One of my pop culture resolutions for this year was to make better use of my lunch hour at work by a) actually talking a lunch hour and b) using that time to watch Netflix on my phone. We’re only three weeks into 2017, but so far I’m really enjoying this change. I find that I am a lot less grumpy when I actually walk away from my desk for an hour and that despite my worries, the world does in fact keep spinning if I don’t answer an email during that time. Who knew? It feels kind of decadent to spend an hour watching Netflix; it almost feels like I’m playing hooky. And it’s been productive – I’ve already made it through the entire first season of The Crown and Bloodline, though I have watched some episodes at home. But it’s reminded me of all the great content on Netflix and I’m now taking better advantage of my subscription. So all in all, this is a net positive for me. Resolutions can be good!
Today we take a break from the plethora of movie reviews that I’ve been posting to check in on pop culture news with this week’s roundup. As usual, there is a little bit of something for everyone this week. So while I look forward to my daily oasis of Netflix, get yourself caught up on the pop culture that you might have missed.
Television
- FX is staying in the Donald Glover business, but Atlanta won’t return until 2018.
- American Horror Story has been renewed for an 8th and 9th season.
- A Game of Thrones spin-off is being explored and the episode count for the final season is still in discussion.
- FX announced premiere dates for Feud, The Americans, and Archer.
- A familiar face is coming to the new season of Better Call Saul. (spoilers – sort of)
- Fox renews Empire and picks up a Jamie Foxx game show.
- An Empire spin-off is also in development.
- Jerry Seinfeld is taking Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee to Netflix.
- Contrary to earlier reports, Lady Gaga won’t play Donatella Versace in American Crime Story.
- American Crime Story: Katrina won’t air until 2018.
- ABC has green lit another pilot from Shonda Rhimes.
- Andy Cohen will host a new version of Love Connection.
- Bottoms up – Drunk History has been renewed for a 5th season.
- AMC is adapting another John le Carré spy novel.
- Cinemax has ordered an animated series from Mike Judge.
- TBS has ordered to sereis The Cops, an animated series from Louis C.K. and Albert Brooks.
- Talk about typecasting: Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones’ Ramsay Bolton) will play Hitler on the anthology series Urban Myths.
- Dakota Fanning will star in TNT’s adaptation of The Alienist.
- “Toddlerography” with James Corden and Kate Hudson:
- Per Queen Latifah, a Living Single revival is in the works.
- Portlandia has been renewed for an eighth and final season.
- Riz Ahmed will drop by Girls.
- USA has picked up Jessica Biel’s new anthology series.
- I didn’t know that this was a mystery, but we now know the make and model of Homer Simpson’s car.
- Life on the Road, the return of Ricky Gervais’ David Brent, will debut next month on Netflix.
- They may be just taunting us, but word is that a new season of Arrested Development is happening soon with the entire cast. Fingers crossed.
- Lin-Manuel Miranda released a West Wing-inspired rap track.
- Planet Earth II will hit the U.S. February 18th.
- FX’s new series Legion will not take place in the timeline of the X-Men movies.
- Here are the comings and goings on Hulu in February.
- Alex Rodriguez to host a reality TV show about ex-athletes.
- Watch The Mountain from Game of Thrones throw a washing machine:
- CBS has ordered a drama about a young astronaut from Andy Weir.
- Kevin Hart is teaming up with the History Channel for the special The Black Man’s Guide To History.
- Amy Sedaris is getting her own show on TruTV.
- James Franco, Viola Davis, and Hayden Panettiere all have lifetime movies this year.
- In The Heat of the Night is getting a TV revival from one of the writers on The People vs. O.J. Simpson.
- The How I Met Your Mother Facebook page made an ill-conceived parody of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
- Girl Meets World is looking for a new home after its cancellation.
- Ken Burns will add another episode to his great Baseball documentary to cover the Cubs winning the World Series.
- Shay Mitchell is getting her own reality show.
Movies
- Lucasfilm promises to not digitally re-create Carrie Fisher in upcoming Star Wars movies.
- Will Smith could star in Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo. Is it because of his ears?
- Tom Hanks could play the villain in Dumbo.
- Peter Dinklage is in talks to join Avengers: Infinity War.
- Taraji P. Henson will play a hitwoman in the drama Proud Mary.
- Moonlight’s Andre Holland is in talks for Steve McQueen’s new film.
- Sterling K. Brown wants to be Green Lantern.
- James Corden has joined the cast of Ocean’s Eight.
- Octavia Spencer bought out a screening of Hidden Figures for low-income families.
- Anna Kendrick could play a female Santa Claus for Disney.
- The Tupac biopic has a release date.
- Reese Witherspoon thinks now is a good time for Legally Blonde 3.
- Tom Hardy continues to tease his interest in playing James Bond.
- Wayne’s World will return to theaters to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
- Woody Harrelson officially joins the Han Solo movie.
- Kate Mara to star in an Iraq War biopic.
- Daniel Wu joins the cast of Tomb Raider.
- Zoe Saldana will lend her voice to My Little Pony: The Movie.
- Kenya Barris, creator of Black-ish, is working on a remake of White Men Can’t Jump.
Trailers
- XX:
- Clinical:
- Dark Knight:
- Cars 3:
- Better Call Saul, season 3:
- Wilson:
- Santa Clarita Diet:
- Girlfriend’s Day:
- iBoy:
- CHiPs:
- Sleight:
- Snatch:
- Manifesto:
- The WWE and The Jetsons teamed up for some reason:
- My Life as a Zucchini:
- Tangled: Before Ever After:
- Riverdale:
- Clowntergiest:
- Raw:
Music
- Monmouth University will be the home of Bruce Springsteen’s archive.
- John Legend and Ariana Grande may have a duet on the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack.
- Nick Jonas and Nicki Minaj are collaborating for 50 Shades Darker.
- Radiohead announced some tour dates.
- DJ Khaled brought Migos, Chance The Rapper, and Travi$ Scott into the studio for his new album.
- You can now listen to Aaliyah’s greatest hits on Apple Music and Spotify.
- A career spanning Weird Al box set is now available for pre-order.
- Don’t look for any special guests during Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime show.
- The New Pornographers are going on tour with Waxahatchee.
- The Chainsmokers debuted a new song.
- Spoon also released a new song.
- Ryan Adams and Liz Phair are working on a new album together.
- Audioslave will reunite.
Theater
- A stage version of La La Land is being discussed.
- A first look at Taran Killam as Hamilton’s new King George III.
- James Monroe, best known for his role as the Genie in Broadway’s Aladdin, will join the cast of Hamilton as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson.
- When Charlie and the Chocolate Factory makes the transition from the West End to Broadway, there will be a lot of changes.
- The Tony Awards will return to Radio City Music Hall in 2017.
Books
- The finalists for this year’s National Book Critics Circle Awards have been announced.
Stand-up
- Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally’s stage show Summer of 69: No Apostrophe is coming to Epix.
- A ton of famous folks dropped by NYC’s Comedy Cellar for surprise stand up performances.
Odds and Ends
- Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will close in May after 146 years.
- Jim Parsons is doing a radio show about politics.
- Priyanka Chopra was briefly hospitalized after a Quantico set injury.
- Alec Baldwin is in discussions to take his Trump impression to additional outlets.
- Brooklyn now has a Harry Potter-themed restaurant.
- The Weeknd and Selena Gomez are rumored to be an item.
- Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons are allegedly engaged.
- Kate Mara and Jamie Bell are engaged, which apparently the only good thing that came out of the Fantastic Four reboot.
- Katherine Heigl and husband Josh Kelly have welcomed a baby boy back in December.
- Country music singer Cody Alan has come out as a gay.
- Kim Kardashian West’s police report from her Paris robbery has been released.
- Paul Patton has accused ex-husband Robin Thicke of child abuse.
- There was a warrant out for Young Thug.
- Orange is the New Black’s Lea DeLaria and fashion editor Chelsea Fairless have ended their engagement.
- SNL and SCTV alumnus Tony Rosato has died. He was 62.
- Actor Dick Gautier has died. He was 85.
- William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, has passed away.
- Former pro wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka died. He was 73.
Mashups and Supercuts
- Ed Sheeran covered the Fresh Prince theme:
- The devolution of Rickety Cricket on It’s Always Sunny:
- Jazz versions of “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter:
- Super Mario Bros. gets a Martin Scorsese trailer:
- How all the Pixar movies are connected:
- Game of Thrones theme on cellos:
- Jessica Biel and Bryan Cranston star in a Kanye West soap opera:
- Daveed Diggs raps “Rubber Duckie”:
- Celebrities sing “I Will Survive”:
- President Obama and Vice President Biden meet Shawshank Redemption: