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The worst current TV show on each network — from CBS to Fox to Netflix

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The Orville Seth MacFarlane

In today's crowded TV landscape, networks and streaming services have all increased the quantity of their offerings — at times to the detriment of quality. 

While series like Fox's "The Orville" and NBC's "Taken" have been consistently critically panned, many of the shows on this list draw a substantial enough viewership to justify their existence. 

But to figure out which current shows are worth avoiding, we turned to the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes to select the most critically loathed scripted show that each network and service is currently producing.

We excluded children's shows, talk shows, and docuseries, and we only selected from networks with multiple scripted shows that had enough reviews to receive a "Fresh" or "Rotten" designation. We also excluded any network whose lowest-rated show was over 75 on the critic scale, and used audience scores to break any ties within networks.

Here is the worst current TV show on each network, according to critics:

SEE ALSO: The best current TV show on each network — from ABC to FX to Netflix

ABC: "Marvel's Inhumans"

Critic score: 10%

Audience score: 50%

Summary: "An isolated community of superhumans fight to protect themselves."



Amazon: "Lore"

Critic score: 65%

Audience score: 65%

Summary: "Our collective nightmare mythologies are rooted in real-life horror stories."



AMC: "The Son"

Critic score: 50%

Audience score: 85%

Summary: "A multi-generational epic telling of the story of America's birth as a superpower through the bloody rise and fall of one Texas oil empire."



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'Pacific Rim Uprising' beats 'Black Panther' to win the weekend box-office, but delivers a weak punch domestically (CMCSA)

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pacific rim uprising 1 Universal Legendary

  • "Pacific Rim Uprising" wins the domestic box office with a less-than-stellar estimated $28 million.
  • But the movie is flexing its robotic muscles overseas, especially in China.
  • "Black Panther" is now the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time domestically.

"Black Panther" has finally been taken down from the top of the box office after five weeks straight atop it. But sadly for the industry, it doesn't seems like a powerhouse is taking its place.

Universal/Legendary Picture's "Pacific Rim Uprising," the sequel to the 2013 original — which follows the battle between human-built giant robots against huge sea monsters — scored an estimated $28 million on over 3,700 screens to win the domestic box office, according to Variety.

That's less than the original movie's opening ($37.2 million) and drastically under the $155 million budget of "Uprising." But like most blockbusters these days, Hollywood is less interested in the domestic and more interested in the international performance.

In that regard, "Uprising" has a better outlook. Playing in 62 markets outside of North America, the title is looking to have a $146 million worldwide opening weekend, with a hefty $65 million coming from China. That's on par with what the opening of "Black Panther" had there.

Speaking of the Marvel sensation, "Black Panther" steps down from one throne to sit on another.

With a $16.6 million weekend, its domestic total is now over $630 million, which adds to its all-time total as the top superhero movie of all time. On Saturday, "Black Panther" passed "The Avengers" to be the top movie all-time in the genre (not counting inflation).

And the movie pulled it off in just 36 days in theaters.

SEE ALSO: The fired directors of "Solo: A Star Wars Story" reveal the credit they will be taking on the movie

DON'T MISS: 'Black Panther' is now the highest domestic grossing superhero movie of all-time — and it did it in just 36 days

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NOW WATCH: Why 555 is always used for phone numbers on TV and in movies

How 'Isle of Dogs' stacks up against Wes Anderson's 8 other movies

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Wes Anderson Michael Loccisano Getty

For over 20 years, the director Wes Anderson has given us some of the most interesting movies the medium has seen — often doing it with beautifully detailed set designs, playful scores, and scripts that dance between drama and comedy.

Recently Anderson has used stop-motion animation to pull this off. Almost a decade after wowing us with "Fantastic Mr. Fox," he returns to stop-motion with his latest movie, "Isle of Dogs" (opening Friday). This movie follows a Japanese boy's journey to find his dog, with the help of other dogs.

Here we look at Anderson's nine feature-length movies and rank them worst to best:

SEE ALSO: 9 characters who could die in "Avengers: Infinity War," ranked by how likely they are to meet their end

9: "The Darjeeling Limited" (2007)

Family has always been a major theme in Anderson's movies, and this one is no different. But things like story creativity, unique production design, and character development that make his other work shine don't land right in this one. Mainly the characters. There's a certain point in this movie when you just don't care anymore about the three brothers' (played by Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman) bonding journey through India.



8: "Bottle Rocket" (1996)

Anderson's debut feature is understandably his least ambitious work, but the drive to be one of the most creative storytellers working today is there. You can see it in the entertaining dynamic between the friends Anthony and Dignan (played by the brothers Luke and Owen Wilson) and in the execution of the movie's great robbery scene.



7: "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001)

Anderson kicked up his ambitious vision with regard to costumes and production design in this movie and has pretty much not looked back since. Looking at three gifted kids of a New York City family, and how they all grow up to have lives that never match their potential, the movie is a work that if you don't fully love, at the very least you respect. It also possesses Gene Hackman's last great performance before his retirement.



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Check out the 13 new emojis Apple wants to put on your iPhone (AAPL)

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apple accessible emoji proposed 2018 emojipedia

Apple proposed 13 new emojis last week in a pitch to the Unicode Consortium, the group that officially certifies new emojis for iPhones, Android, and other computers.

If Apple's proposal is well-received, these emojis will become official in 2019, and would become available on iPhones and some Android phones in the second half of that year.

Apple's new emojis have a theme — accessibility. It worked with the American Council of the Blind, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, and the National Association of the Deaf to design these new emojis.

All 13 new emojis can "better represent individuals with disabilities," according to Apple's proposal.

"The current selection of emoji provides a wide array of representations of people, activities, and objects meaningful to the general public, but very few speak to the life experiences of those with disabilities," Apple wrote.

"This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all possible depictions of disabilities, but to provide an initial starting point for greater representation for diversity within the emoji universe," Apple continued.

Check out the emojis below:

SEE ALSO: Tim Cook speaks out on the Cambridge Analytica scandal, says Facebook's collection of user data 'shouldn't exist'

DON'T MISS: The most popular emoji on iPhones in the United States, according to Apple

Guide dog with harness



Person with white cane



Person with white cane



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2 under-the-radar members of the Trump family are quietly speaking out in support of gun control

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Tiffany Trump

  • Members of President Donald Trump's extended family are coming out in support of March for Our Lives, and breaking with him on gun control policy.
  • White House senior adviser Jared Kushner's brother, Joshua Kushner, attended the rally, and Trump's daughter Tiffany Trump liked photos of the marches on Instagram.
  • Trump, while initially pledging to take on the National Rifle Association, has backed down from his tough rhetoric in recent weeks.

It looks like two under-the-radar members of President Donald Trump's extended family are quietly pushing for gun control.

The brother of Trump's son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, Joshua Kushner, attended the March for our Lives rally in Washington, DC on Saturday. He posted a photo of himself with his girlfriend, model Karlie Kloss, and another of her holding a sign that read "Load minds not guns" on his Instagram.

Stories_•_Instagram"Schools Not Warzones" the sign he held read. Another image on his Instagram said "#IWillMarch."

Tiffany Trump, the president's youngest daughter, liked that post.

The 24-year-old also liked an Instagram album of the rally that included a man holidng a sign that read "Next massacre will be the GOP in the midterm elections."

The younger Trump has largely stayed out of the public eye — unlike her older sister, White House adviser Ivanka Trump, who keeps a highly visible profile.

Tiffany Trump was the president's only child with his second wife, Marla Maples, whom he divorced before marrying first lady Melania Trump in 2005.

The president, meanwhile, has endorsed arming teachers in schools, and has stood by the National Rifle Association and their anti-gun control policy proposals on numerous occasions.

He does support background checks on gun buyers, and his administration has recently banned bump stocks, attachable add-ons for rifles that increase their fire rate.

During the rallies on Saturday, which brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators to the White House, Trump was at his private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. He hasn't personally made a statement about the nationwide protests.

Deputy White House press secretary Lindsay Walters released a statement on Saturday.

"We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today," she said. "Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the President's, which is why he urged Congress to pass the Fix NICS and STOP School Violence Acts, and signed them into law."

The younger Kushner was also spotted at the Women's March in January 2017, where he told marchers he was there "observing," the Washingtonian reported.

joshua kushner womens marchThe Kushner family has a history of support for the Democratic Party, and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon reportedly referred to Kushner and his Ivanka as the "Democrats" in an effort to degrade them.

Although Trump has vacillated on his position on gun control, he has frequently drawn the ire of both supporters and opponents of gun laws.

At a meeting with senators late last month, Trump accused Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of being "afraid of the NRA." But the president then subsequently abandoned his efforts to the oppose the group in pursuing tougher gun control measures like raising the age at which Americans could purchase guns.

Many students at the rallies called Trump out personally on Saturday, in signs and in speeches.

Here are Kushner's Instagram posts:

#marchforourlives

A post shared by Joshua Kushner (@joshuakushner) on Mar 25, 2018 at 9:04am PDT on

#iwillmarch

A post shared by Joshua Kushner (@joshuakushner) on Mar 23, 2018 at 3:42pm PDT on

SEE ALSO: 17 inspiring and witty signs from the global 'March For Our Lives' protests for gun reform

DON'T MISS: 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH': Hundreds of thousands descend on Washington and across the US for the 'March for Our Lives' rally against gun violence

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Harvard professor Steven Pinker explains the disturbing truth behind Trump's 2 favorite phrases

Fender has unveiled a lineup of acoustic guitars that electric players will love

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Fender California Series

  • Fender recently launched a new range of extroverted acoustic guitars.
  • Lately, the company has been rolling out new products in areas where it traditionally hasn't competed strongly.
  • I checked out the range at an event in New York.

Fender is arguably the most successful electric-guitar brand on the planet. Its Stratocaster and Telecaster designs have been played by everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Lucinda Williams, in every imaginable musical genre. Much of the time, those guitars are plugged into Fender amplifiers.

CEO Andy Mooney told me that when he first got the job and went out the festival circuit to see how many acts were using Fender gear, it was something like 80%.

So Fender, a company started in 1946, does electric. But as Mooney also pointed out to me, there's been notable growth in acoustic-guitar sales of late, driven mainly by women taking up the instrument, inspired by artists such as Taylor Swift.

Fender hasn't traditionally been strong on the unplugged side. That's been the realm of competitors such as Gibson, Taylor, and especially Martin, a 185-year-old Pennsylvania company that makes the acoustics that pretty much every musician who pays attention wants to own.

Under Mooney — who took over as CEO at Fender in 2015, after working at Nike and Disney — Fender is in the midst of a serious product rollout. In 2017, it introduced Fender Play, an online learning system.

Earlier this year, the company debuted a new line of effects pedals for electric players (another category where Fender has spent much time competing in the past), and this month, the company officially unveiled a new lineup of acoustic guitars.

Enter the California Series

Fender California Series New

Called the "California Series," they aren't going to be for everybody. The quick take here is that these are acoustics for electric players — and very much intended to deliver a visual punch when played live.

The colors are bold, and while the designs of the guitars' bodies aren't radical, the necks are a bit of a departure and the headstocks could have been taken from a Stratocaster. (Fender has done this before — and there's currently one acoustic, the Sonoran, in its range that evokes the look of the company's electrics.)

Fender held an event in New York to introduce the lineup, and I attended and got to sample a few of the new guitars. These are China-made instruments, but the quality is quite good (as it is for Fender's more traditional Paramount lineup of acoustics, which I've also fiddled with) and there's no questioning how much fun it is to get your hands on such expressive axes.

But really, what you notice right away, either grabbing basic chords or working single-note riffs and passages over the neck, is how quick these guitars play.

This is due to what Fender calls a "slim-taper" C-shaped neck, made from mahogany and borrowed from the company's electric lineup. I'm no shredder, but what quick playing I can do was speed up considerably when I sat down with a $700 matte-black Redondo Special, one of the large dreadnought-style guitars in the range.

Chords sound rich, but there's also something about the general vibe of the California Series that makes you want to pick out notes and strum hard and overdrive the tone. That said, the guitars seem versatile and dynamic, and what little fingerstyle playing I did came off nicely.

Aimed at younger players

Fender California Series

Fender appears to be pitching the lineup at younger players who might not aspire to sitting alone on a stool at a coffeeshop on an open-mic night, plucking out gentle ballads.

The best word to describe the California Series could be "extroverted." At the event, Fender convened a panel to discuss the state of the guitar, moderated by Matt Sweeney (he of the recent Iggy Pop-Josh Homme band and YouTube's delightful "Guitar Moves" fame) with Mooney, several music writers and executives, and artist-producer Doc Mckinney alongside Gina Gleason, who plays lead guitar for the band Baroness.

The discussion highlighted a relatively new trend, in an effort to explore the ongoing relevance of acoustic guitars: performers who wouldn't normally be associated with guitars potentially bringing them onstage. The fascination of rap and hip-hop artists with 1990s alternative guitar-based music was a prime example. The upshot is that it can be good to have a guitar in your hands that doesn't look like it aspires to be Willie Nelson's legendary Trigger or Father John Misty's Martin D-28.

Before you say this isn't about serious music, consider that flashy acoustics are nothing new.

For every old-school Spanish shape in a basic natural finish, there have also been sunburst jumbos with exotic pickguards and mother-of-pearl inlays on the fretboard.

I should know because I own one of these, a 10-year-old Epiphone Hummingbird based on famous Gibson dreadnought design. It's the type of guitar that you want to sling over your should and take out for some enthusiastic busking. It feels weird to play it while sitting on the couch.

Affordable pricing and good quality

Fender California Series

The California range is priced from $400 to $800, with considerable variety of size and shape. The Player is the least expensive, the Special is up next, and the Classic tops the group.

It's worth pointing out that with all-wood construction (sitka spruce top and natural mahogany back and sides) and a bone nut and saddle, the Classic is pretty impressive deal.

All the guitars come with Fishman electronics onboard and basically beg you to plug them in (I didn't, but I will later when I get a chance to check out these guitars in-depth).

"We've never really had the same commitment to pedals and acoustic guitars as we've had to electric guitars and amps," Mooney told me, describing the new California range as a fork in the road that will redefine Fender's product mission moving forward.

"Electric guitars have been a 70-year journey for us," he said. "I always like to look at these things as the first step in a another 70-year journey."

SEE ALSO: Fender is filling the biggest gap in its product lineup with a new range of effects pedals

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Dropbox CEO talks about how he went from rejecting Steve Jobs to an $11 billion IPO

10 reasons why Oasis was the greatest British band since Led Zeppelin

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Oasis

  • Led Zeppelin was the biggest rock band of the 1970s.
  • The only band to come along after with such swagger and ambition was Manchester's Oasis.
  • The group was controversial, but in retrospect, undeniably great.

I grew up in the 1970s, when Led Zeppelin was nearly ubiquitous on the radio. It was rare for an hour to go by without "Stairway to Heaven" or "Whole Lotta Love" getting a spin.

I put Zep behind me when I got older and discovered punk, but two winters ago, I took a deep, deep dive into all things Robert-Jimmy-John Paul-and-Bonzo and refreshed my point of view from the perspective of age.

Zep was at one time extremely outré in my world — bands like The Smiths, New Order, the Replacements, and the Violent Femmes offered a different take on rock n' roll. It probably goes without saying that I was a big Elvis Costello fan at one juncture, and he was not exactly what you'd call a Zep fan.

But time heals all youthful transgressions, and in the 2010s, Zep was ripe to revisit. There's really no way around it: In terms of scope and ambition, musical skill and adventurism, Zep was untouchable during its prime, from 1970 until about 1975, the period of the band's first four albums: I, II, II, IV.

Yes, the Rolling Stones and the Who were also doing their best work at this time, but Zep rose above. (It was truly a band, whereas The Who, for example, was turning into a vehicle for Pete Townshend's grand and influential ideas.)

Obviously, rock became quite fragmented after Zep folded in 1980, following the untimely death of drummer John Bonham. The alternatives gave way to new stuff. Punk to post-punk to New Wave to pop punk to emo, classic rock to metal, R&B to rap and hip-hop. It was quite difficult to find a Really Big Band à la Zep to assume that mantle. U2 came the closest, but the group's monumental seriousness made it less a fun act than a quasi-religious experience, culminating in the deeply spiritual 1987 album "The Joshua Tree."

And then, against all odds, came Oasis. I completely missed Oasis the first time around. The Gallagher brothers of Manchester, Noel and Liam, along with the rest of the band, got too big too fast. It was Oasis-Oasis-Oasis all the time, typically presented sort of grotesquely in the context of some pitched Britpop battle with other groups, like Blur and Suede and the other ones with one-word names.

The overall vibe of the whole lad-rock thing was, to my eyes and ears, even stupider than the many, many swaggering post-Zep experiments that completely missed the dynamic nature of Zep's music.

The problem with this particular line of rock is that the lineage isn't always going to be comfortable. Zep was a departure from the Stones and The Beatles, and the relationship between the four members was much more productive, if less dazzling, than what one witnessed in more volatile bands, such as Cream.

Oasis is going through a bit of a revival at the moment, with both Liam and Noel releasing new individual albums and Liam really bringing it at the "One Love Manchester" concert to mourn the victims of the terrorist attack at an Arianna Grande concert. Noel skipped that event, and the viciously entertaining rivalry between the brothers began anew. Just like the mid-1990s. Prior to all this, I'd decided to give the entire Oasis catalog a re-listen.

This was one heck of a band. Here's why:

SEE ALSO: Everyone thinks 'Coda' is Led Zeppelin's worst album — but it's really surprisingly great

DON'T MISS: Fender has unveiled a lineup of acoustic guitars that electric players will love

1. Oasis was an absolutely electrifying live band.

I give you their 2005 appearance in their home town as proof. I never saw Oasis live, so this was the concert that really pushed me over the edge from having a pretty skeptical if not dismissive stance toward the group to basically getting it.

Everything clicks, from Liam looking improbably cool in a naff white bucket hat to Noel looking about as cool as it's possible for Noel to look, in trim black leather, next to his much cooler younger brother. The band's signature, elevating mass of sound, verging at all times on noise but somehow blissfully melodic and routinely transporting, is at all times in evidence.

Also the crowd is vast and very much into it. The mid-to-late 2000s was the period when the traditional music business, capable of producing juggernauts such as Zep, U2, and Oasis, was being rapidly dismembered by the internet, so in some ways Oasis live was a throwback.

Sure, bands and artist now have to tour incessantly to pay the bills, but with the oddball exceptions of people like Ed Sheeran, big acts like Taylor Swift, and stalwarts like The Who and the Rolling Stones, bands struggle to match the arena expectations of previous generations. 

Oasis always seemed as if it were their destiny.



2. Oasis really knew how to organize an album for maximum impact.

I give you their 1994 debut, "Definitely Maybe," as Exhibit A.

It's a bit hard to imagine, in the midst of mid-1990s music culture, much of which was quite dark, edgy, gloomy, confrontational, and alternative, to encounter the blistering opening track, "Rock 'n' Roll Star." Well, I guess we knew what these guys had in mind.

Declarations are one thing, execution another. And "Definitely Maybe" showed Oasis' incipient talent for crafting a track-list for maximum effect. "Live Forever," "Supersonic," and "Cigarettes & Alcohol" define the propulsive, anthemic nature of the rest of the sequence, which is rarely less than mind-boggling in its ambition.



3. Noel and Liam haven't mellowed.

We have to touch on this aspect of brother love, obviously.

But not that much, except to say that Oasis when it was huge was defined by conflict — endlessly entertaining conflict. True, the never-ending tabloid sniping showed that Noel and Liam were hip to an emerging celebrity-entertainment axis that fans of say, Bob Dylan, would sneer at.

But at least they were good at it, and while the whole thing at times was clearly performance art and a savvy marketing strategy, their mutual hatred has lately seemed entirely genuine and no less hilarious than it was back in the good old days.

Just check out Liam's recent diss of Noel's stature — to schoolchildren.



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Bill Hader breaks down how 'SNL' stage fright inspired his new HBO show about a hitman, and tells a funny Tom Cruise story

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Barry John P Johnson HBO final

  • Bill Hader used the anxieties he had on "Saturday Night Live" to create the character for his HBO series, "Barry," about a hitman who wants to be an actor — though he's awful at acting.
  • Hader said the biggest challenge was making a hitman show that didn't imitate classics in the genre like "Get Shorty" or "Grosse Pointe Blank."
  • He also opened up about helping to voice the "Star Wars" character BB-8 (and if he's getting any residuals from the work) and working alongside Tom Cruise in "Tropic Thunder."


Since walking away as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member in 2013, Bill Hader has bounced around doing a bunch of things: showing off his dramatic chops in the indie “The Skeleton Twins,” playing the leading man in “Trainwreck,” doing a lot of voiceover work (“Inside Out,” “Sausage Party,” “The Angry Birds Movie,” “The BFG”), and contributing to the voice of BB-8 for “The Force Awakens.”

Now he’s returning to television for the HBO series, “Barry” (series premieres March 25), which he said was inspired by the years of anxiety he battled with while on "SNL."

Cocreating the series with Alec Berg (“Silicon Valley” executive producer), Hader plays the title character, a former Marine who is now a hitman completely burnt out and in a midlife crisis. While on a job in Los Angeles, Barry suddenly finds acceptance when he mistakenly becomes part of a local theater class while tailing his target. Now Barry has to try to find a way to continue his passion (acting) while continuing his day job as a hitman. The show also marks the first time Hader has ever directed, as he helmed the first three episodes.

Business Insider sat down with Hader last month to talk about how he channeled his fears on "SNL" — or, as he put it, "the thing that you're good at is destroying you" — into a creative way to tell a hitman story, if he has received any residuals for voicing BB-8, and what it was like watching Tom Cruise become Les Grossman on the set of “Tropic Thunder.”

Jason Guerrasio: Was it harder to convince HBO of the “Barry” storyline or that you could play a hitman convincingly?

Bill Hader: [Laughs] I think it was maybe both. To be honest, HBO was really open. They didn't need a lot of convincing. I had a meeting with them and said, "I want to do a show," and they said, "We'd love to do something with you." And they had seen “The Skeleton Twins,” and they liked my performance and saw that I wanted to branch out and do more than just sketch comedy. I think if Alec and I came in and pitched a broad comedy idea they wouldn't have been as interested. However, you say hitman and it conjures up images of a guy in a skinny tie with two 45s.

Guerrasio: Grosse Pointe Blank.

Hader: Exactly.

Guerrasio: But you take that idea of an outsider looking for a community and then bring in the whole arc of a guy dealing with a dead-end job. The kicker is, though, it just happens to be the job he hates is being a hitman.

Hader: That's exactly what it is. We thought what's the thing that we could relate to and just copy-paste hitman into it.

Guerrasio: So why a hitman?

Hader: I totally pulled it out of thin air, I'm going to be totally honest. Alec and I worked on an idea for a month and a half and it just wasn't jelling.

Guerrasio: What was that?

Hader: I can't remember, it was based on a guy I knew back home in Oklahoma and it was much more a weird guy in the Midwest. It was more in tune with the shows you see now that are led by comedians. This show is his daily life and daily struggles. And then we hit this place where it had no narrative pull, and I like things like that. Where each episode ends and you go, "What's going to happen next?" And it didn't have big stakes. That got us thinking, the biggest stakes are life and death. And I just said, "Well, why don't I play a hitman?" And Alec was like, "Ugh, I hate that word."

Guerrasio: But if it's Jason Statham saying, "Why don't I play a hitman?” it's like, seen that before, but you saying it makes things interesting.

Hader: Yeah, because I said, "It's me." I remember going to HBO saying, "OK, it's me as a hitman — but me." And they laughed and we pitched what essentially the pilot was, beat for beat. How art can heal a person. I love reading, I love music, to me these aren't recreational, they fulfill my life. So we made it as the thing this guy is good at is hurting him.

Guerrasio: And is it true the show also gave you an outlet to explore some of the anxieties you went through performing on "Saturday Night Live"?

Hader: 100%. That was the thing, at "SNL" the anxiety was so high. The longer I was on the show the better I was getting at the show but my anxiety didn't go down. It was actually going up. So, again, the thing that you're good at is destroying you.

Guerrasio: Did you throw any specific experiences you dealt with on "SNL" into "Barry"?

Hader: I do have a stage-fright thing, it's gotten better. That was in the pilot a little. The closest thing in the pilot is when Barry goes to the bar with the theater class. I remember when I first got to "SNL" I was suddenly getting to hang out with Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers and Rachel Dratch, and Tina Fey, and Chris Parnell, all these people that I admired. And I would be at a bar with them and I felt very out of place. I have to work with them and they are all geniuses and I don't feel equipped.

BarryAlec Berg Bill Hader John P Johnson HBO finalGuerrasio: You direct the first three episodes of the season, did that just happen by accident?

Hader: I wanted to direct. I said I wanted to direct the pilot and that was kind of a big thing. HBO came back and said, "We want to do this pilot," and I went, "Cool, I want to direct it." And they went, "Huh, well, have you directed before?" And I was. like, "No. But I've been on a lot of sets." And they were like, "Hmm." And I think the only reason they let me direct it was because Alec would be there and he's directed a ton of stuff for them. It was a thing I wanted to do my whole life. Before I wanted to be an actor. My heroes were all filmmakers. So getting a chance to do that was amazing.

Guerrasio: You've said you watched a lot of true crime shows and movies to prepare for this, was that for a visual style or story?

Hader: More story. It's so hard because you just don't want to make it a TV show about other TV shows or movies.

Guerrasio: You did not want to end up down the "Get Shorty" road.

Hader: Yeah. It's so easy to end up there. And that’s not to disparage Elmore Leonard or "Get Shorty.” I remember we were out in the desert shooting a scene and I turn to Alec and I go, "We're doing 'Breaking Bad' right now." And he's like, "Yeah, I was thinking about that." We're thinking, hitman that wants to be an actor, chemistry teacher who wants to be a drug dealer, we were like “Fu--! How did we not see this?" But, I love "Breaking Bad" so it seeps in no matter what.

Guerrasio: Gonna change it up a little before we’re done. Did you do any BB-8 stuff for "The Last Jedi"?

Hader: No, no, no. That was really funny. That is J.J. Abrams being a really nice guy. That is him saying, "Oh, I know you like Star Wars, do you want to come in and do the thing?" But anybody could do that, what I did. It's a Peter Frampton talk box with an app J.J. had.

Guerrasio: It must be nice to be in the mythology.

Hader: Yeah. I mean, I'm singing BB-8 pictures now.

Guerrasio: Is there such a thing as BB-8 residuals?

Hader: That's a good question, I should ask my business manager. [Laughs] You're finding out how bad I am at this. If my dad reads this he would lose his sh--. “You gotta know how much f---ing money you have, you moron!”

Guerrasio: [Laughs]

Hader: I mean, I would hope so. But that was just J.J. calling me up and saying 'Hey, man, you wanna come do this?' And I was like, sure. I did a voice initially, I tried it as a voice. And it didn't work. And I was like, “Well, there you go, it didn't work.” And months later, I mean, there were billboards already out for the movie, and he called again and was like, “You wanna try again?”

tropic thunder paramountGuerrasio: I read once in an interview you did that you were kind of shocked to run into Tom Cruise at the premiere of "Tropic Thunder" because when you worked with him on the movie he was Les Grossman the whole time. Did you mean he was in character the whole time?

Hader: No. He wasn't Method or anything like that. It was just easy to talk to him because he was in that makeup. We're talking about "Risky Business" and I'm asking him questions about "Eyes Wide Shut" and he was so cool and so nice, but he was dressed as Les Grossman. But then seeing him at the premiere and he's like, "Hey, man" and I'm, like, "Jesus, you're Tom Cruise!" and I got star struck because I finally was next to him without makeup.

Guerrasio: Did you come up with any bits on the fly on set for Tom to do as Les?

Hader: No. That was him and [screenwriter] Justin Theroux and [director] Ben Stiller. I was off to the side. I was just laughing at it all. I would improvise little things. I was just always trying to get him to yell at me. I would come up with stupid things to get him to get mad. I basically did an impersonation of an executive from Paramount that me and Ben know. Ben just liked the energy of me being this weird, calm guy and Les being this raging dude. But I don't think you can do Les Grossman right now. [Laughs] You would be in jail. It just seems he was a dying breed and hopefully dying in prison. [Laughs]

SEE ALSO: The 16 best moments in Marvel Cinematic Universe history, ranked

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Home video shows an 8-year-old Meghan Markle playing the Queen and ordering her 'servants' to make 900,000 cookies

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  • A home video shows Meghan Markle playing the Queen in a childhood play at just 8 years old.
  • It was discovered by the mother of her childhood friend, Ninaki Priddy.
  • She bosses around "servants" ordering them to make her cookies, sew her a dress, and do her groceries.
  • Priddy says it shows that Markle was "always the centre of attention, always the ringleader."


A home video of eight-year-old Meghan Markle playing "the Queen" in a childhood play has been published — and it shows that the actress was always meant to be in the spotlight as a royal.

Shot on January 29, 1990, the 11-minute video was filmed at the ninth birthday party of Markle's childhood friend, Ninaki Priddy.

After Priddy's mother recently discovered the footage, Ninaki told Mail Online: "The show was called 'Your Royal Highness' and the star was Meg. It’s very funny to see this now and given what is going on with her life it’s quite eye-opening."

She added that Markle was "always the centre of attention, always the ringleader — it was my birthday but she took the starring role!"

The video shows Markle wearing a gold crown in the garden of the Priddy's LA home. She is acting out the role as a fictional Queen, while her classmates from Hollywood's Little Red School House are princesses and servants.

Markle — known now for her role in legal drama "Suits" — is seen introducing the play by saying, "Your Royal Highness, Take One!"

She then sits on a blanket as one of her friends comes over, gives a bow, and asks: "Your Highness, isn’t there anything to do around this kingdom anymore?"

Markle replies: 'Yes, make 900,000 cookies and sew me a nice dress."

She adds that the cookies and dress are for a meeting she's having, during which she is hosting "people from Florida and Canada, Mississippi, Missouri."

At one point Markle yells: "10 minute break!" and a friend replies: "Oh thank you, Your Highness." Markle then herds her friends inside.

Later in the play, she's heard saying: "Go do the grocery shopping, I didn't have time to do it." According to Ninaki, the story, which Markle created, "came out of the blue."

"It wasn’t something we had done before. She just came up with it on the spot," she said, adding: "My parents were in the audio-video industry so we always had a camera around. We would do little videos."

You can watch the video here:

The film shows that Markle's love of acting began at a young age, but her career appears due to draw to a close.

The seventh season of "Suits" will air on Wednesday, March 28, but it will be the last that will feature Markle, who has given up acting as she gets ready to marry Prince Harry on May 19.

SEE ALSO: 'Knocked Up' and 'Grey's Anatomy' star Katherine Heigl has confirmed she's joining the cast of 'Suits' as Meghan Markle departs

SEE ALSO: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have sent out invitations to the royal wedding — here's what they look like

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'Billions' creators discuss their charmingly devious characters who have everyone on Wall Street saying, 'You know that was based on me right?’

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  • The third season of "Billions," the Showtime series that looks at the high-stakes world of hedge funds, is currently airing Sunday nights at 10 p.m.
  • The creators talked to Business Insider about how the show has been received by the finance world.
  • They also discussed why giving up trading feels like such an existential threat to Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), and how their characters would metaphorically amputate their arm to make that next billion dollars.


“Billions” is back for its third season on Showtime (Sundays at 10 p.m.), and its power-hungry cast of characters is more morally compromised than ever.

This season — don’t worry, no spoilers — takes the battle between hedge fund titan Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and US Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) in new directions, and sees an expanded role for fan favorite Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon).

The series has developed quite a cult following in the finance world, and creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien told Business Insider that Wall Street certainly isn’t shying away from the way it's depicted.

“Our experience has been, before the show aired, there was lot of trepidation,” Levien said in a recent interview. Finance folks were preemptively disavowing the show, saying the creators wouldn’t be able to nail the details. But Koppelman and Levien, who co-wrote “Rounders,” have a penchant for capturing insular worlds.

“By the second season, people were saying, ‘You know that was based on me right?’” Levien said. Levien estimated that he’d heard, secondhand, at least 50 guys on Wall Street say that a character on "Billions" was based on them. And if they weren't claiming they were the inspiration for a character, they’d say things like, “I’m the Wags of my office,” Levien continued, referencing the character Mike “Wags” Wagner (David Costabile), the incorrigible rogue and COO of Axe Capital in the show.

wags billions

Why do we let charm and intelligence stand in for quality of character?

Part of the reason people are going up and down Wall Street saying characters are based on them is because “Billions” has an uncanny ability to make its cast likeable even when they are doing bad things — sometimes very bad things.

Koppelman credited the actors for much of that, especially in conveying what it is the characters truly want.

“If you can understand what the character wants you can empathize,” Koppelman said.

But Koppleman also explained that the feeling viewers have gotten watching the show — that of being charmed by these flawed characters — was linked to one of the central themes the creators were trying to explore in “Billions.”

“Why we as a culture will forgive so many wrong actions, and wrong actors, if those people doing those things are smart, charismatic, successful, interesting,” Koppelman said. “Why do [those attributes] stand in for true quality of character?”

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Would you cut off your arm for an extra billion?

One reason viewers are so quick to forgive is that it’s hard not to be impressed by the intensity of will of the characters in “Billions,” and people like them in real life.

During the last season of “Billions” (and in this one), Axelrod struggles to deal with the possibility that he could be forced to give up trading.

For Axelrod, this feels like an existential threat to his being. “Why is that?” I asked the creators.

“Controlling their own destiny has a lot to do with it,” Koppelman said of people like Axelrod (and Rhoades, for that matter). “Almost like a Greek god, being able to control fate ... It makes them feel alive.” Koppelman said in this season all the main characters are in a position where they have to fight for that type of self-determination.

To keep that status as master of their own destiny, the characters in “Billions” will certainly get in the muck, and push themselves to the limit.

Koppelman said that in some ways they remind him of James Franco’s character in “127 Hours,” who amputates his own arm to escape after getting trapped in a canyon. Doing that because you are fighting for your physical survival is one type of drive, and obviously takes a particular kind of person, Koppelman said. But the characters in “Billions” have a different, particularly American slant.

“If you already have a billion dollars, why do you need to do that to get the next billion,” Koppelman said.

“This is a question we have asked many times of ourselves,” Levien added. “Once someone gets past several hundred million, what keeps them going?”

There is no one answer for that, he finished.

billions showtime

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Meet 'Stormy Daniels', the porn star Trump's lawyer paid to keep quiet about an alleged sexual affair — who's finally telling her side of the story

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Adult film star and director Stormy Daniels says she met President Donald Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in July 2006, and the two allegedly began an affair.

He was married to Melania Trump at the time, and she had just given birth to their son Barron.

Just weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 out of his own pocket so Daniels would keep silent about the alleged affair.

In January 2018, news of the hush money broke, and Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was thrust into the national spotlight. Now, she's suing Trump and accusing him of invalidating their agreement — and telling her side of the story. Her highly anticipated "60 Minutes" interview aired on Sunday night.

Here's what you should know about her:

SEE ALSO: Inside the marriage of Donald and Melania Trump, who broke up once before, reportedly sleep in different bedrooms, and are weathering rumors of his affairs

DON'T MISS: During much-hyped '60 Minutes' interview, Stormy Daniels said she was threatened to keep quiet on Trump

Daniels was born and raised in Louisiana.



She started stripping as a teenager and soon entered the porn business.



In 2002, she became the lead actress in a film for Wicked Pictures, a porn movie studio based in California.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'Solo: A Star Wars Story' actor says they were doing 30 takes per scene before the original directors were fired and Ron Howard took over

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  • An actor who worked on "Solo: A Star Wars Story" revealed to Vulture some of the drama behind-the-scenes that led to the movie's original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, being fired.
  • The source said the directors seemed unsure of what they were doing on set and would demand 30 takes or more per-scene.
  • The source also claimed the first assistant director stepped in and helped direct "a lot of the scenes."
  • Ron Howard took over the film once Lord and Miller were fired and the source said he was much faster and basically reshot everything Lord and Miller did.


We are starting to get more details on what it was like on the set of "Solo: A Star Wars Story" before original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired by Lucasfilm over creative differences, and Ron Howard took over.

An actor on the movie spoke to Vulture anonymously about the experience of working with Lord and Miller and then Howard, and painted a picture of a set that didn't find its footing until Howard came on board. 

The Vulture source said that Lord and Miller ("The Lego Movie," "21 Jump Street") were out of their element. The duo would typically demanded 30 takes or more per-scene and seemed unsure what they wanted at times.

"Phil and Chris are good directors, but they weren’t prepared for 'Star Wars,'” the source said. “After the 25th take, the actors are looking at each other like, ‘This is getting weird.’ [Lord and Miller] seemed a bit out of control. They definitely felt the pressure; with one of these movies, there are so many people on top of you all the time."

han solo cast photoThe source also said that the more experienced first assistant director stepped in and helped Lord and Miller direct "a lot of the scenes." (A spokesperson for Lord and Miller told Vulture, “This information is completely inaccurate.”)

Once the veteran Howard took over the film, the production became much smoother and the director worked fast only needing two to three takes, according to the source. 

And though the source confirmed reports that Howard reshot the majority of the movie, it seems the director didn't add a lot of new material. According to the source, Howard redid most of the scenes that Lord and Miller shot.

“It’s exactly the same script," the source said. "They’re filming exactly the same things. There’s nothing new. [Lord and Miller] used whole sets. But Ron is just using parts from those sets. I guess they’re not shooting wide angle. Maybe to save money."

On Friday, Lord and Miller announced at the GLAS Animation Festival that they were taking an executive producer credit on the movie.

"We were really proud of the many contributions we made to that film," Miller told the audience, according to Variety. "In light of the creative differences, we elected to take an executive producer credit."

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" opens in theaters on May 25.

SEE ALSO: 'Billions" creators discuss their charmingly devious characters who have everyone on Wall Street saying, "You know that was based on me right?"

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'Silicon Valley' hid a killer Facebook burn in its new intro that you may have missed (FB, TWC)

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Silicon Valley

  • HBO's hit show "Silicon Valley" returned for its fifth season on Sunday night, and it took a jab at Facebook during its new opening intro.
  • In addition to roasting Facebook, the show also gave a shoutout to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, whose logo you can now briefly glimpse in the opening credits.

Facebook is one of the companies at the heart of the real Silicon Valley in California. So "Silicon Valley," the TV show, can't help making fun of it.

In the new intro for the first episode of season five, which aired Sunday, the HBO show sneaked in a subtle Facebook dig.

Check it out:

The Russian-looking logo swap comes after Russian trolls were active on Facebook groups and pages during the 2016 presidential campaign, with Russian actors buying ads meant to divide the US and even using Facebook to organize in-person rallies on American soil.

Russian Facebook isn't the only joke in this year's opening — the hot cryptocurrency startup Coinbase now has a logo that's visible in the intro.

Check out our previous "Silicon Valley" opening coverage here.

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NOW WATCH: YouTube and Facebook have a serious problem with 'promoted' conspiracies about the Parkland shooting

HBO's 'Silicon Valley' is better without TJ Miller — and the show weaves in his absence in a clever way

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  • "Silicon Valley" season five premiered on HBO Sunday, and it proved it's thriving without TJ Miller's Erlich Bachman, who left the show after season four.
  • Without Bachman, other characters get more screen time. 
  • The show is better without him, and weaves his exit into the story in an unexpected way.

Warning: Mild spoilers for the "Silicon Valley" season premiere.

TJ Miller's abrupt exit from "Silicon Valley" last year might be the best thing to ever happen to the show.

In the season five premiere of “Silicon Valley,” which aired Sunday night on HBO, Pied Piper CEO Richard Hendricks takes the gang (now just Jared, Gilfoyle, and Dinesh) to their brand new offices at a co-working space. Initially impressed with Richard’s choice for their new digs — an open floor plan, a fireplace, “an intuitive kitchen layout” (according to Jared), large windows, and modern light fixtures  the guys are disappointed when Richard shows them where their office will actually be. Unlike most of the co-working space, their office is a sad, windowless room with fluorescent lights, and outlets on the floor that are basically magnets for stubbing your toes.

Silicon Valley

“Silicon Valley” is at its best when the show throws its characters into impossible situations. The show doesn’t let its characters succeed, and if they do, it’s not for long. And while sometimes this makes the show frustrating, it’s what makes it great, too. Disgusted with the idea of working in such terrible conditions, the guys convince Richard that this money-saving space is an awful idea. This actually turns out to be easier than expected considering how stubborn Richard is, especially about Pied Piper's finances.

Just as easily as Pied Piper gets an acceptable new office space, the show adjusts to life without Erlich Bachman, one of its main characters who isn’t on the show anymore.

Since TJ Miller’s exit was announced after the season four finale in May, everyone has been asking the same question about the show’s future: What is the show like without TJ Miller’s Erlich Bachman?

Better than it has been in years, it turns out.

Without Bachman’s bitter spirit, it’s a little more upbeat. The jokes and storylines are a bit more clever, since the writers aren’t relying on Bachman to say (or do) something stupid. Miller’s absence also leaves more room for the side characters we’ve come to love over the years, from Jared to Jian Yang to Dinesh to Gilfoyle. With less time to waste having Bachman spit out insults, the other characters have more to say and do. Jared has quickly become the best character on the show, and one of the best characters on TV, and season five has given him way more to do so far. 

Silicon Valley

After the season four finale aired last year, Miller announced he was leaving the show and that he would never return, not even for a quick cameo. The last time we see Bachman, Hooli CEO Gavin Belson leaves him behind at an opium den in the Tibetan mountains.

The season five premiere addresses Bachman’s absence in a surprising but fitting (and not desperate) way, which is a huge credit to the writers. Instead of just a one-liner explaining what the heck happened to Bachman, they’ve made his disappearance an arc that will probably take up the entire season. According to Dinesh, no one has heard from Bachman in months, though he still owns 10% of Pied Piper and the incubator. But Jian Yang plans to change that by faking Bachman’s death so he can get Bachman’s shares in Pied Piper, and so he can officially take over the incubator.

While Bachman was a great character that helped define the series, his schtick got a bit tired. Bachman served his purpose, and his exit has improved the show and can potentially increase its longevity.

Now we just have to wait and see if Jian Yang can actually convince people that Bachman is dead. He’s already off to a good start.

SEE ALSO: 29 great Netflix shows that might have flown under your radar

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The Stormy Daniels '60 Minutes' interview scored the show's best ratings in nearly a decade

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  • Stormy Daniels' "60 Minutes" interview about her alleged affair with President Trump scored the CBS show its best ratings in nearly a decade.
  • The interview is expected to post the highest ratings for the show since Barack and Michelle Obama gave their first post-election interview in November 2008, which netted 24.5 million viewers. 
  • In the interview, the adult-film actress said she was threatened with physical violence in 2011 after she attempted to share her story of an affair between her and Trump.

Stormy Daniels' highly anticipated interview with "60 Minutes" is expected to give the CBS news-magazine show its best ratings since November 2008, when Barack and Michelle Obama sat down for their first post-election interview, Deadline reports.

The adult-film actress opened up in the interview on Sunday about her alleged affair with President Trump. Daniels told Anderson Cooper that she was once threatened with physical violence in 2011 after she attempted to share her story of the alleged affair.

Daniels' interview scored over twice the average number of viewers for "60 Minutes," according to Nielsen's preliminary "overnight" measurement. Once the final numbers are in, the interview is expected to post the highest ratings for the show since the Obamas' 2008 interview netted 24.5 million viewers. 

"60 Minutes" benefited on Sunday from a huge ratings lead-in of an NCAA basketball game between Kansas and Duke that went into overtime. Daniels was the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter over the course of Sunday evening, including for several hours after the interview concluded. 

The White House has denied the alleged affair, which Daniels said began in 2006 and lasted 10 months. Shortly before the 2016 presidential election, Daniels signed a nondisclosure agreement and accepted $130,000 in "hush money" from a company linked to Trump's personal attorney.

Daniels sued the president earlier this month in California state court, claiming the agreement was not valid in part because Trump did not sign it. She was also hit with a cease-and-desist letter  from Trump's personal counsel following the "60 Minutes" interview.

SEE ALSO: Stormy Daniels says Trump told her "you remind me of my daughter" after she spanked him with a magazine

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Tiffany Haddish said she won't boycott Netflix like Mo'Nique: 'I'm not gonna protest because somebody got offered not the amount of money they wanted'

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  • In an interview with GQ, actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish discussed Mo'Nique's call to boycott Netflix over "color and gender bias" in pay for stand-up specials. 
  • Haddish said she won't protest Netflix, and "if you don't like what they're offering you, just no longer do business with them."
  • Haddish said there were diverse shows on Netflix that aren't on television networks, such as "The Carmichael Show," which was canceled by NBC but is streaming on Netflix.

Actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish, who rose to prominence with last year's "Girls Trip," has quite a different view of Netflix than fellow comedian Mo'Nique.

In an interview with GQ, Haddish shared her thoughts on Mo'Nique's call to boycott Netflix over what Mo'Nique characterized as unequal pay compared to white and male comedians.

Haddish said "if you don't like what they're offering you, just no longer do business with them" about Netflix, and pointed to the amount of diverse shows on the streaming platform. Haddish gave the example of "The Carmichael Show," on which she was a series regular.

"What about all the black shows that are on there?" Haddish asked. "What about all the other actors that are working on there? All the Indians, the Hispanics, the Asians. My show, 'The Carmichael Show,' airs on there right now. It ain't on NBC.”

NBC canceled the comedy after three seasons last year, but the first two seasons are currently available to stream on Netflix. 

In January, Mo'Nique said she would boycott Netflix over "gender bias and color bias" in regards to payment. Netflix reportedly offered Mo'Nique $500,000 for a stand-up special compared to other comedians who have reportedly been paid millions, such as Amy Schumer ($13 million) and Chris Rock ($40 million for two specials).

Haddish's full quote is below:

"My business run different than her business. I don't live her life. I don't have that husband of hers. I'm looking at how [Netflix has] opened up so many opportunities for black females and comedy. When my people are dying, that's when you gonna catch me protesting. I'm not gonna protest because somebody got offered not the amount of money they wanted to get offered. If you don't like what they're offering you, just no longer do business with them. If I protest Netflix—what about all the black shows that are on there? What about all the other actors that are working on there? All the Indians, the Hispanics, the Asians. My show, The Carmichael Show, airs on there right now. It ain't on NBC."

SEE ALSO: 29 great Netflix shows that might have flown under your radar

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The incredible story of the 'Virtual Boy' — Nintendo's VR headset from 1995 that failed spectacularly

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The new Steven Spielberg movie "Ready Player One" imagines a not-too-distant future where the population spends a majority of its waking hours inside a virtual reality system known as "The Oasis." The movie is set in 2045, so if real-world technology wants to catch up with the story's premise, we'd better hurry up. 

In 1995, Nintendo tried to cash in on the virtual reality craze... sort of. That year, the company released the Virtual Boy console, which didn't technically count as virtual reality. It offered gamers a 3D experience they couldn't get on TV screens or handheld devices. Unfortunately, the Virtual Boy didn't click with customers, and it was discontinued less than a year after its debut. With around 770,000 units sold, it remains Nintendo's worst-selling console of all time. 

We got our hands on a vintage Virtual Boy at the retro video games store VideoGamesNewYork in Manhattan's East Village to get a better idea of why the system stumbled out of the gate, existing as a bizarre blemish on Nintendo's otherwise impressive record. To learn pretty much everything there is to know about the history of the Virtual Boy, we highly recommend visiting the Planet Virtual Boy website, where you'll find an exhaustive, comprehensive library of almost everything ever written or researched about the Virtual Boy. Following is a transcript of the video.

Ad: Virtual Boy, a 3-D game for a 3-D world!

Graham Flanagan: Remember Nintendo's Virtual Boy? Probably not.

Ad: Virtual Boy, see it now, in 3-D.

Flanagan: Nintendo released it in August of 1995. Less than a year later, it was discontinued, and it remains the worst selling console in the history of the company. So, what happened?

Ad: Now you're playing with power. Super power.

Ben Gilbert: In 1995 Nintendo was seen as the biggest game company in the world, the Super Nintendo, as well as the previous console, Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Nintendo Game Boy, were all completely dominating at the time.

Ad: You've gotta play it, you've gotta have it, you've got a reputation.

Gilbert: There was a lot of excitement around virtual reality, as a result, Nintendo was trying to essentially, compete, and to take advantage of this new technology.

Flanagan: In 1991, Nintendo paid 10 million dollars for exclusive rights to technology created by a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And it spent the next four years developing what would eventually be known as Virtual Boy.

Gilbert: When the Virtual Boy was initially announced by Nintendo there was some kind of hopeful positivity, it looked like it was doing something kind of new, and as a result there was some kind of I think hope for this device.

Ad: The first 3-dimensional stereo immersive 32-bit video game system, ever.

Ad: Virtual Boy!

Flanagan: Virtual Boy debuted in Japan in July of 1995, it hit North America in August, selling for a retail price of $179.99. Nintendo made a deal with Blockbuster Video, where customers could rent the Virtual Boy system for $9.99. Only 22 games were released on Virtual Boy. Each system came bundled with Mario's Tennis. Needless to say, the options were pretty limited. With games like Galactic Pinball, and a game based on the 1995 movie Waterworld.

Gilbert: It was immediately clear I think, that this was a pretty bad device, I was 10 or so at the time, and it was terrible to me as a 10-year-old.

Flanagan: Sales stalled, by May of 1996, Nintendo dropped the price to $99, and just two months later, the company officially pulled the plug on Virtual Boy, less than a year after its initial release. So why did it fail? Where should we begin?

Ad: Virtual Boy is so advanced, it can't be viewed on conventional T.V. or LCD screens.

Flanagan: Here we go, I'm gonna go into virtual reality.

First of all, even though it was called the Virtual Boy, it wasn't virtual reality, it was just 3-D. The system used a pair of oscillating mirrors to turn a single line of LED pixels into a 3-D projection, made of red pixels against a black background. That's another thing, the only colors it was capable of displaying were red and black. Also, playing it wasn't exactly comfortable.

I feel like within about five minutes, my back is gonna start hurting from just leaning on this. The headset had to be attached to the stand. That was mainly for liability reasons. Here's why.

Let's assume the stand was optional, and you could actually wear the headset, and move around while you played it. That actually sounds like a lot of fun. Wow, look at him go! That is until he bumps into something and gets hurt. Nintendo didn't want to be responsible for any potential damages. Along with warnings about headaches, nausea, and dizziness, Nintendo also warned that kids under the age of seven shouldn't play Virtual Boy, because eyesight is still developing at that age, and playing Virtual Boy could result in having a lazy eye.

What would've made this even more fun, or fun period, was if you could play against your friend, you're only playing against your computer. You'll notice there's an input for a connector that would connect two Virtual Boy systems, where you could play your friends in two player mode, but because the console failed so quickly, they canceled the connector and it never came out so every Virtual Boy has this input where you could connect the two things, but it died so fast it just never happened.

So yeah, the Virtual Boy never took off, but it's still sought out by collectors. At Video Games New York in Manhattan, vintage Virtual Boy systems are for sale, and they go for up to $400, and some of the games, like this factory sealed copy of Wario Land, go for up to $200. As for Nintendo... 

Gilbert: In the wake of the failure of the Virtual Boy, Nintendo was much more successful. The Nintendo 64 came out in 1996. They didn't retain the market dominance they'd had in previous years, but they're still a huge force in the video game market. They even actually make passing joking references to the Virtual Boy and its failure, now, sometimes. It's become something they are able to kind of be light-hearted about, even though it was clearly their biggest hardware failure in Nintendo's history.

Flanagan: Y'know what, I wanna let Noah try. Okay, I'm gonna take over the camera.

Noah Friedman: Got it. Huh. I moved my fist up but it's not moving towards him at all. Oh, that was pretty brutal.

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What surprised the creators of Showtime's 'Billions' the most about the world of hedge funds

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  • "Billions" is back for its third season on Showtime and delves even deeper into the cat-and-mouse game between hedge fund titan Bobby Axelrod and US Attorney Chuck Rhoades.
  • The show is a favorite on Wall Street because of how well it depicts the finance world and hedge funds specifically.
  • Co-creator Brian Koppelman told Business Insider that the thing that most surprised him in his research was the "exact level of rigor" that people who work at hedge funds need to employ.


Showtime’s "Billions" — currently airing its third season Sundays at 10 p.m. — has become a favorite on Wall Street because of its attention to detail and charming (and morally compromised) characters.

Creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien have tackled insular communities since writing the hit movie “Rounders” about high-stakes poker in 1998. And to nail the hedge fund world depicted in "Billions," the pair started researching eight or nine years before the show went on the air, they told Business Insider in a recent interview.

Because of where Koppelman and Levien lived — Manhattan and Greenwich, Connecticut — the pair knew many people in the finance world not just from headlines, but socially as well. Levien said that was what first motivated them to start digging in.

But as they were doing research, they learned quite a bit more about how the world of finance, and hedge funds in particular, operates.

Koppelman said what surprised him the most about hedge funds was the “exact level of rigor that these people have to apply to solving these problems.”

“If you're an analyst at a powerful hedge fund, it’s not just the hours you work,” he continued. “You are forced to work at a level of intelligence and rigor that is so high,” he said, and the pressure is constant.

Koppelman said before they started working on "Billions," he was aware of how much a hedge fund manager had to perform at that high level, but not the extent to which even a lower-level analyst also had to synthesize information intelligently in such a high-stress environment.

Read Business Insider's full interview with Koppelman and Levien.

SEE ALSO: HBO's 'Silicon Valley' is better without TJ Miller — and the show weaves in his absence in a clever way

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There's a great new reason to return to 'Pokémon Go' (NTDOY)

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  • Later this week, Pokémon Go will get a big update adding a storyline and daily quests to complete.
  • Completing this quests will give players the chance to catch Mew, the long-lost 151st Pokémon, missing in action since the game launched in July 2016.
  • Pokémon Go might no longer be a fad, but it still has lots and lots of dedicated players.

The fad may be long over, but Pokémon Go still has a strong, committed group of players — myself among them. 

So I was extremely excited when, on Monday morning, Pokémon Go developer Niantic announced that the game is getting a big update later this week, bringing quests and a storyline to the game.

And, for those who complete these quests, Niantic is teasing that players will be rewarded with Mew, the long-lost 151st Pokémon, who's been MIA since the game first came out in the summer of 2016.

The quests will take the form of what appear to be simple challenges: The game might ask you to catch a certain number of Pokémon, or collect a certain number of items. The game will reward you for every completion — and, apparently, bring you closer to a chance to catch Mew. 

For long-time players, this adds some much-needed variety to the game, while also fulfilling long-time promises from Niantic to bring in more story elements. For new or returning players, it gives a lot of incentive to stick with Pokémon Go. 

And if you're still wondering if anybody still plays Pokémon Go, please allow me to reassure you that they are. 

Over the weekend, Niantic held the third-ever Pokémon Go community day event, where a powered-up version of the fan-favorite Bulbasaur spawned in ridiculously high numbers in parks and other public spaces. My partner and I visited San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, and found that the park was clogged with our fellow players. 

A few months back, in January, we visited the Santa Monica Pier, where we found that an extremely dedicated group of players were organizing a huge group for a raid — a high-difficulty battle where players team up against a legendary Pokémon. The organizers had gone so far as to print flyers, showing what types of attacks the boss was weak to. 

Sure, those are isolated incidents in high-density urban areas. But it goes to show that while peak Pokémon Go has passed, the game still has a lot of fans. Now, there's another reason for you to join up, too.

SEE ALSO: 'Pokémon Go' just got a major update — including 50 new Pokémon

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NOW WATCH: A psychologist explains why we need to 'catch 'em all' in 'Pokémon GO'

3 charts show how MoviePass is changing the movie theater business, but 'playing a dangerous game'

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Since MoviePass dropped its monthly subscription price to $9.95 in August, there’s been talk around the industry about how the company can sustain itself over a long period of time.

While that's still yet to be determined, MoviePass is already giving some of the biggest movie chains in the country a lot of business, according to Second Measure, a firm that analyses US consumer spending on anonymized debit and credit card transactions.

Here are three charts provided by Second Measure that show the influence of MoviePass:

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MoviePass membership climbs with each subscription price cut — but that's a 'dangerous game'

MoviePass’ numerous price cuts on membership have helped drive up its subscription numbers to over 2 million and CEO Mitch Lowe hopes to pass 5 million by the end of the year.

The initial $9.95 cut led to a subscription growth of more than 16-fold in one month. November’s $6.95 per month cut led to 14% opting for the full-year deal and a quarter of those annual subscribers purchasing more than one membership. That month, sales were five times greater than October.

However, Second Measure believes MoviePass is playing a “dangerous game.” The lower the subscription price drops, the more money the company stands to lose every time it buys a full-price ticket for its millions of users.



Theater sales have skyrocketed since the growth of MoviePass members spiked

Theater owners will like this one. Theaters are making substantially more money from MoviePass subscribers compared to how those people spent before having a membership.

MoviePass subscriptions brought in 81% more sales at AMC than one year prior, and 101% more sales to Cinemark. And that’s not counting the concessions these folks paid for with cash.



Competition is coming

It was only a matter of time before MoviePass imitators came on the scene and Cinemark’s Movie Club is the first major one. For $8.99 a month, you receive one ticket per month (it can be rolled over to the next month if not used). Though it’s not as sexy as MoviePass’ one-movie-a-day deal, people are doing it.

Since its launch in December, Movie Club has enrolled 1/5 as many new users as MoviePass did in that time period.

Nothing MoviePass has to worry about just yet. But there’s now someone in its rear-view mirror.



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