The next couple of years just got a little less dark. Jon Stewart is officially making his return with an all new “current affairs series” for Apple TV+ that’s part of a multi-year deal. Set to debut in 2021 and run for multiple seasons, the new show will have Stewart resuming anchor duties as he tackles the national discourse and his own advocacy work helping 9/11 first responders and veterans. The deal also includes a companion podcast.
For Apple, nabbing Stewart’s Daily Show follow-up is a major coup. In his nearly two decades as host of the Comedy Central series, he earned 20 Emmys – including 10 consecutive outstanding variety series wins – and almost single-handedly redefined political satire in American culture. Though Stewart’s new entry won’t have a nightly or even weekly cadence, it’s poised to thrust Apple TV+ into the national dialogue in a richer way. In that effort, it joins another timely interviews series, The Oprah Conversation.
As THR notes, landing Stewart is a significant get for Apple as it continues to make high profile moves to differentiate itself in the ongoing streaming wars. According to THR, “HBO made a play for Stewart’s latest on-air foray,” but ultimately, Apple TV+ sealed the deal.
At any rate, we’ll take more Jon Stewart skewering the news anyway we can get it.
Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine (Netflix comedy-variety special) — She of the Trump lip-synching now has her own comedy special during a year when very little is, in fact, actually fine. Directed by Natasha Lyonne, Sarah Cooper brings us many vignettes on light subjects as well as the unavoidable ones: politics, race, gender, class, and other light subjects. Expect appearances from special guests including Maya Rudolph.
Swamp Thing (CW, 8:00pm EST) — A dead body in a tree, a mysterious scratch, and more lead to an investigation into Todd’s skin tissue. Tubers!
Tell Me a Story (CW, 9:00pm EST) — An unmarked delivery rattles Ashley, and Jackson and Simone get down to some serious bonding business.
Kal Penn Approves This Message (Freeform, 10:30pm EST) — Actor turned Obama administration member turned actor Kal Penn (House, the Harold and Kumar trilogy) is here to celebrate the changes that young voters can make. This promises to be a non-partisan approach with comedic sketches and in-depth interviews that will help Gen Z be even more impactful than they already are. This week, Kal finally takes on the most important issue of all: voting.
Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Sarah Cooper
Jimmy Kimmel Live — Anne Hathaway, H.E.R.
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon — Shawn Mendes, Tig Notaro
Late Night With Seth Meyers — Natalie Portman, Cindy McCain
The Late Late Show With James Corden — Billy Porter, David Byrne, Kane Brown
If you want to catch up on semi-last-minute Halloween viewing:
Welcome To The Blumhouse (Amazon Prime films) — Blumhouse rarely swings and misses, so this is promising news when big Halloween gatherings won’t be such a good idea in 2020. Stay safe everyone, and pop some popcorn for a quadruple feature for these movies that landed this month.
– Evil Eye — What looks like a perfect romance transforms into a nightmare when a mom believes that a dark connection is influencing her daughter’s boyfriend.
– Nocturne — An elite arts academy becomes ground central for a disturbing sibling rivalry, in which one sister becomes unnaturally inspired by a dead classmate’s notebook.
– The Lie — Joey King stars as a teenage daughter who confesses to killing her best friend. This, naturally, results in even more lies and deception.
– Black Box — Phylicia Rashad and Mamoudou Athie star in this story about a single father involved in a tragic car accident agrees to an experimental treatment that results in a terrifying identity crisis.
Fighting in the NBA is a pretty rare occurrence these days. The league fixed it so that any in-game physical altercations would hit players where it hurts the most: their bank accounts. To be clear, that’s a good thing. All the hemming and hawing about players being soft today and how much tougher it was in the 80s and 90s is such a tired argument.
Now, what goes on behind the scenes is a little bit different. There are no doubt all sorts of run-ins between teammates that we’re not privy to. Practices can get heated. As can be human nature, guys get sick of being around each other every day. Someone inevitably gets fed up and crosses the line.
Good teammates can recover from it and move forward — just look at what happened after Michael Jordan punched Steve Kerr. There apparently was a similar situation with the Washington Wizards in the early 2000s between Gilbert Arenas and notorious hothead Steve Blake.
On a recent episode of his No Chill Gil podcast, Arenas talked how confused he was that after throwing punches at one another in practice, Blake wanted to go out to dinner together afterward and discuss plays.
“During practice I elbowed Steve Blake and he swung at me,” Arenas said. “I was like, ‘Damn, wait hold on.’ Oh, really? Did the white boy just throw a punch at me? Is that how we’re working here, right? We’re going through it, like wrestling on the floor. Practiced ended. He’s like, ‘Hey, man, y’all want to go to Legal Seafood?’
“What are you talking to me like that for? Don’t be talking to me like that. He was like, ‘Let’s go to Legal Seafood, food on me; let’s go through these plays.’ No, it’s just off the court this is him. On the court, he’s a whole different person. Then, we go to Legal Food and talk about plays. We didn’t even talk about him throwing a punch at me and we over here fighting in the corner.”
That certainly wasn’t the first or last time Blake had a confrontation with a teammate.
Blake had a reputation for not backing down against anyone, despite his size disadvantage, and was often the instigator in some of these incidences.
Arenas’ latest story only adds to the myth surrounding the former Maryland standout who had a solid NBA career as mostly a reserve but sometimes starting point guard.
Electing Donald Trump to be president of the United States set an incredibly ugly example for the nation’s youth.
We know how it’s affected the national discourse of regular adults. But there’s no denying the conduct of a president impacts how children around the world see the example being set for them. Every day for the past four years, children have been subjected to the behavior of a divisive figure that many of their parents chose to exalt to the most powerful office in the world.
Sure, adults can make excuses for him saying he’s an “imperfect messenger” or that they “didn’t vote for him to be reverend,” but these are all just ways to rationalize voting for a man with zero character. What a message to send to children: Act awful and you’ll be handsomely rewarded.
But what if you took away the “Trump” name and examined the character traits of him as an ordinary person? More specifically, what if your daughter came to you and said this was the kind of person she was planning to date? Well, one MAGA family found out and the results are funny, insightful and quite revealing about how we somehow hold our leaders to different and lower standards than we expect from ourselves in our day to day lives.
It has to be hard for a lot of children who want someone to look up to see Trump in office and their parents across the dinner table.
TikTok user @faithashjuran found the perfect way to show her parents just how hypocritical they are for voting for Donald Trump by pretending she was going out on a date with a boy with similar characteristics.
This daughter had conversation with her MAGA parents… https://t.co/ML27MGysXz
“Seems like he has a really good relationship with the Lord,” she says. “He does have a few sex assault allegations though.”
This caused both of her distracted parents to begin paying attention. “You’re such a liar,” her mother responds.
“No, I’m serious,” Faith replies.
“Why would you date this guy if he has sexual assault allegations?” the mother asks, sternly. “Cause there’s no proof,” she responds using a rationalization that Trump supporters commonly use to excuse his behavior.
“Also did a deep dive on his Twitter and he’s said some kinda racist stuff,” she continues.
Faith’s dad can’t believe she would “even consider this,” and her mom, still focused on the sexual assault allegations, says they’re “never good.”
“But you’d let a man like this run the country?” Faith asks in a perfect checkmate.
“She’s pulling our leg and pulling the Trump card,” her mom says, realizing her daughter is making a point. “Seriously, Faith?” her mother asks, visibly annoyed.
So, the question remains, if you wouldn’t want to the man around your daughter, why would you choose to let him run the country?
i would really like to know how i’m related to conservatives
The video is similar to a vital TikTok by an LGBT son confronting his father. In the video, the father explains that his conservative political views stem from his simple need to get up and do his job to provide for his family.
His son has the perfect comeback for his political apathy saying that it’s a “privilege to able to get up and go to work.” He brings the issue home by explaining that as a member of the LGBT community it was, “just made illegal to fire someone on the basis of gender or sexual orientation.”
So yes, dad, it does matter what happens in Washington. It matters a whole lot to members of your own family.
Tokyo Sports is reporting that Meiko Satomura is signing with WWE and joining the NXT UK brand. WWE fans will remember Satomura from the 2018 Mae Young Classic, particularly her match with Mercedes Martinez in Round Two of that tournament, which stood out as one of the best matches of the year, despite featuring nobody who was signed with WWE at the time.
Fans of Japanese wrestling or British and American indie wrestling will know Satomura as one of the best living wrestlers of any nationality or gender, and as the founder of Sendai Girls Pro Wrestling, an all-female promotion she co-founded in 2005, where she has trained some of the best of the next generation of female wrestlers.
Satomura recently announced that she’ll be stepping back from Sendai Girls, making only limited appearances going forward. According to the Tokyo Sports story, that’s because next month she’ll be traveling to England, to work as both an onscreen performer at NXT UK and a trainer at the WWE UK Performance Center.
Meiko’s worked with British indies such as Progress, EVE, and Fight Club Pro in the past, which means much of the NXT UK roster already knows her. She’s previously fought NXT UK Champion Kay Lee Ray, as well as Piper Niven, Jinny, and others. She’s also had a few matches with Pete Dunne, who speaks of her with great reverence.
In 2012, 2016, and 2017, Satomura led teams from Sendai Girls in Chikara’s King of Trios tournament. In 2016, they won the entire tournament, the only all-female team to do so in the twelve year run of the now defunct event. In 2017, the Sendai Girls made it to the finals again, but lost to British Strong Style, the trio of Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven, all of whom are now in NXT UK.
During Sasha Banks’ 2019 leave of absence from WWE, she trained with Meiko in Japan. Since then, Sasha has repeatedly tweeted about wanting to wrestle the legend:
Even if Satomura’s main focus in WWE is going to be the UK brand, that dream match becomes a whole lot more possible with her arrival in the company. Sasha will certainly be pushing for it. Once international travel to the U.S. becomes easier, we might see Meiko Satomura show up on Smackdown demanding a title match, or at least facing Sasha at some kind of “Worlds Collide” event.
In the meantime, we’ll look forward to seeing Meiko on NXT UK, not to mention her positive impact on the wrestlers who train there.
Over 8.7 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and at least 260,000 people have died from the virus. The worst is still yet to come, too: over the past seven days, “the U.S. reported an average of 69,967 new cases every day, the highest seven-day average recorded yet,” according to CNBC. “The seven-day average is up more than 19% compared with a week ago.” Point is, maybe now, during a months-long pandemic, isn’t the best time to tweet about your private-island vacation.
Kim Kardashian recently turned 40 years old, and to celebrate, she took her “inner circle” on a trip. “For my birthday this year, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than with some of the people who have helped shaped me into the woman I am today,” she tweeted. “Before COVID, I don’t think any of us truly appreciated what a simple luxury it was to be able to travel and be together with family and friends in a safe environment. After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time.” It’s true. Nothing makes me feel more “normal” in These Trying Times than taking my Boeing 777 to my private island to get “hooked [up] with Skims pajamas, KKW Beauty products, GoPro’s, waterproof disposable cameras.”
Happy birthday, Kim! The internet chipped in and bought you A Ratio.
mmmm lemme just bring up that “kim k is a woke slay queen” discourse from a few years ago, probably aged well lemme just… https://t.co/hm9ktqY58L
After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time. pic.twitter.com/VdDfda61xi
I haven’t seen ma family in 4 months because I work a public-facing job and I’m absolutely terrified of the possibility of passing Covid on to my vulnerable parents. I hope you had fun pretending things were normal, but spare a thought for those of us staying in the real world. https://t.co/O1YL1RLSqz
everyone mad at this tweet is just jealous that they didn’t think to fly their jets to their own private islands. it’s so obvious yet kim is the only one who thought to do it. that’s why she’s a visionary and y’all are stuck at work https://t.co/fPFKI4RJHW
After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time. pic.twitter.com/C4m6npxfxe
You know the thing that makes me the angriest about Kim’s tweet? The early 2000s-grade digital camera lighting in those photos. If you’re going to rent a private island, bring a professional photographer, jeez.
The Arizona Cardinals pulled off an improbable comeback win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football this week, winning in overtime as they took their first lead of the game on the game-deciding kick from Zane Gonzalez.
Even though the final score was a 37-34 shootout, the highlight of the game was from a defensive play by an offensive player. Budda Baker picked off Russell Wilson near the goal line as the Seahawks looked to extend their lead and took off for what appeared to be a sure pick-six. However, DK Metcalf chased Baker down from behind to make a tremendous play and keep him out of the end zone, with the Seahawks defense then forcing a four-and-out and keeping the Cardinals off the board.
As it turned out, Baker was mic’d up for Sunday night, and had a delightful response to Metcalf’s incredible play, asking his teammates how Metcalf caught him.
“How did he catch me?!”@buddabaker32 was mic’d up for our OT thriller vs. the Seahawks.
That chase down and the subsequent stop by Seattle could’ve done in the Cardinals, but Arizona rallied behind some timely defense in the late fourth quarter and overtime and some terrific playmaking from Kyler Murray to get them to a win and stay in the hunt for the hotly contested NFC West crown. Baker has emerged as a tremendous playmaker in the backend of the Cardinals secondary, and even if he didn’t quite get the glory of a 100-yard pick-six, he has quite the story to tell and a win to make it feel all the better.
DeAndre Hopkins had a monster night on Sunday, as perhaps the best wide receiver in the NFL caught 10 passes for 103 yards and a score in the Arizona Cardinals’ 37-34 overtime win against the Seattle Seahawks. Prior to the game, Hopkins caused a bit of a stir on social media, as images popped up of him driving past Donald Trump supporters on the highway and flipping them off.
According to the Arizona Republic, Hopkins was swerving through a caravan of individuals who support the president’s re-election bid and tossed his middle fingers in the air. Hopkins, in an appearance on the All Things Covered podcast with Bryant McFadden, made no secret that he flipped the bird, although as he explained it, this was a matter of getting a particularly nasty cramp above all else.
“I really was about to give the peace sign to them, but this finger was kinda hurting so it didn’t make it up in time…”
You have to hear @DeAndreHopkins side of the story about what happened on the way to the game the other night…
“Driving down the highway I guess I got in between a train or a bunch of cars that I wasn’t supposed to be in between in my car,” Hopkins said. “And they was honking the horn at me and stuff like that, I guess to tell me to get out of their way, and I didn’t. And the guy in front of me stepped on his breaks and tried to stop dead in traffic, and I got around him and I stuck him a birdie. I really was about to do the peace sign to him, but this finger right here was kinda hurting, so it didn’t make it up in time.”
Hopkins went onto say that this was not a political gesture, but rather, a response to the aforementioned person driving in a way that prevented him from getting around.
“I was like, ‘Damn, dude, you’re trying to stop on breaks in dead traffic, ’cause I’m in you guys’ train or whatnot, just trying to go to work?’” Hopkins explained. “So, yeah, it wasn’t nothing, nothing thrown out the car or anything like that. No speeding. Obviously, you see me right there. If I was in a Ferrari speeding, I don’t think you would be able to take a still picture of me. But yeah, that’s all.”
As someone who has walked on a sidewalk as one of these described Trump Trains has gone past, I can confirm that they move extremely slowly, and it is nigh impossible to get around one of them. As for whether you can have two index fingers cramp up at one time, well, that’s a different story, but even if he’s not quite telling the truth, let he who has never flipped someone off on the highway cast the first stone.
Sacha Baron Cohen did it again — with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan — during a time when no one thought it possible for blockbuster movies to ride high in the United States. Nearly everyone I spoke with over the weekend (from a distance) watched the movie, so it’s easy to guess that it’s already a hit for Amazon, which can rightfully claim the movie as their first original tentpole. Even the Kazakhstan tourism board has given into Baron Cohen’s charm, and he’s received more good news today of a toppled lawsuit against the film. How are the numbers looking, though?
Well, that’s a good question, and we may never know a concrete answer. Initial data reported by TV analytics provider Samba TV (via Variety) pointed towards at least 1.6 million households tuning into the sequel. That already bested Mulan‘s 1.12 million households (at $30 a Disney+ premium pop), so that’s certainly a “very nice” viewership milestone, but Amazon has countered Samba TV’s data.
Of course, Amazon hasn’t released specifics, but they’re claiming a larger number, which might be possible (people are stuck at home and want to laugh, the weather’s getting colder, and new movie offerings are sparse). The streamer revealed on Tuesday that the film was viewed by “tens of million of customers” (out of a total of 150+ Prime members globally) over the weekend. Imagine if those were movie tickets sold? There’s gotta be studio heads looking at these numbers and pressing for similar streaming deals.
Here’s an Amazon Studios statement that’ll make everyone forgive Bruno‘s existence, via Hollywood Reporter:
“Sacha has masterfully created one of the most well received films of these unprecedented times — showcasing some of the best and the worst of us, wrapped in one outrageous moment after another. But at its core, Borat 2 is a heartwarming story of a father daughter relationship and of female empowerment seen through a hysterical, satirical lens. With the tremendous launch of this global, tentpole movie, it’s clear our customers around the world want content that is both relevant and entertaining.”
Two months after Baron Cohen was spotted in Borat attire in Long Beach, it’s all happened so fast. And October turned out to be the perfect time to release Borat 2, not only in terms of the pandemic calendar but because Baron Cohen can manage to be both relevant and funny. The last few days ahead of release were intense, too, with all the details of the Rudy Giuliani portion finding their way online, along with Borat’s response to Rudy’s explanation and Cohen’s out-of-character remarks.
Congrats to Borat and Tutar. In fact, only John Oliver could make this whole thing weirder. Speaking of which, Oliver and Baron Cohen (not fistfighting) need to have a dream-team chat for all of us.
“I cried, and I’m not even American!” That’s one of the thousands of comments posted on the newest Black Eyed Peas video, which has been viewed more than 28 million times in one week on YouTube. “THE LOVE” with Jennifer Hudson and Black Eyed Peas was produced by will.i.am and it might be the most powerful campaign-ad-that’s-not-actually-a-campaign-ad that’s ever been made.
The video is a remake of the Black Eyed Peas’ popular song “Where is the Love,” but with revised lyrics and a powerful opening of Jennifer Hudson singing along with Joe Biden’s DNC speech. As Biden recalls the events of Charlottesville, the video shows clips of news coverage from three years ago, followed by the prayerful chorus, “Father, father, father help us. Send some guidance from above, because people got me, got me, questioning, ‘Where is the love?'” Soon will.i.am comes in rapping about the hatred in the world today, we see more of Biden’s words backed up by the music, and the effect of the whole thing is just deeply moving.
Some people in the comments refer to the video as an ad, but neither Joe Biden’s name nor his campaign are on it anywhere. He’s surely pleased with the video, but it doesn’t appear to be something that came from his campaign. The end screen of the video simply says “VOTE LOVE.”
If not an official ad, it’s a pretty darn clear endorsement. The Black Eyed Peas left a message in the comments on YouTube about why they made the video and what they hope people will take from the video:
“On November 3rd, the United States will decide as a nation which path it would like to walk, a path which will affect generations to come.
We want this video to be a reminder that in these unprecedented times, we must stand together.
We must choose the path we would like to walk for our future, and whether that path is one of inequality and hate–or equality, unity, and love.
We would like to formally invite you to #VOTELOVE this November 3rd.
Thank you for watching.”
Comments have poured in from Americans eager to end the chaos of the past four years, as well as commenters from around the world, from Germany to Thailand to Peru, and more. And people reacted with strong emotion and inspired encouragement, with comments like:
“This gave me goose bumps. So powerful.”
“Try to watch this without a tear in your eye. Our country’s core in on the line. VOTE”
“See, that’s the thing about America: we really are a great nation when we simply admit our mistakes, and do better. We consistently forget our history and it’s always to our peril. My hope is that this time is different.”
“Let’s bring some love, unity, character, democracy and justice. They’re all on the ballot.”
“Waoooo, this is the most powerful Ad I’ve ever watched , common AMERICA , wake up , PLEASE choose Unity, compassion and character.”
“That is the most beautiful & powerful political ad/endorsement I’ve ever seen. That should be on every TV every commercial break now through the election.”
“Beautiful song, beautiful sentiment, very powerful political and social statement. I’m from UK but this message is relevant throughout the world. Thank you.”
“I have watched this dozens of times over over the past few days & it still brings tears to my eyes.”
“Thank you for this. It is heartbreaking but beautiful, and makes me hopeful for a better tomorrow. Whether you are right or left, hate has no place in our society. Respect and love for each other, regardless of our differences in theology, religion, heritage, identity or appearance, is the only answer.”
It’s a universal message that resonates with people of goodwill everywhere. Here’s to voting love, and here’s to a future where we don’t have to keep bringing back this song with each generation.
@thenochillpodcast @peytonwatson LINK IN BIO Thnx @feetures @drinkorgain @mintmobile
