What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T22 WHATS UP! January 16 - 22, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert It is true if you rearrange the let- ters in "Omicron" you could spell "moronic," but that doesn't prove anything. If you rearrange the letters of "coronavirus" you can spell "corn saviour" — that doesn't mean I'm going to bow down and worship Orville Re- denbacher. We just learned that a big retail- er, Dollar Tree, is bumping up their prices to $1.25 for most items. Hey, "dollar" is right in the name of the store! I haven't been this upset since I found out Panda Express does not serve real panda. The latest supply chain snafu is hitting the beverage industry, where there is a growing alcohol shortage, including high-end rums, cognacs and tequila. ... But wait, there's less! There's also shortages of wine, which ex - plains your suburban mom's new T-shirt: "Don't talk to Mommy until someone has resolved the kinks in the global supply chain." The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Last night, just hours before the deadline, Congress reached a deal to avoid a government shut- down. ... The government is now funded through [to] Feb. 18 — it's basically Congress's version of repeatedly clicking "Remind me tomorrow" on a software up- date. Zoom just rolled out a new fea- ture called "Attendance status" that makes it easier to see who's at a meeting and whether any- one showed up late, which is why they're changing the name from Zoom to "Narc." The NFL just suspended three players, including Tampa Bay Buccaneers star receiver Anto- nio Brown, for turning in fake vaccine cards. The NFL got sus- picious when, under "doctor," it said "Aaron Rodgers." Today the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns in China. That's right, U.S. athletes are still competing but the politi- cians will not be there. Nothing will convince China to change their ways like not sending the secretary of agriculture to the Olympics. The Late Late Show With James Corden Republicans want to defund Biden's vaccine mandate be- cause ... famously, Republicans hate to tell people what to do with their bodies. The cereal company Kellogg's has reached a tentative agree- ment with union representatives, ending one of the most high-pro- file labor disputes. Now they just need to hurry up and sign the agreement before it gets soggy ... the only flies in the ointment are Snap, Crackle and Pop, who are all hard-line communists. Jimmy Kimmel Live! Biden said he spoke to Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer and believes there won't be a shutdown "unless somebody de- cides to be erratic." And by somebody, he means Ted Cruz, the senator from Texas. They did a study at Colorado State University and found that the people who spread COVID the most are men. ... Men are thought to be more "spready" because, in general, we have larger lungs and are a lot more inclined to give wet willies. Speaking loudly is also not good — it expels more particles of COVID, which means the loud- est men can do the most dam- age. So, stay as far away from Gilbert Gottfried as you can. Late Night with Seth Meyers During a new interview, billion- aire Elon Musk said that his Neuralink company hopes to start implanting brain chips in humans sometime next year. That's kind of intriguing, but I don't think I'd get the first one. Remember the iPhone 1? Exactly. You get the first chip and in three years everybody will be making fun of you: "You got the ONE? Can you even watch Tik- Toks with that?" Instagram today launched its so- called "Take a Break" tool. A break from Instagram, or as it's otherwise called, "Twitter." LATE LAUGHS BY MICHELLE ROSE TV Media In 'Trouble': This year may be a busy one for Lizzy Caplan ("Masters of Sex"). In the past few months, the actress's name has been linked to a number of upcoming projects, and one of them is the limited series "Fleishman Is in Trouble." As first reported by Variety, Caplan has been cast as the fe- male lead in the nine-episode se- ries about a recently separated, 40-something dad whose suc- cessful foray back into the dating world is interrupted by his ex- wife's disappearance (hence the "Trouble" in the title). So, who is the titular (Toby) Fleishman? That would be actor Jesse Eisenberg ("The Social Network," 2010) in one of his few TV roles to date. He'll star opposite Caplan, marking a re- union for the two former "Now You See Me 2" (2016) cast mates. Caplan will reportedly play Lib- by, the show's narrator and To- by's friend. "Fleishman Is in Trouble" is based on the identically titled bestselling novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who is on board as writer and executive producer. Though originally touted as an FX on Hulu origi- nal, Disney announced last month that it was scrapping that moniker, meaning the project will now fall under the FX brand. As for Caplan, the former "Castle Rock" actress recently voiced the lead character in the Netflix animated series "Inside Job." She's also tapped to play Alex — a role originated by Glenn Close — in Paramount+'s planned remake of the 1987 film "Fatal Attraction." But with all of these projects on the go, something had to give, and that something was Starz' revival of the 2009-10 cult come- dy "Party Down." Caplan was one of several original cast members set to return for the new installment, but given her commitment to "Fleishman Is in Trouble," Caplan's busy sched- ule couldn't accommodate "Par- ty Down's" mid-January produc- tion start. Offerman, the survivalist: HBO series "The Last of Us" has finally found its Bill — or rather, a replacement for the first actor cast to play Bill. HBO's upcoming adaptation of the PlayStation game is set 20 years after a deadly virus has wiped out modern civilization. The "Mandalorian" himself, Pedro Pascal, plays survivor Joel, who's been hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey, "Hilda") out of a quarantine zone. The "small job" turns out to be a harrowing cross-country journey, and they must depend on each other (and others) for survival. "Parks and Recreation" star Nick Offerman has joined the cast of "The Last Of Us" and will play the role of Bill, one of two post-pandemic survivalists who live alone in their isolated town. This is reportedly more of a guest-starring role for Offerman, who has earned two Emmy nominations to date for his co- hosting role on NBC's "Making It." Offerman replaces Con O'Neill in the role of Bill; the English actor had previously worked with showrunner Craig Mazin on HBO's "Chernobyl," but according to Variety, O'Neill bowed out of "The Last of Us" due to a scheduling conflict. Offerman will next appear in Hulu's limited series "Pam & Tommy," which premieres Feb. 2. Meanwhile, "The Last of Us" doesn't have an official release date, but production is already well underway with scenic Can- more, Alberta, standing in for the Jackson, Wyoming, settle- ment featured in the video game. Dowdy life: There won't be a "Schitt's Creek" movie any time soon, according to co-cre- ator and David Rose himself Dan Levy, who recently told Us Weekly that any film adaptation would require "a really good idea, and until that happens, we're leaving it as is." So, you can't fault the show's cast and crew for moving on to new projects, including Levy, who has a few series in the works, in- cluding HBO Max's upcoming food competition, "The Big Brunch." Co-creator Eugene Levy will reportedly host travel show "The Reluctant Traveler" on Ap- ple TV+, which happens to be where another "Schitt's Creek" alumnus, executive producer David West Read, is headed. The Emmy-winning producer is currently working on a small- screen adaptation of M.O. Walsh's novel "The Big Door Prize," which tells the story of a small town forever changed by the sudden appearance of a mys- terious machine in the local gro- cery store — a machine that dis- closes each person's true poten- tial. Apple ordered the 10-epi- sode series from Skydance TV, and Read will serve as writer and showrunner. Read's version of "The Big Door Prize" has even landed its first cast member: actor Chris O'Dowd, best known as Roy from "The IT Crowd." O'Dowd, whose turn in "State of the Union" earned him a 2019 Emmy, will star good-natured teacher and family man Dusty, who has never strayed from a safe and predictable path in life. Dusty bemoans the day-to-day mundanity of his life, but when the machine reveals his true purpose, he further questions his own happiness and life choices. No word yet on an official re- lease date. "Masters of Sex's" Lizzy Caplan to star in "Fleishman is in Trouble" STARS ON SCREEN