Netflix just made social distancing so much easier. Since people have been practicing self-isolation to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, they’ve discovered a genius app that lets them watch Netflix content with their friends. It’s called Netlix Party.
OK, so it’s not an app, per se: It’s a Google Chrome extension that’s free to download. Click here to put it on your browser. From there, use is pretty simple.
After hitting “Install Netflix Party” on the above link’s homepage, you’ll be redirected to the Chrome Web Store. Click “Add to Chrome” to officially finish downloading the extension. Then, go to Netflix and select any show or movie you’d like to watch. After, hit the “NP” icon that should now be on your address bar. Hit “Start Party” to kick off your joint viewing, and share the specific party URL to the people you want invited.
If you’re the invitee, click the party link your friend sent you. You’ll be redirected to Netflix’s website, at which point you’ll hit the “NP” button next to your address bar. This should automatically add you to the Netflix Party. A TikTok user made a full tutorial on how to do this if you’d like a visual:
This is a game-changer for people struggling with the necessary social distancing that has to happen right now. Naturally, the response on Twitter has been rapturous. “Friendly reminder for all the bored quarantined people, there’s an extension called Netflix Party that lets you watch synced up shows/ movies with your friends!!” one person posted.
Another wrote, “So Netflix recently launched this Google Chrome plug-in called ‘Netflix Party’ up to 500k ppl can watch the same movie/show in sync and has a chat room to allow for real time comments! I just added it to my chrome who’s down to do a movie night!? “
In my immediate circle, you didn’t “drop by.” But in my grandparents’ homes, the practice was not just accepted, but expected. If my grandmother heard that a friend was shopping at the JC Penney near her home, she’d say, “You were only a few blocks away. Why didn’t you come over?”
I loved afternoons in my grandparent’s house in LA, laying on the living room floor with one of their L. Frank Baum books, the gauzy sunlight making stripes across my legs, while the adults chatted in the next room about music and mutual friends and the TV show, Bonanza. I swore that when I grew up, I would follow their example and not my mother’s: friends would be welcomed whenever they came to the door.
That’s not what happened, of course. I was too busy, on most nights, to invite people over, and no matter how many times I told people they could come at any time, not a single person has ever taken me up on that invitation in more than 20 years. My grandparents were never really lonely. Up until a couple years ago, I was.
As a society, we have become much more carefully scheduled, less social, and much lonelier. According to numerous surveys, social isolation has doubled among many adults since the 1990s, and social isolation is deadly. Loneliness and social isolation increase a person’s risk of death by 25% to 30%.
In terms of pure interaction, we’re more connected than ever before. If you can’t reach someone in an email, you can send a text. If it’s a real emergency, some of us pick up the phone. Barring that, we can send a message through Facebook or slide into their DMs on Instagram. But if “likes” satisfied our need to socialize, we would all feel a strong sense of communal belonging.
But we know on some level that’s not how it works. Just over two decades ago, most Americans had three close friends. Now, that number is down to two and the percentage of people who report they have no one they could talk to about serious issues has risen to 25%. One in four Americans is socially isolated—no pandemic required.
Part of the problem is that we’re cutting out expressions of our basic human-ness, because they’re “inefficient”: boredom, long phone conversations, hobbies, neighborhood barbecues, membership in social clubs. We smile at the anachronisms of the past when people had time for things like pickup basketball and showing slides of Hawaiian vacations to their friends. How quaint, we think, that our grandparents joined sewing circles.
But shouldn’t our ancestors have had less time than we do? After all, we have microwaves and dishwashers and gas lawnmowers and the internet! We have robot vacuums and AI assistants that tell us the weather and set our alarms. If you add up all the time saved through technological advancement over the past several decades, shouldn’t we have hours of excess time in which to do as we please?
These are the questions I was asking in 2018 as I grappled with my own feelings of despair, long before a virus swept the planet. I would cancel plans to go to parties because I felt exhausted and stressed. All I wanted to do was sit on the couch, watch Netflix, and relax. But one of the most relaxing activities a human can engage in is social interaction.
And even in a time of crisis, deep, real social interaction is possible. “A rising tide can indeed lift a variety of boats,” John Cacioppo and William Patrick write in the book Loneliness, “but in a culture of social isolates, atomized by social and economic upheaval and separated by vast inequalities, it can also cause millions to drown.”
Bachelor Peter Weber is feeling good enough to sing.
Look, Weber has had quite a week. After issuing a statement that he’d split from Madison Prewett—the contestant he started dating after breaking off his engagement with Hannah Ann Sluss—he’s had to deal with the drama surrounding both break-ups. On top of all that, rumors have been circulating that Weber’s relationship with his mother Barb has been “damaged” due to the events of the After the Final Rose ceremony. On Saturday, the pilot took to his Instagram Stories to put one rumor to rest while posting a few other videos that let fans in on his state of mind. Apparently, he’s feeling good enough to sing Kygo’s “Happy Now” at the top of his lungs.
On Friday, March 13, Weber first posted a video of himself hanging out with his mom, despite reports that their relationship is strained. He read the headline aloud, before asking for his mom’s comment. “I love you,” she responded. The pilot then claimed his dog is calling these reports “fake news.”
Side note: Bachelor producer Julie LaPlaca cleared up another rumor about Weber on Instagram that same day. “Yes that was @pilot_pete in the tan jacket, no we didn’t kiss at midnight,” she wrote in the caption of a new photo, referring to the post that started the speculation back in January. “But, whoever ends up as his copilot for life is one lucky lady, because this guy has a heart of gold,” she added, confirming that they are still not seeing each other.
