Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Take It Easy Edition

I’m not on vacation this week, but I’m giving myself a little break from blogging. This is partially just because there isn’t much going on this week in the world of pop culture but also because I want some time to think about the future of the blog. Even with my reduced blogging schedule, this is still a big time commitment and I’m not sure if the interest is still there. So on top of some relaxing, I have some thinking to do.

But I couldn’t leave you completely without any pop culture hook-up this week, so on to the roundup. As usual, I’ve searched to bring you the best pop culture news that the web has to offer. So as the hazy days of summer come to a close, get yourself caught up on what you might have missed in the last week.

Television

• Stranger Things is officially back for a second season!

• Grimm’s upcoming season will be its last.
• Connie Brittton’s days on Nashville may be coming to a close.
• Taylor Kitsch will play the cult leader David Koresh in a limited TV series about Waco.
• Alison Brie will star in Jenji Kohan’s comedy for Netflix about the GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling).
• TNT orders a pilot based on Let The Right One In.
• Rumor – Marvel may be working on a The New Warriors series starring Squirrel Girl.
• A Connecticut town will be transformed into Stars Hallow for the (unfortunately sold out) Gilmore Girls fan festival.
• The bosses on Seinfeld, ranked.
• Jon Favreau will direct the first episode of Seth MacFarlane’s  space series
• Phylicia Rashad is headed to season three of Empire.

• Toni Collette will star in a new ABC drama from the creators of Black-ish.
• Kristen Bell is developing an animated musical series.
• Diablo Cody will adapt the British sitcom Raised By Wolves for ABC.
• Starz has renewed Survivor’s Remorse.
• Lifetime has found its Britney Spears for their unauthorized biopic.
• HBO has purchased a sketch show from Tracey Ullman.
• Stranger Things’ Shannon Purser (aka Barb) has landed the role of Ethel in the CW Archie reboot, Riverdale.
• Marcia Clark is getting her own legal drama at NBC.
• Thomas Gibson’s loss is Paget Brewster’s gain – she’s been bumped up to a series regular on Criminal Minds after his firing.
• Pretty Little Liars will end in 2017.
• Yvonne Strahovski joins Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
• Zach Braff will direct and star in a comedy pilot for ABC, based on the podcast StartUp.
• Slow TV is coming to Netflix.
• Supergirl will have to deal with Metallo in season two.
• Damon Dash is working on a series about Roc-A-Fella Records.
• The BBC plans to adapt The Miniaturist for television.
• Lip Sync Battle is getting a live special.
• Mark-Paul Gosselaar will recreate an iconic Saved By The Bell scene for Family Guy.

• Because there are no new ideas, A&E is also doing a JonBenet Ramsey special.
• Marsai Martin (Black-ish) will appear in Amazon’s American Girls special.
• Jason Alexander is set to appear on The Simpsons.
• Robert Zemeckis has sold NBC a “modern retelling of the Noah’s Ark story from the Bible.”
• The new cast of Dancing With The Stars was revealed.
• Predicting what new fall show will be cancelled first. The #1 contender seems likely.
• Charles Osgood is retiring from CBS Sunday Morning.

Movies

• The Rock is the highest paid actor in the world.
• Warner Brothers wants to turn the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child into a movie trilogy because of course they do.

• Will Lin-Manuel Miranda star in the film adaptation of In the Heights?
• Julie Bowen has joined the Melissa McCarthy comedy, Life of the Party. Matt Walsh will also join the fun.
• Captain Marvel has narrowed down the short list of potential directors to three women.
• Dan Harmon is punching up the Doctor Strange script.
• REDACTED is rumored to be the villain in the upcoming Affeck solo Batman movie; Joe Manganiello is in the running to play him.
• Sarah Paulson is the latest actress to be circling the female-led Ocean’s Eleven remake
• Christoph Waltz is in talks to star in the adaptation of Alita: Battle Angel from Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron.
• John Krasinski and James Coden get fired from some classic film roles:

 

• John Krasinski says that he might have played Captain America, but was intimidated by Chris Hemsworth’s body (aren’t we all).
• Examining the similarities between Captain America and Austin Powers.
• That Chris Evans bicep bulge in Captain America: Civil War was not digitally enhanced.
• The Russo brothers confirm that while Steve Rogers lives on, his days as Captain America may be over (at least temporarily).
• For those of you wondering what Thor and Mark Banner were up to during Civil War:

 

• The setting for the adaptation of The Girl on the Train has been changed from London to NYC.
• Ryan Reynolds paid out of his own pocket to keep the Deadpool writers on set.
• Matt Bomer will play a transgender woman in a film based on Tim McNeil’s play, Anything.
• Elizabeth Olsen joins Jason Sudeikis and Ed Harris in the drama Kodachrome.
• An Angry Birds sequel is in the works.
• Karen Gillan is part of the new Jumanji movie.
• Richard Linklater’s semi-sequel to The Last Detail will star Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell and Laurence Fishburne.
• Helen Mirren may join Disney’s live-action Nutcracker.
• Anne Hathaway to star in the adaptation of the memoir Live Fast Die Hot.
• Vincent D’Onofrio has joined Bruce Willis in the Death Wish remake.
• Sam Mendes is in talks to helm the live-action adaptation of James and the Giant Peach.
• The Maze Runner: The Death Cure will resume production early next year after star Dylan O’Brien was injured on set.
• Transformers: The Last Knight has cast Liam Garrigan as King Arthur – conveniently a role that he also plays on Once Upon A Time.

Trailers

• A Dog’s Purpose:

 

• A United Kingdom:

 

• Lion:

 

• My Blind Brother:

 

• Empire, season 3:

 

• The Greasy Strangler (NSFW):

 

• Planetarium:

 

• Famous in Love:

 

• Manchester By The Sea:

 

• Luke Cage:

 

• Westworld:

 

• Blunt Talk, season two:

 

• Three Days of Terror: The Charlie Hebdo Attacks:

 

• Those Who Can’t season 2:

 

• The Flash season 3:

 

• Insecure:

 

• The Prequels Strike Back: A Fan’s Journey:

 

• The Disappointments Room:

 

Music

• Mashable ranks all the VMA performances.
• All hail the Queen – Beyoncé set a new record for VMA total wins (24).
• Chance the Rapper getting a surprise hug from Beyoncé is all of us:

• Prince’s home will be open for tours.
• Vulture looks at 41 albums to get excited about this fall.
• Taylor Swift the VMAs this year for conveniently-timed jury duty.
• Also missing from the VMAs was Justin Bieber, who instead opted to sing karaoke at a strip mall.
• Listen to Wilco’s new song, “Someone to Lose.”
• Fans invited Adele to their wedding and she said yes.
• Phil Collins came out of retirement to sing with Leslie Odom, Jr. at the U.S. Open.
• Questlove is hosting a weekly show on Pandora.
• R.E.M. is reissuing Out of Time.
• Jennifer Lopez surprises ex-hubby Marc Anthony on stage at his NYC concert.
• Concertgoers are suing Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg over a concert railing collapse.
• Sturgill Simpson is mad that the ACM Awards named an award after Merle Haggard.
• Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo is playing some reunion shows with The Misfits.
• The VMAs gave Kanye four minutes of airtime to do whatever he wanted; here’s how he used it.
• Before Teyana Taylor was in Kanye’s “Fade” video, she was on My Super Sweet 16.
• Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell collapsed on stage.
• Kings of Leon have a new album and a new sound.
• Sisqo explains the meaning behind the “Thong Song” lyrics “dumps like a truck,” so that age-old mystery is solved.
• Lemmy Kilmister now has a statue in West Hollywood.
• Lorde says her new album is in the production stage.
• Lady Gaga’s meat dress from the VMAs a few years ago has inspired a meal at a restaurant in China.
• Liam Gallagher announced a solo album.
• What are previous VMS best new artist nominees up to now? UPROXX investigates.
• Chris Brown allegedly threatened a woman with a gun.
• Miley Cyrus’ homeless date from the 2014 VMAs is selling her Moonman on eBay.
• Spike Jonze directed a perfume commercial:

 

Theater

• Jennifer Holliday is joining The Color Purple.
• While the online lottery will continue, the live #Ham4Ham shows for Hamilton are ending.
• Barbra Streisand visits her old Broadway dressing room, finds a shrine to Barbra Streisand.

 

Stand-up

• A George Carlin bit that was shelved after September 11^th has now be released.
• Patton Oswalt will make his return to standup next month.
• Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy are teaming up for a new stand-up special.

 

Books

• Bob Odenkirk is writing a memoir.
• Pretty Little Liars’ Ian Harding is releasing a book of essays.
• Lena Dunham is writing a short story collection,

 

Odds and Ends

• Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart have reportedly called it quits.
• Richard Branson was in a serious bicycling crash.
• Days of Our Lives’ Kassie DePaiva has leukemia.
• Zac Efron is in mourning after his dog, Puppy, passed away.
• Blac Chyna got in on the new family business – posing nude on the cover of Paper Magazine.
• Mark Chapman, John Lennon’s killer, was denied parole.
• Game of Thrones Carice van Houten and Guy Pearce welcomed a (non-smoke) baby boy.
• Bea Arthur’s homeless shelter for LGBT youth will open in NYC next year.
• Mariah Carey’s sister was reportedly arrested on charges of prostitution in Saugerties, NY.
• Mexican musical legend Juan Gabriel has died. He was 66 years old.
• This one broke my heart – Gene Wilder has died at 83 years old.

 

Mashups and Supercuts

• Garfield’s Jon Arbuckle sings Drake:

 

• Kanye Things:

hey bruh bruh @kanyewest is pretty scary inside @stranger_things thanks @mtv bruh bruh #vmas hey bruh bruh pic.twitter.com/cj8CdD2o5E

— Dominick Nero (@filminick) August 29, 2016

 

• A supercut of people touching things in movies:

 

• Kevin Bacon does his best Tom Petty impersonation on The Tonight Show:

 

• The Indian version of the Friends theme song:

 

• Rouge Binks:

 

• Avengers: Full House:

 

• Coldplay paid tribute to Gene Wilder in concert:

In a world of pure imagination… R42 pic.twitter.com/R2KD3kA0RK

— Coldplay (@coldplay) August 30, 2016

 

• And finally, may these Game of Thrones attack ads tide you over until the next season:

 

 

 

Some Thoughts On Netflix’s Stranger Things

One of my most seminal movie going experiences involves E.T.

That movie hit the theaters back when I was six years old and, at the time, my entire world had been rocked by the arrival of my baby brother. I was perfectly content to be living the life of an only child and when my parents decided that they wanted more offspring, I took this as a personal affront. Couldn’t’ they see how happy our little family of three was? Why were they bringing someone new into the picture? I was annoyed by the idea of a younger sibling in the abstract, but now that they had actually gone through with it and brought a baby home, I was none too happy (and knowing me, probably made sure that my parents were well aware of this fact). Perhaps as an olive branch, my parents hatched a plan for me to go see E.T. in the theaters, a movie that I had been obsessed with but hadn’t seen. How much did I want to go see this movie? My only real interest in the birth of my future sibling was my passionate argument to my parents that should they have a boy, he should be named Elliot – not only in honor of the little boy in the movie but because his initials would actually be E.T. I thought that this was genius; they were less impressed and ultimately went in an entirely different direction when it came to names. 30+ years later, I still think that this was a missed opportunity (Sorry, Matt). I was willing to saddle my brother with the name from a movie that I hadn’t even seen yet, so clearly my pop culture inclination developed early.

When I was a kid, going to the movies didn’t happen very often, so their willingness to take me to see E.T. was a special treat. My dad took the day off from work to stay home with my then one-month old brother (how progressive!) and my mom and I made the trek to the movie theater. The movie wasn’t playing near our house, so we had to make the 35 minute drive to the Northway Mall (R.I.P.) in Colonie to see it. The showing that we were aiming for was actually sold out when we got there (which I assume I handled with grace and understanding and most certainly didn’t pitch a fit about), so we had to hang around for the later show. I remember at the time feeling like we were so far from home and that it was so late by the time we left the theater, but in reality it was probably 5 pm and it just got dark early because winter was coming. Kids aren’t smart.

I remember all this not just because of the circumstances of going to finally see E.T., but because I also utterly and completely loved that movie. As a grown-up, I tend to be unimpressed with Spielberg, but as a six year old little girl I was so charmed by the movie. It was like anything was possible and for the movie runtime I forgot about all my kid problems and the fact that there was a baby at home who was sucking up all the attention (I also became determined to dress my brother up like they did to E.T. at Halloween; finally this kid had some potential).

To this day, if I see footage of those kids flying on bicycles, somewhere in my cold, dark heart I can still feel some of that pure joy I felt when I first saw E.T.

I bring this lengthy intro up not to embarrass my brother (side benefit), but because the Netflix series Stranger Things was able to access that same feeling that I had when I first saw E.T. The series is able to tap into the nostalgia of 80s movies and made me feel like a kid again, which is hard to do with someone as cynical as me. I binge-watched Stranger Things and happily regressed a bit to a time when my biggest problem was that I wasn’t the center of attention anymore.

In the broadest of strokes, Stranger Things takes place in 1980s Hawkings, Indiana and focuses on a group of 12 year old boys: Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Will (Noah Schnapp). One night, Will mysteriously disappears, sending his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) and older brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) into a panic. Shortly thereafter, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas discover Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a girl their age that has psychokinetic powers. Stranger Things focus on the weird things that are happening in and around Hawkings as three groups try to find Will: his friends and Eleven, his mother and Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour), and Jonathan and Mike’s sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer).

What is so impressive about Stranger Things is that it doesn’t just coast on a wave of nostalgia; because I didn’t see a ton of movies when I was a kid, I didn’t get half of the references that the show was making to other classic 80s movies, but that didn’t impede my ability to enjoy the series. It may have done a bang up job of recapturing and recreating a lot of what made movies from that time so loved, but Stranger Things completely stands on its own merits. As a child of that time, Stranger Things is kind of calibrated to hit that sweet spot of my childhood, but even if you have never seen E.T., Stand By Me, or It, you could still love the series. Stranger Things also plays with some of the tropes from this time period by acknowledging them but then changing them from what you expect. The bad boy boyfriend is a staple of 80s movies, but in Stranger Things Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) isn’t quite so one-dimensional and when you think he might zig, he actually zags. It’s both familiar and different all at the same time.

I also can’t say enough about the casting director for this show. It’s hard enough to find one child actor that is capable of doing some heavy lifting in a series or movie, but Stranger Things has found a goldmine of young talent in this cast. They are all great, but special recognition is needed for Millie Bobby Brown who does so much and says so little. She is, in effect, the E.T. stand-in and she wordlessly is able to communicate so much with just a look or the slightest physical movement. It’s really quite something to watch. The only reason that she doesn’t run away with the entire series is because the rest of the kids are so good as well (shout-out to my man Dustin, who is probably my favorite character). The older kids and adults are fantastic as well and I have to say that it is so nice to have Winona Ryder back in my life. Stranger Things is able to juggle the three storylines (the kids, the teens, and the adults) so effortlessly that they can seamlessly move between the groups (or bring them together) and it is always interesting. There really isn’t a weak link in the actors or in the storylines. It all just works. After I tore through the eight episodes of the first season, I was so sad that it was over.

Some random thoughts:

• I really have no idea why the Internet has made such a big deal of the character of Barb (Shannon Purser). Like, she’s cool and all, but she really didn’t do anything to create such fan devotion, in my opinion. I realize I’m in the minority on this.

• Probably my favorite side theory that has come out of this show is the idea that it is a prequel to Parks and Recreation.

• This (more credible) fan theory is pretty compelling.

• You don’t want to know how long I played around with this Stranger Things font generator.

• I don’t know if the show has any corporate tie-in with Eggos, but after watching the series I was compelled to buy some. I hadn’t had them since I was a kid and they were freaking delicious (in the last few weeks, I’ve also purchased Ecto Cooler and Cap’n Crunch cereal, so it is possible that I’m Benjamin Button and don’t realize it. Or I’m just freaking out about turning 40 next month).

I really can’t recommend Stranger Things enough – it was a very fun ride and I can’t wait to see what they do next in a (probable) second season. If you are a child of the 80s, there is so much to love about this series, but it really is accessible and fun for people who don’t have the same point of reference that I do. Well-acted, well-written and well-directed – Stranger Things does pretty much everything really well. It’s the little show that could – passed over by nearly 20 networks before it landed at Netflix, the Duffer brothers had a vision and they stuck with it. I’m so glad that they did.

All eight episodes of Stranger Things are currently streaming on Netflix.

Pop Culture Odds and Ends – New Look Edition

You may notice this week that the pop culture round-up looks a little different this week. It is now set up by subject areas to group similar news items together. This was suggested by a reader and I thought I’d give it a try this week to see if how everyone liked it. Thankfully it’s not too much extra work and it plays into my type-A personality need to keep things organized. Plus readership has been dwindling a lot in the last few months and I really need to keep the few of you who are loyal readers happy. Hopefully this makes it easier for you to keep track of all the news in the roundup. Feel free to give me your feedback.

And now….on to what you’re really here for…..the pop culture extravaganza that I assemble each week. Get yourself caught up on what you might have missed with the latest edition of the roundup.

Television News

• Inside Amy Schumer isn’t cancelled, but don’t look for a new season any time soon.
• Kit Harington says that the new season of Game of Thrones will be “very bleak” – unlike the sunshine and rainbows that we’ve become accustomed to in the previous seasons.
• Jim Gaffigan has decided to end his TV Land series.
• The CW has ordered a Lost Boys TV series revival from Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars, iZombie).
• Netflix is doing an Anne of Green Gables series.
• The Duffer Brothers promise “justice” for one character in a second season of Stranger Things. *spoilers*
• Rupert Grint (yes, Ron Weasley) will star in Crackle’s TV adaptation of the movie Snatch.
• Keegan-Michael Key, Colbie Smulder and Fred Savage will star in the Netflix comedy Friends From College.
• Aaron Paul is developing the drama Blackmail for NBC.
• Netflix has renewed Last Chance U.
• This Seinfeld cake is spectacular:

• The TV version of ComedyBang! Bang! is coming to an end.
• Hulu is adapting Marvel’s Runaways with Josh Schwarz and Stephanie Savage.
• Have you fallen behind on the great Full Frontal with Samantha Bee? TBS just made it super easy to catch up.
• WGN is developing a new series called Black Wall Street.
• Every episode of Quantico and America Crime are now streaming on Netflix.
• Amazon is making The Departed into a TV series.
• Idris Elba and Discovery have partnered for the limited series Idris Elba: Fighter as Elba trains to be a kickboxer. I’m sold based on this photo alone:

Cutting weight, two days before first fight, mind in the right place. Fear NO guy.

A post shared by 7dub (@7dub) on Aug 22, 2016 at 1:22am PDT

 

• Hulu has grabbed the streaming rights for Community season 6, bringing all the seasons together in once place.
• John Krasinski is game for a The Office reunion.
• Chris O’Dowd and Ray Romano are slated to star in a TV series based on Get Shorty.
• Anna Paquin will star in the Netflix miniseries adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace.
• Alex Borstein will return for the MADtv revival.
• Jon Stewart dropped by the last episode of The Nightly Show; The Daily Show alumni Samantha Bee and Stephen Colbert sent him booze and John Oliver paid tribute to him in the opening credits of Last Week Tonight.
• Cops is being made into a movie.

• A new reality show will pair celebrity chefs with celebrities.
• Joseph Fiennes is headed to Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale.
• Yael Grobglas will appear on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
• Brittany Snow will also join the second season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
• FX is developing a comedy about horse jockeys.
• Sarah Paulson will play Geraldine Page on Feud.
• New Kids on the Block will appear on Fuller House.
• There will probably be a Parenthood revival sooner rather than later.
• CMT is developing a Varsity Blues TV series.
• Billy Crudup will appear alongside Naomi Watts in the Netflix thriller Gypsy.
• R.I.P. TV network Pivot.
• Here’s what is coming and going from HBO Now in September.
• Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael are developing a show for Hulu.
• Lifetime is making a movie about Robert Durst.

 

Movie News

• Ben Affleck is in talks to direct and star in a remake of Witness for the Prosecution.
• The sci-fi comedy with Seth Rogen, Bill Hader and Zach Galifinakis no longer has a release date.
• Jared Leto has joined the cast of the Blade Runner sequel.
• Ellen Page and Kate Mara will star in the forbidden romance Mercy.
• Zendaya’s role in Spider-Man: Homecoming has been revealed. Director James Gunn tries to shut down the haters.
• Taylor Kitsch will star opposite Dylan O’Brien and Michael Keaton in the adaptation of American Assassin.
• This article from UPROXX takes on the herculean task of arguing that Tokyo Drift is not the worst of the Fast & Furious franchise.
• I don’t know if this is part of their passive aggressive beef, but Vin Diesel claims that The Rock’s role in the Fast & Furious movies was written for Tommy Lee Jones.

Tommy doesn’t believe this either.

• The Rock says that his upcoming Jumanji movie is a sequel, not a reboot.
• The car from National Lampoon’s Vacation may be hitting the market. That would make for a pretty epic road trip ride.
• Leslie Odom, Jr. in talks for the remake of Murder on the Orient Express.
• Jonah Hill did so much fake cocaine on The Wolf of Wall Street that he wound up in the hospital.
• Lizzy Caplan will star in the dark comedy Friend of Bill, produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.
• Vulture highlights 55 movies to watch this fall.
• Look for some of the Guardians of the Galaxy to drop by Avengers: Infinity War.
• A documentary is in development about the creators of Curious George.
• Salary disputes are holding up the production of the latest Mission: Impossible movie.
• Michael Pena will return for Ant-Man and The Wasp.
• A moment of silence for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine mutton chops.
• Charlie Hunnam and Lea Seydoux will star in a sci-fi love story.
• John Cho will star in a movie about modern architecture.
• Jon Bernthal and Christopher Abbott will star in the thriller Sweet Virginia.
• Matthew McConaughey apparently has had a secret YouTube channel.
• Alicia Silverstone will appear in a new film from the director of The Lobster.
• Melissa Leo and Patton Oswalt have joined a Kickstarter-backed indie film.
• Jennifer Lawrence and Melissa McCarthy top Forbes’ list of highest-paid actresses in 2016.
• Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga join The Commuter (also starring Liam Neeson, so assume someone is getting taken.

 

Trailers

• Hands of Stone (red-band trailer):

 

• Sully:

 

• La La Land:

 

• Same Kind of Different as Me:

 

• Narcos, season 2:

 

• End of A Gun:

 

• Mechanic 2:

 

• Rings:

 

• Kidnap:

 

• Audrie & Daisy:

 

• Morgan:

 

• Max Steel:

 

• Scream Queens, season 2:

 

• Jean-Claude Van Johnson:

 

• Zoom:

 

• You’re The Worst:

 

• MacGyver:

 

• Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey:

 

Music News

• Praise be! Frank Ocean’s new album finally dropped!
• Behind-the-scenes photos from the filming of Beyoncé’s Lemonade.
• James Corden celebrated his birthday by singing with Coldplay. Hey Beyoncé – my birthday is coming up!
• Drake and Eminem performed together in Detroit. Beef squashed?
• Jimmy Eat World released a new song.
• Justin Timberlake is producing a music festival in Tennessee (not Bonnaroo).
• Kanye wrote a poem about McDonald’s for Frank Ocean’s new zine.
• Adele brought a dog that was wearing an Adele shirt on stage during her concert
• Taylor Swift has donated $1 million to help Louisiana flood victims. Britney Spears is also raising money.
• Tony Bennet received a statue in San Francisco for his 90^th birthday.
• Spotify released a new documentary about Metallica.
• Metallica is planning a big tour for 2017.

