If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Desus And Mero: A quarantine edition features illustrious guest Tracee Ellis Ross.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon: Beastie Boys Mike D and King Ad-Rock pop onto the show, along with Anna Kendrick and Dan White.

Devs (FX on Hulu) — Forest and Katie are antsy for the full Devs project completion while Kenton’s determined to look out for Number One and no one else.

Station 19 (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) — A fire in a storage facility plagues the crew while Dr. Jackson Avery stops in for a visit.

Superstore (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) — Cheyenne’s 21st birthday leads to conflict with Mateo, and Glenn’s playing matchmaker for Jerry and Sandra to no one’s delight.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC, 8:30 p.m.) — The squad’s in competition with each other for who’s the biggest genius of the bunch.

Man With A Plan (CBS, 8:30 p.m.) — Adam’s determined to not lie to Andi anymore, but Joe steps up to squash that plan. Uh-oh.

Will & Grace (NBC, 9:00 p.m.) — The I Love Lucy-themed episode that fans have probably anticipated for decades finally arrives. Essentially, everyone wants to be Lucy.

Better Things (FX, 10:00 p.m.) — Sam’s visiting the weed store while ice cream is the name of the game for Frankie and Sam.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Don Cheadle, Regina Hall, Phoebe Bridgers

Late Night With Seth Meyers: Jane Fonda

Conan: Jon Meacham

A Little Later With Lilly Singh: Abby Elliott, Adam Pally

We are a full month into the NBA’s hiatus and technically this column counts as a new measurement of time now. Some other new rules: NBA players making sandwiches count as sports and it is brave to cover it, no one needs a haircut ever again, and pretty much anything counts as self-care.

But earnestly, it’s pretty comforting to see superhuman athletes dealing with a lot of the same things as us normal people (albeit in nicer, more expansive home environments). Getting over the first strange few weeks and figuring out new routines, managing anxieties, missing their friends and family, trying to stay active and productive in whatever way makes sense in the moment. In any case, we’re rolling into the second month of this, it’s bound to get weirder, and I’m grateful to have you along.

Kyrie Irving

Hark! A comforting celestial sign from the cerebral king himself, Kyrie. We didn’t get much other than a couple sparkle emojis, a triangle and an eye (= The Eye of Providence), but the more concerning thing would be if there was a supermoon and we didn’t hear from Irving, so rest easy.

Rating: Do you think Kyrie hears Werewolves of London or Harvest Moon in his head when he looks up at full moons, or do you think he hears the inseparability of clarity and emptiness?

Jimmy Butler

“Wow,” I can hear you saying, unimpressed and not meaning a sincere exclamation of surprise at all, “We’re reporting on sandwiches that Jimmy Butler eats now?”

You know what? Yes, yes we are. You’re eating grilled cheeses, Jimmy Butler is eating grilled cheeses, you probably aren’t tagging a food porn lifestyle account in yours, because your sandwich is functional and Butler’s is like, not something he can tell his friend Mark Wahlberg about, for example, but all that aside, the point is this period in time is highlighting our commonalities over our differences.

Rating: Sandwich wise? Pretty good. At least 4 slices of processed cheese on that thing. Bonus points for a little slice of an Ugg slipper sneaking in bottom left.

LeBron James

The rule when LeBron James catches up to a trend that you all know, thanks to this vital news source, was sweeping the league last week, and he does it while also making a pretty bad dad joke, is that we still have to be happy for him. Because then he graces us with a photo of a glass of rosé balanced atop his knee, staring out at a dad’s universal pride and joy, the yard.

Rating: I also just think, that in this economy, none of us can afford not to be happy for LeBron James.

Luka Doncic

Doncic set us up for the long con this week. First he posted a TBT of times with a little more freedom of movement, wind whipping in his and his little dog’s haircuts as they squinted their eyes out toward open waters. A little later in the week he graced us again with his face, now quite unkempt, in a public poll on whether he should shave or not. For everyone who thought or voted “Shave” can I just ask you honestly, have you never heard of Tyson Chandler?

Rating: Let the big dog hunt! And by that I mean let the little face hairs grow out.

Jordan Clarkson

Continuity is nice in unsettling times. Like creating a new routine, even if you know it’s temporary, to give yourself something to lean on. Another constant you can lean on is that Jordan Clarkson continues to be a mostly topless ray of pure beaming light. This week, Clarkson caved in like so many and got TikTok, but unlike those many, he is pretty good at it. The guy loves to dance! And he loves to do antics.

Rating: Stay safe and shirtless, Jordan.

Mike Conley

Hugely wholesome alert. Here’s Conley and one of his very cute sons lying on the floor together. Have you tried this recently? Lying on the floor? Honestly Mike Conley and I cannot recommend it enough.

Rating: Happy? Lie on the floor. Sad? Lie on the floor. Ate too many non-Jimmy Butler grilled cheeses? Lie on the floor.

Kelly Oubre Jr.

Oubre Jr. coming in not hot, but perfectly temperate, ensconced in — count ‘em — four different kinds of fabric. This is a great time to reinvest in naps and Oubre Jr. is here to show you the kind of home squirrel nest you are capable of.

Rating: An NBA All-Nap bracket might actually be a nice thing to normalize the fact that most people are tired all the time because we’re all having trouble sleeping these days, right?

Kevin Love

Love has been going heavy on the movie nights and diligently sharing what cinematic delights he’s indulging in. He started with the classics, some Brando, some Criterion, but then veered wildly to what I can only guess is an homage to the cowboy vacation he took last summer, or else a fast-forward ahead to a preview of what Love will look like taking the court around Labor Day.

Rating: Legends of the Early Fall NBA Finals

Andre Drummond

Hair woes are a big worry this week. For professional basketball players who leave no part of their physical appearance unkempt and also for you, who used to remember to get a haircut when an acquaintance asked if you were “Trying something new”. The good news, for Drummond, is that he looks great, and also the domain ineedahaircut.com is still available.

Rating: A website that puts your hair on Andre Drummond’s head, just a free and generous idea.

Dwyane Wade

I don’t know why, but I’m finding it very comforting to check in on NBA retirees right now. Maybe because they are leaning more indulgently into their creature comforts than their active contemporaries, or maybe because they have sort of already adjusted to longer stretches at home and their habits are already well worn? Whatever the reason, let this video of Dwyane Wade admitting sweets are his “worst enemy” and then going ahead and making red velvet deep-fried Oreos in his sweats take you to a place that you usually only get to after a week long silent meditation retreat.

Rating: They do not look appetizing!

Serge Ibaka

Running out of ideas on how to showcase his many, many talents in quarantine (examples include loading a dishwasher and making a single cup of tea), Ibaka has decided to now be the judge of other people’s genius by hosting a live talent show. The first show was set to be this week, but crashed Instagram’s live capabilities. A new format is in the works, Ibaka has promised.

Rating: No idea how you top everything Serge has done but here for the effort.

Paul Millsap

YES there is ostensibly a lot of self-isolation time left for the league and YES it’s not at all fair yet to determine even potential nominees for NBA SIW MVP but what happens when a whole other column might need to get made just to round up what Paul Millsap is doing during his?! Here we have health and wellness, attempting a new hobby, getting your decompression time in AND personalized robes.

Rating: This is Paul Millsap’s Self-Isolation Watch now.

Aaron Gordon

Whether in front of a blank canvas, a hunk of clay or marble, an artist spends their most vital years in isolation, willing themselves to be a worthy conduit. Aaron Gordon is the latest to enter these hallowed ranks of enigma.

Rating: ‘The rose is real/really dead’, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, rose, glue

Tim Hardaway Jr.

A beautiful and soothing storyline continues this week, as the manatees returned to Tim Hardaway Jr.’s backyard. This time, he took the nozzle off his garden hose and dangled it right down into the turquoise waters, letting the manatee have a drink. Manatees drink freshwater, did you know that? I learned that from Tim Hardaway Jr., basically.

Rating: Remember what I wrote earlier about establishing new habits for yourself? Still important, but important to be honest that they won’t be better than this.

DeAndre Bembry

Bembry went and got some gas, safely.

Rating: You know what he probably also did? Disposed of his gloves in the proper trash receptacle, which apparently people are not doing. Don’t throw gloves in the street, dummy!

Josh Hart

Hart finished a puzzle that probably cost the same as the 1,000 piece landscape one you have your eye on, jacked right up on Amazon.

Rating: Do you think Josh Hart is the kind of person who craft glues the pieces together, to keep always?

Wayne Ellington

Happy to report, all’s still well in Wayne’s World. This week his dog jumped up to give him a nice hug and a polite kiss.

Rating: This one version of Wayne’s World where there can’t be enough sequels.

Buddy Hield

This has been Buddy Hield for immune boosting.

Rating: This has also been Buddy Hield against scurvy.

Rudy Gay

This has been Rudy Gay for looking good in hats.

Rating: This has also been Rudy Gay gently assuring you that it might not be your time in hats.

Lou Williams

Ok this requires a picture painted, so allow me my brushes (words). Williams did a video showing a wide, slow sweep of his backyard pool and was softly sort of singing the question on all of our minds, “Can you get the rona in the pool?”

Rating: This is a Fauci first, Self-ISO second kind of situation (the Self-ISO answer is only go in pools if they are yours and you are alone!)

Kyle Kuzma

Kuz and Snoh are a cute little dream team we didn’t know we needed,but we really, really needed. The maybe husky puppy continues to be very cute, and has found a new hobby in yanking Kuzma’s socks off as he watches TV.

Rating: Pedis are out, puppies accidentally ripping your toenails off are in.

Frank Ntilikina

Good to see Frankie Smokes getting some fresh air.

Rating: Embracing the great outdoors and the great ‘fits possible within them.

Malcolm Miller

Miller got his dog, North, a toy that sounds like a small animal wailing for help.

Rating: She loved it! Which was sort of the problem.

Iman Shumpert

Shump took a spin on a hovertrax after dark, with ground effects for prestige and safety.

Rating: He ripped.

Trae Young

Trae is a very earnest, very nice seeming guy. So much so that he got a new phone and gave out the number over Instagram, because he wanted to give fans a way to stay connected with him. There’s even a fire crackling in the background of this heartening chat, which is probably what he threw that new phone into when it exploded with incoming texts from 2.7 million people.

Rating: “Kind eyes, good intentioned hearts, can occasionally make mislaid plans” – alternate Friday Night Lights chant

Larry Nance Jr.

Nance has an “igloo” in his backyard, it’s kind of like a very miniature geodesic sphere without Spaceship Earth siding, so that the tender night can come in and keep you company. He went in there to drink wine, eat pizza and watch Grey’s Anatomy this week, which is all any of us could really wish for.

Rating: Fire up those geodesic spheres if you got ‘em.

Patrick Patterson

Patrick Patterson made literal the saying “snail’s pace”, by watching a pair of snails slime around on his patio.

Rating: The speed of snails and experience of watching them is the same I get watching Patterson play basketball. You can’t even be mad at the joke he set it right up for me.

Enes Kanter

Enes awoke his inner child this week. He made some kind of gigantic cookie dough omelette (the final step was topping all of that with another tube of cookie dough) and found a child’s swing set on which to swing.

Rating: I know I’ve previously said there’s no wrong way to spend a pandemic but that doesn’t mean there aren’t better ways.

Oshae Brissett

Raptors two-way guy, Oshae Brissett, spends a lot of time studying his teammates. He does this because, as I’m sure you’ve heard, they all genuinely like each other, but also because he has a lot of time to spend, well, watching them. Lucky for us, though, because he really got their asses.

Rating: If you watch this enough times it makes you feel excited that a game is about to start, and then you realize Brissett got your ass, too.

Nassir Little, Gary Trent Jr., Caleb Swanigan, Anfernee Simons, Wenyen Gabriel

The Blazers performance coach, Ben Kenyon, had five of the guys do some Zoom yoga. Swanigan looks the most chill of them all, but then that is the evolutionary purpose of tie-dye.

Rating: How much longer until we all turn on Zoom?

SPECIAL ADDITION: PAUL PIERCE’S PLACE

This might become a regular feature, because checking in on Paul Pierce will always make you feel better whether he is making you mad or happy to be in a different place than him. This week Pierce spent a lot of time in his pool, where we also found him last week. First, he was out there enjoying a wine (glassless?) and a shisha,

Then, he exposed the merits of staying smart through all this, something he is tackling by staying in his pool as much as possible.

BONUS: OTHER TRENDS!

Toosie Slide was big and a big reprieve this week. Giving a lot of guy’s what I get the feeling was more than a few hours mastering the steps, some with more flourish than others.

Julius Randle’s was pretty good, very comfortable in matching sweat suits:

Millsap’s was, as we have come to expect from him, very demure:

Probably the best for overall energy and flair, though, was Jordan Clarkson’s:

As the global box office basically shuttered in early March, Birds of Prey became one of the first titles to break the 90-day video-on-demand release window in an effort to recoup losses. The Harley Quinn sequel hit VOD on March 24 after being in theaters for just six weeks. Normally, this would only make the film available for digital purchase until four weeks later when the rental period kicks in. But, once again, Birds of Prey is shattering conventions.

According to /Film, Birds of Prey is already available for the digital rental price of $5.99 just two weeks after its VOD release. Unfortunately, this surprise move by Warner Bros. led to inaccurate reports that the title is available for purchase at the lower price, but that is not the case. However, that doesn’t change the potential paradigm shift in how soon audiences can rent hot new releases:

The real story here is that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has broken the traditional VOD rental window. For awhile now, major studio movies become available for digital purchase a couple weeks before they hit Blu-ray and DVD, but they’re not available for rental at that time. It’s when a movie is released on Blu-ray and DVD that a movie becomes available for digital rental. But in this case, with the Blu-ray and DVD release of Birds of Prey slated for May 12, the movie is hitting VOD rental over a month early.

As IndieWire notes, this move has rocketed Birds of Prey to #1 on iTunes, but movie studios could be “playing with fire,” considering audiences were never quick to jump on the $19.99 purchase price for VOD releases. If studios begin to signal that they’ll shorten the rental window, there’s a good chance that cash-strapped audiences might just wait for the cheaper price. Then again, the dramatic increase in digital rentals could be the shot in the arm that studios are looking for while movie theaters sit empty.

(Via /Film, IndieWire)

After The Weeknd called Usher’s 2012 hit “Climax” a “Weeknd song” in a Variety profile, Usher himself checked in with his #ClimaxChallenge on social media, teasingly responding with a passive-aggressive, acapella rendition of his own song on social media. Now, Usher’s “Climax” collaborator Diplo is chiming in with his own take on the “controversy,” giving The Weeknd himself the perfect springboard to address the fan backlash.

The producer admitted that The Weeknd was indeed an inspiration for his work on Usher’s standout. “The production on ‘Climax’ lends itself to House Of Balloons era The Weeknd,” he tweeted. “When I heard those early records they blew my mind — soulful in their silences, and a spacey iconic voice that felt uniquely internet. The idea of R&B having dark edges was what I wanted to bring to Usher, one of my favorite voices of all time.” He also noted that “It was a song that always had a crescendo but never felt like it reached the peak” and compared it to how “some relationships never make it to where you want them but for a moment it could feel like ecstasy.”
.

The Weeknd used the opportunity to make his statement, posting a screenshot to Instagram and adding, “Of course media blows everything out of proportion and takes things out of context. Usher is a king and always an inspiration so it was flattering to hear what him and Diplo did on ‘Climax.’”

Check out Diplo and The Weeknd’s responses above.

Justin Timberlake has been in the limelight ever since appearing as a child actor in Mickey Mouse Club. Of course, the singer is also known for his illustrious career in music as a member of the iconic boyband NSYNC before going on to have a successful solo career after the band’s dissolution. He continues creating music today, with the singer writing and producing the soundtrack to the upcoming Trolls World Tour movie. He’s made a lot of music, and in a recent interview, Timberlake ranked his solo albums from most to least favorite, which is more candid than a lot of artists tend to get about their work.

On Complex’s spicy series Hot Ones, Justin Timberlake chatted with host Sean Evans about his favorite Memphis dining spots, the first time he ever heard the instrumentals to “Cry Me A River,” his iconic “D*ck In A Box” SNL sketch, and, of course, his own music. Wincing through the pain of his spicy chicken wings, Timberlake was asked to rank his albums, and although he said doing is difficult for a number of reasons, but did it after summarizing each album:

“That’s hard to do for a lot of different reasons. […] You try to do something different every time you put a record out, explore a different sound… a different sauce, if you will. Justified was my debut coming out of a boy group, [and I wanted to] to explore my own sound. […] FutureSex/LoveSounds, that album happened because I wanted so badly to make an R&B album. With Justified, I was young and naive and got all up in my feelings because it was under the pop album category. […] And then [The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience — 2 Of 2] was really an exploration of how expansive can we make the music, and then Man Of The Woods [is] my most familial album. A lot of people don’t know this, but my son’s name, Silas, means ‘of the forest” or ‘of the woods,’ so it more or less was a dedication to him.”

Ultimately, he ranked FutureSex/LoveSounds as his favorite, then Justified second, The 20/20 Experience third, Man Of The Woods fourth, and The 20/20 Experience — 2 Of 2 last.

Watch the full interview here.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the most prominent members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, praised the LGBT community for their “incredible courage and dignity and strength and activism” during the HIV/AIDS epidemic at a White House press briefing on Tuesday.

That wouldn’t be big news under normal circumstances, but he did so under the watchful eye of Vice President Mike Pence.

---

Mike Pence has supported numerous anti-LGBT laws throughout his political career. As governor of Indiana, he signed a “religious freedom” law that allowed business owners to discriminate against LGBT customers.

He’s also supported legislation that would jail same-sex couples for applying for a marriage license and tried to use AIDS funding to pay for gay conversion therapy.

He even complained about the passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill saying that it advanced a “radical social agenda” and would have “a chilling effect on religious expression, from the pulpits, in our temples, in our mosques and in our churches.”

Fauci’s comments came as he discussed how African-Americans have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

“When you’re in the middle of a crisis like we are now with the coronavirus, it really does have ultimately shine a very bright light on some of the real weaknesses and foibles in our society,” he said.

He made a comparison to how the AIDS epidemic affected the LGBT community back in the ’80s and ’90s.

“During that time, there was extraordinary stigma, particularly against the gay community,” Fauci said as Pence looked on.

“And it was only when the world realized how the gay community responded to this outbreak with incredible courage and dignity and strength and activism — I think that really changed some of the stigma against the gay community, very much so, “Fauci continued.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is often cited as a catalyst for the modern gay rights movement.

UC Newsroom / Twitter

“HIV-AIDS changed public perceptions a lot: It showed a more humane side of the community,” says Ed Jackson, director of program development at Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange. “It also galvanized gay men into being more active and more visible. It brought people out of the closet.”

When it comes to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Fauci definitely knows what he’s talking about. Dr. Fauci has advised six presidents on HIV/AIDS was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives throughout the developing world.

This isn’t the first time that Mike Pence has had to listen to people criticizing homophobia. Last year, Leo Varadkar, the openly-gay President of Ireland took a direct shot at Pence at the Vice Presidential residence in Washington, D.C.

Leo Varadkar said that he should be “judged by my political actions, not by my sexual orientation” because he’s from a “country where freedom and liberty are cherished.” He also challenged Pence’s faith by saying, “We are, after all, all God’s children.”

In a White House briefing last week, Dr. Deborah Birx praised the states of Washington and California for their comparatively successful efforts to “flatten the curve” in the coronavirus pandemic.

“We really do appreciate the work of the citizens of California and Washington state, because we do see that their curve is different,” she said. “Their curve is different from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — and we really believe that the work that every citizen is doing in those states is making a difference.”

This video of Seattle under lockdown shows what those efforts look like. Having visited Seattle countless times, I can attest that these drone-filmed scenes are a stark and haunting contrast to the normal hustle and bustle of the city.

---

Downtown Seattle is Battling COVID-19

youtu.be

Washingtonians following social distancing rules appears to be working. Washington, which began as the initial U.S. hotspot in the outbreak, has steadily moved down the list of states with the most confirmed cases to its current place at number 12.

The fact that The Evergreen State had an early alarm with an outbreak in an elderly care facility and a government that moved swiftly to enact mitigation measures likely helped it avoid the exponential explosion seen in some other states. But no doubt these empty streets, markets, and normal tourist hotspots in downtown Seattle show how seriously citizens are taking the pandemic—and serve as example to the rest of the country.

---

View Entire Post ›

Previously on the Ins and Outs of AEW Dynamite: Chris Jericho wore leather pants in a hot tub, offered a tiny t-shirt in exchange for support from a drone, and then made a bunch of cute little dogs chase after it when it turned him down. Wrestling’s great.

If you’d like to keep up with this column and its thinly veiled Best and Worst format, you can keep tabs on the Ins and Outs of AEW Dynamite tag page. I’m also recapping Dark, which you can keep up with here, and you can keep track of all things All Elite here.

Follow With Spandex on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow me on Twitter, where everything and everyone is terrible.

And now, the Ins and Outs of All Elite Wrestling Dynamite for April 8, 2020.

All In: Jericho And Skee-a-Vone, World’s Greatest Announce Team

Before I say anything about this episode, I want to echo the sentiments of … I’m pretty sure every living human who watched it and say that Chris Jericho is delightful on color commentary, has undeniable chemistry with Tony Schiavone, and makes everything he talks over more enjoyable. Somehow the guy’s able to shit on the wrestlers he wants to shit on, but organically find ways to explain why they’re great at what they do, and how and why you should be enjoying it. It’s the experience of a guy who’s done everything you can do in wrestling, every way you can do it, everyWHERE you can do it.