But back to Weber’s own posts. A while after the stories featuring his parents, he shared a few more videos of himself singing and dancing to the Kygo song “Happy Now” with some friends.
Peter Weber on Instagram
Instagram/Peter Weber
The song may be a veiled reference to his relationship with Prewett. “You and me, it was good, but it wasn’t right/And it’ll be hard, but I know I will make it out/Step by step, I’ll move on and get on with life,” is just one relevant lyric he sang out. Still, he’s probably just feeling all kinds of relief now that his season is over. Prewett seems fine too, btw, and was recently spotted in Selena Gomez’s own Instagram Stories since the breakup.
All this begs the question: what would Bachelor Nation do without social media?
Across the globe, people are grappling with the growing COVID-19 pandemic. Deaths due to the coronavirus have soared in Italy as hospitals try to manage high demands and lack of supplies. In the U.S., panic levels are high, with health officials advising “social distancing” and taking extra precautions to protect your health. Most major live events, TV productions, and movie releases have been canceled while citizens grapple with postponing their own important gatherings to protect vulnerable, immune-compromised individuals.
Thankfully, fear hasn’t stopped people from giving back to their communities and inspiring us all in these scary times. From acts of kindness to major donations that will help those who are sick and/or out of work, here are just a few of the ways celebrities and regular people, alike, are doing good in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak:
Zion Williamson will cover the salaries of Smoothie King Center staff
The NBA announced that all games have been canceled for the rest of the season, which means stadium workers and employees could lose serious wages. However, New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson wants to do his part: He announced on Instagram that he’ll help cover the salaries of those who work at the Smoothie King Center.
“My mother has always set an example for me about being respectful for others and being grateful for what we have, and so today I am pledging to cover the salaries for all of those Smoothie King Center workers for the next 30 days,” he said.
Kevin Love donates $100,000 for the staff at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Cleveland Cavaliers player Kevin Love was one of the first athletes who stepped in to help stadium staff that will struggle over canceled games. He promised $100,000 to benefit workers at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
A tale as old as time, indeed. If you’ve been thinking you need more Beauty and the Beast in your life, Disney+ has you covered.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a prequel series is in the works starring Josh Gad and Luke Evans, who will be reprising their roles as LeFou and Gaston from the wildly popular 2017 live-action Beauty and the Beast remake directed by Bill Condon.
Not many details are known at the moment (it doesn’t even have a title), but the limited series is supposedly going to be a six-episode musical event from Once Upon a Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Gad will also serve as a co-creator, writer, and producer.
The cast. As mentioned, Gad and Evans will return as LeFou and Gaston. No word yet on whether Emma Watson or Dan Stephens will make appearances as Belle and the Beast, respectively.
The music.THR reports that talks are underway with composer Alan Menken, who also did the score for the 2017 film.
The length. While six episodes have been confirmed, there’s no more information on episode length.
The plot. Since the project is still in the early stages of development, we don’t know much about the storylines—other than that they will follow LeFou and Gaston’s adventures prior to the action in the 2017 film. One thing that could be interesting to explore is LeFou’s sexuality, which was implied in the film’s “exclusively gay moment” which was…pretty much nothing.
Condon previously explained in a now-deleted interview with Attitude that LeFou would be Disney‘s first gay character. “LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” he reportedly said. “He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it.”
Not so much, but maybe Gad will actually get a chance to delve deeper in the prequel series. However, if the news about the Love, Simon and Lizzie McGuire series are anything to go by, then maybe not.
Check back for more updates on the Beauty and the Beast prequel series.
So what the hell is going on in Bachelor Nation, and who does Weber end up with: Victoria F., Madison, Hannah Ann, Kelsey, or someone else?
“I promise you my frontrunner did not stop changing until about week four—and whether or how that’s shown, the show does a really good job of entertaining,” Weber added. “But I promise you my frontrunner did not change, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Hmmm…that’s not a lot to go on. Here’s every major fan theory about the season finale. It’s worth noting that none of this is confirmed—it’s all fun speculation. So take it with a grain of salt.
1. Weber falls for Bachelor producer Julie LaPlaca. This Reddit theory is straight-up ripped from UnREAL season one, and I want it to be true so badly. The evidence is mainly from Instagram, regarding a post that suggests Weber and LaPlaca spent New Year’s Eve together with his family.
But hold up: Bachelor spoiler extraordinaire Reality Steve calls the rumor “garbage.” Meanwhile, the ABC producers themselves aren’t completely shutting it down. “Well, I hate to get in the way of a good rumor, so I’m not going to confirm or deny about whether he ends up with a producer, ABC senior vice president Robert Mills told Entertainment Tonight. “I don’t know how we’d ever top that, though! But, it is crazy.”
Madison leaves on her own terms. Based off the new promo, fans think Madison peaces out once she hears Weber slept with another contestant. “If he sleeps with anybody else, it’s going to be hard for me to continue to move forward,” she said. Later in the promo, Weber reveals, “Six days prior, I was intimate with someone else.”
Fans are convinced they parted ways, but that she may have returned later. Madison was recently spotted filming in Alabama, so there’s likely more to the story.
No matter who ends up with Weber’s ring, things aren’t going great since the end of the show. Reddit user @bachelorreddit123 posted a slew of spoilers on The Bachelor subreddit. The biggest piece of gossip is that Weber and his final choice are (allegedly) in a bad place since watching the season go live.
“Peter and [Final 1] are very rocky right now based on how they ended up together, and based on his interactions with the other women that she is now seeing for the first time as they air,” the post claims.
Guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Pilot Pete will right this plane or crash and burn. Ugh, sorry (no, I’m not).
