The 100 Best Songs of 2021

1. Funeral - Maisie Peters feat. James Bay 

2. Hate Myself - dodie 

3. drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo 

4. doomsday - Lizzy McAlpine 

5. Elevator Boots - Counting Crows 

6. jealousy, jealousy - Olivia Rodrigo 

7. Making a Fire - Foo Fighters 

8. good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo 

9. How Not To Drown – CHVRCHES feat. Robert Smith 

10. Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile 

11. Like a Ship - Leon Bridges and Keite Young 

12. Wilder Days - Morgan Wade 

13. John Hughes Movie - Maisie Peters 

14. A-O-K - Tai Verdes 

15. Elvis Song - Maisie Peters 

16. Steam - Leon Bridges 

17. deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo 

18. Volcano - Maisie Peters 

19. A.M. RADIO - The Lumineers 

20. Circles - Wyn Starks 

21. brutal - Olivia Rodrigo 

22. Renegade - Big Red Machine feat. Taylor Swift 

23. Hypotheticals - Lake Street Dive 

24. Dried Up River - The Lone Bellow 

25. Redemption - Nathaniel Rateliff 

26. justified - Kacey Musgraves 

27. Better Man - Taylor Swift 

28. For Your Consideration - Maggie Rose 

29. Harshest Critic - Allison Ponthier 

30. What You Say - Cold War Kids 

31. Diamond Studded Shoes - Yola 

32. Halfway - Mimi Webb 

33. Dustland - The Killers feat. Bruce Springsteen 

34. Stand For Myself - Yola 

35. Vermillion Park - Emily Wolfe 

36. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) - Taylor Swift 

37. Valentine - Snail Mail 

38. Open up the Heavens - Jade Bird 

39. BIG SHOT - The Lumineers 

40. Shapeshifter - Alessia Cara 

41. Silk Chiffon – MUNA feat. Phoebe Bridgers 

42. Excuses - Audrey Mika 

43. rubberband - Tate McRae 

44. Bad Posture - Abby Anderson 

45. Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home) - Elle King and Miranda Lambert 

46. The War Inside - Tom Morello feat. Chris Stapleton 

47. Back in Ohio - Lucero 

48. Last Resort - Natalie Hemby 

49. You Signed Up For This - Maisie Peters 

50. Woman You Got - Maddie & Tae 

51. Dancer - Léon 

52. Bath Salts – DMX feat. JAY-Z & Nas 

53. Now is the Time - Jade Bird 

54. Crawling Kingsnake - The Black Keys 

55. Last Day on Earth - beabadoobee 

56. Feels Like - Gracie Abrams 

57.BRIGHTSIDE - The Lumineers 

58. Solar Power - Lorde 

59. The Bottom - Gracie Abrams 

60. simple times - Kacey Musgraves 

61. bad ones - Tate McRae 

62. I Don't Live Here Anymore - The War on Drugs feat. Lucius 

63. wish i loved you in the 90s - Tate McRae 

64. Seventeen - Léon 

65. Hush Money - Lake Street Dive 

66. Not Dead Yet - Lord Huron 

67. Scarlett - Holly Humberstone 

68. Psycho - Maisie Peters 

69. Mess It Up - Gracie Abrams 

70. no body, no crime - Taylor Swift feat. HAIM 

71. Motorbike - Leon Bridges 

72. Enter Sandman - Alessia Cara and The Warning 

73. Beggin' - Måneskin 

74. Ain’t Lookin’ - The Wild Feathers 

75. Phoenix - Big Red Machine feat. Fleet Foxes & Anaïs Mitchell 

76. Last Train Home - John Mayer 

77. breadwinner - Kacey Musgraves 

78. Friendly Fire - Holly Humberstone 

79. Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) - Elton John and Dua Lipa 

80. Shouldn't Matter but It Does - John Mayer 

81. Oh My God - Adele 

82. I Bet You Think About Me - Taylor Swift feat. Chris Stapleton 

83. coney island - Taylor Swift feat. The National 

84. Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic 

85. Sugar and Spice - Jocelyn & Chris Arndt 

86. Poor Boy a Long Way From Home - The Black Keys 

87. Family Farm - The Hold Steady 

88. Cologne - beabadoobee 

89. Girl From Rio - Anitta 

90. Next - Olivia Holt 

91. Skate - Silk Sonic 

92. It’s time to go - Taylor Swift 

93. Bed Head - Manchester Orchestra

94. How Low - Heartless Bastards 

95. Overpass Grafitti - Ed Sheeran 

96. Backburner - Maia Sharp 

97. If I Was a Cowboy - Miranda Lambert 

98. Witchoo - Durand Jones & The Indications, Aaron Frazer 

99. We're Good - Dua Lipa 

100. Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

The Twenty-Five Best Music Videos of 2021

1. good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo 

2. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) - Taylor Swift 

3. John Hughes Movie - Maisie Peters 

4. deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo 

5. I Bet You Think About Me - Taylor Swift feat. Chris Stapleton 

6. Love Dies Young - Foo Fighters 

7. Popular - Pom Pom Squad feat. Matthew Caws of Nada Surf 

8. Psycho - Maisie Peters 

9. Doomsday - Lizzy McAlpine 

10. brutal - Olivia Rodrigo 

11. Shivers - Ed Sheeran 

12. Solar Power - Lorde 

13. simple times - Kacey Musgraves 

14. A-O-K - Tai Verdes 

15. Hate Myself - dodie 

16. Silk Chiffon – MUNA feat. Phoebe Bridgers 

17. Survivor - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats 

18. Monday - The Regrettes 

19. Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran 

20. Mood Ring - Lorde 

21. Woman You Got - Maddie and Tae 

22. justified - Kacey Musgraves 

23. Fallen Fruit - Lorde 

24. drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo 

25. Love Is Not Enough - Ashe

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 26, 2021

 

Dexter: New Blood:  So Kurt got off on a technicality; I guess Dexter will have to kill him.  Though I wonder if the big twist this season is that Dexter continues to keep up his non-killing ways (well, aside for Kurt’s kid and the drug dealer) and finds a way to catch Kurt red-handed.  Or maybe Harrison will do the killing for Dexter.  Dexter really needs to have a sit down with that kid sooner than later.

 

But just how does Kurt know Dexter killed his kid?   I questioned just how drunk Kurt was that night when Dexter took him home shortly after Dexter cremated the kid and Kurt claimed his son called him.  Did Kurt see him do it?  If so, why not turn Dexter in?  If he lied about the call to keep the police from searching the caves where he hid his victim, turning Dexter in would have stopped the search too.

 

Claws:  The last episode aired in August of 2019 and that “Previously On” did nothing to help remember what happened.  Roller is gone?  Okay, do not remember why.  Desna had a casino?  I guess I vaguely remember getting an inheritance from the dude who died on their wedding night but do not really remember a casino.  And was Quiet Ann always this chatty?  This is going to be a rough season to get through.But I guess it will be quick if they continue to do two episodes a week.

 

Yellowjackets:  So, Lottie can see into the future.  Cool.  Was all that talking about blood in French last week tied to the lady issues everyone was having or something else?  And that hallway and stairs, is that somewhere she is going to go at some point or just a manifestation of being baptized?  It seems like she can see way into the future because she seemingly saw Tai in the tree eating dirt twenty-five years later.  So, Tai is the person in the tree her kid is seeing?

 

But finally, young Tai is the first to think, hey, we are in the Canadian wilderness, all we have to do is walk south until we hit civilization.  Seriously, they are athletic teens, should not that be too hard.  We will have to wait and see if anyone joins her, or if someone stops her (which will likely happen because they do not get rescued for nineteen months).   But when she talked about winter coming soon, it got me wondering; shouldn’t it be pretty cold by now?  The plane had to crash around late November maybe early December.  It gets pretty cold here in Ohio around Thanksgiving and that is with the global warming.  Higher north it gets colder and the days are shorter.  More poetic license I guess.

 

Misty psycho watch this week:  She steals drugs from works, uses them to drug Tai’s fixer who was posing as a reporter to see if anyone else talked, and is now keeping her chained up in her basement (oh, and younger Misty thinks the coach is her secret boyfriend).  Awesome.  Does the fixer spill the beans on Taissa?  And then does Misty set her free after that?  But we did get confirmation that there are other survivor than the main four (and Travis) but they still keep it extremely vague who survived. 

 

Then Shauna has a disturbing dinner with Jackie’s parents.  I am not sure what was more awkward, Shauna admitting she hates her kid (who we got confirmation is 16, which means she was born in 2005; the girls should have been rescued by July 1998; so she is not Shauna’s wilderness baby; unless they are in some weird dimension where time moves differently… hey Lottie can see into the future) or Jeff admitted he was forking Shauna while dating Jackie.  Then Shauna sees Jackie again and Jackie tells Shauna it was not her fault.  What is not her fault?  My first thought was hooking up with Jeff while they were dating.  But then I thought what if she was talking about something that happened in Canada, possibly how she died.  Though I am still clinging to my theory Jackie and Shauna’s kid are sending the postcards.

 

Hawkeye:  The finale was enjoyable mostly because Hailee Stienfeld and Florence Pugh are just a delight (give them a spin-off) but goodness, you really need to turn off your brain to get through it.  I still do not get why Maya was so quick to trust Clint’s word and just what happen to her father.  I am kind of unclear of who killed him.  It seems like he did, but I do not understand Kingpin and Kazi’s involvement.  Is all that going to be resolved in the Echo spin-off?  Though Kazi is dead and Echo shot Kingpin (though he did take an arrow to the chest earlier so maybe he survived by some silly comic book logic).

 

Okay, Clint’s wife was an agent of SHIELD, but why was the watch so important and why did Kingpin want it?  I never got why Yelena was so mad at Clint.  She knew of Clint and Nat’s relationship, but Valentina just telling het Clint killed her sister was enough for her.  Huh?  No how or why, she is ready to kill someone that she knew was her sister’s friend just like that made no sense.  With that said, give me a Kate / Yelena show next Christmas.

 

The Real World Homecoming: Los Angeles: Oh hey, an Eric Neis sighting.  Nice to give him some time since he could not be at his reunion. But Tami missed out, that trip to Joshua Tree seemed much nicer than the first one especially those castle suites.

 

The Challenge: All-Stars: I am no medical doctor, but declaring a pregnant woman not medically cleared to compete seems kind of sexist.  Serena Williams won the Australian Open at 20 week, seems like someone in the first trimester would be find.  How about letting the expecting mother decide?  Melissa competed while pregnant for a final a few seasons back and the Senior Tour final did not seem that bad last season.  A little run up a mountain seems like it would be good for an expecting mother.  Ugg, I finally got Casey back on my television screen and now she might not be bac for a while (though there have been a few mothers with very young children on this first two seasons so maybe she could be back as soon as season four… hey, they only film for two weeks).  But poor Cohutta. Laterian loses his partner last week and was able to fight to stay in and steal Tyler’s partner but was not awarded the same chance this week.  At least we was able to go out on a great line, without missing a beat, saying, “It’s not mine.”

Around the Tubes: December 24, 2021

  

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting.  This post includes blurbs on  The Legend of Vox Machina, Taylor Swift, Ben Harper, The Binge, and We Need to Talk about Cosby.

- Prime Video kicks off the holiday season with a special announcement: The Legend of Vox Machina, an upcoming adult animated fantasy-adventure series from Critical Role and Titmouse, will now premiere on January 28, 2022 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Along with the new premiere date, Prime Video released an exciting new clip and image from the series. 

- Following their historic releases, Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) show no signs of slowing down with total consumption of each album moving over 2 Million album equivalents globally.  Since its release, Red (Taylor’s Version) has moved over 1 Million album equivalents in the U.S. alone, with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) on track to do the same this month.  Named the “No.1 Greatest Pop Star of 2021” by Billboard, Taylor caused a global media storm with the release of Red (Taylor’s Version) last month.  Red (Taylor’s Version) marked Taylor’s 10th album to move over 1 Million album equivalents globally during its release week, adding a brilliant new chapter to her legacy. The release saw Taylor becoming the first and only artist to simultaneously debut atop the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 chart three times, and in less than 16 months! It also sent 26 songs from its release onto the Billboard Hot 100, setting a new record for the most simultaneously charted Hot 100 entries among women.

- For this holiday season musician, producer and label founder Ben Harper and his Mad Bunny records present Sonic Chapters Volume 1, which will begin streaming December 29, 2021 exclusively on youtube.com/relixchannel.  Harper curated and assembled these sweet and powerful performances featuring Hey! King, Birdthrower, Harris, The Cush and Jake Etheridge, recorded in these artists’ homes, and rehearsal spaces. Harper closes the show with an acoustic performance filmed at his family owned Folk Music Center in Claremont, California.  

- Hulu has greenlit the next installment in The Binge franchise, a raunchy holiday feature titled The Binge 2: It’s A Wonderful Binge..  Jordan VanDina, the screenwriter behind The Binge for Hulu and American High, has been tapped to direct the feature from an original script he wrote. This marks VanDina’s feature directorial debut, and continues American High’s mission to create unique opportunities for first-time filmmakers.

- SHOWTIME Documentary Films announced WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY, a four-part docuseries from Emmy-winning director W. Kamau Bell (United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell) that offers an in-depth look at the revolutionary career and personal descent of Bill Cosby. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY will screen at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, ahead of its SHOWTIME premiere on Sunday, January 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. All episodes will be available across all SHOWTIME streaming and VOD platforms on January 30. To watch and share the trailer, visit: https://youtu.be/raCuh_Q6Ve8.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 19, 2021

 

Dexter: New Blood:  There was a moment this episode where I thought to myself, is Dexter going to kill the podcaster or is Kurt going to be the one.  Kurt seemingly was going to try and it was surprisingly Dexter who was the one who saved her.  Dexter did get some vital information on the ride home as he figured out it was not her that tipped Angela off to his real name.  But will Dexter ever find out it was her daughter via his son as to how that information got out. 

 

But it looks like Angela will not stay mad very as she now needs Dexter.  My first thought it was for revenge after finding her friend, but obviously she will want him to use his forensic expertise despite telling her he killed Dexter to get away from that life. It seems obvious to assume Kurt killed her and put her body there, but we only saw Angela find the one body and clearly Kurt killed more.  Plus that passageway seemed fairly tight for the two relatively skinny lawmen and Kurt is a bit bigger.  Though fifteen years ago, I guess Kurt could have been a bit thinner and the reason why there was only the one body is Kurt stopped skipping meals.  But where are the other bodies?  It looked like he was trying to preserve the one he shot through the eye.

 

Yellowjackets:  The episode critics received were named after nineties pop culture moments (do not ask me why Showtime changed them to more generic titles for the official release).  This episode was entitled “Blood Sugar Sex Magic” after the Red Hot Chili Peppers album.  We got a lot of the first and second, not much of the third.  The fourth… well, that is still debatable I guess.  Obviously it was Halloween, but just how real was the “magic” in the earlier timeline?  Why would Shauna spin the knife in an infinity sign on purpose when asked if they would survive?  And Lottie could have been possessed or is just straight up losing it (or possibly both)?  Misty poisoning the coach because she likes him is up there with destroying the black box on the psycho level.  Not to mention, turning off a sick person’s machine just to scare kids.

 

So was giving Nat the owl so she could spy on her?  It certainly seems like she could be behind the postcards, but how would she have killed Travis and draw the signals if she was with Nat the whole time, so I think she really is just doing her best Veronica Mars impersonation.  It also seems like they confirmed Jackie’s death if her parents were giving Shauna her jersey.  We also got confirmation that Shauna is pregnant, but there is no way that could be Callie… could it?  The baby would be born in 1997 which would make the kid twenty-four, but Callie is clearly a teenager, she does have a college fund and a curfew.  So what happens to the kid?  I have stated before that I think there is still a chance Jackie is alive, what if she stole the kid and have been living in the Canadian wilderness this whole time and are working as a team to torment the survivors?  Could one of them be the woman in the window the kid sees?

  

Hawkeye:  I enjoyed Florence Pugh in the Black Widow movie but that kitchen scene was way too far over the top.  I was surprised that it turned out that Clint was the one that killed Echo’s dad.  Sure we know Clint went on a murderous rampage as Ronin during The Blip, but I thought there was going to be a twist where the real big bad of the show pretended to be Ronin to kill off her dad.  The story of what happened that night still seems a little fuzzy maybe there will be a twist in the finale.  But we did learn who the real big bad of this season was and it is a really big dude, Kate’s mom hired Yelena to kill Clint and is working with Kingpin.  Okay, not the biggest reveal, everyone guessed that is who Uncle was (it was either Kingpin or Mephisto) back when we first learned of him.

 

Survivor:  I have long joked that Erika would win this season ever since she broke the Turn Back Time Hourglass because I figured even if she lost; she would break the hourglass again until she won.  This was a joke because she seemed fairly insignificant coming out of the merge.  They spent so much time of the Black People alliance, and yet under-edited when an actual minority won, and the first female of an all newbie season since Michele.

 

But my favorite part of the finale was just how delusional Xander was.  The befuddled look on the jury’s face when Xander was explaining how they did not respect Erika was hilarious.  Then he actually saves Erika so he did not want Erika to have some hero moment by wining fire making and she still almost swept the votes save a pity vote from Danny to his close ally DeShawn.  I do not remember a time someone went into Final Tribal that confident and ended up not getting one vote.  Russell maybe.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: Way to reward the cell that lost by letting them pick anyone to be teammates with in the final leg of the final.  Of course Kacee and Kyle were going to pick CT and Tori respectively.  Poor Devin and Emy were then stuck with each other.  Granted, they probably deserve each other.

 

The Challenge: All-Stars: Ooof, poor Tyler, gets passed over by Casey, who is not the strongest competitor this season, being stuck with one of the few weaker females Jasmine, loses because of her, but because of Kendal not being medically cleared, only him, not Jasmine has to compete.  You could actually see his arm wrapped during his confessional, so you could tell things would not go well for him during elimination.  It may be time to retire Pole Wrestling before Laterrian breaks someone’s hip.

 

Now our teams are set for the rest of the season and the Jodi/Brad duo seems like the team to beat.  The only team that could have matched them was Laterrian and Kendal but replace Kendal with Jasmine and that team looks much weaker.  Joanna was the highest placing female last season so maybe she and MJ could be a dark horse.  Or maybe there will be more Brittany Spears trivia so Casey and Cohutta can dominate.

 

It was weird hearing people talk about how close they were to the finals since there had only been four weeks of eliminations up to this point but twelve contestants made the finals last season.  After this week’s elimination, there are fourteen people left so if they do the same, there would only be one more elimination before the finale.

 

Big Sky:  I am supposed to case Ronald killed Cassie’s dad?  We have barely seen him.  But it is long time past Ronald’s expiration date.  The drug cartel storyline is much more interesting.

 

Around the Tubes: December 18, 2021

    

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting.  This post includes blurbs on  How I Met Your Father, Yellowjackets, The Dropout, Letterkenny, George Harrison, Sing, Gary Owen, and Supergirl.

- Check out the official trailer and key art for Hulu Original Series.  "How I Met Your Father"! The 10-episode first season of the series premieres exclusively on Hulu Tuesday, January 18, 2022.   In the near future, Sophie (Hilary Duff) is telling her son the story of how she met his father: a story that catapults us back to the year 2021 where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options. 

- SHOWTIME has renewed the critically acclaimed survival drama YELLOWJACKETS for a second season. Created and executive produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (Narcos), the one-hour drama series stars Melanie Lynskey (Castle Rock), Oscar^® and Emmy^® nominee Juliette Lewis (Camping), Emmy nominee Christina Ricci (Z: The Beginning of Everything) and Tawny Cypress (Unforgettable). Jonathan Lisco (Animal Kingdom, Halt and Catch Fire) joins Lyle and Nickerson as executive producer and showrunning partner. Produced for SHOWTIME by studio Entertainment One (eOne), Karyn Kusama (Destroyer, Girlfight) executive produces and directed the pilot. Drew Comins of Creative Engine also serves as executive producer. The premiere of YELLOWJACKETS has been seen by over 4 million viewers across platforms to date. Season one of YELLOWJACKETS, which received a Critics’ Choice nomination for ‘Best Drama Series,’ is currently airing Sunday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT and will finale on Sunday, January 16.

- The Hulu Original The Dropout premieres with three episodes on Thursday, March 3rd. New episodes stream weekly.  Money. Romance. Tragedy. Deception. Hulu’s limited series “The Dropout,” the story of Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) and Theranos is an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. How did the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye?  The series stars Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes and Naveen Andrews as Sunny Balwani.

- The residents of Letterkenny belong to one of three groups: the Hicks, the Skids, and the Hockey Players, who are constantly feuding with each other over seemingly trivial matters that often end with someone getting their ass kicked. In season 10, McMurray and Wayne do some dickering, the Hicks attend a sausage party, the Hockey Players and Skids have a video game battle, the men of Letterkenny receive head to toe physicals…and that’s just for starters, buddy.  LETTERKENNY Season Ten premieres on Hulu Sunday, December 26th.

- An all-star cast from the worlds of music, TV, film and comedy have come together to honor George Harrison in the first-ever official music video for his iconic hit song, “My Sweet Lord.” Directed by Lance Bangs, and executive produced by Dhani Harrison and David Zonshine, the video stars Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer as metaphysical special agents who are tasked by the head of a clandestine agency, played by Mark Hamill, to search for that which can’t be seen.  WATCH “MY SWEET LORD” VIDEO.  Along the way dozens of agents team up to look high and low for what may have been right in front of their face all along, mirroring the seeking nature of the song. More than forty musicians, actors, comedians, directors, artists and other creatives make appearances, ranging from Harrison’s friends and former band mates Ringo Starr and Jeff Lynne; to actors Darren Criss, Jon Hamm, Rosanna Arquette; musicians Joe Walsh, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Reggie Watts, comedians Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero, Patton Oswalt; comedy duos Tim and Eric (Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim) and Garfunkel and Oates (Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome); and others like writer, actor, director Taika Waititi (“What We Do In The Shadows,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Thor”) and visual artist Shepard Fairey. The video also features Harrison’s wife Olivia Harrison and their son Dhani Harrison, who appear in scenes with actress Aimee Mullins and actor Rupert Friend, respectively.

