Category: Viral

The penultimate Succession episode included some surprisingly reaffirming moments involving seating arrangements, and it also revealed Roman Roy to be, well, human. “Roman the Showman,” as he referred to himself, ended up emotionally collapsing while eulogizing his father, Logan. It’s a monumental death that we as an audience have had time to grieve, but the funeral only occurred mere days after the character’s actual demise in Succession time.

For his part, Roman believed that his “pre-grieving” was sufficient until he found himself in live-audience mode. And so, we went from an episode where Roman went from joking about having sex with Shiv (“it it mine?”) to having a breakdown in front of the world. It was the rarest of emotional displays with Kendall and Shiv meeting him at the pulpit while Roman heartbrokenly sobbed, “Is he in there? Well, can we get him out?” This was a gut punch, alright, and Kieran Culkin completely sold the scene.

As it turns out, Kieran “didn’t rehearse” that scene, and he does believe that his character’s “razzle dazzle” plan fell apart partially because of what he’d heard his Uncle Ewan declare only moments beforehand. Here’s what Kieran told writer Julie Miller of Vanity Fair when she posed that question:

I imagine part of the breakdown is a reaction to hearing his Uncle Ewan’s [James Cromwell] eulogy, where he learns some pretty traumatic truths about Logan’s childhood.

I remember thinking it could be connected to that, and specifically not wanting to read Ewan’s speech in the script. I didn’t want to know what he was going to say. Roman had a plan to go up and razzle dazzle [the mourners]. And Ewan interrupts–and [the unraveling] starts from the frustration of something not being part of the plan, and then continues with him being pretty devastated by the stuff [Ewan] was saying. It was a good jumping-off point because now it’s like, “Oh, I’ve got to follow that.” I just felt very lost. We didn’t rehearse it and I really did not want to rehearse it–even on the couch the night before. I just kind of looked at the lines vaguely and went, “I don’t want to look at this. I don’t want to plan or think about how this is gonna happen.” Which was also terrifying, because I don’t know that I can do that stuff.

Kieran is also pretty sure that “the first take” of the breakdown is what materialized for the episode in the end. And rehearsal or not, it’s no wonder that fans are calling for him to receive an Emmy right now.

HBO’s ‘Succession’ airs on Sunday nights at 9:00pm EST.

(Via Vanity Fair)

About ten months ago, Maggie Rogers released Surrender, her highly anticipated second album. Surrender is still a relatively fresh release, but Rogers apparently had more to say, because she’s already finished recording her third album.

Rogers shared a gallery on Instagram yesterday (May 21) and wrote, “that’s a wrap on LP3 !!!! [star emoji] [butterfly emoji] written + recorded + off to mixing. so so so in love with these songs and cannot wait to start playing them for you this summer.”

The photos show she was recording at the famed Electric Lady Studios in New York, with Ian Fitchuk and Konrad Snyder. There’s no word yet on when the album is set to come out, but it seems to be just about ready.

Speaking of Rogers getting on stage this summer, she announced her Summer Of ’23 Tour last month. She’s been hearing about all the drama with Ticketmaster fees and issues, so she took a different approach with selling tickets. She explained, “in an effort to eliminate bots and lower fees — i’m going analog. come buy a ticket like it’s 1965. i’ll be in person selling tix at music hall of williamsburg tomorrow for the forest hills show. see you there !” Other venues also offered in-person ticket sales.

Most NBA players are very well coached when it comes to doing media and not saying things that are too inflammatory in interviews and press conferences.

Gabe Vincent is among them, as the Heat guard joined the Inside the NBA crew after Miami’s dominant Game 3 win to discuss what went right and what their mindset will be going into Game 4. However, unlike most press conference rooms or interviews with a reporter, when you bring cliches and coach speak to the TNT desk, you’re liable to get called out for it, which happened to Vincent in a hilarious way that even had him chuckling on Sunday night.

Vincent was trying to do the right thing by talking about how the Celtics would show up and fight in Game 3, noting they’re “well-coached” and are “not gonna lay down.” Charles Barkley had to stop him in his tracks and ask if he watched Game 3, in which the Celtics quit in the third quarter and had their reserves in by the time the fourth quarter started and they were down 30.

There truly is only one show that this kind of interaction will happen, because while a lot of us would think it, only Chuck would say it out loud with the guy right there — and get that kind of reaction. Vincent was doing his best to say all the right things, but Barkley wasn’t going to let him flat out lie about the Celtics’ effort after that particular game where it was clear that was a team very willing to lay down in certain situations.

After two losses in their own building, the Celtics went on the road to Miami needing a win in Game 3 on Sunday night to give themselves a chance in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat.

