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Fallon and J.Lo fight over who has the tightest pants

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You’ve got to wonder what the writing process was like for last night’s dance-off between Jennifer Lopez and Jimmy Fallon. Did it stop at, “Oh, Jennifer Lopez is a guest tonight. Let’s put her in tight pants”?

To be fair, Fallon is also in tight pants as the two battle for the title of tightest pants in this Tonight Show clip, which ends with Lopez taking off one of her hoop earrings and threatening to cut Fallon. Their tight pants fight is actually a continuation of Will Ferrell and Fallon’s 2012 competition.

This struggle will go on for eternity. 

Screengrab via the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon/YouTube


Teen YouTube star Lia Maria Johnson makes the jump to TV

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Yet another teen star from AwesomenessTV is rocketing off of YouTube.

Lia Marie Johnson will be getting her own TV movie on Nickelodeon based on Terry the Tomboy, the character she portrays on AwesomenessTV’s YouTube channel and a weekly Nickelodeon sketch show.

Older fans may recognize her instead from Benny and Rafi Fine’s Kids React and Teens React series, where she often offered insightful comments and criticism on the topic at hand. Off the show, Johnson, at 17, has more than 900,000 subscribers on her own YouTube channel.

According to Variety, Terry the Tomboy will be dealing with her first crush in the TV movie, set to air on Nickelodeon June 21.

“Terry the Tomboy embraces one of Nickelodeon’s many hilarious characters that has experienced enormous popularity on our air and online,” Russell Hicks, Nickelodeon’s prexy of context development and production, said. “Our audience will soon see a new side to Terry’s offbeat world where she must decide between being true to herself—or changing to obtain acceptance from others.”

This is the third deal for an AwesomenessTV star in just as many months. Vine stars Nash Grier and Cameron Dallas got their own movie in April while Australian pranksters the Janoskians announced they were making a movie with Lionsgate just a couple weeks ago.

H/T Jezebel | Photo via AwesomenessTV/YouTube

A new 'Fancy' parody is born with 'I'm So Pregnant'

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Is Iggy Azalea's “Fancy” the new “Let It Go”?

Fancy” is already being called the “song of the summer,” because we as a cultural would surely perish if we couldn’t identify the song of the summer. “Fancy” has received the lip-synch treatment from a father and daughter, and its prevalence on teen Vine is sort of frightening.

Its popularity has now moved to the unborn. The ladies of the What’s Up MomsYouTube channel decided to revise the narrative of “Fancy” for their own purposes, and have given the world “I’m So Pregnant.” Yes, this baby might come into the world knowing the words to an Iggy Azalea song. Is that a blessing or a curse?

Proceed with caution, new moms. The baby backlash against “Let It Go” has already begun. “Fancy” could be next.

H/T BuzzFeed | Screengrab via WhatsUpMoms/YouTube

Lena Dunham goes all out with an interpretive dance to Sia's 'Chandelier'

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Last night, millennial lighting rod Lena Dunham stopped by Late Night With Seth Meyers to lend her interpretive dance talents to the voice of “Chandelier” singer Sia. It was a performance that would have caused Miranda July to snap a few Lisa Frank pencils in rage.

Clad in all white and a signature blonde Sia shag, Dunham did her best reprisal of Dance Moms’ Maddie Zeigler’s moves from the hit music video. The performance that contained cardboard punching and toilet paper frolicking inside of what looked like a sterile Ikea showroom surely left viewers wondering if they should laugh, applaud or both. One thing was undeniable: The singer's voice as she performed face-down in a twin bunk bed, singing through a hole cut in the pillow. 

This isn't the first we've seen of a saucy blonde Dunham though. Perhaps the Girls star was simply channeling her inner Hannah Horvath, who briefly went blonde in failed role-play attempts, during the interpretive dance. Whatever her muse for the performance, it certainly doesn't get more unique than that.


Gifs via Tumblr

Screenshot via YouTube

Could the days of wild Justin Bieber be behind us?

