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The most iconic TV show of every year since 2000

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Face Off Breaking Bad

Every year has a TV show that defines it.

When you watch a certain show  or a certain season of a TV show  you can't help but think about where you were when it aired, and what people were saying about it.

There are some shows that dominated pop culture so much that you associate them with a certain time in your life, even if you've never seen an episode. "Lost" premiered in 2004 and instantly took over the small screen (and the water cooler), so even people who never saw it knew it.

We took a look back at the past 17 years in TV and selected the most iconic show from that year, from "The O.C." to "Big Little Lies."

Here's the most iconic TV shows every year since 2000:

SEE ALSO: The 23 best road trip movies of all time that are perfect to watch during the summer

2000 — "Dawson's Creek"

The season three finale of "Dawson's Creek," one of the most iconic teen shows ever, is one that changed television for the better. The episode features the first gay kiss in television history, which was a major milestone that paved the way for more storylines like it in TV and in pop culture. 



2001 — "Alias"

The acting, clever writing, and ambitious action sequences made "Alias" an instant favorite. Its star Jennifer Garner, who was brilliant as double agent Sydney Bristowe, helped the series from a way less famous J.J. Abrams get the attention it so deserved. 



2002 — "American Idol"

Everyone watched "American Idol," and if you didn't, you couldn't really be involved in most conversations, but you still knew Simon Cowell was mean. The show's first season introduced the world to the incredibly talented Kelly Clarkson, who quickly became more than a reality TV show winner: she became a pop icon. 



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All the best quotes from Jerry Seinfeld's new season of 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee'

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In early 2017, Netflix announced that Jerry Seinfeld had signed a massive deal that would result in new stand-up specials and additional programming. The first of his two promised specials, Jerry Before Seinfeld, arrived last September. The second is still a long way out, but the “additional programming” drops today in the form of a new, 12-episode season of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Featuring repeat appearances by Alec Baldwin and Brian Regan as well as other Netflix comics like Dave Chappelle, Neal Brennan, and Ellen DeGeneres, the latest season of Seinfeld’s popular web series is everything fans have come to expect: comedians, cars, and coffee. It also documents Chappelle’s gifting his 2017 Emmy to his alma mater and Zach Galifianakis’s setup for Seinfeld’s recent Between Two Ferns episode.

There’s also Baldwin’s latest problematic foray into the ongoing #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, though that’s not the only thing the frequent Saturday Night Live guest said. Hence this roundup of the most enlightening quotes — be they actual nuggets of knowledge, just plain interesting, or inane enough to note — uttered by Seinfeld’s latest round of guests.

SEE ALSO: Here are all the confirmed original shows coming to Netflix in 2018

Dave Chappelle

“I always fantasized about being a Greenwich Village comedian. I’d read all those stories about 1966, and I realized that every career that I’ve ever admired went through New York City. My head was filled with fantasies about being like those guys.”

“Do you still hang out with a lot of comics? Me and [Chris] Rock had a discussion. Superheroes have to be around other superheroes. The Hall of Justice was more about them commiserating about their powers, and less about them actually fighting crime.”

“If I have an idea, it’s the driver. The idea says, ‘Get in the car,’ and I’m like, ‘Where am I going?’ The idea says, ‘I don’t know. Don’t worry about it. I’m driving.’ Then you just get there. Sometimes I’m shotgun, sometimes I’m in the f---ing trunk. The idea takes you where it wants to go. Other times, me as my ego is like, ‘I should do something.’ There’s no idea in the car. It’s just me. That formula doesn’t work.”

“I’m a real socially awkward guy. Everybody thinks the guy on the stage is the fake, but really it’s the guy off the stage that’s fake. The guy on the stage, that’s the real guy. The guy off the stage, he’s the one that lies to people, doesn’t say what he actually thinks and all this other s---, just so that guy can exist uninterrupted.”

“For most people, not caring about the scrutiny of other people is one of the hardest things to do. I would even say it’s harder than public speaking itself.”



Kate McKinnon

“I have the most fun when I’m at something that is horrible, because I’m making fun of it and I’m enjoying it. If something’s supposed to be fun, I hate it.”

“Oh God, parallel parking on the right side of the road? God you’re a man, you’re a real man. This is incredible … You wanted to be on camera doing it. ‘I’m Jerry Seinfeld, goddammit, and I’m going to park on the right side of the road!’”

On comedians and clothes: “It’s such a cerebral thing. You’d rather be a brain in a jar talking than have to attend to the physical body. Plus you can’t look too good. If you look too good, you stop being funny.”

“My clothes say, ‘Do not talk to me.’ I wore a pair of SpongeBob SquarePants pajama bottoms, clogs, and a hand-me-down hooded sweatshirt. I gave myself my own haircuts, and that’s when I looked the best!”



Ellen DeGeneres

“When I lost my sitcom, I didn’t work for three years solid until I got the talk show.”

“I was bitter and sad and angry. How did this change everything, just by me being honest and saying I’m gay? Why is this such a shock to people? Why is it such a big deal? Then I went on tour and I would say 90 percent of the audience was gay. Some brave straight people went. All the gay people really thought I was doing some kind of gay pride tour, so I was making fun of the fact that I was their leader. It was like, ‘I am not your leader. I’m nobody’s leader.’”

“I love firemen … They’re great. They don’t carry guns. They run into danger.”

“The world is such a scary place right now in so many ways — and you have children. There’s North Korea, there’s fires, there’s storms. It just overwhelms me with dread.”

“I’ve never seen anyone drink so much coffee in my entire life. It’s too much. It doesn’t affect you?”



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Dick Cheney signs a 'waterboard kit' in trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen's new TV series

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sacha baron cohen showtime dick cheney

  • Sacha Baron Cohen shared a new clip for his upcoming Showtime series, which appears to be titled "Who Is America?"
  • The clip features Cohen, as an off-screen interviewer, asking former vice president Dick Cheney to sign a "waterboard kit."
  • Cheney signs it and says, "That's the first time I ever signed a waterboard."

Sacha Baron Cohen has shared a few details about his upcoming Showtime series, which is reportedly titled"Who Is America?," and set to premiere on July 15.

After cryptically announcing the show with a clip mocking Trump last week, Cohen tweeted out a brief video of an interview with former vice president Dick Cheney on Sunday. 

In the clip, Cohen's off-screen interviewer asks Cheney to sign a "waterboard kit," which Cheney subsequently does with a smile and says, "That's the first time I ever signed a waterboard." 

The video leads with text that reads, "Imagine if Sacha Baron Cohen had been undercover secretly filming a new show for a year..."

Vulture also noted on Sunday that posters for the series were up in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The posters teased images of Cohen's new characters for the series and an airtime of Sundays at 10 pm.

Watch the clip with Cheney below:

SEE ALSO: 'Borat' comedian Sacha Baron Cohen seems to be taking aim at Trump with a new project

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Netflix's first original series from India, 'Sacred Games,' is an addictive crime thriller with a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

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sacred games

  • "Sacred Games," the first Netflix original series from India, debuted Friday to a 100% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
  • The crime thriller is an adaptation of a best-selling 2006 novel by Vikram Chandra.
  • Its first eight-episode season is now streaming on Netflix.

Netflix's first original series from India, crime thriller "Sacred Games," debuted Friday to overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics.

The show centers on a Sikh cop in the Mumbai police force named Sartaj Singh (played by Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan), and an enigmatic Mumbai criminal, Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). At the start of the series, Gaitonde calls Singh to inform him of an impending attack on the city that is set to take place in 25 days.

Adapted from a best-selling 2006 novel by Vikram Chandra, the series currently has a 100% "fresh" rating on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. 

"Sacred Games" is Netflix's first original release in a campaign to reach India, one of the largest potential international markets for the streaming service. Netflix India officially launched back in 2016, but its growth and viewership in the country has lagged behind its streaming rival Amazon in the intervening years.

"Sacred Games" represents a renewed effort from Netflix to reach India's more than 1 billion potential viewers

Critics lauded the series in advance of its release on Friday, highlighting it as a fresh take on the crime genre and commending Saif Ali Khan's performance as Singh. 

Mike Hale for The New York Times praised the alternating styles of the show in a review, writing: "The combination of dark humor and operatic violence may call to mind 'Fargo'; the slightly hyperbolic characterizations and stylized dialogue are akin to those in 'Luke Cage.'"

"'Sacred Games' feels like it could be an especially interesting addition to this genre. The questions surrounding Gaitonde's identity and mortality inject this common story with a dose of supernatural shock," Kayla Cobb from Collider wrote in a review

Watch the trailer for the series below and catch its first eight-episode season on Netflix.

SEE ALSO: Here are all the confirmed original shows coming to Netflix in 2018

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The first trailer for the next season of 'Orange Is the New Black' is here and it introduces a bunch of new characters

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  • Netflix released the first trailer for the sixth season of "Orange Is the New Black."
  • We'll see the Litchfield women a week after the end of the season five riot where they are split up in a new facility.
  • A majority of the women including Piper, Red, Suzanne, Maria, and Nicky were all taken to a max prison and are facing charges from the riot. 
  • The women will have to decide whether or not they will stay loyal to those they called family on the inside or give them up for plea deals and shorter sentences. Not everyone will come out on top. 
  • The season will also introduce a bunch of new characters including rival sisters and a tough leader who goes by the name Daddy. 
  • All 13 episodes will premiere on the streaming site July 27. Watch the trailer below.

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The 15 movies that made $1 billion at the box office the fastest, including 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'

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jurassic world fallen kingdom

On Friday, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" passed several films on this list to become one of the fastest movies to earn $1 billion at the global box office.

The "Jurassic World" sequel accomplished this feat in well under a month, which only 14 other films have ever done, including 2015's "Jurassic World."

Universal's "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" is one of three movies to cross the $1 billion mark just this year. Disney's "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War" both stormed on to this list earlier this year.

We ranked these movies by the days it took each film to gross $1 billion worldwide, and we used each film's gross on the day it passed $1 billion to break any ties. 

Here are the 15 movies that made $1 billion at the global box office in less than a month:

SEE ALSO: 'Sorry to Bother You' is a wild ride that critics are calling one of 2018's best comedy movies

15. "Beauty and the Beast"— 29 days

Release date: March 17, 2017

Date it crossed $1 billion:April 12, 2017

Box office total: $1,263,521,126



14. "Captain America: Civil War"— 24 days

Release date: April 27, 2016

Date it crossed $1 billion: May 20, 2016

Box office total: $1,153,304,495
 



13. "Black Panther"— 24 days

Release date: February 16, 2018

Date it crossed $1 billion:March 11, 2018

Box office total: $1,346,529,123
 
 



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Ariana Grande has a framed photo of the moment many believe she and fiancé Pete Davidson first met

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ariana grande and pete davidson saturday night live


 

Ariana Grande hasn't been shy about expressing her love for fiancé Pete Davidson publicly — and she recently shared an image of a framed photo from when they reportedly first met two years ago.

Grande took to her Instagram story to share a photo of the view from her and Davidson's shared New York City apartment. In the black-and-white image, the singer and the "Saturday Night Live" cast member are seen smiling at each other. Many believe they first met on the sketch show.

ariana grande pete davidson framed photo instagram

Fans of the "No Tears Left to Cry" singer probably recognize the exact moment, which took place when Grande hosted and performed on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in March 2016. During her opening monologue, the 25-year-old joked about being caught licking a donut in public, before launching into a musical number about what her next scandal will be. 

Aside from "SNL" stars like Keenan Thompson and Cecily Strong chiming in for the monologue, Davidson also appeared.

ariana grande and pete davidson saturday night live

When he approached Grande on stage, he asked if she wanted "to smoke some pot or something." The question was received with laughter from the audience and Grande agreed to "smoke some crack," but Davidson jokingly refused and walked away.

Now, more than two years after Grande hosted "SNL," she is engaged to the comedian. According to body language experts, the young stars' interaction indicated that there was a mutual attraction from the start.

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The 10 TV shows people are talking about the most right now

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Queer Eye

Summer is usually a slow time for television, but that's changed over the years.

In the age of peak TV, there's always something good to watch. And this summer is jam-packed with great shows people can't stop talking about. 

To find out which summer shows have most captured fans' attention, Business Insider teamed up with Shareablee, which analyzed social media engagement around the summer shows in order to determine which summer TV shows people are talking about.

On Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, people love talking about summer shows including "The Bold Type,""Orange Is the New Black" and "Queer Eye."

Here are the 10 most talked-about summer shows right now:

SEE ALSO: All 20 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, ranked from worst to best

"The Originals"— The CW

Things are heating up on The CW vampire drama, a spin-off of the "The Vampire Diaries" which is ending its run in the coming weeks after five seasons. 



"Queer Eye"— Netflix

Netflix's adorable and moving "Queer Eye" has dominated summer TV, despite premiering almost a month ago. People are obsessed with the new fab five, who represent a different era than the first cast. This show is about about making people feel good about themselves, bringing awareness to people who don't experience gay culture where they live, and most importantly, about bringing people together.



"The Bold Type"— Freeform

"The Bold Type" centers on three women in their twenties in New York City who work at a magazine inspired by Cosmopolitan. The show, now airing its second season, is a surprising tear-jerker, and tackles political and personal issues ranging from race to sexuality.



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I tried Vizio's new $700 4K TV with voice support for Alexa and Google Assistant — and that's not even the best thing about it

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Vizio M Series

  • For the past couple of weeks, I've been testing Vizio's 55" M-Series TV, and it's raised my expectations for what to expect in a TV under $700.
  • It's 4K and has two video features — high dynamic range and local dimming zones — that made the videos I streamed and games I played look crystal clear, more life-like, and beautiful overall.
  • The TV has a built-in Google Chromecast, which lets you seamlessly stream video to the TV from thousands of apps on your phone or tablet. The TV also has a dozen or so built-in streaming apps for popular services like Hulu and Netflix.
  • You can also control the TV's volume, input, and power state with a Google Home or Amazon Echo. You can "cast" video or music to the TV directly from the Google Home using your voice.
  • The bottom line: If you're looking for a smart TV with an excellent picture that costs well under $1,000, Vizio's M-Series seriously delivers.

If you've been looking for a new TV with smart features, excellent picture quality, and a sub-$1000 price point, it's hard to go wrong with a set from Vizio's M-Series.

I bought an M-Series TV a couple of years ago and have been very happy with it, which is why I was interested when Vizio asked if I'd like to try its 55" 2018 model (it also comes in a 65" version.) After a couple of weeks of testing it, I can confidently say it's the best-looking, smartest TV I've tried — it's easy to recommend to just about anyone.

You're buying a TV for its picture quality, and the M-Series looks excellent.

Vizio's 55" M-Series TV has the two must-have features for any set worth considering: 4K resolution and HDR support. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, a video technology that makes colors look a lot more accurate. It's a difference you'll notice immediately, whether you're watching videos that were mastered with HDR or not.

To make video look even better, Vizio built the 55" M-Series with 32 local dimming zones, which the TV can make brighter or darker independently. This makes the lighting of every video you watch a lot more accurate, because the TV doesn't have to make the entire screen bright because of one thing that's on screen.

For example, if you're watching a scene set in a dark alley, where the only source of light is a fire in the background, the part of the screen showing the fire will be bright, but the rest of it can remain dark. Because of the local dimming zones and HDR, everything I watched on this TV looked pretty amazing.

The most impressive video I watched on this M-Series was an episode of "Electric Dreams" on Prime Video, which was mastered in 4K with HDR. The amount of detail I could see in each scene was striking, and my eye was immediately drawn to small details, like the characters' skin tones, the color of their clothes, and neon signs in the background of some scenes.

The 1080P video I streamed from YouTube and Netflix also looked great, and so did the Nintendo Switch and PC games I played.

It'll take a while before HDR-mastered video becomes the mainstream, but if you buy this TV today, it'll be an investment that pays off for years.

That's especially true because this TV has four HDMI ports and a set of component inputs, which is enough for you to connect multiple game consoles, a cable box, and a media streamer to it at once.

Vizio's M-Series TVs have built-in Google Chromecasts to let you easily stream video.

Vizio's M-Series TVs come pre-loaded with apps for popular video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Crackle, but I never ended up using them. Instead, I took advantage of the fact Vizio and Google teamed up to build Chromecasts into the TVs themselves. You don't have to switch to a particular mode or setting or HDMI input to get to it, the Chromecast is just waiting for you to streaming something to it.

If you're unfamiliar Google Chromecast, it works differently than most other video streamers. Instead of having its own interface and remote, you "cast" video or audio to it from apps on your phone. You can find a full list of Chromecast-compatible apps here, but chances are high that your favorite music or video streaming service will work with it.

Setting up the built-in Chromecast requires Vizio's SmartCast app, but I found that the process was fast and easy. Once it was done, I could turn on my TV, load up YouTube or Netflix on my phone, and catch up on my favorite shows. I prefer streaming video this way because I know the video apps on my phone are constantly updated, and I don't have to wait for Vizio to build and maintain its own apps for every new service.

I used the built-in Google Chromecast to stream tens of hours of videos to the TV during my tests, and it never cut out or stuttered.

You can also control Vizio's M-Series TVs through either a Google Home or Amazon Echo by enabling the SmartCast app on either device. You can use these devices to turn your TV on and off, change inputs, and in the Google Home's case, "cast" music or videos to your TV through services linked to your Google account.

The bottom line: The new 2018 versions of Vizio's 55" and 65" M-Series TVs are excellent options for just about anybody.

I've been impressed enough with Vizio's 55" M-Series TV that I feel comfortable recommending it to most people looking for a higher-end TV on a budget. And I understand why HDR is being hailed as the biggest change in TV technology since the leap to HD. The TV's smart features also make sense and work well.

If I was looking for a new TV set under $1,000, I would seriously consider getting this one.

Buy the 55" Vizio M-Series Smart 4K UHD TV with HDR for $699 at Best Buy and Vizio

Buy the 65" Vizio M-Series Smart 4K UHD TV with HDR for $999 at Best Buy and Vizio

SEE ALSO: 9 money-saving tips and hacks for shopping on Amazon Prime Day

SEE ALSO: How to choose the right 4K media streamer for you

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9 hidden words you likely missed on the 'Sharp Objects' premiere

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sharp objects

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first episode of HBO's "Sharp Objects."

The first episode of "Sharp Objects" is full of shadows and echoes and things you can’t quite fully glimpse — mysteries you know are there but can’t yet see, stories with contours you can’t totally make out. There are histories lurking underneath everything, and so far, all we can see are the outlines.

But it’s also a show with words scratched on its surface. Sometimes they’re pitch-black, slantwise jokes about femininity and social expectations, sometimes they’re warning signs, and sometimes they’re straight, uninflected daggers of self-loathing.

As we discover in the last shot of the premiere, Camille Preaker literally carves words into her skin, turning herself into a lexicography of pain. She writes the inside words on the outside, naming and defining her story on her body.

If "Sharp Objects" is an extension of Camille’s own self, an indication of how much its camera is also Camille’s eye, it makes sense that many of those words are also scratched and painted on the show itself. They hide in plain sight, suddenly visible in one frame and disappearing in the next.

Many of those words are hallucinatory — they appear in places words wouldn’t otherwise show up, or you can only see them for a moment. Beyond Camille’s own hallucinations, though, "Sharp Objects" also extends her fixation on words into a broader visual style, often using signage and lettering as a wry commentary on characters and their actions.

The first one we see seems completely innocuous. Camille (or someone else) has used thumb tacks to spell out "ASK!" on the divider of her cubicle in her St. Louis newspaper's office.

It’s exactly the sort of meaningless, mindless thing you’d do while sitting at your desk. And its message reads as a chipper reminder for Camille to do her job. Once you see it in the context of the rest of the episode, though, “ASK!” seems like the viewer being prodded to ask about hidden mysteries, and like Camille begging to be asked real questions.

On "Sharp Objects," it surely can’t be a mistake that the word is spelled out with literal pins.



Now we get into the less cheery vocab. There are many words scratched onto Camille's desk, but the two most visible are "BAD" and "A DRUNK."

“BAD” and “A DRUNK” are carved into Camille’s table.



"DIRT" is written on Camille’s car.

This is the first of the clearly hallucinatory words. It could easily be something scrawled onto Camille’s dirty car with a finger, but there’s no word on the trunk in the first several frames, and then it appears suddenly. (The image also returns in one of Camille’s memory flashback sequences.)



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A second 'Game of Thrones' prequel show is reportedly close to production — here's what you need to know

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Danerys Targaryen Game of Thrones Khaleesi season five

  • HBO announced it was developing four different "Game of Thrones" prequel or "successor show" ideas. 
  • The first series, an untitled show about the Age of Heroes, was ordered for a pilot last month.
  • Now a new unconfirmed report says a second show in development is about the Doom of Valyria. 
  • The Doom of Valyria makes sense as a setting for a prequel when connected to author George R.R. Martin's coming fake-history series "Fire and Blood."
  • But for now, this report remains unverified by HBO. 

An new report on a second "Game of Thrones" prequel series set around the Doom of Valyria is turning heads among fans. According to the "Game of Thrones" fan-led Wikipedia site moderator known as "The Dragon Demands," HBO is in the early stages of production on another prequel series.

The news is based on a single anonymous source mentioned on the "Game of Thrones" Wiki page. A representative for HBO declined to provide additional comment when contacted by INSIDER. 

According to the unverified report, the second series has a working title ("Empire of Ash") and will be based on writings from "A Song of Ice and Fire" author George R.R. Martin regarding the Doom of Valyria.

What is the Doom of Valyria and how would it link to "Game of Thrones"?

Tyrion and Jorah in Valyria Game of Thrones

Tyrion Lannister and Ser Jorah Mormont visited Valyria on the fifth season of "Game of Thrones." The city was in ruins and overrun with Stone Men (people who had been infected with greyscale and quarantined there). 

In his books, Martin has been intentionally vague about cause of the cataclysmic events that led to Valyria's destruction, though the description in "A Dance With Dragons" makes it sound like an earthquake and volcanic eruption and magical disaster all in one:

"It was written that on the day of Doom every hill for five hundred miles had split asunder to fill the air with ash and smoke and fire, blazes so hot and hungry that even the dragons in the sky were engulfed and consumed. Great rents had opened in the earth, swallowing palaces, temples, entire towns.

Lakes boiled or turned to acid, mountains burst, fiery fountains spewed molten rock a thousand feet into the air, red clouds rained down dragonglass and the black blood of demons, and to the north the ground splintered and collapsed and fell in on itself and an angry sea came rushing in."

But the Doom is also connected to a family any "Game of Thrones" fan knows well: House Targaryen.

Daenerys Targaryen Game of Thrones season 3 Unsullied

Here's what "The Dragon Demands" reported: "It is also the story of the origins of House Targaryen, a minor family of dragon-lords in old Valyria who rose to prominence by fleeing to Westeros just before the Doom — leaving them with the world's only living dragons."

Evidence for "Empire of Ash" being a real possibility from HBO

"The Dragon Demands" reported a lot of detail about this prequel idea, including that HBO had allegedly brought on scholar and author Reza Aslan.

"I'm told religious scholar Reza Aslan, author of 'Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth,' was brought in — whether as a consultant or a writer I can't say but I hope it was to impact the religion-building of the world," the wiki page report says.

On Tuesday morning, Aslan tweeted an article from Culturess about the "Empire of Ash" report, leading "The Dragon Demands" to publicly wonder if this was a confirmation of the news.

The Doom of Valyria has also been the focus of Martin's latest writings. On the same night as the "Game of Thrones" season seven premiere in Los Angeles, Martin posted a cryptic blog.

"Alas, alas, that great city Valyria, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come," the post read alongside an illustration of dragons flying in a great city.

At the time the post was the focus of much speculation, including the notion that Martin might be announcing his sixth book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, "The Winds of Winter," was done. But instead, Martin later revealed he was working on a new Targaryen fake-history book series called "Fire and Blood."

Daenerys

As noted earlier, the Targaryen's origins as a dominant political force began in Valyria, so Martin's timing with the first volume of "Fire and Blood" due this fall would work well with a behind-the-scenes plan to bring aspects of that story to TV.

What George R.R. Martin has said about additional prequel shows

Fans and "Game of Thrones" reporters, including yours truly, have proposed the Doom of Valyria as a spinoff idea from the early days after first news of the successor shows. The first announced successor show is still unnamed, but HBO's press release says it will focus on the Age of Heroes and the Long Night — mystical events that happened thousands of years before the events on "Game of Thrones."

Shortly after HBO announced that pilot order (which is written by Jane Goldman), Martin shared a new blog update on the prequel shows in the works:

"As for the other successor shows… if you have been following along, you know that we started with four, and eventually went to five. One of those has been shelved, I am given to understand, and of course Jane's pilot is now moving to film. But that does not mean the others are dead.

Three more GAME OF THRONES prequels, set in different periods and featuring different characters and storylines, remain in active development. Everything I am told indicates that we could film at least one more pilot, and maybe more than one, in the years to come. We do have an entire world and tens of thousands of years of history to play with, after all. But this is television, so nothing is certain."

Leaf Children of the Forest Game of Thrones season six

"Empire of Ash" could well be one of these three remaining series still in development. But for now, HBO has made no announcements or comment regarding any prequel series aside from the one centered on the Long Night. We'll have to keep our excitement for the prospect of dragons and political intrigue contained until we know more.

For more details on the reported "Empire of Ash" series in development, read "The Dragon Demands" full Wikipedia report here.

"Game of Thrones" will return for its eighth and final season sometime in 2019 (likely springtime but more on that here).

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Neve Campbell says The Rock is 'obsessed' with other people's food because he has such a strict diet: 'It's like porn for him'

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neve campbell the rock

  • Neve Campbell got to know Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's strict diet while working with him in "Skyscraper."
  • The "House of Cards" actress went on CBS' "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" Tuesday night and talked about Johnson and food after Colbert asked her about his eating habits. 
  • Campbell said Johnson will ask people for specifics about their meal like how salmon was cooked or what they had in a salad.
  • "He's obsessed with other people's food," she said. "It's like porn for him."
  • She said it's because he has small tins with food he's allowed to eat every few hours. 
  • "He's just jealous," she jokingly said. "All he wants to know is what people eat." 
  • Watch her full interview below.

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'Borat' comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's explosive new TV series has duped the likes of Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney

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Sacha Baron Cohen will return to television on Sunday at 10 p.m. with the premiere of his new Showtime series, "Who Is America?"

14 years after "Da Ali G Show" ended its two-season run on HBO, Cohen's new series for Showtime is billed to follow a similar format of covert, satirical interviews with unsuspecting guests.

Cohen first previewed the show last week with a cryptic Twitter video that featured Donald Trump mocking Cohen. 

On Monday, Showtime confirmed the series will be called "Who Is America?," and Cohen teased an interview with former vice president Dick Cheney. 

On Tuesday, Sarah Palin wrote a Facebook post saying that Cohen had "duped" her and her daughter into participating in an interview for the show, which looks like it will feature a number of other prominent guests, including Bernie Sanders.

Here's everything we know about Cohen's new Showtime series:

SEE ALSO: Sarah Palin says she was 'duped' into participating in a sham interview with Sacha Baron Cohen, alleges she was dropped off at the wrong airport

The seven-episode series has been more than a year in the making

On Monday, Cohen released a promotional clip on Twitter announcing the debut of a show that had been more than a year in the making.

"Imagine if Sacha Baron Cohen had been undercover secretly filming a new show for a year," read the text of the clip. 

Showtime officially announced on Tuesday that the series, titled "Who Is America?," will have a seven episode first season. 

Per a release, the show, written and directed by Cohen, "will explore the diverse individuals, from the infamous to the unknown across the political and cultural spectrum, who populate our unique nation." 



It will feature new characters from Cohen

Showtime previewed "Who Is America?" in a clip this week that teased images of new character disguises from Cohen.

Cohen previously said that he would abandon the characters that originated from "Da Ali G Show," including Borat, Ali G, and Brüno — each of which received its own feature film in the years following the HBO show's final season.

We know that at least one of Cohen's characters for the new series will resemble a "disabled US Veteran," according to Sarah Palin's account of her interview for the show. 

In a release, Showtime described the show's "lead character" as "shameless,""unhinged" and "cold-blooded."



Dick Cheney signs a "waterboard kit" in his interview for the show

In a teaser video Cohen released on Monday, an off-screen Cohen interviews former vice president Dick Cheney. 

In the clip, Cohen asks Cheney to sign a "waterboard kit," which Cheney does with a smile and says, "That's the first time I ever signed a waterboard."

Another promotional clip released this week showed Cheney facing the camera and saying, "I hope you'll tune in next week for an interview with me."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Dr. Pimple Popper's new TLC show just premiered — and the first episode featured 'the biggest lipoma' she's ever popped

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  • Dr. Pimple Popper's new TLC show — also titled "Dr. Pimple Popper"— premiered Wednesday night.
  • In the first episode, Dr. Sandra Lee — the dermatologist behind the famous nickname — treats four patients with unusual skin conditions.
  • The episode's most captivating pop is a giant lipoma, or fat tumor, situated on the neck of a patient named Melissa.
  • As she operated on the lipoma, Lee said that it was "the biggest" she's ever removed. 
  • Warning: This post contains graphic images. 


Dr. Pimple Popper's transition from YouTube to TV is finally here: The first episode of "Dr. Pimple Popper," the new TLC show starring dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee, premiered on Wednesday night. 

"Your skin is the largest organ in your body," Lee says in a monologue at the top of the first episode. "It is made up of billions of cells that can turn into some pretty crazy things."

And the pops featured in the episode do not disappoint.

The premiere follows Lee as she treats four patients, each with an unusual, life-altering skin growth. One patient has a prominent, cherry-red forehead cyst. Another's neck and chest are littered with explosive steatocystomas. Another hides painful earlobe growths called keloids by constantly wearing headbands. It's a gross but satisfying melange of blood and pus, sprinkled with plenty of Lee's famously pleasant bedside banter.

The episode's most memorable patient is Melissa — a woman who seeks Lee's help for a giant growth near her neck. 

melissa lipoma dr pimple popper TLC

In an interview filmed at her home, Melissa explains that the lump started to grow three years ago. At the time it was only a half inch in size, but before long, it was bigger than a grapefruit. She wears hooded sweatshirts all the time — "all day and all night, warm or cold," she tells Lee during a consultation — to hide the burgeoning growth. 

"To see that it has grown so much — I don't know if its going to stop," she says in the episode. "So it's scary."

Lee determines that Melissa has a benign fat tumor known as a lipoma  — but the removal process is tough.

melissa lipoma before surgery tlc dr pimple popper

She's removed plenty of these growths in videos on her YouTube channel — including some as big as bowling balls — but this one represents a new benchmark for Lee. 

"This is the largest lipoma that I have ever attempted to remove," Lee says during the episode.

tlc dr pimple popper lipoma removed

The removal procedure has some tense moments. Melissa can feel uncomfortable tugging on the giant mass, and the growth is so large that Lee is forced to cut it out in pieces rather than remove it whole. But the surgery is a success in the end — and the giant pile of fat removed from Melissa's body, is truly a sight to behold.

Melissa is visibly relieved when she sees herself in a mirror afterward.

melissa dr pimple popper TLC after surgery

"Literally a weight has been lifted off my shoulders," she says in an interview after the procedure. "This is definitely one of the best days of my life."

There are five more episodes of "Dr. Pimple Popper" to come this season. You can watch them on TLC's website or through the TLCGo app. Watch a clip from the episode below. 

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The 50 worst TV shows in modern history, according to critics

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Many of the worst television shows originate from some highly questionable concepts that make you wonder how they ever got approved.

ABC's "Cavemen" series in 2007, for instance, was based on characters from a short-lived Geico commercial. And Fox's 2014 reality show "I Wanna Marry Harry" saw 12 women compete for the chance to marry a Prince Harry look-alike who they thought was the real Prince of Wales.

Both shows were critical disasters, and each lasted only one season — as many of the worst reality shows, dramas, and sitcoms have.

To find out which programs critics have hated the most, we turned to the review aggregator Metacritic for its list of the worst TV shows, which goes back to 1995. The list ranks show seasons by their composite critical reception.

Check out the 50 worst TV shows from least to most objectionable, according to critics:

SEE ALSO: All 65 of Netflix's notable original shows, ranked from worst to best

50. "Twenty Good Years" (NBC, Season 1)

Critic score: 29/100

User score: 5.9/10

What critics said: "It is a male version of 'The Golden Girls,' but with weaker writing." — The New York Times



49. "South Beach" (UPN, Season 1)

Critic score: 29/100

User score: 8.6/10

What critics said: "A preposterous and pretentious drama series."— The Washington Post



48. "Hidden Hills" (NBC, Season 1)

Critic score: 29/100

User score: Unavailable

What critics said: "This series reflects the way wealthy, neurotic, overly busy and sex-obsessed TV executives and producers think America lives, in other words, the way they live. They're wrong."— The Detroit News



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Netflix earned the most 2018 Emmy nominations of any network, ending HBO's 17-year streak at the top

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  • Netflix earned the most nominations of any network for the 2018 Emmy Awards, breaking HBO's 17-year streak at the top.
  • Netflix brought in 112 nominations this year, while HBO earned 108 nods.
  • Last year, HBO led with 111 nominations, while Netflix came in second with 91.
  • HBO's second-place tally comes as the cable network is in the midst of a strategy shift under its new owner, AT&T, to hew closer to Netflix's production model.

Netflix earned the most nominations of any network for the 2018 Emmy Awards on Thursday, breaking HBO's 17-year streak as the top network in total Emmy nods.

Netflix brought in 112 total nominations this year. In 2017, the streaming service earned 91 nominations, second to HBO's 111 nominations.

This year, HBO earned a second-place tally of 108 nominations. NBC came in third overall among networks, and leads all broadcast networks with 78 nods. 

Among Netflix's nominations, the streaming service earned nods in several top categories, including nominations for "The Crown" and "Stranger Things" for best drama series, and "Glow" and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" for best comedy series. 

HBO meanwhile placed several shows in the top categories, with "Barry,""Curb Your Enthusiasm," and "Silicon Valley" earning nominations for best comedy series, along with "Game of Thrones" and "Westworld" for best drama. "Game of Thrones" also led all shows with 22 nods.

For the first time since 2001, HBO will not lead all networks in the field of Emmy nominations.

HBO's second-place tally comes as the cable network is in the midst of a strategy shift under its new owner, AT&T, to hew closer to Netflix's high-quantity production model, which will see the streaming service reach a mark of over 1000 original TV shows and movies by the end of this year. 

HBO's new corporate boss, Warner Media CEO John Stankey, said in a town hall meeting on Monday that HBO will move to produce a higher quantity of TV shows and movies in order to compete with streaming services like Netflix. 

The shift is a marked contrast for HBO, as HBO CEO Richard Plepler last year distanced his network from Netflix's production model, saying that "more is not better, only better is better."

SEE ALSO: The 2018 Emmy nominees have been announced, with 'Game of Thrones' and Netflix leading the way

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Sandra Oh just made history with her Emmy nomination for the must-watch show 'Killing Eve'

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If you haven't watched "Killing Eve," now's the time to start.

The 2018 Emmy nominations were announced Thursday morning and Sandra Oh just made history with her nod for the BBC America drama.

The 46-year-old actress is the first Asian woman to be nominated for lead actress in a drama series in the show's 70-year history.

Oh plays the titular role of Eve Polastri, an MI5 security officer who is on the trail of a female serial killer.

The actress isn't a stranger to the Emmys though. She was previously nominated five consecutive years in the supporting actress category for her role as the sharp-witted, tell-it-like-it-is Dr. Cristina Yang.

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Archie Panjabi became the first woman of Asian descent to win an Emmy in the outstanding supporting actress category in 2010 for her role on CBS’ “The Good Wife.” In 2017, Riz Ahmed became the first man of Asian descent to win lead actor in a limited series for his work on HBO's "The Night Of."

Representatives for Oh didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment.

You can take a look at all of the 2018 Emmy nominations here.

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Anthony Bourdain got 6 posthumous Emmy nominations for his CNN show 'Parts Unknown'

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  • Anthony Bourdain's CNN series, "Parts Unknown," received six Emmy nominations on Thursday.
  • The nominations come a month after Bourdain died at the age of 61 while filming a new season of the travel show in France.
  • Bourdain has previously won four Emmy Awards for "Parts Unknown."
  • The late celebrity chef and author has now received 23 Emmy nominations in total. 

Anthony Bourdain's CNN travel series, "Parts Unknown," received six Emmy nominations on Thursday, a month after Bourdain died at the age of 61 while filming a new season of the show in France.

Bourdain's series received the following six nominations in nonfiction programming categories: 

  • Outstanding cinematography for a nonfiction program
  • Outstanding picture editing for a nonfiction program
  • Outstanding informational series or special
  • Outstanding sound editing for a nonfiction program
  • Outstanding sound mixing for a nonfiction program
  • Outstanding writing for a nonfiction program

Bourdain had previously won four Emmy Awards for "Parts Unknown," with his most recent win coming in 2016 for outstanding informational series or special.

The late celebrity chef and author has now received 23 Emmy nominations in total. 

Bourdain's cause of death was suicide by hanging, French authorities confirmed in June. 

Following Bourdain's death last month, CNN released the following statement

"It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain. His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink, and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time."

Last month, Netflix extended a deal to keep "Parts Unknown" on its service for the foreseeable future, after fans petitioned the service to renew its agreement for the CNN series following Bourdain's death.

SEE ALSO: Netflix broke HBO's 17-year streak by earning the most 2018 Emmy nominations of any network

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'Game of Thrones' stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke were up for leading actor Emmys for the first time ever and they were snubbed

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  • The 2018 Emmy nominations were announced on Thursday — and "Game of Thrones" stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke were snubbed in the categories for lead actor and actress in a drama series.
  • Regardless, the hit HBO show still managed to get 22 nominations overall. 
  • You can watch the 2018 Emmys on NBC on Monday, September 17 at 8 p.m., hosted by "Saturday Night Live" stars Michael Che and Colin Jost.

 

HBO knows how to rack up Emmy Awards, but even with 108 nominations this year alone, the premium cable channel's Emmy strategy wasn't entirely solid.

"Game of Thrones" stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke were both snubbed by Emmy voters after they were submitted to the lead actor and actress categories for the first time.

According to TVLine, the move to submit both performers as leads was likely done in effort to escape the supporting categories, which have become increasingly competitive and crowded. In years past, Harington and Clarke both earned Emmy nominations in the supporting categories and the jump to submit them as leads seems to have backfired.

And fans on Twitter certainly noticed the snubs:

Competition in the lead categories turned out to be fierce this year. Clarke was edged out by Claire Foy, Tatiana Maslany, Elisabeth Moss, Sandra Oh, Keri Russell, and Evan Rachel Wood.

And while Harington didn't make the cut, Jason Bateman, Sterling K. Brown, Ed Harris, Matthew Rhys, Milo Ventimiglia and Jeffrey Wright secured nominations as lead actors in a drama series.

Despite the dual snubs, "Game of Thrones" still managed to be 2018's most-nominated show. The series earned a total of 22 nominations including best drama and all three Lannister siblings (Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) scored noms in the supporting categories.

You can take a look at all of the 2018 Emmy nominations here.Te

The 2018 Emmys will air Monday, September 17 on NBC at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The show will be hosted by "Saturday Night Live" stars Michael Che and Colin Jost.

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'Modern Family' wasn't nominated for a comedy series Emmy for the first time ever — and people are feeling pretty good about it

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  • The nominations for the 2018 Emmys have been revealed, and ABC's long-running sitcom "Modern Family" didn't get the recognition it usually does.
  • The show was absent from the best comedy series category —which they were part of for the past eight years. — in addition to the other major ones.
  • Despite that, "Modern Family" managed to get one nomination for best sound mixing.
  • The 2018 Emmys will air on NBC on Monday, September 17 at 8 p.m., hosted by "Saturday Night Live" stars Michael Che and Colin Jost.

 

"Modern Family" ended its long-running Emmys streak after the ABC sitcom failed to earn even a single nomination in the major categories.

The show was nominated for best comedy series for the last eight years in a row and its cast was routinely recognized for their performances. However, 2014 was the last time anyone on the series took home an Emmy Award, and the sitcom is considered to be long past its prime with its ninth season continuing to disappoint.

When the series was nominated in 2017, Twitter users didn't hesitate to voice their displeasure and complain that it had been recognized over more deserving shows. This year, Twitter is singing a different tune and celebrating the snub:

But "Modern Family" wasn't entirely shut out of the awards this year as the show was nominated for best sound mixing. Show creator Steven Levitan didn't convey too much disappointment over the end of the series' streak, telling Deadline, "It was a hell of a run."

"I'm thrilled for all the brilliant new people who get to experience the good fortune we've enjoyed. Plus it gives us a goal for next year: Earn our way back," he said.

"Atlanta,""Barry,""Black-ish,""Curb Your Enthusiasm,""Glow,""Silicon Valley,""The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" were all nominated for best comedy series instead.

You can take a look at all of the 2018 Emmy nominations here.

The 2018 Emmys will air Monday, September 17 on NBC at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The show will be hosted by "Saturday Night Live" stars Michael Che and Colin Jost.

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