Five pop culture items we missed
Today's catch: James Franco's album, "Knocked Up's" follow-up, "Glee" cast member's new book, and more
By Drew GrantTopics: Pop five, Archer, Celebrity, James Franco, Zach Galifianakis, Television, Entertainment News
1.) Annoying Judd Apatow prodigy news of the day: James Franco is readying his EP “Turn It Up” with Kalup Linzy for a July 12 release date, which is less than a month after “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” premieres. He literally cannot give it a rest.
2.) Less annoying Judd Apatow prodigy news of the day: Indie darlings Lena Dunham, Charlyne Yi and Chris O’Dowd all join the cast of the “Knocked Up” spinoff. Yi will be reprising her role from the original as a giggling stoner.
3.) “It gets way better” news of the day: Wunderkind Chris Colfer of “Glee” signed a two-book deal with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. The deal includes a novel and a book of fairy tales called “The Land of Stories.” That’s in addition to those two scripts he just wrote. For some reason when James Franco does everything it’s annoying, and when Colfer does it, it’s inspiring. Go figure.
4.) Best comedy news of the day: Finally, a whole live show on Comedy Central for voice actor Jon Benjamin (“Archer,” “Home Movies”) called “Jon Benjamin Has a Van.”
5.) Second best piece of comedy news of the day: Zach Galifianakis’ Rolling Stone cover story. The anecdote of his unaired “Saturday Night Live” sketch for Britney Spears is especially inspired.
Drew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.
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Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
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Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
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A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
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Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
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Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
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O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
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Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
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When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
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A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
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