Here's everything that's been happening in the world of Pop Culture this past week... in case you missed it! Feel free to comment on any of the stories and info shared here, add any news bits that you caught going on that may have been missed, or at least show us some love if you read the post but have nothing to comment on by clicking on that little heart icon at the bottom of the post...

GENERAL POP CULTURE NEWS:

- Cities across the US are officially proclaiming September 25^th as Dolly Parton Appreciation Day. The day will honor the late country superstar’s enormous contributions to music, entertainment, and philanthropy. The date was chosen because when written numerically and read out it sounds similar to Parton’s biggest hit and its namesake film that she starred in, “9 to 5”.

- Former “Jeopardy!” champion YOGESH RAUT was the winner of season 4 of ABC game show “Jeopardy! Masters”, besting fellow former contestants VICTORIA GROCE (“Jeopardy! Masters” season 2 champ) and ANDREW HE to become the first two-time winner of the series. Raut won $500,000, the ALEX TREBEK trophy, $100,000 donated to the charity of his choice – Direct Relief – and the title of “Jeopardy!” Master. Groce won $250,000 for coming in second in the tournament; He won $150,000 for coming in third.

GOVERNMENT 101 -

- US: The Supreme Court temporarily halted a lower court’s ruling that limited broadcast ad spot discounts to political candidates. Federal law allows candidates to pay discounted rates for airtime around elections; the FCC’s Media Bureau recently argued that some party-coordinated ads should also be entitled to the same rates which lead four Democrats to challenge that finding in court, resulting in a victory in the US 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals – that court decision led to the National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee to appeal to the Supreme Court, which has been developing a reputation for overturning lower court rulings in favor of the Trump administration. Multiple justices reportedly agreed the lower court acted too soon.

ON BROADWAY/ THE WEST END -

- Actor SACHA BARON COHEN will star in an upcoming West End production of director/screenwriter QUENTIN TARANTINO’s stage play “The Popinjay Cavalier”. Cohen will portray the title character when the play lands at an as-yet-undisclosed West End venue in spring 2027.

- Actor NICK MOHAMMED (who competed in season 1 of “Celebrity Traitors UK”) will host “The Traitors – Acts of Betrayal”, a new West End stage adaptation of the reality competition series. The adaptation includes five separate plays, each representing a round of the competition. Performances begin May 11, 2027 at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London.

- “Now You See Me Live”, the stage illusion show inspired by the Lionsgate film franchise, will head to Broadway this holiday season. The stage performance will feature South African escapologist GABRIELLA LESTER, English illusionist JAMES MORE, Canadian illusionist DARCY OAKE, and English mentalist MATTHEW POMEROY as the so-called “Four Horsemen” (similar to the film franchise’s four-person team of the world’s greatest illusionists). Performances will take place at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre from November 11^th through January 3^rd.

MOVIE NEWS:

- A24’s surprise 2017 Best Picture Oscar winner “Moonlight” will be re-released to theaters in a new 4K remastered cut to celebrate the film’s 10^th anniversary. Tickets for the re-release go on sale September 9^th.  

- “Jackass: Best and Last”, the final installment in the stunt comedy franchise starring JOHNNY KNOXVILLE, will make its streaming premiere on Paramount+ on September 24^th.

- Universal Pictures’ STEVEN SPIELBERG-directed “Disclosure Day” will begin streaming exclusively on Peacock on October 9^th.

- A live capture of award-winning Broadway and West End stage comedy “Oh, Mary!”, written by and starring Tony winner COLE ESCOLA, will debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2027. The live capture performance took place on July 28, 2026 at the Trafalgar Theatre in London’s West End.

- MOVIE CASTING UPDATE -
- Actors HALLE BERRY, COLIN FIRTH, ZOE KRAVITZ, and JACK WHITEHALL are set to costar in the rom-com “Otherwise Engaged”.

- Actor STEPHEN GRAHAM has joined the cast of director MICHAEL MANN’s prequel to the 1995 film “Heat”. Graham will play Neil McCauley, the professional thief played by ROBERT DE NIRO in the original film.

TV NEWS:

- Peacock announced plans to launch a new reality competition series with the working title “Get Me out of Here” next year. The series, an adaptation of the global format “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me out of Here!”, will pair celebs with a non-famous friend or family member in the ultimate test of relationships as the duos will be sent into a dense jungle and “stripped of every luxury as they face physical and psychological challenges in hopes to avoid elimination and increase their chances at earning the $100,000 grand prize”. “The Traitors” costars/“Love Island” alums ROB RAUSCH and MAURA HIGGINS have been tapped to co-host the series. The series will debut on Peacock sometime in 2027.

- ABC has denied reports claiming late night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will end next year. Page Six reported earlier this week that ABC was not going to extend the contract of the long-running series’ host, JIMMY KIMMEL, citing a “source familiar with the situation.” ABC immediately shut down the report, calling the information “inaccurate” and called any reports on the future of the series “purely speculative”. The report comes one year after Kimmel was briefly suspended over a monologue joke that referenced the then-recent murder of right-wing podcaster CHARLIE KIRK that was declared offensive by some ABC-affiliate station owners and the head of the FCC, who demanded Kimmel be taken off the air for the comments; ABC parent company Disney reinstated Kimmel a few days later after backlash over the situation led to thousands of cancelled Disney+ subscriptions and Kimmel’s return led to a ratings bump (ratings have also increased in the wake of CBS’ ending late night rival “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” earlier this year). While ABC is denying the report, the network will likely look to make some changes if it does look to renew Kimmel’s contract (which ends in May 2027) considering the cost of production and changing landscape of late night tv; It should also be noted that the network is currently embattled in a lawsuit against the FCC, which has threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license over both Kimmel’s show and daytime talk show “The View”. Page Six is standing by its story despite ABC’s denial. Meanwhile, Kimmel announced this week that an interview scheduled for Thursday with Democratic US Senate candidate JAMES TALARICO of Texas, could only be viewed on the show’s YouTube page due to concerns about the FCC’s change to equal time rules.

- Hulu announced that the back half of season 2 of the JILLY COOPER adaptation “Rivals” will be released later this year, with three of the remaining six episodes dropping on November 11^th on both Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ in the US. The season will continue to drop one new episode every Wednesday through December 2^nd.

 TV CASTING UPDATE –

- “Wheel of Fortune” announcer JIM THORNTON was fired from the syndicated game show by producer Sony after an investigation following a mid-flight incident in May. News of Thornton’s firing came less than a week after it was announced he was suspended pending the outcome of the company’s investigation into the incident. Thornton’s voiceovers for episodes that have already been filmed for the upcoming season will be replaced by a new announcer once a new person is hired.  

- Former NBA player CHARLES BARKLEY said he will be retiring from co-hosting TNT sports program “Inside the NBA” alongside host ERNIE JOHNSON after the next NBA season. Johnson has hosted the series since 1990 when TNT acquired broadcasting rights for NBA games; Barkley joined the series a decade later after he retired from playing basketball. Barkley previously announced plans to retire from broadcasting but changed his mind; this time he claims he would only reverse course if Johnson also changes his mind and decides to stay, otherwise, he intends to call it quits next year.

- Actor JAMES WOLK is joining the season 23 cast of ABC drama series “Grey’s Anatomy” in a recurring role.

- Actor JIMMY SMITS is joining the final season cast of AMC drama series “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon”.

- Actor MICHAEL KELLY is joining the season 3 cast of Paramount+ drama series “Landman” in the series regular role of William Crockett, the leader of the largest oil management firm in the world.

- New York Knicks’ JALEN BRUNSON has been tapped to host the season 52 premiere of NBC sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live” airing September 26^th. It will be Brunson’s first time hosting. Additional hosts announced for season 52 that have been announced thus far include actresses DAKOTA JOHNSON and INDE NAVARETTE and comedian/actor SHANE GILLIS.

- TV CANCELLATIONS* AND TRIMMED/NOT-EXTENDED SEASONS** -

* “Spider-Noir”, Amazon Prime Video/MGM+, cancelled after one season

* “Ransom Canyon”, Netflix, cancelled after 2 seasons

* “P-Valley”, Starz, will end with upcoming third season

MUSIC NEWS:

- Iconic early ‘90s grunge rock band NIRVANA will receive the Video Vanguard Award at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards taking place on September 27^th. The honor, the VMA equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, was officially announced 34 years to the day that the band first took the VMAs stage. CBS and MTV will simulcast the award show, which will be hosted by rapper SNOOP DOGG; it will also be available to stream live on Paramount+.

- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 SINGLES AROUND THE WORLD –

Italy: “Bugie” by SHIVA

Japan: “Koi, Hajimemashita.” by =LOVE

Mexico: “Bby WOW” by KAROL G with JUDELINE & RUSOWSKY

- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 ALBUMS AROUND THE WORLD –

Australia/ UK: “Wildchild” by ALEX WARREN

Greece: “This & That” by STRAY KIDS

Ireland: “The Great Divide” by NOAH KAHAN

US: “Don’t Look Down” by ROD WAVE