It’s my birthday this weekend, which is usually cause for celebration, at least in my eyes. Everyone else just kind of humors me. This year, however, I’m just not feeling it and am kind of dreading having to say that I am a year older. There is not legitimate reason for this apathy – it isn’t a “milestone” birthday or anything – and I know turning a year older beats the alternative, but I’m just not in a celebratory mood at all this year. Perhaps I’ve finally gotten over the excitement for my birthday that everyone else got over when they were a kid. Perhaps it is because this year a lot of people have yet to respond to my unofficial party or can’t come. Perhaps it is because I do so many awesome things throughout the year that I don’t really need this excuse to make a big deal out of one particular day. Whatever the reason, as Saturday approaches, instead of my usual giddiness, it’s being greeted with a shrug. I’m happy to see my friends, but that’s about it.
Pop culture, on the other hand, still makes me excited and I had a lot of fun compiling your biweekly roundup of all the pop culture goodness that you might have missed. I just kept finding all sort of cool things to include. So while I attempt to determine what exactly is bumming me out, kick back and enjoy:
- A spinoff of The Walking Dead is in development. AMC is determined to ride this thing into the ground.
- The final season of Mad Men will be split in half and will air in 2014 and 2015. AMC is officially out of ideas.
- J.K. Rowling is writing a Harry Potter spinoff movie.
- FX is developing an American Psycho sequel series.
- The New Yorker has a long interview with Bryan Cranston.
- Stallone, Statham, Ford, Gibson, Schwarzenegger……Grammer? Fraiser joins the cast of Expendabless 3.
- E! is getting in the obviously scripted business (rather that the pseudo scripted business of reality shows) with The Royals. Elizabeth Hurley is attached to star.
- Adam Levine is launching a menswear line at Kmart.
- A real psychiatrist analyzes the trauma that various Breaking Bad characters experienced in last Sunday’s intense episode.
- A Middle Eastern prince paid $500,000 to hang out with Kristen Stewart. With all due respect, your highness, you grossly overpaid.
- Congrats to Bob Newhart for winning his first Emmy! The full list of Creative Arts Emmy winners can be found here. The Primetime Emmys will air on September 22. There may be a live blog.
- In other awards show news, Woody Allen will receive the Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes.
- Scarlett Johansson is engaged.
- Carson Daly has joined The Today Show.
- Leonardo DiCaprio is developing a Woodrow Wilson biopic. He may also star. Dude wants his Oscar.
- George R.R. Martin, author of the Game of Thrones books, is a Breaking Bad fan and thinks that “Water White is a bigger monster than anyone in Westeros.” This from the guy who gave us Joffrey.
- Rapper 2Chainz has released a cookbook
- AMC has canceled The Killing……again.
- Props from The Office are going to be auctioned off.
- The West Wing fans – Allison Janney performed “The Jackal” last night on the newly revived The Arsenio Hall Show.
- Survivor returns tonight; this season’s twist is pitting family members against one another.
- HBO is taking the Damon Lindelof drama The Leftovers, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, to series.
- A happy belated birthday to Louis C.K.
- The guy who voiced Jafar in the Disney film Aladdin will play Jafar on Broadway. Makes sense.
- Molly Shannon, Will Forte and Jordan Peele will all voice characters on Bob’s Burgers.
- The BBC’s Sherlock cast are getting their own action figures.
- Everyone that I know that watched the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Alvarez fight last weekend was disappointed. Snoop
DoggLion, however, won over a pound of weed on that fight.
- After a lackluster performance at the box office, the planned sequel to The Mortal Instruments has been delayed indefinitely.
- A new season of Key and Peele debuts tonight:
- Amazon is unveiling a new Matchbook program that will allow customers to buy discounted e-book version of books that were already purchased in paperback.
- Charlie Sheen has finally graduated from high school.
- Also a recent high school graduate – Mark Wahlberg.
- 20 board games inspired by 70s and 80s TV shows. They need more of these in the Museum of Play!
- The Walking Dead’s Laurie Holden (Andrea) has nabbed the female lead in Dumb and Dumber To.
- Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are having a baby.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger is rumored to be attached to Avatar 2.
- Best. Parents. Ever.
- Caroline Manzo might be getting her own spinoff from The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
- Doctor Sleep, Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining, will be released next Tuesday.
- Non-shocking news of the day, part 1: JJ Abrams will not direct the next Star Trek movie, which was all but a foregone conclusion once he took over the Star Wars franchise.
- Non-shocking news of the day, part 2: Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth have ended their engagement. Once she unfollowed him on Twitter, you knew that they were doomed.
- People keep making Breaking Bad musicals. Check out Walter White and the Mazing Blue Crystal Meth:
- Sons of Anarchy is very loosely based on Hamlet. Uproxx looks to see how the series and the source material line up (and what that could mean for the characters).
- Grant Gustin (Glee) has been cast as the Flash on Arrow. The character may be spun off to his own series.
- Amy Poehler is headed to The Simpsons.
- This is probably NOT a good sign: Pirates of the Caribbean 5 has been shut down indefinitely for script maintenance. Probably for the best; this movie is wholly unnecessary.
- Mumford & Sons were kicked out of an Atlanta strip club.
- Eddie Murphy did a reggae song with Snoop Lion. I have no idea if this is supposed to be a joke or not:
- Paste lists 20 great songs that are less than 60 seconds.
- The cast of Fast & Furious 7 continues to grow; Djimon Hounsou has been added. That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news (at least in my opinion).
- Ben Affleck hasn’t completely quit directing; he’ll direct the pilot for Fox’s The Middle Man.
- Mr. Woodchuck, the puppet from Full House, had an unfortunate run-in with Dave Coulier’s dog. It’s nice that he kept the prop all these years.
- After much rumor and speculation, the full cast has been revealed for Disney’s adaptation of Into the Woods.
- The Kennedy Center Honorees have been announced.
- Katherine Heigl may return to TV in a CIA drama.
- Attention 90210 fans: Jason Preiestly is penning a memoir.
- Vulture has compiled every time Charlie is illiterate on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
- Phil Jackson and the director of Bull Durham have joined forces to bring a basketball drama to Showtime.
- The O.C.’s Sandy Cohen and Ryan Atwood (Peter Gallagher and Ben McKenzie in real life) reunited at Gallagher’s daughter’s concert.
- The O.C. is getting a a remake – in Turkey.
- Netflix uses piracy websites to determine which shows to purchase. Sounds like a legit strategy to me.
- Lifetime is making a Gabby Douglas biopic.
- Big Brother has been renewed for a 16 season on CBS.
- Check out some cool pop culture creations made out of Play-Doh.
- My Happy Endings pals continue to find work; Eliza Coupe joins House of Lies.
- The CW is developing a drama about a transgender teen.
- I am a fan of both Metallica and bluegrass, so I really enjoyed this cover of “Enter Sandman:”
- The first three hosts for SNL have been announced; Tina Fey kicks the season off, followed my Miley Cyrus and Bruce Willis.
- Easy-E and Ol’ Dirty Bastard were brought back in hologram form at Rock the Bells. You people know how I feel about this trend.
- Ha! I love that the son of ODB refers to himself as Young Dirty Bastard.
- Sting’s musical may reach Broadway next year.
- Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” video is greatly improved with the addition of Nicolas Cage:
- A Game of Thrones sigil for every NFL Team.
- Demi Lovato has not one, but two books on the way.
- If someone is in need of a last minute birthday gift for me, tickets to the cast of Anchorman doing a live reading of the script are guaranteed to make me happy. I’m not so disinterested that I won’t accept gifts.
- Tumblrs of the week: The Carter Family Portrait Gallery (Jay Z, Beyoncé and Blue Ivy added to famous paintings) and Tales You Lose (pop culture characters painted on currency)
- Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad prequel spinoff, is moving forward at AMC.
- Fox has renewed So You Think You Can Dance.
- Listen to The Eagles, run the risk of getting stabbed.
- Night at the Museum 3 will start filming early in 2014.
- Watch this guy do 13 Muppet impressions in a minute:
- Speaking of Muppets, they did all sorts of great stuff since the last round up. Cookie Monster spoofed some movies:
- Elmo (or a reasonable facsimile) hung out with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen:
- Grover sang with Dave Matthews:
- Cookie Monster also found some time to hang out with Loki:
- Life isn’t always golden for our friends of the felt; Mental Floss looks at 9 Muppets that were kicked off Sesame Street.
- UC Irvine is offering a free online course on The Walking Dead. I’m not a huge fan of the show, but I may have to take this just for kicks. I’m thinking that could really spruce up my resume.
- Elton John will do a Liberace tribute at the Emmys.
- Jason Diamond over at Flavorwire makes an interesting argument: If you liked Seinfeld you should be watching FX’s The League.
- Ha! Watch Todd from Breaking Bad gun down Justin Bieber:
- See some pages from The Simpsons/Futurama crossover crisis book.
- Morrissey cancels the release of his autobiography days before its scheduled release.
- Dina Lohan, mother to Lindsay, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
- The Entourage movie has been delayed as Adrian Grenier and Jerry Ferrara hold out for more money. Thanks Turtle – you are doing the world a service. No one wants an Entourage movie.
- Jack Black is in talks to star in a Goosebumps movie.
- Cynthia Nixon will appear on Hannibal next season.
- He’s still really good looking, but I’m not digging Joe Manganiello as much without his beard.
- Fuse has renewed Insane Clown Posse Theater.
- I have a lot of questions after reading this headline: “Bloodhound Gang Under Criminal Investigation in Russia Over Flag Stunt.”
- Sarah Silverman’s dog Duck, who appeared on her television program as Doug, has passed away. 😦 She wrote a touching obituary for the pup.
- Comic Chris Lilley may be resurrecting some of his characters from his HBO series Summer Heights High. Am I the only person who watched this?
- Jason Reitman wants Adam Sandler for his next film. I like serious Sandler, so I’m all for this.
- This makes me very happy – Walton Goggins will appear on Community this season.
- And if that wasn’t awesome enough – John Oliver is also returning to Community.
- Eminem turned up during the Michigan/Notre Dame game. It was awkward, to say the least.
- Another week, another Wizard of Oz series in development. This one is over at the CW.
- Michael Jackson’s Thriller recreated with LEGOs:
- Laura Prepon is only scheduled to appear in one episode of Orange is the New Black.
- Cracked makes a strong case that Zack Morris is a sociopath.
- Some Doctor Who fans see something resembling a TARDIS in the newly discovered Van Gogh painting.
- The band Sigur Rios will appear on Game of Thrones.
- Britney Spears is rumored to be earning $15 million per year for her Vegas residency. Seems as good a reason as any to finally plan my first trip to Vegas.
- Her new album is scheduled to drop December 3rd. I’m not sure how I feel about the new single, “Work Bitch”
- This local sports anchor worked 41 Seinfeld references into his segment:
He also did a segment full of old school rap references and wrestling references. I think this guy and I could be fast friends.
- This is a little on the nose: a woman named Courtney Cox was arrested for swimming in a fountain.
- Ricky Gervais is going out on tour as David Brent.
- Also announcing tours: Robin Thicke, Jay Z and Kanye (the latter who I am going to see in Madison Square Garden!)
- The upcoming Terminator reboot is getting a July 1, 2015 release date.
- Late Night DVR alert: the cast of Breaking Bad will appear on Conan on Monday.
- A town in Kentucky hosted a Honey Boo Boo look-alike contest.
- One of the models from the “Blurred Lines” video has been added to the cast of Gone Girl.
- Perhaps seeing the disaster that was After Earth, Will Smith has reconsidered his stance against appearing in the Independence Day sequel.
- The Hunger Games sequels have added some new cast members: Lily Rabe (American Horror Story) and Julianne Moore.
- You can stream new albums from Icona Pop, Mazzy Star, Grouplove and CHVRCHES online. Also available: the new collaboration between The Roots and Elvis Costello.
- Cecily Strong is joining the soon departing Seth Myers at the SNL Weekend Update desk. The last few people to sit at the desk (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon) have gone on to some pretty great things.
- You can now watch River Phoenix’s final movie online.
- Ian McKellen will star as a retired Sherlock Holmes in an upcoming film.
- Alexander Skarsgard has joined team USA in a charity race to the South Pole. The Wire’s Dominic West will be on team Commonwealth. This thing sounds like no joke – be safe everyone!
- No matter what you throw at Beyoncé, she just rolls with it. She already weathered a fan smacking her on the rear and her hair getting caught in a fan, but now she has survived a fan pulling her off the stage.
- TLC, home of the show Sister Wives, is doubling down on polygamy with a new show My Five Wives.
- A writer at UPROXX wrote a tribute to one of the greatest episodes of It’s Always Sunny – Chardee MacDennis. I wholeheartedly concur.
- The Ohio University marching band preformed a rendition of Ylvis’ viral sensation The Fox during their game against Marshall.
Haven’t see the video for The Fox yet? Here it is, in all it’s weirdness. Watch it now, thank me later.
- This week in Aaron Paul is awesome news: the actor held a scavenger hunt in Iowa for free tickets to a Breaking Bad screening. That dude is winning life.
- Billy Joel is publishing his previously cancelled memoir.
- Selma Blair may sue after her firing from Anger Management.
- Artie Lange is releasing a new memoir.
- Breaking Bad fans are the best. Los Pollos Hermanos now has its own Yelp page, full of reviews.
- Richard Roeper will replace Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times.
- In a classic NBC move, the network invited than dis-invited trivia whiz Ken Jennings to appear on Million Second Quiz.
- Fiona Apple covered “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka for a Chipotle ad:
- RuPaul is once again a spokesperson for MAC cosmetics.
- This actually sounds like a pretty cool show: ABC is developing a drama that imagines what would have happened if the United States lost The Revolutionary War.
- The Smoking Gun has compiled the FCC complaints about Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance.
- I’m guessing the Obama administration rues the day that they created an online petition platform. Now people want a replica TARDIS on the White House lawn.
Trailers! Get your trailers here:
- Nicole Kidman in Grace of Monaco:
- National Geographic’s Killing Kennedy, starring Rob Lowe and Ginnifer Goodwin:
- Kill Your Darlings with Daniel Radcliffe and Michael C. Hall (that’s kind of a weird combo):
- Will Forte and Bruce Dern star in Nebraska, the latest from director Alexander Payne:
- James Franco and Jason Statham are in a movie together. Yes, I’m serious.
- Rotten Tomatoes will now start rating TV shows.
- Uproxx looks at 15 life lessons from Jean-Ralphio from Parks and Recreation.
- This list of defunct NFL franchises was kind of fascinating.
- A photo of Justin Bieber holding a script for the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie almost broke the Internet.
No – he isn’t playing Robin.
- Former Man v. Food host Adam Richman has lost 60 lbs.
- Lenny Kravitz designed the set for the new Queen Latifah talk show.
- A Brokeback Mountain opera will debut in Madrid in 2014.
- Alec Baldwin is getting a show on MSNBC.
- Jon Bon Jovi’s son has made the Notre Dame Football team. Go Irish!
- Two actors on Nashville are no longer series regulars.
- An oral history of The Shield.
As always, we end with the supercuts and mashups:
- Who knew that Marty McFly was such a screamer?
- A Billy Joel/Kanye mashup sounds way better than you would think:
- I’m apparently all about the Kanye mashups this week: listen to Yeezus mashed up with Sara Bareilles.
- Blurred Sanford mashes up Blurred Lines and the Sanford and Son theme song:
- This supercut proves Bill Murray is an awkward kisser.
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail gets a modern trailer remix:
- Les Miserables…..with light sabers:
- Good Will Batman (NSFW):
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia gets the Cheers opening credit treatment:
- And finally……The Dukes of Heisenberg:
Have a great Wednesday!