Thursday, June 6, 2019 – Edition: #6467
Sheet For Brains!
BS SHOW BIZ BUZZ:
★ Jussie Smollett will NOT be returning to “Empire.” After “Variety” posted a story saying the writer’s room of the show was preparing for Smollett’s return for the second half of the final season, show co-creator Lee Daniels emphatically shot the report down, tweeting: “This is not factual. Jussie will NOT be returning to Empire.” Smollett’s status on the show had been up in the air ever since he was accused of faking an attack on himself earlier this year. He was charged over the incident but the charges were ultimately dropped.
-TheBlast
★ “Jeopardy!” is not messing around when it comes to the leaked video that prematurely revealed that James Holzhauer’s reign on the game show would come to an end on Monday’s episode. Executive producer Harry Friedman told the Washington Post, that while he “can’t say at this point” who released the footage that featured Holzhauer being beaten by Emma Boettcher after a 32-game winning streak, the “Jeopardy!” producers believe they “know where and who and how” and they plan to take “very, very, very appropriate” against the responsible party.
(Sounds like “double-jeopardy” for somebody!)
-TheWrap
★ Machine Gun Kelly has joined Judd Apatow’s latest comedy about Pete Davidson’s life. The rapper and actor, whose real name is Colson Baker, will have an unknown role in the untitled semi-autobiographical film revolving around Davidson, which is set for release next June. Davidson grew up in Staten Island, New York City, and lost his firefighter father in the September 11 Twin Towers terror attack when he was just seven. The comedian has previously admitted that the death of his father has greatly influenced his stand-up routines – which he started at the age of 16.
-ContactMusic
★ A “Punky Brewster” revival is in development, and Soleil Moon Frye is returning to star in it! Moon Frye will reprise her original role from the 1980s NBC sitcom, playing the main character — but now, she’s a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets a young girl who reminds her a lot of her younger self.
-TheWrap
TODAY’S SHOW BIZ SKED:
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC/Global): Taron Egerton, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Specials (R)
• “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC/CTV): Alexander Skarsgård, Sebastian Stan, Fontaines D.C. (R)
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS/Global): Mindy Kaling, Seth Green
• “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC/CTV): John Lithgow, Beanie Feldstein, Julian Castro, Sebastian Thomson (R)
• “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS/CTV): Cole Sprouse, Dan Levy, the Jonas Brothers (R)
• “Conan” (TBS): Dana Carvey
• “Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo): Karlie Kloss, Christian Siriano (R)
• “The View” (ABC/CTV): RuPaul
• “The Talk” (CBS): Zachary Quinto, guest co-host Jameela Jamil
• “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC/CTV): Vanessa Williams, MJ Rodriguez, the winner of “Masterchef Junior”
• “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (NBC/CTV): Eric Stonestreet, Dan Levy, Pink, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples
• “The Cold Blue” (HBO): WWII aerial combat documentary featured recently uncovered and restored color footage originally shot by William Wyler (on actual combat missions) in 1943 for his film “The Memphis Belle”.
• “Hero Ink” (A&E): Premiers. The star of Live PD & PD Cam Sean “Sticks” Larkin drops by Prison Break Tattoos to get an inspiring message permanently inked on his chest by Houston firefighter Robbie.
• “Stanley Cup Final” (CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS): St. Louis Blues at Boston Bruins in game 5
BS MUSIC NOTES:
• Billie Eilish – is seeking therapy to overcome her fear of water. The 17-year-old says she is “Happy to put tarantulas in my mouth and tubes in my eyes,” but “flipped” when she put her head in a bag of water for the music video for her hit ‘Bad Guy’.
• Drake — Showtime has picked up a documentary that he executive-produced. “Ready for War” explores the plight of veterans in their post-military life, including PTSD, drug abuse and crime convictions.
• George Michael – details of his will have just been released, more than two years after his death. Though he left behind a $124 million fortune, he didn’t leave anything to his partner Fadi Fawaz or ex-partner Kenny Goss. He split the majority of his estate, including his two London homes, between his sisters Yioda and Melanie.
• Christina Aguilera — is working on a new, authentic Latin album. She says that although she grew up in a home where her parents spoke Spanish, she “never fully learned it” herself. She plans to work with musicians from the Latin world “who just eat, sleep and breathe it, and live it, and learn from them.”
• Madonna — will perform at the Pride Island festival, which is part of World Pride in New York City, on June 30. She’s long been an advocate for the LGBTQ community and ahead of the release of her upcoming album “Madame X”, she announced the new song, ‘I Rise’, which she wrote for ”all marginalized people”.
• Rolling Stones – “The Quiet One”, a documentary about former bassist Bill Wyman, has been given a release date. It will hit theaters June 21. It’s described as “a first-hand journey through Wyman’s extraordinary experiences,” featuring an extensive number of personal videos, photos and journal entries.
• Skid Row – Former singer Sebastian Bach has announced plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the group’s self-titled debut album by performing it in its entirety during shows on his upcoming U.S. tour. Released in January 1989, Skid Row’s self-titled effort sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. alone, with the singles ‘18 And Life’, ‘Youth Gone Wild’ and ‘I Remember You’ earning heavy rotation on MTV.
• Ty Herndon – has released a re-recorded version of his debut single ‘What Mattered Most’ to celebrate Pride Month. In the new version, the pronouns are altered to be LGBTQ-appropriate. The original was a #1 hit for Herndon in 1995, when he was still many years away from coming out.
• Kelsea Ballerini and Thomas Rhett — have been tapped to host the CMA Fest television special for the third consecutive year. They’ll be joined by multi-media host Bobby Bones for this year’s event. Performers will include Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and more. CMA Fest will air on Sunday, Aug. 4.
99 WORK PROBLEMS, BUT A BEACH AIN’T ONE:
A growing number of companies are now…get ready for it…actually helping pay for their staff members’ vacations. It’s the newest way of combating a few problems: For one, many employees don’t use up all of their vacation time, and for another, having a perk like that goes a long way when it comes to hiring and retaining good employees in a tight labor market. Most companies involved in the program offer a 50 per cent match on people’s contributions into their vacation funds, capped at anywhere between $10 and $100 per pay period. In some cases, employers match their workers’ travel savings dollar for dollar. Other employers create a flat-rate use-it-or-lose-it annual travel fund for their employees, where the worker has the option of jetting off with perhaps a $5,000 travel voucher, or leaving it on the table if they don’t take advantage of it by the end of the year.
(Sounds nice, but I’d still be a bit worried if my boss was paying me to go away!)
(If that ever becomes a thing here, do not, and I mean DO NOT tell my kids!)
(I’ve never understood people who don’t use all of their vacation time. I mean, at the very least use it up by leaving early on Fridays and showing up late on Mondays…because you probably do anyway!)
-CBC
FARMYARD TALES:
Scientists think that a healthy fat hidden in common dirt might be a valuable weapon in fending off anxiety disorders. Researchers have long theorized that there are microbes in soil and the environment which humans derive health benefits from. Now, University of Colorado researchers say they have discovered this “special sauce” as they call it, which is a soil bacterium that they say could be used to treat stress-related disorders. The theory they are working on is that as humans have moved away from an agricultural or hunter-gatherer existence into cities, we’ve lost contact with certain organisms which served to regulate our immune system, and that mental health is also impacted by this move. Although this is just one strain of one type of bacterium found in the soil, researchers think that there could be millions of other strains that have evolved to keep humans healthy over the years. They hope that one day this discovery can be used to develop a “stress-vaccine” to treat certain mental health issues.
(NOW how do you feel about yelling at your kids coming home dirty?)
(They’re going to make a vaccine out of mud? Hogwash!)
(I’m not so sure about a stress-vaccine. Because 90% of the stress in my life happens when I have to get a needle!)
-NeuroScienceNews
WORDS THAT WERE NAMED AFTER PEOPLE:
☞ Sandwich: Around 1762, the English nobleman John Montagu was sitting at the gambling table when he began to feel a bit peckish. But he didn’t want to leave the table, or gamble with greasy fingers. So, he had a servant place some meat between two pieces of bread. Montagu’s title? The Earl of Sandwich.
☞ Boycott: Captain Charles C. Boycott was NOT some revolutionary union leader or political rights activist. He was the object of protests, a landlord known for demanding unfair rents and evicting those who couldn’t pay. People decided to shun both Boycott and anyone who worked for him.
☞ Decibel: Believe it or not, it is named after a guy you’ve heard of. The engineers at Bell Telephone Laboratory named a level of sound “bel” after their company’s founder, Alexander Graham Bell. Today, the word coined to mean ‘one-tenth’ (deci-) of a bel is the most commonly-used measurement of sound.
☞ Nicotine: 1500s French diplomat Jean Nicot was an ambassador to Portugal. He brought tobacco plant seeds back to Paris, where snuff became all the rage. More than 200 years later, tobacco was given its scientific name: Nicotiana.
☞ Shrapnel: Henry Shrapnel dedicated nearly two decades of his life to the development of a better way to blow people up. What did he come up with? The “shrapnel shell”.
☞ Silhouette: Soon after 18th century French minister of finance Étienne de Silhouette developed a reputation as a cheapskate, people started referring to being frugal or penny-pinching as “a la Silhouette” (“like Silhouette does”). That included the much more “economical” form of portraiture.
☞ Dunce (and Dunce Cap): John Duns Scotus was one of the most intelligent thinkers of his generation. He was a theologian who made many bold claims on a wide range of subjects. The problem? In the 16th century, about two and a half centuries after his death, his ideas began falling out of favor and those who still believed them were derided as “Dunsmen” or “Duns.” The hat? Scotus was known to wear a pointy hat, and so did many of his followers.
-Curiosity
DID YOU KNOW?
Nike may have mistakenly revealed where NBA superstar Kevin Durant will be playing next season. Nike, which uses Durant as a spokesperson, is currently selling a shirt that lists all the cities in which Durant has played, with each being crossed off as his chapter in each city ends. The last city? It’s neither New York nor Los Angeles, both rumored destinations for the free agent, but San Francisco, which is where Durant’s Warriors are moving to from Oakland for next season. That has led many observers to believe that Nike knows something that the rest of us do not.
-BroBible
BS CHRONOMETER 06.06.19
TODAY’S CELEBIRTHDAYS . . .
1947 [72] Robert Englund, Glendale, CA, movie actor (‘Freddy Krueger’ in “A Nightmare on Elm Street”)
1952 [67] Harvey Fierstein, Brooklyn NY, Broadway actor (Tony Award-“Hairspray”)/ playwright (“Torch Song Trilogy”)/movie actor (“Mrs Doubtfire”)
1956 [63] Björn Borg, Stockholm, Sweden, retired tennis player (former #1 ranked player, 11-time Grand Slam winner, first to win six French Open singles titles)
1959 [60] Colin Quinn, Brooklyn NY, actor (“Trainwreck”, “A Night at the Roxbury”, “Saturday Night Live” 1995-2000)
1960 [59] Steve Vai, Long Island NY, guitarist (Whitesnake, David Lee Roth, Frank Zappa, solo artist – ‘The Audience is Listening’)
1967 [52] Paul Giamatti, New Haven CT, movie actor (“Cinderella Man”, “Sideways”)/TV actor (“John Adams”) COMING UP…”Jungle Cruise”, 2020
1974 [45] Uncle Kracker (Matthew Shafer), Mount Clemens MI, country/rock/rap vocalist (‘Follow Me’, ‘Drift Away’)/former Kid Rock “turntablist”
1978 [41] Jeremy Gara, Ottawa ON, indie rock drummer (Arcade Fire-‘Reflektor’, ‘Keep the Car Running’)
2007 [12] Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, Santa Monica CA, TV actress (‘Lily Tucker-Pritchett’ on “Modern Family” since 2011)
TODAY’S BS REASONS TO PARTY . . .
• “D-Day”, the 75th anniversary of 1944’s “Operation Overlord” invasion of Europe by Allied Expeditionary Forces during WW2. Before dawn, over 2,700 ships of every description converge on Normandy carrying 2-million tons of war materials and 155,000 troops. The password for the operation: ‘Mickey Mouse’.
• “Drive-in Movie Day”, commemorating the opening of the 1st ‘drive-in’ 86 years ago (1933) in Camden, NJ. It cost 25 cents per person or a buck-a-car to see “Wife Beware”.
• “Gardening Exercise Day”, a day to get out and workout with your plants. Don’t laugh… if you’ve ever helped a gardener for an afternoon, you know what hard work it is.
• “Atheists Pride Day”, promoting the civil rights of atheists, the separation of state and church, and devoted to providing information about atheism.
• “Yo-Yo Day”, observed on the birth anniversary of Donald Duncan (1892-1971), the businessman who first mass-marketed the wildly popular invention in the West during the 1930s. According to legend, the yo-yo was invented in the Philippines centuries ago … as a weapon.
COMING UP . . .
[Fri] Daniel Boone Day
[Fri] June Bug Day
[Sat] Best Friends Day
[Sat] Name Your Poison Day
THIS DAY IN SHOW BIZ . . .
1998 [21] “Sex and the City” premieres, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon
TODAY’S MUSIC EVENT . . .
2001 [18] Saying he doesn’t have time to drive them anymore, Elton John auctions off 20 of his cars for a total of $2.75 million
2012 [07] Adam Clayton’s former personal assistant and housekeeper goes on trial, accused of stealing about $3 million from the U2 bass player
TODAY’S FIRSTS . . .
2012 [07] A solar plane called ‘The Solar Impulse’ lands in Morocco after completing the world’s first intercontinental flight powered by the Sun
2018 [01] A special pedestrian lane for slow-walking smartphone users is introduced in Xi’an, China
TODAY’S RECORD . . .
1992 [27] A pyramid of 45 members of an Indian Army motorcycle team rides 8 motorcycles 874 yards at Bangalore, India for a new Guinness World Record
BULL’S BITS
BS WHACK FACTS:
✓ UPS trucks get about 15,000 parking tickets a month in New York City.
✓ Nail biting has been associated with a better immune system because of the exposure to germs that causes your body to build antibodies for.
✓ Queen Victoria survived at least 7 assassination attempts.
✓ Octopus blood is blue.
✓ Facebook runs on 61 million lines of code. That’s more than twice the amount needed for an F-35 fighter jet.
✓ In 2006, CNN listed Mark Zuckerberg and the founder of Netflix among the “10 People Who Don’t Matter.”
-WhattheFFacts
BS DEEP THOUGHTS WHILE UNDERWATER:
• I’m the king of the…Oh, wait…
• This is a terrible time for me to remember that I can’t swim.
• (***Caution***) Finally! Peace and quiet. <whale sound> Dammit!
• I wonder how much flood insurance costs.
• Man! Bad time to have hiccups.
• How can I have a deep thought if I’m at the shallow end?
• How the heck does SpongeBob cook burgers down here?
• At least I officially know that my phone isn’t waterproof.
• I should’ve paid my bookie.
• Aren’t ALL thoughts deep when you’re underwater?
-Twitter
BS UNLIKELY SEINFELD PLOTS:
• The one where George is happy about everything.
• The one where Elaine gets to dance with the Rockettes.
• The one where Jerry and the gang spend the day volunteering, ya know, just to give something back.
• The one where they go to a Red Sox game.
• The one where Kramer gets run over by comedians in a car getting coffee.
• The one where Festivus poles are selected as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things.
• There one where Jerry was actually happy to see Newman and they went out for beers.
• The one where they all decide to let the small stuff go and have no complaints.
• The one where everybody gets soup!
• The one that was actually about something.
-Twitter, first published in ‘BS’ in 2018
BS PHONE STARTER:
What is the oddest summer job that you ever had?
BS RANDOM JOKE:
What is my relationship deal breaker? Being broken up with.
BS WATER COOLER QUESTION:
Question: 40% of men wish their wife would do THIS, but don’t have the guts to ask. What is it?
Answer: Clean their hair out of the shower drain
BS DEEP THOUGHT:
The greater our knowledge increases, the more our ignorance unfolds.