THE MONKEES sing a Christmas medley at MTV, circa 1986. Even Mike Nesmith turned up.

THE CHURCH plays KEXP.

SLOW PULP plays KEXP.

SHANE MacGOWAN's widow shared plans to one day release a book of “unpublished” songs by the late Pogues musician.

NODDY HOLDER revealed the real inspiration behind Slade’s festive 1973 hit ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’.

BROOKLYN VEGAN's Top 55 Albums of 2023.

AMP FIDDLER, the Detroit funk futurist whose work spans many generations, has died at 65.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at "Part Of Me," the breakup song that Katy Perry released just as her marriage was ending.

JONATHAN MAJORS is out at Marvel Studios after a Manhattan jury found Majors guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and guilty of harassment.

MICHAEL MANN, on Ferrari, Heat 2,and his future plans.

ALEC BALDWIN, heckled by pro-Hamas protesters on the streets on NYC.

THE X-FILES is reportedly making a comeback after its recent lackluster revival, in a "new version" from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler.

HUGH GRANT, on "Wonka," and what his five children (ages 5 through 12) really think of “Paddington 2.”

ROBERT PATTINSON & SUKI WATERHOUSE look engaged.

KENDALL JENNER & BAD BUNNY look dunzo.

MADONNA paid tribute to the friend who “saved her life” earlier this year.

PEAKY BLINDERS is reportedly getting not one, but two upcoming spinoffs.

A YOUNG ELEPHANT hears his name and crashes an interview.

A CAT scritches itself with a lizard.

ANOTHER CAT is not dashing through the snow.

A DOGGO assists its pregnant owner.

EURYTHMICS' Dave Stewart declares "Christmas is For Lovers".

HOLIDAY SEASON: No new releases or indie basement this week.

YO LA TENGO wrapped up Hanukkah by reuiniting the Aisler Set and brining the Bangles' Vicki Petersen for Herma's Hermits' “I’m Into Something Good.”

U2 plays "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" live for the time in 36 years.

PR0NO FOR PYROS shares a holiday song, "Pete's Dad."

CHER: Not a fan of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

JENNY LEWIS Talks Mr. Belvedere, Rilo Kiley, & Greening Out On Office Hours.

MAGNET's Top 25 Albums of 2023.

AC/DC's original drummer, Colin Burgess, has died at 77.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Wonka tops the chart with 39MM while exceeding projections overseas. Songbirds & Snakes places with 5.8MM on a leggy 38 percent drop.  Boy and the Heron shows with 5.1MM on a 60 percent drop, which is disappointing but probably not shocking.

MATTHEW PERRY died from “the acute effects of ketamine,” according to the toxicology report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. Perry had taken ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety a week-and-a-half before his death. The ketamine in his system at the time of his death, however, “could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours, or less.”

A CHRISTMAS STORY at 40: Includes Ralphie's opinion on Die Hard as a Christmas movie.

GARY OLDMAN says he was saved by the Harry Potter and Batman franchises.

MIYAM BIALIK will not be hosting Jeopardy!

KANYE WEST goes on an unhinged, 10minute, antisemitic rant.

DEMI LOVATO and musician Jordan ‘Jutes’ Lutes have announced that they are engaged.

ROSARIO DAWSON is going to be a grandma.

VARIETY's Worst Movies of 2023 somehow includes Asteroid City.

WHIT STILLMAN, on Metropolitan as a Christmas movieand the evolution of the indie biz.

THE GODZILLA of seals.

WHAT KIND OF BIRD is this?

A BORDER COLLIE, herding ducklings to water.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with ELTON JOHN! Half of a live show captured by the OGWT on Christmas Eve, 1974.  Your setlist includes: "Grimsby" (incomplete), "Rocket Man," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Daniel," Grey Seal,"  "Bennie And The Jets," "I Saw Her Standing There," "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," "Honky Cat," "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting," "Crocodile Rock," "The B^tch Is Back," "Your Song," and "White Christmas."

YO LA TENGO welcomed DAMON & NAOMI for covers of the Beastie Boys and Simon & Garfunkel on night seven of their Hannukah run.

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER plays World Cafe.

SLEATER-KINNEY ( and FRED ARMISEN) play "Say It Like You Mean It" on Kimmel.

JOHN OATES, a/k/a the Anteater, on the possibility of working with Daryl Hall again.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND has finished a fifth LP.

THE 50 TOP SONGS of 2023, according to Clash.

THE 50 BEST ALBUMS of 2023, according to Consequence.

BEVERLY HILLS COP 4 has a trailer online.

IF, with Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Matt Damon, Alan S Kim and Emily Blunt, has a trailer online.

ANDRE BRAUGHER, essayed by Alan Sepinwall.

JONATHAN MAJORS' disturbing text messages and an audio recording were made public by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

OLIVIA RODRIGO & LOUIS PARTRIDGE: Caught canoodling.

TARA REID, on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, 90s nostalgia, Tom Brady, and more.

ZAC EFRON wrestles with his legacy.

ADAM DRIVER, on what was supposed to happen to Kylo Ren.

A BULL ON THE TRACKS caused delays between Newark Penn Station and NY Penn Station.

BONITA leaves the shelter after 500 days.

A THANKFUL ELEPHANT, pulled out of a ditch.

DARLENE LOVE's final "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" for Letterman.

YO LA TENGO hit the Velvet Underground covers hard on night six of their Hannukah run.

THE LAST DINNER PARTY plays World Cafe.

JASON ISBELL plays "Cover Me Up" on Colbert.

MICHAEL McDONALD will publish a memoir next year... co-written by Paul Reiser?

PATTI SMITH is in good health after hospitalization for a sudden illness in Italy.

SHANE MacGOWAN's“last request” was to have €10,000 left behind the bar at a VIP wake after his funeral last week.

THE BEST SINGER/SONGWRITER LPs of 2023, according to Magnet.

KUNG FU PANDA 4 has a trailer online.

CIVIL WAR: Alex Garland's latest has a trailer online.

HOME ALONE, “12 Years a Slave,”“The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” were among the movies added to the National Film Registry.

THE CRITICS CHOICE nominations went to these folks, mostly Barbie.

GLEN POWELL says he "almost died" filming nude scene with Sydney Sweeney.

THE WOLF MAN: Christopher Abbott is replacing Ryan Gosling.

GEORGE CLOONEY, on The Boys in the Boat, and maybe Danny Ocean.

DOGGO in Christmas camo.

A FOX acting like a doggo.

A PUP wants to be picked up.

PATSY CLINE & FERLIN HUSKY: "Let It Snow!"

YO LA TENGO brought BEN GIBBARD on their Hannukah stage for covers of The Cramps and Hall & Oates.

J MASCIS shares "Set Me Down."

THE BEST POP MUSIC of 2023, according to Pitchfork.

STEREOGUM's 50 Favorite Songs of 2023.

THE 50 BEST ALBUMS of 2023, according to Alternative Press.

NILE RODGERS says DAVID BOWIE would have had no chance in the streaming era.

IN MEMORIAM: Bands We Lost in 2023.

ANDRE BRAUGHER, the two-time Emmy winning actor who starred in the hit television series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Homicide: Life on the Street,” died Monday after a brief illness. He was 61.

DUNE, PART TWO has a new trailer online.

RIPLEY: Steven Zaillian and Andrew Scott are bringing the talented mister to Netflix.

TOM CRUISE: Caught Canoodling?

THE DCU is headed to... Tubi.

GEORGE CLOONEY gave Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling his stamp of approval to play his parents in the upcoming “Ocean’s 11” prequel.

DAVID HYDE-PIERCE, on skipping the Frasier reboot.

POOR THINGS: Influenced by Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula?

JAMES CAMERON teases Avatar 3.

NETFLIX published its first annual "What We Watched" report.

CATS & DOGS, living together...

PIGEON & CAT: Frenemies.

A DUCK, laughing its tail off.