The Entertation Index: August 1-5

Each week KSR’s Funkhouser collects the best of pop culture. The Entertation Index collects the best of the week for your consumption.

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Facebook — With Facebook under scrutiny for increasing “clickbait” posts, the corporation has changed its algorithm to protect users’ feeds from the offending posts. What happened next will shock you! (Wait till you see #5!)

Link: Facebook Changes Its Algorithm to Avoid Clickbait

Friends — After former Friends guest star Hank Azaria mentioned in an interview that the original plan for the 90’s sitcom was to have his character marry Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe instead of her character marrying one played by Paul Rudd, an E! writer penned an entire article about how that would have played out in the canon of the show. Enjoy knowing someone got paid handsomely for that while you dealt with your awful job all week. Suddenly that file folder on your desktop named “JUST SHOOT ME ALTERNATE ENDINGS” doesn’t seem so silly, huh?

Link: What Friends Would Have Been Like if Phoebe Had Married David Instead of Mike

“Lucy, Scary” — A hideous bronze likeness of Lucille Ball unveiled by her former New York hometown will shortly be replaced by a more tasteful version more flattering to the actress. The new sculpture allegedly thrills townspeople who found it unsettling but is bad news to those who wish to remember the comedienne as a horrific, terrifying monster.

Link: After “Scary Lucy,” Lucille Ball’s Hometown to Unveil New Statue

NBC — In a likely-expensive research project that yielded predictable results, NBC ratings gurus have discovered that viewers are less likely to watch serialized television shows if the episodes which have come before them are unavailable for viewing. This news does not bode well for NBC’s new Fall 2017 drama Chicago Med Subplots.

Link: NBC Figured Out Why You’re Not Trying New Shows

Seinfeld, 9/11 Spec Script of  — Here’s your Friday long read and think piece — comedian and tutor Billy Domineau, when helping a student write a comedy sketch, had the idea to write a Seinfeld spec script dealing with the 9/11 attacks. Oddly enough, it’s received some pretty high praise this week. Check it out for yourself.

Link: Seinfeld Spec Script Imagines a 9/11 Episode

Show, The Late Late — On Wednesday’s The Late Late Show host James Corden and comic Denis Leary donned costumes to dress as Bill and Hillary Clinton and sing a tune about GOP candidate Donald Trump. When asked about the sketch, Corden pleaded “Will you people please stop enjoying my show in four minute sketches online and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WATCH ME ON TV BEFORE I GET CANCELED?”

Link: James Corden and Denis Leary Dress Up As the Clintons 

Tomatoes, Rotten — With the supervillain action movie Suicide Squad receiving dismal reviews, over 13,000 disgruntled comic book fans have signed a change.org petition to shut down movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes over the critical bashing of superhero movies. If the petition works for the signers, plans for their next petition will be to shut down the girls they went to high school over similarly negative comments.

Link: Geeks Think Rotten Tomatoes is Too Mean to Superhero Movies