What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1466421
T22 WHATS UP! May 1 - 7, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert COVID is still out there, and last week over half of the new cases were Omicron BA.2, which some call "stealth Omi- cron," which I call B.S. on. Something can't be stealth if we're detecting it everywhere. That's the viral equivalent of a ninja wearing a road-work vest. After years of tweeting silly memes and bad takes, while at the same time criticizing Twit- ter's business practices, [Tesla CEO Elon] Musk bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter, making him the largest single shareholder. Wait a second! So, if he doesn't like how a corporation operates he just buys it?! How much more evidence do we need that he's turning into a supervillain? "What?! Guac is extra? Then this Chipotle is now MINE. Muaha- ha!" The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon I read that the second season of "Bridgerton" set a Netflix record for opening-weekend views. Yup, Netflix said they're going to celebrate the only way they know how: by raising subscrip- tion fees. The vacuum company Dyson is coming out with their own noise-canceling headphones that have a built-in air purifier ... Dyson?! [It] looks more like Beats by Bane. It's kind of cool, you're just one visor away from being in Daft Punk. I read that thanks to the ongoing bird flu outbreak, the cost of eggs is surging in grocery stores across the country. ... And that's not the only problem the bird flu is causing. Apparently, Costco is facing supply shortages of its ro- tisserie chickens. And now I'm wondering what came first: the chicken shortage or the egg shortage? The Late Late Show With James Corden [President Joe] Biden has or- dered the release of a record one million barrels of oil from the national strategic reserve —per day! — for the next six months. That's a lot of oil! ... This is the third time Biden has tapped the reserves, but he insists they're not dating or anything, it's just strictly casual. A company has just released the world's first toasted baseball bat- finished whiskey. It's true, the whiskey is aged for six years and then is finished for six weeks in barrels containing Hall of Famer David Ortiz's signature bats. I know — I don't care, either. The whiskey is aged for six years, which, coincidentally, is how I feel after watching a game of baseball. Jimmy Kimmel Live! President Obama returned to the White House today for the first time since he left office. ... Obama was there celebrating the 12-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Obama Care, and also to help Joe set up his Roku. ... [I]t was all great un- til the end when everyone gath- ered around Obama and there was no one for Joe. ... He was found two hours later wander- ing around the garden depart- ment at Lowe's. Former governor of Alaska Sar- ah Palin is running for Congress now in a special election. Trump issued a statement: "Sar- ah Palin is tough and smart and will never back down." Even for Trump, it's impressive to fit three lies into an 11-word sen- tence. Late Night With Seth Meyers Intelligence officers reportedly believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin has only recently learned how poorly the invasion of Ukraine has been going and is angry with his military advisers. And you can tell he's upset, be- cause now the table is even lon- ger! The House on Friday [April 1] passed a bill to legalize marijua- na, largely along party lines. Then Don [Trump] Jr. got excit- ed because he thought they had legalized "party lines." The media company BuzzFeed over the weekend shut down its news app. There were many rea- sons for the move, and No. 7 will shock you! LATE LAUGHS BY MICHELLE ROSE TV Media 'Feud' revived: It's been five years since the last "Feud," but FX is finally ready to dish out a second serving of the drama produced by Ryan Murphy ("American Horror Story"). Given the anthology nature of the series and the sheer number of famous feuds that would make for great TV, Season 2 is expected to move away from the first season's Hollywood setting. That installment, which aired in the spring of 2017, chronicled the epic rivalry between icons Bette Davis (played by Susan Saran- don, "Thelma & Louise," 1991) and Joan Crawford (played by Jessica Lange, "Tootsie," 1982) on and off the set of their 1962 film "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" Another Hollywood veteran, actress Naomi Watts ("Mulhol- land Drive," 2001), is set to star in Season 2, while the legendary Gus Van Sant ("Good Will Hunt- ing," 1997) will direct. And ignore all previous talk of chronicling the dissolution of Prince Charles and Princess Di- ana's marriage: That idea was scrapped in 2018, and Murphy's move to Netflix — home of "The Crown," which will cover the royal divorce in the upcoming fifth season — contributed to FX's decision to simply hit "pause" on the series for a few years. Instead, Season 2 of "Feud," subtitled "Capote's Women," will be set in 1970s New York City and is based on the book "Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era" by author Lau- rence Leamer. It tells the story of author Truman Capote's bitter (and very public) falling out with the glamorous, high-soci- ety women who formed his in- ner circle — his "swans" — until the novelist published an ex- cerpt that was a thinly veiled tell-all. Watts is to play the role of Bar- bara "Babe" Paley, wife of then- CBS chairman Bill Paley. Ac- cording to Deadline, several oth- er famous actresses have been approached to star as Capote's other socialite swans that in- clude Gloria Guinness, contrib- uting editor to Harper's Bazaar; Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacque- line Kennedy Onassis; Pamela Churchill, ex-wife of Winston Churchill's son; and society ma- ven C.Z. Guest. 'Dancing' at Disney: After 16 years and 30 seasons on ABC, "Dancing With the Stars" is moving to a new home. In a stunning move, the dance competition is leaving the Dis- ney-owned broadcast network and moving to Disney+ instead, where seasons 31 (coming this fall) and 32 will premiere exclu- sively on the streamer. Accord- ing to Variety, repeats will also be made strictly available via the platform. It's a big win for Disney+, which now has the first livestreaming reality show — and one with a big, built-in fol- lowing, too. While one would as- sume this is a big loss for ABC and broadcast TV at large since networks have increasingly re- lied on live television and non- scripted projects to fill airtime, the alphabet network — or par- ent company Disney, at least — sees it differently. According to ABC, "Dancing With the Stars'" departure effec- tively frees up the Monday time- slot for an additional "Monday Night Football" game this fall, and for "new and future pro- gramming." Dana Walden, chairman of en- tertainment at Walt Disney Tele- vision, summed it up in a state- ment: "'Dancing with the Stars' has been a beloved staple on ABC for 30 seasons and brought so much joy to millions of view- ers. As we're significantly ex- panding our unscripted slate at ABC, this is a great opportunity to introduce this show to a whole new generation of fans on Disney+." Goldberg joins Gaiman: Amazon Prime Video's adapta- tion of Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" is currently in production (filming began in Scotland in November), and once it debuts, look for Whoopi Goldberg ("The Stand") to make a big im- pression. The EGOT winner has joined the cast of the six-episode series, which stars Malachi Kirby ("Devils") as Charlie Nancy, a young man who discovers that his late, estranged father was Anansi, trickster god of legend. Charlie also learns of a brother named Spider (also played by Kirby), who soon makes Char- lie's life more interesting — and dangerous, too. Goldberg has been tapped to play the role of Bird Woman, the god of birds and one of the deities of the World Before Time. The role is the reason for her recent absence from "The View." "I have been a fan of this book for a very long time," Goldberg explained, "and when Neil Gaiman told me it was being brought to the screen, I did ev- erything I could to be part of it to help make people aware of An- ansi and all his magic." Gaiman, who serves as the se- ries' co-showrunner, added: "When I first conceived 'Anansi Boys' decades ago, I imagined Whoopi Goldberg as Bird Wom- an. I wasn't able to meet her until 2018 ... at which point she men- tioned that she had just finished listening to Sir Lenny Henry's reading of 'Anansi Boys,' and that it was one of her favorite books. Sometimes things feel planned and inevitable, and we are in- credibly lucky." He concluded his statement, saying, "She's going to be scary." Naomi Watts to star in new season of FX's "Feud" STARS ON SCREEN