Gawker - Goodbye to all that this is us

The lowest lows of the daytime show's 19 seasons

The Ellen Show is in its final week, and what better way to celebrate the show’s 19-year history than by looking back at some of its absolute rock-bottom moments. In the nearly two decades the show has been on the air, there has been no dearth of monologues, interviews, games, segments, pranks, musical performances, and dance breaks that have made moms across the nation say “She’s just like me!” But for the sake of this list, we will mostly focus on the last decade, when Ellen stopped having anything to prove to middle America and leaned into her worst tendencies, high on the rush of her near-constant house flipping.

Not included in this list is anything about the allegedly toxic workplace she cultivated, the various immoral game shows she’s hosted, or the Oscars selfie. We’re here to focus specifically on The Ellen Show, a show that once had the tagline “Be kind to one another.” So without further ado, let’s dive in. Continue reading

Meghan's father has been hung out to dry

Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, has been hospitalized after a possible stroke. He was scheduled to go to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on June 5, where he would meet his son-in-law, Prince Harry, for the first time.

I must admit, I feel bad for Thomas Markle. He is thought of as a vile, opportunistic man who sold out his daughter for cash, appearing on numerous British television shows to talk about how Meghan iced him out. But in reality, Thomas Markle is just as much a victim of the Royal family and the British press as his daughter and her husband.

In her new book The Palace Papers, Tina Brown got considerable access to Markle; her conversations with him are as depressing as they are revelatory. Brown paints him as a supportive father who doted on Meghan but spent most of his time working. When Meghan started dating Harry, Thomas was quietly living his retirement in a little Mexican town called Rosarito, not far from the California border. Continue reading

'Maverick' is less a sequel to its predecessor than a tribute to its star

Any requel or reboot or revamp (whatever you want to call them these days) has to contend with the why. Why do we need to see a new version of a beloved property? Why would it make sense to revisit a story we were already told decades ago? The answer is usually just: Because it’s an easy way to make money. That is ostensibly why Top Gun: Maverick existed in its nascent stages, another in a long string of revived ‘80s properties meant to get people into the theaters because they know what to expect. The reason Top Gun: Maverick exists as it is now is because Tom Cruise needs all of us to know that he’s still got it, and that maybe he’s the only person alive who has anything at all. The result is thrilling.

Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) is no longer the arrogant, cocksure twenty-something with a death wish we met in 1986’s original Top Gun. Now he’s a timeworn fifty-something who still flies like a maniac, but is insistent on everyone coming home alive. Continue reading

Why is she like this

Chrissy Teigen, a 36-year-old model and influencer who once encouraged a minor celebrity to take a “dirt nap” on Twitter, is currently raising funds for the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety on Instagram in the wake of the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. She started the fundraiser this morning and encouraged her nearly 38 million followers to donate with the following plea:

“I beg you, if you’re able, please consider donating to @everytown, the largest gun violence prevention organization in America. They work tirelessly to end gun violence by doing everything from advocating for safety reforms nationally and locally to supporting survivors of gun violence to actual research on the causes and actual realistic solutions to end these kind of mass shootings, something unique to ONLY US AS A COUNTRY. Please please donate if you can.” Continue reading

Now we can rest

Mother’s really done it this time, hasn’t she? She’s died and now it’s her funeral. If you thought we might skip the funeral since we already had to watch her die, and maybe instead for the final episode of This Is Us we could take a peek into the future (Senator Brother becoming President Brother, Actor Brother winning an Oscar for “Best House Building Company,” Sister spreading her … music program … all over the world, or whatever)? Well, we’re not gonna do that. We’re just gonna go to her funeral. So fuck you!

HOW WAS MOTHER’S FUNERAL?

Well, you know. Continue reading