I woke up to some very sad news this morning – Yankee great Yogi Berra had passed away at the age of 90. This wasn’t a total surprise – the fact that he was unable to attend the ceremony when his fellow catcher Jorge Posada’s number was retired was a clue that he wasn’t well – but it still hurts all the same. I’m too young to have ever seen Berra play live, but his legacy was well known to me. Not only did Berra earn 10 World Series rings and multiple MVP and All-Star game appearances, but he was just an adorable man known for his paradoxical quotes and sayings. I looked forward to seeing him at Old Timers Day and various other Yankee events and he always received standing ovations. It just makes me so sad to know that I won’t ever see him again riding around in a golf cart, waving to the fans. He was one of the greats – not just for the Yankees but in all of baseball. I’m sincerely going to miss him. Rest in peace, Yogi.
But the show must go on….as usual, I’ve searched the Internet high and low to curate for you the best that the world of pop culture has had to offer in the last week. So tip your cap to Yogi and then find some solace in this week’s pop culture round up.
- The League’s Steve Rannazzisi admits to lying about his claim that he was in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
- Jenna Coleman is leaving Doctor Who.
- Jason Statham is coming to TV.
- Chris Rock will appear on the upcoming season of Empire, but his character was originally a cannibal (!).
- Justin Timberlake will lend his voice to a movie about Troll dolls.
- Of Monsters and Men are the latest band to cameo on Game of Thrones.
- Alison Brie and Ian McShane are attached to the latest series from the creator of Downton Abbey.
- Judd Apatow will direct and produce a pilot for HBO starring Pete Holmes.
- Jason Alexander will appear on Fox’s new series The Grinder.
- Chris Evans and Jared Leto in talks for the adaptation of The Girl on the Train. I’m intrigued.
- There’s a new girl on The New Girl – Meghan Fox will replace Zooey Deschanel during her maternity leave.
- Amanda Seyfried will have a “key role” in the Twin Peaks revival.
- Taran Killam has been selected to portray Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.
- Ice Cube will play Scrooge in Humbug, the latest reimagining of A Christmas Carol.
- Ryan Reynolds gets the cover story at GQ.
- The Mountain from Game of Thrones was defeated in an arm wrestling match.
- Tracy Morgan is in talks to join Ice Cube and Charlie Day in Fist Fight.
- Beyoncé dropped a new song with Naughty Boy:
- NBC orders a live, interactive Law & Order spinoff.
- The outstanding soundtrack to Hamilton is now streaming.
- So now apparently Nicole Kidman will appear on season 2 of Top of the Lake.
- Lady Gaga partnered with the filmmakers of The Hunting Ground for her new music video about sexual assault on college campuses.
- Denzel Washington says he’ll direct and produce nine of August Wilson’s plays for HBO.
- SNL has hired six new writers.
- J.K. Rowling fleshes out the Potter family tree in a new story on Pottermore.
- Amy Poehler has a new NBC pilot in the works.
- Kata Mara hasn’t seen Fantastic Four. Probably a smart move.
- Drake and Future dropped a mixtape Sunday night.
- Dave Grohl is mad at the Emmys for cutting a Foo Fighters performance.
- The Island of Dr. Moreau is coming to TV.
- Gambit has lost its director.
- Haha – Jennifer Lawrence texted Amy Schumer that she looked “pretty, not smart” at the Emmys.
- Amy Schumer just landed a book deal.
- Researchers explain how Luke and Leia are different ages.
- Tonight South Park does their Donald Trump episode. God Bless America.
- OK – it turns out that Bill Murry had a legit reason for skipping the Emmys.
- Stephen Colbert and Steph Curry square off:
- Details has an interview John Stamos.
- Kristen Bell will appear in Dax Shepard’s CHiPs movie. Adam Brody has also joined.
- Portlandia will end after its eight season.
- Jordan Peele is working on a horror movie.
- A TV show based on The Mist is being developed.
- Vanessa Williams will appear on the 7th season of The Good Wife.
- Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts will also appear in the reboot of Ghostbusters.
- Anjelica Huston will appear on the second season of Transparent.
- Did Black Mirror predict the new David Cameron scandal?
- The release date for Hugh Jackman’s Greatest Showman on Earth has been delayed a year.
- Brie Larson is in and Emma Stone is out for the role of Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes.
Time for some teasers and trailers….
- The American Horror Story: Hotel teasers keep rolling out:
- The Divergent Series: Allegiant:
- Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs:
- FX’s American Crime Story:
- IFC’s Benders:
- Freeheld with Julianne Moore and Ellen Page:
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2:
- Baskets with Zach Galifianakis on FX:
- Kristen Wiig in Nasty Baby:
- Netflix’s With Bob & David:
- Season 3 of Nathan For You:
- The Last Witch Hunter:
- In the Heart of the Sea:
- WWE 2K16:
- Mariah Carey is a dragon slayer in this trailer for Game of War:
- A new trailer for the Point Break reboot:
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt in The Walk:
- The Good Dinosaur international trailer:
- Season 3 of The Originals:
- Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell in The Big Short:
- The Peanuts Movie:
- CBS’ Supergirl:
- Pacific Rim 2 had been delayed indefinitely, which is honestly no great loss.
- Fun fact – Louis CK and Matt LeBlanc went to school together and there are yearbook photos to prove it.
- Nicki Minaj and Meek Mill did a sexy photo shoot for GQ.
- More people have joined A&E’s Roots remake.
- Four dating-show stars discuss how reality TV messed up their love lives.
- Leonardo DiCaprio is teaming up with Showtime for an 80s Mafia drama series.
- The BBC is launching its own streaming service.
- General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn went on an ill-advised Twitter rant about Viola Davis’ Emmy speech and Twitter was not amused.
- David Letterman’s follow up is a documentary series on the National Geographic channel.
- Craig Ferguson is doing a show with The History Channel where he’ll debate historical questions.
- Netflix has acquired the streaming rights to season one of How To Get Away With Murder.
- Same-sex relationships will be explored on Once Upon a Time.
- Eddie Huang is no longer narrating Fresh Off the Boat.
- Justin Timberlake attempts to write a sew theme for Seth Meyer’s Late Night (who knew Timberlake was allowed on other late night shows?:
- Amazon Prime is now streaming every episode of Sex and the City.
- CBS has landed a family sitcom starring Jermaine Fowler.
- ABC is developing a series based on the novel Time After Time, which involves Jack the Ripper and H.G. Wells.
- ABC is also considering an American version of the reality show The Great British Bake Off.
- In the hopper at NBC – a small screen version of In The Line Of Fire.
- John Legend and Chrissy Teigen’s Ordinary People landed a pilot at ABC.
- Fox has committed to a pilot based on the film Behind Enemy Lines.
- Liam Neeson will star in a movie that sounds like a lot of other Liam Neeson movies.
- As in the works at the peacock – a drama based on Cosmo magazine.
- If I have any Canadian friends, they’ll have to send me this limited edition Metallica beer.
- Celebrities recall their first concert memories; my first concert was New Kids on the Block at Saratoga Raceway.
- Kenny Loggins performed in a guy’s living room after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
- CNN congratulates Jon Hamm on winning an Emmy by tweeting a photo of someone who is not Jon Hamm. Get your sh*t together, CNN.
- A prop master discusses how they make fake cocaine look real.
- Robert DeNiro walked out of an interview.
- Glenn Close will return to Sunset Boulevard in the West End.
- A Columbia professor hid an Alf Easter egg in his syllabus. I should have done something like this!
- Ariana Grande shows off her natural hair (spoiler alert – that ponytail is fake).
- Bill Murray is being inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame (which is apparently a thing).
- Wiz Khalifia donated 1,700 backpacks to students at his alma mater.
- Potential weird celebrity couple alert – Miley Cyrus and Dane Cook.
- Twitter feud of the week: Cara Delevingne and Richard Madden.
- Quincy Jones is doing well after being rushed to the hospital with chest pains.
- Star Trek: Voyager actress Jennifer Lien was arrested for allegedly exposing herself to kids.
- The Rock is allegedly having a baby with someone who is not me, which I have mixed feelings about.
- Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen on the Superman TV show, has passed away.
- Allison Williams married CollegeHumor co-founder Ricky Van Veen. Tom Hanks performed the ceremony.
As always, we end with the mashups and supercuts….
- The 1967 Jungle Book meets the 2016 remake:
- Fantastic Mr. Fox raps some Blackalicious:
- A mashup of 100 movie dance scenes to “Uptown Funk”:
- A supercut of a single phone call across 57 films:
- Yeezy for President:
- Foo Fighters perform with HAIM and Stevie Nicks:
- A compilation of Superman’s kill count in the movies:
- Ryan Adams’s cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 is streaming track by track on YouTube:
- Not to be outdone, Father John Misty covered “Blank Space” in the style of Velvet Underground:
- A mash-up of Taylor Swift songs from YouTube star Todrick Hall:
- The Tonight Show parodies Empire:
- And finally, two of my all-time favorite things, together at last – Mad Men and Parks & Recreation: