Pop Culture Rundown
Since I already sent out a newsletter on Sunday giving you a couple of Super Bowl alternatives, I'm following up with an abridged version of our regularly scheduled programming. On this Wednesday, enjoy a rundown of recent pop culture highlights:
RomComs Rise Again: The romantic comedy news just keeps on coming! On Tuesday, Billy Eichner announced that he'll be writing and starring in a romcom (under Judd Apatow's production banner, no less) about two men with commitment problems. Eichner will be the first out, gay man to write and star in a studio movie, and he took to Twitter to share his excitement, as the public (including Chrissy Teigen and Julianne Moore) rushed to share how excited they are to see him on the big screen.
Tell Me Something, Boy: After being snubbed for a best director nomination, Bradley Cooper decided to escape to Vegas and hang out with his new BFF, costar Lady Gaga. After much convincing, she got him to come on stage during her concert performance and sing their now iconic duet, Shallow. You can watch the full video, and once you do, best of luck trying to convince me that these two aren't in love.
Sitcom Sitch: ABC's Modern Family will come to an end after next year's 11th season. I have to be honest, I thought the current season was the final one so I was surprised to hear the announcement this week. In other half-hour comedy news, the cast of Parks and Recreation (including Rob Lowe and Chris Pratt) will reunite next month at the PaleyFest in Los Angeles.
I Can Do Better Than That (?): Later this year, the much anticipated Downton Abbey movie will hit theaters, reigniting everyone's love for dame Maggie Smith. Despite exciting audiences with an Instagram picture featuring some of his former cast mates, Dan Stevens (Matthew) confirmed he won't be in the reunion movie. While it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Stevens won't be re-appearing since he was (spoiler alert!!) killed off the show at the end of season three after deciding he could do better than an award-winning, highly acclaimed BBC drama. Besides, Dan Stevens is really busy these days reminding people that it was him behind all the green screen effects in Beauty and the Beast and showing others how to get to the FX channel to watch Legion.
Required Reading
In retrospect, I should have also sent out a newsletter with some suggestions for avoiding last night's State of the Union. Whether or not you chose to tune into speech, I hope you took the time to watch or read about Stacey Abrams, who delivered the Democratic response to the address. As I peered out from under the covers to see what was said, I was happy to find some glimmer of hope in my Twitter feed, including the all-white attire of the Democratic ladies in the House of Representatives, some Office-style reaction shots from Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, Nancy Pelosi's loaded applause and of course Stacey Abram and her powerful message.
