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A ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Told A Lovely Alex Trebek Story That Ken Jennings Called ‘Very On-Brand For Alex’

While Ken Jennings is in the midst of his spell hosting Jeopardy! on a part-time basis, Alex Trebek’s specter looms large. No one will ever fully replace Trebek, who passed away last year following a bout with pancreatic cancer, but folks like Jennings, Aaron Rodgers, and more will do their best before a full-time host is replaced.

The good news is that for as long as Jeopardy! is on the airways, people will associate it with the man who hosted it for decades. And on Wednesday’s episode, one contestant told a story about meeting Trebek in New York City that Jennings joyously called “very on-brand for Alex.”

“I was shocked,” Sarah said. “It was on the platform at 145th street and he was in jeans and a polo, and I’m staring at him, and I’m like, ‘That’s Alex Trebek!’ And on the long subway ride down to 59th street, I asked him to take a selfie. He said he doesn’t take selfies, so we had someone else take the photo for us.”

Jennings loved the story — which included a photo of the pair sitting on a subway car — and as Sarah explained, Trebek’s son, Matt, owns a Mexican restaurant in that part of the city. As far as Jeopardy! contestant stories go, this is certainly up there among the better ones that we’ve heard.

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Capitol Police hero Eugene Goodman escorted Kamala Harris at the Inauguration

Joe Biden’s inauguration was haunted by the specter of the failed insurrection that occurred just two weeks before at the Capitol building. The Capitol steps may have been adorned with beautiful banners, but it was hard to shake the images of broken windows and rampaging Trump supporters recently burned into the country’s collective subconscious.

The Inauguration wasn’t just the beginning of a new era in American politics, it was a symbol of the resilience of our democracy. One person whose bravery helped preserve the American way of life during the insurrection was honored at the proceedings and his name should never be forgotten: Eugene Goodman.

Officer Goodman’s quick thinking and bravery on January 6 allowed for the narrow escape of countless Congressman and Vice President Mike Pence.


Goodman found himself alone and confronted with a mob forcing him backwards up a stairway in the Capitol. Goodman attempted to hold back the rioters, but he was clearly outnumbered.

The pivotal moment came when the mob reached the floor of the Senate chambers. Goodman appeared to glance down the hall toward the chambers, where no security can be seen, and then shove the frontman of the mob before leading them in the opposite direction.

Goodman used himself as bait to keep the mob away from the Senate chambers, saving countless lives.

“It’s hard to imagine the terror this man must have felt in these moments,” wrote Upworthy’s Anne Reneau. “Completely outnumbered, charged with the duty of protecting the U.S. Capitol as it’s being overrun, knowing that the nation’s lawmakers—including the next three people in line for the presidency—were in the building and relying on the police for protection.”

In the aftermath of the insurrection, Goodman was hailed as a hero. Last week, members of Congress introduced a bill to honor him with the Congressional gold medal for his bravery.

He was also promoted to Acting Deputy House Sergeant-at-Arms.

On Inauguration Day, Goodman was given the honor of escorting Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as she and President-elect Joe Biden arrived for the ceremony.

Goodman was announced when he arrived at the ceremony and received a standing ovation.

The presence of such a beloved national hero at the Inauguration made a lot of people emotional.

Two weeks ago, Goodman fended off a group of angry white men who protested the results of the 2020 election. Today, he escorted the first Black woman to take the oath of office as Vice President of the United States.

This just about sums it up.

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Davante Adams Wants To Win Aaron Rodgers Another Super Bowl To Prove He’s The GOAT

The Green Bay Packers are 60 minutes away from sending Aaron Rodgers to the Super Bowl for only the second time in his Hall of Fame career. The team standing in the way in the NFC Championship Game is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and in a fun bit of fate, the guy on the other side of the field is one of the few signal callers who gets mentioned before Rodgers in the greatest of all time conversation, Tom Brady.

