No one wants to work for their father-in-law. I don’t care what the profession is, you don’t need that extra baggage. That relationship can be sort of fraught as it is, you don’t need to ramp up the level of difficulty another 10x by making it a boss-employee relationship too. That’s the situation one NBA player faces, as he was traded to the team his father-in-law coaches.

The NBA bubble, for all its faults and challenges to the players, was a terrific success. More than any other sport, they were able to have a safe season. There were also some players who were able to thrive, including Dallas Mavericks guard Seth Curry. His three-point shooting hit a new level, and he was enjoying his time as a key contributor on a fun Dallas team (at least when Kristaps Porzingis is healthy enough to help Luka Doncic).

All in all, Curry put together a nice season, averaging 12.4 points, with a fun future. All of that is gone now, as he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Fine on paper (actually, still a problem on paper, the 76ers and “the process” are kind of a mess), but what makes it problematic is the 76ers new head coach; Doc Rivers. Rivers is also Curry’s father-in-law.

Seth Curry’s new boss, Doc Rivers, is also his father-in-law 😅 https://t.co/TFNAvGkSFV

— Zach Osip (@ZachOsip) November 19, 2020

Mavericks’ Seth Curry traded to 76ers, joins father-in-law Doc Rivers https://t.co/QZDNnZW4MT pic.twitter.com/OEXiVyCvGJ

— New York Post (@nypost) November 19, 2020

It sounds like the plotline of a failed sitcom. Basketball player marries girl, then has to play for her dad, follow along his zany adventure of keeping the peace on the court and AT HOME!! In September of last year, Seth married Rivers’ daughter Callie, which presented no workplace tension at the time.

Now, Curry gets the unenviable task of wading through possible family drama while also trying to right the 76ers ship (which is such a big task it would probably take Curry’s brother, NBA superstar Steph, to really solve).

At the end of the day, there are far worse jobs to have than an NBA player. But there aren’t many more awkward bosses to have than a father-in-law.

Most of us had never used Zoom until this year, even though the company has been around for nearly a decade. When schools closed and the majority of workers were forced to go remote, Zoom became as ubiquitous as the public transportation we used to take to the office every day. They handled the influx of business like absolute champs, with very few server issues and ever-present customer service.

Earlier this month, Zoom made an announcement that took a lot of pressure off those of us trying to frantically figure out Thanksgiving plans. Rather than trying to squeeze Thanksgiving into 40 minutes (or *gasp*, experimenting with a different video conferencing service), Zoom is giving us the gift of time. Previously, using a free Zoom account only allowed users to host meetings with multiple attendees for 40 minutes before the meeting would get cut off. But for one day only, the limit will be lifted.

The announcement read, “As a thank you to our customers, we will be lifting the 40-minute limit for all meetings globally from midnight ET on Nov. 26 through 6 a.m. ET on Nov. 27 so your family gatherings don’t get cut short. #ZoomTogether”

As a thank you to our customers, we will be lifting the 40-minute limit for all meetings globally from midnight ET on Nov. 26 through 6 a.m. ET on Nov. 27 so your family gatherings don’t get cut short. ❤️🏡 #ZoomTogether pic.twitter.com/aubsH0tfxG

— Zoom (@zoom_us) November 10, 2020

This isn’t going to be a normal Thanksgiving, just like the school year hasn’t been normal – and, well, nothing this year has been normal. But we’re making the best out of what we have, and doing everything we can to stay connected. Technology has made it so much easier to do so, and though the goal of any company by definition is to make a profit, it’s always heartwarming when they put customers, even the non-paying ones, (I guess we just call those “people”) first.

Happy ZoomsGiving!

And if you’d rather duck out of the online fam jam, you could always create an AI version of yourself.

When it comes to movies and TV, Thanksgiving gets the short end of the stick. Halloween has tons of movies you can watch all Spooktober long, and Christmas movies dominate cable and streaming services from Thanksgiving until New Year’s.

Thanksgiving has Planes, Trains and Automobiles and not much else! Unless you count the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special, which, despite being the third-best Charlie Brown special (Christmas and Halloween again!).

I remember loving it when I was a kid, and my kids definitely count it every year – there’s still something special about a holiday-themed TV episode! – but this year it seemed like they weren’t even going to get to watch it, because Apple TV+ snapped up the rights to the Charlie Brown specials and pulled them from network TV.

Despite having aired on ABC and CBS for decades, it seemed like their run was over, and any Peanuts fans without an Apple TV+ subscription was going to be out of luck.

Thankfully, someone at Apple had a change of heart, and Apple teamed up with PBS to air the Thanksgiving special on Sunday night. And if you missed it, you can watch it for free on Apple TV+ from 11/25 to 11/27.

Even better, you can catch the Charlie Brown Christmas special on PBS on December 13th, and catch that free on Apple TV+ from 12/11 to 12/13.

I won’t lie, I don’t totally get the appeal of these specials. They’re sort of depressing and not all that funny unless you like watching Snoopy pretend to be a fighter pilot. But they are nostalgic, and there’s something to be said for that.

Regardless of how you feel, it’s great that Apple and PBS found a way to make it happen. Even though I’m not a fan, I can’t pretend the holidays are the same without Peanuts!

When it started four years ago, it was one of those things that delighted social media and reminded people that the world actually is a good, kind place, sometimes.

Jamal Hinton received a text from a number he didn’t recognize, inviting him to Thanksgiving dinner. Wanda Dench had tried to text her grandson, but his number had changed, so she reached Jamal instead. Confused, Jamal asked for a picture of this woman who claimed to be his grandma, and when he got it, he sent his own back. It was immediately clear they weren’t related, but that didn’t change Wanda’s invitation.

“You not my grandma,” the then 17-year-old Jamal texted. “Can I still get a plate though?”

“Of course, that’s what Grandma’s do. Feed everyone,” Wanda replied.

Somebody grandma is coming in clutch this year!! Ayee!!! pic.twitter.com/QGrx83nHLl

— Jamal Hinton (@Jamalhinton12) November 15, 2016

Wanda wasn’t bluffing. She did have a plate for Jamal that Thanksgiving, and he’s been coming back, driving from his home in Tempe, Arizona to Wanda’s in Mesa, ever since. This year will be their fourth Thanksgiving together. Unfortunately, it will be a little different. Wanda’s husband passed away from Covid in April.

“It’s going to be different, my first Thanksgiving without him,” she told the New York Times “My husband was always right behind me, telling me how proud he was of Jamal and me for what we’ve done.”

They’ve stayed in touch, sharing visits, including Jamal’s girlfriend, even when it’s not Thanksgiving. Jamal has even helped the Denches set up their phones when they upgraded.

how it started how it’s going pic.twitter.com/qQkWqNWMzs

— Jamal Hinton (@Jamalhinton12) October 9, 2020

“After meeting her the first time I just knew, she’s another person, age is really just a number,” Mr. Hinton, who is now 21 and works as a car salesman, said of Ms. Dench. “It doesn’t matter, you can be friends with anybody, you can be family with anybody.”

This year, due to the pandemic, the pair decided to keep their tradition going with a small dinner last week, just the two of them, and a candle in Mr. Dench’s memory.

We miss you Lonnie💔 pic.twitter.com/t9lXt31FLw

— Jamal Hinton (@Jamalhinton12) April 9, 2020

“I’m just grateful that we are here, we are together,” Mr. Hinton said. “I don’t know what I would be doing for the holidays this year, last year or years before if I didn’t have Wanda in my life, so I’m just grateful.”

The holiday season is upon us, and in my house, that means one thing: all Christmas movies all the time.

My wife has been forcing me to spend the entire Christmas season watching Christmas movies, from the classics like Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life to the junk they put on Hallmark and Lifetime. Now that we have kids, they’ve been roped in as well, and thankfully there are a few family-friendly Xmas flicks that actually deliver for adults too. Like Elf, and Home Alone. But mostly Die Hard.

Home Alone doesn’t NEED to take place over Christmas (imagine if Kevin got left alone on July 4th, and had to torture the burglars with fireworks? CALL MY AGENT!) , but it’s nice that it does, if only because it breaks up the sentimental stuff we watch in December with a fun movie about trying to murder people.

Home Alone has a lot of fans. it was an enormous hit in the 90s, and there have been countless articles and conspiracy theories about it, from speculation on where the McAllisters get their money to why the cops wouldn’t just go over to the house and bring Kevin in. But articles are nothing. One guy made sculptures of the Wet Bandits, and their tiny tormentor, in action!

Kevin Urrutia-O’Riley posted pics of his Home Alone sculptures to Reddit stunning the community with how realistic they are.

My wife and I sculpted the Wet Bandits and Kevin McCallister from Home Alone. from r/pics

He explained how he made them: “I digitally sculpted the faces and printed them out of resin. I then made the heads with a combo of construction foam, wood filler and Bondo attached to Styrofoam. I painted them using an airbrush. The hair are wigs and the facial hair is worsted wool.”

And he didn’t stop at the sculptures either. He printed a Michael Jordan cut-out for one window and recreated the gangster movie scene in another. He created an Instagram account – TheFrenchCallMeLesIncompetents – to showcase his work.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kevin Urrutia O’Reilly (@thefrenchcallmelesincompetents)

One can’t help but be impressed by the craftmanship, and level of detail, that Urrutia-O’Riley put into what amounts to elaborate Christmas decorations. One also can’t help but be impressed that his wife let him do all of this to her house. But she did, and we are all better off for having witnessed it.

Now I have to make sure my wife never sees it, lest she adds a new tradition to our Christmas season!

After the passing of legendary Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, the long-running game show will resume production with its first new host in 37 seasons. The baton is being passed to the greatest Jeopardy player ever, Ken Jennings, who will be the first ‘of a series of interim-hosts from the Jeopardy family.’

Trebek was beloved, and whoever replaces him long-term will have enormous shoes to fill. But, at the same time, Trebek frequently spoke about wanting the show to continue into a new era. Jeopardy executive producer Mike Richards released a statement about resuming production with Ken Jennings at the helm. Jennings recently started an official role on the show, so the move makes perfect sense.

“Alex believed in the importance of Jeopardy and always said he wanted the show to go on without him,” Richards said. “We will honor Alex’s legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved with smart contestants and challenging clues. By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable future, our goal is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers.”

Jennings said there will only be one Alex Trebek, but that he was honored to help out Jeopardy during this time.

There will only ever be one Alex Trebek, but I’m honored to be helping Jeopardy! out with this in January. https://t.co/2m2b5IQnkw

— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) November 23, 2020

Jennings was widely seen as one of the favorites to replace Trebek, as he’s the most recognizable name in the Jeopardy world and is also the greatest contestant to play the game. He owns the record for the longest winning streak (74 games) and won the Jeopardy Greatest of All Time tournament earlier this year.

Trebek had mentioned who he’d like to see as his replacement over the years, telling Good Morning America a couple of years back that he jokes with the audience about it. “I say it should be Betty White because they want somebody younger and somebody funnier than me,” he said.

While production resumes November 30^th with Jennings, there’s no word about other hosts. Possibilities include James Holzhauer, another Jeopardy standout, or maybe LeVar Burton, if petitions count.

Either way, we’re getting more Jeopardy, and it starts with Jennings.

When I was a kid, I read a whole bunch of Hardy Boys books. They were easy-to-read adventures and mysteries that served as a nice bridge between the Bunnicula and Judy Blume books I read in elementary school and the Anne Rice and Stephen King books I read in high school.

They were fun and simple and I was a kid with brothers too. I also loved to pretend I was a detective and that something sinister was always afoot in my boring Connecticut suburb. It was kind of a more realistic Scooby-Doo, and I suspect a lot of guys my age read them, just as girls my age read Nancy Drew.

Well, now our kids can find out about the Hardy Boys, in a much darker and sexier way! Hulu is hopping on the teen soap strain, picking up the baton from the CW’s Riverdale and bringing the sibling detectives to the small screen.

Based on books created in 1926, the TV series follows Hardy brothers Frank, 16, and Joe, 12, as they move from NYC to Bridgeport, CT (I was right!) and quickly become suspicious that there’s a conspiracy in town – and that their parents may be involved.

Check out the trailer for the show, which hits Hulu on December 2nd:

I’m not entirely sure that I would associate swordplay and dragons and monsters and Henry Cavill with Christmas, but I don’t work at Netflix.

Cavill stars as The Witcher in Netflix’s popular adaption of the videogame, and about the only thing he has in common with Santa Claus is the white hair. And maybe the enormous arms, I’ve never seen St. Nick with his shirt off. But that didn’t stop the streaming service’s social media people, who cobbled together a bunch of Witcher scenes and made a little holiday video out of it.

So far, Netflix has only aired one season of the show, and a making-of documentary and season 2’s production has been delayed by COVID, like everything else. So they don’t have a lot of new footage to work with, but they did their best, layering a Christmas song over clips from the show in a strange effort to connect it to the holiday season. They’ve even added Christmas lights and presents and more, for some reason!

Not sure how seeing a bunch of people get stabbed in the throat is the reason for the season, but gotta respect the effort!

Check it out:

Save your sleds for another day,
for now is a time to simply slay.
Tis the season of #Witchmas. pic.twitter.com/RoWhLCJ08G

— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) November 23, 2020

I don’t like starting every paragraph about a Hollywood project by bemoaning the constant remakes and reboots and hijacking of existing intellectual property, but you play the hand you’re dealt!

This time we’re talking about an adaptation of a video game, and for once it’s not another version of Resident Evil. This time, it’s The Last of Us, a beloved zombie game whose devotees swear is one of the best stories, videogame or otherwise, out there.

HBO must agree because they’ve just announced a plan to bring the popular game to their network in the form of a series.

If you’ve never played the game, Variety describes it as taking place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. (Spoiler alert: there are zombies GALORE!)

It sounds pretty bleak, which may explain why HBO has hired Craig Mazin, who created the network’s devastating Chernobyl miniseries, to write and direct. Mazin will work alongside Neil Druckmann, who created the game.

“Craig and Neil are visionaries in a league of their own,” said Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming. “With them at the helm alongside the incomparable Carolyn Strauss, this series is sure to resonate with both die-hard fans of ‘The Last of Us’ games and newcomers to this genre-defining saga. We’re delighted to partner with Naughty Dog, Word Games, Sony and PlayStation to adapt this epic, powerfully immersive story.”

The Last of Us was released in 2013, to acclaim and blockbuster sales, and last summer the sequel came out. We’ll see if that one eventually makes its way to HBO too.

For all it’s faults, 2020 is coming to an end. And with it, 2021 brings the promise of vaccines and a much more normal world (without pepperoni shortages.) But, we still need to get through the winter, with many still stuck (mostly) at home. So if you’re going to be hibernating more than usual this winter, you gotta do it in style, like with a giant pan pizza weighted blanket. Pizza Hut is making the chill game even tastier with its new creation, part of a collab with the popular Gravity Blanket company.

The new Original Pan Weighted Blanket is modeled after the same exact pizza you remember wolfing down at birthday parties as a kid. It’s also the type of nonsensical brand product you just learn to accept these days. Giant pizza blanket? Sure. Waffle House Bacon Beer? Absolutely. And, to be fair, Pizza Hut has already earned our trust, especially after bringing back the Book-It program.

In a press release from the pizza maker, a spokesman said there was ‘no better way to close out 2020 than eating a Pizza Hut Original Pan Pizza while wrapped in the warmth and comfort of the Original Pan Weighted Blanket.’

Introducing a pizza that comforts you long after the leftovers are gone. Hurry to grab a limited-edition Original Pan Weighted Blanket from @gravityblankets while they’re hot. Order yours up before they’re gone: https://t.co/k5jEmYSpox. pic.twitter.com/3iFGUPvnHm

— PizzaHut (@pizzahut) November 18, 2020

Honestly, I can think of worse ways to end this year, so yeah, sign me up for eating pizza and wrapped in the giant Pizza Blanket. The blanket is supposed to be a 15-pound weighted blanket (I’m not a Gravity Blankets guy, but their rep seems to hold up) and the blanket sells for cheaper than their normal products. It’s 72-inches in diameter and has a “luxurious” feel to it.

Weighted blanket people swear by them, so if you’re looking for that final touch to your Hibernation 2020 game, you can do worse than a giant pizza.

“The Gang Buys A Welsh Football Club.” It’s the Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode you never knew you needed, now that actor (and Sunny co-creator) Rob McElhenney and movie star Ryan Reynolds have teamed up to buy a Welsh soccer team. It’s one of those stories that only make sense in 2020.

Reynolds, aka Deadpool and home school gin connoisseur, can seemingly do no wrong, so we’ll get to see if his magic touch can extend to Wrexham AFC, one of the oldest professional soccer teams and one that’s currently entrenched in the fifth tier of English soccer. But the two are serious about turning the team around and plan to make it a “global force” around the soccer universe.

“This is really happening,” Reynolds said in a video released by the team. The club is fan-owned and approved the takeover by the two celebrities. Apparently, the duo did a lot of research after deciding they wanted to buy a soccer team and thought Wrexham AFC had the most potential.

Wrexham Is The Name. @Wrexham_AFC pic.twitter.com/V2ary5X41D

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) November 16, 2020

A message from our owners-elect…

Welcome to Wrexham AFC, @RMcElhenney and @VancityReynolds 🥳

🔴⚪️ #WxmAFC pic.twitter.com/ho1vV8cvry

— Wrexham AFC (@Wrexham_AFC) November 16, 2020

Reynolds said he and McElhenney want to be at as many games as possible (once fans are allowed, post-pandemic) and ‘want to have a pint with the fans.’ They also plan to be ‘great ambassadors for the club’ and want to introduce them to the world.

The Wrexham Supporters Trust Board voted overwhelmingly to sell to the two celebs, as they have serious plans for community engagement and plans to improve their standing in the soccer world. Chief among them is a behind-the-scenes documentary to help bring more fans into the fold.

“You may never have heard of Wrexham, but you will. So to the Wrexham Supporters Trust, thank you for your faith and trust in us,” McElhenney said.

Reynolds added: “We are humbled and we are already getting to work.”

So now that two of our coolest and funniest celebrities have bought a soccer team, we all have a Cinderella squad to root for as Wrexham AFC works its way out of the cellar of the soccer world.

Parents certainly understand the strain the pandemic has caused. Forget the professional costs (of which there are many), the added stress it’s caused for families as they navigate new school restrictions, and, in many places, remote learning has been intense. But we know that. One group feeling the other end of that strain this year? Teachers and school staff across the country.

Hallmark is honoring that group by giving away 1 million greeting cards to educators for the role they’ve played during the pandemic. We know how hard it is to get a kid to sit still for a Zoom class, imagine being the person responsible for actually teaching to 20+ kids via Zoom. And going just as hard in the paint as parents, teachers are going above and beyond to help kids through this weird time.

No matter how school looks for your family this year, educators have truly gone above and beyond for our children—let’s show them how grateful we are. 💜 Request your free, 3-card pack at https://t.co/Ab9ZgD9Fqm. U.S. only, while supplies last. @Crayola #CardsDoMore

— Hallmark (@Hallmark) November 18, 2020

“For many parents, navigating their children’s education amidst a pandemic has been a difficult challenge,” a Hallmark spokesman told People Magazine.

“We’ve all seen so many teachers and school staff members rise to the challenge, working long hours and using their imaginations to deliver the best education possible from a remote, hybrid, or in-person learning environment. Despite these changes, one thing remains the same: the sincere connection between teachers and their students.”

Teachers, like parents, have had to get creative to connect and engage with little learners, and while the results may not always be pretty, WE ARE DOING IT. And it’s important to recognize everyone doing what they can to be as good to our kids as they can. If you’ve made your kid sit through a Zoom class, you know how much it sucks, and the endless patience required of teachers to completely re-learn how they teach and structure a classroom.

Is a Hallmark card (or, in this case, three) enough? Probably not, no. But it’s something you can do (for free!), by going through the Hallmark website, and sending some goodwill out to the educators and school staff helping us all through a schoolyear we would love to forget.

I was in college with Conan O’Brien first launched his talk show. It took a little while, but it wasn’t long before his and Andy’s goofy bits, like “In the Year 2000,” the Masturbating Bear, Talking Mouths, and, of course, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, became favorites, both for stoned college kids and, eventually, for mainstream TV fans.

After the debacle that was the late-night host’s transition to the iconic Tonight Show that ended with him touring the country and, ultimately hosting a show on TBS, Conan seemed to lose a bit of enthusiasm for the format, and the prestige that being on one of the major networks brought him.

His bits remained funny, especially his legendary remote segments, but the show eventually transitioned to a half-hour, and Conan started spending more time interviewing guests on his Conan Needs a Friend podcast. So when the news broke the other day that he was leaving late night, it wasn’t a huge surprise.

According to TVLine Conan, the TBS show that’s been running for nearly a decade now will wrap up at the end of its tenth season in June. But he won’t be leaving TV. O’Brien will continue to host his TBS travel show, Conan Without Borders, and will be bringing a brand-new variety show to HBO Max.

“In 1993, Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, get to a streaming platform,’” O’Brien said in a statement. “I’m thrilled that I get to continue doing whatever the hell it is I do on HBO Max, and I look forward to a free subscription.”

HBO Max seems excited to have him and as curious as the rest of us about what his variety show will bring to the table. “Conan’s unique brand of energetic, relatable, and at times, absurdist, comedy has charmed late-night audiences for nearly three decades,” said HBO and HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys. “We can’t wait to see what he and the rest of Team Coco will dream up for this brand new, variety format each week.”

No word yet on when the show will appear, how long it will be, or if Andy Richter is going to play a part, but if you’ve been having a hard time finding the tall pale Irish funnyman on your TV screens since he moved to basic cable, it should be a lot easier once he’s on HBO’s big-name platform.

In the year 2021, Conan will be streaming.