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The summer sports schedule is currently bare for 2020. Various leagues still hope to finish their paused seasons later this summer, but the biggest thing officially off the sports calendar is the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Originally slated for the summer of 2020, the Olympics were postponed until the summer of 2021.

The Olympiad was pushed a full year into the future because of a variety of scheduling issues and uncertainty about the state of the COVID-19 pandemic. NFL television contracts, for example, made it impossible for the Games to be pushed a few months into the fall of 2020. And moving the games to the summer of 2021 means qualifying for sports like basketball and others may make for a complicated calendar.

But now we know that it’s the summer of 2021 or bust for the Tokyo Olympics. According to a report from The Wrap, a Japanese official says that there’s no room for a third chance for the Tokyo Olympiad. If the games somehow get pushed back again, the entirety of the Games will be canceled.

“At that time it is canceled. If such a problem as war occurs in the past, it is usually canceled,” Yoshiro Mori, told Nikkan Sports. The Modern Olympics have been canceled three times due to World Wars: In 1916, 1940 and 1944.

It certainly makes sense that time is short on getting the Olympiad in at this point. The games run every four years, but a move to 2022 would also put the Summer Games in the same year as the Winter Olympics. Those Games used to happen in the same year, mind you, but the Olympics changed their scheduling and now have a considerable marketing apparatus that dominates the sports landscape every two years. That’s all been interrupted considerably due to COVID-19, and now we know the IOC has designated 2021 as the last chance for the Tokyo Olympiad.

[via The Wrap]

The ever-changing entertainment landscape just got a bit more tense thanks to some Trolls. Trolls World Tour seems to have started an interesting conflict in the mostly-shuttered movie industry after its distributor, Universal Films, hinted that the success some straight to video on-demand releases have had while theaters are closed may mean the practice continues when theaters open up again.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, AMC Theaters have decided to stop showing Universal Pictures after Trolls World Tour’s success — $20 at a time — created big revenue for Universal while theaters like AMC and others are still shuttered. The move came after NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said on-demand releases “exceeded our expectations” and may encourage them to release movies both on-demand and in theaters in the future.

“The results for Trolls World Tour have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD,” Shell told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the numbers. “As soon as theaters reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”

On Monday, Universal announced it would push another film — Pete Davidson’s King Of Staten Island — to a June on-demand release after its debut at South By Southwest was canceled and the growing coronavirus pandemic scuttled traditional release plans. But it seems Trolls and the comments about it prompted a letter from AMC Theatres chair-CEO Adam Aron to Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley, which called the idea “disappointing” and announced AMC would not show Universal movies around the world.

“It is disappointing to us, but Jeff’s comments as to Universal’s unilateral actions and intentions have left us with no choice. Therefore, effectively immediately AMC will no longer play any Universal movies in any of our theaters in the United States, Europe or the Middle East,” Aron said in the letter.

“This policy affects any and all Universal movies per se, goes into effect today and as our theaters reopen, and is not some hollow or ill-considered threat. Incidentally, this policy is not aimed solely at Universal out of pique or to be punitive in any way, it also extends to any movie maker who unilaterally abandons current windowing practices absent good faith negotiations between us, so that they as distributor and we as exhibitor both benefit and neither are hurt from such changes. Currently, with the press comment today, Universal is the only studio contemplating a wholesale change to the status quo. Hence, this immediate communication in response.”

With theaters closed it was inevitable that those in the industry will try new methods to make revenue, so releasing straight to on-demand was a matter of time for larger films while theaters are closed. But the theaters companies rely on to legitimize films — except this year, of course — will also do what they need to protect their place in the industry. Netflix and other streaming companies would love to see movie theaters lose their importance in the industry for a variety of reasons, but it’s clear AMC and presumably other chains will do what they can to fight back as this back and forth continues.

Last night’s episode of Raw was a historic one, but not in a good way.

The episode, which featured a WWE Championship match contract signing, Andrade vs. Apollo Crews, and the return of Jinder Mahal, drew an average of 1.82 million viewers over its three-hour run time, according to Showbuzz Daily. Raw’s viewership has been under two million for the past few weeks of empty Performance Center shows, but this was a notably low number. 411Mania points out that this was Raw’s smallest live cable audience for a non-holiday episode ever. It’s also the second smallest in the program’s history, only beaten, so to speak, by the Christmas Eve 2018 episode, which drew 1.78 million viewers.

However, the first two hours of Raw were still the second and third highest rated hours of programming on cable last night, while the third hour came in seventh. Shows on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC had up to millions of more viewers, but WWE beat everything but Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta among 18-49-year-olds. Raw’s highest-rated hour was rated 0.56 with that demographic and its lowest an 0.43. However, Raw was most watched by viewers over the age of fifty, with whom it was rated 0.92 for the first two hours and 0.82 for the third.

While The Last Dance continues to dominate the conversation in many basketball circles, there is still a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the potential resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season. Discussions are ongoing, both in the league office and within the NBA’s 30 organizations, on how things might continue in the coming days but, for at least a handful of teams, the potential for a postseason doesn’t directly apply.

The Golden State Warriors would fall into that category and, in fact, Steve Kerr’s team is the only team in the league that was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention before COVID-19 prompted a league-wide suspension of play. Even with that increased level of certainty on the lack of a playoff future in 2019-20, Kerr likely shared a fairly common sentiment on Tuesday, even if his candor could be surprising.

As part of a Zoom call with Warriors president and COO Rick Welts and University of San Francisco women’s basketball coach Jennifer Azzi, Kerr essentially let the cat out of the bag in saying that, in his mind, the 2019-20 campaign is virtually over.

“We’re staying in touch with guys, but everyone is just sort of assuming that this is kind of it,” Kerr said, via Connor Letourneau the San Francisco Chronicle. “We’re not going to be involved much anymore.”

Kerr went on to say that “it feels like the offseason” and he even disclosed that the team’s coaching staff is “absolutely in offseason mode right now.” In addition, Kerr and general manager Bob Myers recently held what was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as meetings that “amounted to exit interviews” with each member of Golden State’s roster.

It isn’t exactly shocking to see Kerr and the Warriors viewing things in this fashion, especially when taking into account the reality that California is still under a shelter-in-place order through the end of May. There are still some individuals within the league holding out hope for a return that would include regular season play but, given Kerr’s sentiment here, it is fair to say that he doesn’t fall within that group. Even if the Warriors end up playing additional games within the 2019-20 season, they don’t have much, if anything, to play for and that, combined with the bizarre nature of the overall situation, has one of the NBA’s most famous coaches operating in “offseason mode.”

Millions of Americans across the country have already received their federal coronavirus stimulus payments or are currently expecting their paper checks to arrive through the mail in the next couple of weeks. However, a lot of people who know they qualify for the $1,200 check are growing increasingly frustrated with the fact that they’re still receiving the dreaded “Payment Status Unavailable” when they check the IRS’ Get My Payment website. With the IRS offering few answers as to why some are still encountering this message, the people still waiting on their aide are essentially being left in the dark as to when and how they’ll receive help.

Well, prepare to throw your keyboard at the wall because if you’re one of those people — and since you clicked on this article we’re willing to bet you are — it’s looking like the issue may be because you need to input your address in all caps.

The trick was shared over twitter by Los Angeles Times coronavirus reporter Jessica Roy who picked up the solution from a friend and was shocked to find that it actually worked. Since Roy’s tweet, other Twitter users have confirmed that using all caps worked for them.

The IRS’ Get My Payment website requires you to input your social security number, date of birth, zip code, and address, and while the site is pretty clear on what it expects in terms of address format, it doesn’t mention anything about retrying your address info in all caps. Our very own master of drinks Christoper Osburn tried the method less than an hour ago and was able to get through without a hitch.

In the event that this new trick doesn’t work for you and you’re still getting the “Payment Status Unavailable” message you can expect to receive an 8×11 letter from the IRS with the shrugging emoji.

This article was originally published by The Conversation. You can read it here.

Consider, for a moment, the paper cut. It happens suddenly and entirely unexpectedly, usually just as you are finally getting somewhere on that task you had been putting off.

Recall your sense of relief to finish that thank-you note to your aunt for the lovely sweater she sent you three months prior when, at the crucial moment, your hands failed you in their familiar task and the paper’s edge slid past its restraints into the flesh.

Then pain – sharp, pure pain that bends your consciousness to the Only. Thing. That. Matters. Right. Now. There is sometimes a moment, between awareness and pain, when you bargain with fate, hoping that what just happened didn’t. But the hand is gone and the blood needs tending.

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Physically, paper cuts hurt as much as they do for a variety of reasons. They typically occur on parts of our bodies that are the most sensitive, such as the fingers, lips or tongue. The nerve networks of these body parts can discriminate with exceptional clarity and specificity, sensations of pressure, heat, cold and injury.

via Marco Verch / Flickr

Our brains even have specialized areas to receive signals coming from these parts in high definition. The exquisite sensing abilities that makes our fingers, lips and tongue so good at what they normally do, also makes injuries all the more painful.

These same highly sensitive areas are also parts we use all the time. Cuts on fingers, lips and the tongue tend to reopen throughout day dooming us to relive the pain again and again.

Finally, the depth of the wound is perfect for exposing and exciting the nerve fibers of the skin without damaging them the way a deeper, more destructive injury can severely damage the nerve fibers impairing their ability to communicate pain. With a paper cut, the nerve fibers are lit, and they are fully operational.

How to stop the ouch

As a family physician, I can recommend a few practical ways to minimize the discomfort of a paper cut. First, wash the cut as soon as you can with soap and water. This will reduce the chance of infection and help the wound heal quickly. Keep the wound clean, and if possible, for a few days cover it with a small bandage to cushion the wound and limit reopening.

While the physical effects of a paper cut are a real drag, I am fascinated by the mental and emotional response to the paper cut.

While both intentional self-injury (example: cutting) and major accidental injury (example: car accident with loss of limb or paralysis) have inspired important, ongoing research into their psychological effects, minor accidental injuries do not – and that is OK. There are more pressing issues in need of research than paper cuts.

But for a moment think back to the feelings you may have had about your paper cuts: surprise that the mundane act of licking an envelope could result in an injury (and so much blood!); shame that your body didn’t coordinate such a simple task (why does this always happen to me?); anger for hurting yourself (arrrgh!); anxiety that it will happen again (I still have 200 more envelopes to go!). Paper cuts are trivial, but they may invoke a complex emotional response.

Paper cuts remind us that no matter how many times we have performed even a simple task we are capable of accidentally hurting ourselves. If that makes us a little more sympathetic to our neighbor’s pains, and a little more humble, then maybe paper cuts do us some good too. Maybe.

Germany has earned praise for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country of 83 million has had 159,239 cases and 6,177 deaths. Compare that to the United States which has about four times the people but more than six times the cases and nine times the deaths.

Germany implemented aggressive social distancing measures at the onset of the outbreak and had a structural advantage over the U.S. Germany has a balanced budget that gave it the financial flexibility to help its citizens and businesses during the pandemic.

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The U.S. federal government was already in a mountain of debt and its healthcare system under-serves a large portion of the population.

“This is a crisis which, on the one hand, has probably hit the U.S. where it is most vulnerable, namely health care,” said Carsten Brzeski, ING bank’s chief Eurozone economist. “While at the same time it has hit the German economy where it’s the strongest.”

However, there is one area where Germany was caught flat-footed by the virus. It didn’t have enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for its healthcare workers.

A group of doctors is protesting the lack of PPEs by posing naked in a campaign they call Blanke Bedenken, which roughly translates as “Bare Concerns.” They are also encouraging fellow healthcare workers to share their photos to help get the word out.

via Blanke Bedenken

“We are your GPs. To be able to treat you safely, we need protective gear. When we run out of the little we have, we look like this,” the organizers say in a statement on their website. “We are all vulnerable. Medical practices need more support from politics,” the Blanke Bedenken group added.

The funny photos show the doctors tastefully posing alongside toilet paper, out in the sunshine, and even examining a patient. “The nudity is a symbol of how vulnerable we are without protection,” Ruben Bernau, a doctor in the group, said according to The Guardian.

via Blanke Bedenken

One doctor said she was “trained to sew up wounds” and asked: “Why am I now having to sew my own face mask?”

The idea for the protest was inspired by a French doctor who posed naked to protest the lack of PPEs in his country. Alain Colombié posed naked with an armband that read “canon fodder” in French in a message directed at French President Emmanuel Macron.

via Facebook

A spokesperson from Germany’s federal ministry of health says the shortages are tied to the massive increase in worldwide demand. “Due to worldwide rapid rise of Covid-19 infection numbers the demand for medical supplies, such as gloves, breathing masks, protective clothing and ventilators, increased. This led to worldwide supply shortages,” they told CNN.

Healthcare workers have also reported several cases of supply theft at hospitals they believe may be tied to organized crime.

German authorities are working as fast as they can to ramp up production of PPEs and a recent shipment of 10 million masks from China should help ease the burden.

With only a few wide-release movies scheduled to come out between now and August, not to mention all the indies that are going straight to VOD, it was obvious that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would have to shake things up for next year’s Oscars. The current rules require “that a film be shown in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County for a theatrical qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days,” but with theaters closed, possibly for months, the only movies eligible for an Oscar would be the ones that already came out. I like Jim Carrey as much as the next guy, but are we ready for Best Picture winner Sonic the Hedgehogs? Apparently not, because the Academy has announced rule changes for the 93rd Academy Awards.

“Until further notice, and for the 93rd Awards year only, films that had a previously planned theatrical release but are initially made available on a commercial streaming or VOD service may qualify in the Best Picture, general entry and specialty categories for the 93rd Academy Awards,” the Academy announced after a vote on Tuesday morning.

There are two provisions, though:

1. The film must be made available on the secure Academy Screening Room member-only streaming site within 60 days of the film’s streaming or VOD release.

2. The film must meet all other eligibility requirements.

In other words, Trolls World Tour can still win Best International Feature (not really, but they went on a WORLD tour, didn’t they?), while actual-contenders released digitally in lieu of a theatrical run, like Never Rarely Sometimes Always, are Oscar eligible. But speaking of the category formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film: for the first time, “all eligible Academy members will now be invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting,” while Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing have been combined into one category, Best Sound. You’ll still get it wrong on your ballet.

Remember when Parasite won Best Picture nine years ago? That was cool.

(Via the Academy)

Fans of Parks and Recreation received an unexpected surprise last week when Amy Poehler announced during a Twitter video that the cast will be back for an upcoming Quarantine Reunion Special to support Feeding America, but apparently, that’s only the first of many surprises.

While talking to TV Line about the logistics of quickly reuniting the cast while everyone is social distancing, Parks and Rec showrunner Mike Schur made it clear that the show will feature an assortment of unexpected guests literally out of the gate.

“Part of the fun of [Parks and Rec] in general and of the special will be unexpected people who are part of this world popping up,” executive producer Mike Schur said in a Tuesday press conference. And while he won’t confirm or deny any rumored cameos, “There are probably half a dozen… familiar faces who pop up at one point or another” — including in the special’s opening seconds.

“The first face you see on camera will not be one of the 10 main cast members,” Schur teased. “And that sets the tone for the show.”

According to Schur, including Rashida Jones’ character Ann Perkins was a particularly tricky situation because, as fans will remember, she is a nurse, which immediately raised questions about why she wouldn’t be on the “front lines” of the pandemic. To keep things upbeat, the show creators came up with a solution that Ann works in outpatient care now because, more than anything, Schur wants the special to be “optimistic” and really emphasize one of Leslie Knope’s most endearing qualities: Her sense of hope.