- Illumination, Universal Pictures and Republic Records release the Sing 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, out now. It accompanies the eagerly awaited new chapter in Illumination’s blockbuster animated franchise, Sing 2, which opens in US theaters on December 22, 2021.  Listen to the Sing 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack — HERE.  The soundtrack features three original works – U2’s “Your Song Saved My Life,” Sam i feat. Anitta, BIA & Jarina De Marco on “Suéltate,”, and a record from Adam Buxton with Fancy Feelings feat. DSCOSTU entitled “Tippy Toes”. The soundtrack also features a special Sing 2 Mix of the record “Soy Yo” by Bomba Estéro as well as a cover of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” from Keke Palmer ft. Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Reese Witherspoon & Tori Kelly.

- Three-time EMMY® Award winner Bo Burnham has released the long-awaited physical editions of his chart-dominating critically acclaimed album, INSIDE (The Songs). The CD and vinyl are available in stores nationwide today. It is available at major retailers while a limited-edition yellow vinyl can be found exclusively at Target.  Inside (The Songs) is available at all DSPS through IMPERIAL, a division of Republic Records — Listen HERE.  Bo Burnham has also released his official Inside merchandise, available now at boburnham.store.

 

- Famed comedian Gary Owen returns to SHOWTIME for his fifth stand-up comedy special, GARY OWEN: BLACK FAMOUS, premiering Friday, December 31 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. In the hour-long special, filmed in his hometown of Cincinnati at the Memorial Hall OTR, Owen hilariously embraces his new life as a divorcé following a very public and messy end to his marriage. Unable to diffuse rumors until now, Owen airs some of his dirty laundry and continues to dazzle viewers with more of his beloved real-life stories. But as Owen likes to say, this one ends with a “big twist!”  To watch and share a trailer from GARY OWEN: BLACK FAMOUS go to: https://youtu.be/YuvjgrDdNhY.

- After six supercharged seasons, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC mark the end of an epic era with the final installment of the action-packed series with the release of Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season on Blu-ray & DVD March 8, 2022. Fans can purchase the sets which, in addition to all 20 super-powered episodes from season six, also contains an all-new featurette and deleted scenes. Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season is priced to own at $24.98 SRP for the DVD ($29.98 in Canada) and $29.98 SRP for the Blu-ray ($39.99 in Canada), which includes a Digital Copy (U.S. only). Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season on is also available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers.  Supergirl: The Complete Series will also be available, containing all 126 exhilarating episodes from the phenomenal series, as well as countless hours of bonus features from all six epic, not-to-be-missed seasons. Supergirl: The Complete Series is priced to own on DVD for $119.99 SRP ($134.99 in Canada), and on Blu-ray for $134.99 SRP ($154.99 in Canada), representing a substantial savings over purchasing all six seasons individually.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 12, 2021

 

Dexter: New Blood:  Holy Angel Batista sighting.  I was not expecting anyone for the original show to show up except the three that were already in the main cast.  I wonder if anyone else will pop up.  Granted, who is still alive?  Masuka and Quinn.  Then there is also Eshter and Cody.  I wonder is Harrison is lying about Hannah.  I also rolled my eyes when Angela gears started going when Batista mention Harrison’s name as that is not a common name.  Though it does makes sense for her to look Dexter up after her kid mentioned that Harrison mentioned that Jim was not actually Jim.  But does she confront her?

 

And Dexter is getting sloppy after so much time without a kill.  First he went after the guy when the police had just as much information as him not thinking they would check out the same diner.  Then he enters the dude’s house then puts on the gloves.  He better hope the police buy his staged overdose and not dust that window for prints.  But how exactly did he get the guy clothed and take down the kill room in time?  Dexter talked about remembering the Code, but he forgot the first rule, only go after people the law could not get.  The police had both guys seemly dead to rights.  Let the law run its course.  Then go after them if they do not get them.

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  I actually saw the news of Kim Dicken returning to the show while watching the show and assumed that was a spoiler that Madison would have a cameo in this episode.  Thinking she would be at Padre.  Except she never popped up.  I guess she was the big surprise guest they hyped for Talking Dead and was also the big announcement.

 

Except Alicia never got to Padre because she absurdly thought the zombie Senator would lead her there.   Oh, and she got bit by said zombie and cut off her arm, but may not have cut it off in time.  Didn’t they already do the Schrödinger’s Cat with Alicia thinking she may have been infected?  C’mon, girl’s just got an infection, no one takes that long to turn into a zombie.  Just get some antibiotics.  But it turns out she is not sick enough to declare war on Strand.  I wonder if Madison is already in the compound or if Alicia eventually finds Padre with Madison inside.

 

Yellowjackets:  I am a big fan of karma, but boy, mocking someone for not knowing if the safety is on or off and then accidentally shooting yourself in the face because you forgot to put the safety on is even a bit much by karma standards.   But my favorite part of the episode was, when all the other girls were wearing athleisure wear that they brought to a soccer tournament, for no apparent reason, Jackie brought along an argyle sweater and was wearing it around the Canadian wilderness.  For this week’s Misty psycho watch, it certainly seems like she trip coach on purpose after she was the only one to raise her hand to cut the deer’s throat but the coach still picked someone else.

 

But finally things start to tie into the past with Taissa and Shauna after meeting in the first episode about the postcards and never talking about it after.  The former was haunted by woodland animals while the latter was actually sees Jackie (in her argyle sweater) and says something very ominous when relating to their time in wilderness.

 

 The Walking Dead: World Beyond:   Pretty blah finale, Huck redeemed herself with a suicide mission, so did her husband.  Evil chick got a promotion.  The outpost just moved into a mall.  Oh… and then then there was the end credits scene.  Apparently there are fast moving, 21 Days Later type variants in Europe.  What!?!

 

Hawkeye:  Well that was a letdown.  We were left with the cliffhanger of Jack putting Clint’s own Ronan sword to his throat only for that to be diffused very quickly.  I was interested with what Kate’s mom talking about Black Widow being able to be killed.  What exactly does the world know about what happened to Black Widow.  We know she was not killed, but sacrificed herself.  Black Widow’s own sister seems to be easily convinced that Clint killed her.  Is it not commonly known that Black Widow scarified herself to get an Infinity Stone that brought back half of them?

 

Survivor:  When DeShawn talked about his truth bomb, I thought he was going to throw Danny under the bus as multi-millionaire football player who would not need the money.  Instead, he bizarrely blew up Erika’s game which was not going to help him in the moment.  But it will lead to an interesting dynamic going back to camp with DeShawn still in the game and Heather now knowing her closest ally planned on dumping her before Final Tribal.  But with so few people left and Ricard still having the largest target on his back, the truth bomb may not change unless Ricard wins the next Immunity Challenge.  After that, it is fire.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: How do you get the easiest puzzle quickly and not get the simplest at all?  Tori even gave Emmanuel the cheat code of put five in the middle.  But pretty convenient for Tori to get the strength elimination and Devin to get the brains one.  It would have been interesting had those been flipped.

 

So now we are back to teams with TJ saying you do not want to be on the losing team.  Would he really cut half the finalists in one swoop?  It seems more likely that the losing team will have to go into the area with only two moving on.  This could lead to Nany vs. Kacey or CT vs. Devin could be a Johnny backpack situation, all I know is I do not care who wins at this point.  I am tired of everyone left at this point.  Nineteen ninety minute episodes is just way too much (which does not even count the likely two reunion shows that will follow).

 

The Challenge: All-Stars: Oh Tina, so entertaining, but you cannot just flame out like that even if there was no way you are beating Melinda.  At least go half speed.  Casey at least tried multiple times even though this challenge severely disadvantaged the vertically challenged.  But like I brought up last week, these two alliances that have formed still leave out half the cast.  What exactly are those people thinking?  And at what point do the burn votes of Tyler and Casey end up actually get voted in?  If I were those two, I would be a little worried.

 

Guilty Party:  So that was it?  Beth and an escaped convict are just going to travel to Wyoming together to hunt down the real killer with possibly a dead person in the back of the van?

 

Big Sky:  If Tonya went to the ranch alone, why did she exit the passenger’s seat?  What a weird continuity error.  And am I supposed to know who the kid of the weird dude was?  I was drawing a black at that reveal.

 

The Blacklist:  I know there was a time jump, but they aged Agnes up way too much to the point it is a little distracting as I spent too much trying to figure out how old she is compared to how old she should be.

Around the Tubes: December 11, 2021

    

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting.  This post includes blurbs on The Expanse, Benee, John Mellencamp, Don’t Look Up, Licorice Pizza, Paul McCartney and Wings, Cat Stevens, and The Hating Game.

- The Expanse season 6 episode 1 available now.  The sixth and final season of The Expanse picks up with the solar system at war, as Marco Inaros and his Free Navy continue to launch devastating asteroid attacks on Earth and Mars. As the tensions of war and shared loss threaten to pull the crew of the Rocinante apart, Chrisjen Avasarala makes a bold move and sends former Martian Marine Bobbie Draper on a secret mission that could turn the tide of the conflict. Meanwhile, in the Belt, Drummer and what’s left of her family are on the run after betraying Marco. And on a distant planet beyond the Rings, a new power begins to rise.  Series stars Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Cara Gee, Frankie Adams, Keon Alexander, Nadine Nicole, and Jasai Chase Owens reunite for the most epic season yet.

