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Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Neighbors Are Letting Him Know (In An Unsubtle Way) That They Don’t Want Him There

Where will the Trump family go after Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021 (and after the Secret Service extracts Donald from the White House)? It’s a real question, given that Ivanka and Jared Kushner won’t be welcomed by NYC (there are posters to prove it), so they’re apparently headed to New Jersey. This week, reports indicated that Melania Trump is ready to get the hell out of D.C., and she’s been researching Florida-based schools for Barron with a plan for moving to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. Well, that might not be working out too well after all because the Washington Post is reporting that the resorts neighbors are putting up a fight.

Those people who own the houses surrounding the Mar-a-Lago are actually taking their complaints to court, and unlike the Trump campaign’s many frivolous fights, these neighbors have legal standing to make their argument. According to an agreement viewed by WaPo, Trump signed away his right to live at the resort back in the 1990s. In other words, Trump ended up Trumping himself? He apparently did so by agreeing that no one could stay at the club more than 21 days per year:

That message was formally delivered Tuesday morning in a demand letter delivered to the town of Palm Beach and also addressed to the U.S. Secret Service asserting that Trump lost his legal right to live at Mar-a-Lago because of an agreement he signed in the early 1990s when he converted the storied estate from his private residence to a private club. The legal maneuver could, at long last, force Palm Beach to publicly address whether Trump can make Mar-a-Lago his legal residence and home, as he has been expected to do, when he becomes an ex-president after the swearing-in of Joe Biden on Jan. 20.

That’s messy, and awkward, and the neighbors further stated in their letter that they want Palm Beach to make a public declaration to Trump to “avoid an embarrassing situation.” That situation, presumably, would involve Trump moving into town, clogging up streets with traffic, and flouting local ordinances, which he’s already done by erecting “a massive flagpole,” among other things. And then things would grow even more embarrassing when he’d be asked to move out.

The bottom line, though, is that there’s probably no way that Trump can use the property as a home and a club for profit unless the agreement changes. And he’s tried repeatedly to overturn the agreement, according to The Post, to no avail. Might be time to move to Russia!

(Via Washington Post)

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Jeremih Saw ‘A White Light’ While In The ICU With COVID-19

Not long ago, Jeremih was in a tough spot dealing with COVID-19, as he was in the ICU and his condition was pretty serious. Fortunately, he was able to leave the hospital last month and seems to be doing better now. He stopped by Sway In The Morning and talked about his experience, revealing more about what he endured.

Jeremih said that he had multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) and recalls “seeing a white light” on at least one occasion:

“What I can say is, man, it definitely is real. I didn’t take it for granted, and truth be told, this was kinda like… I’m a living, walking testimony. To let y’all know, I was really down bad for the last month and a half while I was in there. I don’t even remember the day I went in. That’s how messed up I was. […] I had the tube down my throat for about a week and a half. I was really, like, in a dream and I ain’t gonna lie, I woke up about two times and all I remember is just seeing a white light. […] What I ended up having — and I don’t mind sharing it because now, you know, I’m here — it was called a [multisystem] inflammatory syndrome, MIS, which is a rare case of, you know, cause and effect of COVID. My whole insides, all my organs, became inflamed. It was going down.”

Check out the interview clip here.

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‘The Crown’s Princess Diana Compares The Show To ‘Succession’ While Defending Netflix For Not Adding A ‘Fiction’ Disclaimer

Both the British government and Princess Diana’s brother want everyone, but especially us fast food-loving Americans (the Burger King is the only royal for me), to know that Netflix’s The Crown is not real. “It’s a beautifully produced work of fiction, so as with other TV productions, Netflix should be very clear at the beginning it is just that,” said United Kingdom culture secretary Oliver Dowden, who also politely asked (because, British) Netflix to put a “fiction” disclaimer on the series. “Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact.”

The debate has even gone to Parliament:

Culture minister John Whittingdale told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that it “does no harm” for Netflix to make explicit to subscribers that The Crown, although pegged to real events, is [creator] Peter Morgan’s “speculation or imagination as to what might have happened.” … Ultimately, the UK government has no power to compel Netflix to make a change, partly because the United States streamer is regulated in the Netherlands.

Emma Corin, who plays Princess Diana in season four, thinks it’s unnecessary.

“It is very clearly a dramatized version of events,” she told The Big Ticket podcast. “This is fictitious in the same way people don’t mistake Succession for what actually happened with the Murdochs.” That being said, Corrin understands that the request “comes from a place of sensitivity and protectiveness of the royal family and Diana.” While I think the “fiction” disclaimer is unnecessary for The Crown, I hope HBO adds one for Succession.

“This is fiction, and f*ck off if you think it’s real.”

(Via Variety)

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Inside The Making Of Pixar’s Trippy ‘Soul’ With Director Pete Docter, Screenwriter Kemp Powers, And Producer Dana Murray

Soul (which will be on Disney + on December 25th) is the fourth Pixar movie Pete Docter has directed. Between his prior three Pixar films — Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out — there’s a good case to be made he’s responsible for full lakes of tears shed. (Mostly for those last two movies listed.) Though, with Soul, people expecting the waterworks again might be surprised just how weird this movie winds up being. Of course, it’s got Docter’s, almost patented by now, meditation on death and what makes us tick, but now mixed in with some pretty trippy visuals (and trippy music, provided by Trant Reznor and Atticus Ross), it makes for quite the wild ride. As I told Docter, writer Kemp Powers (who is having a pretty busy year between this and the Oscar-buzzy One Night in Miami), and producer Dana Murray … I kind of wished I had watched this movie “at night.” For example, at one point the main character becomes a cat.

That main character we speak of is Joe (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a music teacher who dreams of playing jazz full time instead of teaching kids who don’t appreciate him. Unfortunately, after getting his big break, he falls down a manhole and finds himself in the afterlife. Joe desperately does not want to be in the afterlife and winds up defying the people in charge of the afterlife to come back down to Earth and get his body back, accompanied by 22 (voiced by Tina Fey), a soul who hasn’t been born yet who doesn’t have things quite figured out, which is why she hasn’t “advanced” to Earth yet.

As the filmmakers get into ahead, Soul gets into some pretty heavy ideas for a kids movie. Especially the concept of “lost souls,” people who are still alive, but get so engrossed in whatever it is they are doing, or what they are believing, they cease to be the person they used to be. When I asked Docter if this had anything to do with people today believing in things like QAnon, he certainly didn’t see that it didn’t have to do with that. (Also, in happier news, Kemp Powers is getting a new puppy and he tells us all about that.)

One of my only notes I wrote down while watching this was, “This movie is wild.”

Pete Docter: [Laughs] Better check your notes!

When I read about the movie I was surprised it was pieced together along the way with a lot of changes, because it feels like someone’s weird vision.

Docter: Well, I think from what I’ve learned about, I’m a huge fan of Disney as well as Miyazaki. And I always had these ideas that the movies would come out fully formed. And all the research that I’ve done shows that even my favorites, like My Neighbor Totoro or Dumbo, went on these super weird circuitous roads. And I do think there is this grand illusion that, when you watch something, it feels like it came down and it was perfect from the beginning. I’m not saying that that’s Soul, but I think the truth is, in all cases, that there’s a lot of development and wrong turns and withdrawals and additives. And it’s a creative process. It’s messy.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t say to Kemp, what a year for you between this and One Night in Miami. This feels like a busy time for you.

Kemp Powers: Yeah… [Laughs] It’s pretty weird. I’m not expecting anything like this to happen again. I’m just calling this my Michael Green year. A friend of mine, Michael Green, a couple of years ago, he wrote Logan and Blade Runner 2049 and The Orient Express and they all came off the same year. Things happen when they happen. So, I’ll take it when I can get it! But yeah, I’m very proud of both films.

Dana Murray: Plus he’s getting a new puppy. So…

Powers: I mean, this week. So yeah.

Do you have the puppy or you’re in the process of getting the puppy?

Powers: I’m in the process of getting the puppy.

What kind of puppy is it?

Powers: Bull Terrier.

Why don’t you have the puppy yet? What do you still have to do?

Powers: I have to get the gear, and the puppy’s not quite old enough.

Oh, I see.

Powers: Like seven, eight weeks. So, yeah, I’m getting the gear and I’m going to pick it up.

Docter: I think there is a big puppy shortage though, right? With the COVID and everything? Everybody wants cute dogs and they’re hard to find.

Is that true? I could see that being the case.

Docter: It’s a puppy shortage.

But isn’t that’s good?

Murray: The shelters are empty, but what it’s going to do is it’s going to spike breeders to breed more, so I don’t know.

Oh…

Murray: Okay… I derailed the whole thing.

So, Soul gets into a lot of things like life before birth and life after death, which are topics people historically get angry about. So how do you broach that without getting too deep into people’s belief systems and still say what you want to say?

Docter And I do think that’s why people argue about it, because they have deeply held beliefs, that of course are impossible to prove in any sort of way like, “look here’s evidence.” So, early on, I know that was a big concern with folks at Pixar. That we were going to accidentally piss somebody off. And, so, we did a ton of research.

That’s a much better way to put it, by the way. “How did you not piss people off?”

Docter: [Laughs] Well, yeah. I mean, my hope was that people would leave the theater, or watch it in their homes, and say, look, we got to talk about this stuff, right? Because it is things that we don’t generally think about a whole lot during the day. Maybe more so now than we pre COVID times? I don’t know. It’s super interesting stuff that I think could really shape the way we live our lives if it was more present Like, what are we here for? What’s our purpose? If we have one. And, I think those are things that if we asked ourselves more often, we might live differently. [Laughs] And, boy, that’s nice, low ambitions, right? With the cartoon movie for kids.

But also, I know Pixar movies can be trippy at times, but this is a trippy movie. I watched this in the middle of the afternoon. While watching I kept thinking this is something I should be watching “at night.”

Powers: [Laughs] When Pete told me that he wanted to make a Terrence Malick-zone for kids, at first, I was like, hmmm.

You need more leaves.

Docter: Yeah, more leaves.

When they jump from space to Earth, the score, is that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross?

Docter: Yes.

It’s almost like a Tron sound. It makes for quite an experience.

Docter: I mean, for me, as soon as you feel like, okay, well, I’ve seen this before…

Nope, sure haven’t.

Docter: I hope this film is challenging in good ways, but also emotionally truthful. I feel like, boy, it’s a testament to all the great collaborations we had from the music, to the visuals, and everything in between. That people were able to get in tune with, not what is out there, but what’s inside and make things that felt correct for the moment that we’re creating. And that’s tough to do, especially on a deadline.

Soul gets into the idea of “lost souls,” people who get too invested in a task or ideas that they lose who they are. With QAnon and things like that, there are a lot of people out there getting caught up in some pretty crazy ideas and not facing reality. Was that what you were thinking of when you came up with that?

Docter: I think in part that’s true. And then there are a lot of people who just seem to be drifting. You see people walking through the city or are you like, oh, are they there? Are they in their body? Where are they? Actually, I think the way it was originally, if I remember right, Jamie Baker put this in, and he’s one of our story artists. And we were looking for, not bad guys, but scary elements to this place. Because the astral plane is a place where you go when you’re just spacing out and having a good time. And you’re dreaming or daydreaming or doing something you really love. So, we were looking for ways to give that shades and have some stuff that was maybe a little scary to it.

And, the lost souls, I think both do that. But also, as you’re pointing out, I echo kind of a tendency to some of us have in life to kind of drift through. I think also, as we developed, we realized there’s really not too far of a jump from someone who’s totally into something totally passionate into whatever it is … making music. And then, there’s not much of a jump over into being lost and just completely obsessed and consumed by it to the point where you’re not really engaged in life anymore. And so, that seemed like, thematically, right on for what we were talking about.

Well, I’m happy people are going to get to see it under our current circumstances, which I know was up in the air.

Docter: What was your note to yourself again? “This movie is nuts”?

This movie is “wild.”

Docter: Wild! Well, that’s a little more positive I think than “nuts.”

Murray: [Laughs] And you need to watch it at night.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

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Just Months Ahead Of The 2021 Festival, Glastonbury Organizers Still Aren’t Sure It Will Actually Happen

Major festivals tend to set the tone for fests more broadly, which is why it was such damning news when Ultra Music Festival and Coachella were among the first fests to change their 2020 plans. Festival organizers held out hope that events in 2021 would be viable options, but even that isn’t guaranteed.

Glastonbury canceled its 2020 fest early on and set new dates for between June 23 and June 27 of 2021. In August, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis wasn’t sure about the status of the 2021 festival, saying, “The only certainty, I think, is the year after, 2022, to be perfectly candid.” Now, with the 2021 dates just about half a year away, organizers still aren’t sure if Glastonbury will be able to return for 2021.

In a new interview, organizer Emily Eavis told the BBC that a 2021 festival is still far from a guaranteed thing at this point:

“I can’t tell you how much we’d love to welcome everyone back to the farm! It’s been way too quiet here this year and we want to get people back here as soon as we possibly can. Obviously the vaccine news in recent weeks has increased our chances, but I think we’re still quite a long way from being able to say we’re confident 2021 will go ahead.

We’re doing everything we can on our end to plan and prepare, but there are still just so many unknowns and factors which are completely out of our control. What we definitely can’t afford to risk is getting too far into the process of next year, only for it to be snatched away from us again. We lost millions this year, and we can’t risk that happening again.”

She also noted that even if the festival doesn’t go on as planned, it’s possible they could still organize some livestreamed performances, saying, “We’re actually looking into the possibility of streaming some things from here if we can’t run the full show next year. We really want to get busy with planning some gigs — even if they’re to be streamed!”

Read the full interview here.

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CNN’s Don Lemon Had Two Words For Kayleigh McEnany’s ‘Carnival Of Lies’: ‘Girl, Bye’

During a briefing on Tuesday, her first in nearly two weeks, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany criticized the media for failing to cover the Hunter Biden non-scandal. “Really interesting turn of events, and good for those who covered what was a story all along and not Russian disinformation,” she said before walking away from the podium. With no f*cks to give, CNN’s Jim Acosta asked, “Isn’t it hypocritical of you to accuse others of disinformation when you spread it every day?” The question went unanswered, needless to say. McEnany also refused to acknowledge Joe Biden as the President-elect (the Electorial College made it official on Monday), because as another CNN employee pointed out, the Trump administration is nothing more than a “carnival of lies.”

While speaking on CNN Tonight, host Don Lemon said, “How do I describe this, uh, carnival of lies that is the White House? While the current president is hunkered down behind closed doors, nursing his wounded pride, his press secretary is acting like the election didn’t even happen. Acting like she is not about to be out of a job.” After playing a clip of McEnany deflecting during the briefing, an exasperated Lemon added, “Do you know she also worked for — girl, bye!” The press secretary used to work for CNN, where she accused Donald Trump of making “racist” statements and called him “a Republican in name only.” All these years, she’s getting buh-bye‘d by her former-co-workers:

“So much disinformation coming from the podium. Every day, it’s like, comes out, reads propaganda, talks about what ‘the media‘ is doing, criticizes ‘the media,’ ‘this what you should be covering.’ I think we got this. You used to sit here on the set with us. I think we got it. When you sat here with us, you thought we had it. You were happy to be here. But now we don’t know what we’re doing?”

One more for good measure: “Girl, bye.” Watch the clip below.

(Via Mediaite)

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Cupcakke Repurposes 50 Cent’s Breakout Hit To Call Out Her Contemporaries On ‘How To Rob (Remix)’

On 50 Cent’s 1999 single “How To Rob,” the rapper called out a bunch of his hip-hop contemporaries. Now, over two decades later, Cupcakke has done the same thing on her own version of the track, the appropriately titled “How To Rob (Remix).” The full list of people Cupcakke mentions on the song by name includes Sada Baby, Lady Gaga, Migos, Offset, Wiz Khalifa, Tory Lanez, Too Short, Young M.A., Lizzo, Lil Baby, Cardi B, Doja Cat, Sukihana, Lil Durk, City Girls, Megan Thee Stallion, Tekashi 69, DaBaby, Lil Kim, Chief Keef, G Herbo, Mulatto, Flo Milli, and DreamDoll.

She doesn’t pull punches on any of them either. She says of Cardi, “Runnin’ through your party just so I can find Cardi, like, ‘B*tch, I’m finna give you your old teeth back!’” Of Megan Thee Stallion, she raps, “Run up on Megan like, ‘Give me your funds,’ and you can’t even run ’cause you just got shot.” She also says of Lizzo, “Catch Lizzo, drag her out the food court,” and notes of DaBaby, “Pull up on DaBaby, I change his Pampers.”

It doesn’t look like she’s trying to start any feuds, though, as she says at the top of the track, “Gang, gang, gang / If you hear your name, it’s all muhf*ckin’ love, don’t take sh*t personal / But you know how I’m finna slap this b*tch.”

Listen to “How To Rob (Remix)” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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25 Holiday-Themed TV Episodes If Movies Just Aren’t Your Thing

Holiday movies get all the hype during the yuletide season but this year, if Lifetime rom-coms and feel-good Hallmark flicks just aren’t doing it for you, why not tune into the best Christmas-themed episodes of some truly great TV shows. There’s more variety here than on your average Christmas binge roundup — we’re talking supernatural haunting and workplace parties and animated adventure mysteries — but they all have one thing in common. They’ll get you in the holiday spirit, no matter what level of Christmas cheer you’re operating at this year.

Here are 25 of the best holiday-themed TV episodes you can stream right now.

NBC

The Office “Moroccan Christmas”
Season 5, Episode 11

Office Christmas parties are historically boring affairs but in season five’s “Moroccan Christmas,” Phyllis spices up the annual snooze-fest by introducing the group to a different culture. Of course, Angela — who lost her role as party planning president — wholly disapproves of the whole thing which makes Phyllis’s small victory even sweeter to watch. The episode also sees Dwight price gouging parents in the market for unicorn princess dolls and the office staging an intervention after Meredith gets so sloshed that she sets herself on fire. The whole fiasco makes you long for the bland, booze-free celebrations of your own workplace. Maybe.

Fox

Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Captain Latvia”
Season 4, Episode 10

Besides having the diggity-dopest tree lighting ceremony out of any show on this list, Brooklyn Nine-Nine really squeezed every bit of holiday drama they could for this Christmas episode. Two plots diverge on this holiday path as Jake and Charles hunt package-thieving Russian mobsters in their search for a Latvian action figure while the rest of the squad schemes up increasingly unethical ways to stick it to the MTA’s official caroling group during their annual singing competition. Despite the expected slapstick antics, this episode holds some tender, uncharacteristically sweet moments that speak to the bigger theme of togetherness, which is what the holiday is really about. That, and watching Terry Crews being smushed to death by a 30-foot rogue inflatable.

NBC

Superstore “Christmas Eve”
Season 3, Episode 7

Superstore has gifted us some memorable Christmas episodes over the years but its Season 3 showing feels worthy of another watch. Not only do certain characters act against type, getting white-girl-wasted on the clock and stealing store scooters to stalk their ex-husband and his new girlfriend — meet Craymie, everyone — the festive happenings in-store manage to nail that mix of relatability and absurdist humor the show has become known for. Jonah dresses as a disgruntled Keebler elf and bickers with Garret over their tense roommate situation, Glenn tries to convince a skeptical Mateo that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, Dina threatens to drop-kick baby Jesus … it’s all here, and it’s all funny.

FX

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia “It’s A Very Sunny Christmas”
Season 6, Episode 13

Yes, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia incorporated stop-motion animation in this Christmas episode a year before Community did it, but weirdly enough, that’s not the highlight of this episode. No, that honor goes to Charlie’s blood-soaked, Santa-assaulting epiphany that his mom may have been a prostitute and the revolving door of Kris Kringles that visited his house every year — along with a few bare a**ed elves — weren’t there to stuff his stocking after all. Well that, and the surprisingly sweet ending which sees the gang move past their seasonal trauma of old to usher in a new Christmas tradition.

Netflix

BoJack Horseman “BoJack Horseman Christmas Special: Sabrina’s Christmas Wish”

It shouldn’t be surprising that BoJack, a washed-up celebrity horse drowning his childhood trauma in booze, pills, and fame-chasing, doesn’t enjoy the holiday season. But his stoner friend Todd (Aaron Paul) does his best to get him in the spirit by busting out an old Christmas episode of his hit sitcom, Horsin’ Around. Most of the episode takes place within this meta-verse, as BoJack’s character tries to make the yuletide special for his adopted kids, especially Sabrina, who believes Santa can bring her dead parents back. It’s a rare episode that devotes itself (almost) entirely to the kind of warm, sentimental storytelling this show would otherwise bury under mental breakdowns and substance abuse and absurdist adventures.

Fox

Bob’s Burgers “The Bleakening Parts 1 & 2”
Season 8, Episodes 6 & 7

This episode has it all. An opening musical number. A Krampus-style monster called the Bleaken who steals Christmas cheer (and ornaments). A mystery, Ebeneezer Bleu-ge Burgers, and an underground warehouse rave for the gays.

NBC

This Is Us “Last Christmas”
Season 1, Episode 10

We’ll just get the emotional spoiler out of the way first: Yes, you will bawl your eyes out while watching this seasonal installment of NBC’s emotional torture device we call This Is Us. But there are parts you will genuinely enjoy, parts that don’t require you to come armed with a box of Kleenex and a pint of Haagen-Dazs. We learn about William’s romantic past, we’re treated to a hilarious recap of the nativity scene’s key characters, we get a Pearson family potluck filled with drama, and of course, a nice, juicy cliffhanger. There’s really a lot to be thankful for here.

CBS

Seinfeld “The Strike”
Season 9, Episode 10

Seinfeld has been credited with a lot over the years when it comes to comedy on TV but we don’t praise the show enough for its introduction of that most sacred of holidays, Festivus. Look, Christmas is fine and all, Hannukah has its merits, but until you celebrate the season by gathering friends, family members, and creepy bookies to air your collective grievances and donate to fake charities and wrestle each other in a “feats of strength” competition, you just aren’t doing the yuletide right.

NBC

Community “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”
Season 2, Episode 11

Community channels the nostalgia and stop-motion animation of classic Rankin-Bass Christmas specials for this seasonal episode that, despite plenty of pop culture nods and the show’s trademark humor, is kind of depressing. In the best possible way. We dive into Abed’s complicated family dynamics — his parents’ separation, his mother’s abandonment — and we do so through a fantastical alternate reality that sees the group traveling to the North Pole like a marauding gang of misfit toys, trying to rescue Abed from his loneliness during a time of year when loneliness is something we all feel more pointedly. It’s a truly inventive take on the expected Christmas bottle episode, one worth watching even if you’re not a fan.

CW

Supernatural “A Very Supernatural Christmas”
Season 3, Episode 8

Supernatural is a show about two bickering brothers who spend their days hunting demons, vampires, and other creatures that go bump in the night. So, of course, the show’s Christmas episode is going to have a bit more paranormal than, well, normal. Still, the show manages to weave those warm, fuzzy themes we’ve come to expect from holiday episodes with a larger plot that includes evil Santas, pagan gods, motel decorating, and Dean’s impending trip to Hell that feels in tune with the rest of the season. Look, some people like their holidays with a bit of murder and ritual sacrifice. We’re not here to judge.

Netflix

Arrested Development “Afternoon Delight”
Season 2, Episode 6

The Bluth’s Christmas celebrations go about as well as you’d expect in this episode. Sure, we get to witness the full glory of the banana suit and watch as G.O.B. is craned out of the wreckage of the family’s produce stand and dropped into the ocean, but there’s also some misunderstandings involving Blue Man Group rehearsals and Michael serenading his niece with a little “Afternoon Delight” at the office Christmas party that are hilariously uncomfortable to watch. Do it anyway.

NBC

30 Rock “Ludachristmas”
Season 2, Episode 9

After honoring Seinfeld’s Festivus (and before paying tribute to The O.C.’s “Chrismukkah”) we simply must celebrate another fake holiday we sorely wish could be canon in real life. We’re talking about 30 Rock’s “Ludachristmas,” a seasonal tradition where the staff of 30 Rock gets uproariously drunk, don inappropriate Christmas sweaters, use a stripper as a human charcuterie board, and blast that underrated classic from the Fred Claus 2 soundtrack.

[/caption

The O.C. “Best Chrismukkah Ever”
Season 1, Episode 13

The time has arrived to pay our respects to the only holiday-themed episode of a sun-soaked teen drama about hormonal high-school elites our generation is legally allowed to recognize. We’re talking about The O.C.’s Chrismukkah celebration. Now, granted there have been a few festive installments of this show and they’re all worth a watch, but the show’s first season is the one that introduced us all to this new holiday “sweeping the nation” and for that, it gets the glory of appearing on this list. You want a candy cane and a menorah? Well, you can have it here. The episode fused the best parts of both holidays, turned Seth Cohen into its official mascot, and brought the gang together for a fancy holiday party filled with soap opera cat-fights and steamy hookups. It was a true Chrismukkah miracle.

WB

Fox

Veronica Mars “An Echolls Family Christmas”
Season 1, Episode 10

Veronica Mars was the plucky teen detective show that was ahead of its time in many ways, and that extends to its Christmas episode. Following the separate investigations of both Mars family members, this outing sees Veronica learning a bit too much about her classmates during a round of poker while her father, Keith, hunts a stalker. There are some great quips and one-liners here and overall, the episode holds onto the show’s patented nihilistic tone while injecting just enough Christmas cheer to warrant a spot on this list.

NBC

Scrubs “My Own Personal Jesus”
Season 1, Episode 11

There’s a lot going on in this Christmas episode, but then again, Scrubs is a show that got a thrill from spinning too many plates. It really does no use to lay out the plot, you have to experience the controlled chaos yourself, but we can confirm that the Grinch, Turk impersonating a Baptist minister, and a nativity scene pop up at various points.

WB

Buffy The Vampire Slayer “Amends”
Season 3, Episode 10

Buffy’s plans of “Tree. Nog. Roast Beast.” are interrupted when her ex-lover, Angel, comes to her for help after he starts experiencing torturous visions of people he’s killed. He’s being tormented by something called “The First Evil,” and it takes the whole Scooby-Gang to help cure him, a pretty miraculous feat considering the grudges Xander and especially Giles are holding. Sure, the follow-up episode to this holiday treat sports the funnier lines, but “Amends” trades in themes of forgiveness and togetherness and found family that makes it a heartwarming watch — despite a botched vampire suicide attempt.

Netflix

Black Mirror “White Christmas”

We can’t, in good conscience, recommend this episode to anyone wanting to bask in the warm, artificial glow of obligatory Christmas-themed television. Black Mirror’s holiday special is just as f*cked up as the rest of the show, a flag it proudly waves using Jon Hamm’s remorseless manipulator to wreak havoc on his own life and the lives of others. Technology is clearly the monster here but those who wield it also hold the blame and the show finds a truly disturbing way to ruin a holiday musical classic. But hey, if you’re into that sort of thing, have at it.

NBC

The Office “Christmas Party”
Season 2, Episode 10

Everyone knows the office gift-giving tradition of Secret Santa is not to be messed with. Bad things happen when we disrupt the seasonal status-quo. Michael discovers that when he shakes things up by forcing the employees to play a game of Yankee Swap (or White Elephant, or Nasty Christmas, whatever you prefer) instead of just giving gifts they’d spent time buying or crafting for specific people in the office. That means Jim’s thoughtful gift to Pam — a teapot filled with homages to inside jokes between the pair — ends up going to Dwight for him to repurpose as a Neti Pot. It also means that everyone resorts to fighting over Michael’s gift to Ryan, a brand new iPod.

NBC

Friends “The One With The Holiday Armadillo”
Season 7, Episode 10

There are other, and perhaps better, holiday episodes of this long-running beloved sitcom, but any show that commits so fully to introducing a new religious mascot must be recognized. When Ross tries to teach Ben about the traditions of Hannukah, the only suit he can rent at the last minute is that of an armadillo. This leads him on a journey to crafting an extraordinary tale of Santa’s Tex-Mex loving helper, and eventually, the rest of the gang gets involved by donning their own Kris Kringle and Superman get-ups.

Fox

New Girl “Santa”
Season 2, Episode 11

Again, New Girl is one of those comedies that always managed to get its Christmas episode right but there’s something about “Santa” that earns it a special place in our heart. Maybe it’s Nick’s uncomfortable public sexcapade with Olivia Munn’s hard-partying stripper or the relatable awkwardness of running into your ex at a Christmas party or the final holiday musical number that wakes up the entire pediatric ward at the hospital. Or maybe it’s just because Winston gets roped into pretending to be Jess’s lover before getting to stage a faux breakup for the ages.

ABC

Happy Endings “No-Ho-Ho”
Season 3, Episode 7

Happy Endings is the only show on this list brave enough to confront a long unspoken truth: Sharing your birthday with baby Jesus f*cking sucks. Luckily for Jane, she’s got a group of well-meaning friends who try their best to ignore the festivities so that she can hog the spotlight for once. Unfortunately, they’re all obsessed with Christmas in their own uniquely-weird ways so the whole episode just proves to be a sweet, but meaningless gesture. Baby Jesus wins this battle.

ABC

Lost “The Constant”
Season 4, Episode 8

Did you know Lost had a Christmas episode? Sure, it’s buried under the nail-biting phone call fans had been waiting seasons for, and some poignant flashbacks that helped to shore up the at-time confusing mythology of the show, but it’s there. If you look closely — as closely as you can while being hurried through melting timelines and emotionally-wrought flashbacks and long-winded expositions about time continuums, you might even see some holiday decor and a well-lit Christmas tree. It’s enough for us.

Pop TV

Schitt’s Creek “Merry Christmas, Johnny Rose”
Season 4, Episode 13

Fans had to wait four seasons for a real Christmas episode from this loveable Canadian comedy but it didn’t disappoint. Not only are we treated to the rare flashback of the Rose clan, in all their glitz and glory, we also see how they’ve grown from those shallow holiday parties of old in the present. Their motel gathering is nothing to sneer at, perfecting the right balance of sentimental and silly to win us over and prove that despite losing their mansions and soirees and Moira’s “dearest friend, Paul Shaffer’s” musical talents, they’re better off this Christmas than they ever have been.

Netflix

Orange Is the New Black “Can’t Fix Crazy”
Season 1, Episode 13

Leave it to Jenji Kohan’s prison dramedy to end its groundbreaking first season with a wild cliffhanger involving drug-running operations and grease fires and surprisingly joyful Christmas plays and Pennsatucky wielding a cross-like some strung-out dollar-store angel tree-topper. This is the most bonkers holiday episode on the list, but it does find an inventive use for a classic holiday tune.

Netflix

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina “A Midwinter’s Tale”
Season 1, Episode 11

For a Christmas episode that refuses to acknowledge any of the traditional elements of the season — there’s even a moratorium on the word “Christmas” — the witches of Salem sure know how to throw a holiday party. Of course, theirs is one filled with seances gone wrong and child-napping demons and lighting yule logs to prevent monsters from shimmying down their chimney, but hey, we recognize all forms of holiday cheer here. Bright Solstice, witches.

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Steph Curry Showed Flashes Of Being His Old Self In Golden State’s Preseason Tilt Against The Kings

The word that immediately comes to mind watching Steph Curry play basketball is gravity. His shooting brings a unique sort of gravity, as does his playmaking, as does his ability to put the ball on the deck. There is one player in league history able to bring all of these things together in the way that Curry does, and last season, we barely got a chance to watch him do this due to a mix of a broken hand and the Golden State Warriors being wholly uninspiring when he was able to take the floor.

Tuesday night gave us a chance to see Curry at his most magnificent for the first time in a long time. While Golden State fell in its second preseason tilt — a 114-113 loss to the Sacramento Kings on a Kyle Guy game-winning three — Curry reminded us of his ability to throttle opposing teams from the opening tip.

Curry scored the first eight points of the game for the Warriors, and by the time he went to the bench towards the end of the first frame, he put forth a hilariously Curry stretch: 11 points, three assists, two steals, and a rebound in 10 minutes of work with 4-for-8 shooting from the field and 3-for-6 shooting from deep.

Curry still managed to look like he’s mostly rust-free after months and months of no basketball. The highlights, as they always are when he’s deep in his bag, were delightful en route to his final stat line of 29 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block on 11-for-21 shooting from the field and 5-for-13 shooting from deep.

Curry is more important to the Warriors than ever this season. With no Klay Thompson and a roster that is banking a ton on getting talented dudes who are either young or never played winning basketball into their system, Curry (and Draymond Green) needs to play like an MVP. Should that not happen, there is a very real chance that Golden State can’t make the play-in tournament due to how stacked the Western Conference is.

The good news for the Warriors, though, is that Curry is capable of doing some pretty incredible things. The grind of this season will be a lot, and there will be a ton of weight on his shoulders to perform at the highest of levels, but as we were reminded on Tuesday, Curry’s best is really, really good. After not having the gravity that comes from that in its lineup for essentially all of last year, Golden State as an organization is assuredly overjoyed that Steph’s back.

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Taylor Swift Almost Released ‘Folklore’ And ‘Evermore’ In 2021

The pandemic forced some artists to hold off on their 2020 releases for a few months or even a year in hopes that the world would return to “normal.” Others stuck to their original plan, giving people great projects for them to enjoy during difficult times. One of those artists is Taylor Swift. The singer released not one but two projects this year, first Folklore, then the new Evermore. But Swift is now saying both albums were almost delayed until next year.

“There was a time in the beginning of the process where I was like ‘I will wait till January when things are looking more normal then I will put out ‘folklore,’” she said in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “I was like that’s my old brain thinking that there’s any way that I can control this.” She further explained that the pandemic caused her to ditch her usual approaches to creating music.

“This is one of those things where I kind of had to just sort of throw out any playbook I had,” she said. “In times like these when everything is uncertain and everything changes in your world, I guess I just sort of took it as an opportunity to embrace the fact that even if you think you have control in normal times that’s an illusion.” She added, “If you’re making stuff, put it out if people need music and you’ve made music put it out.”

In the interview, which lasted a total of 50 minutes, Taylor also discussed grappling with the creative process. “I had felt at times – when I felt a lot of pressure – like I was doing some sort of obstacle course, and that’s not how you should feel when you’re creating,” Swift said.

You can listen to the full interview in the video above.