David Letterman Thought The New "Late Show" Host Could've Been Black Or A Woman


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“That would have made sense to me,” he told the New York Times about finding his replacement.

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David Letterman will be stepping down from his 22-year hosting gig on CBS' The Late Show on May 20, and in a candid interview with the New York Times, he revealed he thought a black person or a woman should've taken over for him.

"I thought, Well, maybe this will be a good opportunity to put a black person on, and it would be a good opportunity to put a woman," Letterman said before noting he was not consulted. "There are certainly a lot of very funny women that have television shows everywhere. So that would have made sense to me as well." When reached for comment by BuzzFeed News as to which female comedian he would've liked to have take over, Letterman's rep had nothing to add.

Of course, Stephen Colbert was chosen as Letterman's successor, and Larry Wilmore took over Colbert's Comedy Central slot following Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. Stewart, who announced in February he would be stepping down from The Daily Show, was replaced with Trevor Noah, a black comedian from South Africa.

Though Stewart has not said where he is going next, and his announcement came months after Colbert was picked, Letterman also said he thought Stewart should've been asked to fill his shoes. "I always thought Stewart would have been a good choice," Letterman said. "And then Stephen."

BuzzFeed News' request for comment from Stewart and Colbert were not immediately answered.

Carey Mulligan's Dreamy New Feminist Costume Drama Romance


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Matthias Schoenaerts and Carey Mulligan in Far From the Madding Crowd.

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Bathsheba Everdene doesn't need a husband.

This is an unusual quality for the heroine of a costume drama, a type of character who's traditionally consumed with the idea of marriage, out of societal obligation or duty, out of love or a desire for financial security (or both, the ideal happy ending). It's the only fundamental life decision most of these fictional women are allowed. And though Thomas Vinterberg's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd is a familiar swirl of corsets and countryside sunsets, its protagonist, played with glowing vivacity by Carey Mulligan, is bracingly atypical.

Turning down an early suitor, shepherd Gabriel Oak, played by the broad-shouldered Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts, she tells him with gentle firmness, "I'd hate to be some man's property," which isn't so much a proto-feminist decree as a genuine concern.

Alex Bailey / Fox Searchlight Pictures

Bathsheba loves her freedom — the joy she takes in it exudes from every part of her being as she goes out riding, leaning back in the saddle to watch the low-hanging branches pass overhead, her hair in the sort of braid also favored by the dystopian YA character who's her namesake. And thanks to an unexpected inheritance, she has the means to preserve that freedom, even as Gabriel's circumstances change for the worse, and he eventually ends up in her employ at the farm she's taken over.

Vinterberg and screenwriter David Nicholls have given Hardy's novel a sumptuous restyling — their movie's handsome the way an antique cabinet might be handsome, all careful detailing and quality craftsmanship. It's lusciously romantic, which only makes its quiet radicalism more pleasurable. In this version, Bathsheba, the book's famously headstrong and haughty heroine, looks totally reasonable in her desires to go her own way, to restore her family's farm to its past glory, and to have relationships based on genuine feelings rather than compulsion or convenience. It's just that the 19th century keeps getting in her way.

The other local farmers stare when Bathsheba and her companion arrive to sell their grain, and she has to fight to be treated equally and get the same prices her uncle had. As an impulsive prank, she sends a valentine to stolid neighboring landowner William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), leading him to persistently court her, and though he's a sensible choice for a spouse, she doesn't actually want him.

Alex Bailey / Fox Searchlight Pictures

The men in Bathsheba's life keep offering to protect and provide for her — they're always offering to buy her pianos — but, as she points out, she already has a piano, as well as a farm in which to house it, and she isn't looking for someone to swaddle her in comfort.

It's no wonder that when Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge) comes into her life, with his soldier's uniform, his swagger, and all his promises of trouble, Bathsheba tumbles into his arms despite her better instincts (and Gabriel's advice), overwhelmed by pure, uncomplicated human desire. Except, of course, when marriage is involved in acting on that desire, it gets considerably more complicated.

