Author: Trafficblast

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is Throwing Out Its Season 8 Episodes And Starting Over Amid Political Unrest

The writers of the police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine have thrown out four episodes that were written for its upcoming eighth season due to the ongoing political unrest in the world regarding police.

Actor Terry Crews told Access Online, “Our showrunner Dan Goor … they had four episodes all ready to go and they just threw them in the trash. We have to start over. Right now we don’t know which direction it’s going to go in,” he said.

“This is an opportunity right now for us all to unite and get together and understand what this is and that we have to battle this together,” Crews added.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a police-themed comedy starring Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti, Joel McKinnon Miller, and Dirk Blocker. Beatriz, who plays a police detective on the show, recently donated some of her residuals from Brooklyn Nine-Nine to charities that provide bail funds. She also urged other actors who play cops on TV to do the same.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s eighth season is expected to premiere in 2020, but it might not be able to hit this date due to filming delays related to COVID-19. The season was at one time expected to feature a storyline related to the pandemic, but this could have changed.

Lord Of The Rings TV Show Seeking “Funky-Looking” People As Extras

With Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings TV show starting production again in New Zealand, the big-budget fantasy program is looking to add to its cast. A casting call spotted by The Guardian is seeking out “funky-looking” people to come in for an audition. This is just the latest round of casting for extras, as the production was looking for Orcs back in December 2019.

The production staff at BGT–which previously helped find extras for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings series–is looking for people with burns on their faces, long skinny limbs, ears that stick out, acne scars, deep cheekbones, missing limbs, large eyes, or skinny faces. There is no word on what the role might be, however.

The booker told The Guardian that she is not authorized to speak more about the casting, and the post has since been edited to remove mention of Amazon and The Lord of the Rings.

The notice goes on to say that, in addition to fitting the description, you must have “great availability” to appear in the show. You must also live in Auckland, New Zealand or be a New Zealand resident who has working rights in the country.

The Lord of the Rings TV show is due to resume production again following its shutdown in March after the breakout of the coronavirus. James Cameron’s Avatar sequels are also expected to start shooting again soon in New Zealand.

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show is set during the Second Age, so it won’t cover the same events as Jackson’s movies. Amazon has high hopes for the series, as it’s already greenlit Season 2.

Now Playing: Best Shows And Movies To Stream For June 2020 – Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney+, Shudder

The Last Of Us Part 2 Writers Have Discussed The Scenes And Ideas They Cut (SPOILERS)

WARNING: this article will SPOIL PLOT DETAILS for The Last of Us Part II. If you don’t want the plot spoiled, turn away now.

The Last of Us Part II is out now on PS4, and players are finally able to discover what happened to Joel and Ellie following the ending of the first game. Players who have finished the game will know that it’s much longer than the first, running about 25 hours, but it turns out that a lot of content was cut during production.

In an interview with IndieWire, the game’s director Neil Druckmann and narrative lead Halley Gross, who wrote The Last of Us Part II together, cover many details about the game’s plot and characters–including some details about what was cut.

While the main action of the game happens across three consecutive days, experienced from the perspective of both Ellie and Abby, the original plan was for this section to cover five days.

“There was a whole side story where Ellie went to the Seraphite island, and we had so much more to say about the Seraphites and Ellie’s journey there and she’s going through like the different layers of Hell and she still keeps going forward,” Druckmann says.

Joel’s death scene was originally different, too–the original plan was for him to cry out for Sarah, his long-since-deceased daughter, but actor Troy Baker suggested that it would be a more effective scene if he did not say anything.

Gross adds that at one point Joel was going to have a girlfriend, and a different ending, although she does not elaborate. Druckmann also says that they built a playable section where Ellie hunts down the boar you encounter in the museum, but it slowed down the game’s pacing too much.

Druckmann has previously said that he is not sure what Naughty Dog’s next project will be yet, but it might be The Last of Us Part III. If you’ve finished the game, be sure to watch GameSpot’s spoiler chat for our editors’ thoughts.

Now Playing: The Last Of Us Part II Video Review

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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare And Warzone Get Small Playlist Update

A small update is now available for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone, but don’t expect much from it.

This new playlist update contains two changes. First, uncommon and rare burst-fire versions of the M4 assault rifle have been removed from loot caches in Warzone. Developer Infinity Ward did not provide any commentary around why the weapons have been removed.

Second, Modern Warfare’s new All or Nothing playlist now supports parties whereas previously it did not. These playlist changes are available now across PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Like other playlist updates, this one should download in a flash from the game’s title screen.

This is the second playlist update for Modern Warfare and Warzone in the past 24 hours. An earlier update introduced a series of new playlists for Modern Warfare and Warzone, including Boots on the Ground War, Realism Mosh Pit, All or Nothing, and Stir-Crazy, among others.

In other news, Modern Warfare and Warzone recently welcomed the newest Operator, Gaz, who comes from the campaign.

Now Playing: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare & Warzone – Official Season Four Trailer

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Bob’s Burgers Creator’s Next Fox Cartoon Has Already Been Renewed For Season 2

Loren Bouchard, the creator of Fox’s hit animated sitcom Bob’s Burgers, is currently working on The Great North, a new animated show for Fox. Although the show has not aired yet–or even released so much as a preview image–Deadline is reporting that the show has already been renewed for season 2.

The show will be about a single father in Alaska who is trying his best to keep his family together and happy. It will star Nick Offerman as Beef Tobin, the dad in question, and Jenny Slate and Will Forte as his daughter and son. The show will also feature Dulce Sloan, Aparna Nancherla, Paul Rust, Megan Mullally, and Alanis Morissette as herself.

An air date for the show has not been set.

In April, Fox acknowledged that it will need more animated titles to fill the gap if The Simpsons ever ends, and The Great North is one of many new titles they are developing. Fox also recently commissioned a new animated series from Dan Harmon, the creator of Community and co-creator of Rick & Morty.

Loren Bouchard is also the creator of Central Park, an animated show that debuted on Apple TV+ in May. Bob’s Burgers is also getting a movie, which will release in 2021, having been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. New Simpsons and Family Guy movies are also being planned.

Bob’s Burgers has aired for 10 seasons. Season 11 will debut in 2021, and is currently in production.

Now Playing: Best Shows And Movies To Stream For June 2020 – Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney+, Shudder

Dead By Daylight Is Celebrating Its 4th Birthday With Balloons, Crowns, Presents, And Bloody Hooks

It has been four years since the initial release of Dead by Daylight, the popular asymmetrical 4v1 multiplayer game that pits four regular people against a player-controlled monster, and developer Behaviour Interactive is celebrating with a new event.

The event, detailed in the video below and on the game’s website, will include numerous unique cosmetic unlocks and a few neat aesthetic changes to the game. It will run from now until July 7, and the game’s levels will be filled with balloons, confetti, and unique hooks, generators, and lockers.

Also notable is the Anniversary Crown, which will be added as a collectible in each level. The first survivor (or monster) who stumbles upon the crown and interacts with it will glow for the rest of the match, and if they make it through the round alive (or succeed at killing everyone) they will unlock it as a permanent cosmetic for any of the game’s original group of survivors.

There are unique rewards that can be earned just by logging in, too. Here’s a complete list.

Dead By Daylight 4th Anniversary Cosmetic Unlockables

  • The Deathslinger: Pecan Crown (June 23-25)
  • Claudette Morel: Fitted Button-Up (June 25-28)
  • The Deathslinger: Radical Badland Grit (June 28-30)
  • 4th Anniversary Charm (June 23-30)
  • Claudette Morel: Woolen Berret (June 30-July 2)
  • The Deathslinger: Red Peak Jacket (July 2-5)
  • Claudette Morel: Skinny Denim (July 5-7)
  • Year 4 Cake Charm (June 30-July 7)

Dead by Daylight recently added Silent Hill content, including its signature antagonist, Pyramid Head. A free-to-play mobile version is also available now.

Horror game fans have a few major titles on the horizon to look forward to, including Resident Evil Village, Do Not Open, and Remothered: Broken Porcelain.

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Devs Creator Alex Garland On Why Video Game Movies Don’t Work (And His Favorite Animal Crossing Villager)

Alex Garland has garnered himself quite the reputation for sci-fi and horror fans with his dense and philosophical projects like Ex Machina, Annihilation, and this year’s Devs, his first foray into the world of serialized storytelling with FX on Hulu. Themes in Garland’s work tend to deal with things that provoke a certain sense of existential dread, like the nature of mortality and the ethics of artificial intelligence, so it’s really no surprise that the writer/director’s favorite video games tend towards the similarly weighty.

Speaking with GameSpot during the Play for All event, Garland spoke at length about his love for games like The Last Of Us and Dark Souls, the latter of which he managed to sneak in an Easter Egg for during an early episode of Devs. But he also came through with a surprise revelation–he’s a devout Animal Crossing fan and has sunk countless hours into perfecting his island, a hobby he’s picked up alongside his daughter who also plays.

And yes, he’s got a favorite villager. It’s Pompom the duck. We were just as surprised as you.

Garland is so dedicated to his Animal Crossing island that he manually created his daughter’s face for his flag–without using a QR code generator. “I very, very carefully drew it out with those little pixels,” he explained. Garland’s clocked over 300 hours in the game so far, and is confident that his island would stand up to the scrutiny of a tour. “My island would stand up to inspection on one of those Animal Crossing YouTube channels, I’m sure of it.”

Aside from his carefully curated island paradise, Garland had some strong thoughts on the nature of game adaptations in the realm of TV and film, and how the two mediums are not always necessarily compatible in terms of storytelling. He brought up 28 Days Later, which he wrote, and called it a “result” of playing Resident Evil, rather than an adaptation.

“In some ways you could say 28 Days Later is a video game movie–it’s certainly heavily inspired by them. But whenever people get intentional about [adapting video games], something seems to get lost in translation.” He continued, hypothesizing, “It could be that the licensing [for video game movies] is so complicated that it forces them to be a certain type of movie or a certain type of release, or a certain type of cookie-cutter approach–though that might be bulls***, thinking about some of the lower budget video game movies that have been released. I don’t think there’s a good reason that the industry has struggled [with adaptations] the way that it has.”

But he was quick to clarify that he doesn’t think that means the future is without hope. “As I understand it, HBO is working on a The Last Of Us TV show and those are people I would expect to get it right.”

As for Garland’s other favorite franchise, Dark Souls, he’s less confident about the potential for an adaptation, largely because of the mood and ambiance the Souls games tend to have. “The Dark Souls games seem to have this embedded poetry in them. You’ll be wandering around and find some weird bit of dialogue with some sort of broken song sat with a bit of armor outside a doorway and it feels like you’ve drifted into some existential dream. That’s what I really love about Dark Souls. These spaces are so imaginative and they seem to flow into each other and flow out of each other […] I can’t imagine how that would [be adapted]. The quality that makes Dark Souls special is probably unique to video games.”

While he may not see himself adapting a franchise like Dark Souls any time soon, he would gladly take the opposite approach and work in the games industry again in the future. He’s hopeful about making a return–and has been trying to have the conversation.

“There was a period in gaming, or there was a school of thought in games at one point that was very, very anti-narrative,” he explained, referencing his early attempts to break into working in the industry. “I tried a few times, but I think it was the wrong time to be talking about these things. The only time I’ve ever really worked on a game was with Ninja Theory and Enslaved, but I’d love to do it again. I keep waiting for the call.”

Devs can be watched in full with FX on Hulu.

Now Playing: Alex Garland’s Favorite Games Include Dark Souls, Animal Crossing

How Pro Wrestling’s #SpeakingOut Movement Is Reshaping The Industry For The Better

The past week has been an eye-opening and heartbreaking one for the world of professional wrestling as sexual abuse, assault, and harassment accusations have been made against a wide range of talents from around the world. A long list of independent wrestlers, as well as members of the Impact, AEW, and WWE rosters, have been implicated thus far in the #SpeakingOut movement.

The hashtag has been used as a space on social media for those that allege they were victimized by those within the professional wrestling industry, in order to share their experiences and call out those that abused and harassed them. As the movement continues to gain traction, it shows more and more that this is exactly what professional wrestling needs: accountability against the type of behavior that should simply have no place in this or any industry.

Regardless of their place in the wrestling industry, no performer has the right to harass, abuse, or otherwise victimize anybody else–no human has that right. And already, the fallout is being seen across this particular landscape. And every single allegation should be taken seriously and investigated.

In response to accusations against multiple superstars, including Matt Riddle and Jack Gallagher, WWE has said it is “looking into the matter” in a statement [via Deadline], adding, “WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault. Upon arrest for such misconduct, a WWE talent will be immediately suspended. Upon conviction for such misconduct, a WWE talent will be immediately terminated. WWE’s ability to fine, suspend or terminate a WWE talent will not be, however, limited or compromised in any manner in the event incontrovertible evidence of such illegal misconduct is presented to WWE.”

Thus far, Gallagher has been released from the company with no explanation, while Riddle has released a statement through a lawyer denying the allegations.

While WWE may be the largest wrestling company on the planet, though, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Two of AEW’s talents have also faced misconduct allegations, including Jimmy Havoc. He has been accused of mental and emotional abuse by an ex-girlfriend, as well as rape by an anonymous woman. Shortly after those accusations were made public, AEW released a statement explaining that Havoc had entered a rehabilitation facility to “overcome the mental health and substance abuse challenges in his life.” It’s further noted that his status with the company will be addressed once he finishes treatment.

Sammy Guevara, on the other hand, was called out over his own words. A 2016 podcast clip resurfaced, in which the Inner Circle member recalled seeing current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks at a tryout and wanting to rape her. That audio circulated online, leading to Guevara’s name trending on Twitter. AEW responded by suspending him indefinitely without pay. Instead, his salary will be donated to the Women’s Center of Jacksonville. The company also said Guevara will undergo sensitivity training before his status with the company is reevaluated.

Guevara apologized for his comments on Twitter, writing, “I’ve made stupid, inappropriate and extremely offensive comments in my past. In my idiotic mind, I thought I was being funny in using words and terms that represent nothing but horror and pain.” Additionally, he and Banks also noted they’ve spoken since the audio surfaced. “Words like the comments he made, jokingly or not, have no place in our society,” Banks wrote. “I don’t condone or tolerate this kind of behavior.”

Outside of those two major companies, the highest-profile name to be called out is independent wrestler and Impact star Joey Ryan. Multiple accusations of sexual assault were made against Ryan over the last week, leading to Impact terminating his contract–along with Dave Crist. Additionally, Ryan’s former tag team partner and current NXT superstar Candice LeRae released a statement online. “To the women he did this to–my heart breaks for you,” she wrote. “I trusted this person. Reading the stories and learning how he acted sickens me. Especially because you all trusted him too. I can’t imagine how you felt.”

Ryan released a statement on his own Twitter account before deactivating it, as well as the account for his wrestling promotion Bar Wrestling. In his statement, he said that after his wrestling move the “dick flip” went viral, he began living a “rock ‘n roll lifestyle.” He added, “I came into contact with a lot of people, including women. And, the truth is, I did not always treat people with respect. And I will acknowledge that it was possible that I pursued people I thought were interested in me and invaded their personal space and made them feel uncomfortable in the process.”

While there could be more allegations, and even higher-profile ones, in the upcoming weeks, the birth of the #SpeakingOut movement is one of the most important things to ever happen to the world of professional wrestling. In an industry that prides itself on evolving from a product standpoint, evolution behind the scenes is just as important, if not more so. That evolution happened in 2006 when WWE instituted its strictest drug testing policy to date shortly after the death of former WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. It happened again in 2015 when WWE listened to its fans and began treating its female performers on the same level as its male counterparts, leading to the Women’s Revolution and the first all-female Wrestlemania main event.

This, however, is an even bigger moment for the industry. This isn’t something WWE or any other company can fix on its own. This is a change to the culture of professional wrestling that needs to be felt in every corner of the industry. There are areas of professional wrestling that remain toxic and should not be tolerated.

The #SpeakingOut movement has empowered many women and men to stand up and say they’re sick and tired of making excuses for and hiding the abuse they received. That is something they should all be proud of. It’s also caused others in the industry with a platform to stand by those who are speaking their truths, including WWE Smackdown Women’s and Women’s Tag Team Champion Bayley, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champions Big E and Kofi Kingston, and NXT North American Champion Keith Lee.

Professional wrestling isn’t going to go away, but this new evolution will help it to become a safer place for those that populate it in the future. People, both inside and outside of the industry, are stating clearly that there is no room in wrestling for abusers and predators and that’s something that should make every wrestling fan hopeful for the future of the sport.

Pokémon: The Isle of Armor Review

While it may be surprising to see DLC in a Pokémon game for the first time, Sword and Shield’s Expansion Pass is definitely preferable to its traditional model of following up the latest game with another full-price version just to deliver some new content and a few improvements. The Isle of Armor, the Expansion Pass’s first of two bundled DLC additions, provides an entertaining reason to revisit the Galar region with over 100 returning Pokemon (plus a few new ones) and an enjoyable new Wild Area. But this island getaway is otherwise pretty bare bones and disappointingly brief.

Like the free-roaming Wild Area in the main Sword and Shield campaign, The Isle of Armor’s is complete with an excess of untamed Pokémon wandering around, dozens of dens for Max Raid Battles, and plenty of items to find and collect. Without the usual Gym structure (or even linear Routes), this DLC’s main quest line instead has you running missions throughout its open space – it’s much more freeform than the usual Pokémon experience, which feels like a natural and not unwelcome progression after the first Wild Area showed how well an “open world” Pokémon could potentially work, even if the story here is too fleeting to really savor it.

While it may not be as big as the original Wild Area in overall acreage, The Isle of Armor more than makes up for it in its diversity and in how well it uses the space. You’ll find tangled forests filled with Tangela and oceans where Sharpedo’s pursue you with frightening speed. Even if it can all be seen in a few short hours, it’s undoubtedly an entertaining trek that does a great job of making the world feel alive and more fleshed out than the Wild Area from the base game.

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The Isle of Armor unfortunately doesn’t mark the return of the complete National Pokédex, but it does significantly expand the Pokémon available in Sword and Shield with more than 100 returning pocket monsters. It’s a great selection, including some sorely needed additions like Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and most of all: Lickilicky, which is obviously the best Pokémon ever conceived.

Quick Ball

Unfortunately, Isle of Armor doesn’t use its new, lovingly crafted area very effectively, as the DLC’s campaign amounts to just a few short missions that can be finished in a couple hours, most of which are uninspired fetch quests. You’ll run around looking for mushrooms and fighting off Slowpoke on a decidedly low stakes adventure that feels like a fairly by-the-numbers RPG side quest. There are certainly some highlights, like the part where you need to befriend and level up the brand new and pretty darn lovable Kubfu to unlock one of its two legendary evolutions. But it all feels very shallow with no real narrative holding it together, and Pokemon in the wild almost universally capping out at level 60 means anyone who has beaten the base game will be able to breeze through the whole thing like I did.

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It also doesn’t help that one of the DLC’s chief characters, your new rivals (Klara for Sword players, and Avery for Shield), are both incredibly annoying and written off largely as a punchline rather than anything resembling a real threat. The other two major characters, a dojo master named Mustard, and his wife Honey, are amusing, but don’t get enough time in the spotlight to really shine.

That said, Isle of Armor introduces a few new mechanics that do a lot to break the mold of Sword and Shield in positive ways. A welcome item called Max Soup allows you to Gigantimax your Pokémon even if they weren’t caught in a Max Raid Battle. A surprising new base-building mechanic lets you upgrade Mustard’s dojo by spending Watts, unlocking helpful new services and items. And of course, there are plenty of cool new cosmetics, like clothes and bicycle skins.

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Sadly, there isn’t a ton left to do once the campaign is over, aside from catching the island’s plentiful returning Pokémon – though you’ll now be able to do that with the Pokémon of your choice following you around the DLC areas, which is a nice cosmetic reward earned by progressing through the story. One of the main draws is Restricted Sparring, a challenging endgame mode that pits three of your Pokémon of the same type against five opposing trainers in a row (and then an endless onslaught of them after that) – it’s a creative new format, but is only appealing if you’re looking to earn BP for the Battle Tower. There’s also a boring side quest where you run around looking for 151 Digletts buried in the ground that’s nightmarishly tedious, and hardly worth the various Alolan versions of Pokémon you get as a reward.