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Here's how to easily block 'Star Wars' spoilers online so you don't ruin the movie

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star wars force awakens trailer

The new "Star Wars" movie is only days away, and that means the leaks and spoilers are starting to seep into social media news feeds and websites everywhere.

At this point, there's two camps of Star Wars fans: Those who desire nothing more than to go into the theaters without the faintest idea of what they'll see, and those (like myself) who pour over the latest leaks and spoilers in an attempt to cobble together the movie's plot beforehand.

While spoiler fans argue much of the fun lies in seeing which leaks and spoilers turn out to be true (and which are just hogwash), most people would prefer to stay away — and now there's an easy way to block out Star Wars spoilers without avoiding the internet entirely.

It's called "Force Block," and it's a new web browser extension for Chrome that detects if the webpage you're visiting contains any mention of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." If the website does, Force Block will bar you from seeing the webpage, pointing out that it contains spoilers and asking if you still want to proceed.

Force Block chrome extension

As you can see in the screenshot above, Force Block did its job as advertised, blocking my view of the "Star Wars Leaks" subreddit when I visited. The Chrome extension can be turned off by clicking the extension's tiny lightsaber symbol in the top right-hand corner of your browser, and there's also the option to whitelist websites if you need to override Force Block's decision.

You can download Force Block for free over at the Chrome Web Store, just remember that you'll need to be using Google Chrome as your web browser for it to work.

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2 Millennials watched the original ‘Star Wars’ for the first time

Ukraine's Darth Vader politician posed for a bunch of ridiculous photos of his daily routine

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Reuters published a rather unique photo essay last Friday featuring Ukraine's Darth Vader going about his daily routine — including walking his dog, shaving, and riding the bus.

The wire service reported that the Ukrainian citizen officially changed his name to Darth Mykolaiovych Vader in order to run a stunt campaign for mayor in the port city of Odessa. In that race, he finished 15th out of 42 candidates after campaigning with a number of other supporters dressed in "Star Wars" costumes.

View the photo essay below. 

SEE ALSO: JEB BUSH: Here's the plan to jump-start my campaign, defeat Donald Trump, and win the GOP nomination

Vader dries his hair.



Vader speaks to a woman while walking his dog.



Vader walks his dog along the water.



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Han Solo would have to pay $3 million a year to maintain the Millennium Falcon

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star wars episode VII millennium falcon

Han Solo would have to shell out a ton of money to keep the Millennium Falcon running if he were paying for repairs in the "Star Wars" galaxy the way we do here on earth.

UK engineering firm SGS Engineering looked at maintenance costs of commercial and fighter jets, as well as standard labor costs, and concluded that it would cost £2,044,000 (roughly $3 million) a year to repair and maintain the spacecraft.

The firm tells Business Insider that it would require more than £350,000 ($525,192) for labor costs and replacement parts could exceed half a million dollars.

SGS looked at data and costs of commercial liners that closely matched the length and width of the Millennium Falcon, as well as the International Air Transport Association’s Maintenance Cost Task Force report, and found that the average maintenance cost was £1,651,483 ($2.5 million) per aircraft.    

The "fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy" is about 111 ft long and 82 ft wide.

SGS owner and founder Andy Wyatt said that the firm decided to look into how much it would cost to fix the ship after seeing estimates about how much it would take to build from scratch. (According to DeAgostini Model Space, it would cost £3.2 billion or $4.8 billion to build.)

"The Falcon’s age and numerous modifications over its lifetime play a big part in ramping up the maintenance costs, not to mention the odd run-in with the dark side," he said. "We’re not professing that these are definitive calculations, there is a certain amount of conjecture in there – after all there’s not much to base a replacement hyperdrive on – but they do give a good idea of just how much of a financial burden the Millennium Falcon would have been on Solo."

SEE ALSO: This favorite female villain from the new 'Star Wars' was originally a man

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The best vacation spots in the entire 'Star Wars' universe

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Imagine that you could travel to other planets for a vacation that was literally out-of-this-world.

That's exactly what the folks at The Daily Dot and Column Five– an agency that specializes in informative graphics — have envisioned.

To celebrate the highly-anticipated debut of Disney's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the two companies got together and named the best vacation destinations within the Star Wars universe.

Check them out below, and may the force be with you.

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If you enjoy exploring beautiful ancient ruins, consider the wondrous planet of Naboo, where Padme Amidala — mother of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa — was born.

Source: Column Five and The Daily Dot



As the capital of the galactic empire, the city-planet Coruscant always has something going on. Think of it as a futuristic New York City or Las Vegas.

Source: Column FiveandThe Daily Dot



If you want to get your hands on one of the rare and valuable kyber crystals on planet Illum, you'll need to pack warm clothes.

Source: Column FiveandThe Daily Dot



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Jimmy Kimmel and Donald Trump read over-the-top children's book, 'Winners Aren't Losers'

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jimmy kimmel donald trump

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Wednesday night and saw his unusual health report mocked by comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

On Monday, the Republican presidential candidate released a health summary by his doctor written in Trump-style superlatives.

Kimmel simply read the report aloud in front of Trump as the late-night host and the audience burst out in laughter.

"I said, 'Doc, I want to tell you: I'll be the healthiest president ever!'" Trump recalled Wednesday. "And he said, 'I think I agree.' And I think he probably took my words and he put them down. He's actually a good doctor — so far a great doctor."

Later in the interview, Kimmel brought out a children's book supposedly written by Trump and read it out loud to the real-estate mogul. The faux-book, titled "Winners Aren't Losers," appeared to be modeled after Dr. Seuss's children's book but actually mocked Trump's campaign shtick.

"Winners aren't losers. They're winners, like me. A loser's a loser, which one will you be?" Kimmel read aloud. "Winners do deals. And winners get rich. While sad little losers just sit there and b----."

"Could be a big seller," Trump joked.

"My daughter loves it," Kimmel replied as he continued reading the book:

The dog is a loser. And frankly I pity it. This dog did bad deals. This dog is an idiot. And poor Mr. Bear, he must feel like a loser, valeting that 2006 PT Cruiser. This lobster's a loser. Throw him in the pot. I like a lobster who doesn't get caught.

Kimmel added, "Now here are some frogs I do not like at all. We must kick these frogs out and then build a wall! Oh the places you'll go on your yacht, on your plane — with your suits from Milan and your wives from Ukraine."

Trump read the final lines of the book himself.

Watch below:

SEE ALSO: 'Astonishingly excellent': Donald Trump releases report saying he'd be the healthiest president 'ever'

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I'm going to see 'Star Wars' this weekend, 38 years after the original — and I'm completely terrified (dis)

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On Sunday, my wife and I will be talking our two young sons to see "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens."

I'm completely terrified.

Not because I think the movie will be a disaster — all the advance reviews say that director J.J. Abrams nailed it, that the new characters are exciting and well-drawn, and that the return of the war horses (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher) actually works.

I'm terrified because I've been faking it with my family when it comes to "Star Wars." 

The problem is that I outgrew "Star Wars" in a furious hurry four decades ago, but with the my kids, I've pretended that the films represent a deep and resonant tapestry of timeless myths. At times, I almost talked myself into believing that. But the truth is that I think all the "Star Wars" movies are pretty bad, as movies. As a 10-year-old boy, I was thrilled beyond words by "Star Wars." But I wasn't planning on remaining a wordless awestruck 10-year-old forever.

It's baaacckkk ...

We are definitely a "Star Wars" family. My two older kids, at 13 and 10, have seen all the movies and watched a lot of the follow-on stuff, like "Clone Wars," and know the ins and outs of what I have to admit has become our modern-day answer to Homer. My five-year-old hasn't seen it all, but he knows enough to get by.

It's all my fault. I inflicted "Star Wars" on them years ago. I felt it was a necessary initiation.

But I also sort of forgot what "Star Wars" actually meant to me.

And now I'm going to relive the whole thing, because my 10-year-old is going to see "The Force Awakens" in a real movie theater, replicating my own "Star Wars" origin story — I saw what was my "Episode 1," later rechristened "Episode IV: A New Hope," in 1977, when I was his age. (My kids have only ever watched the "Star Wars" films on video.)

I can already tell that the "Force Awakens" isn't really Episode VII. It's a reboot of the original film, with Abrams taking a page from his successful "Star Trek" playbook.

star wars episode 7 millennium falcon

This is going to place me in the awkward position of deciding whether to do the fatherly thing and guide my 10-year-old toward what I felt, over 30 years ago, was the correct response to "Star Wars," or just give in and allow "The Force Awakens" to achieve what Disney clearly wants it to achieve: mint a whole bunch of new 10-year-old superfans who can keep "Star Wars" going for at least another three installments and, maybe, forever.

This isn't going to be easy because I've been a total fraud where "Star Wars" is concerned. 

Lies, lies, lies

Here's why. "Star Wars" was indeed exhilarating in 1977. I hadn't really ever seen anything like it. It was spectacular, somewhat gritty, but also utterly simple — an old-school black-and-white epic, pitting good against bad, darkness against light

In the context of the mid-1970s, "Star Wars" was the ultimate cinematic distraction. Because outside the theater, America was in rough shape. The grownups were all freaked out, and the kids could tell. Just two years after "Star Wars" opened, President Jimmy Carter would give his infamous "Malaise" speech, which now serves as shorthand for the grim realities of the '70s: stagflation, the Iran hostage crisis, the collapse of the American middle class, the breakdown of traditional family. The 3 Mile Island nuclear disaster, the long hangover of Watergate and Vietnam and the vanished promise of Woodstock and the counterculture.

Jimmy Carter

"Star Wars" has been derided for being nostalgic, but in those days, when the Cold War was still on and the Detroit auto industry was losing its battle against upstart Japanese car makers, when the US military was still licking its wounds after the debacle in Southeast Asia and inflation was in double-digits, the country was lusting for a throwback mood swing. Ronald Reagan, a creature of Hollywood in the 1950s, arguably rode that desire to the White House in 1980.

"Star Wars" was the turning point. But it did arrive a long time ago in an America that now seems far, far away, indeed.

Although I thought "Star Wars" was very cool when I saw it at age 10, by the time "The Empire Strikes" back landed in 1980, I considered "Star Wars" to be embarrassingly uncool. I was a teenager — "Star Wars" was kid stuff.

This is basically the way my 13-year-old is thinking about "The Force Awakens."

"It's going to be awful," I told her, right after I saw Carrie Fisher as Princess (now "General") Leia on a sign atop a New York taxi (I know far too much about Fisher's post-"Star Wars" life) and before I read some of the early reviews.

star wars force awakens trailer

My daughter agreed. Not that she isn't going to see it (she'll beat the rest of us by at least a day). But she's got the jaded teenager thing down. Even if it's terrific, it will still be "Star Wars" and vastly less cool that what she really likes these days, which is rock-n-roll and hair dye.

The vast cultural phenomenon that "Star Wars" has become never stopped baffling me, even as I grew to accept it. For starters, I saw many more movies after "Star Wars" and I quite quickly realized how bad "Star Wars" was as cinema. The logical and mature reaction to "Star Wars" was to put it rapidly in its proper place and at the very least move on to "Alien."

But that was a lost bet on a different future. "Star Wars" set us on a course for "The Avengers," inevitably. My adulthood unfortunately developed in the wake of a period of rebellious innovation in moviemaking — and the rejection of that innovation in favor of "Star Wars"-style blockbusters. It didn't take me long to figure out how bad "Star Wars" was. But that coincided with over three decades of fighting the tide.

iron man 3

Giving up

So I gave up and just let "Star Wars" wash over me — my kids have the arsenal of toy light sabers and the Lego sets and action figures to prove it. To borrow a line from the TV reboot of "Star Trek," resistance was futile. I can do a decent impression of Darth Vader informing Luke Skywalker that he's his FAH-ther.

Still, I wasn't wrong in the late '70s. And here I am, with a 10-year-old boy who in the next few years is going to have to make up his own mind about "Star Wars." The guidance that I received when I was in his position was "that's not a real movie."

"The Godfather" was a real movie. "Citizen Kane" was a real movie. "The Graduate" was a real movie. "M*A*S*H" was a real movie. "The 400 Blows" was a real movie. "Blue Velvet" was a real movie. "Lawrence of Arabia" was a real movie.

But everything I've said and done since I introduced "Star Wars" to my kids has suggested that it's actually more than a real movie. It's something that defines us. "You raised me on 'Star Wars'," my daughter said, trying to convince me let go to a midnight showing.

Of course that was a fun angle to take for a while, but it's also something I don't entirely believe. And now I'm at a treacherous impasse: the right thing to do is seize the moment and set him on a path away from superfandom — but he's going to want to know what all the fuss over "Star Wars" since he was five was all about.

The obvious solution here is to simply relax, get some popcorn, sit back, enjoy myself, and let the entertainment value of "The Force Awakens" override the fear. My kids can draw their own conclusions. Life goes on, bra! And who knows, maybe Abrams has found a way to make his 1977 flashback both exuberant and aesthetically magnificent. 

I'll let you know how it goes. Because the truth is, I'm scared to death!

SEE ALSO: BLOWS IT, YODA DOES: Here's what I learned when I watched the original 'Star Wars' movies for the first time in 10 years

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The unlikely history of the Charlie Brown Christmas special, 50 years later

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Every year, millions of viewers count the "A Charlie Brown Christmas" special as part of their holiday tradition – a far cry from what its creators believed after watching the finished product 50 years ago.

"We thought we had ruined Charlie Brown," said the special's executive producer Lee Mendelson in a taped interview.

ABC recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the popular "Peanuts" animation. It's such a big deal, the US postal service issued a line of stamps for the anniversary.

But in 1965, Mendelson and then CBS (which owned the rights to the special) programming executive Fred Silverman believed they had made a terrible show and that it would air one night and they'd be done with it.

"We didn't think it worked," Mendelson explained. "We thought it was too slow. We didn't know what the network was going to think. And I took it back to New York and the network really didn't like it."

It was the first broadcast special to be made from the popular "Peanuts" comic strip. "Peanuts" creator Charles Schultz had just days to write it and with just six months to produce it, Mendelson was creating things out of thin air. Children without any acting experience voiced most of the characters, and Snoopy's utterings were actually provided by the director, Bill Melendez.

Silverman said of the network's take: "The general reaction was one of disappointment, that it didn't really translate as well as we thought it would."

But the special was already in the TV listings, so they had to air it. "[The network said,] 'Nice try. We'll put it on once and that will be it,'" Mendelson recalled.

To everyone's surprise, the show aired on December 9, 1965, and it was a hit. It earned a 49 audience share, which meant pretty much half of American households with TVs watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas." It was the second-most watched show that week, behind the very popular western series "Bonanza." And it ended up winning an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program the next year and a Peabody Award.

 It has since aired every year since that first broadcast.

"I think we are all as overwhelmed today as were back then and that it keeps going on and keeps going on," Mendelson said.

Watch the interviews below:

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The 10 most buzzed about TV shows of 2015 — according to the internet

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jimmy fallon

As December draws to a close, it's a great time to look back at exactly what we watching in 2015. 

Data and analytics company ListenFirst Media took a look at exactly what television shows people were hyped about online over the past year. They created a list of the top ten most buzzed about programs of 2015, using Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube, and Wikipedia page views to calculate online search volume.

From a beloved children's program to late night talk shows, here are the top ten. 

10. "America's Got Talent"



9. "The Late Late Show With James Corden"



8. "Sportscenter"



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Miss Spain is crowned Miss World

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miss spain

Spanish model Mireia Lalaguna Royo was crowned Miss World 2015 after beating out 113 contestants from across the globe in China's Sanya on Saturday night.

The 23-year-old pharmacy student from Barcelona is the first to claim the international beauty pageant title for Spain, the Associated Press reports.

Following her victory, Lalaguna plans to pursue a master’s degree in nutrition.

miss world"Without the love I have received from all of the people I have met here, and from all of the people wishing me well and supporting me at home, I would never have gotten to this point," said the beauty queen, according to a statement released by the event's organizers. 

"I want to show them and the world that I am deserving of the Miss World title and I hope to do everyone proud."

The pageant's fifth place went to Miss Jamaica, fourth to Miss Lebanon, third to Miss Indonesia, second place was awarded to Miss Russia.

miss world

However, the ceremony was not without controversy. Officials in Hong Kong last month stopped Miss Canada, Chinese-born Anastasia Lin, from boarding a plane bound for Sanya, telling her she would not receive a visa. 

The 25-year old actress claimed the decision was due to her stance on China's human rights record, including its persecution of Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual group of which she is a practitioner.

Lin's photo was also not included on the Miss World 2015 contestant's page:

miss world

According to the Associated Press, Beijing nor the UK-based Miss World Organization have commented on the controversy.

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Check out the spectacular safari camp in Tanzania that draws celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel

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Singita Grumeti, located in Tanzania, has been named the best hotel in the world several times. It gained even more recognition after Justin Timberlake and Jessica Alba spent their honeymoon there.

The property, which covers 350,000 acres, adjoins with the surrounding Serengeti National Park. Each super luxe room has epic vistas, and guests can lounge by the pool and then see elephants in their natural habitat. 

There are also daily game drives with professional guides, a spa, yoga center, and tennis courts.

Story by Ian Phillips and editing by Stephen Parkhurst

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Hillary Clinton drops the mic to end debate: 'May the Force be with you'

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Hillary Clinton laugh

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton ended Saturday night's Democratic debate with a "Star Wars" reference.

"Good night! And may the Force be with you!" Clinton said at the end of her closing statement, where she stood between Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

It was, somewhat improbably, the only "Star Wars" reference to enter into Saturday night's debate. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opened this weekend.

Watch below:

 

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The Syfy channel adapted 'Childhood's End,' and watching it is literally a religious experience

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karellen childhood's end

The Syfy Channel released a television adaptation of "Childhood's End" this week, and, while the acting was a bit cheesy and the religious themes were a little heavy, I definitely found a lot to enjoy.

Based on the classic 1953 science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke, the three-part mini-series, whose final episode airs Wednesday night, depicts a peaceful takeover of Earth by the "Overlords," a superior alien race that brings about world peace and the end of famine and disease, though their motives are questionable.

(SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't watched the first two episodes or seen the book, this gives away some of the plot.)

A modern twist on a sci-fi classic

While there have been attempts to adapt Clarke's novel for the screen before, most notably by Stanley Kubrick before he went on to direct "2001: A Space Odyssey," this is the first successful one.

As a big fan of the book and of Clarke, I was excited to see how Syfy's adaptation would pan out. 

The miniseries stayed true to many of the book's themes. The show's writer and producer Matthew Graham says a lot of the issues present when the book was written are still relevant now.

"All the things that were weighing heavily on Earth in 1953 don't seem to have changed in 2015," Graham told Business Insider.

We're still facing global issues like bloody conflicts, worries about the future, and austerity, Graham said. And the story also touches on more timeless questions about who are we, what the point of life is, and what happens when we die.

But Graham took a few liberties to make the series more relevant to a modern audience.

More approachable characters

Childhood's end ricky stormgren"When Arthur wrote the book, it was a book about ideas, not about characters," Graham said. But that wouldn't work for a TV show.

As in the book, the alien invaders are led by a figure named Karellen, the so-called "Supervisor for Earth," who chooses a human ambassador named Ricky Stormgren to be their spokesperson. But in the TV series, Stormgren (played by actor Mike Vogel) is a Midwestern farmer — a significant departure from the book, in which Stormgren is the UN Secretary-General.

Graham felt that a bureaucrat from the UN wouldn't resonate with today's audiences, and a farmer would be more accessible. He liked the idea of Ricky as a kind of prophet communing with a higher power — a fact hammered home by Ricky's nickname in the series, the "blue-collar prophet."

I found Vogel's performance a little wooden, but still found his character sympathetic.

But Stormgren wasn't the only character Graham tweaked.

In the book, the character Jan Rodricks is an astrophysicist who wants to learn more about the Overlords and where they came from, but we don't learn anything about his backstory. In the Syfy series, the character Milo (played by British actor Osy Ikhile) is based on Rodricks, but we get to meet Milo as a child, which lets us become more invested in him.

As for the story's religious themes, they were hard to miss.

The religious angle 'felt natural'

As in the book, Karellen (played by Charles Dance of HBO's "Game of Thrones") refuses to reveal himself to humanity until several decades have passed.

When he does, he is a personification of the devil — red body, horns, and all. In the Syfy Channel version, the religious metaphor is much more heavy-handed, with scenes of cross-wielding characters shrouded in blinding light that call to mind classic exorcist films.

But to Graham, the religious angle felt natural. "In the absence of an obvious visible god, giant aliens from outer space saying they're going to save you felt like a religious experience," he said.

In fact, the series finale features an experience very much like the Rapture.

As for the series' ending, I won't give away details, except to say it stays true to the novel. You can watch it tonight on the Syfy Channel at 8-10 ET/PT.

Watch the trailer for Syfy's Childhood's End here:

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'The Leftovers' creator Damon Lindelof tells us his 10 favorite TV shows of 2015

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Damon Lindelof Tim Mosenfelder Getty

With 2015 coming to a close, it’s fun as always to come up with a list of favorite things from the year. But it’s even more fun when the list comes from someone who's an authority on a subject.

Damon Lindelof — who is known best for being one of the creators on “Lost” and now heads arguably the comeback series of the year, HBO’s “The Leftovers” (which you can catch now on HBO NOW or HBO GO) — lives, breathes, and eats television. So we asked him tell us his 10 favorite shows of 2015, hoping for insightful commentary. And we got it.

Here are Lindolof’s top 10 shows of the year.

SEE ALSO: "The Leftovers" season-finale director reveals the biggest challenges of the episode

“Master of None” (Netflix)

The latest hit for the streaming giant stars Aziz Ansari (who also co-created the show) as a 30-year-old struggling actor in New York as he toils through his personal and professional life.

“I just respond to the purity of his voice, and the show surprises me constantly,” Lindelof told Business Insider. “I feel it's easy to be cynical now and that's what I thought I was singing up for when I started watching that show, but it's kind of one of the truest romantic comedies that I've seen. And most importantly, I feel like it is saying things about the Indian community that no television show is. For example, the fourth episode is ‘Indians on TV’ and they just start with this amazing montage and mention of [white actor] Fisher Stevens [playing an Indian character in the ‘Short Circuit’ movies]. This season on ‘The Leftovers’ in the second episode, these MIT guys come and they want to buy Nora's house, and when I spoke to our casting director, I was like, 'We should have an Indian actor play that lead MIT guy.' And I didn't think that I was being racist. Now I do. And that's flattering, who would not want to be an MIT engineer? But when a television show can make you feel guilty and free at the same time, and inform you and then make you laugh a second later, no show is doing that like ‘Master of None’ is.”



“The Knick” (Cinemax)

Creator Steven Soderbergh takes us back to early 1900s medicine as we follow doctor James Thackery (Clive Owen) and his fellow surgeons. They try radical procedures to save lives while dealing with serious personal problems like addiction, racism, and marital issues.

“Let's just put the writing and the acting, the things that make it brilliant, aside for a second, and just talk very specifically about how this show is produced. If you make television and you watch this show just from the costumes to the period to the music, it's such a beautiful show. It feels so pure. As pure as the medicinal cocaine that Thackery injects. Even though I binge it, it does feel like you can watch an episode of ‘The Knick’ and it feels really complete. And they will end episodes in these incredibly artful, beautiful ways. There are other shows that are heavily serialized that I also like and love, but I feel ‘The Knick' really embraces that idea.”



“Transparent” (Amazon)

The award-winning drama follows the lives of a Los Angeles family after discovering that their father (Jeffrey Tambor) is transgender.

“There are shows on this list that I watch alone and there are shows that I watch with my wife. I think one of the great things about marriage is finding television shows that you can watch and appreciate together. We had been hearing good things about 'Transparent.' I was like, ‘Let's check this show out.’ And we're bad at technology so we couldn't figure out how to get Amazon Prime on our television, and she's like, ‘We're not watching a show on your laptop.’ And I'm like, ‘Let's just watch one episode.’ And 18 hours later, we had watched the first season of ‘Transparent.’ That includes dropping our son off at camp and we went to a Starbucks and huddled in a corner with one ear bud in each ear crying watching ‘Transparent.’ At it's got the best opening title sequence on television, in my opinion.”



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Amy Poehler's 'Hillary Clinton' met Kate McKinnon's 'Hillary Clinton' on SNL

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hillary clinton

When veteran cast member Amy Poehler came back to host "Saturday Night Live," the show took the opportunity to introduce one of Poehler's most iconic characters to its successor. 

Hillary Clinton, who is now played by regular cast member Kate McKinnon, updated Poehler's 2008 Hillary Clinton on the state of next year's presidential contest. 

McKinnon's Clinton 2016 explained to Poehler that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), whose strong showing in early polls has surprised many political analysts, is her main opponent in the Democratic primary.

"What? Bernie? We love Bernie. He's a great senator," 2008 Clinton said.

"Bernie Sanders is a human Birkenstock," 2016's version of Clinton replied.

2016's Clinton also gleefully revealed to her 2008 counterpart the current Republican front-runner. 

"I will tell you, but only if you grab onto something to brace yourself," 2016's Clinton said.

"Donald Trump."

"Oh my God, we're going to be president!" 2008's Clinton exclaimed.

But Clinton of 2008 also had a stark warning for her future self: Don't too cocky about her poll numbers. 

"Then someone named Barack Obama stumbled out of a soup kitchen with a basketball and a cigarette and stole my life," Poehler said as Clinton of 2008.  

Watch below, via NBC:

 

SEE ALSO: Hillary Clinton drops the mic to end debate: 'May the Force be with you'

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NOW WATCH: Business Insider's full interview with Jeb Bush

'You are too thin-skinned': Bill O'Reilly confronts Donald Trump again

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Fox News host Bill O'Reilly confronted Donald Trump yet again during an interview that aired Wednesday night.

O'Reilly, who has had numerous heated on-air arguments with Trump, repeatedly told the Republican presidential front-runner that he was "thin-skinned."

O'Reilly pointed to the Tuesday-night debate, hosted by CNN, in which Trump complained that CNN was acting "very unprofessional" with its negative questions about him.

"Honestly, I think I get better press from CNN than I do Fox, if you want to know the truth," Trump told O'Reilly, speaking from a campaign rally in Mesa, Arizona.

"Our job is to be tough!" O'Reilly exclaimed as the two talked over each other. "It's our job to vet you the best way we can. Look, you are too thin-skinned."

Trump fires near-daily broadsides against various media outlets that he feels cover him unfairly. Ahead of the Tuesday-night debate, Trump furiously tweeted not only at CNN, but also at Fox News, which he said was "not fair" in its coverage. Trump further attacked Fox host Megyn Kelly, whom he called "dopey," and various Fox pundits.

"You want to be president," O'Reilly said. "Tweet about Putin. Tweet about ISIS. I mean, it looks petty. It looks petty. Don't you think it looks petty? Don't you think it looks petty?"

Trump disagreed with O'Reilly and said he was simply calling out inaccuracies in the media.

Earlier in the interview, the Fox host also accused Trump of intentionally making over-the-top policy announcements and statements to provoke an emotional reaction from his supporters. Trump recently ignited a national firestorm by proposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US.

"Are you going to tell me tonight on this program that you don't say stuff just to get to the emotion of the voter? I know you do!" O'Reilly said. "You're telling me you don't do this to whip up the base and whip up your crowd?"

Trump again disagreed with O'Reilly and assured the host that he knew "more about policy than just about anybody."

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has also memorably called Trump "thin-skinned" during an interview with the candidate.

Watch part of the O'Reilly interview below:

SEE ALSO: Donald Trump just dramatically entered a campaign rally by pulling up in a Trump-branded 757

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The 15 biggest 'Shark Tank' success stories of all time

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Entrepreneurs who make it onto a "Shark Tank" episode have the opportunity to introduce their company to a viewing audience of 7 million potential customers.

The companies that land a deal with one or more of the show's investors then have the chance to scale and, in some cases, become a nationally recognized brand.

We looked through old episodes and asked the Sharks themselves about their most successful deals. Read on to learn about the biggest "Shark Tank" success stories so far.

SEE ALSO: 14 behind-the-scenes secrets you didn't know about 'Shark Tank'

DON'T MISS: The 18 best 'Shark Tank' pitches of all time

Scrub Daddy

A sponge company has far and away become the biggest "Shark Tank" success story. Over the past three years, Scrub Daddy has brought in a total of $75 million in revenue, according to investor Lori Greiner.

Greiner made a deal with its founder and CEO, Aaron Krause, in Season 4 for $200,000 in exchange for 20% equity. At that point, Krause had struggled to reach $100,000 in sales over 18 months, but Greiner saw great potential in the company's signature offering, a proprietary smiley-faced sponge that was more durable, hygienic, and effective than a traditional one.

She helped Krause expand his product line and brought them onto QVC and into stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond, where they have become bestsellers.



Tipsy Elves

When Robert Herjavec invested $100,000 for 10% of Evan Mendelsohn and Nick Morton's ugly Christmas-sweater company in Season 4, it could seem to viewers that he was betting on a fleeting fad. It turned out, though, to be his most profitable "Shark Tank" investment, he told Business Insider.

To stay ahead of trends, Herjavec helped make Tipsy Elves a year-round novelty apparel company that can capitalize off multiple holidays and college-football season.

Before its 2013 "Shark Tank" appearance, Tipsy Elves made $900,000 in annual revenue. Last year it brought in around $8 million, and this year it's on track to make $12 million, according to the company.



Breathometer

In Season 5, Charles Yim got a five-Shark deal for Breathometer, a portable Breathalyzer that works with a smartphone. Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Daymond John, Herjavec, and Greiner got in on a $650,000 deal for 30% of the company.

Since his "Shark Tank" appearance, Yim secured an additional $6.5 million in funding, partnered with the prestigious Cleveland Clinic, and developed a more accurate and more portable main product in addition to a device that tracks oral health and hydration levels.

Yim told Inc. that Breathometer is expected to end 2015 with $20 million in sales — double last year's number.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took on Taylor Swift's girl squad with 'Bad Blood' parody on 'SNL'

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First feminist icon Camille Paglia critiqued Taylor Swift's girl squad of A-List stars, singers, and models, and now Tina Fey and Amy Poehler had a little something to say about them.

The "Saturday Night Live" alums hosted this weekend's episode of the NBC sketch show and did a parody of Swift's "Bad Blood" video called "Dope Squad."

In the video, the women certainly take on the badass female spy look of "Bad Blood" and even throw in some fire and explosions. But instead of being joined by an army of supermodels and young actresses, Fey and Poehler give shout outs to the women who really help them get through life, which includes their gynecologist, a supermarket worker, waitresses, and their nannies.

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"SNL's" Aidy Bryant says it best in her solo rap break: "A queen ain't a queen by just sitting on a throne. She needs a whole damn crew. She can't do it alone."

Instead of Swift's young Hollywood friends Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham, and Jessica Alba, the "Sisters" stars name-checked "CBS This Morning" host Gayle King, and Robert Downey Jr.'s dad, director Robert Downey Sr.

That doesn't mean they didn't pull out at least one it girl for the video. Comedy Central star and "Trainwreck" actress Amy Schumer made an appearance and even helped the ladies out with a "slow-motion post-apocalyptic walk."

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Watch the parody below:

SEE ALSO: Amy Poehler says she 'never cared' about 'Star Wars' in foul-mouthed rant on Seth Meyers

MORE: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler keep in touch with the funniest people in Hollywood via epic group text

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NOW WATCH: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler just made a hilarious behind-the-scenes 'Star Wars' parody

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