Six “Only in 2020” Dating Trends According to Tinder – GoFinder

At What Point in a Marriage Do You Start Discussing a Threesome? – PRNewswire

Survey finds cheaters want COVID-19 vaccine so they can have ‘responsible’ affairs – NYPost

2 arrested on suspicion of DUI while in the same car in Yolo County, CHP says – KCRA

 

Pet food recalled after at least 28 dogs die, 8 sick in US – KXNet

Indoor dining returns to St. Louis County restaurants and bars today – Fox2Now

PSA: If You Eat an Icicle, You’re Eating Bird Poop – Siouxlandnews

A Guy Got So Drunk He Legally Changed His Name to “Celine Dion” – Metro

You’re More Likely to Die During Surgery If It’s the Surgeon’s Birthday – StudyFinds

Man files lawsuit over ‘Hawaiian rolls’ not being made in Hawaii – BorneoBulletin

87-year-old LARRY KING was hospitalized over a week ago with COVID-19.  There’s no word on his condition, but he’s in isolation and unable to receive visitors.  Larry survived a stroke and underwent heart surgery in 2019, then last year he lost a son to a heart attack and a daughter to lung cancer, just weeks apart. 

LOUIS GOSSETT JR. ended up in a Georgia hospital last week with coronavirus . . . but he LEFT after a few days, against doctors’ orders, because he got freaked out about all the people dying around him in the COVID wing.  Lou is 84. 

As you’ve probably heard by now, COVID took DAWN WELLS last week.  She played Mary Ann on “Gilligan’s Island”, and she was 82.  That leaves TINA LOUISE, a.k.a. Ginger, as the last remaining castaway.  She’s 86.

TANYA ROBERTS died yesterday, at the age of 65.  She apparently collapsed on Christmas Eve and was put on a ventilator, but she never got better.  Whatever happened, the word is it was NOT COVID-related. She played Midge on “That ’70s Show”, and was one of “Charlie’s Angels” for a season back in the day.  Her movies included the Bond flick “A View to a Kill”, the amazing “Sheena”, and the underrated horror classic “Tourist Trap”. 

GERRY MARSDEN of the ’60s band GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS died yesterday due to heart problems.  He was 78. The band’s hits included “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying”, and “Ferry Cross the Mersey”.

BTW, Alex Trebek’s final episodes of “Jeopardy!” will air today through Friday, Jan. 8^th. Trebek passed away from pancreatic cancer on Nov. 8. He was 80. 

TOM CRUISE isn’t messing around on set with COVID dummies. Mr Cruise is currently filming “Mission: Impossible 7” in London, and he’s DEAD SERIOUS about COVID-19 protocols. In fact, he recently saw two crew members standing less than six feet apart, and he LOST IT. The movie release date is Nov 19th 

A couple of guys paid SMOKEY ROBINSON to make a Cameo video wishing their mom a Happy Hanukkah. But apparently when they made the request, they used the alternate spelling “C-h-a-n-u-k-a-h”.  And apparently, Smokey has never seen it spelled this way. FYI, Smokey charges $350 for a video.  

We all know the movie business took a hard hit this year, but how hard?  North American ticket sales will finish 2020 at around $2.3 billion.  That’s down 80 PERCENT from last year’s $11.4 billion. It’s also the lowest total since the early ’80s, if not the late ’70s . . . so about 40 years. Foreign ticket sales are in the neighborhood of $9 billion, thanks to a full-on recovery in Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, and yes, China. 

I have a rundown of movies that have been rescheduled for this year.  But these new dates may also change . . . since no one knows how and when people will return to theaters. 

“Coming 2 America”, March 5th.  The sequel to the 1988 original. 

“The King’s Man”, March 12th.  The third movie in the “Kingsman” series. 

“Morbius”, March 19th.  The “Spider-Man” spin-off starring Jared Leto. 

“No Time to Die”, April 2nd.  The 25th James Bond movie. 

“A Quiet Place, Part 2”, April 23rd.  The sequel to “A Quiet Place”. 

“Black Widow”, May 7th.  The Marvel movie starring Scarlett Johansson. 

“Free Guy”, May 21st.  The sci-fi action-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds. 

“Godzilla Vs. Kong”, May 21st.  Before it was postponed, Netflix reportedly offered more than $200 million for it. 

“Spiral”, May 21st.  The “Saw” reboot starring Chris Rock. 

“F9”, May 28th.  The next movie in the “Fast & Furious” franchise. 

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife”, June 11th.  The new movie which will feature cameos by most of the surviving original cast members. 

“Top Gun: Maverick”, July 2nd.  The sequel to the 1986 original. 

“Jungle Cruise”, July 30th.  It’s based on the Disneyland ride.

I found a list of the most anticipated albums of 2021.  Of course, there’s always the possibility that release dates change, or that the albums don’t make it out this year.    

“Certified Lover Boy”, Drake . . . January. 

“Medicine at Midnight”, Foo Fighters . . . February 5th. 

A new album by Lil Nas X. 

A new release from Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

Queens of the Stone Age 

Rihanna 

Adele 

Billie Eilish 

The Cure 

Arcade Fire 

Cardi B

Here’s What’s Coming To Netflix In January 2021 

The  Sex and the City films, The Departed, Can’t Hardly Wait What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Goodfellas, are some. Cobra Kai was released a week early.  Coming to Netflix on January 10th is Spring Breakers, which starred Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Vanessa Hudgens. Netflix is continuing its true-crime streak with the release of the Night Stalker docuseries, focusing on serial killer Richard Ramirez streaming January 13th.  BUT don’t forget All seasons of The Office will head to Peacock, while Gossip Girl is going to HBO Max.

There is a streaming guide called “ReelGood” that compiled a list of the most popular stuff on Netflix using a point system. Every time a title placed first on Netflix’s daily Top 10, it got 10 points.  Nine points for second place, eight for third, seven for fourth, and so on.

And here’s how it played out, along with the point total for each: 

1. The preschool nursery rhyme franchise “CoComelon“, 572 points.  It has spent 104 days on the Top 10, more than any other program except “The Office”. 

2. “The Office”, 438 

3. “The Queen’s Gambit”, 431 

4. “Tiger King”, 382 

5. “Ozark”, 377 

6. “Outer Banks”, 344 

7. “The Umbrella Academy”, 320 

8. “Unsolved Mysteries”, 310 

9. “Cobra Kai”, 299 

10. “Love Is Blind”, 297 

11. “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, 295 

12. “All American”, 266 

13. “Schitt’s Creek”, 253 

14. “The Haunting of Bly Manor”, 241 

15. “Ratched”, 228 

16. “13 Reasons Why”, 225 

17. “Emily in Paris”, 207 

18. “The Boss Baby: Back in Business”, 207 

19. “Floor Is Lava”, 202 

20. “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich”, 202

“Family Guy” creator SETH MACFARLANE is developing a reboot of “Revenge of the Nerds”. It’ll star KEITH and KENNY LUCAS, the identical twin brothers from “22 Jump Street”.  And it really won’t be a straight-up remake. According to “Variety”, it’s a, quote, “contemporary reimagining [that] will pontificate about today’s nerd culture and what even constitutes a geek in the 21st century.” The original “Revenge of the Nerds” came out in 1984, and some of its content hasn’t aged very well.  Like the stereotypical depiction of an Asian character, and a sex scene that would be considered rape by today’s standards.  (Yes, I’m talking about the scene where head nerd Louis tricks cheerleader Betty Childs by pretending to be her football hero boyfriend, and having sex with her.) (When it’s over and he reveals his true identity, she’s not even angry.  Instead, she falls instantly in love with him because the sex was so good.  Don’t feel bad if you didn’t flag it back in the day.  Most of us didn’t.  But in hindsight, it’s creepy as hell.) 

Remember “Night Court”?  Well, NBC is developing a SEQUEL series. John Larroquette will be back as attorney Dan Fielding . . . but Harry Anderson won’t be able to reprise his role as Judge Harry Stone, because he died in 2018. Instead, the show will be about his daughter, Judge Abby Stone, who’s followed in his footsteps. The original ran for nine seasons, from 1984 to 1992.  Larroquette won four Emmys, and the show was nominated for Outstanding Comedy three times.

According to the band Journey guess who is headlining Lollapalooza 2021? Journey.  The festival’s official site currently makes no mention of their plans for 2021, after being forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to convert to online performances in 2020. Neal Schon said he “dying to get on stage again,”  and that the band has “our first date booked for Lollapalooza, and we’re headlining in Chicago. And that’s supposedly in April.  The group’s most recent concert took place almost a year ago, on Jan. 31, 2019 in Las Vegas. It turned out to be the last Journey show to feature drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory, who were fired in March 2020 after what Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain described in court documents as an “ill-conceived corporate coup d’état” designed to take control of the band’s name. Two months later, Schon announced that bassist Randy Jackson, who briefly performed with Journey in the mid-’80s, had returned to the group, joined by new drummer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist / vocalist Jason Derlatka.

Ozzy Osbornes just released an album in February called Ordinary Man. He is set to release more music soon. He posted over the weekend that he is in the studio working on another record.  The guy who produced Ordinary Man’s, Andrew Watt, said Ozzy had Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins in the studio to work on some new music, too.  No one in Ozzy’s camp has said anything about longtime Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde returning to the fold, however.

If you haven’t paid attention to the NFL this season, you’ve missed something close to a MIRACLE:  The Cleveland Browns are GOOD.

The Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh yesterday, to finish the season 11-5, and to secure their first playoff berth since 2002.  At 18 years, that’s the NFL’s longest playoff drought.

That year, they lost in the first round to the Steelers.  This year, they’ll also have to take on the Steelers in Round 1.  The game is set for next Sunday at 8:15 P.M. Eastern.

The rest of the playoff picture has already been set.  In the AFC, the Miami Dolphins missed the cut, despite going 10-6.

While in the NFC, the Chicago Bears got in despite an 8-8 record . . . and the Washington Football Team made it despite a LOSING 7-9 record . . . which was good enough to win the NFC East.

Finally, in the aftermath of Tom Brady’s split from the New England Patriots, Brady came out the winner.  He and the Tampa Bay Bucs are in the playoffs after going 11-5.  The Patriots went 7-9 and missed the cut.

The Seahawks recovered a 49ers onside kick with 22 seconds remaining today, sealing a 26-23 win. But then they did something strange: They didn’t kneel down to run out the clock. Instead, the Seahawks’ offense took the

field and Russell Wilson threw a short pass to receiver David Moore. Only after that play did Wilson kneel down to end the game.

So what were the Seahawks doing? Wilson revealed afterward that Moore had a contract incentive that would pay him $100,000 if he ended this season with 35 catches, and that catch was Moore’s 35th of the season.

“We called that play because David had $100,000 if he gets that catch,” Wilson said. “It’s a blessing to be able to help his family, his daughter, so it was part of the game we wanted to get him that catch, so we were able to dial that up for him, that last play.”

It was a big moment for Moore, who has a base salary of $825,000 this season. An extra $100,000 means a lot to him, and now he can go to the playoffs and earn a little more.

• According to ESPN’s Adam Shefter, the New England Patriots and their quarterback, Cam Newton, will part ways after only one season.
• Shefter said on Sunday’s NFL Countdown: “Cam Newton sounded resigned this week to the fact that he’ll be moving on from New England. It looks like he’s looking for something different, the Patriots are looking for something different.”
• Shefter added that “Both sides enjoyed their relationship, but both sides expect that it will take them to a different place and a different direction in 2021 with Cam Newton likely moving on and the Patriots in search of a new quarterback for next season.”
• That means Newton will be a free agent after this season.

Tom Brady has another spot in the NFL record books.Brady made his 299th career start on Sunday when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Atlanta Falcons at home, 44-27. It surpassed Hall of Famer Brett Favre’s mark of 298.

Since taking over as quarterback of the New England Patriots in 2001, Brady has gotten the start in nearly every game of his 21-year career. He missed almost the entire 2008 season after injuring his knee in the season opener and also missed four games in 2016 which the article this came from didn’t mention came from a suspension for CHEATING.

He holds the record for most wins as a starting quarterback with 229. Brady, 43, is also atop the NFL career leaderboard in passing touchdowns (581)

The Blues got Dunn for a bargain when he signed a one-year deal worth $1.875 million on Thursday. Dunn didn’t want to get into the details of his contract negotiations. But he did say that given the financial uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, he wasn’t necessarily interested in a long-term deal. Dunn always has been known as an offensive-oriented defenseman. But as he enters his fourth NHL season, one of his main points of emphasis is to improve his defensive play and become more of an all-around player.  Interestingly enough, the hockey analytics site — Evolving Wild — has him listed among its top 20 defenders entering this season. Over the last two seasons, Dunn has 21 goals — more than all but 16 NHL defenseman over that span. Dude’s only 24 but he has played more games for the Blues over the past three seasons (224) than anyone but Colton Parayko (226) and Brayden Schenn (225).

Steph Curry, who missed nearly all of last season with a broken hand, put up a career-high 62 points while leading the Golden State Warriors past the Portland Trail Blazers 137-122 at the Chase Center.

Though it’s still early, Curry now holds the title for the highest-scoring game in the league this season. The two-time MVP put up 21 of his 62 points in the opening quarter while shooting an impressive 7-of-11 from the field.