot of people getting an opportunity to jump in there. Hopefully they’re continuing to look at it from a diverse perspective. You know, whoever gets the job, let them be the best. And whatever that looks like. I’m not one that says, well, I think it has to be a Black person or I think it has be a woman. I don’t think it should be anybody. I think it’s whoever’s the best, as long as everybody gets an opportunity and a fair shake at it, then whoever’s the best and whoever the audience loves the most, it should be their job.

It’s interesting, I was watching a lot of Buzzr the last couple of days and saw some older shows. You can see today pretty clearly there are shows that are more reflective of America’s population, and even a few decades ago not only was that not the case, it wasn’t even really a concern at all. It’s kind of nice to think that, you know, if people are putting in even the bare minimum effort there that it’ll look a lot different when you watch Buzzr in a couple decades.

As long as people are putting in something now. Hopefully, I would say, you know to everyone out there: don’t put in the bare minimum. Put in a reel. Do it the right way and look at everybody and then everybody gets a fair shake at it. You know, when AFV came along, they weren’t only looking at Black people. They were looking at, you know, Mario Lopez and a bunch of different other, you know, white guys and white women and Black women and myself and, you know, Latinos. They looked at everybody and so you know hopefully as it turned out the best person got the job. And so if you allow everybody to get in there and have an even shake at it, you know, they’re gonna be different people in different jobs because they have people have different talents.

Absolutely. I wanted to ask there’s a clip from from Fresh Prince that pops up when basketball players fail.

[laughs]

I saw the clip where Carlton misses a shot pretty badly come up again during Game 7 of the Nets-Bucks series when KD missed in overtime. Do you even notice at that point when people post that and it makes the rounds? Because it comes up a couple times a year now.

You know, my social gets bombarded with a lot of old videos and old takes on things. I’m always honored when people look at that. I mean, obviously, I would have shot the ball better than the character did. But, look, it’s a funny moment in television history and it means that people are connecting to it. So for me, I’m giving them all the love for connecting tragedy with my video.

I wanted to ask really quick. I know you’ve worked with with Chris Paul. Have you been keeping an extra eye on on the postseason here?

Absolutely, I actually sent a message over to the family after they finally got past the the big hurdle and made it to the Finals. So I root for him. You know, it would be pretty cool if he got an NBA championship. I’m absolutely rooting for him, I want him to get that one, it would be cool. I think Giannis will eventually get one at some point, you know, if we’re looking at the two big stars of of both teams. But it’d be really nice for Chris to get that this time around because I think you know, it cements his legacy as one of the greatest point guards in history.

Louisville rapper EST Gee released his new mixtape Bigger Than Life Or Death today after teasing its release with the singles “Capitol 1” and “Bigger Than Life Or Death.” To celebrate the anticipated project coming out, EST Gee shared a new video for the mixtape’s standout track “Price Tag” which finds him enjoying the fruits of his labor and shrugging off the light cost of keeping his female companions happy.

With a hook that brags that “good box come with a price tag on it,” it’s probably no surprise to see the Kentucky native surrounded by women twerking in the skimpiest swimsuits they can find. CGI price tags adorn the women as they bend over and shake for Gee’s amusement (and the viewer’s, presumably), highlighting a devilish sense of sophomoric humor on the CMG rapper’s part.

In addition to the previously released singles, the new mixtape also boasts appearances from some big-name co-signers. Future and Young Thug both appear on “Lick Back Remix,” while Lil Durk assists on “In Town,” and Memphis upstart Pooh Shiesty claims a verse on “All I Know.” Fellow CMG-ers 42 Dugg and Yo Gotti make two appearances apiece, while Lil Baby, one of Gee’s first big benefactors shows up with his Quality Control Music compadre Rylo Rodriguez on “5500 Degrees.”

Watch EST Gee’s “Price Tag” video above.

Bigger Than Life Or Death is out now CMG/Interscope Records. Get it here.

We haven’t had a really juicy college football realignment rumor in a while. That changed on Wednesday afternoon, when Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle dropped a bombshell: Apparently, Big 12 powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma reached out to the SEC about potentially joining the conference.

The thing with these rumors is they pop up a whole heck of a lot, and 99 percent of the time, nothing comes of them — universities opt to stick in the conference where they’ve been forever, with the established rivalries and ways of doing things they all know. But shortly after Zwerneman’s report hit the Twitterverse, a wave of additional reporting came in to indicate that this could actually happen.

As for the Big 12, Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports reported that decision makers in the conference are, as of now, unaware of what the Longhorns and Sooners are doing, and think it wouldn’t necessarily be a good decision.

As for official comments from the schools themselves, they certainly aren’t doing a lot to shut down the reporting.

Everything comes down to the almighty dollar, and if there is anything that comes of this, it would, almost assuredly, stem from the fact that both universities believe jumping ship — particularly with a 12-team playoff on the way, which theoretically means they wouldn’t miss out entirely if they lost a regular season game to, say, Alabama — see a gigantic financial windfall from this sort of move. Making things even juicier is the Texas-Texas A&M non-rivalry rivalry, with the two teams refusing to play each other since the Aggies bounced for the SEC. When asked at SEC Media Days about the rumor, A&M coach Jimbo Fisher had a tremendous response.

Will it happen? Who knows! Realignment rumors in college football are as frequent as Big Ten head coaches opting to punt on fourth-and-1 from the opposing team’s 36. Texas has even been involved in these sorts of rumors on several occasions in the past. But with a 12-team playoff on the horizon and schools always looking for ways to make more money via their college football programs — especially now that there’s a competitive advantage to letting players profit as much as they possibly can off of the new name, image, and likeness rules — perhaps something will come of this.

Maria Taylor had her final ESPN broadcast on Tuesday night when the Bucks beat the Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win the championship, signing off of ABC’s brief postgame coverage alongside Adrian Wojnarowski and Jalen Rose, who thanked her for her work all season as the show was headed off the air.

On Wednesday, Taylor and ESPN confirmed that would indeed be the end of her tenure at the Worldwide Leader, with both sides offering brief statements kindly thanking the other. It has been reported for some time that NBC Sports was the frontrunner for Taylor’s services, and not long after the official release emerged of Taylor parting with ESPN, word broke from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post that Taylor was indeed headed to NBC and could join the company as soon as Friday for the start of their Olympics coverage from Tokyo.

For NBC, if a contract is completed, Taylor is expected to be part of its forthcoming Olympic coverage that begins in earnest on Friday.

While several sources said Taylor is headed to NBC, nothing is official yet. The top network spokesman is in Japan for the Olympics and did not immediately return messages.

It remains to be seen when exactly Taylor makes her NBC debut and in what role, but it’s a big get for NBC and opens Taylor up to a number of higher profile opportunities. With Al Michaels expected to leave the Sunday Night Football booth after the Super Bowl next year and Mike Tirico being the heir apparent to take over play-by-play duties, Taylor would be the frontrunner to take over the Football Night in America hosting duties. Her college football chops also mean Notre Dame football coverage is in play in the mean time, as well as other possible roles at the network — and with Amazon’s Thursday NFL game too.

In any case, Taylor seemingly won’t be off our television screens for very long, as she will apparently be popping up for Olympic coverage, either from studio stateside or in Tokyo, sooner than later.

As Marvel prepares to drop its first official animated project, Marvel’s What If…?, on Disney+, the studio is starting to tip its hand that the series is just the start of its plans to move beyond live-action properties. In a new interview, Victoria Alonso, Marvel’s executive VP of film production, revealed that the home of The Avengers is getting ready to go big on animated MCU projects that will be produced in house.

“We’re going to have our animation branch and mini studio, and there will be more to come from that as well,” Alonso told Variety. “We’re super excited about animation, which is my first love.”

