It finally happened – the Buffalo Bills are once again going to the playoffs. I honestly didn’t know if I would ever get to experience this as a fan; I wasn’t part of the #BillsMafia when they last made a playoff appearance in 1999 and there wasn’t much in my time as a fan to give me much hope. Up until this year, I had only seen one winning season as a fan. Going into the game Sunday, I was trying not to get my hopes up – a lot of things had to go right for the Bills to end their playoff drought. And if years of watching the Bills have taught me anything, it’s that things rarely go right for us. So New Year’s Eve was quite the emotional roller coaster; people at the bar were watching me watch the game because I’m pretty sure I had at least one nervous breakdown. Even when the Bengals scored their final touchdown to knock out the Ravens, I refused to celebrate until the clock hit zero and the game was official – and then I started crying and hugging people (including total strangers). That’s what being part of a tortured fan base will do to you.
I have no idea how far the Bills will actually make it in the playoffs, but just getting this particular monkey off their back is really enough for me. Sorry Seattle Mariners – you now wear the playoff drought crown. You have my sympathies.
So while I figure out if I should set up a GoFundMe page to get me to the playoff game in Jacksonville, catch yourself up on the pop culture that you may have missed over holiday break.
Television
- A Mad About You revival is apparently in the works at NBC.
- Showtime has canceled White Famous after one season.
- Gillian Anderson will leave The X-Files after this season.
- Netflix renews She’s Gotta Have It for a second season.
- The second season of A Series of Unfortunate Events returns to Netflix in March.
- Netflix has ordered a second season of Dark.
- Rose McGowan is getting an E! docu-series that will feature her fight against sexual harassment in Hollywood.
- Ed Sheeran will cameo on The Simpsons.
- Here is when your favorite shows are returning in 2018.
- FX gives a full season order to Ryan Murphy’s Pose; sadly, Tatiana Maslany will not appear in the series after all.
- Don’t go on Jeopardy! if you don’t know the difference between gangsters and gangstas.
- Disney has decided not to go forward with an animated Haunted Mansion series, but you can watch a teaser.
- A What We Do In The Shadows spinoff is coming to TV this year.
- Gravity Falls has redubbed the voice of the character originally played by Louis C.K.
- Hoda Kotb will replace Matt Lauer as co-anchor on Today.
- Here is the all-time points winner of Whose Line Is It Anyway.
- Here’s what is coming and going from HBO in January. And Hulu.
Movies
- Netflix has ordered a sequel to Bright.
- Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain would be interested in It: Chapter 2.
- Cooper Andrews has joined the cast of Shazam!.
- Daniel Day-Lewis made an actual dress from scratch to prepare for his role in Phantom Thread.
- Ferdia Shaw to play the lead in the Artemis Fowl movie. Judi Dench and Josh Gad will also star.
- Go figure – Vin Diesel is 2017’s top-grossing actor.
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants reunited:
- Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek movie to be penned by Mark L. Smith, the screenwriter of The Revenant.
- Nick Cannon and Chris Brown (yup – that Chris Brown) are making a women’s basketball movie.
- The untitled Cloverfield sequel has been pushed to April 2018.
- The original Michael Myers will return for the new Halloween movie.
- The director of Gerald’s Game wants to do a sequel to The Shining next.
- The biggest move flops of 2017.
- A Star Is Born will be released October 5, 2018.
- Here are the 100 best reviewed movies of 2017, per Rotten Tomatoes.
- A deleted scene from The Breakfast Club has surfaced.
Trailers
- Overboard:
- End of the F**cking World:
- A Futile and Stupid Gesture:
- Death Wish:
- Mom and Dad:
- Euphoria:
- Step Sisters:
- The Looming Tower:
- Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again:
- Scorched Earth:
- Roseanne:
- Fifty Shades Freed:
- Den of Thieves:
- Paddington 2:
- Slender Man:
- Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block:
- Half Magic:
Music
- Justin Timberlake is dropping a new album on February 2nd.
- Eminem, The Weeknd, and Beyoncé will headline Coachella this year.
- Eminem is a busy guy – he’ll also headline the Governors Ball with Jack White and Yeah Yeah Yeah.
- Drake and Lil Wayne released a new Family Feud freestyle.
- Jay Z released a video for Family Feud that is sadly only currently available on Tidal.
- Frank Ocean may be hinting at a new album release.
- Ariana Grande may be teasing some new music.
- Kendrick Lamar released a music video for “LOVE.”
- Tom Petty’s music publisher is suing Spotify.
- John Williams will write a new theme for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
- The best live jazz performances of 2017.
Stand-Up
- A list of the top 1,000 comedians.
- The best comedy specials of 2017.
- Ricky Gervais has a second stand-up special heading to Netflix.
Books
Theater
- Des McAnuff will lead a Donna Summer musical to Broadway in April.
- Hamilton ticket prices hit $1,150 during the holiday week.
Odds and Ends
- Hollywood actresses, writers, producers, and talent agents have launched a new campaign to stop sexual harassment.
- John Oliver says that he tried and failed with his confrontation of Dustin Hoffman about sexual harassment.
- Male stars will also wear black to the Golden Globes to highlight sexual misconduct problems in Hollywood – though it seems like most of them wear black anyway.
- Facebook has the exclusive streaming rights to the Golden Globes red carpet pre-show.
- Rolling Stone founder Jann Warner accused of sexual assault.
- Ringo Starr and Barry Gibb were knighted.
- Will Smith is now on Instagram.
- Saint West, son of Kimye, was hospitalized for pneumonia.
- YouTube star Logan Paul facing backlash after posting a video showing a dead body.
- After an injury, Carrie Underwood had 50 stitches in her face.
- Real Housewives of New York’s Luann de Lesseps was arrested for battery.
- Laura Dern is apparently dating NBA player Baron Davis.
- Paris Hilton and actor Chris Zylka are engaged.
- Maria Menounos married Kevin Undergaro live during New Year’s Eve broadcast. Steve Harvey officiated.
- Khloe Kardashian has finally confirmed she and Tristan Thompson are expecting. You’re move, Kylie.
- American Ferrera and Ryan Piers Williams are expecting their first child.
- Chip and Joanna Gaines are expecting their fifth child.
- Jamie Lynn Spears and Jamie Watson are expecting.
- Jessica Alba and Cash Warren have welcomed their third child.
- Jordan Feldstein, manager of Maroon 5 and brother of Johan Hill, has died. He was 40.
- Actress Heather Menzies Urich, who played Louisa in The Sound of Music, has died. She was 68
- Actor Alfie Curtis has passed away. Star Wars fans will know him from his role of Dr. Cornelius Evazan.
- Author Sue Grafton has died. She was 77.
- Actress Rose Marie has died. She was 94.
Mashups and Supercuts
- Ed Sheeran covers Eric Clapton’s “Layla”:
- Watch Gaten Matarazzo’s band cover Paramore:
- Sean Astin reprises his three greatest film roles:
- Did Karl Pilkington predict two storylines from Black Mirror season 4? *spoilers*
- LEGO Stranger Things:
- Star Wars meets “War Pigs”:
- Stranger Things episode imagined as paperback book covers:
- Every Stan Lee cameo ever:
- Lake Street Dive covers “Take On Me”: