Comedy
Netflix CEO: Dave Chappelle’s Trans Comments Don’t “Translate to Real-World Harm”
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has issued a new internal memo defending the streamer’s decision to stand behind Dave Chappelle amid the growing controversy over his latest special, The Closer. Sarandos rejected the notion made by LGBTQ+ advocates that that Chappelle’s derogatory comments about transgender people could inspire hate and violence. “While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm,” Sarandos wrote. Advertisement Related Video “The strongest evidence to support this is that violence on screens has grown hugely over the last thirty years, especially with first party shooter games, and yet violent crime has fallen significantly in many countries,” Sarandos added. “Adults can watch violence, assault and abuse ...
Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) Declared Ineligible for Comedy Album Grammy
For the 64th year running, the trophy for least intelligible award show goes to the Grammys. As Billboard reports, the Recording Academy has declared Bo Burnham‘s Inside (The Songs) ineligible to compete for Best Comedy Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards. Burnham shared his quarantine opus Inside in March, and it quickly became a pandemic sensation. Less a traditional comedy special than a musical exploration of an unravelling mind, it captured the zeitgeist a second time when Inside (The Songs) dropped in June. The special has already taken home trophies at other, more reputable award shows, including Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Writing, and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special at the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards. A Best Comedy Album Grammy for ...
Larry David Hates People Individually But Loves Mankind in Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 11 Trailer: Watch
If you thought a global pandemic would compel Larry David to do a bit of soul searching, think again. In the newly released trailer for Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 11, Larry is as crabby as ever. From the very onset of the two-minute teaser, Larry mocks Suzie’s toast to friendship. He learns that Jon Hamm’s film inspired by the Seinfeld creator has been canceled because “they hated the character. The word that kept reappearing is repugnant.” He gets into a tiff with Suzie over bath towels, and declines to pray for Albert Brooks, because it’ll make him “feel like an idiot.” “I hate people individually, but I love mankind,” Larry tells his ex-wife, Cheryl, who replies with disgust, “Oh, you do?” Advertisement Related Video Needless to say, Curb Your Enthusiasm’s upcoming 11th season looks to...
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 11 Guest Stars: Jon Hamm, Woody Harrelson & Bill Hader
Curb Your Enthusiasm returns to HBO for its 11th season on Sunday, October 24th. In anticipation, longtime Curb collaborator Richard Lewis has offered a peak at some of the notable names set to make guest appearances on the upcoming season. Jon Hamm, who shadowed Larry David in the standout Season 10 episode “Two Larrys,” is returning for Season 11. Vince Vaughn, who played Marty Funkhouser’s half brother Freddy in four of last season’s episodes, is also coming back for more Larry. They’ll be joined by newcomers Woody Harrelson, Bill Hader, Patton Oswalt, Tracey Ullman, Julie Bowen, and Kaley Cuoco, who are all set to make their Curb debuts. Advertisement Related Video Richard Lewis, who previously cast doubt about his own availability for Season 11 due to a string of recent surgeries, has...
Review: Kim Kardashian-West’s SNL Episode Wasn’t the Worst Thing We’ve Ever Seen
The second episode of Saturday Night Live’s 47th season featured arguably their most famous host of the initial four episodes: Kim Kardashian-West, who really feels like she should have been a novelty host circa 2009, rather than a first-timer in 2021. Hopefully she’s just this season’s token billionaire—and hopefully that slot is retired from the host lineup hereafter. Wearing a lot of gloves for October, Kardashian-West didn’t project the same disdain for the world as fellow socialite Paris Hilton did in her infamous hosting gig, or the same discomfiting cutesiness as Elon Musk. At the same time, her version of being a good sport mostly involved getting off some shots at her family (and ex-husband Kanye West), and jokingly promoting her SKIMS shapewear line (the commercial for shapewear ...
A24 Shares Trailer for Sean Baker’s New Film Red Rocket: Watch
Sean Baker, the award-winning director behind The Florida Project and Tangerine, is getting ready to unveil his latest feature film, Red Rocket. A24 has just released the first trailer for the dark comedy, which you can watch below. Red Rocket tells the story of washed-up porn star Mikey Saber, played by Simon Rex, as he decides to return to his small hometown of Texas City, Texas, a Gulf Coast city in Galveston County. While it’s clear that nobody wants him to come back, Saber makes the most of his journey by trying to reconnect with old friends, make amends with his foes, and even pursue a new relationship. In the trailer, we see Saber putting on his best smile and flexing his porn star muscles while roaming about the dusty Texas town. After trying to land a job and convince his wif...
Seinfeld’s Aspect Ratio Not Fixed on Netflix, Still Crops Out Jokes
When Seinfeld launched on Netflix on October 1st, there was hope that the streamer’s upgrade to 4K resolution was used as an opportunity to restore the show to its original 4:3 aspect ratio. This would have meant avoiding similar cropping issues experienced by The Simpsons when it first arrived on Disney+ in late 2019, but alas that is not the case. Instead, Netflix stuck with the 16:9 ratio dating back to the original HD remaster made for the TBS syndicated reruns of Seinfeld, which was produced from newly made scans of the original film. As The Verge explains, this made it possible to add back wider frames not seen in the initial broadcast to make the show look better on modern TVs. An unfortunate byproduct of the move to 16:9 is the blocking of scenes. In order to include more foot...
SNL Season 47 Premiere Recap: The Highlights and Lowlights
This past summer felt like a tumultuous one for Saturday Night Live, despite (or possibly because of) its usual between-season silence about major changes to the show—broken, as per tradition, shortly before the start of a new season. Season 46 ended with what felt like possible sendoffs for several long-tenured members of a record-sized cast—and then word flew around over the summer that SNL impresario Lorne Michaels was trying to convince some veteran players to stick around for not just the next season, but several more after that, dangling a more flexible work schedule in front of familiar faces like Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Cecily Strong. The Michaels Plan seems to have been put into motion with Season 47: McKinnon, Bryant, and Strong are all back, at least according to the ope...
Dave Chappelle Announces New Netflix Special The Closer
Dave Chappelle is here to rescue you from your existential dread — or, at least he’s going to try. Today, the renowned comedian has unveiled the trailer for The Closer, his new Netflix standup special, just ahead of its release on October 5th. “Comedians have a responsibility to speak recklessly,” Chappelle says in the trailer’s first seconds. “Sometimes, the funniest thing to say is mean. Remember: I’m not saying it to be mean, I’m saying it because it’s funny.” Billed as Chappelle’s “sixth chapter” — meaning his sixth Netflix special overall — The Closer follows 2019’s Sticks & Stones. See the trailer for The Closer below. Chappelle’s 2021 so far has been mind-boggling, to say the least. Back in June, he joined Foo Fighters onstage at Madison Square Garden fo...
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 11 Gets Premiere Date, First Trailer
Here’s some news that’ll leaving you feeling pretty, pretty, pretty good: Curb Your Enthusiasm’s 11th season will premiere on Sunday, October 24th. In anticipation, HBO has shared a new teaser trailer, which you can see below. Season 11 will span ten episodes in total. The 40-minute season premiere airs Sunday, October 24th beginning at 10:40 p.m. ET/PT, with new episodes airing subsequent Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET. Many Curb regulars are returning alongside series star Larry David, including Susie Essman, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, J.B. Smoove, Ted Danson, and Richard Lewis. Advertisement Related Video Of course, this is the first season of Curb filmed in the COVID era, and the aforementioned teaser heavily implies that the pandemic will play a part in the upcoming episodes. “The World Has...
Disney+ Unveils First Trailer for Muppets Haunted Mansion Halloween Special: Watch
Leave it to Disney+ to cover all your family-friendly Halloween entertainment needs. Today, the streaming platform has revealed the first trailer for Muppets Haunted Mansion, a forthcoming Halloween special that finds all your favorite Muppets at the mercy of a house with some very strange secrets. The special is set to premiere on October 8th. Amazingly, Muppets Haunted Mansion is the first Halloween Muppets special in the franchise’s storied history. They’ve rounded up a handful of high-profile humans to join them, including Will Arnett, Yvette Nicole Brown, Darren Criss, and Taraji P. Henson. It’s also set to include appearances from Chrissy Metz, Alfonso Ribeiro, Edward Asner, Jeannie Mai, Danny Trejo, Sasheer Zamata, Craig Robinson, Skai Jackson, Pat Sajak, Geoff Keighley, Justin...
Joanna Newsom Made a Cameo in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine Series Finale: Watch
It’s always a treat when Andy Samberg is in the news: Not just because he’s a witty comedian who makes us laugh, but because it also means there’s a chance we may get to see Joanna Newsom, the absurdly talented harpist and notoriously recluse musician who is also his wife. During the series finale of Brooklyn Nine-Nine last week, Newsom made an unexpected cameo that marked her first acting performance in five years. Brooklyn Nine-Nine wrapped up its eighth and final season last Thursday with a special two-part episode. Without giving anything away for those who haven’t seen it yet, Newsom appears for a brief gag as “Caroline St. Jacques Renard, the associate principal cellist for the Berlin Philharmonic.” She quite literally steps out of a tiny closet-esque compartment with a cello in hand...
