Celebrity Apprentice is apparently still on TV, and former Cosby Show star Keshia Knight Pulliam, who played Rudy Huxtable on the series, is one of the contestants this season. Last night’s season premiere, well, it got awkward.

Though the show was filmed before the landslide of rape and abuse allegations against Bill Cosby, the way last night’s segment was framed is being criticized as exploitative. Pulliam, as team leader, was told she and her teammates had to raise money for a bake sale by calling wealthy friends who could donate.

Naturally, it was suggested she call Cosby. Pulliam didn’t want to, and when she was brought before the boardroom to address her team's shortfall in fundraising, she was harangued by host Donald Trump for not using her connections to call Cosby and get a slam-dunk check. Trump called him a “tremendous guy with a tremendous amount of money,” and Piers Morgan agreed that he has a lot of money and why wouldn’t she want to get that money?

Pulliam, visibly upset, said, “I have not talked to Bill Cosby on the phone in I don't know how long,” and added that calling him now is not her place.

Speaking of Trump, he of course had something to say about the criticisms on Twitter.   

For her part, Pulliam took to the Today Show this morning to address the "no risk, no reward" strategy of her appearance on The Apprentice, citing part of the story lost to the cutting-room floor and dispelling the widespread belief "that we're this family that has dinner every Friday night." She said she thought calling Cosby would have been "tactless, very rude." Later, she also defended her former TV dad, saying she can't speak to the recent allegations but that "ultimately, they're just that—allegations."

Still, in light of the recent headlines involving Cosby, blaming a woman in front of a national audience for doing something she's uncomfortable with seems pretty irresponsible. But that likely doesn't matter to the show's producers if the clip's going viral. 

Maybe someone should fire Donald Trump next.

H/T Vulture | Screengrab via TheApprentice/YouTube 

BY SAM GUTELLE

YouTube tutorials aren’t just helpful to humans. A team from the University of Maryland and Australian research center NICTA has published a paper in which it used YouTube videos to teach robots how to cook.

The paper discusses “convolutional neural networks,” a specific type of artificial intelligence that can learn and repeat specific actions. In this particular study, the researchers used 88 different YouTube cooking tutorials to train the neural networks by generating commands based off specific actions within the videos. For example, the researchers taught robots to recognize the way a hand grasps an item. After all this information was encoded, the researchers presented robots with new information to see how they responded.

The 88 videos used in the experiment were pulled from the University of Buffalo’s YouCook data set. One of the videos in the set appears to be Laura Vitale‘s recipe for chocolate chip muffins:

YouTube videos have recently emerged as a valuable tool for researchers in the field of artificial intelligence. In July, a team at Cornell launched the “RoboBrain,” which learns routine human tasks by gleaning information from YouTube videos.

In the more recent study, the researchers believe their work could ultimately allow robots to watch videos on their own and act based on what they see. “We believe this preliminary integrated system raises hope towards a fully intelligent robot for manipulation tasks that can automatically enrich its own knowledge resource by “watching” recordings from the World Wide Web,” states the study.

You can read the full text of the study here.

Kid Rock has a new album out next month, First Kiss, and the musician recently penned an op-ed for The Guardian that offers readers a little insight into his life.

It’s a riveting, illuminating piece, one that sheds light on why he doesn’t “FaceTweet or whatever people do.”

“I understand that I’m the old guy now. I turn on my computer and look at porn a little bit, see what’s going on in the news, but that’s about it. I’m comfortable with that.”

Sadly, there’s no mention of the Kid Rock–Insane Clown Posse glass dildo fiasco, but he definitely lets us know where he stands on homosexuality, Obama, and gay marriage, and states for the record that “[s]choolbook-wise, I’m not as educated as some politicians.”

Some other highlights:

On rap-rock's enduring legacy:

“Rap-rock was what people wanted at the time, and they still love those songs at shows. But it turned into a lot of bullshit and it turned out to be pretty gay… If someone says you can’t say 'gay' like that you tell them to go fuck themselves. You’re not going to get anything politically correct out of me.”

On his burgeoning armory:

“I’m always buying more guns. I have everything from a Civil War cannon to an MP5 machine gun and old police guns. If someone invades your house, yeah, you can shoot them. I don’t think crazy people should have guns.”

On his family tree:

“I’m 43 and about to become a grandfather, but it keeps my redneck street cred up. I could be a great-great-great-grandfather by the time I’m 80. I am excited, but also nervous for my son. He was dropped on my doorstep at six months when I had no money and was trying to be a rock star. I didn’t have a clue.”

On drugs:

“I don’t smoke much weed, it makes me dumb. But they should legalise and tax everything: pot, cocaine, heroin. Has it not been proven that people will always find a way to get what they want?”

On just about every major social issue imaginable:

“I am definitely a Republican on fiscal issues and the military, but I lean to the middle on social issues. I am no fan of abortion, but it’s not up to a man to tell a woman what to do. As an ordained minister I don’t look forward to marrying gay people, but I’m not opposed to it.”

Photo via U.S. Army/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

This mashup video combines trailer clips from upcoming movies like Mad Max: Fury Road, Jupiter Ascending, Jurassic World, Fifty Shades of Grey, and numerous independent films, all pointing to 2015 being an awesome year for moviegoers. And, of course, it's bookended by the obligatory reference to Back to the Future 2, the unofficial movie of the year.

We can hardly wait. 

Photo via StarWars

Satellite television provider Dish Network on Monday announced its long-awaited streaming television service, knocking over the first domino in a chain that could eventually disrupt the cable and satellite TV business.

Dish unveiled its new service, called Sling TV, at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. What is notable about the $20-per-month service is its content, including CNN, TNT, and, most notably, the sports giant ESPN, channels previously found only in expensive cable and satellite television packages. The fact that these networks are willing to partner with Dish on a new approach to television points to a major change in the market for subscription services.

In the traditional television market, programmers compensate cable and satellite providers based on often-contentious retransmission fees. If a new revenue model emerges that both content owners like ESPN and providers like Dish find acceptable, services like Sling TV will find room to mature and eventually compete with offerings from Comcast and Time Warner.

In addition to Disney-owned ESPN, Sling TV—which is confusingly unrelated to Dish's Slingbox TV-streaming device—includes the Scripps family of programming (Food, Travel, and HGTV) and the Turner content roster (TBS, TNT, and CNN). Sling TV will also deliver webseries from companies like Maker Studios. This opens up a tremendous opportunity for advertisers; Dish can apply Nielsen viewership tracking to its services, adding verifiable audience measurement to web content for the first time.

Sling TV’s $20 package is, in cable package lingo, only the "basic tier." For extra fees, cord-cutters can add in themed content aimed at kids, news junkies, and sports fans. Sling TV will be available on most streaming devices, including Amazon Fire, Roku, and a host of smart TVs. For the time being, live broadcast TV is not included, but broadcast channels are always available over the air using an indoor digital antenna.

Illustration by Fernando Alfonso III

Hollywood icon and international sex symbol Brad Pitt was undoubtedly happy to be presenting Selma star David Oyelowo with the Breakthrough Performance Award at the recent Palm Springs International Film Festival. But first, Pitt—whose Plan B Entertainment co-produced the movie with Oprah's Harpo Films—had to teach the festival audience how to pronounce Oyelowo's name.

Oyelowo’s portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been widely celebrated, but unfortunately for the British actor, much like last year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, the people celebrating him don't always bother to learn the pronunciation of his name. That’s where Pitt came in.

At the film festival, Pitt led the audience in a singalong to make sure that everyone knew how to pronounce the Oyelowo's name when they were singing his praises. 

Screengrab via Funny Or Die/YouTube

Malia Obama is a cool teen (First Teen?) and she recently secured her status as underground rap influencer by sporting a Joey Bada$$ shirt. 

The shirt reps rapper Bada$$’s Brooklyn hip-hop collective, Pro Era, which has become his de facto brand. The photo, which was posted to Instagram on Sunday night though its true origins are still unknown, was immediately used as promo material for Pro Era’s Instagram. According to Gawker, “Pro Era received the photo from ‘a mutual friend of Malia and the pro era member.’”

Some people are claiming it’s not Malia, but a very convincing doppelganger. Others are slamming Pro Era for unauthorized use of the photo, which could have been pulled from a webcam screenshot. One commenter on Pro Era’s Instagram said, “This is clearly an unauthorized photo that was taken during a Webchat (mouth open and adjusting hair). The fact that Pro Era is using it to promote their clothing is flagrant.”

Have no idea who Joey Bada$$ is? Start with his 2012 album, 1999. 

H/T Jezebel | Photo via Instagram

Roku is hell-bent on single-handedly making 4K the next big thing for TV viewers.

At the 2015 Consumer Electronic Show, Roku, a device manufacturer and services provider in the streaming TV business, is pushing the 4K (that's 4,000 pixels on screen) standard by offering an operating system that works with the new generation of ultra-high-resolution sets. At CES 2014, Roku announced a partnership with manufacturer TCL to use its streaming platform—Roku TV— as its de facto smart TV guide. For this year's CES, Roku has gone the next step to design a 4K reference design which TCL will use in a new line of 4K TVs.

The Roku TV platform differs from the interface it offers on its popular boxes and streaming sticks in that allows a user to control the peripherals—such as live TV channels and game boxes—from one remote. Roku has also announced two new partners for its operating system, Insignia and Haier.

As the leading streaming ecosystem based on consumer sales—offering a device and content via a number of channel partners—Roku is positioned to play a key role in future 4K scenarios. The streaming provider has announced Netflix as its first 4K TV partner. Netflix has previously stated it would offer such shows as Breaking Bad,House of Cards, and its new original series, Marco Polo, in 4K. Other channels currently carried by Roku that offer or plan to offer 4K shows are Hulu Plus and Vimeo.

Roku is not the first device/content player to offer 4K services. Amazonannounced that it will offer 4K streaming to its Prime members. Four movies—Philadelphia, Hitch, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Funny Girl—are available via 4K streaming via Amazon Prime. Amazon sells smart 4K TVs from such leading manufacturers as Sony and Samsung, but none come with Amazon’s streaming interface pre-installed.

Offering 4K content is not without its challenges, the primary one being the bandwidth costs required to serve ultra-high-definition programming. Consumers are likely to be hit with higher Internet fees once 4K content becomes more prevalent resulting in bandwidth logjams. To help boost the amount of 4K content available, Sony is among those manufacturers announcing 4K videocameras at CES 2015.

Photos via Roku | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III 

Grace Helbig, who became well-known for her long-running daily vlog series, will now add "talk show host" to her resume since E! picked up Helbig's tentatively titled The Grace Helbig Project to a series order. The potential show was announced in August, and will be produced by Embassy Row, the company behind Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

“This show is a fresh take on the conventional talk show with a very unconventional host who has already captured an enormous fanbase of young viewers on the Web,” said Jeff Olde, E! Entertainment executive vice president of original programming and development, in a statement. “As we continue to seek out programming that offers a rich multiplatform experience, we are excited to launch this forward-thinking talk show that speaks so perfectly to our audience and to the core of E!’s pop culture brand.”

The show promises celebrity interviews, pop culture discussion, and unconventional settings. Helbig has already sharpened her skills on several high-profile projects, like the film Camp Takota with fellow YouTubers, as well as her travel show with Mamrie Hart that aired on digital channel Astronaut's Wanted. The E! show will tap into Helbig's impressive social media presence, offering interactions on Twitter, Vine, and Instagram. 

No premiere date is set for the series.

H/T VideoInk | Screengrab via GraceInABox / YouTube

BY SOPHY ZISS

Mina Gerges is a 20-year-old third year Canadian media student. Mina Gerges is your new best friend. “Keeping up with Mina” is your new favorite Instagram.

A self-proclaimed “Kardashian-obsessed” human — and who isn’t, at this point? — Mina spends his free time transforming into iconic cultural figures on, and it is incredible.

Here he is as Nicki Minaj

Beyonce in the ‘Why Don’t You Love Me?’ video

Disney's Cinderella

Lindsay Lohan in ‘Mean Girls’

Lady Gaga

Update 9:53am CT: Looks like Mina's account was suspended last night, but keep an eye on this Twitter account for updates once it's reinstated.

H/T Jezebel

Ghost in the Shell was originally a Japanese manga, but it is best known for its 1995 anime movie adaptation, which spawned a sequel, various video games, and an animated series. It's a cyberpunk story about a cyborg cop named Motoko Kusanagi, whom Johansson will be playing in the upcoming film.

It's no surprise that Johansson, who has been praised in the Marvel movies as Black Widow and in 2014's Lucy, is getting more science-fiction and action roles. In any other situation, casting her as a cyborg cop would be uncontroversial. But there's one issue that is already annoying fans of Ghost in the Shell: Scarlett Johansson is white, while Motoko Kusanagi is Japanese.

In the case of Ghost in the Shell, a white woman is playing a character who inspired a successful worldwide franchise in her original form as a Japanese woman. That heritage is being erased in favor of Scarlett Johansson's star power, which isn't the best way to win over Ghost in the Shell's existing audience.

The most likely explanation for this casting choice is that Motoko Kusanagi's body is a cybernetic construct, meaning that Scarlett Johansson will be the face of a mass-produced robot model. This explanation may placate some fans, but if more white actors are cast in lead roles, this backlash is likely to continue.

Photo via major-motokokusanagi/Tumblr

When all else fails, just bust out a guitar solo.

While many of us may have strummed out on air guitars at one point or another, Bradley Cooper’s perfected his performance over time. And with years as a successful actor under his belt, he finally got the opportunity to break it out during an appearance on the Tonight Show.

What could’ve turned into downright shenanigans was more low-key than usual. Celebrating Cooper’s birthday, he and Jimmy Fallon donned silly hats and chatted. Instead of putting him through the ringer with an involved variety game, Fallon just sat back and let him do his thing to Neil Young.

Screengrab via The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/YouTube

A Game of Thrones trailer is coming—not to YouTube, but rather the big screen.

The hit HBO fantasy will be invading screens across the U.S. for a limited engagement on 150 IMAX theaters, and fans will be able to view an exclusive trailer for the upcoming fifth season along with the final two episodes of season 4—“The Watchers on the Wall” and “The Children,” the latter of which received a Writing Emmy nomination. 

Although shows like Doctor Who have aired episodes in theaters, this appears to be the first time a TV series will appear on IMAX screens.

Bringing Game of Thrones, which already has somewhat of a cinematic feel, to movie theaters was a logical choice for HBO.

The show “is one of the few television shows that has the scope and cinematic qualities to really support the IMAX format,” HBO’s chief marketing officer Pamela Levine told the Times.

The fifth season is currently slated to debut some time in April, so choosing January for the limited screening was both strategic for HBO’s marketing efforts and ideal for IMAX, whose light schedule allows for the screenings to take over screens in the biggest markets.

H/T New York Times | Screengrab via HBO Go

Donald Faison has made a decision that will probably disappoint many of his fans: He's picked a side in the friendly battle between Star Wars and Star Trek.

When it comes to introducing his kids to iconic science fiction, he’d rather take them to a galaxy far, far away than the Final Frontier. It’s not that he doesn't like Star Trek, he told Conan O'Brien on Monday night. He just wants a little less science in his science fiction, a little more action and combat.

Of course, the original Star Trek does have one redeeming factor for him.

Screengrab via Team Coco/YouTube

As fans continue deconstructing facts and timelines to piece together an ending for Serial, comedy writer and performer Honora Talbott has taken a far more light-hearted approach. The Serial fan has chopped real soundbites from the podcast and skewered them together to form Serial: The Rom Com.

The video cleverly pairs key soundbites with the tropes and themes of a romcom, and the results are darkly funny.

Talbott, who performs regularly with her sketch team Jet Jaguar at iO west in Los Angeles, spoke to the Daily Dot about her inspiration for the video.

Are you a big fan of Serial?

I was definitely a huge fan of Serial—not listening-party level, but still, "put it on first thing in my car every Thursday morning" kind of thing.

Can you tell me a little about what inspired you to create the video?

I wasn't planning on making a parody in advance; then I saw Funny or Die's, and they so brilliantly nailed it that I thought making one myself was out of the question. But after listening to the final episode, the idea just casually struck me. I couldn't get over how much Sarah Koenig talked about how charming Adnan was, how nice he seemed to be, throughout the entire podcast. I was left with this impression that beyond the lack of hard evidence, Sarah had a hard time believing he could be guilty for the very simple reason that she liked the guy, that they became friends.

There were also times when it seemed like she had a bit of a crush on him or something—nothing serious like what is portrayed in my video—but in that innocent teenage way you'd have a crush on the cool guy in school. So I thought, 'How funny would it be to showcase that relationship in a romcom trailer format?' I didn't know if I was alone in that feeling, and I didn't know if I'd have the quotes to back it up, so the next day I basically relistened to and re-read transcripts of the entire podcast. I compiled quotes I thought would work and wrote the script from there.

The ending gets quite dark—how did you decide how far to push the jokes in this video?

It's funny you mention the ending because I actually changed the ending at about 11pm the night before we shot.

Jay wasn't in it at all, but I wanted him to be and a few other friends who I pitched the idea to or read the script felt the same. What's a Serial parody without the second most important character? Yes, it's dark, but that's just my sense of humor. It's in no way meant as an indictment. My hope is that it's a funny surprise and a little nod to those listeners who had conspiracy theories they committed the crime as a team.

You can find more of Talbott’s witty, pop-culture-inspired videos on her YouTube channel. 

Screengrab via Honora Talbott/YouTube

According to a YouTube prankster, social experiment videos are not just dangerous; they're also a cheap ploy to get easy traffic.

In recent months there's been an explosion of "social experiment" videos on YouTube, where people purport to test a stereotype or assumption by filming real people reacting to certain circumstances. But for many of these videos, as they rack up millions of views, it comes to light that they're less than straightforward set-ups. For example, a recent video featuring a homeless man using $100 to help feed others that skyrocketed to viral success has been called out as a hoax. Earlier this year Sam Pepper ignited outrage after posting a video of him pinching girls' butts; he later claimed was a staged part of a social experiment.

These moments have been called out by fans and reporters, but now someone inside the community of pranksters is making his voice heard in opposition. Andrew Hales is a YouTuber who has 1.7 million subscribers and trades in videos like "Breakdancing Santa" and "Awkward Junior High Dancing," a much more PG style of pranking. In a new video he points out that the offending "social experiment" pranksters follow a formula that riles up commenters by setting up racist, sexist, or otherwise controversial moments and inserting actors or encouraging real people to interact with the subject. Hales does note that he's not saying definitively that the videos are fakes, and by styling his takedown as a conspiracy theory video, he's able to point out the issue while still parodying the situation in some way.

The question is, can the social experiment avalanche be reversed? As Hales also point out, many websites, including this one, post social experiment videos regularly, for the same reason that the YouTubers make them: Social experiment videos get online traffic. They typically fall into the category of either heartwarming good news or comment-bait aggravation, both of which stir readers to click, comment, and share the content.

The quest to rid the Web of such kinds of content is age-old. Huffington Post still has a sideboob category under "news," and someone out there will continue to produce "social experiments" as long as someone clicks. 

H/T Reddit | Screengrab via LAHWF/YouTube

There's a new inmate headed for Orange Is the New Black, and she's got an accent.

Ruby Rose, a 28-year-old out Australian model, revealed her new gig for season 3 in Elle Magazine. Netflix confirmed the casting to BuzzFeed, and the Internet is already celebrating. Rose will reportedly play Stella Carlin, an object of lust for both Piper and Alex, according to Elle. Before she checks in at Litchfield, here are five things to know about the Australian stunner.

5) She's a model

Rose entered the modeling business thanks to a 2002 modeling competition run by Australian teen girl magazine Girlfriends. She came in second to fellow model Catherine McNeil, with whom she had a longstanding on-again, off-again relationship, including stint where they were engaged, according to reports.

4) She identifies as gay

If the above didn't clue you in, Rose identifies as gay and came out at age 12. In addition, she identifies as gender fluid, and in a recent interview said, "I am very gender fluid and feel more like I wake up every day sort of gender neutral."

3) She's engaged to Roald Dahl's granddaughter

Rose is currently engaged to marry Phoebe Dahl, granddaughter of Roald Dahl. Rose announced the engagement on Instagram last year, and wears a vial of Dahl's blood around her neck. 

2) She's an MTV VJ

Aside from modeling, Rose is also a former MTV VJ in Australia, as well as a DJ. She's also designed a boutique clothing line and has acted before, in 2013's Around the Block alongside Christina Ricci and Jack Thompson. 

1) She made this incredible short

If you want to know definitively why everyone is so excited about Rose joining the cast, look no further than Break Free, Rose's provocative short film where she transforms from a highly femme presentation to a tattooed and butch one.

Fansof the '90s sketch comedy series Mr. Show now have a reason to look forward to 2015: It looks like a reunion is going to happen. 

Mr. Show ran on HBO for four seasons, from 1995 to 1998, and became a cult hit on the strength of its instantly quotable sketches. It also launched a thousand stars: Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul,Breaking Bad), David Cross (Arrested Development), Scott Aukerman (Comedy Bang! Bang!), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Sarah Silverman, and Paul F. Tompkins. 

On New Year's Eve, Tompkins tweeted out a photo of himself and several of Mr. Show's cast members and writers, including Odenkirk and Cross. 

We’re talking about it. I’d like to see that happen. I’d like to do more work with David Cross because we work great together.

HBO has had success with dramas like Game of Thrones and The Newsroom, but it's in desperate need of more comedies like Girls and The Comeback. Considering its enduring influence, Mr. Show would be the perfect fit. 

It's hard to pick the best Mr. Show sketches, but here are a few that never get old. 

Former star of MTV's Teen Mom and reality icon Farrah Abraham tweeted photos of recent, botched plastic surgery that landed her in the hospital Tuesday morning.

The reality TV star is notorious for a series of public meltdowns on shows like VH1's Couples Therapy, Dr. Phil, and of course for a highly circulated sex tape. Abraham is also an author, musician, and dabbles in the sex toys market. She's also stirred recent tabloid headlines for an alleged affair with a married man.

Abraham has been acutely transparent about her history with plastic surgery—most recently getting collagen injections in 2013, and a $21,000 chin implant in 2012.

Screengrab via Hollywood Life/YouTube

Sophia Grace Brownlee is more than just a cover artist charming millions on daytime TV and online—she's also apparently a budding solo superstar and has just released her new single, "Best Friends."

The 11-year-old shot to fame thanks to viral videos of Brownlee, her cousin, and best friend performing Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" (46 million views and counting). This caught the eye of Ellen Degeneres. She's since appeared on Ellen numerous times, interviewing celebs on the red carpet. Now Brownlee branches out to original music, with "Best Friends" her most recent outing.

It also clocks in at four minutes, which is a good two longer than any adult should be watching 11-year-olds sing about best friends as they model new dresses. 

Screengrab via Sophia Grace/YouTube