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In a rare turn of events, a video of Justin Bieber emerged this week that doesn’t involve casual racism, prostitutes, or criminal activity of any kind. In fact, the clip—taken by his father, Jeremy—showed Justin being a normal member of the Bieber family while celebrating his dad's 40th birthday.

Bieber Sr. himself is not free from criticism; he was with Justin in Florida when his son was arrested for drag racing and doing a lot of underage drinking. 

The pop music prince has apparently rediscovered his spirituality recently: Last week, he was Instagramming Christian literature, and it was even reported that he has in fact been baptised "in a bathtub." While the superstar hasn’t exactly kept his nose clean in recent months (or years), he might actually be trying to reform his life, and if that’s the case, perhaps we should let him be. 

Whether this is all part of a genuine move by Bieber to try and be normal again or whether it’s part of a carefully planned PR maneuver after the most recent debacle is unclear. Regardless, it's important to remember that much of his ongoing legal trouble is still not behind him just yet. 

But in the words of the man himself, perhaps these are really “new beginnings” after all. 

Photo via alanagkelly/Flickr

The Beyoncé tour of Urban Dictionary

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Beyoncé: She’s more than just a mother, a woman, an artist, Solange defender, and your hair idol—she’s a language. It’s true, the Internet’s favorite lady is the inspiration behind a great swath of online speak; she’s behind more than a few idioms the Internet is putting to paper. Well, pixels.

After recently noticing the term “drinking watermelon” somewhere online, sans explanation, I looked it up. And lo and behold:

Drinking watermelon: A term used in Beyoncé’s song ‘Drunk in Love.’ Watermelons have plenty of seeds; this is symbolic of Jay-Z’s semen which she has been drinking. “Jason got me the best gift for our anniversary! I just might starting drinking watermelon tonight.”

But “to drink watermelon” is not an anomaly; much of Urban Dictionary revolves around Beyoncé-originating phrases.

Imma let you finish” has to be one of the most infamous Beyoncé-related entries (“obnoxious way to interrupt someone and steal their moment”), and “surfboard” (see also “surfboardt,” “surfboart,” and “surfbort” … really any way you could phonetically spell the word) refers to a sex position she describes in "Drunk in Love." Also a sex/Bey-related entry from the song is “raining on that wood.” Feel free to hit the link because I blush easy.

Then there are a few obvious colloquialisms that even the least Internet among us should recognize, like “bootylicious” (“curvaceous or voluptuous, esp. in the derriere”) and one of the entries for “jelly” (“something that Beyoncé & Co. don’t think you’re ready for”).

Now we move into the area of the many words that incorporate Beyoncé’s name in some manner. For instance, “bighs”:

Noun: Thighs like Beyoncé—Beyoncé thighs. ‘Did you hear Gaby has been toning her thighs?’ … ‘Yeah, she has a fine set of bighs now.’

Also, “Beysus,” and the obvious entries that are both plays on her name and more or less odes to her. These include "beyoncefide," "beyoncert." Then, because they must exist, there area few anti-Beyoncé Beyoncé phrases

She's also responsible for the verbs "beyonce-ing" (which either means obsessing over Beyoncé, pretending you're Beyoncé, or being a spotlight-loving diva like Beyoncé) and "beyonce-d" (getting proposed to, being good at singing, or "the act of letting photographers only shoot from the sound stage during concerts"). 

But I must close with my all-time, absolute, personal favorite:

Bed Bath and Beyoncé.” 

Photo via Ch Villa/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The 'Dumb and Dumber' boys are back—and dumber than ever

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Harry’s got a kid. Lloyd’s 20 years into false insanity. His grandmother’s old and horny. Harry thinks Lloyd’s catheter can just get yanked on like a spool of yarn. And they still live in the same apartment in Providence together, cruising around in a shag-dog contractor’s wagon saying things like “I like it; I likeitalot” and naming their cats after inappropriate parts of their bodies (“This is Asshole”).

Yes, the trailer for Dumber and Dumber To is out, 20 years after the world last got a glimpse of new material from cinema’s most idiotic band of brothers, and thus we finally have some semblance of an idea for what this movie’s going to look like. 

Evidently, Harry Dunne, the blond bimbo played by Jeff Daniels, had a daughter 20 years ago, one he’d never met who got put up for adoption by her mother. That daughter’s now grown, obviously, and quite the looker. So much so, in fact, that Jim Carrey’s Lloyd, who’d been faking insanity as part of a two-decade ruse to get some QT in an insane asylum, sees it fit to trek across the country to find her. Sound familiar? No doubt comedy ensues. 

Dumb and Dumber To hits theaters in November. Start prepping your pastel suit game now.

Photo via Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon/YouTube

'Teen Wolf' superfans cracked a code so you could watch this trailer

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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Teen Wolf season 3.

The trailer for season 4 of Teen Wolf is here, and it looks refreshingly un-traumatizing. Well, compared to season 3, anyway. There’s still a severed head rolling on the floor within the first 30 seconds. 

After an angst-heavy third season, Teen Wolf is back on track with a few fresh faces—although the duo of new lacrosse players look kind of familiar: a chiseled Abercrombie & Fitch lookalike and his openly gay jock best friend, much like Jackson and Danny in the first couple of seasons. There don’t seem to be any new female characters in the wake of Allison’s death, although Kate Argent is back to scare the crap out of another generation of teen werewolves.

Other highlights include more weird monsters, Derek Hale inevitably losing his shirt for the millionth time (seriously, is he allergic or something?), and a creepy dude with no mouth.

The big question this year is “Who is the benefactor?” The trailer was first revealed to a select few fans at the end of an impressively tricky online scavenger hunt requiring fans to track down code words hidden across various social media sites. Luckily, Teen Wolf fans were dedicated enough to crack the puzzle, and a few days later, the rest of us plebes can watch the trailer, too.

There’s no word on who “the benefactor” might be, but we assume it has something to do with this season's assassin theme. This mysterious character already has their very own teaser trailer, though.

It looks like this season is an intentional departure from the last, although whether that’s a result of the mixed audience reactions is anyone’s guess. In a new behind-the-scenes video from the main cast, Dylan O’Brien describes the second half of season 3 as a “tragedy,” while season 4 will be more “stripped down” and have a similar tone to season 1.

Tyler Posey says that the upcoming season is more of an “action/adventure comedy,” as well as being “slower-paced.” In any other teen show, a slower pace probably wouldn’t be something to brag about, but this feels like good news after the millions of hectic plot twists we saw during season 3. 

Whatever happens, the first new episode airs on June 23, so we won’t have long to wait.

Photo via YouTube


Netflix is bringing 'The Magic School Bus' back for a new series

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Netflix has announced that it will reboot the popular ’90s kids educational show The Magic School Bus.

The show, which is based on the children’s series of the same name, ran from 1994 to 1997. It chronicled the adventures of Ms. Frizzle, her students, and the many places they traveled to—including outer space, under the sea, and inside a human body—with the help of a school bus that could magically transform into whatever shape or vehicle was needed.

But now, the show will be reworked as The Magic School Bus 360°, which will consist of 26 half-hour episodes using computer-generated animation with a modernized Ms. Frizzle and an updated bus. The science involved will be updated with appearances from robots and a smart suit. Scholastic even released some early concept art to give an idea of what the show would look like.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, noted that the original series is currently the streaming service’s top education show.

Magic School Bus, the old version, is remarkably popular on Netflix,” he told the New York Times. “It teaches science in a way that transcends generations.”

With a rebooted Magic School Bus on the way and a Kickstarter-funded Reading Rainbow that already reached its goal, all we need now is an updated version of Bill Nye the Science Guy and we’re all set on our ’90s nostalgia requirements.

H/T Time | Photo via Scholastic Media

After abuse allegations, YouTube star returns to face the music

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Ever since sex abuse allegations broke out last March against Tom Milsom, Alex Day, and nearly a dozenother personalities on YouTube and Tumblr, those accused have largely stayed off social media, and the communities have started a larger conversation about consent and how fans and creators should coexist online.

But what happens when those accused (and those who admitted to being abusers) finally try to rejoin the communities they rocked?

