Thanks to some downtime on planes and a three-day weekend, I’m pretty close to caught up on all of my shows. Of course, it helps that most shows are wrapping up their seasons and a lot of summer shows haven’t started yet, so there aren’t new things piling up on my DVR (though I haven’t started the new season of House of Cards yet, which is driving me crazy). The last few days I have been binging Starz’s adaptation of American Gods, which I have to say that I am really enjoying. I hadn’t read Neil Gaiman’s book and honestly wasn’t sure what sure what to expect from the series, but so far it’s really pulled me in. On paper I’m not sure that this is a show that would appeal to me, but I’m glad that I took a flyer on it. The pilot episode is definitely a little bonkers and four episodes in I can’t swear that I truly understand everything that is happening, but I like the ride that they are taking me on especially since I have no idea where its going. Good stuff.
Also good – this week’s pop culture roundup. The holiday weekend put a slight damper on the quantity of pop culture news, but certainly not the quality. So get yourself caught up on everything that you may have missed with the new edition of the week in pop.
Television
- It’s official – the final season of Game of Thrones will only be six episodes. We only have 13 total episodes left.
- This is a bummer – WGN has cancelled Underground after two seasons. I hope it finds a new home.
- More sad news – T.J. Miller is leaving Silicon Valley.
- HBO has renewed both Silicon Valley and Veep.
- Lauren Graham shares some info on her guest appearance in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
- Rosario Dawson can’t get enough of Marvel and may join X-Men: New Mutants as another character.
- Netflix has cancelled The Get Down after one season.
- NBC has reshuffled their fall schedule.
- RuPaul will guest star on Broad City.
- Steven Spielberg is bringing back Animaniacs.
- Dev’s buff cousin in this season of Master of None is actually Aziz Ansari’s real-life cousin Harris, who is famous from Ansari’s stand-up.
- NBC is pushing Bye Bye Birdie Live to 2018.
- Juno Temple and Janelle Monae will star in an episode of Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams anthology series.
- Ed Helms will star in a Comedy Central special, The Fake News with Ted Nelms.
- Price is Right’s longtime Plinko record finally fell.
- Alex Rodriguez is reportedly joining ABC News as a contributor.
- Carpool Karaoke: The Series will debut August 8th.
- History has picked up the Robert Zemeckis-produced UFO drama Blue Book.
- Vanessa Hudgens will be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance.
- The Chris Gethard Show debuts on truTV August 3rd.
- Adam Pally is developing a comedy for Hulu based on the Twitter account @LosFelizeDaycare.
- The Queen is reportedly a fan of Netflix’s The Crown.
- Homer Simpson has officially entered the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- Here’s what coming and going on HBO Now in June. And Amazon Prime.
Movies
- A Jetsons movie is being developed by one of the directors of Sausage Party.
- Jack Kesy will plan a villain in Deadpool 2.
- In case you missed it, Love Actually 2 for Red Nose Day:
- A Madea Halloween is getting a sequel.
- Gina Prince-Bythewood is in talks to direct Marvel’s Silver & Black
- The Boss Baby 2 will arrive in 2021.
Trailers
- Game of Thrones, season 7
- Logan Lucky:
- Wonder:
- Ozark:
- The Hitman’s Bodyguard:
- Paddington 2:
- Pennywise: The Story of IT Campaign:
- Shimmer Lake:
- The final season of The Strain:
- Victoria and Abdul:
- Castlevania:
- Get Shorty:
- The Little Hours:
Music
- Ariana Grande is returning to Manchester for a benefit concert – and bringing a bunch of friends.
- Lana Del Rey’s new album now won’t be out until July.
- Lauryn Hill and Nas are going out on tour together.
- Noel Gallagher will release his third solo album in November.
- Carly Rae Jepsen has a new song.
- Hear a new song from Bleachers.
- Prepare to feel old: Hanson released a new song and the music video features their kids.
- Eddie Vedder and Guns N’ Roses paid tribute to Chris Cornell during their respective concerts.
Stand-up
- Ellen DeGeneres is returning to her roots with a stand-up special for Netflix.
Books
- Kevin Hart’s book will be released next week.
Theater
- Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill will become a musical in 2018.
- The great doc King of Kong will be made into a musical.
- On Your Feet! will close on Broadway in August.
Odds and Ends
- Tiger Woods arrested on suspicion of DUI in Florida. Holiday weekends and vehicles just aren’t a good combo for him.
- America’s Got Talent producers are being sued after Tyra Banks accused of verbally abusing a girl.
- Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie have moved in together.
- Somebody beat Hafthor Bjornsson (aka The Mountain) in The World’s Strongest Man competition.
- Emmy Rossum and Sam Esmail were wed over the weekend.
- Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor are calling it quits after 17 years of marriage.
- Olivia Newton-John postpones her tour after a new breast cancer diagnosis.
- Sportswriter Frank Deford has died. He was 78. I always enjoyed him on Real Sports.
- Actor Michael Morris has passed away. He was 77.
- Author Denis Johnson has died. He was 67.
- Musician Gregg Allman passed away. He was 69.
Mashups and Supercuts
- A drawing of every major Game of Thrones death (spoilers, obvs):
- An 80s remix of “Somebody That I Used To Know”:
- A mariachi cover of “Hopelessly Devoted to You”:
- Playing Red Hot Chili Peppers – with a red hot chili pepper:
- Fall Out Boy meets Britney Spears:
- Terminator 2 recreated in GTAV:
- Movie countdown:
- Alien recut as a comedy: