Entertainment
Waking Up Early Doesn't Make You Special, It Just Makes You Annoying
By Robert Scucci
| Published
I love staying up late. It’s my favorite thing to do. I can get my work done, fold the laundry, work on creative projects, and hit the gym without bothering a soul. My brain operates at a frequency that’s constantly at odds with early birds, who often frown upon my lifestyle because to most people, sleeping in comes with a scarlet letter suggesting you’re lazy and squandering your time. At least that’s what morning people think.
Every single self-help guru extols the virtues of waking up at 4 am, taking an ice bath, jogging 10 miles while listening to Tony Robbins audiobooks, all before the sun even comes up. If I never saw another sunrise in my life, I’d die a happy man. I’m sure they’re beautiful. I’ll take your word for it. I’m simply not wired to operate at this wavelength, and more often than not, I’m fighting for my life.
On one hand, I get it. Adulting, as my fellow Millennials call it, requires you to be present at certain times. Banks close at 5. Since the pandemic, grocery stores close at 10. The world isn’t built for Night Owls, and we’re silently suffering while trying our best to conform to what most people consider normal behavior. The world is built for early birds, and they love to brag about how productive they are. They also go to bed at 8 o’clock, so how does that make sense?
We All Have The Same 24 Hours
I understand that this comes off as petty, but let me break it down for you. If somebody wakes up at 4 am and goes to bed at 8 pm, they’ve got 16 hours to accomplish what they set out to do. Eight of those hours are devoted to work in most cases, and then you have to factor in commuting, meals, self-care, family obligations, and, yes, even sleep. This kind of lifestyle is not only celebrated, it’s expected.
But if I want to stay up until 4 am and sleep until noon, people can’t wrap their heads around it. It’s still a 16-hour cycle of consciousness, but most people don’t see it that way. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. I do. You do. Beyoncé does. It’s insane to think that being able to witness the sunrise somehow makes you superior. Most early risers flaunt this like they’re God’s gift to mankind.
What’s worse is that every single Night Owl I know, including myself, ends up marrying an early bird. The story’s always the same. The night owl uses their phone’s flashlight when they go to the bathroom so they don’t wake anybody up. They turn the doorknob before opening or closing the door so there’s no loud click echoing through the hallway. They tiptoe around their home because they know they’re the odd one out.
Then morning rears its ugly head. Lights are flipped on with reckless abandon, kitchen appliances roar, and doors slam. When the night owl grunts, they’re told they should have gone to bed earlier.
Even worse, if they mention they like to sleep until 10 on the weekends, their peers think their life must be a mess. They must be up all night playing video games and engaging in illicit activities or something. They’re just wasting away because they refuse to, or simply can’t, lock in when everybody else does.
Golly, I wish that were true, but I’m actually doing stuff, like writing (which is what I’m currently doing at 1:30 am) because I think better when I know my family is safe and sound and doesn’t need a single thing from me. I can achieve a flow state that I couldn’t dream of during regular waking hours, and my family’s better off for it!
Embrace Your Wiring And Let It Work For You
In a previous professional life, I worked third shift as a line cook. My schedule saw me leaving for work at three in the afternoon and getting home 12 hours later. Since this was pre-pandemic and I had an infant at home, I’d stop at the 24-hour grocery store after my shift and load up on a week’s worth of groceries in about 15 minutes. Try doing that on a Sunday afternoon with your regular sleep schedule.
It will take two hours, and everybody’s going to be stressed out because grocery stores on the weekends are absolute hell; people walk around like coffins, blocking every single damn aisle, the lines are miserable, and everything sucks. I took one for the team, and now we can do other things. Things we like. Just let me squeeze in a power nap, and we’re good.
In my mind, I wasn’t just optimizing my time by accomplishing a task normally reserved for nine to fivers, I was doing it peacefully.
I’m fortunate enough to live in a household where this lifestyle is actually celebrated and respected, because I know it’s not that way for everybody. Since my wife is an early riser of the highest order, I found myself getting to bed right when she was getting up for work, and I knew I’d have to take care of our child (who woke up at seven) until she got home at noon. I’d then take a glorious nap and do it all over again. Our weekends became fuller because we didn’t have to run errands in time-suck mode, and we all benefited from it.
Presently, I write and work in audio production, meaning I have a flexible schedule that suits my lifestyle, something I’m immensely grateful for. On any given weekday, I’m getting the kids ready for school, doing a line check for my various gigs, planning my day, and snoozing for a bit before getting to work.
At 10 pm, when my family is sleeping soundly and I know all is right with the world, I do my best thinking. There’s a total lack of overstimulation compared to what most of us encounter during the day. It’s peak performance at the most inconvenient time, so might as well roll with it.
Thinking about my life, and I hope some of you reading can identify with this, elementary, middle, and high school were absolutely miserable experiences for me because I’m wired to be a Night Owl. Always have been. I was an average student at best because my brain simply doesn’t boot up until later in the day, and my grades reflected that.
I’ve tried cutting coffee after noon and even taking prescription sleep medications, but I experience and expect an epic second wind, without fail, when the world goes quiet, meaning it’s go time. That’s when the circus always kicks into high gear, and I got tired of pretending otherwise.
By the time I was attending university, I suddenly became a Dean’s List student because I decided to take night classes. I saw desirable results when I stopped fighting my wiring and started embracing it. It’s almost as if some people are destined to be late-night lurkers.
Night Owls Are Essential Beings
The hardest part about being a Night Owl is adjusting to everybody else. I wear a sleep mask during the day so our houseplants can thrive. Those without a proper support network struggle because 7 am on a Saturday means running on barely any sleep, and having to live up to everybody else’s expectations. They’re called grumpy and told they should have a more responsible sleep routine.
If we were living on a different timeline, we’d be stoking the fire and watching out for marauders. Our willingness to stay up late would serve what most people consider a practical purpose.
But in this modern nine-to-five world, our lifestyle is scrutinized because we choose to operate when everybody else chooses to rest. When we decide to catch some Zs, however, we’re told to get up and at it because there’s just “so much to do.”
What early birds don’t understand is that we already did it all, just not on their time.
Entertainment
Stephen King's Forgotten R-Rated 80s Hit Led By Star Trek's Most Evil Seductress
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
There’s been a lot of Stephen King adaptations over the years. In the early 90s, King decided to write a story as a screenplay first, and the result was the insane Sleepwalkers, about a mother and son pair of vampiric werecats terrorizing a small town in Indiana.
It’s one of those films that has to be seen to be believed, especially for a pre-Borg Queen performance by Star Trek: First Contact’s Alice Krige as one of the sleepwalkers. The 1992 horror film recently arrived on Netflix, making it even easier to play “spot the famous horror director” from among the many cameos jammed into the brisk, 89-minute runtime.
Don’t Think Too Hard About Sleepwalkers
Stephen King has been very upfront about the copious amounts of drugs he consumed during the 70s and 80s, particularly cocaine, which helps explain Sleepwalkers’ plot. Alice Krige is Mary, the mother of Charles (Charmed’s Brian Krause), and the two happen to be energy-draining werecats who feed off the energy of female virgins. Tanya (Twin Peak’s Madchen Amick) is targeted by the two after Charles fakes his way into the local high school, but the elaborate plan, which consists of make out in a cemetery, is thwarted when Tanya fights back using a corkscrew.
The two sleepwalkers may be powerful night creatures, but they have one weakness, and it just so happens that Tanya’s bonded with one of the beings who can easily kill them in a fight: Clovis the housecat. Sleepwalkers is very simple in its storytelling, and absolutely insane with its bizarre face-morphing CGI (at the time, it was cutting edge), cats flying in off the side of the screen, cars blowing up with a single bullet, and an “interesting” mother-son relationship.
Sleepwalkers Was A Surprise Box Office Hit
Alice Krige manages to again be off-putting, terrifying, and charming at the same time, similar to her later performance as the Borg Queen, the original “hear me out” meme of the 90s. Her performance helped propel the off-kilter feature to top the box office the weekend it debuted on the way to earning $30 million, unadjusted for inflation, that still tops the 2025 box office for horror films Him and The Woman In The Yard.
One of the fun parts of Sleepwalkers comes from director Mick Garris’ mission to include as many horror directors as possible, leading to cameos from Stephen King himself, John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Scream), and Joe Dante (Gremlins). Mark Hamill and Ron Perlman also pop in for brief appearances.
Sleepwalkers was savaged by critics and still only has a 29 percent rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an equally low audience rating of 32 percent. Those people clearly don’t know how to have fun. King’s story may have, allegedly, been drug-induced, but it’s so weird and off the wall that the film is a blast. While it’s special effects aged like milk, Krause and Krig managed to create some great scares, and in an era of bloated runtimes, 89 minutes makes it feel like it’s ending as soon as it gets going.
Sleepwalkers is now available to stream on Netflix, and we suggest you sit down with your cat to watch it.
Entertainment
Ben & Jerrys Free Cone Day is back for 2026 — everything you need to know
TL;DR: On April 14, visit your nearest Scoop Shop and grab a free cup or cone of your favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor.
It’s that special time of year when free ice cream becomes the norm. Hot on the heels of Dairy Queen announcing the date of its Free Cone Day, Ben & Jerry’s has done the same.
Ben & Jerry’s celebrates Free Cone Day around the globe every year, sharing the love with free cups and cones of your favorite flavors. There’s no catch. Simply visit your nearest Scoop Shop and grab a scoop for free. Ben & Jerry’s is giving away free ice cream at a host of locations between 12-8 p.m. on April 14. You can check participating locations here.
Mashable Trend Report
Lego is giving away an exclusive Steering Wheel for free. Here’s how to get yours on March 9.
Ben & Jerry’s is aiming to spread more joy than ever before. They served up 1 million scoops in 2023, but they’re targeting more in 2026. And you can help out with that ambitious target, because unlike a lot of these free giveaways, there’s no limit on the number of times you can score a free cone. Can’t decide what flavor to order? Don’t worry — try them all.
Mark your calendars: Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s takes place on April 14.
Entertainment
The Best Show On Streaming Has Been Canceled, End Of An Era
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The advent of streaming completely changed how we watch television, allowing fans to watch whatever they wanted with the press of a button. This is perfect for avid entertainment lovers always looking for their next fix, but as an aging Millennial, I can’t help but think the prominence of streaming took something special away from the overall experience. Television used to be a communal ritual where we all watched the same things at the same time, excitedly sharing our thoughts on the latest shows with fellow fans; now, everyone is siloed in their own entertaining bubbles, enjoying their favorite programming in the stifling comfort of complete isolation.
However, one streaming show set out to change all that: The Last Drive-In on Shudder featured iconic horror guru Joe Bob Briggs hosting scary movies, offering commentary segments throughout where commercials might have gone way back when. While the Last Drive-In segments are available to stream on demand after a couple of days, they would premiere on Friday nights in a live broadcast that superfans would watch at the same time, all while chattering with each other and with Joe Bob (and his perky co-host, Darcy the Mail Girl) on social media. This made this the best show on streaming, but it’s the end of an era now that Shudder has canceled the show.
The Man, The Myth
Since he is something of a cult figure, you may need a primer on Joe Bob Briggs, especially if you’re a younger horror fiend. Joe Bob (real name, John Bloom) started out as a reporter for The Dallas Herald, and he specialized in a niche no one else cared about: shlocky exploitation films and gruesome horror movies you could only find at the local drive-in theater. To cover these movies, Bloom developed the persona of Joe Bob Briggs, a quippy, quirky redneck whose rants offered great insight into genre films while serving as a parody of the prim and proper reviews from film critics like Siskel and Ebert.
In 1985, Briggs made an unexpected jump from the printed page to the stage with a very successful one-man show, An Evening With Joe Bob Briggs. This raised his profile and proved he could entertain large crowds, and this led to an unexpected opportunity: he guest-hosted Drive-In Theater on The Movie Channel, which led to him getting his own show, the appropriately named Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater. There, he hosted shlocky movies (typically horror films), complete with a tongue-in-cheek tally of things like how many dead bodies and naked breasts appeared in the film.
When Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater ended, he took his unique brand of entertainment, hosting MonsterVision on TNT. There, he once again hosted a variety of films, but he offered more commentary than ever: rather than appearing only at the beginning of the film, Joe Bob would also pop up on commercial breaks, offering further insights into each movie. When MonsterVision ended, though, Joe Bob largely dropped out of public life, popping up two decades later in a farewell performance that ended up reigniting his career.
A New Era
In 2018, Joe Bob Briggs hosted a 24-hour marathon of movies for Shudder, all of which were initially broadcast as part of the horror streamer’s live feed. This was meant to be a final performance for Joe Bob, giving this old cowboy one last time on the saddle before he rode off into the sunset. However, the marathon proved to be insanely popular, with Shudder’s servers crashing due to the high number of fans all rushing to watch this genre legend dish dirt on spooky movies.
In response, Shudder ordered more specials from him before greenlighting The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs, a regular series. For the next seven years, Joe Bob hosted one of the most popular series on the streaming platform, and his most ardent fans tuned in to each live broadcast, using social media to connect the entire fandom (affectionately nicknamed “The Mutant Family”). Due to the show’s success, it really looked like Joe Bob would be doing this forever, but just a few days ago, he dropped some devastating news on his fans.
An Emotional Rollercoaster of Announcements
Joe Bob Briggs typically hypes up his upcoming shows on Shudder, offering cryptic hints and funny commentary on platforms like Facebook and X. Ahead of the season finale of The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs, he made a somber-sounding announcement about how important it was for all of the fandom to tune in for this episode. This led to rampant speculation from fans: some thought Joe Bob needed more live views to get his show renewed, and others thought he would be announcing his retirement because, at 73, he’s one of the oldest entertainers in the business and may be dealing with unknown health issues.
When the episode aired, Joe Bob and co-host Darcy the Mail Girl offered fans some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Joe Bob is quite healthy (or, in his words, “spry as f*ck”), but the bad news is that Shudder is canceling The Last Drive-In. The hosts have apparently known this was coming for a while, but they are currently forbidden from saying exactly what went down and why Shudder (which just updated its app in an attempt to gain more subscribers) suddenly decided to kill the only show that countless fans (myself included) subscribe to this streamer to watch.
An Unknown Future
The silver lining in all of this is that Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl plan to take their show somewhere else, but they have not yet confirmed where this will be. We likely know where they will not go, and that is Tubi. On X, Joe Bob retweeted a post from Damian Maffei that didn’t explicitly name Tubi but accused “that free streaming app with all the ads” of being a streamer that has been known “to edit movies. Cut things down, and zoom in on scenes.”
Many have pointed out that Tubi doesn’t do this and just streams whatever print of the film they can get, but the implication of the retweet is that Joe Bob doesn’t like the free streaming service and is unlikely to take The Last Drive-In over there. Unfortunately, this brings us no closer to knowing where Joe Bob and Darcy will land and when they’ll start hosting movies again. Until they confirm anything, all fans can do is speculate while mourning the loss of the best show on streaming.
The Drive-In Will Never Die
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs was unlike anything else in the streaming world: it featured eclectic horror classics, insightful commentary, and gonzo humor, all while letting fans share the magic together through live broadcasts. It brought the entire Mutant Family together, allowing us to bond over everything from Joe Bob’s signature rants to the shlockiness of our favorite films. Fortunately, the man himself has confirmed he will be returning and keep gracing us with his unique brand of comedic criticism powered by decades of arcane horror film knowledge.
That announcement fulfills the prophecy of something Joe Bob has been reminding us of at the end of every episode since the new show began. A promise, a mantra, and a fervent hope, all rolled into five little words that the Mutants are clinging to now more than ever: “the drive-in will never die.”
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Entertainment
Waking Up Early Doesn't Make You Special, It Just Makes You Annoying
By Robert Scucci
| Published
I love staying up late. It’s my favorite thing to do. I can get my work done, fold the laundry, work on creative projects, and hit the gym without bothering a soul. My brain operates at a frequency that’s constantly at odds with early birds, who often frown upon my lifestyle because to most people, sleeping in comes with a scarlet letter suggesting you’re lazy and squandering your time. At least that’s what morning people think.
Every single self-help guru extols the virtues of waking up at 4 am, taking an ice bath, jogging 10 miles while listening to Tony Robbins audiobooks, all before the sun even comes up. If I never saw another sunrise in my life, I’d die a happy man. I’m sure they’re beautiful. I’ll take your word for it. I’m simply not wired to operate at this wavelength, and more often than not, I’m fighting for my life.
On one hand, I get it. Adulting, as my fellow Millennials call it, requires you to be present at certain times. Banks close at 5. Since the pandemic, grocery stores close at 10. The world isn’t built for Night Owls, and we’re silently suffering while trying our best to conform to what most people consider normal behavior. The world is built for early birds, and they love to brag about how productive they are. They also go to bed at 8 o’clock, so how does that make sense?
We All Have The Same 24 Hours
I understand that this comes off as petty, but let me break it down for you. If somebody wakes up at 4 am and goes to bed at 8 pm, they’ve got 16 hours to accomplish what they set out to do. Eight of those hours are devoted to work in most cases, and then you have to factor in commuting, meals, self-care, family obligations, and, yes, even sleep. This kind of lifestyle is not only celebrated, it’s expected.
But if I want to stay up until 4 am and sleep until noon, people can’t wrap their heads around it. It’s still a 16-hour cycle of consciousness, but most people don’t see it that way. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. I do. You do. Beyoncé does. It’s insane to think that being able to witness the sunrise somehow makes you superior. Most early risers flaunt this like they’re God’s gift to mankind.
What’s worse is that every single Night Owl I know, including myself, ends up marrying an early bird. The story’s always the same. The night owl uses their phone’s flashlight when they go to the bathroom so they don’t wake anybody up. They turn the doorknob before opening or closing the door so there’s no loud click echoing through the hallway. They tiptoe around their home because they know they’re the odd one out.
Then morning rears its ugly head. Lights are flipped on with reckless abandon, kitchen appliances roar, and doors slam. When the night owl grunts, they’re told they should have gone to bed earlier.
Even worse, if they mention they like to sleep until 10 on the weekends, their peers think their life must be a mess. They must be up all night playing video games and engaging in illicit activities or something. They’re just wasting away because they refuse to, or simply can’t, lock in when everybody else does.
Golly, I wish that were true, but I’m actually doing stuff, like writing (which is what I’m currently doing at 1:30 am) because I think better when I know my family is safe and sound and doesn’t need a single thing from me. I can achieve a flow state that I couldn’t dream of during regular waking hours, and my family’s better off for it!
Embrace Your Wiring And Let It Work For You
In a previous professional life, I worked third shift as a line cook. My schedule saw me leaving for work at three in the afternoon and getting home 12 hours later. Since this was pre-pandemic and I had an infant at home, I’d stop at the 24-hour grocery store after my shift and load up on a week’s worth of groceries in about 15 minutes. Try doing that on a Sunday afternoon with your regular sleep schedule.
It will take two hours, and everybody’s going to be stressed out because grocery stores on the weekends are absolute hell; people walk around like coffins, blocking every single damn aisle, the lines are miserable, and everything sucks. I took one for the team, and now we can do other things. Things we like. Just let me squeeze in a power nap, and we’re good.
In my mind, I wasn’t just optimizing my time by accomplishing a task normally reserved for nine to fivers, I was doing it peacefully.
I’m fortunate enough to live in a household where this lifestyle is actually celebrated and respected, because I know it’s not that way for everybody. Since my wife is an early riser of the highest order, I found myself getting to bed right when she was getting up for work, and I knew I’d have to take care of our child (who woke up at seven) until she got home at noon. I’d then take a glorious nap and do it all over again. Our weekends became fuller because we didn’t have to run errands in time-suck mode, and we all benefited from it.
Presently, I write and work in audio production, meaning I have a flexible schedule that suits my lifestyle, something I’m immensely grateful for. On any given weekday, I’m getting the kids ready for school, doing a line check for my various gigs, planning my day, and snoozing for a bit before getting to work.
At 10 pm, when my family is sleeping soundly and I know all is right with the world, I do my best thinking. There’s a total lack of overstimulation compared to what most of us encounter during the day. It’s peak performance at the most inconvenient time, so might as well roll with it.
Thinking about my life, and I hope some of you reading can identify with this, elementary, middle, and high school were absolutely miserable experiences for me because I’m wired to be a Night Owl. Always have been. I was an average student at best because my brain simply doesn’t boot up until later in the day, and my grades reflected that.
I’ve tried cutting coffee after noon and even taking prescription sleep medications, but I experience and expect an epic second wind, without fail, when the world goes quiet, meaning it’s go time. That’s when the circus always kicks into high gear, and I got tired of pretending otherwise.
By the time I was attending university, I suddenly became a Dean’s List student because I decided to take night classes. I saw desirable results when I stopped fighting my wiring and started embracing it. It’s almost as if some people are destined to be late-night lurkers.
Night Owls Are Essential Beings
The hardest part about being a Night Owl is adjusting to everybody else. I wear a sleep mask during the day so our houseplants can thrive. Those without a proper support network struggle because 7 am on a Saturday means running on barely any sleep, and having to live up to everybody else’s expectations. They’re called grumpy and told they should have a more responsible sleep routine.
If we were living on a different timeline, we’d be stoking the fire and watching out for marauders. Our willingness to stay up late would serve what most people consider a practical purpose.
But in this modern nine-to-five world, our lifestyle is scrutinized because we choose to operate when everybody else chooses to rest. When we decide to catch some Zs, however, we’re told to get up and at it because there’s just “so much to do.”
What early birds don’t understand is that we already did it all, just not on their time.
Entertainment
Stephen King's Forgotten R-Rated 80s Hit Led By Star Trek's Most Evil Seductress
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
There’s been a lot of Stephen King adaptations over the years. In the early 90s, King decided to write a story as a screenplay first, and the result was the insane Sleepwalkers, about a mother and son pair of vampiric werecats terrorizing a small town in Indiana.
It’s one of those films that has to be seen to be believed, especially for a pre-Borg Queen performance by Star Trek: First Contact’s Alice Krige as one of the sleepwalkers. The 1992 horror film recently arrived on Netflix, making it even easier to play “spot the famous horror director” from among the many cameos jammed into the brisk, 89-minute runtime.
Don’t Think Too Hard About Sleepwalkers
Stephen King has been very upfront about the copious amounts of drugs he consumed during the 70s and 80s, particularly cocaine, which helps explain Sleepwalkers’ plot. Alice Krige is Mary, the mother of Charles (Charmed’s Brian Krause), and the two happen to be energy-draining werecats who feed off the energy of female virgins. Tanya (Twin Peak’s Madchen Amick) is targeted by the two after Charles fakes his way into the local high school, but the elaborate plan, which consists of make out in a cemetery, is thwarted when Tanya fights back using a corkscrew.
The two sleepwalkers may be powerful night creatures, but they have one weakness, and it just so happens that Tanya’s bonded with one of the beings who can easily kill them in a fight: Clovis the housecat. Sleepwalkers is very simple in its storytelling, and absolutely insane with its bizarre face-morphing CGI (at the time, it was cutting edge), cats flying in off the side of the screen, cars blowing up with a single bullet, and an “interesting” mother-son relationship.
Sleepwalkers Was A Surprise Box Office Hit
Alice Krige manages to again be off-putting, terrifying, and charming at the same time, similar to her later performance as the Borg Queen, the original “hear me out” meme of the 90s. Her performance helped propel the off-kilter feature to top the box office the weekend it debuted on the way to earning $30 million, unadjusted for inflation, that still tops the 2025 box office for horror films Him and The Woman In The Yard.
One of the fun parts of Sleepwalkers comes from director Mick Garris’ mission to include as many horror directors as possible, leading to cameos from Stephen King himself, John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Scream), and Joe Dante (Gremlins). Mark Hamill and Ron Perlman also pop in for brief appearances.
Sleepwalkers was savaged by critics and still only has a 29 percent rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an equally low audience rating of 32 percent. Those people clearly don’t know how to have fun. King’s story may have, allegedly, been drug-induced, but it’s so weird and off the wall that the film is a blast. While it’s special effects aged like milk, Krause and Krig managed to create some great scares, and in an era of bloated runtimes, 89 minutes makes it feel like it’s ending as soon as it gets going.
Sleepwalkers is now available to stream on Netflix, and we suggest you sit down with your cat to watch it.
Entertainment
Ben & Jerrys Free Cone Day is back for 2026 — everything you need to know
TL;DR: On April 14, visit your nearest Scoop Shop and grab a free cup or cone of your favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor.
It’s that special time of year when free ice cream becomes the norm. Hot on the heels of Dairy Queen announcing the date of its Free Cone Day, Ben & Jerry’s has done the same.
Ben & Jerry’s celebrates Free Cone Day around the globe every year, sharing the love with free cups and cones of your favorite flavors. There’s no catch. Simply visit your nearest Scoop Shop and grab a scoop for free. Ben & Jerry’s is giving away free ice cream at a host of locations between 12-8 p.m. on April 14. You can check participating locations here.
Mashable Trend Report
Lego is giving away an exclusive Steering Wheel for free. Here’s how to get yours on March 9.
Ben & Jerry’s is aiming to spread more joy than ever before. They served up 1 million scoops in 2023, but they’re targeting more in 2026. And you can help out with that ambitious target, because unlike a lot of these free giveaways, there’s no limit on the number of times you can score a free cone. Can’t decide what flavor to order? Don’t worry — try them all.
Mark your calendars: Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s takes place on April 14.
Entertainment
The Best Show On Streaming Has Been Canceled, End Of An Era
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The advent of streaming completely changed how we watch television, allowing fans to watch whatever they wanted with the press of a button. This is perfect for avid entertainment lovers always looking for their next fix, but as an aging Millennial, I can’t help but think the prominence of streaming took something special away from the overall experience. Television used to be a communal ritual where we all watched the same things at the same time, excitedly sharing our thoughts on the latest shows with fellow fans; now, everyone is siloed in their own entertaining bubbles, enjoying their favorite programming in the stifling comfort of complete isolation.
However, one streaming show set out to change all that: The Last Drive-In on Shudder featured iconic horror guru Joe Bob Briggs hosting scary movies, offering commentary segments throughout where commercials might have gone way back when. While the Last Drive-In segments are available to stream on demand after a couple of days, they would premiere on Friday nights in a live broadcast that superfans would watch at the same time, all while chattering with each other and with Joe Bob (and his perky co-host, Darcy the Mail Girl) on social media. This made this the best show on streaming, but it’s the end of an era now that Shudder has canceled the show.
The Man, The Myth
Since he is something of a cult figure, you may need a primer on Joe Bob Briggs, especially if you’re a younger horror fiend. Joe Bob (real name, John Bloom) started out as a reporter for The Dallas Herald, and he specialized in a niche no one else cared about: shlocky exploitation films and gruesome horror movies you could only find at the local drive-in theater. To cover these movies, Bloom developed the persona of Joe Bob Briggs, a quippy, quirky redneck whose rants offered great insight into genre films while serving as a parody of the prim and proper reviews from film critics like Siskel and Ebert.
In 1985, Briggs made an unexpected jump from the printed page to the stage with a very successful one-man show, An Evening With Joe Bob Briggs. This raised his profile and proved he could entertain large crowds, and this led to an unexpected opportunity: he guest-hosted Drive-In Theater on The Movie Channel, which led to him getting his own show, the appropriately named Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater. There, he hosted shlocky movies (typically horror films), complete with a tongue-in-cheek tally of things like how many dead bodies and naked breasts appeared in the film.
When Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater ended, he took his unique brand of entertainment, hosting MonsterVision on TNT. There, he once again hosted a variety of films, but he offered more commentary than ever: rather than appearing only at the beginning of the film, Joe Bob would also pop up on commercial breaks, offering further insights into each movie. When MonsterVision ended, though, Joe Bob largely dropped out of public life, popping up two decades later in a farewell performance that ended up reigniting his career.
A New Era
In 2018, Joe Bob Briggs hosted a 24-hour marathon of movies for Shudder, all of which were initially broadcast as part of the horror streamer’s live feed. This was meant to be a final performance for Joe Bob, giving this old cowboy one last time on the saddle before he rode off into the sunset. However, the marathon proved to be insanely popular, with Shudder’s servers crashing due to the high number of fans all rushing to watch this genre legend dish dirt on spooky movies.
In response, Shudder ordered more specials from him before greenlighting The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs, a regular series. For the next seven years, Joe Bob hosted one of the most popular series on the streaming platform, and his most ardent fans tuned in to each live broadcast, using social media to connect the entire fandom (affectionately nicknamed “The Mutant Family”). Due to the show’s success, it really looked like Joe Bob would be doing this forever, but just a few days ago, he dropped some devastating news on his fans.
An Emotional Rollercoaster of Announcements
Joe Bob Briggs typically hypes up his upcoming shows on Shudder, offering cryptic hints and funny commentary on platforms like Facebook and X. Ahead of the season finale of The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs, he made a somber-sounding announcement about how important it was for all of the fandom to tune in for this episode. This led to rampant speculation from fans: some thought Joe Bob needed more live views to get his show renewed, and others thought he would be announcing his retirement because, at 73, he’s one of the oldest entertainers in the business and may be dealing with unknown health issues.
When the episode aired, Joe Bob and co-host Darcy the Mail Girl offered fans some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Joe Bob is quite healthy (or, in his words, “spry as f*ck”), but the bad news is that Shudder is canceling The Last Drive-In. The hosts have apparently known this was coming for a while, but they are currently forbidden from saying exactly what went down and why Shudder (which just updated its app in an attempt to gain more subscribers) suddenly decided to kill the only show that countless fans (myself included) subscribe to this streamer to watch.
An Unknown Future
The silver lining in all of this is that Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl plan to take their show somewhere else, but they have not yet confirmed where this will be. We likely know where they will not go, and that is Tubi. On X, Joe Bob retweeted a post from Damian Maffei that didn’t explicitly name Tubi but accused “that free streaming app with all the ads” of being a streamer that has been known “to edit movies. Cut things down, and zoom in on scenes.”
Many have pointed out that Tubi doesn’t do this and just streams whatever print of the film they can get, but the implication of the retweet is that Joe Bob doesn’t like the free streaming service and is unlikely to take The Last Drive-In over there. Unfortunately, this brings us no closer to knowing where Joe Bob and Darcy will land and when they’ll start hosting movies again. Until they confirm anything, all fans can do is speculate while mourning the loss of the best show on streaming.
The Drive-In Will Never Die
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs was unlike anything else in the streaming world: it featured eclectic horror classics, insightful commentary, and gonzo humor, all while letting fans share the magic together through live broadcasts. It brought the entire Mutant Family together, allowing us to bond over everything from Joe Bob’s signature rants to the shlockiness of our favorite films. Fortunately, the man himself has confirmed he will be returning and keep gracing us with his unique brand of comedic criticism powered by decades of arcane horror film knowledge.
That announcement fulfills the prophecy of something Joe Bob has been reminding us of at the end of every episode since the new show began. A promise, a mantra, and a fervent hope, all rolled into five little words that the Mutants are clinging to now more than ever: “the drive-in will never die.”
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