The announcement marks a noted push for Marvel’s What If…?, which recently dropped an ambitious trailer featuring the voice talents of the late Chadwick Boseman, who recorded his lines shortly before his death. The actor is still playing Wakanda Prince T’Challa, but in this reality, which may or may not have been affected by the events of the Loki finale, he’s scooped up by Michael Rooker’s Yondu and becomes the Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Star-Lord. And that’s just one of the wild scenarios the animated series will explore when it arrives on Disney+ next month.

Here’s the official synopsis for Marvel’s What If…?:

“What If…?” flips the script on the MCU, reimagining famous events from the films in unexpected ways. Marvel Studios’ first animated series focuses on different heroes from the MCU, featuring a voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their roles.

Marvel’s What If…? starts streaming August 11 on Disney+.

(Via Variety)

Sexy Beasts (Netflix series) — A dating show where no contestant knows what anyone else (including their opponents and the “picker”) looks like, so that everything’s based upon personality? That sounds rather unorthodox. A dating show in which said contestants (and the picker) are clad in “fantastical, cutting edge prosthetics” to transform them into animals, aliens, robots, and more? This sounds completely off-the-hook, as well as fascinating. No one will be able to look away from this hot mess.

Turner & Hooch (Disney+ series) — The beloved 1989 Tom Hanks film gets the reboot treatment with Detective Scott Turner’s son taking the helm. Josh Peck stars as a U.S. Marshal who’s saddled with an unruly canine, only to realize that this pup is actually the partner of his dreams. Hooch is portrayed by five French Mastiffs, which means that series doesn’t take CGI shortcuts, and these dogs will charm everyone.

Marvel Studios: Assembled:: Season 1 The Making of Loki (Disney+ series, releasing in the wee hours of Wednesday morning) — This immersive documentary-type series brings us a fresh installment to help us feel a little bit better about having to wait for Season 2 of all of the Lokis and their mercurial pursuit of the glorious purpose. Tom Hiddleston has an absolute blast playing the MCU’s trickster god, and hopefully, we’ll hear more about that crushing moment and the new big bad cruising into Phase 4. This is the best Disney+ show so far, and Loki’s so beloved that you might binge the whole season all over again.

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (Netflix film) — This franchise installment picks up after the events of the Tales of Arcadia films, and those heroes must now come together to banish the evil Arcane order and defend humanity. Of course, the Arcane Order has ancient titans on their side and the darkest of magic, so vanquishing them won’t be a simple feat.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Emilia Clarke, Mark Ronson, Brandi Carlile

In case you missed this pick from last week:

Gunpowder Milkshake (Netflix film) — Look, Netflix original action films might seem like they’re in plentiful supply these days, but this one’s worth particular notice. Karen Gillan portrays the assassin-daughter of an elite assassin, portrayed by Lena Headey, and the pair come back together again to help protect a young girl from an organization known as The Firm. Nope, Tom Cruise does not make a cameo in this picture, but there’s a group called The Librarians, who are played by Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino. Essentially, we’ve got three generations of badass ladies here, doing their best to wipe out pesky henchmen and raise a lot of hell.

Seattle Storm star Sue Bird and Miami Marlins infielder Eddy Alvarez have been chosen by their peers as flag bearers for the United States at the Tokyo Olympics. Bird is competing in her fifth Olympics in search of as many gold medals. Alvarez won a silver medal as a speedskater in the 2014 Olympics.

It’s the first time the U.S. will have two flag bearers after an International Olympic Committee change mandated each nation have one male and one female representative. Alvarez is the first baseball player to serve as flag bearer for the U.S. Bird is the second women’s basketball player after Team USA’s head coach Dawn Staley in 2004.

“It’s an incredible honor to be selected the flag bearer for Team USA,” Bird said in a release. “I know what that means, because I got to witness Dawn Staley go through it when she was selected in 2004. It’s an honor that is bigger than the moment in that you’ve been selected by your fellow Team USA athletes to represent the entire delegation, and it will last forever. Also, in the moment, I got to witness what it was to lead Team USA into the Opening Ceremony, and it’s an incredible feeling and once again, such a huge honor. Also, I know this isn’t about me. This is about all the players who either came before me and set the tone for what the USA Basketball women’s program is now, and also the players that I’ve been fortunate enough to play with. So, it’s not just about me. It’s representing all of them.”