I’m not advocating for the AEW announce team to be out of a job or anything, but when it’s finally time for Jericho to leave his tiller hat and pleather trenchcoat in the ring, he should immediately get a job in somebody’s announce booth. This was so good I’m going to be a little non-plussed every time the announce team isn’t this.

All In: Murderous Mohawk, And Marko Stunt In Context

Firstly, I want to applaud AEW for taking a second to have Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts put Marko Stunt’s match against Lance Archer last week into the proper context. I’ve read a lot of criticism about the pairing from fans and old jerky veterans alike, and Jake explained it succinctly: nobody wanted the match, and Marko thought he could be brave and seize an opportunity no one else was willing to take. He also makes sure to call Marko a fool, because Marko’s straight-up a fool, but it adds some in-universe reasoning as to why this giant guy’s first opponent was the smallest guy on the roster. All you’ve gotta do is take a second to address stuff like this, and what otherwise looks like lazy or careless production becomes plot.

Anyway, Lance Archer opens the show by sending poor Alan Angels to live with the rest of the angels. Pequeño Akuma never had much of a chance. Also, shout-out to “Alan Eagleson” for being the latest in a legacy of Chris Jericho’s character not bothering to learn somebody’s name, and saying it a little differently every time.

All In: Eletion

Speaking of Jericho, he gets invited to the Hardy Compound to face Damascus, or whoever, in the Elite Deletion. In lieu of just transcribing the entire thing, Hardy declares Sammy Guevara a FALSE GOD~ for not knowing Spanish, looks forward to eating Santana and Ortiz because he “loves Puerto Rican food” (his wife is Puerto Rican, which makes it funny AND gross), accurately compares Jake Hager to Frankenstein’s monster, and teams up with his sentient flying camera to make a literal “dumpster fire” out of the Inner Circle t-shirt. Remember when WWE did this character and all the did for like three months was laugh weird? What the hell were they thinking?

All In: Pandemic Etiquette For Submission Holds During A Nosebleed

Match of the night without a doubt goes to Dr. Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida, who managed to turn a general, lingering beef and a brief aside about a sandwich into 17 minutes of intense, hard-hitting, competitive action. Shida’s starting to hit her stride in AEW, and Baker’s in-ring work finally appears to be catching up to how great her character’s been. This ruled.

My favorite moment, because it has to be, is the attempt at Baker’s Lockjaw. Her nose starts bleeding PROFUSELY during the match thanks to what WOR says is a deviated septum, like the one Lars has in Heavyweights. But she fights through the mess and locks in the Rings of Saturn, and has Shida dead to rights for the Lockjaw. Only (1) this is gross, and (2) she doesn’t want to go jamming her hand into somebody’s mouth during a viral outbreak, so she demands that the referee give her one of his gloves. By the time she gets it and gets it halfway on her hand, Emma style, Shida’s able to reverse.

So good.

Eventually Shida’s able to chain some moves together and win with a running knee strike, which Baker later blames on having lost, “half her blood.” This is definitely a dark horse for best actual wrestling match done under quarantine so far. Somebody bring Britt a latte, damn.

All In: Ultimate Venom Arm

In also entertaining but in a very different way news, Kenny Omega and his BEST FRIEND Michael Nakazawa actually take on Best Friends in a tag team match for the rights to the name, “Best Friends.” First of all, you’re protesting too much. Secondly, can anyone do that? Can like, Luther and Mel challenge for that title and if they win, THEY are the best friends? Honestly, isn’t that what tag team wrestling is all about? A pissing contest to see who’s the best at getting along with another person?

I always like Kenny Omega matches more when I don’t have to take them so seriously. He and Naka-naka-nakazawa are a fun team because Nakazawa is clearly so far beneath Kenny’s level that Kenny has to basically piggyback him through the entire thing, and work within the structure of a jobber who can’t stop oiling himself up, going for the nuts, and putting his thong on his hand to rub it in people’s faces. Imagine if John Cena and Santino Marella had been permanent tag team partners. “Guy who wants to team up with his friend who sucks at this, but it’s his FRIEND” is a compelling tag team dynamic. It’s like when a star player sticks around on a bad franchise.

Best Friends win — the actual Best Friends, I mean … the ones who were calling themselves that already, I mean — by, get this, doing a wrestling move to Michael Nakazawa. Crazy, right? Should you try your finisher on the guy who can kick out of 16 Rainmakers in the Tokyo Dome and keep high-speed knee striking like he’s fresh as a daisy, or on his tag team partner who never wins and knows how to take off his panties without removing his shorts?

All In: T-N-Ten

This week’s main event is the first round in the “semi-finals” of the TNT Championship tournament between Cody and a guy who once turned Cody’s brains into Elmer’s glue, Shawn Spears. It’s the actual semi-finals round, by the way, I only put it in quotes because it seems weird to book a three round tournament and put “finals” in the name of the first round. That’s just a nomenclature pet peeve or mine, no shade on AEW or tournament structure in general.

Cody wins, of course, because he’s got a round two meeting with Darby Allin (unless something goes horribly wrong) and Lance Archer (because obviously) throughout the remainder of the tournament. Shawn Spears’ only ongoing storyline is that he keeps switching jobbers in and out trying to find the perfect tag team partner on Dark. You know those “use $15 to choose your perfect team” graphics that make the rounds on social media sometimes? Spears is trying to make his perfect team out of five $1 players. Also he gets pinned by a submission hold, because he’s Shawn Spears.

Cody’s got an interesting way of elevating his opponents, it seems, as they always try to step it up and do a better job (at least in kayfabe) when they’re against him. A guy like Spears will lose a Librarians-related match in like three minutes on Dark, but can go over 20 in a competitive one-on-one match and do table spots with the EVP. I think Cody’s just not interested in half-assing any matches he can avoid half-assing, because every match is an opportunity to put yourself and your opponent over, isn’t it? It’s a good idea to run this as the first match of the tournament as well, because the first match is a good indicator of how the rest of the tournament’s going to go. I don’t think anybody with less going for them than Archer should be kicking out of Double Cross Rhodes, though, even if they’re just doing it on instinct and are about to pass out in a leg lock.

Highlight: Tony Schiavone saying to look at the expression on Brandi Rhodes after Cody got lobbed through a table, and Jericho responding with, “LOOK AT THE EXPRESSION ON ME!”

Also On This Episode

After thoroughly explaining why his jobbers must wear TIES along with their low quality masks and henchman jumpsuits to give off an aura of POWER to strangers, “Mr.” Brodie Lee squashes Lee Johnson. You may remember Johnson from such films as the most recent episode of Dark, where wrestled his trainer and accidentally busted him open. I wonder if QT was then like, “I RECOMMEND LEE JOHNSON TO GET HIS ASS WHOOPED BY BRODIE.”

Who wins if Lance Archer faces Brodie Lee in a battle of Characters Like This? Is it like when Kevin Nash fought Wrath? Does one of them get punked out? Archer’s not gonna wear a tie.

Finally we get multiple Jake Hager vs. Jon Moxley video packages. Your mileage may vary on these, depending on how excited you are for a Jack Swagger match and how interested you are in Hager staring and speaking like he’s Luca Brasi trying to remember his lines, or Moxley trying out his profile pic for when he starts tweeting about far-right politics.

Really excited for Mox to hurry up and win that match so we don’t have to keep hearing Jake Hager talk. I also hope that Moxley and Renee Young’s first child is a masculine child.

All In: Top 10 Comments Of The Week

The Real Birdman

Tonight Nakazawa will be pouring hand sanitizer all over himself instead of baby oil

Clay Quartermain

The most amazing thing about Shida winning her last 7 matches is that none of them were non-title matches against the champion.

Mr. Bliss

I just want for one day, maybe even just 8 hours, damn I’ll take 4 hours but please, let Jericho follow me around for any amount of time and do commentary on my life and insult me and everyone I interact with. Is that too much to ask for?

Pdragon619

I don’t want to live in a world where Tony Schiavone knows what the word Hentai means

SexCauldron

Yeah Cody, you’ve got an albatross on your neck alright…

AddMayne

Hager has a cadence that implies that his wife’s brainwashed him

“When I started shaking babies & kissing hands, that’s when I became the Chris Jericho you see before you today”

5 stars

Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer

Pineapple Pete is the best crowd member since Shocked Lesnar fan.

Dave M J

I really love how the best solution to the issues with AEW’s women’s division is “let Hikaru Shida wrestle matches and have the other women hit her as hard as they can”

It’s a great solution.

AshBlue

I’d like Hager a lot more if he’d had to stop and try to figure out how to spell “Hager.”

That does it for this week’s column. Thanks for reading about Dynamite! If you’re able to leave us a comment below, give the column a share on social media, and make sure you’re back here next week. Oh, and make sure you’re reading about Dark, as it’s as close to the WWF Superstars column as we can get right now.

See you next Wednesday!

Most times, we prefer to sip our bourbon straight (or with a few ice cubes) rather than in any sort of cocktail. If you like to mix yours with cola, ginger ale, or seltzer water, go right ahead — you’ll find no whiskey snobbery here. But for us, bourbon is mostly a highball glass and rocks type of whiskey. Assuming you can track down and purchase exciting, interesting bottles, that is.

To find the “right” bottles, we asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us the best bourbons to drink straight when you’re stuck at home. They delivered with excellent picks — including some standards, and a few surprises.

Elijah Craig Small Batch

Miki Nikolic, beverage director at The Double Dealer in New Orleans

Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon is the best. It’s a smooth bourbon that’s sweet and carries notes of vanilla and oak. You also taste a cinnamon finish.

Jefferson’s Ocean Aged

Bryan Long, assistant director of Food & at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Palm Beach, Florida

The best bourbon for sipping is Jefferson’s Ocean Aged at Sea series. The bourbon is actually aged in barrels on a ship that sails around the world.

William Larue Weller

Mazzarie Parker, bar manager of Maypop Restaurant in New Orleans

William Larue Weller from Buffalo Trace Distillery. This is on the pricier side, but if I were to treat myself to a celebratory glass of bourbon to…. let’s say, celebrate the return to normalcy post-coronavirus, this is the one I want. It’s toasty, rich, full bodied, complex, and perfectly balanced. It’s everything you can ask for in a high-end bourbon.

Woodford Reserve

Zsolt Ducsai, food and beverage director at Serafina Beach Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Woodford Reserve. Excellent choice to have neat or using for a perfect Manhattan. This Kentucky Whiskey has spice and fruit notes as well.

Henry McKenna 10 Year Bottled in Bond

Jake Larowe, bar manager at Birds and Bees in Los Angeles

My go-to bottles at home are WL Weller Special Reserve and Henry McKenna 10 Year Bottled in Bond. When it comes to bourbon, expensive isn’t always better. There are a lot of amazing bottles available that come in at very affordable prices.

Angel’s Envy

Piero Procida, bartender at The London West Hollywood in Los Angeles

Angel’s Envy is smooth, sweet and creamy vanilla flavor are to die for. Earning 98 points from wine enthusiast, its incredible character is undeniable. The best part is, it’s not that expensive. The unique finishing of the bourbon in port wine barrels is what makes the flavors so easy to enjoy and easy to drink by itself.

Wiggly Bridge

Meg Barnes, general manager at The Tides Beach Club in Kennebunkport, Maine

I love Wiggly Bridge from York, Maine. It’s a very smooth whiskey. You could always use it to make a quick Manhattan or old fashioned. But, it’s perfect on its own. We also love that the distiller is a female.

Hudson Baby Bourbon

Joseph Palminteri, director of food and beverages at Via Sophia in Washington DC

Hudson Baby Bourbon. I first discovered Hudson Baby while living in NYC. Tuthilltown Spirits is New York’s first whiskey distillery since prohibition, distilling some of America’s most prized spirits here in the Hudson Valley, NY. When you take the Hudson New York Corn Whiskey and store it in a first-use charred American Oak barrel, out pops the Baby. The barrel aging process gives this spirit a light sweetness and deep amber color.

This 100% corn bourbon has a bright, defined taste and a warm finish with notes of marzipan and roasted corn. It’s a fabulous spirit to mix but I would argue it’s even better to sip

Blanton’s

Natalie Migliarini, the mixologist behind Beautiful Booze on Instagram

Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon. I have been sipping this bourbon for years. I love the caramel and citrus notes as well as the dry finish.

Four Roses Single Barrel

https://www.cinstagram.com/p/B87swnDnzFf/

Courtney Everett, bartender at O-Ku Sushi in Atlanta

Four Roses Single Barrel. I don’t typically drink bourbon, so this is hard, but at a bourbon festival I attended, I remember the flavor standing out. Being more complex, I would enjoy sipping on this as opposed to ordering something like Buffalo Trace in a mixed drink.

Eagle Rare

Josh Saphier, bartender at Eighteen36 in Houston

My favorite bourbon or as I call it “my daily drinker” is Eagle Rare by Buffalo Trace Distillery. It’s one of the few age stated bourbons out there sub $30. It’s 90 proof with adds a little more bite than your traditional 80 proof bourbons. It’s a single barrel that also allows for slightly varying profiles from bottle to bottle. Though I have never come across one I didn’t like.