Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Beware the Ides of March Edition

Whoo-boy – we got a lot of snow yesterday. This may be the worst storm that I can remember, though I’m not 100% sure my recollections are accurate. All I know is that 48 hours ago the tree outside my office was beginning to bloom and now it is buried under a blanket of white. For someone like me who straight up hates winter and snow, this is a troubling development. Times like this, however, I am pretty stoked that I don’t own a home. My snow removal responsibilities are limited to cleaning off my car.

So while the region is digging out from what this blizzard had to offer (and if your name is Caesar you’re watching your back today), take a break and get caught up on this week’s pop culture roundup. It will make your kids’ snow day much more bearable.

Television

• Mark your calendars – Game of Thrones finally returns July 16^th.
• Season 8 of Game of Thrones will only be six episodes.
• Ed Sheeran will be a guest star on Game of Thrones.
• Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams will appear on the Carpool Karaoke TV series.
• A new season of Mr. Robot won’t debut until October, but it will have more B.D. Wong and Bobby Cannavale.
• Jimmy Fallon reportedly pressured to become more political on The Tonight Show as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert continues to win in the overall ratings.
• Jake Johnson says that New Girl is probably done after six seasons.
• Glenn Howerton and Patton Oswalt cast in a NBC pilot from Seth Meyers and Mike O’Brien.
• The success of this pilot may determine whether Howerton returns for a new season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
• BBC One and FX have renewed Tom Hardy’s series Taboo. Having watched the first season, I’m kind of surprised.
• Fox’s X-Men series finally has a title.
• The NBC pilot Drama High adds Josh Radnor and Shannon Purser (aka Barb from Stranger Things) to the cast.
• PBS has cancelled Mercy Street.
• Vulture investigates how much the homes on Big Little Lies would cost.
• Louis C.K. will host SNL again.
• Rachel Bilson is joining the cast of Nashville.
• The CW renewed The 100.
• NBC has ordered four half-hour Weekend Update primetime specials.
• Sean Astin will play Teddy Roosevelt in TNT’s The Alienist.
• Don Draper’s ad for Heinz on Mad Men is being made IRL.
• Netflix has renewed A Series of Unfortunate Events.
• Young Sheldon has been ordered to series.
• The adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels has landed a director and a release date.
• Insecure season two will debut this summer:
• Fred Savage will host the ABC game show Child Support, executive produced and co-starring Ricky Gervais.
• How to make a burger from Bob’s Burgers:

 

• Showtime renews Billions.
• Baskets will get a third season at FX.
• HBO has greenlit a miniseries chronicling the 2016 presidential election.
• Jeff Daniels will star in Hulu’s 9/11 drama Looming Tower.
• Michael Urie will play the title role in Fox’s pilot Amy’s Brother.
• Tyra Banks will replace Nick Cannon on America’s Got Talent.
• Preacher adds three new actors to the cast. The show now has a summer premier date.
• Cristela Alonzo has been cast in the ABC drama pilot starring Jason Ritter.
• Hanna is being adapted for TV.
• Kristin Chenoweth and Noah Wylie to star in a CBS pilot.
• Big Hero 6: The Series has been renewed ahead of its premiere.
• The MTV Movie Awards will be expanded to include television.
• A new reality show on Fox will let viewers decide actual court cases, as the Constitution intended.
• Warner Brothers will release new episodes of classic cartoons on the Boomerang streaming app.
• Jill Soloway will produce a show about an all-female Texas rodeo.
• Some famous people were guest stars on Murder, She Wrote.
• Comedian Gabriel Iglesias is getting a webseries to accompany his series Fluffy’s Food Adventure.
• A look at the home décor on The Brady Bunch.

Movies

• Atlanta’s Zazie Beetz will play Domino in Deadpool 2.
• The cast of The Godfather will reunite at the Tribeca Film Festival.
• The Girl in the Spider’s Web will reboot the Lisbeth Salaner series.
• Kerry Washington is adapting Brit Bennett’s The Mothers as a feature film.
• Hugh Jackman is in talks to replace Christian Bale in Michael Mann’s Ferrari.
• Annette Bening joins Life, Itself.
• Benedict Cumberbatch will play a 400 year-old man in the film adaptation of the forthcoming book How To Stop Time.
• Dakota Johnson will star in the 1920s courtroom drama about forced sterilization.
• Netflix has acquired Orson Welles unfinished movie.
• The Avatar sequels have been delayed.
• A documentary about Highlights magazine debuted at SXSW.
• The Matrix may be getting a reboot – without the Wachowskis.
• Ridley Scott may be hatching a plan for a Gladiator sequel.
• John Cena will return for Daddy’s Home 2.
• T.J. Miller and Kristen Stewart to star in the earthquake disaster movie Underwater.
• Danny DeVito in talks to join Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo.
• Damien Chazelle’s script for a mystery thriller has been optioned.
• A Roe v. Wade movie is in development. I’m sure that will be totally noncontroversial.
• Nathan Fillion, Kerry Washington, and Lea DeLaria will lend their voices to Cars 3.

Trailers

• The first teaser for season 7 of Game of Thrones:

 

• Wonder Woman:

 

• Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale:

 

• Life red band trailer:

 

• The Get Down, part II:

 

• Veep, season six:

 

• Better Call Saul:

 

• Baby Driver:

 

• Fate of the Furious:

 

• The Little Mermaid (not the Disney version):

 

• Rough Night:

 

• Atomic Blonde:

 

• Doctor Who, season 10:

 

• Most Hated Woman in America:

 

• Smurfs: The Lost Village:

 

• Becoming Bond:

 

• Despicable Me 3:

 

• Naked:

 

• Leap!:

 

• Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana:

 

Music

• Lorde dropped another new song and her album release date.
• Chance the Rapper might sell his next album.
• Drake’s new project will drop on March 18^th.
• Two David Bowie albums will be part of Record Store Day releases.
• Frank Ocean dropped a new single.
• Feist will drop her first new album in six years.
• Mashable ranks the ten best Disney villain songs.
• The 2017 Pitchfork lineup has been revealed.
• Urban Outfitters have a new line of Metallica clothing.
• In honor of the 20^th (!) anniversary of his death, watch Notorious B.I.G.’s final performance.
• Nicki Minaj fuels the flames of her beef with Remy Ma with some new tracks.
• Uproxx tries to decipher the plot of Cyndi Lauper’s Goonies music video.
• Listen to a new song from the Zac Brown Band.

Theater

• Hamilton’s original King George III from its off-Broadway run, Brian d’Arcy James, is reportedly going to reprise the role on Broadway.
• The current cast members of Hamilton’s Broadway run donated their salaries from Wednesday night’s performance in honor of International Women’s Day.

Books

• J.K Rowling revealed the name of her new book.

Podcasts

• The new podcast from the Serial team drops on March 28^th.

Stand-up

• Jim Norton’s new stand-up special debuted on Netflix.

Odds and Ends

• Nicole Kidman explains her weird clapping at the Oscars.
• John Goodman somehow didn’t have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That’s about to be rectified.
• A photo of Will Smith where he looks like Uncle Phil is freaking out the internet.
• Actor Jim Tavaré, best known as the Leaky Cauldron innkeeper in the Harry Potter movies, has broken his neck in a car crash.
• Singer Don McLean’s ex-wife has obtained an order of protection against him.
• Ben Affleck has sought treatment again for alcohol addiction.
• Actor Faizon Love was arrested and charged with assault after an altercation with a valet at an airport.
• Adriana Lima and Julian Edelman have broken up.
• Paul Wesley and Phoebe Tonkin have called it quits.
• Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, revealed that he has ALS.
• Jennifer Lopez and former Yankee Alex Rodriguez are reportedly dating.
• Colton Haynes and Jeff Leatham are engaged.
• Ilana Glazer and longtime boyfriend David Rooklin allegedly got married.
• Alison Brie and Dave Franco got hitched.
• Patrick Stewart and his wife Sunny Ozell are fostering a pit bull.
• Lakeith Stanfield and Xosha Roquemore are expecting their first child.
• Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan are expecting their second child, another girl.
• Author Robert Hames Waller has died. He was 77.
• Joni Sledge of Sister Sledge has passed away. She was 60.

Mashups and Supercuts

•  Andrew Garfield and Adam Drive audition for Clueless:

 

• A vintage cover of No Doubt’s “Spiderwebs”:

 

• Samuel L. Jackson reprises his movie roles with James Corden:

 

• Tyrion Lannister one-liners:

 

• Zootopia as a crime thriller:

 

• A Notorious B.I.G. newscast:

 

• Belle and Boujee:

 

• Teletubbies sing “Get Ur Freak On”: