Random Thoughts

joey con carne wrote:Agreed. Alec Baldwin needs to stop. He has been doing rounds of interviews.

Paramount+ has set a premiere date for South Park: Post Covid: Covid Returns, the second of 14 original television movies from series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Set to premiere on Thursday, Dec. 16, South Park: Post Covid: Covid Returns follows the Thanksgiving movie event South Park: Post Covid.

Paramount+’s description is as follows: “If Stan, Kyle and Cartman could just work together, they could go back in time to make sure Covid never happened and save Kenny’s life. In South Park: Post Covid: Covid Returns, traveling back to the past seems to be the easy answer until they meet Victor Chaos.”

The two 2021 television movie events are among the 14 original movies to come out of Parker and Stones’ major deal with Viacom CBS, which they inked in August. The duo is set to create two original South Park films every year through 2027. The deal also saw the renewal of South Park on Comedy Central through 2027.

In addition to the Post Covid movies, South Park released other pandemic-related titles including 2020’s South Park: Pandemic Special and The South ParQ Vaccination Special.

Parker, Stone, Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II are the Executive Producers of South Park. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are Producers. Chris Brion is the Creative Director of South Park Digital Studios.

Watch a teaser for the upcoming special above.

WyldeMan wrote:Earlier today, Jussie Smollett was found guilty on five of six felony charges from back when he faked his hate crime three years ago. He hasn't yet been sentenced and his lawyers are already planning the appeal but they found that sumbitch guilty and that's what matters.

Tyger wrote:Five of six? What was the sixth? I don’t care enough to look it up

WyldeMan wrote:
That's the amusing part, somehow he was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police but was acquitted on the sixth charge of lying to a detective who performed a follow-up months later. It's all the same shit so his lawyers immediately jumped on that point as their crown jewel in their appeal case.

But I read he's not even expected to serve time and will likely get away with community service and probation.

WyldeMan wrote:

Tyger wrote:Five of six? What was the sixth? I don’t care enough to look it up

That's the amusing part, somehow he was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police but was acquitted on the sixth charge of lying to a detective who performed a follow-up months later. It's all the same shit so his lawyers immediately jumped on that point as their crown jewel in their appeal case.

But I read he's not even expected to serve time and will likely get away with community service and probation.

WyldeMan wrote:Nobody here was anywhere near the any of the Tornado devastation were you? I don't believe any of us are near it but I tend to forget everything...

joey con carne wrote:Jussie hired two black guys to carry out this hoax when he should have hired two white guys. Cultural appropriation, yo. That's racist!

I hope he gets some jail time to make an example out of him but I'm betting he will just get a few hours of community service.

joey con carne wrote:Nowhere near the tornado stuff but a few weeks ago a couple of small tornados touched down on Long Island. I remember the sky getting really dark and then I look out the window and the wind was just going nuts. The next day I read about the small tornados. What I saw was a scary show of nature's force. I can't imagine how insanely scary those tornados were in Kentucky.

Jeff Garlin will not return to ABC’s The Goldbergs.

The actor, who had starred as patriarch Murray Goldberg on the ABC comedy from producers Sony Pictures Television for the past eight-plus seasons, has departed the series following an HR investigation that stemmed from multiple complaints about his behavior on the set of the 1980s-set series.

The cast and crew of The Goldbergs were informed of Garlin’s departure during production Wednesday, when a veteran producer told staff that the decision was a mutual one between Garlin and Sony. Garlin, who had been expected to continue filming the current ninth season, will no longer complete work on The Goldbergs. It’s unclear how his absence will be explained onscreen. Sources note Garlin was not expected to return for a potential 10th season of The Goldbergs, should ABC opt to renew the series for the 2022-23 broadcast cycle.

Reps for ABC, Sony TV and Garlin declined comment.

The news follows a Vanity Fair investigation into/interview with Garlin in which he addressed an alleged pattern of verbal and physical conduct that made staffers on the ABC series uncomfortable. “There has been an HR investigation on me the past three years. HR has come to me three years in a row for my behavior on set,” Garlin told Vanity Fair’s Maureen Ryan in a story published Dec. 3.

“[A]s a comedian, if somebody is offended by what I say, all I can say is, I’m sorry. OK? I have never physically come at anyone, for any reason, so that I find terribly confusing and untrue,” Garlin said in the story when informed of reports that staffers on The Goldbergs felt demeaned and disrespected by some of his language and physical actions.

Garlin was one of the original stars of The Goldbergs, which is currently in its ninth season on Disney-owned ABC. It’s unclear how the series will handle his departure after the actor previously told VF that he didn’t expect to be fired. At the time of the interview, only seven or eight episodes in the season were left to shoot. The actor also noted that he did not want to return to the series for its ninth season because of the HR complaints, but did so in part because the show truncated his shooting schedule.

The Goldbergs had been relatively free of controversy during its run. The series weathered sexual misconduct allegations around former recurring player Bryan Callen, who toplined ABC/Sony’s short-lived 1990s-set spinoff, Schooled. Callen has not appeared on The Goldbergs since the allegations came out in a July 2020 Los Angeles Times report. (Callen denied the allegations.)

The Goldbergs is a semiautobiographical comedy based on the childhood of series creator Adam F. Goldberg. Goldberg served as showrunner until season seven, when he moved his overall deal from Sony to Disney. Alex Barnow and Chris Bishop — who have been with series since its debut — have helmed the series since then and exec produce alongside Doug Robinson and star Wendi McLendon-Covey, among others. The cast includes Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, Hayley Orrantia and Sam Lerner. The comedy said a fond farewell to the late George Segal last season after the beloved actor’s death in March.

Sony, meanwhile, has also faced challenges this year around Jeopardy! and fired showrunner Mike Richards after he selected himself as the permanent host for the syndicated game show. Following a string of guest host “auditions,” Richards was announced as the late Alex Trebek’s replacement in August, after which press — including THR — reported on the discrimination lawsuits Richards was involved in during his time as executive producer on The Price Is Right. Other reports included the crude and offensive jokes he made during a short-lived podcast he hosted from 2013 to 2014. Richards filmed one day — a week’s worth of Jeopardy! episodes — before stepping down as host. Sony fired him as showrunner not long afterward.

joey con carne wrote:He's an integral character in The Goldbergs. I would hate it if they recast him because his demeanor and voice are perfect.

I really want to know what he said that made everyone so offended. One report I read said he used the word "vagina" a lot and referred to women with "offensive nicknames".

Can't even say vagina anymore. Jesus man. What happened to Americans? Americans used to be so badass. When did we (the royal we) become so freaking soft?

According to Deadline, Garlin was supposed to be on set Monday to film his last scenes but declined a mandated COVID test required to be on set. The show then opted to use a body double instead, and will superimpose Garlin’s face in post-production — a practice that supposedly has already been employed “a number of times” for Garlin for “various reasons.”

It remains unclear how Murray Goldberg’s absence will be addressed, but it’s worth noting that The Goldbergs initially had an 18-episode order for Season 9. Upon word of Garlin’s exit, Deadline is reporting that ABC has ordered four additional episodes, bringing Season 9’s total haul to 22 half-hours.

The abrupt nature of Garlin’s exit stemmed from a human resources investigation into multiple complaints about lewd language and unwarranted touching. According to one staffer, who spoke to Deadline on condition of anonymity over fear of retribution, Garlin was “extremely verbally and emotionally abusive.” Case in point: After Garlin found out that a camera assistant complained to HR about his repeated use of the word “vagina” on set, the actor reportedly approached the assistant, “placed his hands around her and kept saying ‘vagina’ in her face over and over again.”

Another alleged incident, as recalled by another unnamed eyewitness, involved Garlin berating a female stand-in and telling her to “get the f–k out of my way.” Garlin then turned to the woman’s husband, who is also a staffer on The Goldbergs, and said, “Tell your wife to get the f—k out of my way.”

joey con carne wrote:I saw two different articles and neither of them mentioned the things you quoted at the end there.

Aren't HR complaints supposed to be anonymous? That's kind of fucked up HR snitched and told him who was complaining. The whole thing about saying vagina in her face is just weird.

The last part about "get the out of my way" while it makes him an asshole, I've had bosses say worse to me. Not a big deal. Maybe I have thicker skin than most.

joey con carne wrote:Rich as hell making a ton of money doing a job 99.9999% of people can only dream about and he does that shit to get fired. I'll just say what I typically say: fuck them all. Except Tom Cruise. I love Tom Cruise.

joey con carne wrote:Confirmed, sir. Longmire is still available here in the US. Six seasons available on Netflix.

Added to my watchlist since you mentioned it.

Starting season 3 of Van Helsing today.

joey con carne wrote:Confirmed, sir. Longmire is still available here in the US. Six seasons available on Netflix.

Added to my watchlist since you mentioned it.

WyldeMan wrote:
Yup, Longmire is still showing for me too.

WyldeMan wrote:Amazon Prime's Wheel of Time is a massive chore to binge but I've struggled through the first two episodes.

I thought Wheel was supposed to be some incredible fantasy epic on the scale of GoT but outside of Rosamund Pike the entire cast is made up of absolute nobodies who just look like they must have been local hires and they are all so god damned unattractive, how can you have a fantasy show cast full of so many uggos?

I'm fairly certain this series was quite expensive but it sure as hell doesn't look or feel like it. I don't know if I'll bother with the rest of the season because it feels like a convoluted mess with barely coherent storylines and utterly forgettable characters on a LOTR type walking adventure running from what are basically just Orcs.

Is anybody familiar with the source material or tried this show?

joey con carne wrote:LOL you think the first two episodes are a grind. Thats what I thought about the first two chapters of the book! Bored me to tears I just stopped reading. Guess I will skip the show, too.

Rusty wrote:Son of a bitch. Turns out it left Netflix here last month, which makes no sense considering it was Netflix that saved the show from being cancelled and made the final 3 seasons.

This is why I will never truly commit to streaming. I've got seasons 1-3 on Blu. Time to go get the rest.

UltimateMarvel wrote:No, I'm not familiar. I didn't recognize anybody from the trailer except Pike either. She's too good to be on a show like this with unknown actors.

joey con carne wrote:Merry Christmas, you filthy animals.

Today is going to be spent watching movies and TV. All day. Like Calvin, I'll be on my couch with my eyes half-closed and mouth drooped open so I use the least amount of muscles in my face (and body) as possible as I rot my brain.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is having a very happy holiday as it is now officially the first movie of the pandemic-era to pass the $1B mark at the global box office. The worldwide gross through Sunday is $1.05B which makes this installment Sony’s No. 2 film of all time, behind only Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.13B). No Way Home is the No. 1 film of the year worldwide — and one of the only movies of the modern era to ever reach $1B without China. Simply amazing.

What’s more, the Jon Watts-directed Spider-Man: No Way Home got to the mark in just 12 days, ultimately crossing early today, making it the third-fastest ever, just behind Avengers: Infinity War (11 days) and Avengers: Endgame, which is the record holder, having done it in five.

WyldeMan wrote:I am really tired of this Christmas snow that still hasn't gone away because we've been stuck in the teens temp wise for days now. 8 inches of frozen impacted snow, everywhere I go. Just melt you great white bastard!!!!

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:I am really tired of this Christmas snow that still hasn't gone away because we've been stuck in the teens temp wise for days now. 8 inches of frozen impacted snow, everywhere I go. Just melt you great white bastard!!!!

Very opposite here on the east coast. 69 degrees in December and it felt like Spring and...I'm concerned.   I heard it was going to snow in California too. Very weird weather this year.

joey con carne wrote:Do you have a lot to shovel?

That’s the worst part about snowing. Clearing the sodewalk and driveway, I Almost tweaked my back one year. Two feet of snow sucks.