Ed Blann, a musician better known as Eddplant online and one member of Chameleon Circuit, was one of the earlier personalities to be accused of sexual and emotional abuse toward a fan. After the accusations came out, he addressed it on Tumblr.

In the now-deleted post, he admitted that he had "engaged in sexual activity" with a fan; the last time he did so, he pressured her even after he had "been repeatedly told to stop."

“Over the course of those eight months I treated her appallingly, manipulated her, and behaved in an extremely misogynistic way towards her,” Blann wrote.

He apologized for his actions. Afterwards he removed himself from attending upcoming YouTube conventions, and his music was taken off DFTBA Records. At the time, he noted that he would be taking a break from social media and YouTube. His most recent tweet (that isn’t a reply) is a link to his Tumblr post.

Now, 10 months after releasing his last video online, Blann is posting again.

It’s a video of Blann singing an original song called “Inhuman Nature," in which he sings about flaws and regrets and how he’s defined by his actions. It includes such lyrics as “I won’t let go of what I’ve done / I’ll let it shape what I become” and “I’ll chase the storm of hate and lost respect / ‘til I’m a better man.”

"By my actions I'm defined, so let the words I write remind me I am capable of hurt," he sings at one point.

Some of Blann’s fans may see "Inhuman Nature" as his mea culpa, but there are plenty of people who think that Blann shouldn’t be posting anything or trying to settle back into his position of power in the community.

When the scandals broke out originally and several people came forward with accusations, they received a lot of support from the YouTube and Tumblr communities, but others victim-shamed and tried defending their idols. The communities were simultaneously acting as a safe haven full of supporters and a place ripe for anonymous hatred. Blann's video is now caught in a similar crossfire.

The comments on the video, which currently has more dislikes than likes, is a mix of commenters telling viewers not to support Blann and his supporters saying that he deserves a second chance.

"This is actually a really good song, with a good message?" Jesseekify wrote. "He's not talking about how much he hurts, he's literally talking about how he's trying to become 'a better man'. A lot of people seem to discourage this song but I approve of it."

The former group of commenters suggest that if he was sorry for the abuse and what he did, he’d “never even consider returning to a community that should be a safe place for his victims.”

But his video also is also triggering for his victims; one commented on the video about how it's hindering her recovery.

She later wrote in a Tumblr post that Blann deleted the comment. It's currently back up on YouTube, and it's unclear if the comment just temporarily disappeared or if it was removed (and if so, if it was by Blann).

“You can say ‘he owes his audience nothing’ - but can you honestly say that he owes me nothing?” she wrote. “Do I not deserve just a little bit of peace? Do I not deserve to have him listen to my words and take into account just how much he’s ruined my life? All I want is to be left alone, to stop having panic attacks. To stop reliving everything over and over.”

She goes on to describe in detail the abuse that she went through with Blann, something she's still trying to recover from.

"Before accepting him back just please please, remember what he’s done and remember that people are still hurting because of him," she continued. "That in the song, he belittles raping me and ruining my life to just a simple regret that he has. That in the song he says he’ll use the experience of raping me and fucking over every girl he has ever been with to make him in to a better man."

There are many, many negative comments toward Blann still on the video. But the alleged removal of his victim’s comments set off the YouTube and Tumblr communities, and people urged others not to go looking for the video or give Blann page views (and therefore, any possible ad revenue) by watching it.

“I think it’s entirely inappropriate to return to a community that you took advantage of and abused,” Morgan Paige said in a response to Blann’s return. “Especially considering there are teenage girls who are young and impressionable, who will be more willing to ‘give you a second chance’ and ‘forgive you’ even though your song wasn’t an apology.”

What may have also been telling for fans is that Day, who hasn’t made a video since allegations against him surfaced, liked the video.

Liam Dryden, Blann’s former Chameleon Circuit bandmate, was asked about the recent updates on Tumblr. While he initially wanted to remain silent for the sake of his friendship with Blann, he felt that he could no longer after finding out that Blann might have deleted his victim’s comments from the video.