For years, people wanted to see Brady and Rodgers go head-to-head in the postseason, and while this won’t happen in the Super Bowl, there will still be huge stakes involved in this matchup. One of them, in the eyes of many who opine on the game, does not particularly matter to Packers receiver Davante Adams.

During a press availability on Wednesday, Adams discussed how he isn’t a fan of Super Bowl wins being viewed as a de facto quarterback stat, because in his eyes, Rodgers is the GOAT regardless of how many more rings a guy like Brady has on his finger. Still, he hears all of that, and wants to win Rodgers a ring with the hopes of quieting that all down.

He is correct that a player as good as Rodgers should be judged on more than how many Super Bowls he has won — ultimately, winning a championship takes a special team, not just an excellent quarterback. Having said that, athletes of Rodgers’ class are always going to be judged on how many championships they end up lifting in their career, especially when their career is happening at the same time as a guy like Brady, who has the record for the most championships for any player in league history. The good news for Rodgers and Adams is that there is a pretty straightforward way for the conversation surrounding the former to change up the narrative around his career, and winning this Sunday would be a major step in making that happen.

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The New Radicals Reunite To Play ‘You Get What You Give’ At Joe Biden’s Parade, But Omit The Iconic Bridge

Fans of still-unbelievably-fun ’90s songs received some tremendous news a couple of days ago when it was revealed that New Radicals would be playing together for the first time in 22 years. The occasion is today’s post-inauguration Virtual Parade Across America, and the song, of course, is “You Get What You Give.” Well, the time has come, as Gregg Alexander and company have finally performed the song again.

One aspect of the song apparently didn’t survive the band’s breakup: the iconic bridge that called out a number of MTV stars of the time, including Beck, Courtney Love, and Hanson. But maybe it’s for the better.

Even shortly after the song was originally released, the band didn’t get to play it all that much and relish in its success in front of a live audience. Its parent album, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, dropped in October 1998 and the song was released as a single the next month. Then, in July 1999, Alexander announced the disbandment of the group.

Joe Biden explained the significance of the single in his 2017 autobiography Promise Me, Dad, in which he wrote, “During breakfast, Beau would often make me listen to what I thought was his theme song, ‘You Get What You Give’ by the New Radicals. Even though Beau never stopped fighting and his will to live was stronger than most — I think he knew that this day might come. The words to the song are: ‘This whole damn world can fall apart. You’ll be OK, follow your heart.’”

Ahead of the performance, the band’s Gregg Alexander said, “If there’s one thing on Earth that would possibly make us get the band together if only for a day, it is the hope that our song could be even the tiniest beacon of light in such a dark time. America knows in its heart that things will get bright again with a new administration and a real plan for vaccines on the way. That’s the message of the song… this world is gonna pull through. […] Performing the song again after such a long time is a huge honor because we all have deep respect for Beau’s military service and such high hopes for the unity and normalcy Joe and Kamala will bring our country again in this time of crisis.”

For the first time in a long time, watch New Radicals perform “You Get What You Give” above.

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Al Roker Scored A Fist Bump From Joe Biden During The Inauguration Parade, And America Is Feeling Giddy

Al Roker‘s colleagues are absolutely loving that the beloved anchorman scored a fist bump from Joe Biden on the parade route to the presidential inauguration. In a video shared by The TODAY Show, you can see Biden surprising his wife Dr. Jill Biden and everyone walking alongside him as he spots Roker in the crowd and immediately breaks away to deliver a fist bump to his old pal. You can actually hear Biden say in the clip, “We gotta keep doing this,” and the viral moment has been blowing up on social media.

Besides the fact that not everyone gets chance to share a fist bump with the President of the United States, what makes this moment particularly special is that Roker pulled off a similar feat during Barack Obama’s second inauguration (a thumbs-up from Obama and a handshake from Biden) in 2013. Here’s Roker explaining the history behind his epic fist bump skills below:

Knowing how much the moment means to Roker, who’s been battling prostate cancer since November, his colleagues in the media heaped praise on the beloved TV personality for pulling this off again. Plus, it’s just damn cool.

Granted, Biden and Roker have an ongoing bromance that would make Leslie Knope jealous, the newsman reportedly had a trick up his sleeve in case he was having trouble luring Biden over once again. That trick? Snacks. And not just any snacks, but snacks from Wawa, an eastern PA staple that should be tempting to a scrappy Scranton native like Biden.

(Via TODAY on Twitter)

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Rihanna Celebrates The End Of Donald Trump’s Term With A Shady Photo

Wannabe dictator Donald Trump has officially vacated the White House and among the varied reactions, one of his most outspoken critics volunteered to help out. “I’m just here to help,” Rihanna tweeted, offering a photo from an old fashion shoot that saw her carrying black plastic garbage bags in couture. “#wediditJoe.”

When it came to Trump’s divisive policies and rhetoric, Rihanna was never one to mince words. She called him out over his (now deleted, along with the rest of his account) tweets about a mass shooting in El Paso in 2019 after putting him through the wringer over his immigration policy earlier that year. She also trolled him post-election as he waffled between wanting polls to “stop the count” and/or “count every vote” in his efforts to manipulate the outcome of the election in his favor. Of course, those efforts were unfruitful and he was replaced by Joe Biden, even after inciting a disorganized, disastrous insurrection at the Capitol building on January 6.

The outspoken star was just one of many who reacted to the Biden-Harris inauguration by trolling Trump. As he slunk off in a helicopter to hopefully hide out for the rest of his days at Mar-A-Lago, Macklemore bid good riddance with his “Trump’s Over Freestyle,” while Becky G, Lady Gaga, Moby, Wale, and more celebrated the end of his terrible tenure in the Oval Office.

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What’s On Tonight: Tom Hanks Follows Up The Biden Inauguration With The ‘Celebrating America’ Special

Celebrating America (NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC, Amazon Prime Video, Twitch, and NewsNOW from Fox, 8:30pm) — Tom Hanks celebrates a fresh chapter in U.S. History following the daytime inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th U.S. president. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will make remarks, and they’ll be joined by musical guests including Jon Bon Jovi, Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato, and Ant Clemons.

C.B. Strike (HBO, 10:00pm) — This limited series is adapted from the novels of Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) and follows a London-based private detective who investigates the most complex cases with the help of his military training. In the debut episode, Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott find themselves at odds while finding themselves confronted by a frightening new case.

Daughter from Another Mother (Netflix series) — Two women discover that their babies were inadvertently switched at birth, so they do what they have to do: develop a plan to unite as a single, very strange family.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Jon Lovett, Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, Peter CottonTale, Chance The Rapper, Cynthia Erivo, and Chicago Children’s Choir

Jimmy Kimmel Live! — John Oliver

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Martin Scorsese, Fran Lebowitz, Hunter Schafer, Playboi Carti

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Dakota Johnson, musical performance by AJR

In case you missed these picks from last Wednesday:

Everyone Is Doing Great (Hulu/Endeavor Series) — A little lightness will come in handy right about now, so this series from One Tree Hill alums James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti could hit the spot. Lafferty and Colletti star as former TV A-listers, who happened to play vampires on an enormously popular series called Eternals. Five years later, things are pretty damn awkward in their careers and lives, so it’s time for a late coming-of-age spin. The show found popularity with two episodes on the 2018 festival circuit, so the duo crowdfunded the rest of the season.

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (Netflix limited series) — This spellbinding docuseries dives deep into the investigation of brutal serial killer Richard Ramirez, who terrorized Los Angeles in the mid 1980s. Law enforcement found themselves puzzled by Ramirez’s apparent lack of rhyme or reason, given that his series of murders and sexual assaults at first appeared to be disconnected. After round-the-clock work by the members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, breaks in the case eventually arrived, and this series seeks to paint a portrait of how citizens feared becoming the next victim in this real-life horror story.

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Lil Wayne Denies Trump Pardoned Him In Exchange For His Endorsement

When Donald Trump pardoned Lil Wayne and Kodak Black on his final day in office, some believed it was the result of a deal between the two wherein Wayne exchanged his endorsement for a pardon on the pending gun charges against him. Today, in an interview with the New York Times, Wayne’s lawyer Bradford Cohen explained how the meeting between the rapper and the hotel mogul took place, denying that Wayne endorsed Trump in exchange for a pardon. Instead, he credits a connection between the two for the move.

“I think they had a very strong connection,” Cohen said. “He’s in the entertainment world. He’s got a style that’s similar in terms of the way that he carries himself, and a lot of rappers and people in the industry relate to that.” In this respect, his sentiments echo those of Barack Obama, who also posited that some rappers gravitated to Trump because of his personality and the trappings of wealth and fame he uses to surround himself.

Wayne was one of those rappers who drew criticism in the waning days of the Trump reelection campaign for endorsing him despite his controversial policies and rhetoric. Ice Cube, Lil Pump, and others were censured by their fans for praising Trump’s so-called “Platinum Plan,” which many believed was a pandering attempt to court the Black vote.

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Liam Neeson Was ‘Approached’ By Seth MacFarlane About A New ‘Naked Gun’ Movie

To call The Naked Gun movies “stupid” is not an insult. From the Files of Police Squad!, The Smell of Fear, and The Final Insult are funny, because they’re stupid. It’s a compliment. The scene where Jane Spencer tells Frank Drebin that she practices safe sex and he replies “so do I” before they both put on full-body condoms? To me, you are perfect. It’s hard to imagine a Naked Gun movie without quintessential straight man Leslie Nielsen, who died in 2010, but according to Liam Neeson, he’s been “approached” for a reboot. And because everyone loved the first time they worked together, the person doing the approaching was Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Neeson said that he’s probably done making action movies after this year. “I’m 68 and a half, 69 this year. There’s a couple more I’m going to do this year — hopefully, COVID allowing us — there’s a couple in the pipeline and then I think that will probably be it,” he revealed. “Well, unless I’m on a Zimmer frame or something.” He’s not done with acting, however. “I’ve been approached by Seth McFarlane and Paramount Studios to maybe resurrect the Naked Gun films,” he said, adding, “It’ll either finish my career or bring it in another direction. I honestly don’t know.”

No one tell O.J. about this. There’s nothing to see here, Nordberg.

(Via People)

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Melania Trump’s Outfit Change And Refusal To Pose For Photos After Exiting Air Force One For The Last Time Show She Has No F*#ks Left To Give

Melania Trump had already signaled her readiness to leave the White House long before her husband finally (sort-of) conceded the election to Joe Biden. During one of her final FLOTUS acts, she made her delayed response to the failed MAGA coup of the U.S. Capitol all about herself, and she must be thrilled to never have to hang Christmas decorations again. So, it wasn’t too surprising to see her flash a rare public smile while literally leaving the building on Biden’s Inauguration Day. She wore all black, as if she was attending a funeral, but she did look happier than usual.

Then Donald and Melania took their last trip on Air Force One while heading to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. Oh boy, she made quite the outfit change.

The New York Post took note of the blazingly bright dress with a whole lot of orange going on. The garment hails from Gucci and costs $3700, but it’s an attention grabber. It really feels like she might be trolling with this selection. One Twitter user joked that this is “the traditional Slovenian divorce dress,” and Melania has come full circle from what could be an acceptable funeral outfit to a straight-up vacation dress. She’s clocking out!

Even more tellingly, though, Melania didn’t even pause after exiting the airplane to pose for photos with her husband. She sauntered away, like she gave no f*cks, and she was totally done giving any f*cks at all.

Really though, will someone think about the poor shower curtains?