Hawaii Five-0 is one of the few network debuts to get decent ratings this fall. It’s also one of the most awesomely pointless shows I’ve ever reviewed. Nonetheless, somebody out there clearly loves this remake of the seventies cop series, the one with that earworm of a theme song and “book ‘em, Dano.”
To fill in neophytes who never saw the original: There’s one cop who goes by the book, while the other isn’t afraid to break the rules.
Jim Hopper, don’t you think you should shine that light into your own soul? Major spoilers ahead about Stranger Things 3.
The first time we see Jim Hopper in Stranger Things 3, he is pissed.
He’s sitting in front of the television, eating Tostitos that he’s dipped into a salsa jar parked right next to his crotch, and he is fuming because El, now officially his daughter, is in her room with her boyfriend, Mike.
Where’s the white hat? Ever since Scandal returned from its midwinter break, the most shocking revelation hasn’t been a fixed election or secret spy organization, but the changes to Olivia Pope’s wardrobe. Gone were the cream sheaths and gray cardigans, and in came the orange capes and pink sweaters. But what does it all mean? Vulture reached out to the show’s costume designer Lyn Paolo to get some answers.
It’s extremely easy to see Rampage, the latest blockbuster starring Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, and have no idea that it’s based on a video game. Rampage, which is about genetically enhanced animals turned Godzilla-sized monsters on a path of destruction, seems like boilerplate Hollywood action bolstered by Johnson — a charismatic video-game hero made flesh — to please crowds with an appetite for chaos. But Rampage, in the purity of how it sets out to do one thing (wreck stuff) is actually one of the most faithful video-game adaptations ever made, because the 1986 source material is built on the very same idea: wrecking stuff is stupid fun.
Ian McEwan on the cover of his 2001 book. Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel Atonement opens with a description of what it’s like to invent a world. Briony Tallis, 13 years old and enthralled by the power of storytelling (“you had only to write it down and you could have the world”) has written a little play for her family. She’s also “designed the posters, programs, and tickets, constructed the sales booth out of a folding screen tipped on its side, and lined the collection box in red crepe paper.
Homer welcomes “Michael Jackson” to his home, in “Stark Raving Dad.” This essay was originally published in March 2019. We’re republishing it today because “Stark Raving Dad” isn’t available on Disney+, the new streaming home of The Simpsons.
Yesterday, Simpsons executive producer James L. Brooks announced that the show’s 1991 episode “Stark Raving Dad” will be pulled from circulation because of its association with Michael Jackson. You won’t be able to watch it in syndicated reruns, or on the Simpsons streaming app, or on future DVD releases.
Following each week’s episode of Westworld, show composer Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones) will be Vulture’s guide to the music.
Usually, the player piano acts as a sort of jukebox for Westworld’s saloon — the tunes we hear are hits of their respective eras, classics that should be recognizable to the guests on their vacations. At least, that was the case with Soundgarden in episode one and Radiohead in episode two.
The NPR series “Car Talk,” as anyone who listens to it regularly will tell you, was a little about cars and a lot about talk. Two brothers’ talk, in fact: Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the guys who hosted the show for 35 years, appeared to spend most of each episode trying to crack each other up while occasionally dispensing a few scraps of auto-repair advice from (as they described it) Car Talk Plaza.
When you’re watching Westworld, pay special attention to the player piano in the saloon — at key moments, it could kick in a little Soundgarden, Rolling Stones, or even Radiohead for the paranoid androids and human guests inhabiting its world. It might seem both thrilling and a bit disconcerting when you first hear modern music in the Wild West setting, and that’s the point, according to show composer Ramin Djawadi, who also scores the music on Game of Thrones.
Like a piece of unseasoned beef popped into a microwave after two decades in a freezer, rumors began to heat up in late 2019 about growing tensions on the set of NBC’s Will & Grace revival: Megan Mullally had reportedly decided to take a short leave of absence from the sitcom after a major rift with co-star Debra Messing. She also, damningly for the modern age, unfollowed Messing and fellow star Sean Hayes on social media.