Culture
Betty White, Golden Girl of TV Comedy, Dies at 99
Betty White, the quick-witted comedienne whose ribald humor as showcased on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls and Hot in Cleveland made her America’s ageless darling, has died. She was 99. The beloved five-time Emmy Award winner and animal advocate, whose career reached another level after she became an octogenarian, died at home on Friday (Dec. 31), her agent told People magazine. White joined the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show for the CBS sitcom’s fourth season in 1973 as Sue Ann Nivens, the blunt, man-lusting star of the WJM-TV show The Happy Homemaker, and she won two straight Emmys for outstanding continuing performance by a supporting actress in a comedy series. On NBC’s The Golden Girls, which aired for seven seasons, White played the simple-minded Minnesotan Rose Nylun...
Jada Pinkett Smith Embraces Hair Loss: ‘Me and This Alopecia Are Going to Be Friends’
Jada Pinkett Smith is fully embracing her hair loss. The 50-year-old singer-actress posted a video to Instagram on Tuesday (Dec. 28) in which she confronts her battle with the autoimmune disorder alopecia, which can cause hair loss and balding. “Now at this point, I can only laugh,” Smith said in the video while running her fingers along her bald scalp, which includes a prominent ridge near the front of her hairline. “Y’all know I’ve been struggling with alopecia and just all of a sudden one day, look at this line right here. Look at that.” “So it just showed up like that and this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide,” she added of the ridge. “So I thought I’d just share it so y’all are not asking any questions.” The 40-second video’s caption said it all: “Mama’s gonna...
Letterkenny Is Back to Pummel Both Degens and Lockdown Boredom
On paper, Letterkenny seems like exactly the kind of show that pretty much no one would care about. It’s a very Canadian ensemble-based sitcom about the happenings of a rural town and its population — or as the show’s opening slide explains, “There are 5000 people in Letterkenny. These are their problems.” It’s full of ridiculous characters, bodily humor, a dictionary’s worth of slang (some real, some made-up), and running jokes that’ll appear several times in an episode or two, and then disappear for seasons at a time before a random callback. In other words, it’s a perfect storm to be an extremely niche thing that would get some attention on YouTube, garner comparisons to Trailer Park Boys, and then promptly be forgotten. But that’s not what happened. After debuting as “Letterkenny Probl...
How to Watch ‘Elf’ Online
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, we may receive an affiliate commission. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear — and watching Elf on repeat all season long. For those looking to watch the 2003 holiday classic, which finds Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) in search of his real father in New York City after he was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa’s elves. [embedded content] Elf is available to watch on HBO Max, which you can sign up for here. The streaming service recently lowered its monthly subscription prices so you can watch Elf on HBO Max starting at just $9.99 a month here. Sign up for HBO Max once and you can watch Elf&n...
Eric Wareheim on How the New LCD Soundsystem Holiday Special Came Together
A little over a week ago, LCD Soundsystem announced they’d be the subject of a new holiday special. Not just that, but it was to be released on December 22. The project is shepherded by Eric Wareheim, who is playing LCD frontman James Murphy and directing. The cast features a murderer’s row of who’s who, with Macaulay Culkin, Christine Ko, and Aparna Nancherla as the band. As for the special itself (titled All My Friends after the LCD song), it’s a ’90s-styled sitcom, which, if you grew up in the era of TGIF, teeters between the fun and the corny. According to Wareheim, that was the intent. Backing up for a second, All My Friends came together at a lightning speed that’s pretty uncommon for Hollywood productions. “James [Murphy] gave me a call less than a month ago, he had this idea to do ...
Remember That Unofficial Mariah Carey Ornament From Last Year? Mariah ‘Fixed It’
Mariah Carey, Queen of Christmas, can now say she has an official Christmas tree ornament — and an entire line of holiday-related goodies — with her stamp of approval. On Tuesday (Dec. 21), the singer hopped on Twitter and shared that there’s a new ornament of her likeness available for purchase through Target. Explore See latest videos, charts and news In the announcement, Carey shared an image of a tweet exchange between her and a fan that went viral, which featured a photo of an unofficial ornament of Carey on the Twitter user’s 2020 Christmas tree. “My husband and I exchange Christmas ornaments every year and this year her got me @MariahCarey which is very festive!” the Twitter user wrote. Carey, unimpressed with the ornament, replied, “This is…Not approved. (But it’s the thought that ...
‘Saturday Night Live’ Cancels Live Audience Amid Omicron Spike
Saturday Night Live will tape without a live audience on Saturday (Dec. 18) as COVID-19 cases linked to the omicron variant continue to surge in New York City and throughout the world. The venerable NBC comedy show announced the decision to its social media channels roughly eight hours before the episode featuring host Paul Rudd and musical guest Charli XCX was scheduled to tape. Explore Explore Charli XCX See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Due to the recent spike in the Omicron variant and out of an abundance of caution, there will be no live audience for tonight’s taping of ‘Saturday Night Live’ and the show will have limited cast and crew,” the show’s message read. “The show continues to follow all government safety guidelines in addition to a rigorou...
UFC Veteran Cub Swanson on How Music Influences His Fighting: “I Secretly Fantasize About How I Should Have Made Beats”
Among fighters who’ve never even competed for a championship belt, few (if any) have as many accolades as Cub Swanson. Going into his 20th UFC fight (with eight more in the elite promotion, WEC, from before the UFC added a featherweight division), the Palm Springs, California native has racked up 10 Fight of the Night bonuses, two more Knockout of the Night bonuses (including one over current UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira), and both a highlight reel and fan base that many champions only dream of achieving. His penchant for violence in the cage and humility outside of it has made Swanson a fan favorite among hardcore and casual viewers alike. Couple that with a decade and a half of going to war with the best of the best (including a who’s who of champions and challengers across ...
The Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time (According to a Jew)
Let me first say that I didn’t grow up watching Christmas movies. The headline should have given that away. I did dabble in the viewing of Frosty the Snowman as a child and I knew all the Christmas songs because I went to a public school. But classic movies like Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol were never viewed in the Stahl household. We were too busy enjoying our eight crazy nights of Hanukkah getting fried on latkes and gambling for chocolate coins in hotly contested games of dreidel. I still love movies, have seen plenty (quote too many), and many are about Christmas – and I consider some of them my favorite movies of all time, regardless of subject matter. Which brings us to my list: the greatest Christmas movies. In order to create such a list, I...
Charli XCX Corrects Paul Rudd’s Tongue-Twisted Mispronunciation of Her Name in ‘SNL’ Promo: Watch
Charli XCX is giving Paul Rudd a lesson in how to properly pronounce her name. In a promotional spot for her upcoming Saturday Night Live appearance on Dec. 18, the 29-year-old British singer patiently stands alongside the Ghostbusters: Afterlife star as he attempts to introduce her as the evening’s musical guest. “Hi, I’m Paul Rudd, and I’m hosting SNL with Charli…” the actor says before struggling to finish her name. After a brief pause, the singer politely steps in to help assist Rudd. “X-C-X,” she says. Explore Explore Charli XCX See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news SNL cast member Ego Nwodim quickly chimes in, confidently adding, “I got it, XCX.” Still confused, Rudd asks, “Is that Roman?” Charli XCX previously performed on SNL in December 2014, playin...
Dead Cells‘ New DLC Marks the End of an Era, and Beginning of a New One
When Dead Cells released into early access back in 2017, the action-heavy roguelike immediately began garnering praise for its depth of combat and gameplay. But what even the most glowing reviews couldn’t have predicted was that as the game enters its fifth year in the public eye, its player base is not only remaining rock solid, but occasionally expanding alongside the game itself. At a time when “games-as-a-service” is practically an expletive, French developer Motion Twin figured out the magic formula for successful DLC releases, adding regular content drops both big and small, paid and unpaid, to satisfy existing players and bring in new ones ever since the game’s release. The 20-year-old studio actually became so serious about Dead Cells’ downloadable content that they formed a separa...
Queen of Hearts Talks ‘Masked Singer’ Victory, Instant Covers EP: ‘Music Has Always Been My Own Healing’
[Spoiler alert: This story contains the identity of the winner of Wednesday night’s (Dec. 15) season six finale of The Masked Singer.] The sixth season of The Masked Singer was a wild ride, with the usual complement of legendary singers (Toni Braxton, Ruth Pointer, Natasha Bedingfield, Todrick Hall, Faith Evans) mixed in with TV personalities and comedians (Bobby Berk, Honey Boo Boo/Mama June, Rob Schneider, Larry the Cable Guy, Willie Robertson) and the left-field outliers, including punk icon Johnny Rotten, composer David Foster and his wife Katharine McPhee, rapper Tyga and NBA legend Dwight Howard. But when it came down to it, it was clear the shiniest gem in the bunch — the glittery Queen of Hearts — was destined to take the season 6 crown over the formidable Bull. The Queen lef...