A Parks and Rec Reunion Special will air Thursday on NBC and feature cast members Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Jim O’Heir and Retta. Proceeds from the event will go to Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund, “which enables food banks to provide food and resources to the most vulnerable members of the community during this difficult time.”

(Via TVLine)

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now. Also, there’s been a wild amount of new Apple TV+, Netflix, and HBO offerings over the past week, so here’s your chance to catch up as much as possible.

Beastie Boys Story (Apple TV+ film) — Both diehard and casual fans can dig director Spike Jonze’s intimate and personal story of the collaborative adventures of Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz, and Adam Yauch. The pioneering trio’s hybrid documentary-live stage performance film is hilarious, sad, and something you won’t want to miss.

Never Have I Ever (Netflix series) — Mindy Kaling’s latest brainchild, a semi-autobiographical series that finds inspiration in her own Massachusetts adolescence, promises to put a “nerdy, extra thirsty” spin on this coming-of-age story.

Defending Jacob (Apple TV+ series) — Chris Evans leads a stellar cast in this familiar story with a few gripping twists. Think We Need To Talk About Kevin crossed with Primal Fear, with Evans supported by the likes of J.K. Simmons, Jaeden Martell, Betty Gabriel, Cherry Jones, and Michelle Dockery.

Bad Education (Saturday, HBO 8:00 p.m.) — True events inspired this exploration of the underbelly of elite public school malfeasance starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. Embezzlement and corruption abounds through two solid leading performances.

Extraction (Netflix film) — The Russo Brothers teamed up again with Chris Hemsworth for this crime flick about a black-market mercenary on a deadly ride through the weapons-and-drug-trafficking underworld. Guns will be out, in more ways than one.

After Life: Season 2 (Netflix series) — The Ricky Gervais comedy-drama series returns for six new episodes with Tony still struggling over the loss of his wife. In the process, he attempts to become a better person, but shall he succeed? And will the local Am-Dram show work any mood-lifting magic?

Middleditch & Schwartz (Netflix series) — Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz’s two-man comedy show features in three new completely improvised Netflix comedy specials, including Dream Job, Law School Magic, and Parking Lot Wedding. Get ready for tales of an existential crisis, a robbery-gone-wrong, and a bit of magic.

Cooked with Cannabis (Netflix series) — Technically, this show dropped on 4/20, but considering how this year is going, it’s gotta still be 4/20 somewhere, right? Move your cannabis game past pot brownies and marijuana cookies while watching top chefs compete to get “baked” in more elaborate ways.

The Willoughbys (Netflix film) — This highly stylized animated film hails follows a group of four siblings who must adapt their old-fashioned ways to the modern world after being abandoned by their parents. The voice cast includes Ricky Gervais, Maya Rudolph, Will Forte, Martin Short, and Jane Krakowski.

The Flash (CW, 8:00 p.m.) — Barry examines his life with Iris while Eva plots a move.

D.C.’s Legends Of Tomorrow (CW, 9:00 p.m.) — Charlie realizes that something’s amiss with Sara while she recuperates, and the Loom search sends Constantine and Zari back to 1910.

For Life (ABC, 10:00 p.m.) — Safiya cranks up the heat on Foster while he’s attempting to fly under the radar before retirement, and Aaron’s digging into new information and running into trouble with Cassius.

The Last O.G. (TBS, 10:30 p.m.) — A quest for an old pair of Air Jordans leads Tray and his family across the city.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Stephen King, Jake Gyllenhaal, and M. Ward

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Ricky Gervais, Billy Porter, and The Lumineers

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Jim Parsons

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Will Forte, Rep. Katie Porte

A Little Later With Lilly Singh — Jay Shetty, Humble The Poet

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah — Noah’s reporting live from his couch, and naturally, the subject of the night will be the ongoing pandemic and social distancing.