Instead of showing up with the desperation they needed to, they put forth their worst performance of the postseason, getting run out of the building in a 128-102 loss. It was as dispiriting a game as you’ll see from a team in a must-win setting, as their stars never got going, no one else could step up to consistently make shots, and their defensive effort continues to leave plenty to be desired.

Things totally got away from Boston in the third quarter, when Miami took a 15-point halftime lead and doubled it thanks to an onslaught on both ends that included Jimmy Butler trolling the Celtics by mocking Al Horford’s timeout taunt from Game 1. By the fourth quarter, the starters had been pulled down 30 and were left to try and figure out what went wrong on the bench. Plenty of people called the Celtics out for quitting, including Stan Van Gundy on the broadcast, but Boston’s performance was so bad that even one of their greatest rivals, Magic Johnson, was disgusted by what he saw, saying fans should be furious and saying major changes need to be on the horizon.

There’s something very funny about Magic being this disappointed in a Celtics team, considering you’d expect him to revel in watching the franchise he went toe-to-toe with so many times being in the dumps. Instead, he’s frustrated like fans are watching Boston no-show a must-win game. Magic’s Lakers are in the same 3-0 hole as the Celtics, but they were at least competitive in Game 3 until the fourth quarter onslaught from Nikola Jokic and Denver broke the game open. Boston looked far closer to a “1-2-3 Cancun!” moment in Game 3, and they’re down so bad their fans are getting pity from Magic.

Game 3 in Miami was a must-win for the Boston Celtics after dropping both games at home to the Heat to fall into a 2-0 hole in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Despite being in a desperation situation, the Celtics came out flat and promptly got run out of the building by the Heat. Miami’s defense stifled Boston’s stars — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 26 points on 12-of-35 shooting — and the Heat continued their terrific shooting from long-range to build a 15-point lead at halftime. Things would not improve for Boston in the third quarter, as Miami would double that advantage as they outscored the Celtics 32-17 after halftime to open up a 30-point advantage.

Early in the third, there was a sequence that saw Bam Adebayo finish a nasty alley-oop over Grant Williams followed by a Gabe Vincent pull-up three that pushed Miami’s lead to 23, prompting an early Boston timeout.

As the Celtics retreated to their bench, dejected, Jimmy Butler took the opportunity to troll them (and specifically Al Horford) by taking a knee and doing the timeout symbol, just as Horford did after a three in Game 1.

It’s sensational stuff, as Butler mimic’s Horford’s taunt perfectly and it’s made even more painful given Horford did it in what became a loss for Boston and it still came back to bite him two games later. The funniest part is that the Heat were hit with a technical foul for taunting after the timeout, but it wasn’t Butler who earned it. Instead, Max Strus was apparently talking so much trash to the Celtics bench in the midst of a blowout that the refs had to step in and hit him with a T, which is maybe a low point in Celtics franchise history.

Last week’s Succession Report Card from Brian Grubb passed judgment upon the Roy siblings’ subpar showing while the election night stressed out the audience, and this week, it was time for Logan’s funeral. This will make it possible for him to turn in his grave in the future, but he may have actually been turning in his coffin at his funeral — because of the seating arrangements of his ladies past and present.

Oh sure, Roman also gave us a rare display of emotion by actually beginning the grieving process during the funeral, but first, Caroline did an unexpected thing by inviting Kerry up to the front row. Then Kerry was seated next to Marcia, who actually (and quite warmly) clutched her hand in support. With all of the viciousness that frequently goes on display in this show, it was a rare sight to see “water under the bridge” from anyone, let alone these characters. HBO even saw fit to showcase the moment on Twitter during the episode.

In fact, people couldn’t believe they were seeing Marcia, Caroline, Kerry, and Sally together in the front row. “God, Logan would hate this” couldn’t have been more accurate, and people loved to see it.

One more episode to go, and we’ll see who ends up in charge of the joint.

HBO’s ‘Succession’ airs on Sunday nights at 9:00pm EST.

The college softball postseason got under way this past week, with Regionals coming to an end on Sunday. In Baton Rouge, where 10-seed LSU was hosting, disaster struck for the home team as they lost back-to-back games against Louisiana with a chance to advance to the Super Regionals.

After Louisiana won the opener on Sunday 7-4, the two teams met again in a winner take all matchup, where the two teams traded leads with the Tigers holding an 8-7 advantage heading into the 7th (and final) inning. After getting their first two batters on base, Louisiana used a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position with one out. LSU tried to get a double play back in order by intentionally walking the next batter. Unfortunately, they could not deliver the pitch out, with the ball ending up going over the inside corner for a strike, but getting by the catcher allowing the runner from third to score and tie the game — and the runner on second to advance to third.

Then, again, LSU tried to issue an intentional walk to set up a double play and again threw the ball over the plate, with Jourdyn Campbell roping a line drive into right center for a single that scored the go-ahead (and ultimately, game-winning) run.

It’s hard to imagine a more devastating way to have your season end, as LSU was two outs away from the Supers only to see a pair of botched intentional walks lead to the game-tying and game-winning runs for the other team. For the Ragin’ Cajuns, it was an incredible job of taking advantage of mistakes, both as baserunners and hitters, but for the Tigers it will be really hard to move on from this one.

One of the best stories of the week at Oak Hill Country Club has been the play of Michael Block, one of the 20 PGA club professionals in the field at the 2023 PGA Championship.

Block shot 70 on each of the first three days of the tournament to arrive at Sunday’s final round at even par, putting him T10 entering the final round where he found himself paired with Rory McIlroy. Block has become a legend in Rochester with his play over the course of the week, and that only grew on Sunday afternoon as he stepped onto the 15th tee and took aim at the par 3. Block fired a 7-iron directly at the pin and flew the ball into the cup, dunking home an ace that sent the crowd into a frenzy and had Block stunned on the tee.

“Rory, did it go in?!” is a sensational line, as he seemed to think he was getting pranked by everyone going nuts.

It’s an all-time moment at the PGA Championship, where club pros rarely find themselves making the cut, much less near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday. For Block, who was two-over on his final round coming into the 15th, it wasn’t just the moment of his career, but it also pushed him back to even for the championship and into a tie for 14th — with a top-15 finish guaranteeing him a spot in next year’s PGA Championship.

When he first appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s second season, Spike, the charming but nefarious British vampire, was an instant sensation. What was supposed to be a quickie gig for actor James Marsters turned into a long-term job he held over two separate TV shows, spanning some seven years. But if it was up to Marsters, he would have fired him pretty quickly.

In an interview with Radio Times (as caught by Entertainment Weekly), Marsters argues that by introducing another fun vampire, on top of David Boreanaz’s Angel, it changed fan perspectives about the show’s portrayl of vampires.

“I mean, the whole thing is, how do we get this guy on without having him ruin the theme? If it had been me producing that show, I would have killed Spike off in a heartbeat,” Marsters said while celebrating the 20th anniversary of Buffy’s series finale. “As soon as the audience said, ‘Oh, we want him. Oh, have him with Buffy. Oh, we love that character.’ Like, uh-uh. He’s ruining the whole thing. I would have killed me off after probably three episodes.”

Marsters added, “I’m kind of a bastard when I’m producing! I’m heartless! So I’m very lucky that they had more imagination and courage than I would have shown, frankly.”

During the chat, Marsters said that, from his perspective, the writers “never really knew what to do” with Spike. “The original idea for Buffy was that vampires were just metaphors for the challenges of high school, or the challenges of life,” Marsters said. “They were designed to be overcome; they were designed to die. Buffy is not an Anne Rice kind of thing, where you’re supposed to feel for the vampires. It’s why we’re hideously ugly when we bite someone. They did not want that to be a sensual kind of thing. It was supposed to be horrific.”

Marsters concludes that making Spike a major character was always “a weird fit,” adding, “They were always, like, coming to me at the beginning of every season saying, ‘We don’t know what to do with you!’” he recalled. “‘We have a plan for the season, we have a plan for all the other characters, we have all the arcs of all the other characters, we just don’t know what to do with you again.’”

(Via EW)

Foo Fighters’ quest to find a new drummer has come to an end. On Sunday, May 21, during their pre-tour live stream, Foo Fighters: Preparing Music For Concerts, the band shared the news that Josh Freese is their new live drummer.

After the tragic death of the group’s beloved drummer, Taylor Hawkins, fans of the band were interested to see how the Foo Fighters would adjust. Back in March, there was talk that Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron would step up to the plate. Alas, he quickly shot down the rumor. However, now that it has been revealed that Freese would be joining the musicians as their live drummer, this seems like a much better fit.

Jokingly nicknamed the “King Of Replacements” by some music fans, Freese has a history of stepping in for fellow rockers. In the past, he’s played with the Vandals, Devo, Nine Inch Nails, and Sting, to name a few.

After releasing a comedic skit featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, Tool’s Danny Carey, and Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe, supporters were surprised to find that the position was ultimately filled by Freese.

The band’s calendar is filled to the brim with tour dates and music festival appearances around the world.