The women’s basketball team — in search of its seventh consecutive gold medal — celebrated Bird’s news as a team:

“It is an honor and a privilege to be named as one of the flag bearers by my fellow Team USA athletes for the Opening Ceremony,” said Alvarez in a release. “Being a first-generation Cuban-American, my story represents the American Dream. My family has sacrificed so much for me to have the opportunity to wave this flag proudly. I am grateful for my time with US Speedskating and USA Baseball, as well as for all of my teammates, and I am humbled to lead Team USA into the Tokyo Olympic Games.”

The opening ceremony will air live at 6:55 a.m. ET on Friday, July 23. The primetime presentation of the ceremony will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

The mental image of Senator Ted Cruz in a tight, spandex onesie is nightmarish, to say the least, but according to a recent interview from Representative Eric Stalwell, it’s the uniform he’s more suited to wear.

Let us explain.

Stalwell, an outspoken opponent of Donald Trump and the Democrats’ choice for impeachment manager, recently gave an interview on the MeidasTouch podcast (via Insider), to which he revealed some surprising information about his colleagues across the aisle. In speaking with the show’s host, Stalwell said that many of his fellow Congressmen, including Cruz and Representative Matt Gaetz, were “better suited to work at the WWE” and accused them of putting on an act because that’s “what they think the fans want.”

“That’s what’s so frustrating,” Stalwell continued. “And this may sound crazy, but if you ran into Matt Gaetz or Ted Cruz or Jim Jordan at the Santa Monica Pier, you would say: ‘These are nice guys! Boy, they’re nothing like what I see them do on Twitter or TV.’”

Stalwell said he had many run-ins with Gaetz before “Trumpism” took hold and the change in the politician was fairly startling. He accused Gaetz of playing a character, revealing that the divisive Florida native would often “laugh at himself about how stupid he had to act to keep the act going.” With Cruz, Stalwell said that during the impeachment trial, the senator from Texas told him he was “doing a great job” when they’d run into each other on Capitol Hill, something that shocked Stalwell since Cruz had launched a public smear campaign against him when the trial started.

“I’m like what the f— is this guy talking about? He just scorched me on Fox News, like, the night before. He tweets at me every other week,” Stalwell said. “But to him, if you’re a pro wrestler, like, it doesn’t matter that you hit me over the head in the ring with a steel chair. It’s all fake, right? You’re just doing what the fans want, so I should just be cool with it because he projects onto me what he does. He thinks that I’m just performing as well. And that’s what’s most sickening, is that I don’t even know what these guys believe. Like, I really don’t.”

Does anyone?

(Via Insider)

Roadrunners have been cropping up a lot in pop culture lately. There’s the Anthony Bourdain documentary on HBO Max, Brockhampton’s penultimate album, and, of course, the high-speed Looney Tunes character who constantly threatens the safety of Wile E. Coyote and appears in the LeBron James Space Jam reboot currently out in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Joining this menagerie of pavement pounders, Migos released the video for their latest single from Culture III today, and yep, that’s right, it’s “Roadrunner.”

In the video, the Atlanta trio naturally hits the desert, taking over an outdoor compound for a performance in which they deck themselves out in motocross gear and army surplus. A team of black-clad, female dancers runs through some choreography reminiscent of late-90s Aaliyah videos, and the boys pose atop various luxury motor vehicles in their solo shots.

Speaking of the desert, they’re set to return in autumn for Las Vegas Weekender Fest promoting Culture III, where they’ll host a variety of hedonistic events alongside big-name supporting acts like Duke Deuce, Gunna, Kash Doll, Lil Yachty, and 2021 XXL Freshman Rubi Rose. Meanwhile, singles like “Straightenin’,” “Modern Day,” “Avalanche,” and the Cardi B-featuring “Type Sh*t” continue to make waves.

Watch the video for “Roadrunner” above.