“Do not buy into any ‘everyone deserves a second chance’ crap,” Dryden wrote. “So many people spout this like it’s an instantly redeeming Hail Mary but it’s just not a thing. Yes, almost everyone deserves the opportunity to improve themselves and start over, if they are willing and understand their transgressions; but when you burn your house down, you don’t sit in the ashes and try to piece them back together. You find another house.”

Dryden, like others, urged people not to seek the video—even out of morbid curiosity—and to remove any support for the creators who support Blann and other abusers who try to return to the community he took advantage of.

And he encouraged people to keep talking about it because while comments can be deleted from YouTube videos, "tweets and Tumblr tags can’t."

Blann did not respond to the Daily Dot's request for comment.

Photo via Eddplant/YouTube

Watch a terrified man escape a great white

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As we all learned from Jaws, there's a concrete list of 'don't's when you're swimming in an area populated by sharks: No splashing, no making noise, no attracting attention to yourself, and, preferably, no swimming in an area populated by sharks.

Somehow, this lucky swimmer managed to do every one of them, but he managed to escape after an encounter that only needs an ominous bass line to rival your favorite shark movie for thrills.

Okay, so the great white doesn't look all that hungry, and it's probably wondering why the man with the camera on his head is flailing and screaming at him. 

But there's plenty of terror to be had in this amazing GoPro footage, uploaded earlier today by YouTuber Terry Tufferson. In the short but harrowing clip, we experience a dive off Manly Jump rock into the pristine, cobalt water of Sydney Harbour with a swimmer—only to emerge to the surface to hear his friend's panicked point-and-yell: "Shark! Shark! Behind you!"

From there, what looks like a frantic kick-and-swim race is on.

After you're done yelling in fright along with the swimmer, it's important to remember that humans kill 100 million sharks every year, all while most sharks, even great whites, won't hurt people.

Although the footage made several news outlets, many viewers believed the video was a hoax, and that the shark had been edited in afterwards. Given that Australia is a hotbed of shark activity, however, real-life shark encounters aren't that hard to come by.

As for whether those underwater screams are the real deal? Well, we hope we never have to find out firsthand.

Screengrab via YouTube

LeVar Burton unveils a cast of stars for 'Reading Rainbow'

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After the crowdfunding campaign to bring back the classic educational program Reading Rainbow smashed through its $1 million target, LeVar Burton is now taking things to a new frontier.

As the Kickstarter project surges toward its stretch goal of $5 million, Burton has thrown in a few new incentives to sweeten the pot. He has called upon his old Star Trek buddies to assist him in a series of live readings and, if you can meet a pledge of $1,200, you can attend one of these events yourself.

The first episode will feature the "Men of Star Trek," which includes Burton's Next Generation co-stars Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, and Robert Picardo (what, no Wil Wheaton?)

The second episode will feature the "Women of Star Trek," including Marina Sirtis and Gates McFadden. Also appearing in the segment will be Jeri Ryan and Captain Janeway herself, Kate Mulgrew (who hopefully will do some research into her reading material beforehand this time).

Of course, to make Reading Rainbow: TNG truly awesome, Burton knew he had to call upon the help of some truly special franchise personalities.

Another live episode will feature a reading by none other than William Shatner. The possibility of, say, The Cat in the Hat being read in that one-of-a-kind Shat-speak is too great to pass up.

Finally, no spoken-word event would be complete without Sir Patrick Stewart, who will join Burton on yet another episode. It doesn't matter if the material on that episode is the operations manual for a microwave; Stewart will find a way to make it sound mesmerizing.

All of the live readings will be held in Los Angeles, with the exception of Patrick Stewart's, which will take place in New York City.

The Kickstarter project has until July 2 to reach its $5 million stretch goal.

Screengrab via Kickstarter

Grumpy Cat to save Christmas with new Lifetime movie

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This Christmas, traditional cinematic fare like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Miracle on 34th Street will have to take a backseat to a new holiday star: Grumpy Cat.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the popular scowling feline is getting her very own Lifetime Christmas movie. Entitled Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever, the made-for-TV movie will follow a young girl who is able to communicate with the cat.

The movie is being described as "a little Home Alone, a little Die Hard" by Arturo Interian, the vice president of Lifetime original movies.

No cast has been named yet, but seeing that this is Lifetime, expect to see Rob Lowe and Meredith Baxter-Birney make appearances. Also appearing in the movie in cameo roles will be several other Internet celebrities. We can only hope that Ikea Monkey and Scumbag Steve are among them. Perhaps Psy will even enchant us with his rendition of "Jingle Bell Rock."

This isn't Grumpy Cat's first foray into movies. In May 2013, it was announced that the cat was in talks to appear in a major Hollywood motion picture. According to the Reporter, however, that deal was short-lived.

Image via Paul Anderson/Flickr

 

7-foot actor buys groceries as a 'Lord of the Rings' orc

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The Lord of the Rings species Uruk-hai isn't restricted to Middle Earth. Like any other orc, they too need to eat--and thus visit the grocery store.

Actor Olivier Richters, who clocks in at an impressive 7 feet tall, recently donned a terrifying Uruk-hai costume and visited his local supermarket. Thankfully for us, he documented this experience on YouTube. There, he wandered the aisle in search of enemy blood and eggs, terrorizing and amusing his fellow shoppers in the process.

We can only hope that the next video will reverse this process and show a suburban grocery shopper wandering aimlessly around Mordor.

Screengrab via Olivier Richters/YouTube

James Franco and Seth Rogen plot to kill Kim Jong-un in new trailer

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Westerners have developed quite the morbid fascination with North Korea, producing countless books and documentaries that attempt to penetrate the mysteries and horrors of this secretive, dangerous, totalitarian state. The seriousness of these investigations almost precludes a blockbuster James Franco/Seth Rogen spy comedy set above the DMZ, but not quite. 

Sure, there’s an argument to be made that The Interview, in which the bromantic duo play media types tapped by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-un, crosses a line or three. On the other hand, the U.S. has a proud tradition of ridiculing foreign dictators, no matter what atrocities they’ve visited upon their people. So just sit back and enjoy the geopolitical dissonance.

Photo via Sony Pictures Entertainment/YouTube


Louis C.K., Judd Apatow fight TMZ over Tracy Morgan crash video

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Louis C.K. and Judd Apatow are pleading with TMZ to remove video on its website showing the aftermath of a major car accident that killed comedian James McNair and injured Tracy Morgan and three others.

The video, reportedly shot by a passing driver early Saturday morning after the six-car crash happened on the New Jersey Turnpike, shows the limo bus on its side while one of the passengers is pulled from the wreckage.

Ardie Fuqua, one of the other comedians injured in the crash with Morgan, is said to be the person removed from the crash in the video, according to his daughter Krizya.

She called for TMZ to remove the video.

"I need help to get TMZ to remove the video of the accident that shows my dad being pulled from the truck and laid down to the side,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “This something no one should ever see, it's hurtful and distasteful."

Now, C.K. has come out in support of Krizya, after TMZ refused to take down the video, and sent multiple tweets to the notorious celebrity news site.

Shortly after, Apatow joined in to support Krizya as well.

The video has yet to be removed from TMZ’s website.

Morgan is still in critical condition with several broken bones and will likely remain hospitalized for several weeks. Kevin Roper, who drove the truck that crashed into Morgan’s limousine, has been charged with vehicular homicide and four counts of assault by auto.

H/T Hollywood Reporter | Photo via flowizm/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Millennium Falcon confirms Harrison Ford can make a hospital run in 12 parsecs

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After just a couple of weeks of filming, the new Star Wars movie has had its first casualty: Han Solo.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Harrison Ford was airlifted to a hospital on Thursday afternoon after being injured by a door on the Millennium Falcon.

The Mirrorreports that the injury was sustained while Ford was performing a stunt onboard the Millennium Falcon set. Filming was taking place at England’s Pinewood Studios, and Ford was flown to a hospital in nearby Oxford. A Star Wars spokesperson said that shooting will continue as planned while he recuperates.

At 71, Harrison Ford is a little old for action roles, even in this era of never-ending Die Hard sequels and vintage action stars teaming up for retirement-age fistfights in The Expendables. Still, Ford has said relatively recently that another Indiana Jones movie isn’t out of the question, and last month he was publicly asked to reprise his role in a Blade Runner sequel

Here’s hoping that he recovers quickly, and that this accident doesn’t put a dent in his enthusiasm for Han Solo’s return to the Falcon.

Photo via fortunelivemedia/Flickr

Through Collective Digital Studio, Purina will think like a YouTuber

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BY SAM GUTELLE

Brands are flocking to YouTube en masse, and the smart ones are realizing how important it is to embrace the shared voice that has made YouTube the cultural juggernaut it is today. The latest example of a brand thinking like a YouTuber is Purina, which has teamed with Collective Digital Studio to spruce up a YouTube channel called Petcentric.

According to sources cited by Adweek, Collective DS will begin working with Petcentric in July. While the channel in question already exists, it claims a paltry number of subscribers and views. Its most successful videos are old, lo-fi features about cute animals, but nothing on the channel has drawn more than a couple hundred thousand views.

Collective DS’ goal, as CEO Reza Izad told The Wall Street Journal, is to encourage viewers to string several videos together by using recommendations and algorithms to the channel’s advantage. “You have to lead somebody from one clip to another,” said Izad. “You have to think of YouTube as this consumer flow. And you have to figure out how to get the algorithms to recommend your content. If you do it wrong it’s a wasted opportunity. We know how to run this tool set that is very, very complicated.”

Petcentric has lots of potential because Purina has previously shown itself to be a forward-thinking brand on YouTube. Its collaboration with The Fine Bros (through its Friskies brand) ruled April Fools’ Day 2014, and it has launched several popular videos with the help of BuzzFeed. Purina’s most recent collaboration with the trendy publication zoomed into the mind of an adorable dog. It has drawn more than a million views to date.

Collective DS has already built viable YouTube channels for several other brands. It has attracted gamers to Electronic Arts’ Node channel and has leveraged the YouTube beauty community for Estee Lauder’s I love makeup. channel. Given the pedigrees (no pun intended) of the companies involved, Petcentric will be a channel to keep an eye on come July.

Chris Christie and Jimmy Fallon show off their dad dance moves

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is almost always the butt of the joke on late-night TV, but at least this time he was also in on it.

A state legislative committee and federal prosecutors are still investigating his role in the closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, but the governor’s appearance on The Tonight Show might be a sign that he’s trying to move beyond the scandal that’s plagued his second term thus far.

He joined Jimmy Fallon onstage for another page of his “Evolution of Dancing” series, and while Fallon’s already covered hip-hop and mom dancing, he’s hadn't touched one of the more embarrassing types of dancing until now: dad dancing.

The two fathers grabbed their belts and put on their dancing shoes in time for Father's Day to demonstrate that there is an art to pushing down the garbage and honking the horn. It’s a bunch of lighthearted fun, which is all you can really expect from a Fallon sketch.

Just don’t try to pull the “this bridge is closed” dance.

Photo via The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/YouTube

How Julie Klausner turned her podcast into a one-woman show

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On a recent episode of Julie Klausner’s podcast How Was Your Week, somewhere in between her dispatch from the trenches of Jessica Seinfeld’s Instagram and her sincere ode to Hero Cat, she exhales: 

“Enjoy your window to my process.” 

She jokes that should be her podcast’s new title; it’s not that far from what happens every week on the NYC comedian/performer/writer’s show. It often feels like she’s working out ideas in real time. Not all of them work, and when a bit or idea goes astray, Klausner’s adept at (often abruptly) reeling herself in. 

How Was Your Week has been around since 2011, and each show opens with a monologue before leading into a guest interview. In an April monologue, she wondered why she didn't have her own show yet, when Neil deGrasse Tyson has one, and he’s never even done “one ASSSSCAT” at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

Those thoughts manifested into reality last month, when it was announced the Amy Poehler-produced Difficult People got a pilot, which Klausner wrote. She and Billy Eichner star as best friends in NYC, “who hate everyone but each other." It was allegedly pitched as Will and Grace, “if one was a six and the other was a seven."

“I wrote it in hopes of making it, and showed it to Amy, and Amy agreed to produce it,” she says. “So we went around and pitched it as a pitch of what the series would really be about, and what the show would look like, not just the script I wrote. And we sold it to USA; they gave us money to make a pilot presentation.” 

Klausner came up in the UCB Theatre, her “alma mater,” where she met Poehler in 2000. Poehler also produced Broad City, another NYC show about difficult people, and Eichner stars with her on Parks and Recreation. Klausner wrote for Eichner's Fuse show, Billy on the Street, and spent early 2014 in L.A. writing for comedian John Mulaney’s new show, Mulaney, which debuts in the fall on Fox. In 2010, she released I Don’t Care About Your Band, a memoir that felt series-ready in its own right. 

No doubt this all prepared her for her own show. She and Eichner have a rare chemistry—on Twitter they read like a two-person comedy act—which will happily translate to Difficult People

“We are sort of playing versions of ourselves that are slightly heightened but pretty realistic,” Klausner says. “I’m grateful that I have instincts that came from writing sketch comedy. I think they make me a better writer for any kind of comedy.” 

How Was Your Week often feels like a series of sketches, some of which dive into darker pop-culture depths. Recently, she reported from the Charles Manson murder tour in L.A., and it’s one of the most vivid longform pieces that exists in podcast form. Earlier this month, she addressed career disappointment, age, and the ridiculousness of Slender Man, “our generation’s Nessie.” She wondered whether the “Slender Man diet” would catch on. (First week is all sugar and carbs. Second, you eat nothing. Third, you turn into a ghost.)

When asked about Jessica Seinfeld, whom she referred to as the “living embodiment of YOLO” on the podcast, she has no comment, except that she wishes her “light and love.” So I ask Klausner about her support for Hero Cat and Hammock Bear, whom she’s spoken about at length on HWYW. What is it about these stories that engages us? 

“It’s animals acting against type, or animals acting exactly the way you want them to, based on what we know from cartoons,” she says. “In the case of Hammock Bear, he’s acting exactly like you’d expect a bear to act in you were in a Looney Tunes short. In the case of Hero Cat, she acted the opposite of what you expect cats to be like, and that footage was so compelling. 

“We also like to project our meanings onto animals, because we can’t tell what they’re thinking. With Hero Cat, I don’t think we misinterpreted it.”

The How Was Your Week Wiki page keeps a detailed outline of references, notes, and enemies of the show, which gives the podcast an old-school variety show feel, one very much in league with WFMU’s The Best Show. Klausner is an entertainment critic and one-woman show. 

“I don’t mean the podcast to be a sketchpad of ideas I have,” she says. “I like the idea of the show to be an entity in itself. I really treat it as the show that I want to do. The Julie Klausner Show. Because nobody is telling me what to do or what not to do. I can talk about anything I want to; no one’s going to say, ‘Oh, maybe that’s an outdated reference’ or ‘Maybe there’s no reason to talk about the Nightmare on Elm Street documentary for 45 minutes.’”

On a recent episode, she wondered if we’re in “the bayou of ideas” on Twitter right now. I asked about a recent podcast segment reflecting on the #yesallwomen hashtag. Is hashtag activism valid, or does it fill her with a certain dread?

“The only dread I feel when I see something serious like that is the inevitable occurrence of some awful person I follow, either for hate-following reasons (and I’m really trying to reduce my hate-following habits) … makes it about them. I do think the solipsism of social media gets in the way of a lot of what could be great about it. 

“But we’re also just still getting used to the etiquette of it. You know, like whenever a celebrity dies, you feel very weird tweeting about something until you’ve acknowledged that the celebrity has died. People are looking to you for your official statement. But as far as hashtag activism… there’s incredible potential for people having access, people joining forces and having a larger voice than one asshole who happens to have a microphone.

“And look,” Klausner adds, “I commit little career suicides constantly, and sometimes it’s because I just can’t help myself.” 

It’s all part of the process. 

New York City can catch An Evening of Cabaret With Julie Klausner at Joe's Pub, June 23-27.

Photo by Mindy Tucker

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