Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Momentary Distraction Edition

It seems kind of trivial to be writing about pop culture with all that has been going on in the United States in the last week. I know this. But as important as it is to be paying attention and to engage, people also need temporary refuge from the news and reality. So I offer up this week’s pop culture roundup as a momentary distraction, a break from the very ugly world in which we are living in.

Television

• In a move that proves they are not f*cking around, Netflix lures Shonda Rhimes away from ABC with a four-year deal.
• Ava DuVernay is reportedly developing a TV series adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Dawn.
• Netflix has renewed GLOW for a second season. Yay!
• Ikea has released instructions for how to turn their rugs into Game of Thrones capes.
• Production on the second season of Atlanta will reportedly start next month.
• The Cohen brothers are making a western miniseries for Netflix that will debut in 2018.
• If Louie CK ever brings Louie back to FX, it will be the same show.
• FX has renewed Snowfall.
• David Tennant and Michael Sheen set to star in an adaptation of Good Omens.
• CBS is developing a thriller aboard a nuclear submarine.
• Aaron Eckhart joins the cast of Matthew Weiner’s The Romanoffs.
• Connie Britton has been cast in Showtime’s SMILF.
• Netflix has renewed Ozark for a second season.
• Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin will star in Chuck Lorre’s Netflix comedy.
• American Horror Story: Cult may be coming to a city near you with a mysterious bus tour.
• NBC is developing a Munsters series where the family lives in Brooklyn.
• Josh Groban will guest star on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
• Talks for a Hannibal revival are apparently happening.
• This fan’s argument for why Rachel should have ended up with Joey on Friends is pretty damn convincing.
• American Crime Story: Katrina is getting a complete overhaul. Sarah Paulson will still star.
• They are returning to the drawing board for another try at a How I Met Your Mother spinoff.
• Not sure how, but David Tennant will return for the second of Jessica Jones.
• The cast for the second season of Westworld continues to expand.
• Zosia Mamet and Lou Diamond Phillips to guest star on You’re The Worst.
• Joel McHale is being considered for a lead role in the Quantum and Woody TV series.
• Barbara Hershey will appear in the second season of The X-Files.
• Nia Vardalos has a new series inspired by Chewbacca Mom.
• Lifetime orders a drama series from Jamie Denbo and Jenji Kohan.
• Hulu obtains the rights to a series based on RuPaul’s life.
• Comedy Central is developing a series starring Alex Karpovsky.
• Ben Platt will drop by the Will & Grace reboot.
• Feeling left out, CBS is now developing a singing competition show.
• John Carpenter is directing a TV pilot.
• Cast members of This Is Us earned $250,000 bonuses from NBC.
• NBC is working with the team behind The Maze Runner films for a futuristic drama series.
• NBC is officially shuttering Seeso. Some shows have already found a new home.
• Chris Elliott will guest star and Kristin Wiig will recur on Last Man on Earth, season 4.

Movies

• It’s finally official – Danial Craig will return as 007.
• Leonardo DiCaprio to play Leonardo da Vinci in a biopic based on Walter Isaacson’s upcoming book.
• Louis CK apparently made a film in secret which will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.
• Casey Affleck says that Ben Affleck won’t be in The Batman, but then walks back his comments. Little brothers, am I right?
• Ali Wong and Randall Park will star in a rom-com for Netflix.
• Showtime has been making a documentary about The New York Times since Trump’s inauguration.
• Kate Holmes will star in the film adaptation of The Secret.
• Cate Blanchett is in talks to join Eli Roth’s The House With a Clock In Its Walls.
• Nick Jonas joins Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley in Chaos Walking.
• Jamie Kennedy joins the cast of Ad Astra.
• Anya Taylor-Joy will reunite with director Robert Eggers for his Nosferatu remake.
• There will be a female-led remake of License To Drive.
• Josh Brolin turned down the Avatar sequels and James Cameron wasn’t happy.

Trailers

• The Crown, season 2:

 

• Wonder:

 

• Our Souls at Night:

 

• Molly’s Game:

 

• The Meyerowitz Stories:

 

• The Defenders:

 

• The Florida Project:

 

• Batman vs. Two-Face:

 

• The Death of Stalin:

Music

• Pink is back with a new song and a new album forthcoming.
• Pink will receive the Video Vanguard Award at the 2017 MTV VMAs.
• Kendrick Lamar will perform a headlining set at the VMAs.
• Queens of the Stone Age released a new single.
• Beck has a new album coming in October.
• Bill Hader and Cecily Strong star in a music video for Steve Martin’s “Caroline.”
• Willie Nelson had to end a concert early in Salt Lake City due to breathing problems.
• Wilco has released a benefit song for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Theater

• Ben Platt is leaving Dear Evan Hansen in November.
• There will be no trolls in the Frozen Broadway musical.
• Bruce Springsteen will do an eight-week run on Broadway.
• There is an all-male, nude production of Hamlet being performed in NYC.
• Bandstand will close on Broadway September 17.
• Joshua Jackson will make his Broadway debut in Children of a Lesser God.
• Bill Murray saw Groundhog Day on Broadway two days in a row. The joke is too obvious to make.
• Good thing he saw it now – Groundhog Day will close September 17.
• There is now a Hamilton app that I have been driving my SIL crazy with.

Books

• Actor Bruce Campbell has written a memoir.
• A My Cousin Vinny book sequel is in the works.
• A Hamilton-inspired cookbook will hit shelves this November.

Podcasts

• A new podcast will dive into the origins of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
• 2 Dope Queens is getting a series of specials on HBO.

Odds and Ends

• Wonder Woman and Riverdale did well at the Teen Choice Awards.
• Broad City now has its own line of sex toys.
• A Hunger Games theme park is really happening.
• A UK zoo named their new baby male hippo Hodor.
• A jury has ruled in favor of Taylor Swift in her lawsuit against a DJ for groping her.
• Prince officially has his own shade of purple.
• This week in pop culture real estate: Eminem is selling his house.
• Chris Cornell’s family has commissioned a statue of him to be placed in Seattle.
• Mindy Kaling has confirmed her pregnancy.
• Ric Flair was hospitalized and has undergone surgery.
• Tom Cruise was reportedly injured during a stunt on Mission: Impossible 6.
• Stuntwoman Joi Harris died in a motorcycle accident during filming Deadpool 2.

Mashups and Supercuts

• Watch Leslie Jones and Set Meyers watch Game of Thrones:

 

• Jamie Lannister’s life as a Lifetime movie trailer:

 

• A Game of Thrones/Friends mashup that employs NSFW language:

 

• Even the Night King is a fan of Drake:

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Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Summer Solstice Edition

Summer is officially here! To all my friends that are teachers – your watch has ended. To my friends that are parents – your watch has begun. This is shaping up to be a weird summer for me since I don’t have much of anything on the calendar. I already took a quick vacation and my summertime commitments are pretty limited. So really, all that summer means to me is time to catch up television, which is alright by me.

Speaking of catching up, this new edition of the roundup is your chance to get up to speed on all pop culture that you may have missed. It’s the longest day of the year, so you have time!

Television

• Jon Snow’s real name may have accidentally been revealed.
• Star Trek: Discovery will split its first season and will debut September 24^th.
• Damon Lindelof is developing a Watchmen TV series for HBO.
• Martin Freeman is adapting Paradise Lost as a modern TV series.
• David Fincher’s Mindhunter series has a release date on Netflix.
• NBC has set its fall premiere dates.
• Glenn Close will play a zombie in George Saunders’ Amazon comedy pilot.
• Tony Danza to star in the Netflix dramedy The Good Cop.
• T.I. has been cast in Fox’s drama Atlanta’s Most Wanted.
• Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are working on a series about Dracula.
• The DuckTales reboot has an updated theme song.
• Sorry to confirm bad news, but Barb won’t return to Stranger Things.
• Bill Nye Saves The World renewed on Netflix.
• You can watch Adam West’s unaired episode of Powerless on YouTube.
• Some props and costumes from Community are being auctioned off.
• The CW is trying for another Supernatural spin-off.
• Last Man Standing will not find a new home at CMT.
• The John Wick TV series will focus on the chain of hotels where assassins stay.
• Summertime means one thing – a new cast for Big Brother.
• Aisha Taylor is leaving The Talk.
• Michael Phelps will race a great white shark during Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
• Here are the TCA Awards nominees.
• NeNe Leakes is returning to Real Housewives of Atlanta.
• SpongeBob SquarePants will do a stop-motion episode for Halloween.
• Ranking the clones on Orphan Black.
• Paul Shaffer returned to The Late Show.
• Filming will resume on Bachelor in Paradise after an investigation in allegations of misconduct.
• Here’s what’s coming and going to Amazon Prime in July. And Hulu. And Netflix.

Movies

• Phil Lord and Chris Miller out as directors of Han Solo. Ron Howard is rumored to be taking over.
• The Dark Tower movie is a continuation of the book series.
• Daniel Day-Lewis is retiring from acting.
• Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in talks for Paul Feig’s adaptation of A Simple Favor.
• Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart’s remake of The Intouchables will hit theaters March 2018.
• Jack Black to star in Eli Roth’s adaptation of The House With A Clock In Its Walls.
• The Nightcrawler team is reuniting to work on a new mystery project.
• The Mummy will lose an estimated $95 million.
• Lucy Liu joined the Netflix comedy feature Set It Up.
• Oona Chaplin has joined the cast of the Avatar sequels.
• Mark Wahlberg says that he’s done with the Transformers franchise.
• The Twilight Zone movie has found a writer.
• David Mamet is in talks to write an adaptation of Don Winslow’s The Force.
• Judy Greer joined the cast of Richard Linklater’s comedy-drama Where’d You Go, Bernadette.
• A sequel to Book of Life has been announced.
• Kyle Chandler and Corey Stoll to star in Damien Chazelle’s First Man. Ryan Gosling will also star.
• Neither Jada Pinkett Smith nor 50 Cent were fans of the Tupac biopic, All Eyez On Me.
• Moana is now on Netflix.
• Emily Ratajkowski joins the cast of I Feel Pretty.
• Michael Bay has an idea for a sequel to The Rock.

Trailers

• Detroit:

 

• Pitch Perfect 3:

 

• Goodbye Christopher Robin:

 

• Netflix’s Atypical:

 

• Transparent, season 4:

 

• Thank You For Your Service:

 

• Daddy’s Home 2:

 

• Happy Death Day:

 

• The Trip to Spain:

 

• Annabelle Creation:

 

• Okja:

 

• Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press:

 

• Brigsby Bear:

 

• Midnighters:

 

• Jungle:

 

• American Assassins:

 

• Friends From College:

 

Music

• Jay Z is dropping a new Tidal exclusive album on June 30^th.
• Jay Z, formerly known as Jay-Z, is now going by JAY-Z.
• The Grammys will allow members to vote online.
• Lorde announced North American tour dates.
• Shania Twain announced a new album and released a new single.
• Bruce Springsteen will play a series of concerts on Broadway.
• A new LCD Soundsystem album will be released in September.
• St. Vincent announced a tour.
• Foo Fighters announced a new album, a new tour, and their own festival.
• Dave Grohl’s eight-year-old daughter Harper played drums with the Foo Fighters in Iceland.
• The Killers released their first new single since 2012.
• Queens of the Stone Age released a new song.
• Gene Simmons is trying to trademark the devil horns hand gesture.
• Danny Elfman will do the music for Justice League.
• Yoko Ono will get a songwriting credit on “Imagine.”

Stand-Up

• Judd Apatow will have a stand-up special on Netflix later this year.
• Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher are going out on The Endless Honeymoon Tour.
• Iliza Schlesinger said some stuff about other female comics and it did not go over well.

Books

• A John Wick comic book will explore his origin.
• John Carpenter is writing a Big Trouble in Little China comic book series.

Theater

• Indecent will close on Broadway.
• Amy Schumer is in talks to star in Steve Martin’s new Broadway play.
• Ingrid Michaelson will make her Broadway debut in The Great Comet.

Podcasts

• Bob’s Burgers’ Eugene Mirman is launching a podcast.

Odds and Ends

• Beyoncé may have given birth to twins.
• Mahershala Ali was profiled in GQ.
• Yaron Versoano, Gal Gadot’s husband, wore the perfect shirt.
• Scarlet Johansson and her grandma doppelganger hung out at the premiere of Rough Night.
• Mattel has unveiled a new line of more diverse Ken dolls.
• A year after his wife’s sudden death, Patton Oswalt appeared on the red carpet with actress Meredith Salenger.
• Josh Peck married his girlfriend Paige O’Brien over the weekend, but the real news is that he didn’t invite his Drake & Josh co-star Drake Bell to the wedding. Feelings were hurt, things were said.
• Rebel Wilson won a defamation suit against a magazine publisher.
• Miles Teller was allegedly arrested for public intoxication.
• An autopsy found heroin and cocaine in Carrie Fisher’s system at her time of death.
• Director John G. Avildsen (Rocky, The Karate Kid) passed away. He was 81.
• Actor Stephen Furst, Animal House’s Flounder, has died.
• Rapper Prodigy, half of Mobb Depp, has died. He was 42.

Mashups and Supercuts

• An orchestra covered Daft Punk’s ”Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”:

 

• A vintage cover of “Say It Ain’t So”:

 

• Lightening McQueen gets a 30 for 30 short:

 

• Game of Thrones characters sing “I Will Survive”:

 

Pop Culture Odds and Ends – Bring Back Spring Edition

What happened to spring? It’s been cold and rainy here lately, especially on the weekends. It’s kind of a bummer. I’m sure it’s good for the grass and the plants, but it’s not so nice for humans who want to be outside. I’m not a big outdoorsy person, but this is the time of year when it’s fun to sit outside on a patio with an adult beverage. Soon enough it will be too hot and humid to want to spend much time anywhere without air conditioning. So it would be nice to not have turn the heat back on in May. Remind I said all of this when I am complaining about how hot it is in Austin next week.

But enough about out rainy spring – there is pop culture new to be had. As usual, the roundup catches all of the pop culture news that you might have missed. So while I dig out my sweatshirts and umbrellas, enjoy the latest from the world of pop.

Television

• HBO is working on some Game of Thrones spinoffs because HBO ain’t stupid.
• How much would the weddings cost on Game of Thrones.
• Netflix has renewed 13 Reasons Why.
• HBO will pull all its shows from Amazon Prime.
• Hulu gives Marvel’s Runaways a series order.
• Jennifer Morrison is leaving Once Upon A Time.
• Alec Baldwin joined the cast of Hulu’s 9/11 drama, The Looming Tower.
• Danny DeVito and Jeff Goldblum to play washed-up musicians in a series for Amazon.
• Hulu has renewed The Handmaid’s Tale for a second season.
• The Jim Jefferies Show will debut on Comedy Central in June.
• Much to my annoyance, ABC is bringing back American Idol.
• NBC renews Taken.
• John Singleton’s series Snowfall will debut on FX in July.
• Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune renewed through 2020.
• How to make your favorite foods from Seinfeld:

• Watching Veep may be a hazard to your health.
• Amazon has ordered a new comedy from Bryan Cranston.
• Season 3 of The Carmichael Show debuts May 31^st.
• Fox canceled Rosewood after two seasons.
• Fox also pulled the plug on Sleepy Hollow.
• NBC canceled Emerald City.
• NBC passed on three pilots, including the gender-swapping What About Barb?
• The CW pulled the plug on No Tomorrow and Frequency.
• NBC has greenlit the comedy AP Bio, which means Glenn Howerton is almost definitely not returning to It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
• Psych is retuning with a TV movie.
• HBO will air a Princess Diana documentary for the 20^th anniversary of her death.
• Mariska Hargitay is collaborating with HBO on a documentary about untested rape kits.
• The Chris Gethard Show has moved to truTV.
• Congrats cord-cutters – Hulu obtained the streaming rights for Atlanta.
• The future of NBC’s comedy streaming service Seeso may be in doubt.
• Designated Survivor is getting a new showrunner.
• Raven’s Home will debut in July.
• Phendra Parks has been reportedly fired from Real Housewives of Atlanta.
• Girl Meets World is officially dead.

Movies

• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Christina Hendriks to star in a new project from Brian De Palma.
• Will Ferrell will play Jason Momoa’s dad in an upcoming comedy.
• Steve McQueen set to direct an authorized Tupac documentary.
• Peter Dinklage to play Herve Villechaize for the HBO film My Dinner With Herve.
• Ranking all the Stan Lee cameos from MCU films.
• Dave Chappelle joins the cast of the A Star Is Born remake.
• Both Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt will return for the sequel to Edge of Tomorrow.
• Cliff Curtis has been cast as the new lead for the upcoming Avatar movies.
• Rumor of the week: Is Josh Gad going to play The Penguin?
• Neil deGrasse Tyson reviews summer movies:

• The director of The Sandlot has another baseball movie ready to go.
• There may be a new Hellboy move after all, but it would star David Harbour.
• You can rent the house from A Christmas Story for the night (I stopped by last time I was in Cleveland).
• Netflix may make the drug thriller Triple Frontier with Ben and Casey Affleck.
• David Spade and Nat Faxon to star in an Adam Sandler produced comedy for Netflix.
• People still have theories about Titanic.
• Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda will star in a movie about a sexy book club.
• Charlie Plummer to play J. Paul Getty III in Ridley Scott’s kidnapping movie.
• Warner Brothers has bumped back the release of Godzilla vs. Kong.

Trailers

• The Dark Tower:

 

• Blade Runner 2049:

 

• Wonder Woman:

 

• The Defenders:

 

• Orange is the New Black, season 5:

 

• It:

 

• The Gifted:

 

• Dunkirk:

 

• Rough Night:

 

• Inconceivable:

 

• The Mist:

 

• Everything Evreything:

 

• Woodshock:

 

• Game Over, Man:

 

• Tracy Morgan: Staying Alive:

 

• Bloodline season 3:

 

• The Limehouse Golem:

Music

• Jay Z will headline the 2017 Meadows Festival.
• The Decemberists unveil a new folk side project, Offa Rex.
• Chance the Rapper canceled his European tour.
• Grizzly Bear released a new song.
• Vin Diesel is making an EDM track with Steve Aoki.
• Barack Obama shared a new playlist.
• MGMT announced a new album.
• Linkin Park and Blink-182 have merged to form Blinkin Park.
• Erykah Badu is going out on a world tour.
• Kanye is reportedly making his next album on the top of a mountain. You do you, Kanye.

Books

• Bill Clinton and James Patterson are co-writing a thriller called The President Is Missing.
• George R.R. Martin has a new Game of Thrones story coming out.
• Andy Weir has a new book out in November.

Theater

• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child gets a release date for Broadway.
• David Simon wrote a Broadway musical about The Pogues.
• The Broadway revival of The Glass Menagerie with Sally Field will close early.
• The Broadway musical Amelie is set to close.

Stand-up

• Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, and Trevor Noah have all joined the 2017 Just for Laughs lineup.
• Jim Gaffigan, Reggie Watts and Michelle Wolf to headline Skankfest NYC 2017.
• Chris Gethard is going out on tour.
• The cast of The Big Sick are doing some comedy dates for charity.

Podcasts

• Larry Wilmore has a new podcast series with The Ringer.

Odds and Ends

• GQ has a pretty in-depth interview with Brad Pitt.
• Michael Moore has endorsed The Rock for president in 2020. So he’s got that going for him.
• Antonio Sabato, Jr. is running for Congress.
• Nicki Minaj paid for some fans’ college tuition.
• Kristin Bell helped with a Frozen-themed promposal.
• Watch Amy Schumer’s dad meet his crush Goldie Hawn in person.
• Café puts up a sign offering Liam Neeson free food, Liam Neeson appears.
• Scary stuff – Jeannie Gaffigan (wife of Jim) had a large brain tumor removed.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals her struggle with postpartum depression.
• The couple that gets stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame together, stays together.
• Dance Moms’ Abby Lee Miller is going to prison.
• Jodie Sweetin’s ex-fiancé has been sentenced to six years in prison.
• Alanis Morissette’s former manager also was sentenced to six years in prison. #isn’titironic
• Steven Seagal has been deemed too dangerous to enter the Ukraine and has been banned for five years.
• A speedy recovery to country music legend Lorette Lynn, who suffered a stroke.
• Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed are expecting their first child.
• Zooey Deschanel and Jacob Pechenik welcomed their second child.
• Conor McGregor and Dee Devlin welcomed a baby boy.
• Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarbourough and Mika Brzezinski are engaged.
• Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black married in England.
• R.I.P. Christopher “Big Black” Boykin, best known from MTV’s Rob & Big.

Mashups and Supercuts

• Animals cover Smashmouth’s “All Star”:

• Tom Hardy swearing on Peaky Blinders:

• Stephen Colbert performs with Gorillaz:

 

• What if Seinfeld ended like The Sopranos:

what if all TV shows ended like The Sopranos? pic.twitter.com/isa28iivGT

— Dominick Nero (@dominicknero) May 2, 2017

 

• Evolution of douchebag style:

 

• Get-Out as a rom-com:

Ever imagined what #GetOut would be as a rom-com? @Mashable has got you covered! https://t.co/GxNqPC2JAJ

— MTV (@MTV) May 6, 2017

 

• What About Bob recut as a stalker thriller: