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First things first, we all need to be clear about the distinction between floor is lava, generally, and Floor Is Lava, specifically. The former, lowercase all the way through, is a game most children have played with their siblings or cousins or friends in which you must leap from one piece of furniture to another without touching the floor. The game ends when there is one competitor who remains safely on a piece of furniture, making that person the winner, or when someone’s mom shouts “Stop jumping on the furniture,” in which case no one wins because moms are undefeated.

The latter, complete with capital letters and italics, is a new Netflix competition series that is based on that children’s game and is, as of this writing, for reasons that historians and anthropologists of the future will teach entire post-graduate courses on, the most popular television show in the world. I say that as someone who watched five episodes in a row recently. It is profoundly stupid. As am I, sometimes. I have regrets.

But I’m sure you have a few questions about all of this. Please, fire away.

What is any of this?

Excellent place to start. Floor Is Lava is the latest of Netflix’s reality/competition shows that are somehow both very much more and very much less than their network counterparts. Like Temptation Island but find it too classy? Try Too Hot to Handle. Enjoy dating shows but wish there were more preposterous gimmicks? Click on Love Is Blind. The Netflix algorithm is here to pump your stupidest guilty pleasures into your stupid veins as efficiently as possible. It’s exciting and strange and a little disquieting. Welcome to the future.

The game works like this: Three teams of three compete in each episode. They have to navigate their way across a room meant to represent the rooms of a house — basement, bedroom, study, planetarium for some reason — by leaping from structure to structure without falling into the “lava” that surrounds them. The team that accomplishes it fastest and loses the fewest people gets $10,000. It’s very simple. On paper. Stuff like this happens a lot.

Okay. But why did you put lava in quotes like that?

Well, because, as you can see in the GIF above, each of the structures they’re leaping from and to is floating in a pool of bubbling reddish-orange water that is meant, for the purposes of the show, to be actual lava.

I’m still lost. Please continue.

Okay. This is the weirdest part of the show. Everyone involved has just really agreed to accept that what is very obviously a pool of colored water is, in fact, bubbling, fiery lava. This is full-on method acting by everyone involved. You see it when a jet shoots up and splashes someone in the back and they pause for a second before they realize they’re supposed to shout “Ow, hot” or whatever. You really see it when someone’s teammate falls into the “lava” during a failed leap and everyone acts like they really, truly just died.

Huh. So this is like a Wipeout, Holey Moley thing, but with fake lava?

First of all, no. Second of all, how dare you?

I’m sorry. I’m sorry for snapping. But, no. This show is not as good or fun as those shows, for two main reasons: One, everyone on those shows — especially my beloved Holey Moley — knows they’re involved in a nutty bozo circus of recklessness and misadventure, and they lean into that energy in a tongue-in-cheek fun way that this endeavor does not match; two, the stakes are much lower here, both in prize money and gameplay, with this being more like a wetter, less dramatic version Legends of the Hidden Temple than either of those shows. Like, you will not see anyone get wiped out by a huge padded windmill on Floor Is Lava, and you definitely won’t see anything like this, which is my second favorite thing that has happened on television all year, just behind the Jackie Daytona episode of What We Do in the Shadows. I have no higher praise to give.

Well, that’s a bumm-… hold on. Is that guy okay?

No one knows! Probably!

Jesus Christ.

Greatest show on television.

Okay, so there’s nothing wild like that happening? Then what’s the point?

Oh, there is definitely some fun to be had. Take, for example, this lady, a member of the first team to tackle the course in the very first episode.

Guess what happens to her.

She… does she bash her face?

Blammo.

I think I’m grasping this now. Are there also, like, teams of bros in American flag tank tops making corny jokes about dating and/or the obstacles?

I knew it. So here’s my real question, I guess: How and why is this currently the number one show in America?

Three reasons, I think, if I had to try to level a guess, which I kind of do:

• Netflix has a very powerful reach, to the point that anything that cracks its algorithm and bubbles up to the leaderboard tends to become wildly popular for a brief period, like Tiger King did a few months ago
• People are very bored and fried due to … [gestures broadly toward a summer filled with massive political unrest and a pandemic-related quarantine that could last through the year or longer]… and might enjoy shutting their head off to watch lunatics pretend water is actually scalding hot lava that has bubbled up from under the earth and melted the entire floor of a house but not, for some reason, the highly flammable cloth furniture
• People like seeing strangers flailing their bodies and faces into things

America’s Funniest Home Videos has been on the air for like three decades. There’s a formula for success here.

Yeah, I get it. So… should I watch Floor Is Lava?

Up to you, buddy!

That’s not helpful.

Okay, fine. Sure. Watch it. It’s silly and fun and a decent way to kill an hour. But not until you’re caught up on Holey Moley first.

Deal.

One more Holey Moley GIF for the road.

The NBA is steadily approaching its restarted season, with teams expected to make their way to Disney’s Wide World of Sports early in July to start training camp for the planned restart late that month. Shaquille O’Neal will be part of that restart in his analyst role on TNT’s Inside the NBA, and has plenty of thoughts on the challenges facing the players in Orlando.

Shaq spoke with Dime this week on behalf of Krispy Kreme, as he’ll be part of their virtual grand opening on Wednesday for their new line of doughnut bites and mini crullers. We talked about his quest to own more Krispy Kreme franchises, how he can eat three boxes of doughnuts with ease, his many business ventures, the NBA’s restart plan, why he’d struggle to play his best without fans, and why the bubble will be a mental and physical grind for the players.

Last time we really talked was at a Krispy Kreme commercial shoot a few years ago and you said you wanted to own up to 40 or 50 franchises. Have you been able to add some more franchises and how has your partnership with Krispy Kreme grown?

It’s one of my best partnerships ever. We’re in talks about more franchises. We continue to give people the taste that they crave and they want, and we’re on this call today because for the first time ever, Krispy Kreme is going to be available everywhere in America. Krispy Kreme and Walmart are partnering up for the new Doughnut Bites and Mini Crullers available in all Walmarts across the nation — and if you can’t get to a Walmart check out Walmart’s online grocery store. You know, I have one of the most historic stores in Atlanta, that’s the first one to start, and we’re looking to get some more. We’re just talking and, you know, things like this take time. I’ve been trying to get in the Krispy Kreme business since ’93, and it took me awhile to get in. Now that I’m in, it’ll probably take me awhile to get the franchises I crave. In the meanwhile, we’re going to keep giving the people the enjoyment that they need. We’re going to keep coming up with fresh ideas and great partnerships, like the one with Walmart.

You’re participating this Wednesday in the virtual grand opening. How can folks get in on that and what’s that going to be like?

Well, it’ll be on Facebook Live, Wednesday at 7 [p.m. ET]. We’re going to play games with fans across the country and motivate 40 lucky participants, and they’re going to have the chance to compete to win free doughnut bites and mini crullers for a whole year. So we’re just going to have fun.

I’ve gotta ask, what is Shaquille O’Neal’s go-to doughnut order?

My go-to order is three boxes of glazed. When I’m feeling good and haven’t done anything for the day, I can go through three boxes right away. But, listen, I love crullers, I like the chocolate sprinkles — actually I like every doughnut at Krispy Kreme — I can eat a whole box of crullers. But when it comes to Krispy Kreme, I’m an OG that likes OGs. So I like the original glazed, but I can go for the mini bites, the crullers, the chocolate sprinkles. Whatever they have to offer.

We talked previously about how you advise with current athletes a lot about the importance of investing and having off-court ventures. I feel like now that’s something more and more guys think about and work on while still in the league. Is that a legacy you’re proud of, being one of the most prominent athletes-turned-businessman and being an example for these guys on how to build on what you make while an athlete?

I’m not the first, and I’m definitely not the biggest, so I can’t take all the credit. The biggest is Junior Bridgeman. He has some Wendy’s, Pepsi. Second is probably Jordan, third is Magic Johnson, and I’m probably in fourth. But, listen, I got it from those guys and I got it from my upbringing. My father always threw the stat in my face about how guys don’t take care of what they have. We came from a place where we had no money, and he’s like, “Listen, you’re the only one in the family making this money. Make sure you hold onto it, make sure you can be in new things. You don’t want to have it and then let it go and be one of these guys who’s like, ‘I had this, I had this.’ So take care of business.” I gotta thank Magic Johnson, being out here in L.A. and watching him move around, I wanted do things similar to what he was doing.

I do want to get your thoughts on the upcoming NBA restart. What are your thoughts on what they’ve got planned, the format with the 8-game race to the playoffs and the play-in game, and how they’ve come up with this plan in what is obviously a unique and unfortunate situation?

Very unique. Very unfortunate. It’s going to be trying. It’s not … when people get ready for the playoffs, this is not how they get ready for the playoffs. So to be in the bubble, 30 days, to play in those games, I always try to speak from the standpoint as if I was there, and I can say I would probably not perform at a super high level without any fans. So, the guys are going to play, I don’t know how they’re going to do, but being a former NBA player and a guy that still works at TNT covering the NBA, I’m with the guy whether they wanna play or not want to play. I support them either way and I wish them well. But, for me, it would probably be difficult to play at a high level without seeing my family, my friends, enemies, hecklers, kids, dads and sons, business people. I need to see all that to get pumped up. I need to see my children. I need to see a little kid running behind the bench trying to get an autograph, “Ooh can I get an autograph.” I need to see that. So I wish the guys well, but I know it’s going to be difficult.

I was going to ask how you thought guys will handle being in the bubble, not just without there being fans, but, while there might be some family that’s allowed in at some point, these are guys that are creatures of habit. There’s a routine that they get into, whether they’re on the road or at home. How difficult will that be for these guys to establish that new routine and try to find that high level again?

I think it’s going to be very difficult, because it’s something they haven’t done before. Like you said, routine is key. Shootaround, go home, kiss the babies, kiss the wife, take a nap, wake up, drive your special route to the game. So being in the bubble, you can’t leave and can’t have people coming in, I know it’s going to be difficult for guys. But this is the climate that we’re in now, and if guys want to win their championship they’re going to have to persevere.

From a physical standpoint, guys haven’t been in the gym. This is even more different than what we see in a lockout experience where there’s a hurry to get a season done, but there’s been some gym time. What are the difficulties physically you think guys are going to have and how would you approach balancing making sure your body’s right and making this push for the playoffs?

Well that’s another thing that’s going to be difficult, when you haven’t played organized ball in awhile to just come out and start playing. Some guys are going to have a quicker chance of getting back than other guys. Working out in the gym and lifting weights has nothing to do with basketball. There’s a difference in being in shape and being in basketball shape. And then, there’s no way to emulate playoff basketball. You can get five of your friends and run 1,000 sprints, and you still can’t emulate playoff basketball. I don’t know how long the training camp is, but I’m sure this is going to be the first time guys are playing organized ball together and guys have to adjust quickly. Not only that, but you have to have mental adjustments. Being in that bubble, guys aren’t used to that. So, mental adjustment — not seeing your wife, not seeing your kids, eating the same room service every day — there’s a lot of adjustments you’ve got to make on the fly.

Are there any teams you think this might impact more? Teams that might’ve been finding some form at the time the hiatus started and might have a more difficult time picking back up to that level when we restart?

Anytime you’ve got super high level players and they come in ready, it’s not hard for everybody else to get in sync. But there were a lot of young teams that were starting to gel and look really good. So, it might effect them more than the Lakers or Milwaukee or the Clippers or teams of that nature. Like I said, a lot of teams were starting to gel and play together. Portland I think was starting to make a nice little push. Dame had that streak where he had a few 50-pointers and they were trying to make a push. Sacramento was also trying to make the eight-spot, so it’ll be interesting. I can’t predict what teams are going to do, but it’s just going to be very interesting. I guess whoever is mentally toughest and mentally strongest will advance.

We need as many excursions from the present moment as we can get these days. Thank goodness for music videos. While many video directors and artists have had to get extra creative of late to account for quarantine restrictions, there were still plenty of visuals filmed before the country went on lockdown.

There was Future’s acting debut in “Life Is Good,” where he and Drake played every day 9-5ers dreaming of becoming rap stars — with cameos from several people, including Lil Yachty. Lil Yachty’s own “Oprah’s Bank Account” video, gave us the unforgettable visual of him in full Oprah cosplay, interviewing Drake and DaBaby. Other notable visuals include Drake’s megamansion in “Toosie Slide,” and DaBaby’s mini-caper film in “Find My Way.”

The prevailing theme for this year’s most impactful visuals has been sweeping narratives and celebrations of pop culture icons. Here are the ten best rap music videos of 2020 so far.

10. Suigeneris — “Brown Justin Beiber”

Suigeneris is the least known name on the list, but that could change with more catchy tracks like “Brown Justin Beiber.” He got our attention with the song title, and kept it with a fun video which showed the young artist partying with friends — including a scene in a giant vat of Flaming Hot Cheetos. For the bravery of that stunt alone, he deserves every one of his 2 million+ YouTube video.

9. Blueface/DaBaby — “Obama”

Barack Obama is the most charismatic President in modern history. Similarly, Blueface and DaBaby are two of the rap game’s biggest characters, and decided to take us back to simpler times with their fun video for “Obama,” which featured a Bill Clinton-oval office “reference” and an Obama impostor legalizing weed in DaBaby’s native North Carolina with a 3-second phone call. That’s not quite how the legislative process works, but we salute the hilarious visual nonetheless.

8. Drake — “Toosie Slide”

The prevailing visual of Drake’s “Toosie Slide” clip is supposed to be him doing the TikTok-ready dance in the hallway of his home, but many people barely remember the dance as much as the fly on the wall access to his gorgeous mansion. He got his MTV Cribs on and let director Theo Skudra lead us from room to room of his Toronto estate. By most any standard, the house is impeccable, automatically making it one of the year’s best videos — and the most confounding, as every luxurious nook of the Toronto estate makes his idle threats seem more pointless.

7. Armand Hammer – “Charms” Feat. KeiyaA

Armand Hammer’s “Charms” visual is an eerie reflection of the times. One can’t help but notice the ominous fog in the orange-tinted distance, which resembles the smoke billowing through cities having a national uprising. Why is it happening? Because as Billy Woods narrates, “I was given this world, I didn’t make it / This a crazy place.” Video creator Joseph Mault, a previous collaborator with the duo, offered viewers a first-person perspective of an uninhabited jungle that’s open to interpretation. Maybe the area reflects a left-behind region — or maybe it reflects an opportunity to build anew. The sprawling jungle, like life, is what you make of it.

6. DaBaby — “Find My Way”

DaBaby opened up his “Find My Way” video by asking if “you ever seen someone become a monster for a good cause,” setting the stage for the Reel Goats-directed mini-movie chronicling he and his girlfriend’s spree of robberies throughout rural California. The Bonnie & Clyde concept isn’t exactly a new video conceit, but “Find My Way” is at the top of the canon. The 10-minute video reaches a crescendo when they’re discovered at a hotel, ending the video off with a bang.

5. R.A.P. Ferreira — “Leaving Hell”

R.A.P. Ferreira’s animated “Leaving Hell” video is a perfect addendum to his intrepid narrative of self-discovery. Most videos that closely follow an artist’s lyrics are obnoxiously literal, but there’s a charm to the Ben Clarkson-directed visual. When the chorus comes in as Ferreira, fka Milo, comes across a giant trumpet in the sky, it’s beautifully evident that the song and video are working symbiotically. The renowned lyricist’s abstract poetics are in tandem with the colorful, multi-dimensional video, and one may not be sure if they want him to keep weaving his tale so the animation continues or the other way around.

4. Joyner Lucas — “Will“

Joyner Lucas is known for left-of-center video concepts, and he decided to pay homage to one of the culture’s biggest legends on “Will.” The song showcases Joyner paralleling the rap star’s legacy with his own walk through life, as the video showcases him culling through Will Smith’s extensive catalog of blockbusters. The video was so impactful that it even got Will Smith to do a remix of the song.

3. RMR — “Dealer” Feat. Future and Lil Baby

RMR went viral with “Rascal,” but his “Dealer” video, featuring Future and Lil Baby, is a more captivating concept. The three-minute visual shows RMR bringing over 18 classic art pieces to life under a golden sky. Who knows where RMR’s country-trap forays will take him, but we can forever thank the unorthodox artist for the visual of Future rapping as the Statue of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II.

2. Future & Drake — “Life Is Good”

It’s an event whenever Future and Drake link up. They decided to play into the magnitude of their “Life Is Good” collaboration with a fun Director X-helmed video where the two rap gods explore a range of other careers, including mechanics, chefs, and agents at an off-brand Apple Store. The video features cameos from the likes of 21 Savage and Lil Yachty, who joined the often brooding, braggadocious duo in having a little fun with their image.

1. Lil Yachty — “Oprah’s Bank Account” Feat. Drake and DaBaby

Some rappers are prone to title their song after a name referenced on the track. The galaxy brain version of that circumstance is the video for Lil Yachty’s “Oprah’s Bank Account,” where he turned his “you look as good as Oprah’s bank account” punchline into a nine-minute ode to the media mogul. Yachty was bold enough to dress up as Oprah and reenact her talk show, interviewing Drake about “reaching your full light skin capability” via a beard, and DaBaby about his glass-half-full perspective on making repetitive songs. Yachty may not get any calls to star in Oprah’s biopic, but it was fun to see all three artists make light of themselves.

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

Zendaya was one of six actresses to take part in the Hollywood Reporter‘s Drama Actress roundtable, along with Janelle Monáe, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Helena Bonham Carter, and Rose Byrne. The Euphoria star is the newest to the business we call show (she’s 23, although she’s been acting since she was 13), and the other panelists were impressed by the relative youngster. After Zendaya said her age, Bryne replied, “That’s extraordinary. I mean, at 23, I was a depressive weirdo. You are so composed and erudite.” She also had the best starstruck moment among the actresses.

“I mean, this is exciting. I’m proud of myself for speaking at all because I was very nervous,” she said after Aniston raved about meeting Julie Andrews and Monáe and Byrne did the same for Julia Roberts. “But when I met Beyoncé, that was the only time I’ve ever acted like, real not cool. I just lost my cool. My dad even said it because I was with him at the time and he was like, ‘Dude, you nerded out just then.’ And I was like, ‘I know, I’m being weird.’ Usually I can keep it together.” Zendaya appeared in the music video for Beyoncé’s Lemonade standout “All Night,” along with Chloe x Halle, which she called “a really powerful moment and I feel like I was a part of music history.”

It’s impressive that Zendaya has “nerded out” only once. I know I would have lost my sh*t being around Jake Gyllenhaal when he started doing this on the Spider-Man set.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Last week, Phoebe Bridgers released her new album, Punisher, a day early, and now she has given fans another treat. She guested on last night’s The Late Late Show, and she gave James Corden a taste of his own “Carpool Karaoke” medicine by singing “I See You” in her car.

Donning her signature skeleton outfit, a bike helmet, and black sunglasses, Bridgers drove around and sang out the single as she drifted around corners and did donuts in a parking lot (although stock footage of professional drivers doing those stunts did the actual heavy lifting).

Before the performance, Bridgers took a few minutes to chat with Corden, and she explained why she decided to release Punisher early and not “push” it:

“I just had a couple people reach out and ask me if I was going to put out the record at all with the political climate, or even push it down the line, and I just feel like the subtext of that is waiting for people to forget about Black Lives Matter, or waiting for white people to be able to talk about themselves on the internet again, which I find insanely cringey and offensive. […] I think it really worked out and I hope that this movement goes on for as long as it takes, which I think is going to be a long time. I feel like it’s like Kony 2012 energy but over months and months, so it’s cool to see.”

Watch Bridgers on The Late Late Show above.

Last week, comedian and actor Chris D’Elia denied accusations that he’d sexually harassed and groomed several young women when they were underage. His statement included a claim that he’d “never knowingly pursued any underage women,” although he stated that he was “truly sorry” for allowing himself to be “caught up in my lifestyle.” It’s not clear what exactly D’Elia was apologizing for, although he acknowledged that he’d offended people over the course of his career, and he has since been dropped by his agent and manager. Now, the lead actor of You — for which D’Elia portrayed a pedophile character in Season 2 — is speaking out about the allegations.

Penn Badgley, who’s very open about how troubled he is about his own stalker character’s popularity on the show, spoke with the LA Times and condemned the behavior that’s described in the allegations against D’Elia:

“Systemically, it needs to be addressed. Individually, it needs to be addressed. Am I the person to address all of those things? You know — it did affect me deeply. I was very troubled by it. I am very troubled by it. I don’t know Chris. I know that, if there’s anything we need to do in this age, it’s to believe women.”

He further expressed disappointment on how You may have unwittingly acted as a haven for a truly abusive man:

“[T]he idea that a show like ours would indirectly, unwittingly be a haven for people who are abusive is disturbing. It’s very disturbing. What does it take to change that? Because it’s not just vetting individuals. There needs to be a change in culture and attitude so that that kind of behavior is so clearly reprehensible, it’s so clearly, like, anti-human.”

Badgley also stressed that the You producers have spoken with 17-year-old actress Jenna Ortega, whose character interacted with D’Elia onscreen, “to make sure she felt safe” following the surfacing of allegations. And Badgley further explained that You attempts to deconstruct the systems that help create cultures were predators can flourish. “I would hope that at least our show is not serving to uphold these kind of, like, bunk ways of being and these systems, right?” he added.

Over the weekend, Whitney Cummings, who starred alongside D’Elia in Whitney, also reacted. In doing so, she described the accusations against D’Elia as pointing toward a “pattern of predatory behavior,” against which she vowed to never be silent.

(Via LA Times)

Walmart’s website strikes again. Just a day after Lil Baby snapped on the retailer for offering a knockoff of his signature 4PF chain, another Atlanta rapper found his own trademark looks up for sale. However, that rapper — 21 Savage — merely chuckled to himself and Lil Baby, posting a screenshot of the bootleg chains on his Instagram story with laughing emojis and a cryptic reply.

The product in question is a two-chain set — which is ironic, considering 2 Chainz was one of the first Atlanta rappers to get ripped off back in 2017 — featuring 21’s “Savage” and hockey mask pendants, retailing at $39.99. 21, laughing off the poor-quality duplicates, told Lil Baby, “We finna own 1,” although whether he was referring to one of the chain sets or a branch of the family-owned Walmart he left to the imagination.

Of course, Walmart, like Amazon, allows third party retailers to “rent” space on its site to sell their goods, so there is likely another culprit than the still-controversial Walton family — nothing a cease-and-desist couldn’t handle. However, it has been pretty funny to watch rappers’ signature looks pop up on the website of a brand which once refused to carry uncensored versions of their albums.

Meanwhile, on the music front, 21 Savage recently teased an upcoming video with Gucci Mane and last appeared on “Secret” with Summer Walker. He’s been hard at work on Savage Mode 2 with Metro Boomin.

Check out 21 Savage’s reaction to having his Slaughter Gang chain knocked off above.

NASCAR is in the midst of a change, as Bubba Wallace, the series’ lone Black driver, speaks out on the Black Lives Matter movement and successfully pushed NASCAR to ban Confederate flags from events.

The backlash to Wallace from a certain subset of NASCAR’s fan base, the ones that would like the sport to remain a safe space for racism, has been swift, but so has the support from new fans that want to watch races and cheer on Bubba. My Twitter timeline, which is typically fairly quiet during races given that I mostly follow folks interested in basketball, was more active than I’ve ever seen it in the last stage of Sunday’s race at Talladega.

As Wallace charged to the lead briefly and then battled in the top 10 for much of the final stage before being forced to pit on a late caution as he was running out of fuel, fans were enthralled by the action on the track — which, I must say is particularly unique to superspeedway racing at Talladega and Daytona — but also had plenty of questions.

I hope folks tuning in recently to support Wallace stick with NASCAR, a sport I’ve enjoyed watching for years but could desperately use an infusion of a younger, more diverse audience. As such, I’d like to try and answer some of those questions fans may have about terminology they hear on the race broadcast — I will say NASCAR broadcasts do a better job defining terms than most any other sports broadcasts — as well as some of the things that will happen during the race that may not be familiar to someone new to the sport.

Loose vs. Tight

You will hear announcers and drivers talking about their car being “loose” or “tight” throughout a race, sometimes with regards to one driver fighting both issues at the same time. That, unsurprisingly, is very bad. A loose race car means the rear tires lose traction first and make the back end of the car step out. The telltale sign of a loose race car is the back end sliding out in the corners, which can lead to spinning and wrecking. Sometimes, you’ll hear that one car forced another to “get loose,” which is the act of disrupting the air flow to the back bumper of the car, forcing the back end car start sliding up the track, which can lead to a spin or, at the least, forcing the other driver to really work the wheel to save it.

A tight race car means it doesn’t turn as much as the driver wants it to because the front tires lose traction before the rear tires, and this means they have a hard time sticking with the bottom line on the track. A driver with a tight race car will have to step out of the throttle to get the car to the bottom of the track or getting out of turns, losing speed in the process. Sometimes, a car can be both things, loose getting into turns and tight getting out. Again, that’s extra bad.

How do you fix these issues? That gets us to our next terms.

Trackbar, Wedge, Air Pressure Adjustments

Once a car is on the track there are three main ways for drivers and the crews to make adjustments to help the car’s handling. One is the track bar, which crews can adjust with a wrench that goes in the back windshield and drivers sometimes will adjust with a rod in the car (although some feel they only screw things up more when handling it themselves). The track bar runs underneath the rear of the car and can be raised or lowered to shift weight distribution from one side of the car to the other, and can change how it handles to either tighten or loosen up the car.

A wedge adjustment can only happen on a pit stop and requires a crew member to adjust the tension in the rear spring of the car. Sometimes you’ll hear about them calling to add wedge or taking out wedge during a pit stop. Adding wedge (increasing the spring tension) raises the car and makes it tighter, while taking out wedge (lowering the tension) lowers the car and loosens it up. Wedge adjustments are done in “rounds,” which is the amount the crew member will turn the ratchet. Sometimes it can be a quarter or half round, and sometimes it’ll be more than a full turn.

Finally, crews will toy with the air pressure in the tires to get the car to handle better. Lower air pressure will make a car tighter, while adding more air pressure will make the car looser. Most adjustments in air pressure are made to the right sides, particularly the right rear, because of how much force is put on the right sides on the banked corners.

Four Tires vs. Two Tires

For that same reason, that the right sides take more wear on the banked corners of NASCAR tracks, sometimes on key pit stops some drivers will take just two new tires (you might hear an announcer call them “stickers” because they’re new and came with the sticker on them still) on the right side rather than a full four to shorten their time on pit road and pick up some positions on the field. While that can be a good strategy for track position, if it’s done with too many laps left in a race, the worn left side tires will cause them to lose a bit of speed and the cars that take four tires will be at an advantage. Sometimes guys will take no tires and just get a splash of fuel to ensure they can make it to the end (we saw this some at Talladega on Monday).

Green-White-Checker

This is the “overtime” format NASCAR introduced years back to keep races from ending under caution, which is the most anti-climactic finish and fans hated it. The fix was to ensure a race always gets at least one full lap under green before being officially called. The Green-White-Checker designation refers to the flag order, with the first lap starting with the green, the white flag indicating the last lap. Once the leader takes the white flag (crosses the start/finish line for the final lap) the next flag ends the race. Sometimes this can mean a yellow and a checker, but typically if there’s a wreck on the final lap that’s not towards the front of the field well before the finish line, they’ll keep the race green for the leaders to battle it out (as we saw this Monday at Talladega).

Stages

NASCAR recently introduced stages to each race, breaking them up into three segments in an effort to make things more competitive. The first two stages each award points to the drivers in the top 10, making them valuable to the race for the playoffs, and reward drivers for running up front, even if they have issues or wreck later on in the race. The stages also work to prevent as many runaway winners, as there were times when, over a 500 mile race, you’d end up with the majority of the field getting lapped by the eventual winner. Since a caution flag is thrown after each stage, it ensures fewer green flag pit stops, closer fields, more restarts (where action tends to happen) and incentivizes the early and middle portions of the race.

Drafting

One of the first things folks notice when watching NASCAR is how close the cars get to one another and to the wall. That’s all part of the plan to reduce drag and increase speed. At Talladega and Daytona, the 2.5 mile superspeedways on the circuit, the use of “tapered spacers” to reduce horsepower by limiting air flow to the engine, bunch up the field and you get the type of racing we saw Sunday, where they’re nose to tail 5-10 deep and three-wide all the way around the track. Most tracks aren’t quite like that, but drafting is key at all of them, both in pushing someone to the front and also drafting to gain on them and, potentially, “slingshot” by them by using the speed you pick up drafting off of them to pass.

“Bump-drafting” is an aggressive form of drafting where the car behind will literally bump into the car in front at nearly 200 miles per hour. Some tracks, like the superspeedways, this is encouraged because the cars stay “wide open” (full throttle) the entire way around the track. At other tracks, where you let off the throttle in the corners or have to even use the brakes, bump-drafting at the wrong time in the corners can send someone into wall.

Drafting is also done by “side-drafting,” which is when cars get real close to each other when running side-by-side, this is done to manipulate the air flow on the side of a car and push more air onto the other car’s spoiler, slowing it down. When a car breaks a side draft, the resulting pocket of air that gets quickly filled can disrupt the other car, getting them loose or slowing them down as well.

In “Moving On,” the 16th episode of the final season of The Office, Pam interviews for a new job in Philadelphia, only to discover that her would-be boss, played by Bob Odenkirk, is essentially a bizarro Michael Scott. She declines the job because she realizes that she cannot work for another Michael Scott again.

In one way, that episode of The Office comes full circle for Better Call Saul‘s Bob Odenkirk, with him playing a version of the character for which he was very nearly hired back in 2005. The hiring of Michael Scott on The Office, in fact, was probably the most difficult casting decision that had to be made on the show for legendary casting director Allison Jones.

Casting Michael Scott was “the longest part of the [casting] process,” The Office producer Ben Silverman said in Andy Green’s book, The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s. “We were circling Bob Odenkirk. He was available. He had a great reputation in the comedy world, and he hadn’t yet become famous. He wasn’t really well known.”

However, Odenkirk wasn’t the only actor on their radar. In fact, over 35 actors were at least under consideration for the role of Michael Scott, including Robert Townsend, David Arquette, Jason Lee, Dave Foley, Dan Castellaneta, Thomas Lennon, Mark McKinney, Horatio Sanz, Ben Falcone, Owen Wilson, David Koechner, Hank Azaria, Rick Moranis, Kevin Nealon, Dan Aykroyd, Jon Favreau, Eugene Levy, Christopher Guest, Jason Segal, Andy Richter, Jeff Garlin, Cedric the Entertainer, Richard Kind, Matthew Broderick, William H. Macy, Paul F. Tompkins, Stanley Tucci, Steve Buscemi, Gary Cole, Stephen Colbert and John C. Reilly. Most of those actors obviously did not make it past the “consideration stage.” However, Paul Giamatti and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were offered the role, but both declined, Louis C.K. came in and read, but he was barred from starring on The Office because of a holding deal with CBS.

Ultimately, the field was narrowed down to two names: Steve Carell and Bob Odenkirk. They wanted someone with a sort of “generic Americana” feeling, along the lines of Jerry Seinfeld or Tim Allen. They liked The Daily Show alum Steve Carell because of his work on Jim Carrey’s Bruce Almighty. However, Carell was on another NBC show at the time called Come to Papa as the fourth lead, and NBC — which also owned Papa — would not let The Office connect with Carell until the show was officially canceled.

Meanwhile, Bob Odenkirk “really wanted the part,” and “had a great take on the character.” The problem with Odenkirk — which is also what eventually made him so perfect for the role of Saul Goodman — is that “he had an edge to him. His take was as funny as Steve’s, but it was darker,” according to Allison Jones.

He wasn’t “soft” or “likable enough,” according to Silverman. “He was a little tougher and meaner.” Still, as Jones noted, “how often do you have two people as good as Bob Odenkirk and Steve Carell testing for the same role?”

The decision to go with Carell, however, came down to the fact that he was more of a “jerk and a douche,” while Odenkirk was closer to an “asshole.” Carell wasn’t very threatening, which they felt would work better with an American audience.

“The worst thing I have ever had to do ever,” Allison Jones remarked in Andy Greene book, “is to tell Bob Odenkirk’s agent that he didn’t get The Office … Believe me, it was a bummer to make that call and I do suspect the show would have worked with Bob Odenkirk.”

Of course, while Odenkirk did not land that role, he’s doing just fine for himself, approaching the final season of Better Call Saul after several successful seasons on Breaking Bad. Meanwhile, Carell and Odenkirk have 10 Emmy nominations between them, and both can boast about starring in some of the most popular and critically acclaimed television shows of the 2000s. Not bad for two actors who were not very well known in 2004.

Source: The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s

Doja Cat is riding high right now: “Say So” became her first No. 1 song last month, and the hit single is still in the top 10 on the latest Hot 100 (which Tekashi 69 leads). Now she has given fans something else to enjoy, by sharing a late-night (or early-morning, depending on your perspective) upload of “Unisex Freestyle.” The track appears to be exclusive to SoundCloud, as it is not currently available on streaming platforms.

The song is driven by hard-hitting hip-hop beat contrasted by light synths sounds laid on top. On the song, Doja brags about her multi-gender appeal, rapping, “All the girls like me, and they mans / Unisex, unisex / I’m for all the ladies and gentlemen / I’m unisex, unisex.”

Doja got scatological with her descriptions of the track. Sharing it on twitter, she wrote, “I made some more horny sh*t check it out.” In the SoundCloud description, she called the song “just a pile of a poo poo honey,” and she tagged the track #peepeebaby.

There seems to be even more in the tank from Doja as well. Ariana Grande hinted at a collaboration recently, and an unreleased song from Doja made the rounds on TikTok a month ago.

Listen to “Unisex” above.