It’s not even a week into the new year and I already have to offer an apology. Last week I ended 2015 by looking back at my favorite pop culture of the year. However, in the rush to get that post done, I made a major omission – I somehow forgot to write about Fargo, which was perhaps my favorite season of television last year. This was such an egregious mistake that I didn’t want to make the change to the post, as Fargo deserves its own shout out. The first season of Fargo was fantastic, but the show somehow managed to exceed all expectations with its spectacular second season. There was no sophomore slump for this show; they managed to put together perhaps the best ensemble cast of the year to tell a riveting story that I looked forward to every week. I have no explanation for why I forgot to add it to my post; perhaps I was so blinded by its brilliance that I was momentarily disoriented. If you haven’t watched it yet, you are doing yourself a disservice.
Now that that’s out of the way, we can continue with your regularly scheduled pop culture roundup of last week’s best nuggets of pop culture news.
- George R.R. Martin says the new Game of Thrones book will not be finished before the next season of the HBO series.
- George Lucas said some not very nice things about Disney, but has then walked back from his comments.
- The rumors were true – Guns N’ Roses and LCD Soundsystem (and Calvin Harris) are the headliners for Coachella.
- At least in theory – Axl Rose is already backing out of appearances.
- Don’t expect to see Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
- The Star Wars intro creator lets you make some edits to the classic crawl.
- After fan outcry. the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Monopoly game will now include the character Rey.
- Leonardo DiCaprio has passed on some pretty big roles.
- The prosecutor from Making A Murderer says that the doc left out some key evidence.
- Timbaland gave The Daily Show theme a makeover.
- Beyoncé is writing and staring in a movie about Saartjie Baartman.
- Taylor Swift released a new music video.
- Her frenemy Kanye debuted a new song.
- Here’s Kanye’s American Idol audition:
- Louis C.K. and Albert Brooks are creating an animated pilot for FX.
- Glamour interviews Jennifer Lawrence.
- The Rock is developing a cop show for Fox.
- Rejoice – Hulu now has all three season of Happy Endings.
- She deserves better, but Jenna Fischer will have a recurring role on Mysteries of Laura.
- A George Costanza-themed bar is opening up in Australia.
- Also in Australia – a Breaking Bad-themed German restaurant.
- A Redditor’s grandparents look eerily like Taylor Swift and Hugh Hefner:
- Justin Timberlake will produce the soundtrack for the movie Trolls. He’ll voice a character in the animated film.
- Trolls are apparently big – Guillermo del Toro will do the animated Trollhunters for Netflix.
- The Baywatch movie has found its C.J. Parker.
- DreamWorks is bringing back Voltron.
- The second season of Daredevil will debut the same weekend as Batman v Superman.
- Ronda Rousey and Adam Driver will both host Saturday Night Live in January.
- The sixth season of Girls will officially be its last.
- The ill-advised Rocky Horror TV remake at Fox has cast Brad and Janet.
- Larry the Cable Guy will host an adaptation of a Finnish game show.
- After 13 season, Michael Weatherly is leaving NCIS.
- Xander Berkeley has joined the cast of The Walking Dead.
- CBS and Paramount have filed a lawsuit against an independent, fan-made Star Trek film.
- Aretha Franklin brought the house down with her performance at the Kennedy Center Honors:
- David Cross is doing a standup tour.
- Ryan Coogler is officially directing Mavel’s Black Panther.
- Emma Watson has given her support to the (Black) actress playing Hermione on stage.
- Stallone is done making Rambo movies.
- Joss Whedon has explained why he made a “clean break” from Marvel.
- Pearl the Landlord from the famous Funny or Die sketch is actually Adam McKay’s daughter.
- Chi-Raq, the newest movie from Spike Lee, will debut on Amazon Prime in February.
- Ryan Gosling wants to teach you how to pronounce Saoirse Ronan’s name.
- FX has cast Fargo’s Rachel Keller as the female lead for their Marvel pilot Legion.
Time for some trailers…..
- The Oscars:
- Deadpool:
- Vikings season 4:
- Zootopia:
- B-Roll:
- Baskets:
- Werner Herzog’s documentary, Lo and Behold – Reveries of the Connected World:
- Love (Judd Apatow’s Netflix series):
- Tom Segura: Mostly Stories:
- Chelsea Does:
- Documentary Heroes of the Empire:
- Quentin Tarantino is being sued for copyright infringement over Django Unchained.
- The pirates who leaked The Hateful Eight before its release date have apologized.
- This Star Wars cheeseburger is no joke.
- Look for a new season of Venture Bros. at the end of January.
- IFC has cancelled the comedy Benders.
- HBO has acquired a documentary about reporter James Foley.
- When the Olsen twins passed on the Full House reboot, John Stamos tried to recruit Elizabeth Olsen to play Michelle.
- FXX will not proceed with the animated series Cassius & Clay.
- Will Smith isn’t happy about the fate of his Independence Day character either.
- Jaden Smith will the new face of Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2016 women’s wear campaign.
- A lot of rappers made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.
- Christoph Waltz might be down for more Bond action – if Daniel Craig returns as well.
- Rolling Stone has a lengthy profile of Michael Bay.
- Hamilton’s lottery system has moved online for the winter months.
- The Meredith Vieira Show has been cancelled.
- This guy makes a ton of cash for posting spoilers for The Bachelor.
- Even the folks behind “Honest Trailers” couldn’t find fault with Die Hard:
- Someone finished Fallout 4 without killing anyone.
- Former Olympian and pro wrestler Kurt Angle will appear on Duck Dynasty.
- Ariana Grande made a surprise appearance at a Jason Robert Brown performance.
- Tommy Lee got stuck on the roller coaster drum kit at Motley Cure’s final show.
- China’s highest grossing movie of all time is coming to the U.S.
- A guy created a replica of Harry Potter’s Nimbus 2000 for his girlfriend.
- An oral history of Blossom.
- A new BBC documentary will focus on the unreleased Jerry Lewis movie The Day the Clowns Cried.
- Steve Miller writes a cover letter.
- The Better Call Saul poster has some Breaking Bad Easter eggs:
- R.I.P. Yahoo Screen.
- David Spade reveals the inspiration for one of his SNL characters.
- A free Rick and Morty game is coming to cell phones.
- Fusion has renewed The Chris Gethard Show.
- There’s a petition to name a newly discovered “heavy metal” after Lemmy.
- Syfy has renewed The Expanse.
- For $700, you can try Guy Fieri’s Super Bowl Sunday buffet.
- Was Kenneth immortal on 30 Rock?
- Beyoncé’s stylist created a light-up phone case for selfies.
- Tony winner Tonya Pinkins has left the Off Broadway production of Courage and Her Children.
- An unreleased Smashing Pumpkins song is the new Impact Wrestling theme.
- After being missing for a week, country singer Craig Strickland’s body was found by an Oklahoma lake.
- Ellen DeGeneres will receive the People’s Choice Humanitarian Award.
- Pitch Perfect co-stars Anna Camp and Skylar Astin are getting married.
- Rudy’s getting married – Keisha Knight Pulliam and Ed Hartwell are engaged.
- Also recently engaged – The Voice winner Jordan Smith and Kristen Denny.
- Aziz Ansari paid tribute to Harris Wittels in The New York Times.
- A 14 year girl claims that she’s getting unwanted attention from Tyga on social media. At least he has a type – underage. Your days are numbered, Kylie.
- Carrot Top took the comparisons to the “Affluenza Mom” in stride.
- Chris Brown is a suspect in an assault case in Las Vegas.
- Amy Schumer has an adorable new boyfriend – furniture designer Ben Hanisch:
https://www.instagram.com/p/_-nM-OReRj/?taken-by=benhanisch
- Leonardo DiCaprio and Kelly Rohrbach have split.
- Wayne Rogers, who played the original Trapper John on M*A*S*H, has died.
- Jason Wingreen, the voice of Boba Fett, has passed away.
- Bill Cosby is free on a $1 million bond in his sexual assault case.
- Donald Fagen, lead singer of Steely Dan, was arrested on charges of harassment and assault.
- Natalie Cole, R&B singer and daughter of Nat King Cole, passed away at 65.
As always, we end with the supercuts and mashups….
- The changing face of Leonardo DiCaprio:
- Marc Jacobs recreated a scene from Zoolander:
- The Downton Abbey intro with different audio:
- The Detroit Pistons made President Obama rap:
https://twitter.com/DetroitPistons/status/684417585199198209
- A cappella “We are the Champions”:
- Demi Lovato and Fall Out Boy pay tribute to NSYNC in their new music video:
- Someone recut The Wizard of Oz so all the dialogue is in alphabetical order:
- Inside Out with all the “inside” parts removed:
- A Sesame Street/True Detective mashup:
Seth Meyers does a great Making a Murderer parody:
- And finally, The Wire gets an animated intro:
As Heather's World Turns 