- New Zealand’s platinum sensation BENEE unveils the official video for her latest single “Doesn’t Matter” today—watch HERE. Co-directed by BENEE and New Zealand actress and director Aidee Walker, the cinematic visual co-stars BENEE, her guitarist Tiare Kelly, and her pup TUI. The lulling production underscores pensive moments, as the lyrics detail her struggles with mental health and OCD diagnosis. The video brings these feelings to life in artful and eloquent fashion, standing out as BENEE’s most confessional statement yet.

- John Mellencamp’s highly anticipated new album Strictly A One-Eyed Jack is set for release January 21 on Republic Records. Pre-order for the LP begins today HERE.  Listen to new album track “Chasing Rainbows” HERE and watch the official lyric video HERE.  The album features the previously released Bruce Springsteen duet “Wasted Days” (watch the official music video HERE) which continues to receive widespread critical acclaim:

- Republic Records releases Don’t Look Up (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film), listen HERE.  The soundtrack includes “Just Look Up” featuring Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi, who star in the film—and perform the song—as pop music power couple Riley Bina and DJ Chello.  The “Just Look Up (Full Performance from ‘Don't Look Up’)” premiered today, watch it HERE. Brand-new track “Second Nature,” performed and co-written by Bon Iver, is also released today with the soundtrack. Listen to “Second Nature” HERE.

- Republic Records announces the release of the limited edition first pressing vinyl for Licorice Pizza Original Motion Picture Soundtrack out now. It is also joined by a limited-edition red vinyl which can be found at select indie retailers today.  Experience the Licorice Pizza Original Motion Picture Soundtrack—HERE and limited edition first pressing vinyl HERE.  The album accompanies the new film from eight-time Academy Award®-nominated writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson which opened in select New York and Los Angeles Theaters on November 26^th and will open across the country on Christmas Day December 25^th, 2021 via United Artists Releasing.

- Marking this week's 50th anniversary of the December 7, 1971 release of Paul McCartney and Wings' Wild Life, UMe announces the February 4, 2022 reissue of Wings' debut LP as a limited edition half-speed mastered vinyl pressing. Pre-Order the 50^th Anniversary Limited Edition of Wild Life HERE.  Following the eclectic charm and intimacy of 1970's solo McCartney and 1971's homespun lo-fi indie-pop progenitor RAM credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, Wild Life found Paul once again redefining his post-Beatles creative identity, this time beginning his tenure as a founding member of Wings. A rollicking left turn from its predecessors, Wild Life was recorded in barely more than a week, with more than half of the songs captured in a single take. The end result would be eight songs running the gamut from joyous freewheeling jams to proto-chamber pop to spare introspective musings — all bristling with a raw, jagged energy akin to the grungiest of garage bands—whether on the careening blues-rock rave-up of opener "Mumbo," a reggae-tinged reimagining of Mickey & Sylvia's "Love Is Strange," or the plaintive and heart wrenching ballad "Dear Friend."

-  Fifty years since its release, the original motion picture soundtrack for Hal Ashby’s 1971 classic cult film “Harold and Maude,” made up exclusively of songs by Cat Stevens, will be released on February 11^th, 2022 in new 180g 1LP / 1CD / Digital release formats via A&M/Cat-O-Log/UMe. The new edition of the soundtrack will combine Cat Stevens’ nine original songs, as well as dialogue from the film, for the first time.  Hal Ashby’s 1971 film about the unlikely friendship-turned-love story of suicidal teenager Harold Chasen (played by Bud Cort) and 79-year-old free spirit Maude (played by Ruth Gordon) is now widely praised as a bona fide cult classic. Filled with dark humor and existential drama, the film represents the potentially glorious benefits that can arise from a balanced partnership between conservative pragmatism and colorful free-spirited idealism. It reveals the deep lying synergy that exists between seemingly opposing views and how, when united, they can flourish to their mutual advantage.

- Today alongside the release of the highly anticipated film The Hating Game, Republic Records and Federal Films releases The Hating Game (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Based on the best-selling book by Sally Thorne, The Hating Game stars Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell and is out now in select theaters and everywhere On Demand and Digital.  LISTEN TO THE HATING GAME (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) HERE.  WATCH THE HATING GAME TRAILER HERE.  The 11-song soundtrack features new music by artists Angelina Jordan, Astrid S & Dagny, bülow, Claire Rosinkranz, and Joy Oladokun, alongside fan favorite tracks by BENEE, Jeremy Zucker & Chelsea Cutler, Lyn Lapid, and more.