By TeeJay Small
| Published 6 seconds ago

Consumers of a certain age may have distinct memories of an analog era, before Netflix, Steam, and the App Store shifted every purchase to digital home streaming. Before online retailers were all the rage, GameStop was the premier destination for video games, consoles, and a wide range of Nintendo merchandise. Now, it seems like GameStop is officially preparing to enter the digital era (only about a decade and a half too late,) as Variety reports the business has made a $56 billion bid to acquire eBay. The unsolicited bid has not yet resulted in a sale, though it did drive eBay stock prices up by a margin of 4 percent.

The details of the acquisition are fairly straightforward, if a little unexpected. If and when the sale goes through, GameStop will purchase a 100 percent stake in the online auction outlet, valuing eBay at over $55 billion. Half of the money from the sale will be paid out in cash, and the other half will be covered by GameStop stock shares. The video game retailer also plans to procure a $20 billion loan from TD Bank in order to ensure it has enough cash on hand.

Currently, eBay’s board has expressed that it will “carefully review and consider” the offer, though consumers are a bit skeptical. For now, there’s no word on how the sale would impact either business or if eBay would simply become liquidated as a digital sales outlet for GameStop. If this is the case, GameStop will surely have its work cut out for it, since Steam and other digital game sellers have an insurmountable lead.

Of course, as Variety notes, current GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has been working tirelessly to bring the corporation into the 21st century. Since taking over in 2021, Cohen has added hundreds of millions in net income, all without taking a salary or any cash bonuses. Instead, Cohen receives most of his pay through stock options, so he’s got a serious vested interest in pumping GameStop stock wherever possible. If anyone is capable of handling this transition, he seems primed for the responsibility.

The major question that hangs over this acquisition is, why eBay? Surely it would be cheaper for GameStop to build its own digital library, or even acquire a lesser-known IP and scale to size. The auctioning and bartering system eBay uses isn’t wholly unique to their platform, and the service has already begun to wane in popularity throughout the 2020s. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see if there’s a larger financial play at hand. And perhaps do so while streaming video games directly from the PlayStation Store.

The scripts for season 2 of Off Campus are already written — so why is there a chance there could be “adjustments” following several surprise book changes?

“We have all eight scripts written,” creator Louisa Levy exclusively told Us Weekly before the show premiered on Wednesday, May 13. “We’ve given [two] to the actors but the writers’ room is done.”

Levy noted that filming would be happening soon.

“We’re getting ready to dive into production and we’ve got a season mapped out,” she noted. “We know what we want to do — and we’ve got some fun things in store. I’ll just say … book fans are going to be really excited.”

Related: Which ‘Off Campus’ Couples End Up Together? Book Order Explained

Prime Video’s Off Campus follows different love stories at Briar U — but which couples end up together in the books? Based on the Off Campus book series by Elle Kennedy, the show follows an elite ice hockey team — and the women in their lives — as they “grapple with love, heartbreak, and self-discovery […]

While the scripts have been completed, Levy didn’t rule out changes, adding, “They’re written. It doesn’t mean that we can’t make adjustments. But we do have the plan, we have the map [for the season]. But I’m pretty sure that fans are going to be really excited about it.”

Based on the Off Campus book series by Elle Kennedy, the show follows an elite ice hockey team and the women in their lives as they “grapple with love, heartbreak and self-discovery — forging deep friendships and enduring bonds while navigating the complexities that come with transitioning into adulthood,” read the official synopsis.

Hannah (Ella Bright) and Garrett’s (Belmont Cameli) love story took center stage in season 1 — with several key moments from their book, The Deal, swapped for an updated version. At the same time, the show set up Allie (Mika Abdalla) and Dean (Stephen Kalyn) as the next possible leads despite them being featured in the third book in the series.

“It’s definitely great to have the blueprint of this fabulous book series to start with, but adapting for a TV show is a little bit different,” Levy told Us. “We need to keep the audience’s focus in a different way.”

Levy broke down the approach from page to screen.

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“We have a lot of stories told in different ways. We have eight episodes instead of the whole book,” she noted. “So we really started with the things that were super nonnegotiable — that without those things it wouldn’t be Off Campus.”

She continued: “From there, we added as many of the book moments as we could. We dropped them in like Easter eggs, and we just really spent time taking one’s inside character and externalizing them.”

Off Campus is currently streaming on Prime Video.

By Robert Scucci
| Published 19 seconds ago

Have you ever wondered why everybody in The Simpsons is yellow? There are some fun theories out there, like the entire town of Springfield suffers from radiation poisoning, or that Homer is yellow because of cirrhosis due to drinking heavily. But in order for those theories to work, we need to ask ourselves why all the cousin-marrying residents of Shelbyville are also yellow, and why Homer’s alcoholism would make the rest of his family yellow. The real reason The Simpsons are yellow is actually the result of a brilliant hunch from Georgie Kovacs Peluce, one of the colorists over at Klasky Csupo.

Originally, The Simpsons shorts were going to be black and white, until the fledgling animation studio told Simpsons producer James L. Brooks they would mock up some colored character designs free of charge. There were several iterations and permutations of the characters before they were ever seen on screen, some of which used the traditional peach and tan tones that other animated series use. Peluce had something else in mind, and took it upon herself to design the characters with yellow skin, and, in Marge’s case, blue hair. This initial concept was met with pushback for looking “freakish” by some reps at Gracie Films, Brooks’ production company, but Brooks, Groening, and some of their associates fell in love with it because they knew it would pique viewer curiosity. 

From Throwaway Idea To Final Design

It’s hard to imagine a world in which The Simpsons didn’t exist, but the world wasn’t always like that. Back in 1987, a few short years before Simpsons mania conquered the world, the “nuclear” family was nothing more than a rush job by creator Matt Groening, who was approached by James L. Brooks to produce a show based on his Life in Hell comics, an intellectual property that the cartoonist didn’t feel comfortable selling the rights to. Instead, he quickly whipped up a cartoon family based on his own, pitched The Simpsons to Brooks, and we’d first meet Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie through short-form animated skits on The Tracey Ullman Show.

Groening, being totally inexperienced in television at this point in his career, figured that his drawings would be animated in black and white, but the animation studio behind the shorts, Klasky Csupo, had something else in mind. According to Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of the Simpsons Changed Television – and America – Forever, it was the animation studio that encouraged The Simpsons shorts to be colored in the first place. They were asked to animate everything in black and white as a cost-cutting measure, until Gabor Csupo insisted on trying colored versions as well, offering to do the extra work for free.

Several iterations of the Simpson family were mocked up, but one version from Georgie Kovacs Peluce stuck out more than the rest. Georgie’s design involved yellow skin and blue hair, something that “didn’t look like anything that had come before,” and the design won over Brooks and Groening. The logic was simple: while people were channel surfing, they’d feel more inclined to stop dead in their tracks if they saw a cartoon family that looked so unique. 

Back in those days, home viewers didn’t have a lot of options, often switching back and forth between ABC, NBC, CBS, and the new and struggling Fox network. In essence, the desired reaction would involve somebody watching one of the other networks flipping through the channels during a commercial break, catching a glimpse of the Simpson family, saying “what the hell is this?” and ending up watching the whole short.

Peluce’s instinct paid off because that’s exactly what happened, and it was only a matter of time before The Simpsons took the nation by storm, eventually becoming the longest-running animated show in television history. And to think, we almost got a black-and-white version that probably would have been squashed before anybody even knew who they were.

The Simpsons can be streamed on Disney+.

Brooks Marks, star of Bravo’s “Next Gen NYC,” is gearing up for season 2 of the popular reality show. During a new interview, Brooks, the son of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Meredith Marks, is revealing what he’s learned most about himself since stepping in front of the camera.

“Oh, I mean, I’ve learned that I really hate confrontation,” Brooks told PEOPLE in May 2026. “I feel like I knew I did, but I never recognized how intense my hatred of confrontation was and to the point that it was almost hurting me and making situations deeper than they needed to be.”

Indeed, during season 1 of the reality show, Brooks bumped heads with his co-star, Charlie Zakkour, after the latter made suggestive comments about hooking up with Brooks’ younger sister, Chloe. The uncomfortable situation, however, helped Brooks develop a tougher exterior.

“And so I feel like it’s helped me overcome that and become a more confrontational person and made me more direct as well, which I’m grateful for,” he said.

Brooks Marks Says His Relationship Will Be Shown On Season 2 Of The Show

In a separate interview with Us Weekly, Brooks confirmed that the new batch of episodes, airing on Bravo June 24, will showcase his relationship with his boyfriend.

“I think you’ll see more about my relationship life in season 2,” he said, adding that it’ll be a bit different for his partner, Kade, since he isn’t in the spotlight.

“My boyfriend isn’t really in the public, so it’s definitely a new world for him,” Brooks said. “I love keeping that sacred but, at the end of the day, I signed up for reality TV.”

According to Brooks, being part of the Bravoverse means baring your soul—even if it’s frightenining.

“It’s all about showing every aspect of our lives,” he said. “I hope that it shows other people what a great relationship can look like.”

‘Next Gen NYC’ Is Bringing The Drama To Bravo

In addition to Brooks, season 2 of “Next Gen NYC” will feature returners Ariana Biermann, Riley Burruss, Emira D’Spain, Ava Dash, Gia Giudice, Georgia McCann, Charlie Zakkour, Shai Fruchter, and Hudson McLeroy. The new season will also feature newcomers Rowan Henchy, Liam Obergfoll, and Kendall White.

According to a previous report from The Blast, the new season will be packed with drama as the cast navigate their personal relationships and address scandalous headlines.

“Eager to carve out their own identities, they’re determined to make it on their own terms while also navigating the pressure to curate the right vibe, the right circles, and a feed that keeps up with the life they’re chasing. In a world driven by image, ambition, and constant visibility, they quickly learn that making it is one thing — holding onto it, and each other, is another,” the show’s synopsis reads.

Other ‘Housewives’ Kids Are On ‘Next Gen NYC’

Brooks isn’t the only child of a “Real Housewives” cast member part of the “Next Gen NYC” cast.

Gia is the daughter of “RHONJ” star Teresa Giudice, while Arianna and Riley are the daughters of “RHOA” alum Kim Zolciak and Kandi Burruss.

While they grew up in front of the cameras, Kandi previously admitted to giving her daughter a bit of advice on navigating the world of unscripted television.

“Well, I just told her don’t be on there [and] say anything that you ain’t going to stand behind. You got to make sure you keep it honest on this show,” Kandi said. “And even if you say something they don’t like, just own it and keep it pushing.”

Riley Is Proud Of Her First Season On The Show

Riley, meanwhile, opened up about her first season on the show last year and said she was “proud” of how she handled herself.

“I think the thing I’m most proud of is how well I articulated myself [throughout the whole season]. At first, I thought that I didn’t do as great. In the moment, you’re emotional, you’re not really realizing how it’s going,” Riley shared.

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The first Oscar Awards, honoring films released between July 1927 and August 1928, were held on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. That night saw Wings take home the inaugural Academy Award for Outstanding Picture, launching a lineup of nominees that would later become classics. Interestingly, almost 100 years after that first ceremony, all the films on that list are available to see in some way, shape, or form. All but one, that is: 1928’s The Patriot, a film that is completely lost.

A Tyrant Is Toppled In 1928’s ‘The Patriot’

Set in Imperial Russia, The Patriot tells the story of the final days of Tsar Paul I (Emil Jannings), a tyrant ruling through cruelty and fear. Yet the despot was paralyzed by a fear of his own, that he is doomed to be assassinated like his ancestors before him. He trusts only one man: his Prime Minister, Count Pahlen (Lewis Stone). Pahlen is loyal to the Tsar, but is deeply troubled by the horrors Paul unleashes upon his people. His conscience no longer able to separate duty from morality, Pahlen commits to bringing about the Tsar’s downfall. To that end, he encourages Stefan (Harry Cording), a soldier who recently faced the wrath of Paul for minor uniform violations, to join him in his pursuit, promising him vengeance.

As Paul becomes increasingly unbalanced, obsessing over trivial matters while disregarding affairs of state, Pahlen rallies conspirators at court. Pahlen even turns to Crown Prince Alexander (Neil Hamilton), but the prince makes it clear he won’t support treason. So Pahlen turns on him, branding him a traitor and prompting Paul to place Alexander under arrest. Pahlen’s plan is free to be implemented, only for Paul to inadvertently upset it by announcing he’s leaving the city with his mistress. To keep Paul from leaving, Pahlen shows him a portrait of Countess Ostermann (Florence Vidor), the woman he loves, hoping the ravishing beauty will tempt Paul to stay.

It works, with Paul demanding to meet the Countess, so Pahlen arranges a meeting. Paul unsuccessfully tries to proposition her, but the disgusted Countess rejects him and, betrayed, reveals the plan to assassinate Paul. Paul demands an explanation from Pahlen, who craftily claims to have gained the conspirator’s trust, ready to expose them when the time is right, and offers his own life to regain trust. Satisfied, Paul retires to his room, but as he sleeps, a group of conspirators enters, waking him, with Stefan ignoring his pleas and murdering him. As the people celebrate, Stefan appears and shoots Pahlen, the consequence of his actions, and as he lies dying in the Countess’ arms, he says: “I have been a bad friend and lover—but I have been a ‘Patriot’.”

What Remains of ‘The Patriot’ Only Makes Its Loss a True Tragedy

The Patriot is a part-talkie, representative of that brief period between silent films and full-on talkies, with its sound effects heavily promoted, including Jannings’ “agonized roar” as something that had to be heard to be believed (technically, however, still a silent film: the only silent film to be nominated that year, per The Week. As such, the film would be a much-coveted prize for any cinephile, for the industry as a whole, for that matter, but to date it remains lost. All that remains is a few recovered pieces, currently stored in the UCLA non-circulating nitrate vaults, and one reel out of 10 found in Portugal in 2001.

Interestingly, one of the pieces that exists in its entirety is the trailer for the film itself, lauding Emil Jannings’ performance as the Mad Tsar. It’s a tease of a classic film we’ll never see, making The Patriot‘s loss a true tragedy. In the brief moments we see in the footage, Jannings is positively gripping, a vision of unmitigated madness that instantly catches your attention. And the direction of auteur Ernst Lubitsch looks to be epic, with a glimpse of one dramatic scene shot from overhead that features Jannings’ Tsar Paul I encircled by his countrymen, with Paul defiantly lashing out as they close in, telling a story in itself.

Not all hope is lost, of course: Gugusse and the Automaton, a long-lost 1897 film by Georges Méliès featuring film’s first robot, was found in Michigan just recently in an old trunk. And we are talking about a film nominated for Best Picture, not like a throwaway project made to fill theater seats, so the odds are certainly better than they might be otherwise. But until such time, we can only rue the absence of the film that stands as the lone project preventing the Oscars from claiming a complete catalog. For the record, The Patriot may not have won Best Picture, or Best Director, Best Actor (Lewis Stone) or Best Art Direction, but it did win for Best Writing. Hopefully, one day audiences will finally be able to judge it for themselves.

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The Patriot

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Release Date

September 1, 1928

Runtime

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113 minutes

Director

Ernst Lubitsch

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Writers

Ashley Dukes, Hanns Kräly

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Cast

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  Emil Jannings

  Czar Paul I

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  Florence Vidor

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  Countess Ostermann

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  Vera Voronina

  Mademoiselle Lapoukhine

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