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On Friday, The War On Drugs will release Live Drugs, an old-school live album from a band known for faithfully adhering to old-school classic rock principles. Adam Granduciel has discussed using Bruce Springsteen’s Live 1975-85 — an expansive hodgepodge of recordings compiled over a decade and sequenced like a single show — as a template. Live Drugs takes that idea one step further by Frankenstein-ing several different versions of a song into a single super live track. It’s like The War On Drugs on steroids.

The result is a true rarity: an excellent live record by a contemporary rock band. It also feels like a capstone for their Lost In The Dream/A Deeper Understanding era, when The War On Drugs went from being a cult-ish indie act to one of the more popular and acclaimed mainstream rock bands of their generation. While the live versions don’t radically divert from their studio counterparts, the lushness and flat-out bigness of Live Drugs culminates the atmospheric and insistently anthemic heartland rock of the last two studio records. Granduciel set about to make grand music that could envelop the largest rooms, and Live Drugs shows that he achieved that goal. Whatever the band does after this will feel like the start of a new era, The War On Drugs 2.0.

Or perhaps it will be The War On Drugs 3.0. After all, this was a much different band before Lost In The Dream, which you can tell from records like 2008’s Wagonwheel Blues and 2011’s Slave Ambient, and also from their live bootlegs, of which there are dozens available online. If Live Drugs intends to tell a story about this band’s “popular” years, then the live bootlegs exist as a kind of parallel narrative, tracing a decade-plus of evolution and refinement. In that time, The War On Drugs grew from a glorified solo project for Granduciel to a formidable live rock band. Live Drugs presents them as a fully realized unit; the bootlegs reveal that getting there was a steady and frequently exciting process that took years.

Ahead of Live Drugs, here are eight shows that any War On Drugs fan will want to check out in order to fully appreciate the band’s arc up until now.

4/18/2009, KEXP Studios, Seattle

The 2009 edition of The War On Drugs is barely recognizable when placed next to Live Drugs. Granduciel is joined as always by stalwart bassist Dave Hartley, but the only other member is drummer Mike Zanghi. They had one full-length, Wagonwheel Blues, to their name, and it’s clear that Granduciel is still working out the War On Drugs aesthetic. He already had some solid tunes, including two songs — “Buenos Aires Beach” and “Arms Like Boulders” — that would remain staples of War On Drugs concerts in future years. But this radio station appearance holds primary interest for capturing The War On Drugs in an embryonic state, as well as offering a taste of obscurities like “Show Me The Coast” that would soon rapidly disappear from their setlists.

12/11/11, Bowery Ballroom, New York City

By the time of this fantastic Slave Ambient-era gig, The War On Drugs had expanded to include long-time keyboardist Robbie Bennett, which made them sound more majestic on stage. The material had also improved considerably; on songs like “Your Love Is Calling My Name” and “Come To The City,” which are rich with extended instrumental passages, you can hear Granduciel taking steps toward the guitar-hero posturing he’ll fully embrace by the time of Lost In The Dream. 2011 generally was a big development year for The War On Drugs, a period when you can hear them growing as a live act by leaps and bounds from the beginning of the year (when they were opening for bands like Destroyer, in support of Kaputt) to this show, which took place the night before a memorable appearance with The National at the Beacon Theatre. This gig is also noteworthy for Drugsheads because it includes the most memorable performance of the Grateful Dead’s “Touch Of Grey,” which regrettably exited their repertoire not long after.

4/8/12, Bowery Ballroom, New York City

If you notice a lot of NYC shows listed so far, that’s due mostly to the work of Dan Lynch of NYCTaper, an early Drugs partisan who dutifully recorded many of the band’s early gigs (as well as many great shows played after TWOD became indie-famous). The band’s return to the Bowery Ballroom just five months after the December show is looser and chattier, with Granduciel showing off the dry wit and rock-geek enthusiasm he normally reserves for interviews. While this recording shows that The War On Drugs were continuing to grow in confidence and instrumental prowess as the lengthy Slave Ambient tour progressed, the highlight here might be the between-song patter, which includes riffs about how Adam recently quit smoking, local musician Doug Keith, and Mike Scott of The Waterboys, one of TWOD’s biggest influences. The cover of “A Pagan Place” here is especially impassioned and magnificent.

4/4/2014, The Troubadour, Los Angeles

If I had to recommend just one recording from this list above all others, it would have to be this incredible show from early in the Lost In The Dream tour. Many of these songs — “Under The Pressure,” “Red Eyes,” “An Ocean Between The Waves,” “Eyes To The Wind,” “In Reverse” — have become constants in War On Drugs setlists, and appropriately form the core of Live Drugs. But this show might very well feature some of the greatest versions of those tunes; at the very least, it’s hard to imagine them being played any better than this. Lost In The Dream garnered The War On Drugs all sorts of “rock savior” hype, and you can feel that excitement carry over to this sold-out show at a historic rock venue. The lineup expanded again this tour, with guitarist Anthony LaMarca and saxophonist Jon Natchez finally stepping in to complete the modern Drugs lineup. (Drummer Charlie Hall also returned to the fold, bringing his bombastic musicianship and excitable stage presence.) But the highlight here is Granduciel fully cutting loose his guitar on especially long versions of “Under The Pressure,” “Come To The City,” and “Eyes To The Wind,” each of which tops 10 minutes. Absolutely essential.

9/4/14, Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh, N.C.

Not quite as epic as the Troubadour show, but that might very well be intentional. The raw early-tour energy of that gig has given way to the well-oiled assurance of a road-tested unit. The result is a performance that is a little more polished, with Granduciel not quite soloing as long as he did in Los Angeles. Depending on your perspective, that might not be a good thing. On the other hand, the power and focus of this lineup — which by now had seamlessly integrated the new members, to the point of making it difficult to remember what this band used to look like — really shines here. This is where The War On Drugs really starts to resemble the band you hear on Live Drugs.

8/12/17, Turf Club, St. Paul

About two weeks before the release of A Deeper Understanding, The War On Drugs played this special “micro show” for a Twin Cities radio station that functions as an almost “unplugged” performance. While still technically electric, this brief but exceedingly lovely set is about as stripped back as they ever get. (At one point, Granduciel promises that “we’ll have a few more pieces of gear” when the band returns to the area for a regular concert a few months later.) The vibe is mellow and introspective, a far cry from the “big rock” sound of the Deeper Understanding tour. But this proves ideal for that album’s ballads — the breathtaking take of “You Don’t Have To Go” is my all-time favorite version of that song — as well as their cover of Warren Zevon’s “Accidentally Like A Martyr,” which also appears on Live Drugs.

10/23/17, The Anthem, Washington D.C.

There’s nothing quite like the buzz you get from a band at the start of the tour, when the material is fresh and life on the road isn’t quite so exhausting. But there’s also something special about a tour closer, when you can feel a band exhaling and letting it rip one last time before heading home for a break. The latter is the case with this show, which concluded the initial leg of the Deeper Understanding tour. Fans of the jammier side of The War On Drugs will rejoice over long-ish versions of “Under The Pressure” and “Eyes To The Wind,” as well as a killer cover of Neil Young’s “Like A Hurricane” that concludes the encore with a mind-melting 13-minute take of “Thinking Of A Place.”

12/29/19, Union Transfer, Philadelphia

One of the last concerts before lockdown, and therefore one of last War On Drugs gigs for the foreseeable future. It’s tempting to analyze — perhaps overanalyze — the setlist for clues as to what the next studio album will sound like. For instance, is it significant that the first three songs are from Slave Ambient, including the greatly missed “Come To The City,” which disappeared during the Deeper Understanding era? Maybe … after all, the new song, “Ocean Of Darkness,” performed on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon did hearken to that period. But mostly, this is a pleasure to play because it’s the most recent snapshot we have of this band. Here’s hoping for many more great War On Drugs gigs in the near future.

Live Drugs is out November 20 via Super High Quality. Get it here.

Over the weekend, a plethora of worried stars begged fans to pray for R&B singer Jeremih, who had apparently been hospitalized with symptoms of COVID-19. Big Sean, Chance The Rapper, Hitmaka, and more took to social media to implore their followers to direct their thoughts to the Late Nights singer, who 50 Cent revealed was in the ICU. 50 also admonished fans to take COVID seriously. On Sunday, 50 gave fans a little good news, however; in a tweet, he said Jeremih is “responsive today, doing a little better.”

Jeremih is far from the first hip-hop star to require treatment for the deadly coronavirus. Kim Kardashian confirmed in October her husband Kanye West had a “scary” case of COVID-19 in March, while Houston rap legend Scarface, Griselda Records founder Westside Gunn, and incarcerated South Florida rapper YNW Melly all recovered from the virus. Unfortunately, New York underground rap mainstay Fred The Godson died at 35 after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Precautions taken against the virus’ spread forced the closure of most live entertainment venues across the country and wiped out plans for dozens of festivals and tours, costing many musicians and technicians their livelihoods over the past year. While some festivals plan to attempt returns in 2021, the outlook isn’t good, with thousands of new cases per day and no plan in sight from the irresponsible leadership of the recently deposed Donald Trump, who reportedly infected over 130 of the Secret Service agents tasked with his protection.

Last week, John Oliver gave himself 30 seconds to party hard while celebrating Donald Trump’s reelection loss to Joe Biden. Now it’s season finale time, and the host did get to face off with Adam Driver (you can read about that confrontation here), but there was also an unavoidable subject to discuss. Not much has changed since last week because Trump still refuses to concede the election despite Biden’s 306 projected electoral votes next to his own 232. And despite his dwindling legal options, Trump’s still withholding all transition funds to Biden, so once again, Oliver needed to talk about “this a**hole.” (And again on Monday morning, Trump falsely claimed victory.)

Oliver wanted to make one thing very clear, which is that Trump’s constant ranting about election fraud “really is nothing,” and eventually, he’ll be forced out of the White House. Before that happens, though, Oliver’s aghast at the “absolutely unforgivable” way that Trump’s going out as president. “Trump lost this election, and he knows it,” declared the host, but he’s seemingly determined to spend his days tweeting voter fraud claims and conspiracy theories while letting the virus running rampant. As his “parting gift to the country, Trump is somehow managing to divide us even further while also hobbling his successor at the worse possible time.” And that, Oliver declares, is becoming “deadly serious,” not only because of the pandemic’s increasing death count but because of all the 2nd Amendment-enthusiast threats against city commissioners “for counting votes.”

Oliver does see light coming at some point in 2021, but he foresees much work ahead:

“The fact that Trump won’t be president next year is good. It’s really good, but there is a lot of work to do, and at least in the short term, things are gonna suck for awhile, but we have to try and repair this damage.”

The rest of the segment includes Oliver’s disbelief that Republicans are indulging Trump’s delusions for unknown reasons, and multiple Fox News hosts are giving air time to false conspiracies about dead voters “stealing” the election. That would include Tucker “Waiter’s Nightmare” Carlson and Laura Ingraham talking to a scrambled voice that’s like “Megan Mullally undergoing an exorcism.” Then there’s Jon Voight calling for the greatest uprising since the Civil War while likening Democrats to Satan. It’s nuts, and Trump’s coping with his misery by shouting out Scott Baio on Twitter.

Is it 2021 yet? As Oliver showed at the end of the episode, he is finished with 2020 to the point of blowing it up.

It has been an up-and-down year for Megan Thee Stallion. “WAP” is the biggest hit of her career, but Tory Lanez allegedly shot her. She has spoken out against him on multiple occasions in recent months, and now she has done so again in a new GQ profile.

In the story, Meg said that Lanez tried to pay her to keep quiet about the shooting:

“Like, I never put my hands on nobody. I barely even said anything to the man who shot me when I was walking away. We were literally like five minutes away from the house. […] [At this point] I’m really scared, because this is like right in the middle of all the protesting. Police are just killing everybody for no reason, and I’m thinking, ‘I can’t believe you even think I want to take some money. Like, you just shot me.’”

The piece then notes, “A lawyer for Lanez denied that the rapper offered Megan and her friend money.”

Last month, Lanez proclaimed his innocence on social media, and Meg offered a direct response, tweeting, “This n**** genuinely crazy.” Meg also previously claimed that Lanez tried to apologize to her over text after the shooting.

Read the full GQ feature here.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Dafne Keen has got a knack for playing the “feral child.” She stole screen time from Hugh Jackman as one in James Mangold’s Logan, and she hooked His Dark Materials fans in Season 1 with her portrayal of Lyra Belacqua, a scrappy orphan with a mysterious destiny. The show, based on the best-selling fantasy series from Philip Pullman, is gearing up for another installment, and Keen is shedding her patented wild child for a more grown-up look.

Lyra’s endured loss, pain, and betrayal. There’s a prophecy about her that has both witches and religious fanatics clamoring to find her. And she’s forced to trust a stranger in an even stranger world to survive in Season 2. It’s a weighty responsibility for an actress so young but holding her own with established talent on screen — the show also stars Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and James McAvoy — isn’t really anything new for Keen. We chatted with the star about being on her own in Season 2, how the show mirrors real life right now, and botched auditions with Hugh Jackman.

What’s your character’s mindset heading into this season?

I think it’s quite sad, actually. I mean, she’s grieving and it’s just, it’s much darker. I feel like she’s much less trusting. She really jumped into relationships and friendships and crazy stuff in Season 1. And she’s just much more vulnerable now as a character, I’d say.

Fans are introduced to probably the most important relationship of the series this season, the friendship between Lyra and Will. How did you and Amir Wilson go about forging that connection on and off-screen?

Amir and I got on pretty instantly. We became friends really quickly. We went out on walks. We went to the cinema. We went rock climbing. We basically were just very determined to get on. We had that chemistry, which was great, and when we were working as Lyra and Will, we just played a bit, we played in our characters and stuff. And by the end, we were so comfortable being Lyra and Will that it just flowed.

I heard pranks were involved, too.

[Laughs] We had a few pranks. There was this incredible woman, absolutely one of my favorite people out there, Claire, and she organized this entire thing where Amir’s mom sent us really embarrassing child photos of Amir dressed like a nurse. We printed them on t-shirts for Halloween and had everyone on set wear them. No one told him. Then we all started taking off our jackets, and everyone was wearing these really embarrassing pictures of his on a t-shirt. We also cling filmed his entire trailer. Like, everything, even the cutlery with recycled cling film, obviously. What else? It was so many pranks.

Did he ever get you back?

No.

Well, not yet.

[Now] I’m wondering why he didn’t …

It is a change for you, going from acting against Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, James McAvoy, to really shouldering the screen-time this season with just Amir. Anything you miss about season one?

I miss acting with Lin so much. I just miss Lin so much. We have so much in common. We’re both Latin, which meant we spoke in Spanish. We both love musicals, which meant we were singing constantly. He’s so talented. He’s so lovely. I get on with this family so well. He’s just, he’s such an incredible person, honestly.

You filmed Seasons 1 and 2 back-to-back though, so were you all in the same space?

It was the same studio but me and Amir were filming in this massive backlot. They built an entire town in the parking lot. I got lost there a few times, I’m not going to lie to you. And Lin was just in like a tiny hot air balloon, so it was quite different. He was on a different stage. I used to sneak off to see him. He used to sneak off to see me. We’d spend lunch together sometimes. So yeah, it wasn’t like we didn’t see each other.

So you get an entire city and Lin gets a hot air balloon.

But he got to be there with Andrew Scott, which is pretty cool.

Right, no room for complaining then. Season 2 is about these two teens trying to better the world despite the terrible adults around them. Does that mirror what’s going on in our own world right now?

Oh, 100%. I feel like that’s the best thing about His Dark Materials, is that it subtly throws shade at the world we’re living in right now. The whole Magisterium situation. The whole children are more mature than adults. At this point, it just feels so real.

There’s a theme of Season 2 about trust and questioning authority. Is that something that comes naturally to you as an actor, to be curious and ask questions?

I think I do. I think you can’t trust everything everyone tells you, especially when they’re human beings. Like we’re all humans, we all make mistakes. So, just question stuff before you’re told to do it. I’m not saying don’t listen. I’m just saying question it.

One of Lyra’s biggest internal struggles in Season 1 was her dysfunctional family dynamic. Does that get resolved this season or no?

She’s a child from a broken home. It’s honestly quite complicated to think about because you wonder, is it better for her to have parents that are psychopaths? Or, is it better for her to think she’s an orphan, but at least believe she has good parents, you know? I don’t know.

Your first major film role was in Logan, another fantasy/sci-fi set adventure with a committed fandom. Did that prepare you for this show in any way?

I think Logan was such a learning curve for me. It was such a big moment in my life. It was the reaction people had to it, also. It already had a massive fan base so it was quite similar to His Dark Materials. By the time His Dark Materials came around, I had Hugh [Jackman] who had taught me so much about [how to handle] fans and even acting. I feel like I went in much more prepared than if I hadn’t done Logan.

Word is that the audition process was a bit unconventional too.

[Laughs] Okay. So, this is actually quite embarrassing. So I did it and the first time was absolutely chaotic. I had a watch on, and it’s sounding my alarm during the audition. I didn’t know who the director was. I thought the director was like a technician and then he was like, “I’m the director,” and I was just really awkward after that. I was really awkward around Hugh. It just went all horribly. I got to my hotel and I went, “I can’t leave like that.” I just thought, “This is horrendous.” I went back and I was like, “I am so sorry. Can I do it again?” And they were like, “Sure.” So, I did it again and I said, “Can I please do an improvised scene?” And I did my improvised scene and I think they liked the improvised scene because I got the part.

So making Hugh Jackman put in some overtime was worth it then.

Exactly.

Did your audition for this show fare any better?

Oh gosh. My auditions are just so chaotic.

Is that a running theme? Like, if they go bad, you know you get the part?

Oh, yeah. No, I’ve definitely come to that conclusion by now. Every time something really bad goes down, I’m like, “I’m going to get the job.”

What happened?

I was on my holiday, right? I’d been filming all summer. I was on my three-day holiday and they were like, “We need you to audition right now.” And I said, “I’m going to take one quick dip in the ocean.” As you do in the Caribbean. I was just swimming tranquilly, and then this jellyfish, which I don’t see, you can’t see it, you just feel it… So I felt this sting on my face, and I screamed. We were on this tiny island, which had no hospital and it was 40 minutes away from the main island. So, either [the swelling] went down, or I was going to die, basically. Everyone in the hotel was like pitching aloe vera, vinegar, someone offered to piss on my face. I was like, “Please don’t pee on my face. I’m 12-years-old and I do not want somebody to be peeing on my face, at the moment.” Eventually, it didn’t get worse, so we just suspected it was going to get better. So, I did my audition and my face is so swollen and red and like disgusting. I did it in a tiny hotel room with terrible lighting at 2:00 AM. So, you know, very, very bad audition. But, I got it, so…

HBO’s ‘His Dark Materials’ returns on Monday, November 16.

Shortly after The Boys wrapped up its acclaimed second season, showrunner Eric Kripke said that the myth of superheroes, including violently jingoistic Homelander, “doesn’t really apply as cleanly today, because there’s these undeniable fascist underpinnings to it. They’re there to protect white, patriotic America. That’s what they were designed to do… They’re protecting the status quo.” He added, “Superheroes are inherently MAGA.” This message was, ironically, lost on many confused Trump voters.

Over the weekend, supposedly a million Trump supporters, when really it closed to 10,000, descended on Washington, D.C. for the Million MAGA March to oppose President-elect Joe Biden legally winning the election over Donald Trump. At least one protestor dressed up as Homelander, with Trump’s face over his own, which caught the eye of Krispke. “Um… are they actually watching the show?” he tweeted. Homelander actor Anthony Starr chimed in, as well, tweeting, “The art of ignorant dumbfuckerry.”

The Boys co-creator Darick Robertson wondered how these “doofuses don’t even understand that ‘Homelander’ is the bad guy.” I’m sure Bruce Springsteen wonders the same thing every time “Born in the USA,” a scathing indictment of a country that sees its citizens as little more than fodder in an endless war, gets played at a Trump rally.

You can check out the tweets below.

A few days ago, Billie Eilish dropped her latest video, for “Therefore I Am.” It was relatively bare-bones in its production, as it was filmed on a phone and features only a handful of cuts. The mall-set video has performed well so far, though, as it has over 29 million views on YouTube as of press time. Now Eilish has shared some behind-the-scenes photos and videos of the making of the visual, and it looks like she had a blast.

On Instagram, Eilish posted a gallery of photos and images of her posing with store mannequins (and her poopy puppy) and offered a glimpse at what filming looked like, which was pretty much just a cameraman holding a phone and following Eilish as she took over the Glendale Galleria mall. She and a friend also took on the “Try Not To Sing Or Dance Challenge” that is popular on TikTok, a challenge at which they failed. Eilish manages to stand still sometimes, but then there are moments when she couldn’t help but twerk.

Sharing the post, Eilish wrote, “SWIPE FOR TIA BEHIND THE SCENES LOLLLLLL. empty mall at 4 am. u see us doing the try not to dance challenge and faaaaaaailing. this shoot was so chaotic LMFAO we had so much fun.”

Check out the behind-the-scenes look at “Therefore I Am” above.

It’s been 42 years since the original Star Wars Holiday Special aired and, frankly, I don’t think that could be recreated, even in some sort of laboratory. To be fair, I’m not sure why anyone would want to recreate it, but it’s a thing unto itself. It’s truly a remarkable specimen. I would pay money to watch a family in 1978 watch it. Seriously, try to imagine that. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who saw Star Wars in theaters the year before (which was pretty much everyone) and craved something more. People didn’t really have VCRs then so, outside of seeing it in theaters that were still showing it, it’s not like you could just watch it anytime you wanted like today. (Though, watching the original, non-Special Edition 1977 Star Wars is probably more difficult today.) Regardless, this would all end on November 17, 1978 when the whole gang would return for an adventure, right there on CBS.

And, technically, that’s true. It’s still weird to think something that stars Harrison Ford as Han Solo can be so hated, but the original cast makes what amounts to cameos (Ford might actually have the most screen time, surprisingly) and, instead, most of the two hours (with commercials) is spent with Chewbacca’s family as they wait for him to arrive home for Life Day. Now, what makes this especially trying is, like Chewbacca, his family are Wookiees. And Wookiees grunt and growl and certainly don’t speak English. So, this is what most of the special consists off – oh, yeah, and there are no subtitles so we seriously have no idea what they are saying. Then, every now and then, people like Bea Arthur, Art Carney, and Harvey Korman show up. (There is also a pretty nifty Boba Fett animated short, the character’s first appearance anywhere.) So I keep imagining those families in 1978, all sitting around the TV, starting off with big smiles, as those smiles slowly fade over the next two hours. (Or, as it’s also known, “my face while watching The Rise of Skywalker.”)

I do wish this iteration of Lucasfilm would release a pristine version of the Holiday Special. It’s not hard to find, it’s all over YouTube, but a nice, cleaned up version would be pretty great. Or at least throw the thing on Disney+, at this point the film is a historical artifact. It’s certainly not “secretly good,” or anything like that, but I’ll be honest that it’s kind of a fun thing just to have on in the background around the holidays. It’s pretty trippy to look at. It’s the best Star Wars installment that is better without sound. A good sign Lucasfilm is starting to embrace the Holiday Special is that at Star Wars Celebration in 2019, one piece of merchandise was the Star Wars Holiday Special lunchbox. Okay, sure, but it is the first piece of merchandise to ever come from the Holiday Special. and with Star Wars and all the merchandise that’s out there, that’s really saying something. Anyway, my point is if Lucasfilm ever released the original Holiday Special, I would buy it.

Another sign Lucasfilm is embracing the Holiday Special is, well, they made a new one. This time it’s Lego-themed and called The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, which will debut on Disney +. And it takes the similar theme of heading to Chewbacca’s home planet of Kashyyyk to celebrate Life Day, only this time with the cast of the sequel trilogy in Lego form. There are a couple huge differences between this version and the 1978 version. The first is, this time, very few members of the actual cast returned to voice their roles. The second is, this version is actually watchable.

To be fair, I’m selling it a little short for the punchline there. The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, coming in at a brisk 45 minutes, is quite enjoyable. And compared to the pacing of the first special, this one feels lightning fast. Taking place after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey is trying to train Finn as a Jedi, but things are not going well. Rey takes off with BB-8 to seek guidance at an ancient Jedi temple. It’s there she discovers a mysterious crystal of some sort that allows her to time travel through some of the most memorable events of Star Wars canon. But Return of the Jedi era Palpatine and Darth Vader get wind of this and decide they want this power for themselves and chance Rey through space and time to get it. It’s all good fun!

Even though it’s not the actual cast, it’s nice to see these characters one more time in something that’s not The Rise of Skywalker, even in Lego form. (I’ve tried rewatching TROS and I can’t make it through. It’s just a depressing movie to watch, for all the wrong reasons.) Not to get too bleak, but it appears we are entering a not great time, pandemic wise. And a lot of us won’t be with our families over the holidays. So it is nice that we get a little treat from our buddies at Star Wars to help get us through.

But, hopefully, someday, things return to normal. And the way I envision it is, when this happens, Lucasfilm also does the right thing and releases the terrible 1978 version so that we can all sit around the television with our families and be miserable, together, like they were back in 1978.

‘Lego Star Wars Holiday Special‘ will stream via Disney+ on November 17. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

The Last Week Tonight season finale started off serious (with John Oliver discussing Trump’s refusal to concede) and took a turn for the weird when Adam Driver showed up. Yes, the Adam Driver apparently decided that it was long past time to confront the host’s obsessive remarks, and there have been a lot of them! Oliver has referred to Driver as a “f*ckable redwood” while begging the “brooding mountain,” “pensive bison,” “nasty shed,” and “irredeemable steer” to humiliate him, sexually and in various other various ways. It’s a subject upon which Oliver’s grown more intense as this year’s passed because — let’s face it — we’re all kind of losing in in 2020.

Finally, Driver showed up to play the role of an Adam Driver who would like Oliver to, uh, cool it. As the host worked his way toward the final minutes of this year’s programming madness, a hilariously mad Redwood Tree popped into view on Facetime, much to Oliver’s joint delight and fright. This was, perhaps the best way for the show to end an entirely chaotic year, although the best was yet to come.

“Do you realize over this past year what you’ve asked me to do to you?” Driver snarled. “Collapse on your chest. Tie your fingers in a square knot. Step on your throat. Shatter your knees. Pull your heart out through your ear. What’s wrong with you? You realize we’re strangers, right? I don’t know you. And now, random people on the Internet stan us, claiming that you thirsting over me is a mood.”

What did Driver ask for? An apology, for he’s “sick of people stopping me on the street and asking me if I’m gonna punch a hole in you like a Marriage Story wall.” Fair enough, although Oliver eagerly demanded to know, “Are you giving me an order? It didn’t sound like an order.” And they kept the act going until Driver urged him to get outside and experience life because it’s been a hell of a year for everyone.

To that end, Oliver did leave the “blank void” that has acted as his backdrop since March, and he stepped outside the studio to discuss how this year’s been a big, fat “holy sh*t” of an experience. That not only includes the pandemic but the deaths of iconic figures like Chadwick Boseman and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and of course, there was the election. Oliver is, of course, keeping his hopes up that next year will bring change, but he’s totally done with 2020.

“Let tomorrow be about solutions, but today is about vengeance. F*ck you, 2020. Get f*cked.” And then he blew sh*t up.

I think we can all get behind that one. See you next year, John Oliver.

A lot of factors have contributed to the viral success of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.” Among them are the vibrant personalities of the single’s performers, the catchiness of the song itself, and TikTok. “WAP” became the center of a dance challenge that took over the platform, and now Jack Black has gotten in on the fun with perhaps his wettest video yet.

Black has always been graceful, and he puts that on full display in his “WAP” dance video, for which he dons a revealing Speedo swimsuit and is being sprayed by a steady stream of water from off-camera throughout. Black goes through the literal motions and nails them all, from high kicks to twerking to suggestively thrusting his pelvis at the ground.

Black joined TikTok back in March, and there was much rejoicing. Ahead of Halloween, he and Tenacious D partner Kyle Gass covered the Rocky Horror Picture Show classic “Time Warp,” and they were joined by Phoebe Bridgers, Karen O, King Princess, Peaches, Susan Sarandon, Elizabeth Warren, Eric Andre, Ezra Miller, George Takei, Ilana Glazer, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Heilemann, John Waters, Pete Buttigieg, Michael Peña, Reggie Watts, and Sarah Silverman.

Watch Black’s “WAP” video above.

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