Approaching the six-month anniversary of his death, fans of Juice WRLD have been able to live in his memory courtesy of a few features he worked on prior to his passing. Working with G Herbo, Eminem, and YNW Melly, other artists have revealed that the young star will appear on their upcoming projects. Looking to add on to Juice’s legacy, fellow Chicago rapper Lil Bibby revealed in mid-April that a posthumous Juice WRLD album is on the way. Bibby is an executive at Grade A Productions, the same label Juice was signed to, so news of the album came with a wave of hope from fans after Friday night’s release, it appears that the album is in close proximity.
Sharing a new song, “Righteous,” the track comes hours after his estate released a statement Friday announcing the single. “Earlier this week, Juice’s mother, Carmela Wallace announced the establishment of the Live Five 999 Fund which will receive additional support via Grade A and Interscope Records,” the statement read. “Tonight we will be releasing a song called ‘Righteous’ which Juice made from his home studio in Los Angeles. We hope you enjoy this new music and continue to keep Juice’s spirit alive. Stay safe everyone.”
Attached with a video that shows behind-the-scenes footage of a free-spirited Juice Wrld, the track serves as Juice’s first solo release since his 2019 album, Death Race For Love.
Guapdad 4000 has been a force of consistency to respect across the music industry. Keeping up with his Falcon Fridays series, the Bay Area rapper has shared five singles over a five-week period to keep his fans satisfied and that wasn’t enough, Guapdad has also been keeping fans entertained with his Rona Raps series. Kicking fire freestyles with some of his talented rapper friends, the Rona Raps series has seen appearances from Buddy, Wiz Khalifa, Joey Badass, and more. Keeping things rolling for another week, Guapdad returns with a new Rona Raps episode and a new Falcon Fridays single.
After sharing a single for the scammers last week with “Embezzle,” Guapdad has now shifted his attention to the ladies on his new single, “Trade Places With Them Jeans.” Showing off a bit of his slick-talk, Guapdad tells the woman he has his eyes on that he himself will serve as a better comfort to her than the jeans she currently wears. Packaging the new single, as well as the previous Falcon Friday singles, into one project, listeners can now find the entire Falcon Friday series on his new EP, Platinum Falcon Tape, Vol. 1.
In addition to the new single, Guapdad’s latest Rona Raps episode has also arrived, one that sees appearances from Kota The Friend, Wowg8 of Earthgang, Murs, and Ramriddlz. With the biggest cast the series has offered so far, fans have plenty of Rona Raps to look forward to.
Press play on the videos above to hear “Trade Places With Them Jeans” and the latest Rona Raps episode.
With the race becoming too close to call on Top Chef, this week gave us… (*gasp*) a double elimination. Going into this episode, there were two obvious candidates for that double elimination, but surprise surprise, they both avoided the guillotine’s blade (lotta that goin’ around lately).
Before that, there was a quickfire challenge in which the contestants were assigned to make “the perfect dish, using flour.” The twist? No all-purpose flour! Instead, they only had an assortment of no-purpose flours! Unorthodox flours only! Tapioca? I hardly know-ca!
They were only given 30 minutes to complete this challenge, which was somewhat disappointing considering that every sourdough-starting bandwagon baker bro in the country was probably hoping to see how those flours might rise. Are you kidding me, no crumb shot? This bread porno sucks. Honestly, how are you going to do a flour challenge where no one uses yeast? Oh, gosh you made a roux? How exciting.
To judge this challenge, they brought in Gru from Despicable Me.
Bravo
I kid, I kid. Clearly that’s Chris Bianco, the world-famous pizza man. He joked that while he had dedicated his life to pizza, the contestants’ dishes did not actually need to be round. At this Bryan Voltaggio let out a hearty guffaw and wrote it down to save for later. “Ha ha ha,” he said, shaking his head. “What’ll they think of next.”
After that, the boys and girls drew knives, with each knife representing one of the five tastes — salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. Dang, which one is a crudo? They paired off into teams of two and had to build dishes based on the flavors on their knives. That’s when Padma dropped the bomb: it was to be a dreaded double elimination challenge, in which two people would go home.
A conductor of the LA Philharmonic was brought in to help judge and the contestants got to tour the Walt Disney Concert Hall in order to inspire the proper quotient of bad music metaphors. “The sustain on these smoked peaches is superb, but I do wonder if the uni foam needed to be so fortissimo.”
POWER RANKINGS
10. (-5) ((Eliminated)) Nini Nguyen
NBC Universal
AKA: Broad City. Aka Quipz. Aka Bolo.Aka Gwyneth.
Nini went full wellness in the first five minutes of this week’s episode (the slot the producers reserve for screwball comedy) charging up her crystals in the sun with Malarkey and Melissa. Did you get the sun on your yoni? I heard the crystals don’t work with a shaded yoni. Oh well, I guess this was inevitable in a season set in LA.
Nini’s banh xeo (a bomb-ass savory Vietnamese crepe, I highly recommend) landed her in the top three of the quickfire, but after teaming up with Karen in the elimination, the pair cooked up a poached cod in tomato broth, which the judges said was a beautiful dish, but ate more sweet and sour, rather than umami and sour like it was supposed to. Tom was incredulous, apoplectic that a professional chef could fail to roast their tomatoes for additional umami flavor. “Honestly, you should probably kill yourself,” Tom said.
And so Nini and Karen went home (pending the outcome of Last Chance Kitchen) in a double-elimination based on this season’s bitchiest nitpick. Pretty rough. This was the second time Nini has gone home during a double elimination, and this time got booted after placing top three in the quickfire.
9. (-3) ((Eliminated)) Karen Akunowicz
NBC Universal
AKA: Good Witch. Aka Glenda. Aka Aunt Kitty. Aka Rosie The Triveter
Assuming you read the above you know that Karen was eliminated along with Nini. I am shocked, SHOCKED that Karen left the competition before Lee Anne, Malarkey, and Stephanie C-Monster. Karen didn’t make the quickfire top three like Nini did, though she did reveal a background in musical theater during the trip to the concert hall. Hold on, the contestant with pink hair and cat-eye make up was into musical theater?! Please, someone pick my jaw up off the floor.
It was a disappointing finish rendered disappointing-er by the fact that Nini and Karen are almost the exact same size.
Everything in this episode seemed to be leading us to a Shenanigans Swan Song. First, he recharged his crystals with Melissa and Nini, because of course. Then he attempted ice cream in the quickfire. It turned out he nailed the ice cream but couldn’t finish the accompanying donut, which was disqualifying in a flour challenge. He nonetheless took the opportunity to brag about his ice cream and paint the judges a mental picture of his non-existent donut. You gotta hand it to him, Squirrely can sure talk his way out of a jam. Almost like he has lots of practice or something.
When the judges let the contestants choose their own partners in the elimination challenge, Malarkey and Lee Anne ended up being stuck together, on what I like to call “Team Stench Of Failure.” This after Shenanigans “threw Lee Anne under the bus” two episodes ago, by blaming her own dish on her. They fought the entire time, could barely agree on anything, and ended up making… the judge’s second favorite dish of the night. They called it the best food either had cooked so far and said things like “you could really taste the team harmony, you guys worked as a cohesive unit, and it really came through in the dish.”
C’est la vie said the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell.
7. (+1) Lee Anne Wong
NBC Universal
AKA: Frazzle. Aka Loud Mom. Aka 911.
For the second week in a row Lee Anne managed to go without getting the paramedics called on her or her family members, which was a victory in itself. As if that wasn’t feat enough, she snaked all the endive to sabotage Eric and Bryan, and then her and Shenanigans’ “beef with miso anchovy hollandaise and bitter greens” (Umami/Bitter) damn near won them the episode. Just veteran move after veteran move from Lee Anne this episode. She’s right, one should never apologize for gamesmanship. Remember where Ned Stark ended up after all that time moaning about honor — headless in a mass grave.
Lee Anne tried to keep Shenanigans from buying carrots and tomatoes, only to end up feeding him carrots in the winner’s circle. Goes to show, sometimes you just have to pat Malarkey’s flanks to keep him calm (if you blow a whistle behind him he pees on the ground).
At this point, you might be noticing some weird things happening in this week’s rankings. Look, what can I tell you about Eric? He’s been coming on strong for the last three episodes and the first half of this one, but as soon as I saw his and Family Bry’s bone dry pork loin I thought they were going home. Pulling sweet/bitter, they spent hours making a maafe lacquer (*Borat voice* Ma afe!) for their pork loin only to discover that, yep, it was still a pork loin. There’s only so much you can accomplish with a pork loin crust when your crust-to-meat ratio is like skin-of-grape-to-rest-of-grape. Sure, Lee Anne swiped their endive but endive doesn’t put fat in pork loin am I right, guys?
Again, I’m shocked they didn’t go home. So does Eric rise in the rankings or plummet? I can’t bring myself to put him below Malarkey and Lee Anne or above anyone with high finishes this episode so I guess he holds steady at six.
5. (+5) Stephanie Cmar
NBC Universal
AKA: C-Monster. Aka Underdog. Aka C-Truffle.
Speaking of funky rankings, what do you do with C-Monster? She was paired with Gregory, almost certainly the favorite of this competition, and they received solid reviews on their brothy fish. She has to be above the challenge losers (Nini, Karen), the perennial basement dwellers (Lee Anne, Brian), and arguably Eric, who almost got sent home for his dry ass pork loin. So the C-Monster shoots up to number five, even though she was merely competent. Is this a new beginning or a peak? I guess we’ll C.
4. (even) Bryan Voltaggio
Bravo
AKA: Flatbill Dad. Aka Bry Voltage. Aka Kyle Shanahan. Aka Linkin Clark Griswold.Aka Family Bry
Most days Family Bry exudes the energy of an active flatbill dad in the Kyle Shanahan mode, looking to grill up some burgers and down a few Bud Light Limes between longboard seshes. This week, he seemed more like Kyle Shanahan after blowing another Super Bowl lead and going on a three-day bender in Vegas, complete with five o’clock shadow.
First, he blew the quickfire by cooking a delicious dish that used flour only in a crumble. He ended up in the bottom three alongside the other Brian. Then he hooked up with Eric in the elimination challenge for the aforementioned moisture-free pork loin debacle. Bry Voltage opened this competition looking like a favorite, but this is three or four lackluster finishes in a row now. I still have him at number four but I admit he’s skating by on reputation at this point.
While the new wave hippie contestants were recharging their crystals in the sun this week, I like to imagine Southern Good Ol’ Boy Kevin was snorting a line of crushed pork rinds and sleeping inside a charred bourbon barrel for aromatherapy. Kevin has been nearly flawless these past few weeks, but he can’t quite pull ahead of prohibitive favorites Melissa and Gregory.
Paired with Melissa, Oops All Kevins turned in a “fish sauce caramel roasted cabbage with pork and apple crumble” for salty/sweet that ended up winning the challenge. But what can I do, put him ahead of his own partner? Or Gregory, who wins the quickfire every damn week? Kevin feels like the Charles Barkley of this competition, or maybe the Dan Marino, depending which sports metaphor you prefer.
2. (even) Melissa King
NBC Universal
AKA: Zen Master. Aka Dimples. Aka Shutterstock.
Melissa is so put together and casually confident that she can even make believing in magic crystals seem reasonable. She landed in the top three of the quickfire for her financier (think Proust, not Mnuchin) but lost a squeaker to her only real competition, Gregory. Before you could say “fish sauce caramel” she was back on top thanks to some crafty cabbage work (between this and the charred endive in episode one she clearly knows how to char some veg). Should Melissa be number one? Ehhh. She and Kevin were a number two and three (based on last week’s rankings) going against a number one and 10. I don’t know much about math or sports or odds or how to apply those to cooking competitions but it seems to me like she and Big Kev had the advantage all along.
Gregory dropped a bombshell of an advantage in the flour challenge: he’s been gluten-free for 10 years! I’ll be honest, I have nothing but respect for vegetarians and vegans but when someone tells me they’re non-Crohn’s disease gluten eschewers I mentally dismissive wank a little. As my ancestors would say: You donna like-a grandmama pasta??? VA VONGOOL!
This probably guarantees I will develop a gluten sensitivity in the next 10 years. Anyway, Gregory basically cemented his place at the top of these rankings when he won yet another quickfire cooking tapioca pancakes. He won with fucking pancakes! I haven’t ordered pancakes and not been sick of them after more than three bites since I reached puberty and this slick son of a bitch is beating entire baseball team worth of expert chefs with them. How do you even compete with a guy who’s winning challenges with fuckin’ tapioca pancakes?
Gregory is going to underbite smile his way across the finish line without even breaking a sweat. I’m not sure he even does sweat. Much like Melissa, this is a dude so chill he can pull off a studded leather vest with fringe.
Not exactly the most controversial statement for a music critic to make, I know. After all, Isbell is commonly recognized as one of the best — if not the best — singer-songwriters working right now. He can write intimate character studies about fictional people who feel as real as your neighbors, as well as broader, statement-driven numbers that reflect the lives of millions of Americans. He’s the closest thing that millennials and young Gen-Xers have to their very own Bruce Springsteen. (If this were an era in which people like Springsteen became pop stars, he would be a household name.)
But there’s something about doing a deep dive into his catalogue — including the Drive-By Truckers albums he played on and contributed songs for before launching his solo career in 2007 — that re-affirms, again, that Jason Isbell is extremely good at writing songs. On May 15, his discography will grow by another album, Reunions, his seventh overall. It speaks to his consistency and reliability that one of the new LP’s singles, “Only Children,” deserves to be ranked among his very best tunes.
But what about his other best tunes? After greatly enjoying my recent swing through his back pages, I compiled this list of my 30 favorite Jason Isbell songs, which was accompanied by about 30,000 tears.
30. “Try” (2007)
Isbell’s first album after leaving Drive-By Truckers, Sirens Of The Ditch, unsurprisingly is the LP that sounds the most like his former band. This slow-boiling rocker is centered on precisely the sort of heavy guitar riff that would have fit perfectly on The Dirty South, which might be why Isbell tended to pursue less bombastic sounds on his subsequent records. But on “Try,” the riffage is more than welcome, providing an explosive counterpoint to the simmering romantic paranoia and fitfully contained rage of the lyrics.
29. “Soliders Get Strange” (2009)
Isbell’s second album, Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit, is the most underrated in his catalogue, with a sweet-sour combination of power-pop and bleak lyrics about addiction and self-hatred that recalls Wilco’s Summerteeth. Many of the songs unfold like Bukowski short stories, with alcoholic protagonists attempting to survive their own self-destructive natures in a haphazard pursuit of redemption (or, at the very least, a moment’s relief). The character in “Soliders Get Strange,” like the person in the similarly themed “Tour Of Duty” from 2011’s Here We Rest, is a veteran struggling to re-acclimate to civilian life. Is he about to become unhinged? As is the case in so many Isbell songs, “Soldiers Get Strange” takes place somewhere between the start of the story and the climax, hinting at bad things on the horizon without fully spelling them out.
28. “Cigarettes and Wine” (Live From Alabama version, 2012)
Another gem from Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit, “Cigarettes And Wine” is about a down-and-out loser who finds a temporary port in the storm after the bars close, in the company of a woman who “lives down inside of me still / Rolled up like a twenty dollar bill.” The gentle blues-rock of the studio version is nice, but this song achieves its full realization on the excellent Live From Alabama, the 2012 release that functions as a kind of greatest hits album for Isbell’s pre-Southeastern work. “This one is a country song, sort of,” Isbell says at the start, and his delivery does the hard-luck narrative justice.
27. “Last Of My Kind” (2017)
Since his early 20s, Isbell has been preoccupied as a writer with the passage of time, and accounting for what is gained and what is lost as we age. While he wrote great songs as a younger man working in this mode, the gravitas he attained in middle age shows in “Last Of My Kind,” the gently philosophical opener from The Nashville Sound. A meditation on the old Thomas Wolfe quote about how “you can never go home again,” “Last Of My Kind” is about coming to grips with suddenly being the adult in the room, and witnessing the world you once knew disappear before your eyes. “Daddy said the river would always lead me home / But the river can’t take me back in time / The family farm’s a parking lot for Walton’s five and dime / Am I the last of my kind?”
26. “Go It Alone” (2011)
The first of Isbell’s great “Alone” songs, “Go It Alone” is also an example of the “life on the road” genre that dominates Isbell’s pre-Southeastern songwriting. (Though he would continue to write classic “life on the road” tunes for that album and beyond.) Over a rollicking guitar riff pitched squarely between the early ’70s Stones and Neil Young’s “ditch” era records, “Go It Alone” front-loads plenty of sleazy rock ‘n’ roll exhaustion, setting the stage for Isbell’s narrative about a touring musician wearily eying a solitary post-tour existence.
25. “Traveling Alone” (2013)
It’s hard to hear “Go It Alone” now and not think of “Traveling Alone” from Isbell’s next album, Southeastern. It’s a more hopeful sequel, in which our hero is rescued from alienation by his soulmate. While “Go It Alone” is somewhat distanced from its writer, “Traveling Alone” (like much of Southeastern) feels like naked autobiography, in which Isbell chucks his former bravado to reveal a lonely man who’s “grown tired of traveling alone.” That Isbell’s wife, Amanda Shires, harmonizes with him on the folky, pleading chorus makes “Traveling Alone” all the more affecting.
24. “Sunstroke” (2009)
“I was certainly dealing with a lot of busted relationships, my career wasn’t really going anywhere, and I wasn’t very happy,” Isbell once said of his life in the late aughts. While Isbell had become a star as Drive-By Truckers’ equivalent to George Harrison — the third-ranked songwriter who contributed a small handful of heaters to each record — he struggled at first to establish himself as a leading man. Part of what makes Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit such a fascinating listen is how that disappointment is baked into songs. Take the piano ballad “Sunstroke” — the lyrics read like a disgusted diatribe directed at the face in the mirror, with a sneaky Dylan reference tossed in for good measure: “Are we supposed to get good at this? / What does it mean to give up? / Why did I call you? I shouldn’t be giving a fuck / Answer these questions for everyone / So maybe they’ll stop asking me / What really happened and where is your masterpiece?”
23. “Streetlights” (2009)
Another great “life on the road” song, “Streetlights” also bears an obvious John Prine influence, writing around the central theme — the feeling of being strung-out and alone at an ungodly hour of the night — with sharply observed narrative details delivered in an off-handed, conversational manner. In order to avoid dealing with himself, the protagonist takes out his phone and starts calling friends and family members. Finally, the bartender kicks him off and he has to figure out how to get to where he’s staying that night: “Think I blocked just a park away, but I can’t really say, it’s been all night. / How I wish you would call me here, but you just disappeared, it wasn’t right.” But there’s something in his voice that tells you that it wasn’t really her fault.
22. “Codeine” (2011)
This deceptively jaunty pop-folk charmer has long been a live staple for the 400 Unit. Isbell moves about the stage to waltz with his crack band, who flash wide smiles as he leans into the sing-along chorus. About that chorus: It’s about a woman slowly drugging herself to death, viewed from the perspective of a lover who can’t keep their relationship from falling apart. That is to say, it is the Platonic ideal for depressing Jason Isbell song subject matter, though the strummy, feel-good music can almost distract you from the tragedy unfolding in your very ears.
21. “Dress Blues” (2007)
This crushing ode to a person killed in combat is the first great song of Isbell’s solo career, and the one tune on his debut, Sirens Of The Ditch, that could sit next to his best work with DBT. Strangely, songs like “Dress Blues” — a nonpartisan, sloganeering-averse narrative that soberly and eloquently recounts the costs of war from an everyday human perspective — were hard to come by in the aughts. Most artists either avoided the subject, even as the country was mired in two major conflicts, or they resorted to simple-minded pandering to bumper-sticker patriotism. Isbell, meanwhile, in each verse just paints heartbreaking scene after heartbreaking scene: “Your baby would just about be here / And your very last tour would be up / But you won’t be back, they’re all dressin’ in black / Drinkin’ sweet tea in Styrofoam cups.”
20. “Hope The High Road” (2017)
The Nashville Sound was among the first rock albums that directly addressed the advent of Trump’s America, a topic that hit particularly close for Isbell given his fanbase and the heartland milieu of his work. The button-pushing anthem “White Man’s World” was among the LP’s breakout songs, tweaking the prejudices of many of his own listeners. But “Hope The High Road” has aged better, in part because of how Isbell leans on positivity in a time of extreme polarization. (The killer guitar lick doesn’t hurt either.) The song’s standout line is among the most quotable in any Isbell song, and perhaps his most Springsteenesque: “Last year was a son of a bitch / For nearly everyone we know / But I ain’t fighting with you down in the ditch / I’ll meet you up here on the road.”
19. “Only Children” (2020)
The early singles from Isbell’s forthcoming album Reunions have generally tilted in a broader, more rocking direction — more “Hope The High Road” than “If We Were Vampires.” The delicate “Only Children” is the exception, with lovely finger-picking setting the stage for a haunting story about two aspiring artists whose lives take different paths. Though I wonder if “Only Children” can also be read as Isbell addressing a version of himself from a different timeline, the one with “Hydrocodone in your backpack” who couldn’t ever get his act together. Again, the specifics are what sell this song so beautifully: “Heaven’s wasted on the dead / That’s what your mama said / When the hearse was idling in the parking lot / She said you thought the world of me/ And you were glad to see / They finally let me be an astronaut.”
18. “If It Takes A Lifetime” (2015)
Another fine example of Isbell working in John Prine mode, “If It Takes A Lifetime” is an easygoing southern rock song — the breezy rhythmic roll is straight out of Brothers And Sisters and Second Helping— about an everyman learning to adjust to the sort of mundane life that hopefully won’t send him to an early grave. If this doesn’t seem like compelling subject matter — one of the verses is about falling asleep with the TV on — the tension in Isbell’s performance suggests that staying on the straight and narrow can be a life-or-death proposition, in which the fight to keep inner demons at bay is constant and unyielding.
17. “Flying Over Water” (2013)
A thread that connects Isbell’s relationship songs concerns lovers who might be too broken to actually be together. The prospects for these characters brightens as Isbell moves through his career — people you would assume are doomed on his early albums often find solace on his later LPs. The couple in “Flying Over Water,” however, seem resigned to a less certain fate. As they hop on a plane on a whim, to escape old lives and familiar frustrations, the mood is similar to that of the famous ending from The Graduate. The world looks simpler from up here, but you can’t stay “up here” forever. “Did we leave our love behind?” the narrator asks. It depends on how much of a romantic the listener is.
16. “Cumberland Gap” (2017)
Bruce Springsteen’s best “political” songs are the ones that stay focused on characters rather than polemics. (See: Every song on Nebraska.) Isbell apparently closely studied this example before writing his “Trump era” album The Nashville Sound, as he steers clear of direct partisan callouts in lieu of crafting character studies about regular Americans who have been left for dead at the side of the late-capitalism highway. The guy in “Cumberland Gap” — a miner who wonders if his job will one day kill him — might very well have voted for Trump. But for Isbell, the character’s angst feels universal: “There’s an answer here, if I look hard enough / There’s a reason why I always reach for the harder stuff.”
15. “Songs That She Sang In The Shower” (2013)
What 1971’s self-titled is to John Prine, Southeastern is to Jason Isbell — the one in which pretty much every song is a banger and beloved fan favorite. Around this time, Isbell got sober, which along with saving his life had the nice side benefit of allowing him to re-focus on his craft. “The older I get and the more I practice, the more I realize it really helps if you do as much work as possible,” he told me in 2015. “When you stop drinking, that comes in handy, ’cause I can spend eight or nine hours on a song without feeling the need to go out and get drunk and shoot pool.” That attention to craft is evident in “Songs That She Sang In The Shower,” in which the tunes that remind the narrator of the partner who has just stormed out of the door — including Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and Dusty Springfield’s “Breakfast In Bed” — are thoughtfully chosen, evoking the feel of a real person’s taste while also providing meta commentary on the song itself.
14. “Alabama Pines” (2011)
From here on out, I’m afraid it’s going to be straight tear-jerkers. Just hearing the title of this song is likely to send a resident of the Deep South into nostalgic hysterics. The set-up of “Alabama Pines” is straight out of John Denver: A guy is trapped in a seedy hotel, and it makes him long for home. But the execution is exceedingly graceful — so much so that it’s a shame that Alabama hasn’t put this song in every tourism commercial. “You can’t drive through Talladega on a weekend in October / Head up north to Jacksonville. Cut around and over / Watch your speed in Boiling Springs/ They ain’t got a thing to do. They’ll get you every time.” He makes his home state sound like heaven. That Isbell has also never shied away from calling out the sins of the region makes this adoring tribute seem all the more heartfelt.
13. “Yvette” (2013)
Isbell originally wrote about childhood sexual abuse on Here We Rest‘s “Daisy Mae,” but he plunged into a whole other level of darkness on this grimly hypnotic Southeastern deep cut. Over a dreamy folk-rock sway, Isbell dispassionately tells the story of a young girl horribly victimized by her father from the perspective of an obsessive classmate who follows her home one night. As the song unfolds, it becomes clear that the boy intends to violently avenge the girl by gunning down the father. But Isbell avoids writing a straight-up country revenge song by calling the mental state of the narrator into question — there’s something about his preoccupation with this girl that seems more akin to Travis Bickle than John Wayne. The result is one of Isbell’s most ambiguous and disturbing numbers.
12. “Danko/Manuel” (2004)
As a writer who has long been fascinated by the dark side of the touring musician’s life, it was natural that he would be attracted to the two most tragic members of The Band. “I was reading This Wheel’s On Fire, the Levon Helm book about his time with The Band. He talks about how they had this pact on the road — it was kind of a joke — that whoever died first, they would take his body, take him home, and bury him and all of that,” Isbell once told me. “I saw a lot of myself in that book.” In retrospect, “Danko/Manuel” seems prescient — he wrote it near the start of his career, and it seems to lay out the next decade or so of his life. “Then they say Danko would have sounded just like me / ‘Is that the man you want to be?’” Thankfully, Isbell found a different, better path for himself.
11. “Relatively Easy” (2013)
Along with allowing him to pay more attention to his craft, sobriety also imbued Isbell’s songs with a sense of wisdom that eschews easy resolutions. As the last song on Southeastern, “Relatively Easy” functions as a summation statement for the entire album. In short, life is hard, but it’s still life, which means it’s all we have. Whereas Isbell’s earlier work is marked by doom-laden fatalism, “Relatively Easy” posits that transcending struggle — if only in your mind — might very well be the point of existence. It’s hardly a moment of unfettered triumph, but it’s truthful, which makes this song especially nourishing.
10. “Maybe It’s Time” (2018)
Isbell has said that he initially didn’t want to write a song for Bradley Cooper’s 2018 remake of A Star Is Born. When his producer Dave Cobb, who assembled the soundtrack, asked him, Isbell said, “‘No, Dave. I don’t have time for that shit.’ And my wife said, ‘You’re an idiot,’” he recently related to GQ. He had reason to be skeptical, though in the end Isbell is one of the only credible country-rock analogues to Jackson Maine that exists in real life. In a way, A Star Is Born is a bizarro-world version of Isbell’s story, only Isbell had the good sense not to self-destruct when he met his own Ally. Also, while Isbell has clearly carved out a successful niche for himself, it was nice to see him score an actual hit on one of the biggest albums of recent years.
9. “Super 8” (2013)
The best flat-out rocker in Isbell’s catalogue, “Super 8” is also his funniest song, even if it happens to be a three-and-a-half-minute tour of his personal hell. Essentially a compendium of drunken tour stories compressed into one terrifying night, “Super 8” barrels forward like a roller coaster that’s going a little too fast on a rickety track that appears to be on the verge of collapsing. All the while Isbell’s story keeps getting worse: He’s drinking and doing blow in his crummy hotel room, a guy busts in with a baseball bat, he wakes up bleeding, and now he’s having trouble breathing. Then comes one of the best lines in the song: “Well, they slapped me back to life / And they telephoned my wife / And they filled me full of Pedialyte / Saw my guts and my glory / It would make a great story / If I ever could remember it right.” There’s nothing funny about any of this, and yet Isbell’s desperation and bemusement that he survived it all turns “Super 8” into a classic black comedy, like After Hours set at the world’s worst after-party.
8. “24 Frames” (2015)
It’s one thing to write a compelling song about almost dying in a hotel room. That sort of thing is inherently interesting. But in “24 Frames,” Isbell writes about the existential fear that grips all of us in our daily lives, the mundane terror that’s difficult to put into words. “24 Frames” is about anticipatory tragedy. What happens when something terrible inevitably happens to you? What will that be like? How do you deal with it? Again, Isbell avoids platitudes and instead supplies truth with a side of empathy. “You thought God was an architect, now you know / He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow.” In the meantime, you just try to keep your loved ones close, so you can appreciate a moment of calm while it’s here.
7. “If We Were Vampires” (2017)
Is it dusty in here? Is someone chopping onions? Why do I suddenly feel like I am drowning in a sea of my own tears? This is Isbell’s greatest “anticipatory tragedy” song. It works because it’s imminently relatable — who among us with the good fortune of being paired up with a soulmate hasn’t thought about the day when this will all end? The line that always gets me is when Isbell sings, “And hope it isn’t me who’s left behind.” He’s choosing death over loneliness! I know I would do the same.
6. “Outfit” (2002)
Isbell is now one of the defining figures of dad rock — dads love his music, and he has assumed a dad-like stature in his songs, dispensing wisdom from a position of genuine gravitas. But when he was in Drive-By Truckers, he wrote one of the great anthems of son rock, “Outfit.” A fond remembrance of fatherly advice, “Outfit” is Isbell paying it forward: “Don’t call what you’re wearing an outfit, don’t ever say your car is broke / Don’t worry about losing your accent, a southern man tells better jokes / Have fun, stay clear of the needle, call home on your sister’s birthday / Don’t tell them you’re bigger than Jesus, don’t give it away.”
5. “Speed Trap Town” (2015)
A low-key strummer from Something More Than Free, “Speed Trap Town” is one of Isbell’s best narratives, unfolding like a four-minute documentary about small-town life that feels like it was carved out of a larger, extensive, unseen history. The storytelling is masterful: “She said, ‘It’s none of my business but it breaks my heart’ / Dropped a dozen cheap roses in my shopping cart,” is a killer opening line, instantly inviting though also vague enough to not spell out what’s coming. Soon, we learn the guy in the song is grieving the loss of his father. We also learn that the dad was a state trooper who assaulted the women he pulled over, and ignored his kids until he got sick. We even learn about the local football team. All in the space of a four-minute song! And it never feels overly dense or heavy-handed.
4. “Cover Me Up” (2013)
It has happened at every Jason Isbell concert I’ve ever seen: Whenever he sings the line in “Cover Me Up” about how “I sobered up and I swore off that stuff / Forever this time,” everybody cheers. And I always get a little choked up. How could you not? There’s real blood and guts in “Cover Me Up.” The country singer Morgan Whalen recently covered this song — his version actually comes up on Spotify before Isbell’s — but with all due respect to Whalen’s reverent take it’s impossible for me to imagine anyone other than Isbell singing it. “Cover Me Up” is the sound of a man exposing the deepest, most vulnerable parts of himself, and expressing gratitude that he’s still around to sing about it.
3. “Children Of Children” (2015)
Relationships between children and parents have been an ongoing thematic concern for Isbell throughout his career, as it was for one of his primary influences, Bruce Springsteen. But “Children Of Children” is his best song of this kind, because it feels like a breakthrough in understanding that all parents essentially are children who are faking it at being grown-ups. (It’s Isbell’s “Used Cars.”) “I was riding on my mother’s hip / She was shorter than the corn / All the years I took from her / Just by being born.” As the tragedy of that lyric sinks in, the music swells like an early ’70s Nick Drake ballad, with a breathtaking string arrangement couching Isbell’s best-recorded guitar solo.
2. “Goddamn Lonely Love” (2004)
The highest compliment I can pay this song is that it sounds exactly like the title. Like, you can’t call your song “Goddamn Lonely Love” and not deliver the emotionally wracked goods without looking like a total chump. Isbell avoids this pitfall but perfectly evoking that “sitting alone on a barstool at closing time when you’ve been drinking all night for the wrong reasons” feeling. (I bet Frank Sinatra would have done an amazing version.) It’s absolutely beautiful without romanticizing this state of mind in the least. Isbell sounds like he’s about to jump off of a bridge the moment he’s done singing.
1. “Elephant” (2013)
My favorite Jason Isbell song is not the one I listen to the most. In fact, it is probably among the songs on this list that I’ve played the least. When I listen to Southeastern, I often skip “Elephant,” because I know I simply cannot handle it. This song has made me cry every single time I’ve ever heard it, and most days I’m just not equipped to put “Elephant” into my life and allow it to devastate me. On paper, it might seem maudlin, even manipulative — it’s about a woman who dies of cancer, sung from the perspective of the man who loves her. But “Elephant” works precisely because Isbell doesn’t write it like a Terms Of Endearment-style melodrama. He inhabits the character in the song so fully that it feels like someone talking to you about his life from across the kitchen table. Which is why the part that always gets me — and I do mean always, like I’m tearing up as I type this — is the line where he sings, “If I’d fucked her before she got sick, I’d never hear the end of it.” It’s the precise lack of sentimentality of that lyric, and the well of suppressed emotion that Isbell vocal evokes, that just destroys me. Wow, now I’m a mess. Thanks, Jason Isbell! Time to put on some Imagine Dragons so I can go back to feeling a little more numb.
There was speculation that the 2020 NFL Draft might be a wild one, with trade rumors flying around in the days and hours leading up to the draft. And then, once teams got on the clock, things went pretty much according to schedule. The first three picks — all former Ohio State Buckeyes at one time — went as expected, the Giants stayed at No. 4 to take tackle Andrew Thomas, and the Dolphins took Tua Tagovailoa at 5, leaving Justin Herbert for the Chargers at 6.
Our first trade didn’t happen until the Bucs moved up one spot, giving San Francisco a fourth rounder, in order to get more protection for Tom Brady in the form of tackle Tristan Wirfs. There were a few mild surprises from there, such as the Falcons taking A.J. Terrell and the Raiders taking Damon Arnette, two corners most expected to be Day 2 selections. The big surprise came late in the draft when the Green Bay Packers traded the 30th pick and the 136th overall pick (4th round) for the Miami Dolphins 26th pick.
The expectation from most was that the Packers would use the incredible depth of this year’s receiver class to give Aaron Rodgers more weapons, but instead, they took his replacement for the future in Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, shocking many. There were a few that mentioned before the draft that Love to the Packers was a possibility, but for them to take him — and trade up to do it — came as a surprise to most.
Love is considered a bit of a project, with incredibly high upside with great arm strength and mobility. He has some accuracy and decision making things to work on, but he’s got tremendous potential. It’s notable that the Packers do this when Rodgers is 36, only a year older than Brett Favre was when they made a similar decision in 2005 to take Rodgers. This likely won’t sit well with Rodgers, who still sees himself as an elite QB and feels the need to have weapons around him — of which the Packers have few — and it’s surely under consideration to add those kinds of skill players in later rounds. But they gave up a fourth rounder to have the chance at Love, and now the drama begins in Green Bay.
As many different services vie for your attention, Hulu has really upped the ante in terms of its streaming catalog. While Netflix may have the upper-hand when it comes to original series, Hulu still boasts an impressive lineup of TV shows that you can’t find anywhere else, including some of their more recent in-house productions. So here are the 35 best shows on Hulu right now, ranked.
The announcement that the relatively unknown producer Noah Hawley would be turning the classic film Fargo into an anthology series, it was met with a healthy dose of skepticism. However, by the end of the first episode, fans were hooked. Instead of a rote retelling of the classic crime tale, viewers were treated to a top-notch cast, shocking violence, incredible character names, and stunning visuals. While honoring the legacy of the original film in the details, Fargo managed to become a unique and essential addition to the current television landscape.
It’s not enough to praise Atlanta for being the most inventive show on TV — though plenty of critics have. To understand the genius of Donald Glover’s sometimes-comedy series, you simply have to watch it. The show follows Glover’s Earn, a young black man living in the titular city who’s down on his luck. He’s basically homeless when we meet him in the first episode, selling credit cards, making no money and trying to manage the rap career of his cousin, Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry). Over the course of the first and second season, Earn wrestles with issues of race, classism, and his own sense of self-worth. It’s a show that will probably feel familiar to some and strangely alien to others, but it should be required viewing for everyone.
There simply isn’t a better show to binge watch when you need a pick me up than Parks and Recreation. Hilarious, smart, and relentlessly sunny, Parks and Recreation is a balm to weary viewers. Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope has joined the ranks of television icons, but the supporting cast is no less wonderful. If you’re looking for a show about good people trying to do good things while making good jokes, Parks and Recreation will be your new favorite show. While the first season feels a bit too much like a riff on The Office, it finds its feet in season two and never lets up. While so much of today’s comedy is mired in cynicism, Parks and Recreation will make you want to do better. It also gets better with each rewatch, so pour yourself some Snake Juice and enjoy.
Few shows have as many jokes per minute as 30 Rock. The brainchild of Tina Fey, 30 Rock shows the daily madness of an SNL-like variety show, which Fey’s Liz Lemon at the helm. As she tries (sometimes failing) to wrangle her writers and her actors (Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski), Lemon also attempts the ever elusive dream of “having it all.” Her quest will feel very, very familiar to viewers, particularly women, as they try and balance, work, life, love, and even a small bit of success. With Alec Baldwin turning in his best performance to date (come at me, Glengarry Glen Ross fans) as Jack Donaghy, Lemon’s boss, mentor, and eventual friend, 30 Rock has the perfect blend of weirdness, sharp writing, and genuine laughs that will make it a favorite for years to come.
Although Margaret Atwood’s novel was published back in 1985, the series premiere in 2017 still felt relevant as hell (and earned it a spot among our best TV shows of 2017 list). America as we know it is no more, taken over by a Christian fundamentalist organization and newly christened Gilead. However, things are not as idyllic as the name would suggest, as women are no longer allowed to have jobs, rights, hold property, or have any sort of agency. Instead they are either handmaids, a select few still-fertile women who are essentially used as broodmares for powerful men, and Marthas, who work in the rich households. Elisabeth Moss turns in a strong performance as Ofglen, the titular handmaid who is trying to survive and escape to her fugitive family, but Alexis Bledel steals the show in a devastating supporting turn. The Handmaid’s Tale grabs viewers by the face and demands that they keep watching from the get-go, but prepare to get a little angry as the series progresses.
For a show about nothing, Seinfeld has left a cultural imprint that few shows can boast of achieving. Back before shows about neurotic people were the latest trend, Jerry Seinfeld blended his own neuroses with his stand up act, creating a New York landscape that many could relate to. With stories based on the minutiae of relationships and every day living, Seinfeld embedded itself in the cultural zeitgeist like few shows have done. Even if you’ve never seen an episode, you still know about the Soup Nazi and Newman. Plus, Veep fans will enjoy seeing a pre-presidential Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the hilariously frazzled Elaine Benes. If you’ve been meaning to watch the show that has made people laugh for decades, Hulu has you covered.
Joss Whedon has gone on to giant blockbusters since his days on The WB, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer will forever be his magnum opus. Buffy offered the perfect blend of horror, comedy, and feels, with episodes and characters that have stuck with viewers for years. Sarah Michelle Gellar’s titular slayer perfectly balanced the ordinary pains of growing up against the extraordinary and supernatural circumstances that come with living on a Hellmouth. The clothing and catchphrases might be deeply rooted in the ’90s, but the themes are timeless. Even if you don’t know your standard demon curse from an ancient rune, Buffy is essential. It’ll rip your heart out, but you’ll like it anyway.
Has there ever been a sitcom as downright clever as Community? Aside from the gas leak year, Community was quicker than nearly every other comedy out there, with jokes flying fast but also taking seasons to reach a punchline. After getting caught with a phony degree, former lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) heads to Greendale Community College to get a legitimate degree. There he gets into increasingly hilarious hijinks with his Spanish study group. Between paintball wars, zombie outbreaks, and the increasingly ridiculous presence of Senor Chang (Ken Jeong), Community is never, ever boring. Quit living in the darkest timeline and get to watching.
There’s no denying that the protagonists of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are amoral psychopaths. (Looking at you especially, Dennis.) But there are few shows out there that will elicit the same belly laughs. As these raging narcissists hang around Paddy’s Irish Pub, you will be struck by the lack of self-awareness while at the same time hoping things never change. Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day shine especially bright, sucking into a vortex of kitten mittens and Nightman. Whether or not you believe in a higher power, you will thank your gods that you are better adjusted than these assholes. Still, even after 10 seasons, we wouldn’t have them any other way.
There’s so much to love about Joss Whedon’s space cowboy series, it still boggles our minds that the show was cancelled before it could get a second season. Still, the 14 episodes available on Hulu are worth a binge. Nathan Fillion plays Mal Reynolds, captain of a clunk of metal scavenging the galaxy 500 years into the future. He’s got a motley crew on board — Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, and Morena Baccarin also star — and he regularly gets into trouble with his less-than-legal side jobs. The writing is top-notch, the world building is fascinating, and the chemistry is off the charts.
Despite being off the air for decades, the mysteries of Twin Peaks still tormented viewers, and even after the 2017 revival, they’re left more confused than ever. After the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) peers beneath the veneer of the small town of Twin Peaks, Wash., and finds a strange darkness under the surface. If you’re a fan of bizarre mysteries and a damn fine cup of coffee, Twin Peaks is the head trip for you.
The fifth season might have been the one minor letdown in its run, but Justified came back strong in its sixth and final season, making it one of television’s best all-time complete series. Justified boasts not only the two most charismatic characters around in trigger-happy Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and its sly villain, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), but also the quickest 42 minutes on television. No hour-long drama flies by faster than Justified, which also makes it a great series to binge watch. Moreover, Justified not only boasts smart, economic Elmore Leonard-inspired writing and crackling dialogue (under the direction of showrunner Graham Yost), but the stories are as engrossing as Leonard’s were page-turning. It’s not a perfect series, but even its flaws are endearing. (Bonus: Justified also features nearly every major actor from Deadwood at some point in the series.)
Many sci-fi shows have come into the geeky pantheon of television, but The X-Files remains a benchmark. While the revival series wasn’t quite what fans were hoping for, seeing the unbeatable team of Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) back in action was a treat. Still, going back to the beginning is the only way to go with the show. Whether you get caught up in the monster of the week storylines or like digging into the overarching mythology, The X-Files will stick with you for years to come.
Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer go head-to-head in a gripping, globe-trotting game of cat-and-mouse in this spy-thriller from BBC. Oh (who earned a history-making Emmy for this role) plays the titular Eve (Polastri), a British Intelligence operative obsessed with catching an elusive assassin named Villanelle (Comer). Villanelle is a psychopath, one with a dark past and a love for the work she does — she’s damn good at it too — and the two capable women soon find their lives entwined in ways neither of them expected.
While it started as a hilarious James Bond spoof, Archer has really evolved into a show that can stand on its own. As super spies Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) and Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler) are out doing the cool derring-do for ISIS (not that ISIS), the rest of the desk jockeys are left to deal with their mess and a lack of unionization. Archer quickly banishes the idea that cartoons are just for children (seriously, this show is not for children) with enough sex, drugs, and terrible behavior that Bond himself would blush.
Many wondered how Dan Harmon would follow up the perfection that was Community at its peak, and he certainly delivered with Rick and Morty. Like a demented version of Back to the Future, Rick and Morty follows a super scientist and his less-than-genius grandson on a variety of adventures. It’s part cartoon, part “cosmic horror.” Who knew that following a vomiting scientist and his dimwitted grandson could be so brilliant? Rick and Morty is a demented work of escapism for adults that’s not to be missed. It’s also a still relatively underground show that’s waiting to burst forth into a broader audience. Get in on the goodness now.
Damon Lindelof’s hit TV series about the survivors of a horrific plane crash, who try to find a way off the island they’ve been stranded on, is much more than the sum of its parts. Sure, a polar bear makes a strange cameo, smoke monsters haunt the group, and the finale left much to be desired, but at its core, Lost was always a show that tackled the big themes: Life, death, science vs. faith. It treated us to brilliant performances by an ensemble cast and broadened the imagined horizons of the TV landscape. Without Lost, some of the most epic series we enjoy today wouldn’t be possible. Show some respect and give it another watch on Hulu.
This cult teen drama has enjoyed a handful of revivals over the years — most notably a Kickstarter movie and a Hulu-produced fourth season — but to truly enjoy this noir, Nancy Drew-like adventure, you’ve got to go back to the beginning. We meet Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) as a fresh-faced teenager who’s become a social pariah following the murder of her best friend. As she investigates a death that rocked the sea-side town, graduates to college sleuthing, and juggles romantic interests, Veronica takes down bad guys and stays a step ahead of the adults around her. And she keeps kicking a** into adulthood. Come for the witty banter and thrilling games of cat-and-mouse, stay for Bell, who’s never been better.
Michael Chiklis stars in this Golden Globe-winning police drama about a corrupt PD unit and the officers who operate within it. Chiklis plays Detective Vic Mackey, a thuggish anti-hero with a brutal methodology when it comes to police work. He leads a team of cops who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty to take down criminals in L.A.’s notoriously crime-ridden district known as The Farm. It’s a gritty, violent look at police work that feels a bit more honest than others of its ilk and loves to paint its leads in shades of grey.
Noah Hawley might’ve proven he could shatter expectations with his Fargo reboot but what he’s done on FX’s comic series Legion is truly mind-blowing. The show, which exists in both the Marvel universe and the X-Men series, follows David Haller (Dan Stevens), a man with incredible powers, a murky past, and a demon parasite leeching his abilities while slowly making him go insane. The series begins in an insane asylum before traveling to secret government facilities, astral planes, and the future so good luck keeping track of the action. Better to just strap yourself in, enjoy the wild ride, and not worry whether what you’re seeing is real, or just all in David’s head.
Any show that has lasted as long as South Park is bound to have its ups and downs. The irreverent antics by some forever-grade-school kids isn’t for everyone, but it’s impossible to discount its cultural impact. On top of repeatedly killing Kenny,South Park has time and time again taken on the absurd parts of modern life and turned a warped microscope on them. No one gets out unscathed, from Kanye West to internet commenters, but to be skewered by the brilliant minds of Trey Parker and Matt Stone is an honor in itself. Spending 19 seasons in South Park, Colo., may seem like a daunting task, but it is an ultimately rewarding one. For the most ambitious of television binge watchers, South Park is their comedy Everest.
There is a rough-around-the-edges quality that makes Misfits irresistible. A rotating team of adolescents gains supernatural powers while they’re fulfilling their criminal community service requirements, but the X-Men they are not. It’s not easy to categorize them as “the good guys” considering all of the people they accidentally kill, but they certainly mean well. Fans of Game of Thrones and Preacher will see some familiar faces, but the whole cast is aces. There are rumblings of an American remake, but hopefully, that will never come to fruition. There is something so decidedly British about Misfits, but not in the stuffy way that people assume. It’s gritty, it’s crass, and to water that down for stateside sensibilities would be a crime.
Fans of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz need to return to the show that birthed the miraculous creative team of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost. Spaced captures the Gen X experience in a totally unique way. Like a hopelessly nerdy Reality Bites, the trials of Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Jessica Hynes) will feel painfully real for those of us who have had dead-end jobs, dead-end relationships, and a seemingly dead-end life. It’s not all so bad, though. Despite the sometimes dire circumstances, the show maintains a pleasant optimism. Even if The Phantom Menace let you down, at least you can rewatch the original Star Wars trilogy as many times as you want. While the show is decidedly more low key than Wright’s future film endeavors, you can see the trademark style coming through in every single frame.
While the show may have lost a little steam in the middle of its run, when Sons of Anarchy was good, it was electric. As Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) struggled to find his place as the leader of his father’s old motorcycle gang, he is often made to wonder if the violence and stress on his family is worth the adrenaline and power. Kurt Sutter is a divisive figure in Hollywood, but he caught lightning in a bottle with SoA. With an endless parade of shocking moments and killer characters, few shows will keep you on the edge of your seat in the same way. You’ll be awfully glad you aren’t a part of SAMCRO, but you won’t be able to look away all the same. Just don’t go out and buy a motorcycle on a whim. You probably can’t pull off the leather. A television binge is the safer way to go.
What can we say about this genre-defining workplace comedy that hasn’t been said before? Ricky Gervais’ mockumentary has influenced some of the greatest works on television, and despite its many predecessors, it remains the best example of what a good, mundane comedy series can do. Gervais as clueless boss David Brent, whose desperate attempts at connecting with his underlings are a painful exercise in futility. Martin Freeman is also a stand-out, playing a role that John Krasinski inhabited in the American remake, but it’s the British sarcasm that really elevates this series and makes it worthy of a watch.
The antics of this New York police precinct are endlessly hilarious, with every character getting their moment to shine. Brooklyn Nine-Nine has one of the most wonderful casts currently on television, and it hasn’t slowed down a bit from its banner freshman season. While it is technically Jake Peralta’s (Andy Samberg) show, it’s one of the few true ensemble shows on television right now. It’s not that Samberg isn’t good, he is, but the same could also be said of Stephanie Beatriz’s Rosa or Terry Crews’ Terry or almost every other character. A workplace comedy at its core, Brooklyn Nine-Nine proves that showrunner Mike Schur is on a hot streak that shows no sign of slowing down.
If you’re looking for a show that will kick you in the balls and then pass you a mimosa, You’re the Worst is that show. It might have you crying tears of laughter in one scene, then leave you wondering “this is a COMEDY, right?!” in the next. It’s that dichotomy that makes it so vital to the modern television landscape. You owe it to yourself to be introduced to the familiar toxicity of Gretchen (Aya Cash) and Jimmy (Chris Geere) before the FX comedy returns. There are few comedies that so aptly mock modern mores of adulthood while still treating its characters with compassion, even if they don’t deserve it. Plus, there are few shows that perfectly express how it feels to be clinically depressed. Come for the trash juice, stay for the insight.
Comedian Ramy Youssef stars in this semi-autobiographical dramedy, playing a version of himself, a character named Ramy Hassan. Ramy navigates life growing up in New Jersey while straddling the line between the millennial generation he’s a part of and the Muslim community he belongs to. He wrestles with the constraints of his religion and his upbringing, while searching for meaning in more modern pursuits — drinking, partying, and hooking up. It’s heartwarming, eye-opening, and never takes itself too seriously.
There are few sitcoms as endlessly inventive and bitingly funny as Peep Show. Born from the hilariously warped minds of British comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb, the series focuses on Mark and Jez, two combatant roommates who are both failing at being an adult in their own awful ways. Told from different character perspectives, viewers get an inside look into their inner monologues. You may cringe into your sofa at some of their foibles, but never stop laughing. As these two idiots try and fail to successfully navigate life, at least they have the best and sharpest jokes.
There is always a little twinge of sadness when you finish a Party Down binge. With only two short seasons, there is always a feeling of “what could have been.” A show about people who can really only be classified as “losers,” Party Down masks a sharp emotional pain beneath hilarious guest stars and “Are we having fun yet?!” If you have ever been disappointed by how your life has turned out, be it by circumstance or your own bad choices, you will painfully relate with someone on the titular catering crew. Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan have killer chemistry as two self-destructive people who see themselves as better than their circumstances but refuse to make the kind of decisions that will help them get what they want. It’s easier to coast along and mock the absurd customers than to actually try.
When Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen announced plans to create a TV series based on the DC comic book series Preacher, the gut reaction was to ask, how? The series (anti)hero is a bad-boy preacher who is imbued with supernatural abilities after being possessed by a creature named Genesis. It’s a tall order for a TV show to tackle, even one on AMC, but somehow Rogen and Goldberg were able to translate the over-the-top weirdness of the comic book (think angels, demons, drunken vampires, and a character with an a**hole for a mouth) into a strangely poignant, at times frustrating, drama. Seeing is believing with this one.
Scrubs is more than “Guy Love.” Despite the show’s penchant for trafficking in absurd humor, Scrubs managed to pack in deeply emotional moments while also getting called “the most accurate television show about the medical profession.” While the final season may have been a departure from the original charm (it did give us Eliza Coupe, though, so it gets a pass), Zach Braff has never been more likable than he was as J.D., who was navigating his time at Sacred Heart from intern to physician. With hilarious moments of genuine friendship to the most cutting insults you wish you could use but fear HR repercussions, Scrubs proves that you don’t have to be an over the top soap opera or led by a genius misanthrope to keep people watching.Scrubs is showrunner Bill Lawrence at his best, and it definitely holds up to repeat viewings.
There are few shows out there that are as consistently manic and hilarious as Broad City. The dream team of Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson make living in New York seem like a screwed up fairy tale, and yet it is still more realistic than almost every other depiction of twentysomething life in the Big Apple. Their apartments are terrible, their sex toys are plentiful, and they are there to expose the cult-like nature of the co-op. While the jokes fly fast, they still manage to work in some pathos, especially in season three, which examines the changeable nature of friendship and how some relationships aren’t made to last.
If the animation of Futurama looks familiar, it’s because Simpson’s creator Matt Groening helped craft the show. His signature brand of humor’s part of its make-up too, but the plot strays from the relatively normal world of Springfield and takes into the future when a pizza guy is accidentally frozen in 1999 and thawed out in 2999.
Even if you haven’t seen Bryan Fuller’s American Gods, go back in time for this underrated deep cut about the afterlife. When George (Ellen Puth) gets killed by a toilet seat falling from a space station, she discovers that life after death is a lot like the mundanity of living. She still has to hold down a soul-crushing job, her coworkers still don’t like her, and she’s still kind of an asshole. However, with Fuller’s deft approach to character building, a novel premise, and great performances from actors like Mandy Patinkin, Dead Like Me is worth a first, or second, look.
An NFL Draft tradition seems to be finding a bunch of tweets that athletes sent when they were teenagers and retweeting them. Sometimes this is very bad, and we learn things about a person that paint them in a negative light before their professional career begins. Other times, we learn that a guy likes string cheese and tunnels.
For new Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, who was taken with thee 15th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, we learned that he had quite the evening back when he was 14. It started with a simple tweet.
Big Bird, of course, is great! Everyone loves the beloved Sesame Street character, but for whatever reason, Jeudy ended up asking some questions about our beloved bird. The first question was simple enough.
What if you see big bird walk up to you and ask were sesame street at
Jeudy then got a bit NSFW with a tweet that you can click on here because I don’t like it, then he decided to ask questions regarding Big Bird and some forms of violence.
What if you see big bird getting beat up by cookie monster for smashing elmo
This is, from what I can tell, the extent of the tweets that Jeudy has sent about Big Bird. There is no word why this happened, but if someone in the Broncos media asks Jeudy, we will be sure to keep you in the loop. Anyway, after these tweets got sent, Jeudy went on to become a five-star recruit, commit to Alabama, and catch 159 balls for 2,742 yards and 26 touchdowns in three years. It begs the question: What if Big Bird tried to cover Jerry Jeudy?
The 2020 NFL Draft was supposed to be a massive event in Las Vegas, celebrating the NFL’s debut in Sin City as the Raiders begin their time in Las Vegas this fall. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the draft was forced to be a virtual draft, and the major plans they had for Vegas were put on the shelf.
Next season, the draft goes to Cleveland and the 2023 draft is scheduled for Kansas City, but the 2022 date was open and, unsurprisingly, the NFL and Raiders made the announcement during Thursday night’s first round that Vegas will host the 2022 edition.
It’ll be interesting to see whether they keep the same plans as they had for this year or come up with some new ideas. The red carpet was set to take place on the Bellagio fountains, with boats shuttling players on and off. The draft itself was going to happen in front of Caesars and the entire Strip was to be shut down to car traffic, allowing fans to mingle about and roam. It would’ve been quite the scene, and 2022 will bring the opportunity for the NFL world to descend on Vegas and celebrate the draft with a weekend long party that only Vegas can offer.
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