Comedy Central(LOS ANGELES) — South Park, Comedy Centrals raunchy cartoon show will tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in an upcoming hour-long special, the cable channel announced on Tuesday.
The episode, titled “The Pandemic Special,” finds Stan’s father Randy “coming to terms with his role in the COVID-19 outbreak,” as the citizens of the titular town deal with the continued challenges of the pandemic, according to Comedy Central.
Meanwhile, the kids return to school, only to find that nothing is the same — not their teachers, not their homeroom, not even Cartman.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, seems to mock their own concept in a teaser trailer for the special, in which Randy’s wife Sharon asks incredulously, “A pandemic special? Really?”
The upcoming special, the first new episode since South Park ended its last season back in December, also marks its first one-hour installment. The show typically runs a half-hour.
South Park “The Pandemic Special” airs September 30 at 8 p.m. ET on Comedy Central.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Jon Stewart may be a comedian but he’s not joking when it comes to fighting for America’s veterans.
On Tuesday, the television host made a trip to Washington D.C. where TMZ was able to catch up with him and get a deeper understanding of the purpose of his trip.
When asked what he was doing at Capitol Hill lobbying Congress, Stewart responded, “Putting forth a bill to help veterans that were exposed to toxic smoke from burn pits…. now unfortunately they’re sick and dying and the VA is not responding to them.”
“Just trying to get these people that fought for us what they deserve,” he added.
Stewart noted that the bill would be “very similar to the 9/11 bill,” however, it seems one thing is getting in the way of getting the bill passed — money.
“It’s about money. They’re going to pretend that it’s about something else but its all about money,” he said. “The money exists in the defense department, they’re just aren’t allocating it to the right area.”
But don’t think this is a political issue for The DailyShow‘s former host. When asked whether President Donald Trump or Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden would be a better pick to help the cause, he snapped, “This has nothing to do with that.”
“We are four wars behind in taking care of the veterans that have fought them,” he explained. “It has to switch. It has to switch up.”
(NEW YORK) — The Big Ten will be playing college football this season after the Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously to resume the season on the weekend of October 23 and 24.
Each team will play an eight game schedule, but opponents have not been released.
In the release announcing the decision, the conference said the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors adopted new health safety protocols, including daily testing for COVID-19, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data driven approach when making decisions on whether to practice or play.
The conference orginally voted to postpone the season by a vote of 11-3 on August 11, according to ESPN.
Every person around the team, including players, coaches and trainers will be tested daily. Players who test positive will be given a different second test to confirm they have the virus.
Players who test positive will be given thorough cardiac testing and will have to be cleared by a cardiologist designated by the university to return to play. The earliest a player could return would be 21 days following the positive test.
Testing will begin by September 30.
All universities will also have a Chief Infection officer, who will oversee testing and reporting of data to the conference.
The Big Ten will use the data to determine whether a team needs to alter or stop practices and games.
Should a team have a postivity rate over 5% and a population positivity rate over 7.5%, based on a seven day rolling average, that team will be required to stop practice and competitions for at least 7 days.
All 14 schools in the Big Ten will also establish a cardiac registry to examine the effects of the coronavirus on student-athletes.
The Big Ten’s decison to resume the season leaves the Pac-12 as the only Power Five conference to not be playing this year. The Big 12 and ACC have already started playing games with the SEC set to resume games on the weekend of the September 26.
John Atashian / ESPN ImagesBy KELLY MCCARTHY, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Basketball star turned activist Maya Moore revealed that she and Jonathan Irons have married.
The pair joined ABC News’ Good Morning America Wednesday to share exclusive details of their unique love story that blossomed out of friendship after she helped free him from prison following his wrongful conviction 23 years ago.
“We wanted to announce today that we are super excited to continue the work that we are doing together, but doing it as a married couple,” Moore said. “We got married a couple months ago and we’re excited to just continue this new chapter of life together.”
While the couple’s nuptials were celebrated during the ongoing pandemic, Moore said it did not take away from the momentous occasion.
She said that the guests were masked and socially distanced, but the main thing was they were able to get married with some of their closest friends and family.
Moore, 31, said that the romantic feelings progressed gradually over time, since they first met through a prison ministry program when she was 18 years old.
“Over the last 13 years we have just developed a friendship and just entered into this huge battle to get him home and just over time it was pretty clear what the Lord was doing in our hearts and now we’re sitting here today, starting a whole new chapter together,” she said.
She said what she loves most is her husband’s ability to rise above the chaos of his surroundings, as well as his faith in God.
Even though Irons told her he wanted to be close and remain friends, he also revealed his love for her while still at Jefferson City Correctional Center and that he wanted her to marry him, but said, “don’t answer right now.”
“I wanted to marry her but at the same time protect her because being in a relationship with a man in prison, it’s extremely difficult and painful. And I didn’t want her to feel trapped and I wanted her to feel open and have the ability any time if this is too much for you, go and find somebody. Live your life. Because this is hard,” he said.
He said the moment he finally popped the question was worth the wait.
“When I got out we were in the hotel room we had some friends in the room, it was winding down and we were extremely tired, but we were still gassed up on excitement,” Irons recalled. “It was just me and her in the room and I got down on my knees and I looked up at her and she kind of knew what was going on and I said, ‘will you marry me,’ she said, ‘yes.'”
The couple, who have most recently been working on the “Get Out the Vote” campaign, first formed a close friendship in 2007, before her freshman year at the University of Connecticut, when she met him through a prison ministry in which her extended family in Missouri participated.
When Irons was 16 years old, he was tried and convicted as an adult by an all-white jury for the burglary and shooting at the home of 38-year-old Stanley Stotler. Irons maintained his innocence while he was in prison, saying he was wrongly identified during the lineup.
After years of fighting, a Missouri judge overturned Irons’ conviction in March, saying there were problems with the way the case had been investigated and tried — including a fingerprint report that would’ve proved Irons’ innocence, not being turned over to his defense team.
While Irons, now 40, has spent most of his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, he said he doesn’t feel resentment toward the man who wrongly identified him, and said that Stotler is a “victim” as well.
The couple said they are currently enjoying a playful, joyful life in the new normal together riding bikes, playing frisbee and other free activities that both haven’t been able to do in a while.
Moore and Irons are also currently focused on spreading the word about local elections for voters to make a real impact in their communities through Win With Justice’s “Get Out the Vote” campaign.
GMA anchor Robin Roberts announced in her interview with the newlyweds that her production company Rock’n Robin productions has teamed up with ESPN films to produce a documentary about Maya and Jonathan’s story.
Appearing via a TV set placed on top of his Late Late Show desk, Corden revealed that he had “taken the test,” and that it had “come back negative.”
“Out of abundance of caution for everyone who works on the show, I’m going to host the show over Zoom way more than six feet apart from anyone,” he continued, “but my face will still be here, in the studio.”
The rest of The Late Late Show crew was on set as usual.
Sources tell Deadline, that the contact to which Corden referred happened outside of work, and no one else from the show was involved. His decision to self-quarantine was part of the standard COVID contact-tracing procedure.
The Late Late Show returned to the studio August 11, and production has been running smoothly, despite a handful of COVID-19 positive cases being reported last month at the Television City complex where it films.
“It’s a shame because I thought like we were really getting into a rhythm in the studio,” Corden mused during his opening monologue.
The Late Late Show with James Corden airs weeknights at 12:37 a.m. ET on CBS.
Comedy Central(LOS ANGELES) — South Park, Comedy Centrals raunchy cartoon show will tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in an upcoming hour-long special, the cable channel announced on Tuesday.
