What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T22 WHATS UP! January 2 - 8, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert [Roger] Stone helped plan the rally that preceded the [Jan. 6] insurrection, and the committee wants to know why he was invit- ed to lead the march to the Capi- tol from the rally but curiously did not ultimately attend the ral- ly or go near the Capitol. ... It's like the head of the prom com- mittee at the high school in "Carrie" saying, "Look, I know I helped plan the dance, but I think I'm going to stay home. By the way, take this poncho — no reason." Why spend four hours peeking into an oven [to cook a turkey] when I can spend 30 glorious seconds recreating "Backdraft" with a Butterball? The big star of the [Macy's Thanksgiving Day] this year [was] Gravy Pirates by Heinz — good to see Johnny Depp is still getting some work. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon I saw that a very unique Christ- mas tree display has returned to a mall in Canada. Some people think it's cute while others think it's a little creepy ... [and] now we know what the Christmas episode of "Squid Game" will look like. Some movie news ... "House of Gucci" starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver finally hit theaters. Tickets ... are $18, but if you go to Times Square, you can find a knock-off for $10. Actor Steve Burton was fired from the soap opera "General Hospital" because he refused to get vaccinated. Yup, they kept showing him evidence [that] the vaccine was safe, but he had am- nesia. When he found out he was fired, Burton went up to the pro- ducer, threw a drink in his face, slapped him and yelled, "I'll al- ways love you," then stormed out. The Late Late Show With James Corden I think 79 might be too old to run a country. I'm 43 and all I want to do is sit in the park and throw bread at ducks. A vandal in Washington, D.C., completely destroyed a car, smashing the windows, defacing the hood and sides, and writing "Mike is a cheater" all over it in spray paint. But it gets worse! It turns out that isn't Mike's car. Now this still doesn't change the fact that Mike is a cheater — look, cheating is always bad — but if you can't even recognize his car, maybe you two weren't as close as you thought. The woman who discovered her SUV said she doesn't even know any - one named Mike — and that's the craziest part of this story! Jimmy Kimmel Live! Talking about the race for presi- dent in 2024 ... Joe Biden was asked and says he expects to run again — even though he will be 82 years old. He's planning to ei- ther run for re-election or take out a reverse mortgage on the White House. Some Democrats are hoping that Bernie will be the nominee again, but he's 80 right now. Bernie Sanders makes Joe Biden look like Timothée Chal - amet! Late Night with Seth Meyers After test driving an electric Hummer pickup truck in Michi- gan ... President Biden said, "This sucker's something else!" OK, but don't give him one. The last thing anyone needs is a 78-year-old man driving a car that you can't hear coming. New York Jets quarterback Joe Flacco announced at a press con- ference ... that he is not vaccinat- ed against the coronavirus and said that he "has his reasons." I mean, he's a backup quarterback on the Jets. I assume his reason is that he's ready to die. Officials in Florida recently dis- covered a 20-foot-long metal box washed up on a beach. Even weirder, there wasn't any co- caine in it. After Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ac- cused Republican congresswom- an Liz Cheney in a recent inter- view of having "Trump Derange- ment Syndrome," Cheney tweet- ed: "Trump broke Ted Cruz." Yeah, but that's like breaking an Ikea bookshelf — it was about to go anyway: "You put books on it? Oh, you can't put books on it." LATE LAUGHS BY MICHELLE ROSE TV Media TV rewind: If you've watched the 2020 documentary "The Last Blockbuster" (it's on Netflix), you know the story of Blockbuster's demise and how a lone store in Bend, Oregon, is the last vestige of a once-mighty video rental empire. Those with fond memories of movie rentals are really rooting for the Bend Blockbuster and its hard-working staff, and it seems its story has inspired a new TV series that's coming soon. The 10-episode series "Block- buster" is set in the last Block- buster video store and stars Randall Park ("Fresh Off the Boat"). Billed as a workplace comedy, the series will explore what — or rather who — it takes for a small business to succeed against all odds. And producers are going all out in their attempt to tap into our nostalgia: they've acquired the rights to use the Blockbuster name and logo, and you can count on seeing the fa- miliar polo shirt uniform. There's some irony to this sto- ry, given the fact that "Block- buster" will be airing on Netflix. The streaming giant was just a fledgling DVD-by-mail rental service in 2000 when co-found- ers Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings sought to keep it afloat by selling it to Blockbuster for $50 million. Executives rebuffed their offer, but whereas Netflix's fortunes soon turned around, Blockbuster's debt load forced it into bankruptcy protection in 2010 and operations ceased in 2014. Given its history, Netflix had some fun announcing "Block- buster" and tweeted, "Netflix and Blockbuster are finally working together — well, sort of." Jim Donnelly, head of comedy at Universal Television (the company producing the series), also included a humorous refer- ence to the past in his statement: "We're so happy to be strolling the aisles of a Blockbuster once again, with Vanessa [Ramos], David [Caspe], and Jackie [Clarke] leading the way. We're also thrilled to be continuing our partnership with Netflix, where we never have to worry about late fees." Court of opinion: True crime stories and legal docu- mentaries have become stream- ing staples these days, but dis- covery+ recently commissioned a new legal documentary that of- fers a celebrity twist. The streamer has greenlit "Johnny vs. Amber," a two-part documentary that will tell the story of how the relationship be- tween actors Johnny Depp ("Pi- rates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," 2003) and Amber Heard ("Aquaman," 2018) broke down and resulted in an explosive legal battle. According to Discovery, Inc., each of the series' two parts tells the story from Depp and Heard's "polarized perspectives." Depp's episode will talk about how he felt he was "married to a Machi- avellian liar who would stop at nothing to protect her image," while Heard's film explores how she felt she had "married the man of her dreams, only to see him turn into a violent, drug-fu- elled monster." "Johnny vs. Amber" will in- clude video footage and audio recordings provided by the cou- ple, as well as testimony from lawyers on both sides and sourc- es reportedly "close to the pair." While discovery+ touts the documentary as an honest look at the celebrity court case of the decade, the announcement was met with mixed reactions on- line. He's back: Good news if you're a fan of "Chucky." The TV revival of the Child's Play horror film franchise recently wrapped its first season on USA Network and Syfy (on Showcase in Cana- da), and it seems NBCUniversal is pretty pleased with its reach of 9.5 million viewers across all platforms: "Chucky" has been officially renewed for a second season. In a statement released by the network, creator/showrunner/ executive producer Don Manci- ni stated, "We're thrilled to start pulling the strings on a second season of puppet mayhem with 'Chucky.' Many thanks to our partners at USA, Syfy and UCP for their incredible support and guidance bringing 'Chucky' to the small screen, bigger than ever. And to the fans, Chucky sends his still-undying thanks, and a message: 'This isn't over, not by a long shot. You better watch your backs in 2022!'" If you haven't seen this TV ad- aptation, the murderous Chucky doll has turned up at a yard sale in the quiet town of Hackensack, New Jersey, where a series of grisly murders soon ensues. Ac- tor Brad Dourif ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 1975) voices Chucky once again, and the series also brought back franchise star Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany. The second highest-rated new cable series among viewers aged 18-49, "Chucky" was picked up to series just a few months be- fore the pandemic hit in 2020, af- ter being in development for a year. It was originally intended for Syfy, but after some restruc- turing at NBCUniversal, execu- tives opted to share the series with USA Network in order to reach a broader audience — a decision that has seemingly paid off, given "Chucky's" ratings, and now, its renewal. Randall Park to star in Blockbuster Video workplace comedy STARS ON SCREEN