Just over a year ago, Netflix conducted a bold experiment with the fourth season of Arrested Development, daring to come face-to-face with hardheaded fandom’s oldest question: Could a long-dead show be revived with its former glory intact? The results were mixed and ultimately inconclusive. Even as a fierce defender of that season, I can’t deny that it felt like watching seasons 1-3 after they’d returned home from Pet Sematary. Something had gone funky in the resurrection process; the show was back, but it was… different.

Like Arrested Development, Trailer Park Boys had been dead for a full seven years before Netflix rubbed the defibrillator paddles together and attempted resuscitation. But unlike with Development, the original producers were not returning; 2013 negotiations had decided that, following the release of the series’ third feature film (Don’t Legalize It), Michael Volpe, Barrie Dunn, and Mike Clattenburg (who had directed and edited the entire show’s run) were passing all rights to the show’s lead actors and and writers: Mike Smith, Robb Wells, and John Paul Tremblay, otherwise known as The Boys.

The Boys were obviously anxious to return to the world of Sunnyvale, wasting no time in mapping out four seasons of new material and locking down the first two with Netflix. All the original actors were returning to the show (even Cory Bowles, who, after a falling out with the previous producers, had been absent since the sixth season). But what would those two seasons look like without Clattenburg? Their last effort without him was The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Tour, which was entirely too insane to serve as an indicator for how they’d handle something like TPB.

Only the wizards at Netflix HQ know the hard numbers for the eighth season of TPB, which was released on Sept. 5, but the sentiment online looks good for the show’s future. On Reddit, many posters on r/trailerparkboys are hailing it as the series’best season yet, with more conservative opinions still placing it above the show’s sixth and seventh seasons. Looking at 100 tweets mentioning TPB, 11 percent were positively commenting on the new season, with no tweets saying anything negative about it. Most importantly, when it comes to future leverage with Netflix, 16 percent of those tweets were from newcomers to the series; it’s always important to satisfy old fans, but it’s the new blood that Netflix needs for bolstering subscription numbers.

Please everyone do your part in spreading the word about Trailer Park Boys. It changed my life more than the Bible did

— Kaiser (@KaiserGillhespy) September 18, 2014

Netflix TV reboot score card: Season 8 of Trailer Park Boys > Season 4 of Arrested Development.

— Eric Watkins (@Carlos_TheDwarf) September 17, 2014

With season 9 already locked down for a release on Netflix, seasons 10 and 11 are still up in the air, despite The Boys already confirming that they’re producing them under their Swearnet label regardless of whether Netflix will want them. It’s hard to see why Netflix wouldn’t want them, though. With only half of the show’s previously credited writers, The Boys have shown that they’re capable of providing new material on their own that lives up to fan expectations. Previous writer Jonathan Torrens, who also portrays J-Roc on the show, is allegedly joining the writing team again for season 9 (and may also be hopping behind the camera, as Cory Bowles, who plays Cory on the show, did in season 8).

With a creative team still operating at optimal levels, and a budget that’s a fraction of Netflix’s other original material, there’s no reason to believe that the show won't continue airing on the online network for as long as The Boys feel like keeping it there (a Reddit AMA quotes them as saying “Netflix is fucking awesome!! Total creative control”). Netflix may have started its experiment on reviving old shows with Arrested Development, but the eighth season of Trailer Park Boys is the project that proves, beyond all doubt, that it can be successfully done. 

Photo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

With more arrests and allegations against NFL players coming in by the day, Jon Stewart has come to the conclusion that the NFL just doesn’t “know what the fuck they’re doing.”

At this point almost everyone’s had their say when it comes to Ray Rice and the NFL’s domestic violence problem, Stewart included, but a lot has come to light since Rice’s indefinite suspension. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was arrested for hitting his son with a switch; Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, in the middle of appealing a guilty charge for assaulting and threatening a woman, was benched for his actions; attorney Gloria Allred called out the NFL and Roger Goodell for not taking action against Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall regarding domestic violence allegations back in 2007 when he was on the Broncos; and just Wednesday Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer was arrested for aggravated assault.

When it came to handing out punishments for the players, things get even more complicated. In the span of a few days, a player could start out on the bench, be reinstated, and then removed indefinitely, at least until the legal proceedings are over. There’s one overarching thread in all of this, Stewart points out, and it’s not necessarily one of a moral nature.

“How crazy is this?” Stewart asked. “A company that sells alcohol is the moral touchstone of the NFL.”

H/T Uproxx | Screengrab via The Daily Show

Christmas has come early, and it’s the “worst.”

Aubrey Plaza has been tapped to star as Grumpy Cat in an upcoming holiday special from Lifetime, appropriately titled Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever. 

According to Hollywood Reporter, the role was originally going to be played by Glee star Jane Lynch, but this recasting seems to be a match made in sad-face heaven. After all, Plaza is best known as Parks and Recreation’s April Ludgate, an apathetic college grad who has plenty of experience working with animals she can’t stand as deputy director of animal control. What could be better?

Photo via Lifetime

According to Lifetime, the TV movie stars Grumpy Cat as a mall pet store kitty who’s always passed over by customers. That’s until 12-year-old Chyrstal discovers she can communicate with Grumpy Cat and falls in love with the perpetually forlorn meower. And it wouldn’t be a holiday special unless Grumpy Cat saved Christmas, although it’s probably not by choice. 

“In the middle of the holiday rush, Grumpy reluctantly thwarts the kidnapping of an expensive exotic dog she can’t stand, and rescues Chyrstal after the mall closes on Christmas Eve,” Lifetime says on its website. “Will Grumpy Cat learn the true meaning of Christmas, or will it be in Grumpy’s words, ‘Worst. Christmas. Ever?’”

Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever has already started filming, and Grumpy Cat, who’s real name is Tardar Sauce, looks positively elated about her major screen debut. The Lifetime TV movie airs Nov. 29. 

Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

While we can't take our ears off Postmodern Jukebox's cover of Demi Lovato's "Really Don't Care," we also can't take our eyes off of energetic tambourine guy Tim Kubart in the group's newest YouTube video.

This cover is the latest in the string of Postmodern Jukebox's vintagetakes on pop hits, and while all the performers featured in the clip are talented, Kubart is unavoidably eye-catching. He twirls, he kicks, he even passes his tambourine off to one of the backup singers for her own percussion moment. You've never seen someone having a better time shaking a tambourine.

Kubart is more than just a tambourine player. According to his social media accounts, Kubart often plays bass for performers on America's Got Talent and is the host of the Sunny Side Up Show on Sprout, a network for young children. If you think you can handle how adorable that is, check it out.

We at the Daily Dot would like to become the first card-carrying memebers of tambourine guy Tim Kubart's fandom.

Photo via Tim Kubart/Facebook

The saga between YouTube beauty guru Michelle Phan and Ultra Records continues with a new counterclaim filed by Phan that seeks damages for lost ad revenue because of Ultra's original suit against her.

The record company filed suit against Phan in July over her alleged unlicensed use of their music, including a track by Grammy-nominated DJ Kaskade. At the time, Phan told TMZ Ultra had given her permission to use their music, and that her videos "showcased [them] to an international audience." Now she's launching a counterclaim.

In it, Phan “contends that she received from Ultra, Ultra’s consent to use compositions and master recordings by Ultra artists.” Phan is seeking compensation for ad revenue lost due to the Ultra claims, and “under controlling law, Ultra cannot revoke its consent.” 

According to her counterclaim, in 2009 Phan emailed with Jason Kilgore, Ultra’s Senior New Media Manager, who wrote in an email that Ultra was “more than happy to let [Phan] use this content.” She says for five years she used Ultra music and credited artists with links to their iTunes, and during that time Ultra dropped any Content ID claims against her videos, allowing her to monetize them. In 2014 the relationship turned sour, as the label's General Counsel contacted Phan over the videos and issued a DMCA takedown on 12 videos, losing Phan potential revenue when YouTube complied with those notices.

The case will hinge on whether Ultra has the right to change its mind about the permission it grants, even after years of implicitly allowing the use to go on. One thing is clear: Phan intends to settle this dispute in court. The final line of her claim reads, “Michelle Phan hereby demands trial by jury of this matter.“

H/T Tubefilter | Screengrab via Michelle Phan/YouTube

The day Marvel fans have begged for has come at last: Deadpool finally has his own movie.

After a sneak reveal of test footage and a viral Twitter fan campaign earlier this summer, Fox, which owns the film rights to Deadpool, announced Thursday that the Merc with a Mouth would be coming to theaters in 2016.

The unpredictable, snark-loving anti-hero has become a cult phenomenon since he first appeared on the scene in 1991, largely due to his satirical role in the Marvel-verse and his increasing popularity as an eminently GIF-able cosplay character.

Earlier this summer, leaked test footage of a possible Deadpool film galvanized the fanbase. Directed by Tim Miller, the footage featured Ryan Reynolds, who previously portrayed the character in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Though Fox didn't make it official, Miller and Reynolds will almost certainly be helming the project after the test footage drew raves from pretty much everyone ever. 

The announcement came as part of a casual reshuffling of many of the films other titles, including pushing the adaptation of John Green's Paper Towns up to June 19, 2015, and moving Fantastic Four into an Aug. 9, 2015 slot. The film adaptation of hit gaming franchise Assassin's Creed will be pushed back to 2016.

The chaotic state of Marvel's film rights means that Deadpool won't be hanging out with some of his more famous companions from the comics, including Spider-Man and Daredevil, which means sadly we won't be getting the film equivalent of this:

GIF via honey-bugs/Tumblr

But he'll almost certainly have a few laughs with long-time pal Cable, and perhaps even a few other members of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.

While the movie is obviously very much in the development stages, the mere fact that it's a Deadpool movie is enough to have most of us celebrating like a mercenary with a lifetime supply of chimichangas.

GIF via mercwiththetacos/Tumblr

H/T Variety | Photo via dashupagla/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)

In March, we left Carcosa, saying goodbye to the beloved duo of Rust and Marty as well as the mysterious Yellow King. But before the first season of HBO’s hit series True Detective could come to a close, fans were already clamoring for more. 

The summer was long and hot, with series creator Nic Pizzolatto offering few details to quench fans’ thirst.

In late August, HBO’s programming director Michael Lombardo put a timeline in motion, saying filming for the second season, which is set in California, would begin in September with an expected air date of summer 2015. With the showrunners still being cagey about casting details, many fans were left to wonder who would be inhabiting the role of tough, no-nonsense Monterey Sheriff Ani Bezzerides. The character’s “troubled upbringing has driven her to gambling and alcohol,” according to a breakdown obtained by The Wrap. 

The rumor mill has been throwing out possible names, some expected and others surprising, who could traverse the heavy subject matter and complex philosophies of the show. 

We’re here to break the casting rumors out of the flat circle they seem to be trapped in and give you some insight into what these actors could bring to the table. 

Rumored leads 

Elisabeth Moss: While Moss is most widely known for her role as the highly independent Peggy Olson on AMC’s Mad Men, her starring role in the BBC miniseries Top of the Lake showed fans a gritty side they hadn’t previously seen. Some argue that her role as Det. Robin Griffin in the series might be too close to True Detective territory for casting comfort. 

Rachel McAdams: To some, she will always be Regina George or Allie Hamilton, but slowly McAdams has been making moves into more daring roles. Most recently, her turn in A Most Wanted Man broke her out of the saccharine romance roles and introduced McAdams to the thrilling world of conspiracy that Pizzolatto seems to be so fond of. 

The newly considered 

Jessica Biel: Biel’s career has been quiet for the past few years after her marriage to Justin Timberlake, with previous roles rarely deviating from well-established girl-next-door vibe. Her cameo in New Girl, as well as her roles in the Garry Marshall holiday-centric films New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day have seen her resting comfortably on her acting laurels. Like Woody Harrelson before her, tackling True Detective might redeem Biel’s career from staleness. 

Malin Akerman: Perhaps the most unexpected casting consideration, Akerman was previously introduced to HBO audiences as a bubbly blonde in 2005’s comedy series The Comeback. Since then she’s mainly inhabited comedic roles in shows like Children’s Hospital, Burning Love, and Trophy Wife. The role of sheriff could help Akerman be taken more seriously by the Hollywood establishment. 

Brit Marling: If anyone on this list could help effortlessly “capture a certain psychosphere ambience” that Pizzolatto has talked about for season 2, it’s Marling. Having both written and starred in films like The Sound of My Voice and The East, she has a history of capturing the power of the occult onscreen. If conspiracy, a bit of sci-fi, and power are what Pizzolatto is looking for in a female lead, Marling has exhibited all three in spades. 

Rosario Dawson: One of the only racially diverse actresses rumored to be considered for the role, Dawson’s filmography proves that she has incredible range. From Rent to Sin City, she’s inhabited a breadth of characters, yet her turn in Danny Boyle’s 2013 psychological thriller, Trance, may have placed her in the front running for casting. 

Oona Chaplin: The British-Spanish actress has acting in her blood as the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin and the great-granddaughter of American playwright Eugene O'Neill. While she’s already been introduced to HBO audiences as Robb Stark’s wife, Talisa Maegyr, American audiences are largely unfamiliar with her roles in British dramas and Spanish films. A lead as a cop in True Detective could be a big break in her American film career. 

Jaimie Alexander: To most fans, Alexander is better known as Sif, the star of the Thor blockbuster and its sequel, as well as Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. While she has no issue embodying a powerful woman, a turn for Alexander in a disturbed cable drama could break her from the pigeonhole of the comic book genre.  

Kelly Reilly: This fiery-haired Brit garnered the attention of U.S. audiences after her turn as Mary Watson in the Robert Downey Jr.-fronted Sherlock films. Yet it was her most recent role as a neurological specialist suffering from bipolar disorder on the short-lived ABC drama Black Box that brought out her true acting chops. It would be delightful to see just how far down the dark hole of her character Reilly is cable of going. 

Internet commenters have been in hot debate over who should helm the next season of True Detective. With the field of possible choices only expanding, we seem to be further away than ever from cementing a female lead. The only consensus is that fans are tired of waiting and want some answers. 

How legit is that True Detective casting list? I could definitely like, get behind the idea of Malin Akerman.

— Gavin Hastings (@iamgavh) September 16, 2014

If they put Malin Akerman or Jessica Biel on True Detective, I'm boycotting HBO.

— Ashley Harris (@AshActually) September 16, 2014

We're all in agreement that Jessica Biel started the rumour about Jessica Biel being in True Detective Season 2, right?

— Emily O'Connor (@eocons) September 16, 2014

Oh man if Oona Chaplin was in season 2 of True Detective that'd be reason enough for me to watch True Detective.

— Cupcakin' (@TaylahGinger) September 16, 2014

I'm sorry, but if the new season of True Detective doesn't cast Gaby Hoffman, then I just don't know how to help you, @HBO

— Laura from da block (@djondabrinck) September 18, 2014

All of us will be menopausal before they confirm the cast for True Detective s2

— Katelin (@etherealbunny) September 17, 2014

I am also rumored to be in the cast of True Detective Season 2.

— steph! steph! steph! (@shdwbxng) September 17, 2014

Stay tuned.

Screengrab via HBOGO.com

Smosh is one of YouTube's more recognizable brands, and now they're making the leap to the big screen with a movie co-produced by DEFY Media and AwesomenessTV, and distributed by Lionsgate.

For 13- to 17-year-olds, there's not much bigger than Smosh. The brand boasts over 30 million combined YouTube subscribers, 19 million social followers, and 12 million monthly unique website visitors to a unique mix of comedy, gaming, and music produced by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. The Smosh movie is described as a "high-concept Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure for 2014," where an embarrassing video of Padilla resurfaces online just before his fifth high school reunion. The duo race to remove the clip before it ruins his chance of reconnecting with his crush, with the pair leaping through a portal onto YouTube IRL where they encounter multiple YouTube celebrities.

That's right, the collaborative nature of YouTube is built right into the plot, with plenty of room for guest appearances of any and every YouTuber a fan could dream of seeing on the big screen. A few are already announced on the press release, including Jenna Marbles, Grace Helbig, Harley Morenstein, Shane Dawson, Mark Fischback, and Dominic “D-Trix” Sandova, but we came up with a few more that we think would be essential to anyone on a YouTube quest and outlined just how those stars could assist our heros.

1) EpicLLOYD and Nice Peter

The Epic Rap Battles of History crew has already proven their ability to fight anyone to the figurative death by rap, and so their battle skills would come in handy if the SMOSH guys encounter any bad guys.

2) Amanda Steele

She's one of YouTube's youngest big-name stars, so we suspect she'll be able to give the pair a little youthful insight, especially since they're dealing with some high-school-level issues. Also, it's important to look your best in the wilds of YouTube, and advice from this fashionista would go far.

3) Pentatonix

YouTube's a cappella darlings, the award-winning group could serve as Oracles, passing along ancient YouTube wisdom in the form of instrument-free cover songs. They'll also look fabulous at the same time.

4) ASAPscience

A little education goes a long way on YouTube, and the ASAPscience guys could help Smosh understand the realities of the new YouTube space they're navigating on their quest.

5) Todrick Hall

Already versed as a Disney parody master, Hall could mash up his song and dance skills as a virtual White Rabbit leading Smosh down the rabbit hole of YouTube.

6) Devin Supertramp

The king of epic, over-the-top moments in the world of extreme sporting, Devin Graham could help the Smosh guys get out of any tricky situation with a zipline, some parkour, or a giant Slip ’N Slide.

7) The Vlogbrothers: Obviously Hank and John Green are the equivalent of magical warlocks in the world of YouTube, with their own army of Nerdfighters at their beck and call. However, these warlocks serve the powers of good, and they could help Smosh complete their quest.

Photo courtesy of AwesomenessTV

Product placement may sound like selling out, but for many of today’s Internet celebrities, as well as the company representing them, it’s just another part of the job. 

A new article by the New York Times Magazine reports on theAudience, a relatively under-the-radar organization based out of Beverly Hills that pairs microcelebrities, or Influencers, with different brands and corporations. The Influencers are paid hundreds, even thousands of dollars to include other brands in their own personal brand. These can include taking a selfie wearing a certain company’s clothing, using a hashtag for a film or product, or simply talking about the Olympics with a tagged sponsorship from McDonald’s. 

According to journalist Taffy Brodesser-Akner, theAudience is one of the main driving forces behind getting electronic dance number "#Selfie" on the Billboard Top 10. The song, which was originally posted as a joke by the Chainsmokers, went viral thanks to dozens of Influencers, as well as thousands of their followers and fans, posting selfies with the hashtag #LetMeTakeASelfie. 

“Owing to the shameless logic of social media, coupled with the glory of proximity to fame, anyone who had a selfie in the video Instagrammed it, tweeted it, Facebooked it, the works,” Brodesser-Akner writes. “It was a song making fun of selfies and over-promotional sharing that included and relied on selfies and self-promotional oversharing for its success.”

TheAudience also does social media promotion for more “traditionally famous” celebrities, like Hugh Jackman, Russell Brand, and Charlize Theron. However, CEO Oliver Lucker and his employees utilize the company’s network of social media Influencers to do part of the work for them. The Influencers are invited to red carpet events, parties, and other promotions where they, predictably, post tweets and take selfies with other Influencers. 

There are even special get-togethers, called #whatever parties, that are specifically designed to do nothing more than help Influencers grow their followers with each other, which theAudience in turn uses to help grow the brands wanting to do business with them. 

Product placement and promotion are nothing new with media, whether it’s Peter Pan Peanut Butter sponsoring early Disney programs in the 1950s or the Nissan Rogue that was shamelessly plugged into an episode of Heroes in 2007. While those promotions were, for the most part, successful, times have changed. Many companies are now turning to YouTube, Twitter, and other social networks, saying one of the biggest draws is that they “last forever,” instead of disappearing after one time slot. 

However, when the line between Influencers and audience is so thin that there’s practically nothing between them, it can be harder to seem genuine if that celebrity is secretly, or not so secretly, peddling products. 

“Long ago, artists would have been considered sellouts for calling themselves brands, to say nothing of partnering with corporations,” Brodesser-Akner writes. “Here, though, the artists weren’t just seeking out brands that suit their personal brands; they were positively open about it.” 

This fantastic cover song featuring @LiaMarieJohnson and @LiamHorne singing 'Say Something' just surpassed 1M views! https://t.co/qTyqAtLbOy

— theAudience (@theAudienceHQ) September 10, 2014

For as successful as theAudience is making its Influencers and products, the company itself is still largely unknown. In fact, the company that specializes in growing social media audiences has fewer than 5,000 likes on Facebook and just about 2,300 followers on Twitter. One of its most recent tweets? Celebrating 1 million views for a living room-style music video starring Internet celebrities Lia Marie Johnson and Liam Horne. Horne is part of the Influencer network at theAudience, and some of his videos have been produced by the company.

Johnson, meanwhile, is getting ready for the Sept. 22 debut of Life’s S.o. R.a.d., a four-part YouTube series starring her and others at AwesomenessTV. It’s based on a line of juniors clothing by Kohl’s, which is sponsoring the series. Kohl’s is also encouraging viewers to check in using the hashtag #sorad. 

OMG one day till the first ep of Life's S.o. R.a.d. with @LiaMarieJohnson + @MakeupbyMandy24! It's gonna be #sorad! http://t.co/ueplLk4JAk

— AwesomenessTV (@awesomenesstv) September 18, 2014

For a more in-depth look at theAudience and its mechanics, see the full article in the New York Times Magazine.

H/T NY Times Magazine | Photo via Pasko Tomic/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

It may have a limited shelf life because of its adorning, pseudo-early ’90s revivalist fashion, but I’m still out here riding for the hipster R&B perpetrated by interesting experimentalists like How to Dress Well, Autre Ne Veut, Inc., FKA twigs, and Skin Town. The music has a point of view, and makes up for a common lack of natural dynamics from its vocalists with warmly nostalgic and layered production that goes places.

Brooklyn duo Denitia and Sene toasts to this practical, smooth professionalism with an applaudable bag of groove-infused quiet storm street magic. There’s the dynamite stem lighting of “Divided,” a track that Rolling Stonecalled, “[c]oital, iceberg-cold … smart enough to know that even though it’s spring in New York, you should always bring a jacket.” There’s the keyboard dial tone warble that elevates the pregame walk-through on “Casanova” all the way to David Blaine status. There’s the ritualistic posole-simmering sadness on “Trip.Fall.”

It’s with a hearty thumbs up, then, that the Daily Dot offers up the exclusive premiere of Denitia and Sene’s live clip for the song “Side FX” from their imminent new record.

Screengrab via indmusicoutdoors/DailyMotion

Television may be the first landing place of YouTube stars as they venture out into the mainstream, but the big screen is their next stop, with creators inking deals for the big screen left and right. YouTube pioneer Shane Dawson is leading that charge with his directorial debut, Not Cool, in theaters now.

Dawson's film was created as part of a Starz television show called The Chair that gave two directors the same script by Dan Schoffer and the same budget and sent them off making their own movies. Not Cool follows Pittsburgh teens who've returned to their hometown for Thanksgiving break and includes fellow YouTubers in the cast like Drew Monson and Dawson's girlfriend, Lisa Schwartz.

The film's comedic tone is similiar to Dawson's YouTube presence, with vomit-inspired humor, cross-dressing, and general absurdity. However, the script also lends itself to tender moments—and a chance for Dawson and his fellow actors to stretch their talents. Still, it solidly falls into the teen gross-out comedy category, something producer Chris Moore called to viewers' attention when introducing Thursday's premiere screening.

“I think that Not Cool is something that’s going to define a generation, in a way,” Moore told the audience. “Shane sort of represents that generation in his age and his style in coming up through the YouTube ranks."

“The next time I get introduced, it won’t be Good Will Hunting and American Pie,” he added, citing the two films he's best known for producing to date. “It’ll be Not Cool and Hollidaysburg and Chair, hopefully.”

The premiere and afterparty were a who's who of YouTubers, from Rebecca Black, Ricky Dillion, and Joey Graceffa to Hannah Hart, Jenna Marbles, and Jenn McAllister. All were there to cheer Dawson on.

Went to the premiere of Not Cool tonight- SOOO funny, so proud of u @shanedawson!!! 😊 http://t.co/RYPVTDP9o1pic.twitter.com/xOlbjXJh2F

— Jenn McAllister (@jennxpenn) September 19, 2014

just saw @shanedawson's #NOTCOOL movie!!! SO DAMN FUNNY!! go check it out soon. @mytoecold you KILLED it. look forward to seeing ya soon

— Rebecca Black (@MsRebeccaBlack) September 19, 2014

So proud of @shanedawson!! His movie is hilarious!!! SO COOL to see YouTubers succeeding on the big screen! =D #punintended#NotCool

— Joey Graceffa (@JoeyGraceffa) September 19, 2014

So #NotCool was HILARIOUS!! Congrats @shanedawson the movie was honestly awesome im so impressed and happy for you 😊👏

— Ricky Dillon (@RickyPDillon) September 19, 2014

Not Cool is playing in select theaters starting Friday, Sept 19, and it's out digitally Sept. 23.

Screengrab via ShaneDawsonTV/YouTube

YouTube is at it again.

In an announcement made on its official blog, the mega portal for all things video has once again opened up its checkbook in an attempt to cultivate original programming. With competition from Amazon, Netflix, Starz, Hulu, and others, the market for original Web programming has become a white-hot seller's market, and YouTube hopes its deep pockets will provide an advantage in what could become a bidding war for talent.

“Now, we feel the time is right to make another important investment in our creators,” Alex Carloss, head of YouTube Originals, wrote on the blog. “That’s why we’ve decided to fund new content from some of our top creators, helping them not only fulfill their creative ambitions but also deliver new material to their millions of fans on YouTube.”

To underscore its efforts, YouTube points to its successes in marketing Bethany Mota and the series Epic Rap Battles as cases in which its assistance helped turn these video sensations into household names. 

In 2001, YouTube announced a plan in which it would spend more than $100 million to create content that would be served on the network to make it appear more like television. That would also translate to more advertising dollars as original content is more attractive to advertisers than shorter, more amateur, user-generated content. That plan to seed the content cloud never gained traction, though.

YouTube now says it will provide its top talent with production financing and, in some cases, pair its celebs with Hollywood talent to add more commercial viability (read: advertising opportunities) to their creations. YouTube also is looking to create content that can be distributed through other channels including television. Google’s new Android TV platform, announced at its June I/O conference, will be available through consumer electronics partners in either late 2014 or early 2015 and would be a natural distribution point for upgraded YouTube content.

Beyond the race for original programming, at issue for YouTube is its inconsistent revenue-sharing scheme. Reports vary wildly about revenue sharing between YouTube and its content partners, but in general it comes in close to a 45-55 split in favor of the distributor. Other distributors, such as Vimeo, have a far more favorable economic model, keeping only 10 percent of the money from its video on demand channel. Netlfix and Hulu generally purchase the rights for content for a flat fee. Amazon Studios follows a film-industry model in which it will put up funds for any project it greenlights and then share profits beyond a set revenue threshold.

H/T Re/code | Screengrab via Bethany Mota/YouTube

The New York Timespublished an article today in which the writer calls How to Get Away with Murder producer Shonda Rhimes “an angry black woman” and reduces many of the black characters she writes to stereotypes.

The very first sentence was enough to rile the Internet. For those who chose to read on, it only got worse.

In the piece, Stanley—who’s been in hot water before—looks at how black female characters on TV (particularly on Rhimes’s shows), but uses the phrase “angry black woman” and other phrases stereotypical to black women multiple times, He calls Rhimes a romance writer and describes HTGAWM star Viola Davis, an Oscar-nominated actress, “less classically beautiful” than Rhimes’s Scandal star Kerry Washington and Halle Berry.

“Ms. Rhimes has embraced the trite but persistent caricature of the Angry Black Woman, recast it in her own image and made it enviable,” Stanley says early in the piece.

Many of them who read the article took offense to the language used to describe Rhimes, an award-winning writer who created two major shows and is the executive producer of another, and many of the characters she writes.

.@FeministaJones Amazingly POOR writing. Easily false beyond being clearly anti-Black and misogynistic. Seemed like personal digs as well.

— Trudy (@thetrudz) September 19, 2014

IMO, THAT is where Stanley's true intentions are revealed. She did not write this to praise. She wrote it to be snarky and dismissive

— #NotAllBlkFeminists (@FeministaJones) September 19, 2014

Rhimes took to Twitter to adress the article head-on.

Confused why @nytimes critic doesn't know identity of CREATOR of show she's reviewing. @petenowa did u know u were "an angry black woman"?

— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) September 19, 2014

Final thing: (then I am gonna do some yoga): how come I am not "an angry black woman" the many times Meredith (or Addison!) rants? @nytimes

— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) September 19, 2014

Wait. I'm" angry" AND a ROMANCE WRITER?!! I'm going to need to put down the internet and go dance this one out. Because ish is getting real.

— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) September 19, 2014

Soon, Rhimes’s colleagues and some of the stars in her shows started showing their support and blasted the New York Times article.

Dear @nytimeshttp://t.co/20dzCSLKsx AND http://t.co/VJQ7n0Ujdn You're welcome. Love, K-Dub

— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) September 19, 2014

Wow. Did I just read a @nytimes piece that reduced my brilliant, creative, compassionate, thoughtful, badass boss to an “angry black woman?”

— Joshua Malina (@JoshMalina) September 19, 2014

.@JoshMalina@nytimes IDK wt 2say when I read it!Some food 4thought, but mostly deeply upsetting. I was shocked.Maybe I don't get something?

— Bellamy Young (@BellamyYoung) September 19, 2014

When contacted by BuzzFeed, Stanley said, “The whole point of the piece—once you read past the first 140 characters—is to praise Shonda Rhimes for pushing back so successfully on a tiresome but insidious stereotype.” The comment seemed to rile some people up even more.

But when asked whether she saw Stanley’s reply, Rhimes had the perfect response.

.@shondarhimes can’t seem to stop saying perfect things https://t.co/dXIl7N7cjupic.twitter.com/sVYPot4w9L

— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) September 19, 2014

Photo via Disney | ABC Television Group/Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

The late entertainer Joan Rivers was nothing if not a workaholic. In every profile and interview that was released after her untimely death, friends and family commented on Rivers frenetic energy and constant need to work, even at 81 years old. That’s why it should come as no surprise that the one-woman empire continues to post to social media from beyond the grave.  

On Friday, a post appeared on Rivers’ still-active Facebook fan page that announced that she would be retiring her iPhone 4s, which served her faithfully for four years, in exchange for a shiny, new iPhone 6. The post, which went on to drag about Apple’s “Great achievement in design,” was removed shortly after it was posted, and we’re assuming a social media intern is now on the job hunt.

While it’s no secret that celebrities hire out teams to schedule their social media postings well in advance, the announcement of the iPhone 6 didn’t come until Sept. 9, five days after Rivers passed. Chalk the whole thing up to Joan doing a little bit of afterlife ass-kissing, hoping to get on Steve Jobs’ good side. 

H/T Gizmodo | Photo via shankbone/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

I found a Public Enemy cassette behind the Dumpster of my Catholic school when I was in eighth grade, which opened up a whole new world of music and reminded me that it does, indeed, take a nation of millions to hold us back. A lot of people have a similar story, but not everybody wrote about it in their diary.

When Taylor-Ruth was in 5th grade, she apparently found a Dead Kennedys album at the library. She wrote about it in her diary, as many grade schoolers did. The 20-year-old artist posted the entry to her Tumblr in February 2013, but musician Jason Isbell retweeted it last week, introducing thousands more to the entry, which looks to be from the George W. Bush era. It eventually ended up on Reddit.

In the entry, Taylor-Ruth details checking out CDs from the library in fifth grade, and flexing her punk muscle by lying to the librarian and saying she was 15 in order to check them out. The epiphany moment: 

I have listened to all of them by now. I have noticed in a LOT of the CDs that the singers do not like the man.

This is a pretty progressive perspective from a fifth grader, and the closing line of the entry is perfect, especially juxtaposed with the blue butterfly and letters dotted with cartoon hearts: 

There’s been a lot of debate as to whether this entry is real, but regardless,Taylor-Ruth has become a folk hero on Twitter.

lying doesn't count at the library - Taylor Ruth

— ALIG (@aligomio) September 19, 2014

Hopefully this entry will expose a new generation to Dead Kennedys, whose catalog is criminally missing from Spotify. C'mon. Don't be fashists. 

H/T Vanyaland | Photo via Kevin VolVaneille/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

BY BREE BROUWER

YouTube users and creators have been asking data-rich Google to share some of the analytics love for a while now. It seems as if Google is listening, because as of Sept. 18, minute-by-minute stats are now available on YouTube.

When you sign into the video site, you’ll have the ability to view minute-related analytics from your dashboard. Once you’re there, you’ll now see two charts of data available for your last five videos: an hour-by-hour analytics graph for the last 48 hours, and now a minute-by-minute analytics graph for the last hour. YouTube user DogCheeseCake already made a video showing off the new dashboard.

YouTube’s help page does mention one caveat about latency. However, the site makes up for this minor problem by automatically refreshing the page for you:

There is a latency of a few minutes between the occurrence of the view and its display in the report; data is then automatically updating, without the need to refresh the page. The “current” hour bar is highlighted to stress that the hour is still incomplete. Realtime data is estimated and meant to provide general guidance on potential view activity on your videos. This approximate character of the numbers is also shown in the rounding off to two significant digits.

Before this new feature, YouTube only offered basic hour-by-hour analytics on your last five videos. While the minute-by-minute reports are still only listed for your five most recent videos on the dashboard (you can always select an individual report for other videos), this data is as close to real-time stats as YouTube users have seen.

This new feature should help creators better understand how viewers are interacting with their videos within minutes of uploading. Consequently, they’ll be able to make impromptu marketing or promotional strategies to boost the video’s reach and grow their influence.

Illustration by Jason Reed 

Therapy is in session again, now that Lisa Kudrow's Web Therapy has returned for its sixth season on new home StyleHaul.

The show, which is produced by Kudrow with Dan Bucatinsky and Don Roos, has a complex history. It premiered on L Studio, a hub created by Lexus, but also airs on Showtime with extended content. StyleHaul, the multichannel YouTube network focused on style and lifestyle content, acquired the series in June, producing new episodes and playing home to some of the show's backlog.

Kudrow's Fiona Wallace has brought her new "innovative treatment modality" to StyleHaul, so far interacting with Nina Garcia, who's worked with StyleHaul in conjunction with Project Runway, and Casper Lee, one of StyleHaul's creators with 2 million subscribers to his channel.

In four short episodes, Wallace has won a charity silent auction, wreaked havoc on the Hearst building, and absconded with "borrowed" jewlely. We can't wait for what's next.

Screengrab via StyleHaul/YouTube

Soon Tumblr users looking for helpful lifehacks will have new destination for advice: their television.

The site has partnered with TruTV for a new series that promises to help viewers find easy fixes for everyday life. Hack My Life will ask users to submit their own hacks weekly to Tumblr, and each week the best will be chosen to be a part of the TV show. Lifehacks are a popular category on Tumblr, with fans sharing posts with thousands of notes that illuminate ways to save time and energy with everyday tasks, making it an ideal fit for TV.

“We're turning truTV into a place where creative people come to play, and the Hack My Life Tumblr hub and weekly challenges are a perfect way to reach one of the world's largest creative communities,” TruTV senior vice president of marketing and digital Puja Vohra told The Wrap. “By integrating Tumblr users into this series, we're turning Hack My Life into a truly multi-platform experience that's not only practical in terms of the many great things you can learn, but also incredibly engaging and sharable.”

So far the Tumblr is using minimalist GIFs to share easy hacks with its nascent audience, like how to make iPhone speakers out of a used toilet paper roll. The show won't premiere until January and will feature hosts Kevin Pereira (Attack of the Show) and Brooke Van Poppelen testing the hacks for efficiency and determining which don't live up to their promise.

H/T The Wrap | Illustration by Jason Reed

Internet rule No. 1: Do not read the comments. But if you do, it's acceptable to make a stellar Taylor Swift parody mocking their absurdity.

Lisa Schwartz did just that on her LisBug channel, lampooning the absurd and hateful comments she gets. Schwartz, a vlogger with 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, offers life advice and comedy videos, and also dates prominent YouTuber Shane Dawson, who recently released his first film, Not Cool, featuring Schwartz. As a YouTube powerhouse, they catch their fair share of haters, and Schwartz turned to YouTube to cut them down.

She parodies Swift's most recent single, "Shake It Off," which features the Grammy winner displaying her fail-level dance skills across different genres. Schwartz adopts that spirit, performing ballet, hip-hop, cheer, and even ribbon twirling as she cycles through the crass comments she and her friends and family get on YouTube. Those friends and family, including Dawson, star in the video too.

The video goes through a great bleeped-out section of the mean stuff that Schwartz can't bring herself to repeat, then transitions to the positive support her fans give her on the platform.

The overall negative tone of YouTube comments has been a sore spot for the community, and even led some prominent users like PewDiePie to turn them off completely for his 30 million subscribers. Women especially have it rough on the site, as Schwartz illuminates with a number of body-shaming and sexist comments. We're glad she turns the negative into a positive here.

Screengrab via LisBug/YouTube

Newly released hacked photos of celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Kim Kardashian hit the Internet Saturday morning as the celebrity nudes scandal known as Celebgate returns in a second wave.

Images began appearing on 4chan Saturday morning. According to Uproxx, many were removed due to the site’s new policy on copyright infringement, but threads full of X-rated photos continued to spread throughout the day. Moderators on 4chan are now playing a game of Whack-a-Mole, trying to prune or delete old threads while new ones continue to pop up.

The leaked content isn't all X-rated. 4chan users are also sharing video of Jennifer Lawrence laughing with ex-boyfriend Nicholas Hoult.

Reddit had previously banned the subreddit r/TheFappening, which was dedicated to Celebgate, but multiple new forums have popped up to host the new rash of stolen pictures. On one subreddit, users link to photos and albums under the guise of a "discussion" about Celebgate.

Photos allegedly depicting gymnast McKayla Maroney are also spreading on 4chan. Weeks earlier, on r/TheFappening, moderators announced a ban on images of Maroney, saying they were taken when she was underage.

Other celebrities said to be targeted in the latest leak include Vanessa Hudgens, U.S. soccer goalie Hope Solo, Aubrey Plaza, Hayden Panettiere, Leelee Sobieski, and Lake Bell. It's not clear, however, if any of the images are authentic.

The new batch of photos is likely tied to the original hacking that saw numerous nudes of celebrities obtained illegally and distrubuted via 4chan and other social media earlier this month. The FBI is currently investigating the original hacking. 

H/T Uproxx | Photo via David Shankbone/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)