Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Insomnia Edition

I don’t know what’s going on exactly, but I haven’t been sleeping well. This has been going on for well over a month and is problematic, not just because I am a person that really loves to sleep, but because I am tired all.the.time. There isn’t enough coffee in the world to get me through some mornings. I have no idea what triggered this, so I’m not quite sure how to fix it. Back in the old days, I could easily get by on little to no sleep. That’s no longer the case and I’m slowly turning into a zombie. Give me another few weeks and I could be an extra on The Walking Dead.

But the show must go on….so while I yawn and struggle to stay focused, get yourself caught up with this week’s pop culture roundup.

Television

• HBO has renewed Westworld, Insecure, and Divorce.
• Marvel has announced an Inhumans TV series is coming to ABC in 2017.
• Was there a secret code in the latest episode of The Walking Dead?
• Two more actors from The Good Wife have been confirmed to appear in the spinoff series The Good Fight.
• HBO is still hoping for a Game of Thrones prequel if George R.R. Martin has any ideas.

• Christopher Lloyd will guest star on The Big Bang Theory.
• Tom Hardy’s FX limited series Taboo will debut January 10, 2017.
• USA has picked up a true crime pilot about the murders of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, which there is a 100% chance I will be watching.
• ABC is developing a The Goldbergs spin-off.
• Trey Parker’s three year old daughter is the current voice of Ike on South Park.
• A Ghost Rider TV series may be heading to Netflix. Hire Nic Cage – he needs the cash.
• Brett Gelman has severed ties with Adult Swim due to their treatment of women.
• Amazon has renewed Tig Notaro’s One Mississippi for a second season.
• Sorry hardcore Gilmore Girls fans – REDACTED will not appear in the revival.

• Alison Wright has joined the cast of Ryan Murphy’s new anthology series Feud.
• Not Safe with Nikki Glaser has been canceled.
• The CW has bought a show about magic gangsters from the team behind iZombie.
• FX’s Y: The Last Man television adaptation has a showrunner.
• The CW has upped its episode order for the second season of Legends of Tomorrow.
• TV Land has passed on The First Wives Club pilot.
• Chris Meloni slated to star in the SyFy pilot Happy!.
• MTV’s new series Sweet/Vicious debuted last night and stars Bryan Cranston’s daughter.
• Sons of Anarchy fans will find a familiar face on the spinoff series Mayans MC.

Sadly not this one

• Vulture gives Paul Reiser a job interview.
• It seems like they are pumping the breaks on the TV show based on Nicki Minaj’s childhood.
• Donnie Wahlberg, Nick Lachey, and the creator of Entourage are making a sitcom about boy bands.
• Kristen Wiig will host SNL on November 19^th.
• Elizabeth Banks is developing a family comedy at CBS.
• History has picked up the docu-series Frontiersman from Leonardo DiCaprio.
• NBC has a Blue Crush TV adaptation in the works.
• NBC is also developing a legal drama around Morena Baccarin.
• Syfy has announce premiere dates for new seasons of The Magicians and The Expanse.
• The Steve Harvey Show will end after five years.
• Phoebe Waller-Bridge is developing a spy series for BBC America.

 

Movies

• The Green Hornet is getting a gritty reboot from the director of The Accountant.
• Lin-Manuel Miranda is working on a secret film for Disney.

• Hayao Miyazaki may come out of retirement to make one more film.
• Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown wants to play a young Princess Leia.
• Penelope Cruise has boarded the Murder on the Orient Express remake.
• Jim Parsons will play a BuzzFeed editor in Brother Orange.
• Deadpool 2 has suffered some setbacks, but Deadpool 3 is already in the works.
• Brie Larson will direct Samuel L. Jackson, Joan Cusack, and Bradley Whitford in Unicorn Store.
• Chris O’Dowd will join Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba in Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game.
• Rumor has it….Matt Damon may have a came in Ocean’s 8.
• Scarlett Johansson is attached to star in the psychological thriller Tangerine.
• Lauren Lapkus will be the female lead opposite Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in Holmes & Watson.
• Chastain will play the lead in the adaptation of Painkiller Jane.
• Michael Stipe was almost the murderer in Se7en?!?!

• Robert Redford plans to retire from acting.
• The Croods 2 will not be happening.
• Steve Carell is in talks to star in the Minecraft movie.
• Ray Liotta is in talks to join the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga A Star Is Born remake, which I suspect means someone is going to get whacked. The movie is set to hit theaters September 28, 2018.
• Gillian Jacobs will got to Magic Camp with Adam DeVine and Jeffrey Tambor.
• The Troll Hunter remake is DOA.
• HBO is working on an Elvis Presley documentary.
• Jackie Chan is now an Academy Award winner.
• Here are the 27 Oscar-qualifying animated films.

Trailers

• Beauty and the Beast:

 

• Live By Night:

 

• Ghost in the Shell:

 

• Patriots Day:

 

• A new international trailer for Rogue One:

 

• Jackie:

 

• Solace:

 

• Beware the Slenderman:

 

• Captive:

 

• 100 Streets:

 

• Why Him?:

 

• Michael Che Matters:

 

• The Secret Sculpture:

 

• Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets:

 

Music

• The Hamilton Mixtape hasn’t fully dropped yet, but it’s confirmed that there will be a second volume.
• John Mayer will release new music tomorrow.
• Shania Twain will headline the Stagecoach festival.
• Future and Gucci Mane dropped a new mixtape.
• Nicki Minaj dropped a new “Black Beatles” freestyle, “Black Barbie.”
• Aerosmith has announced a European farewell tour for 2017.
• Modern Family’s Sarah Hyland can apparently can sing.
• Willow Smith released a new song.
• NKOTB, Paula Abdul, and Boyz II Men are going out on a nostalgia fueled tour.

Books

• Chad Michael Murray wrote a romance novel.

• A producer on Saved By The Bell spills secrets about the show in his new memoir.

Theater

• J.J. Abrams will co-produce the Broadway comedy The Play That Goes Wrong.
• Vulture looks at the best cut songs from beloved Broadway musicals.

Standup

• Jerry Seinfeld has extended his residency at the Beacon Theater through 2017.

Odds and Ends

• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been named People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” for 2016.

• Disney owns an interesting domain name.
• The Quidditch Premire League is now a thing. Harry Potter fans scare me a little.
• Brad Pitt has been cleared of child abuse allegations.
• Pink and Carey Hart are expecting their second child.
• Russell Brand and fiancé Laura Gallcher welcomed a new baby, who they plan to raise gender neutral.
• Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna welcomed baby girl Dream Renee Kardashian.
• Nas is planning on giving Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles some competition.
• Making A Murderer’s Brendan Dassey was granted supervised release.
• Deadliest Catch’s Jake Harris is recovering after being severely beaten over the weekend.
• Classic rock songwriter Leon Russell has passed away.
• PBS’ Gwen Ifill has passed away.
• Man From U.N.C.L.E.’s Robert Vaughn has died. He was 83.
• R.I.P. Leonard Cohen.

Supercuts and Mashups

• A 1940’s style cover of “Santeria”:

 

• Bears dance to “Jungle Boogie”:

 

• Is Westworld really just a Jurassic Park derivative?

 

• The Friends opening credits recreated with Funko toys:

 

• A Cinematic mashup of interstellar travel:

https://vimeo.com/183571239

 

• Superhero bystanders:

https://vimeo.com/190006920

 

• Hamster Seinfeld:

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