It’s February 14th and my gift to all of you is the latest edition of the pop culture roundup. So no matter what your romantic status is today, everyone gets a valentine. Enjoy!
Television
- The third season of Stranger Things will have only 8 episodes.
- Mary J. Blige will play a time traveling assassin in Netflix’s Umbrella Academy.
- Regina Hall and Casey Wilson have joined the cast of the Showtime pilot Ball Street.
- My favorite podcast Pod Save America is headed to HBO.
- Ryan Murphy is headed to Netflix in a blockbuster deal.
- Michelle Wolf is getting a Netflix talk show.
- Jennifer Garner is returning to TV in a HBO comedy from Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner.
- Raul Esparza has left Law & Order: SVU.
- Hannah Simone will star in Greatest American Hero.
- Doug Jones will star in the What We Do in the Shadows TV series.
- A Child’s Play TV series is in the works.
- Comedy Central is developing a half-hour comedy starring Roy Wood, Jr.
- Vulture shares an oral history of The Wire’s famous “f*ck” scene.
- Jerry Seinfeld says that a Seinfeld revival is “possible.”
- Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon are developing an anthology series about immigrants.
- James Franco will return for the second season of The Deuce.
- Judy Greer is heading to the Showtime series Kidding.
- Martin Scorsese is teaming up with a writer on Vikings for a TV series about Ancient Rome.
- Joel Kinnaman will appear in Amazon’s Hanna series. The titular character has also been cast.
- Alex Garland has a new show at FX.
- Ranking the couples on Grey’s Anatomy.
- Comedy Central renews Tosh.0 for three more seasons.
- Elizabeth Olsen to star in a Facebook original series.
- Cody Fern is headed to House of Cards.
- Conan O’Brien is filming his next travel special in Italy.
Movies
- Black Panther is tracking to have a HUGE opening weekend (they’ll be getting my money for sure).
- Select AMC theaters will be running free screenings of Get Out on Presidents’ Day (if you haven’t seen this movie yet, get to it!).
- Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish to star in an adaption of the comic book The Kitchen.
- Elisabeth Moss will play the lead in a biopic about Rosemary Kennedy.
- Tessa Thompson to star in a biopic of jewelry thief Doris Payne.
- Timothee Chalamet will play Henry V in a movie for Netflix.
- Ryan Coogler received notes on the Black Panther script from Donald and Stephen Glover.
- Metallica’s James Hetfield will play a cop in the upcoming Ted Bundy movie.
- Two more surprise actors appearing in Deadpool 2 may have been identified.
- The director of Paddington will tackle a reimagining of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
- Joaquin Phoenix is in talks to play The Joker.
- LeBron James is working on a House Party reboot.
- Alex Garland wants to make a Swamp Thing movie.
- The upcoming Matthew McConaughey/Anne Hathaway drama Serenity received a release date favorable for awards season.
- A Kitty Pryde spin-off movie is in development.
- Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner to play lawmen who killed Bonnie and Clyde.
- Chris Columbus to direct the Five Nights At Freddy’s movie.
- Alicia Vikander to star in an adaptation of The Marsh King’s Daughter.
- DC may be trying to get Michael Bay to make a superhero movie, which sounds about right.
- A scene in Peter Rabbit that makes light of food allergies has some parents calling for a boycott.
- Michael Fassbender will star with David Hasselhoff in a sequel to King Fury.
- A Gucci Mane biopic is being developed.
- The Masters of Universe movie has lost its director.
- Tom Hard, Prince William, and Prince Harry were all cut from The Last Jedi. Here’s why.
Trailers
- Venom:
- I Feel Pretty:
- Atlanta, season 2:
- A Quiet Place:
- The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale:
- Rampage:
- Overboard:
- Benji:
- A Series of Unfortunate Events:
- Marrowbone:
Music
- The Black Panther soundtrack is currently streaming.
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is going out on a concert tour.
- Toni Braxton dropped a new single.
- Victoria Beckham has thrown cold water on the rumors of a Spice Girls reunion tour.
Theater
- The Secret Garden will return to Broadway.
- Harry Connick, Jr. to star in a Broadway musical version of The Sting.
Books
- Firefly is coming back as a series of novels.
- Lucinda Williams is writing a memoir.
Stand-up
- Chris D’Elia is going out on tour.
- Chris Rock’s new stand-up special debuts on Netflix today.
- Comedy Central’s Clusterfest has announced its headliners.
Award Season
- Here are the Writers Guild of America award winners.
Odds and Ends
- Previous allegations of domestic abuse against Michael Fassbender have resurfaced.
- Author Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why) has been accused of sexual harassment.
- This week in pop culture real estate – the new owners of American Horror Story’s Murder House have some buyer’s remorse.
- The sexual-battery case against Seal has been dropped.
- Quentin Tarantino has apologized for his comments related to Roman Polanski’s rape victim.
- Amazon Studios will now be led by former NBC executive Jennifer Salke.
- Amy Schumer is dating chef Chris Fischer.
- Idris Elba is engaged and I’m sure that I’ll eventually get over that.
- Aaron Paul and his wife Lauren welcomed a baby girl.
- Actor and former U.S. Ambassador John Gavin has died. He was 86
- Country music singer Daryle Singletary has died. He was 46.
- Rapper and DJ Lovebug Starski has died. He was 57.
- Film composer Jóhann Jóhannsson had passed away. He was 48.
- Crooner Vic Damone has passed away. He was 89.
- Character actor Mickey Jones has passed away. He was 76.
- Comedian Marty Allen has died. He was 95.
- Former Miramax executive and manager Jill Messick committed suicide. She was 50.
- Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow has died. He was 70.
- Rob Delany’s two-year-old son Henry has lost his battle with cancer.
- The Wire family lost one of their own – actor Reg E. Cathey has passed away. He was 59.
Mashups and Supercuts
- Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd recreated the video for “King of Wishful Thinking”:
Every winner of Best Visual Effects winner ever:
As Heather's World Turns 