Bathsheba is independent, but that doesn't mean she wants only to be alone, and Mulligan signals the character's awareness of and pleasure in male attention in every curl of her lips at the end of a playful conversation. Still, the movie doesn't lay blame for the drama that unfolds at her feet. She may be impetuous and flirtatious, and she makes mistakes, but she doesn't make anyone fall in love with her — that's something they do on their own. She's an unsettling force, but not a destructive one, and it's the men who are undone by her defying of social mores and expectations.

Alex Bailey / Fox Searchlight Pictures

The movie places the swoonier love story aspects of Far From the Madding Crowd in the forefront, but it also, more interestingly, surfaces its coming-of-age qualities. Bathsheba teases Gabriel about having to be tamed when he first proposes, but it's more that she's not in a place to appreciate his steadfast faithfulness at that point — that she needs to do some living on her own first.

"It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs," she tells William when deflecting his proposal. Vinterberg's movie portrays its main character's internal experiences and emotional journey, rather than seeing her through the eyes of the men who pursue her, as some confounding object of desire.

The ABCs Of "Harry Potter"


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T is for THE BURROW DIDNT HAVE TO BURN DOWN YOU SADISTIC SCREENWRITERS.

A is for Albus

A is for Albus

The man that we put our complete and utter trust in. Even though it turned out he was keeping literally everything from us.

Warner Bros.

B is for the Burrow

B is for the Burrow

WHICH DID NOT NEED TO BE SET ON FIRE.

Warner Bros.

C is for Celestina Warbeck

C is for Celestina Warbeck

Because, let's be real, we all want to jam out to "A Cauldron Full Of Hot, Strong Love".

Warner Bros.

D is for Diagon Alley

D is for Diagon Alley

The most magical place in all of London.

Warner Bros.


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Kristen Wiig Dressed Up As Daenerys Targaryen On "The Tonight Show" And Couldn't Keep A Straight Face


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Just Kristen being Kristen.

Kristen Wiig appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon dressed as Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones.

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And she was physically unable to keep a straight face.

And she was physically unable to keep a straight face.

NBC

This was also too much for Jimmy Fallon.

This was also too much for Jimmy Fallon.

NBC

This isn't the first time Kristen Wiig has appeared on The Tonight Show impersonating someone else. Just last year she appeared as One Direction member, Harry Styles.

This isn't the first time Kristen Wiig has appeared on The Tonight Show impersonating someone else. Just last year she appeared as One Direction member, Harry Styles.

NBC


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Chris Evans Scared The Crap Out Of Scarlett Johansson On "Ellen"


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“SCARLETT!”

Scarlett Johansson dropped by The Ellen Degeneres Show to wrap up The Avengers: Age of Ultron press tour.

Scarlett Johansson dropped by The Ellen Degeneres Show to wrap up The Avengers: Age of Ultron press tour.

Warner Bros. Television Distribution / Via ellentube.com

She and Ellen were chatting about her co-stars...

She and Ellen were chatting about her co-stars...

Warner Bros. Television Distribution / Via ellentube.com

And of course Chris Evans' name came up.

And of course Chris Evans' name came up.

Warner Bros. Television Distribution / Via ellentube.com

And because this is Ellen, Chris snuck out during the segment...

And because this is Ellen, Chris snuck out during the segment...

Warner Bros. Television Distribution / Via ellentube.com


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Jeremy Renner Sang An Ed Sheeran Ballad To Show How Great Hawkeye Is


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“But listen, I’ve got powers too, they’re pretty sweet / I promise I can do so much more than just archery.”

Jeremy Renner stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon during the promotional tour for The Avengers: Age of Ultron to explain some of his character Hawkeye’s lesser-known talents with this version of Ed Sheeran’s "Thinking Out Loud".

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The actor changed some of the lyrics slightly to highlight Hawkeye's strengths compared with the other Avengers.

The actor changed some of the lyrics slightly to highlight Hawkeye's strengths compared with the other Avengers.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

He wanted the audience to know Hawkeye is pretty special too.

He wanted the audience to know Hawkeye is pretty special too.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

He's got it all going on.

He's got it all going on.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon


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26 Times "Grey's Anatomy" Fans Were So Done With Shonda Rhimes


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It’s a beautiful day to ruin lives. Warning: Spoilers.

After killing off Derek Shepherd in last week's Grey's Anatomy, it's safe to say the fandom's trust with showrunner Shonda Rhimes has been broken.

There's a lot of unhappy people out there.

It's safe to say everyone is feeling a little victimised by Shonda.

And with McDreamy's death, very emotional.


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The Unauthorized "Full House! The Musical!" Is Coming To New York


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Get ready for “Look at These Assholes,” sung by Comet the Dog.

(Top, from left): John Stamos, Lori Loughlin, Dave Coulier, (bottom): Candace Cameron, Andrea Barber, Jodie Sweetin, Bob Saget, Ashley/Mary Kate Olsen (1991)

Lorimar Film Entertainment / Courtesy Everett Collection

Full House! The Musical!, the unauthorized musical parody of the ABC's beloved TGIF sitcom, is heading off-Broadway, starting on September 7, BuzzFeed News can exclusively reveal.

The show, which will be performed at Theatre 80 in New York City's East Village, will follow the story of Danny, the Tanner family patriarch, losing his ability to solve any problem with a sensible, piano-accompanied speech. Then, he descends into madness, going from wholesome fictional father figure to the foul-mouthed man who played him, Bob Saget.

The musical — with music, lyrics, and direction from Bob and Tobly McSmith of Bayside! The Musical! and Showgirls! The Musical! — promises to answer your burning Full House questions, like: "Will D.J Tanner develop an eating disorder?! Can Uncle Joey get on Star Search even though he's not funny at all?! Who will have mercy on Uncle Jessie?! Will Kimmy Gibbler be murdered? How many catchphrases can one family have?! What the hell is a Mary-Kate and Ashley?!"

fullhousethemusical.com

Though the musical has not been cast, Tobly has confirmed to BuzzFeed News that some of the stars of Bayside! The Musical!, which will end its two-year run at Theater 80 on August 8, will appear in Full House! The Musical!.

The song list includes: "Have Mercy on My Heart/Don't Touch the Hair," sung by Uncle Jesse and Rebecca Donaldson; "Look at These Assholes," sung by Comet the Dog, "There's No Gays in San Francisco (As Demonstrated by the TV Show); and "I'm Kind of a Slut (But Just Enough for Network TV)," sung by D.J. Tanner.

The announcement of Full House! The Musical! comes on the heels of Lifetime's news that the network will air The Unauthorized Full House Story, and the confirmation that Full House will continue with a new Netflix series, Fuller House.


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"Ex Machina," "Gone Girl," And The Myth Of The Perfect Girl


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The problem with the perfect girl is that she doesn’t exist. And is a murderer! (Warning: Spoilers for Gone Girl and Ex Machina within.)

Alicia Vikander as Ava in Ex Machina.

Universal Pictures International

Ex Machina tells the story of a beautiful cyborg trapped in the isolated estate of the reclusive genius who created her, and the young man who feels compelled to save her. Like Her before it, the movie examines the pitfalls of making a female consciousness to male specifications: A male protagonist sees a future for himself with a female artificial intelligence who (spoiler alert) ultimately abandons him to suit her own purposes.

But Ex Machina — more than being a horror film about the scary possibilities of artificial intelligence — is a flawed story about men losing control of women and the bankruptcy of gender roles. Basically, Ex Machina is the Gone Girl of 2015.

In the former, a sci-fi film, a brilliant and extremely rich programmer, Nathan (Oscar Isaac) designs an artificial intelligence to appeal to Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a less brilliant programmer who is brought in to test the intelligence of Ava (Alicia Vikander), the machine herself. She manipulates him into caring for her, and the infatuated Caleb sets her free. Unencumbered by human rules, she then leaves him to die after he enables her escape.

In the latter, a melodramatic thriller, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) is compelled to follow her jobless husband (Ben Affleck) from a metropolis to Missouri, where he fails to be the man she married, while she continues looking and acting like the beautiful, thin, cosmopolitan woman he married. In the end, she forces his hand, dedicating the rest of her life to both punishing him and making him hold up his end of the relationship bargain.

Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl.

Merrick Morton / Twentieth Century Fox and Regency Enterprises

Of course, there was more than one possible reading of Gone Girl. If you watched it as a horror film, then it was about male anxiety personified in a psycho bitch who trapped and tortured men by terrorizing them with false rape accusations and matrimony. But if you watched it as a revenge fantasy, then it was about a bitch who revisits the sins of men on them tenfold, holding men to the same unreasonably high standards of perfection to which she herself is held.

Likewise, Ex Machina is about a female character who, at first, seems to embody a male ideal of perfection. She's beautiful, smart, and charming. Like Gone Girl's Amy, who says she's obligated to love blow jobs, Ava is also programmed to love sex. Nathan tells Caleb that there's an orifice between her legs that he's rigged to a "pleasure response"; the hole is designed to be penetrated by a penis. "She'd enjoy it," he says, because like Amy, Ava is made to spec. She has no real choice but to enjoy it.

But the director of Ex Machina, Alex Garland, told Wired that Ava is "literally genderless," that "the things that would define gender in a man and a woman, she lacks them, except in external terms."

How could one's physicality and the way people read gender on one's body be disconnected from gender? Saying Ava is "literally genderless" is at best naive and at worst profoundly stupid. Tell that to any woman who has ever walked down a city street. Or any little girl who knows "you throw like a girl" is an insult. Explain it to a transgender person. "No, that man on the subway who told you your haircut was acceptable to him, he's not reminding you that he thinks you exist to be visually pleasing to him."

And then explain Ava, on whose naked body the camera creepily lingers. Ava, whose face and body are patterned on the porn performers Caleb masturbates to. Ava, with her ingenue dresses and her lost urchin pixie cut crying out to be rescued by a man. She is as gendered as it is possible to be. She has learned her gender.


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Hoda Kotb Totally Kills This "Baby Got Back" Lip Sync Battle


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Watch out, Sir Mix-A-Lot.

We all know Hoda Kotb loves music.

We all know Hoda Kotb loves music.

NBC

Well, she's bringing that love to Spike's Lip Sync Battle this week.

Well, she's bringing that love to Spike's Lip Sync Battle this week.

Spike / Via youtube.com

And of all songs, she's performing "Baby Got Back."

And of all songs, she's performing "Baby Got Back."

Spike / Via youtube.com

She brings the attitude.

She brings the attitude.

Spike / Via youtube.com


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How Well Do You Remember "Bad Boys"?


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“I bet when your punk ass woke up this morning, you didn’t think by 5 o’clock you would have a hole in your leg, did you?”

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Hilary Duff Had A Mini "Lizzie McGuire" Reunion And It Was Beautiful


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This is what dreams are made of.

Hilary Duff, aka iconic queen Lizzie McGuire, recently revealed she had joined Tinder, and was going to bring along some friends on her first date.

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That's right: Lizzie's annoying younger brother Matt McGuire was there.

That's right: Lizzie's annoying younger brother Matt McGuire was there.

He's grown a little since his Disney days.

Disney Channel

And so was Miranda Sanchez, Lizzie's BFF with great hair.

And so was Miranda Sanchez, Lizzie's BFF with great hair.

Who could forget those pigtails?

Disney Channel


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The Latest "Inside Amy Schumer" Points Out Just How Ridiculous The Wage Gap Is


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I’m not cool with it.

The skit starts out with Amy's male coworkers suggesting they hit a strip club after work.

The skit starts out with Amy's male coworkers suggesting they hit a strip club after work.

Which Amy is seemingly all for.

Comedy Central

When they get to the club, Amy continues to be the ultimate "cool girl" by buying everyone drinks.

When they get to the club, Amy continues to be the ultimate "cool girl" by buying everyone drinks.

Comedy Central

She even works the pole for a little bit.

She even works the pole for a little bit.

Comedy Central

Then, the ultimate buzzkill happens when one of Amy's coworkers accidentally kills a stripper while doing some "basic choke stuff."

Then, the ultimate buzzkill happens when one of Amy's coworkers accidentally kills a stripper while doing some "basic choke stuff."

Comedy Central


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Can You Remember These TGIF Show Titles?


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TGI… WTF were these shows called?

ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

19 Derek Shepherd Moments That Will Now Break Your Heart


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We love you, McDreamy. Warning: Spoilers ahead.

There was Derek's wry smile when Meredith totally forgot his name.

There was Derek's wry smile when Meredith totally forgot his name.

ABC

ABC

ABC


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