• A new A Tribe Called Quest album will be released.
• The oral history of “Smooth” by Santana and featuring Rob Thomas.
• Rihanna visited the headless Rihanna statue in Germany.
• Koko the gorilla rocked out with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea’s bass.
• The track listing for the Trolls soundtrack has been released.
• A collaboration between Daft Punk and The Weeknd is reportedly percolating.
• Check out footage of Trent Reznor in the 80s band Slam Bamboo:

 

Theater News

• John Turturro, Jessica Hecht and Tony Schalhoub to star in a revival of the Arthur Miller play, The Price.
• YouTube star Todrick Hall will take over the lead in Broadway’s Kinky Boots.
• Who knows if we’ll ever get Beetlejuice 2, but Beetlejuice is Broadway bound.
• Craigslist’s “Missed Connections” is being turned into a musical Off-Broadway.
• The Groundhog Day musical is headed to Broadway.
• Sweeney Todd will have an Off-Broadway revival.
• A fake Broadway play, claiming to star Lupita Nyong’o, is at the center of a criminal case that sounds like it’s straight out of The Producers.

 

Stand-up

• Eddie Murphy may be contemplating a return to stand-up.
• The Washington Post did a profile of Norm Macdonald.
• The Oddball Comedy Festival has scaled the tour back amid cancellations; I hope this isn’t my fault as I opted out of going this year, since it’s a great festival.
• Stand-up specials from Reggie Watts, Colin Quinn, Dana Carvey and others are headed to Netflix.
• Showtime will air Martin Lawrence’s first stand-up special in 14 years.

 

Odds & Ends

• Bill Murray – airport fries thief.
• When Riri Williams replaces Tony Stark, Iron Man will become Ironheart.
• I have no interest in Pokémon, but you’re speaking my language with Pokémon burgers.
• The Brady Bunch’s Eve Plumb just made bank selling a Malibu bungalow that she purchased when she was 11.
• Sir Ian McKellen turned down $1.5 million to officiate a wedding as Gandalf.
• Nick Cannon is now a freshman at Howard University.
• Barbra Streisand called Tim Cook because Siri was saying her name incorrectly.
• Truman Capote’s ashes are for sale.
• KFC fried chicken-scented sunscreen is a thing that exists.

• Chris Hardwick’s wedding featured a Tardis cake and zombies.
• John Stamos posted a tribute to his beloved dog Linka, who passed away.
• Prince’s death may have been caused by a mix up.
• Former 3 Doors Down guitarist and co-founder Matt Roberts has died at 38.
• Jack Riley (The Bob Newhart Show, Rugrats) died of pneumonia.
• Broadway veteran and original Law & Order cast member Steven Hill has died. He was 94.
• Lou Pearlman, creator of *NSYNC and The Backstreet Boys (among others), passed away at 62.
• Amber Heard will donate her entire $7 million divorce settlement with Johnny Depp to charity.

As always, we end with the Mashups and Supercuts……

• The Voice coaches cover “Dream On”:

 

• A hamster version of Super Mario:

 

• More of kids recreating The Real Housewives of Atlanta:

 

• A supercut of awkward moments:

 

• Rogue One meets Friends:

 

• Rogue One meets the Beastie Boys:

 

• Brothers Osborne covered the Dixie Chicks:

 

• This compilation proves that the cast of Star Trek Beyond loves its dubsmash:

 

• SNL actors breaking character:

 

• A tribute to movie fight scenes:

 

• A supercut of “best supporting weirdos”:

 

• The Revenant as an 8-bit video game:

 

• A supercut of Jonah Hill one-liners:

 

• A Sherlock musical parody:

 

• And finally, The Shawshand Redemption recut as the upbeat romance it was always meant to be: