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As someone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, I had to suffer through every permutation of the “Very Special Episode” trope, from Punky Brewster chanting “Just Say No” to Jessie Spano caterwauling “I’m So Excited.” So after watching “Nip It in the Bud,” I just hope that young people today appreciate the level of growing pains television went through before One Day at a Time could present such a nuanced take on the subject of marijuana.
Dolly Parton isn’t shy about dirty jokes. Just ask Jimmy Fallon. But our gal is who she is, from 9 to 5 and every hour in between. Take Friday night for example. Ahead of the Grammy Awards on Sunday, the 73-year-old country superstar was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year with an evening of musical tributes from Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Katy Perry, Pink, Chris Stapleton, Garth Brooks, and other artists. During her acceptance speech, the ever-candid Parton compared their performances to watching porn. “It’s been such a thrill for me tonight to see all these great artists that are singing songs that I’ve written or been a part of,” she said. “Because it’s kind of like, watching them is sort of like watching porn. You’re not personally involved, but you still get off on it. I really got off on this show tonight.” The crowd shook, and Parton said, “Hey, don’t blame me. At my age you’ll take anything you can get.” That’s our Dolly.
On Friday, Universal’s feature adaptation of the Broadway blockbuster Wicked got a new release date: December 22, 2021. Back in 2016, we learned the movie-musical was hitting theaters this December, but according to Deadline, Tom Hooper’s Cats movie took over that date and Wicked changed its production schedule. The film adaptation of the 2003 musical has been very slow to get off the ground. It’s been nearly 15 years since the musical’s Broadway debut; a decade since producer Marc Platt (Into the Woods, Bridge of Spies), book writer Winnie Holzman, and songwriter Stephen Schwartz reportedly began meeting with filmmakers; and five years since the project was said to be “gearing up.” But now with a director (Stephen Daldry) and a producer (Platt) in place, the screenplay adaption, which Holzman and Schwartz will collaborate on, is focus, and we can begin dream casting the film. Are you available, Ari?
This outing of PEN15 centers on one of the toughest lessons of young adulthood: You rarely get the approval you want, and you rarely want the approval you get. To make matters worse, you’re not experienced enough at that age to adequately pretend that need doesn’t exist. The show manages to summon this complex feeling in just two perfect lines of dialogue: “Let’s just not care,” Maya tells Sam faux-nonchalantly when he offers to hang out with her. “But don’t be late.”
“The problem in the world today is we love our boys and we raise our girls. We raise them to be strong and sometimes we take care not to hurt men. And I think we pay for that a little bit.” —Michelle Obama
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has had a few strong outings here and there in its final season, but with this episode marking the two-thirds point, I have to confess that I’m just not enjoying the show as much as I used to, especially the non-musical parts. “I Have to Get Out” really earns its title, full of cookie-cutter plotlines, draggy takes, and unfunny jokes. Aside from one goofily entertaining song, the show feels like it’s running on fumes.
This seems like a wrong that could really easily be made right, according to the parents of viral video star Natalie Green. TMZ reported Friday that Andrew and Shirley Green are suing Kanye West for using audio of their daughter on this The Life of Pablo track “Ultralight Beam,” which you can hear below.
After being fired from his position atop CBS last December, following myriad accusations of sexual misconduct that span decades, Les Moonves is getting back to work. According to the New York Times, the disgraced executive hung a new shingle in Los Angeles called Moon Rise Unlimited. It was registered on October 30, according to the California Secretary of State, and is described as an LLC focused on “entertainment services.” Moonves is designated as the manager, though that detail was listed in a separate filing. And that’s not all! Moonves also set up a pair of complementary ventures using the same very bold name. Per the Times:
After a strike lasting 33 days, Actors’ Equity has made a deal with producers trade association the Broadway League to give a fraction of successful Broadway shows’ profits to its performers and stage managers. The move is intended to acknowledge the vital role founding cast members play in the development of new shows. According to the New York Times, actors and stage managers will split one percent of the show’s profits after it recoups its initial investment, a contract that “will last for 10 years and will include money generated by touring productions.”
So, Manila’s out of here and the girls are gagged. Gagged, and kind of living. Gagged, kind of living, and altogether keeping the atmosphere light. While Trinity is a little nonplussed, to say the least, even she is able to smile and crack jokes with the rest of the girls about Ms. Luzon’s early departure. And let it be known and shouted into the atmosphere that this, friends, is the way we should all be acting regarding any elimination on a reality competition show, especially one about drag. I can’t personally imagine being so pressed that a thriving drag performer I’ve never met was voted off two weeks early that I’d send a death threat the way of the queen responsible for her ouster, but I guess it’s happening. So, let’s just say it here, once and for all: If you’re doing this, grow up. As I type those last two words, I realize that a lot of you probably are only 11 years old, and I guess we can only expect so much of you (you’re a child). But if you’re in your 20s or 30s and you’re spending time trying to terrify Naomi? Get help, bitch. Keep it. I Don’t Think So Honey. Seek Treatment. Insert gayass dismissal here. They all mean the same shit.
While it might seem like the controversy around HBO’s upcoming alternate history drama Confederate would be the natural explanation for why the show hasn’t seen much movement in the past two years, HBO chief Casey Bloys told TVLine on Friday that it’s actually a scheduling issue related to the series’s creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The pair have been swamped, you see, with all the Game of Thrones showrunning and writing several upcoming Star Wars films they have going on. “Dan and David are finishing up the final season [of Game of Thrones] and then they are going to go into the Star Wars universe,” Bloys said. “When they come out of that, I assume they will come back to us.”
When the second season of Big Little Lies premieres on HBO in June, it’ll kick off right where the first season left off: with “The Monterey Five,” as the ladies are now known, keeping their deadly secret while contending with Celeste’s mother-in-law Mary Louise, played by Meryl Streep.
Chad Michael Murray is at the door, and he has a lot of really interesting ideas he’d like to share with you. According to Variety, the Star… star will be joining Archie and the gang in season three as the heretofore unseen Edgar Evernever, leader of the show’s cult-like collective the Farm. Hey, if you’re going to have a leader, might as well make him a charismatic one, right?
It’s morning again in America, because Aquaman fans are getting the spin-off they deserve. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. is working on a movie all about the Trench, the place where more civilized aqua-people are sent to be sacrificed in the briny deep (not to be confused with the Brine Kingdom, which is filled with militant shellfish). The Trench creatures aren’t given much dimension in Aquaman, which maybe means they are the perfect candidate for a more built-out story. As THR explains, “The Trench creatures are rather recent arrivals to the Aquaman lore, having been introduced in the comics only in 2011 when DC did a revamp of its entire publishing line. They are revealed to be part of the kingdom of Atlantis but when it sunk, inhabitants who were cut off from other survivors and evolved into ravenous monsters.”
Casey Affleck’s next film is set to premiere at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival. It’s called Light of My Life, and it centers on a father and daughter holing up together while the end of the world unfolds. With the exception of the daughter, Light also takes place in a “society without women where gender roles have to be renegotiated,” according to the movie’s description — a choice that stands out against the backdrop of the actor’s history with the MeToo movement. According to IndieWire, Affleck said at a press event before the movie that the script was written prior to accusations of sexual misconduct against him resurfacing, and that the themes of the story had nothing to do with those cases or the subsequent public outcry over his alleged actions.
Two things are surprising about the trailer for the Child’s Play revival. First of all, how is anyone looking at that damn Chucky doll in the year 2019 and thinking “I should definitely bring this cursed object into my home”? And second, Aubrey Plaza has apparently entered the phase of her career where she plays moms!
While Bradley Cooper is off feeling like a failure for not getting a Best Director nomination out of A Star Is Born, Sean Penn, we now know, is outraged on his behalf. In a new “editorial” posted by Deadline, Penn lights into all those who would diminish the merits of Star and its director. In the post, titled “Sean Penn Says Bradley Cooper Has A Problem,” the man who once interviewed El Chapo says, “Bradley is a star … He’s young … he’ll have plenty of opportunities,” giving voice to the presumed inner monologues of industry professionals who have failed to honor Cooper for his talents this awards season. “If this, as I suspect, explains outcomes in other awards voting, voters will have certainly missed the point. This isn’t Bradley Cooper’s opportunity, its theirs to appreciate the depth and value of this film before its legacy outlasts their chance to participate in it.”
On the rare occasions when female masturbation is presented in the media at all, it’s usually shown the same way every time. You can picture it without me even describing it: a soft-focus shot of an outstretched neck, everything below it covered by a comforter. Above it, a contorted face rolling on a pillow, maybe emitting a theatrical moan or two.
Since MacGruber entered our hearts in 2010 and became an instant cult classic, it’s been a long waiting game for updates about a possible sequel. Back in 2016, Jorma Taccone and Will Forte confirmed that they had begun writing the script for the film, but since then things have been mostly up in the air, with Forte telling Vulture in 2017, “This movie could get made. If we can write a script, this movie will get made. It is my opinion. Though, I thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win the election, so what do I know?”
Was Adnan Syed wrongfully imprisoned? The question at the heart of the 1999 Baltimore murder case that Serial made famous — both triggering a true-crime podcast boom and helping earn the convicted killer a new trial in the process — is set to be placed under a public microscope yet again.
