TV

"Squid Game" is the No. 1 show on Netflix in 90 different countries ... but North Korea's blasting it as a "sad reality of a beastly South Korean society."

The North Korean propaganda website, Arirang Meari, chimed in with its review of the survival-game drama ... claiming the show "gained popularity because it exposes the reality of South Korean capitalist culture."

The site went on to claim the show exposes "a world where only money matters -- a hell-like horror." The site views South Korea's capitalist culture as a place where "corruption and immoral scoundrels are commonplace."

The propaganda site also reportedly cited unnamed South Korean film critics saying the series shows an "unequal society where moneyless people are treated like chess pieces for the rich."

The 9-episode thriller pits cash-strapped contestants playing childhood games with deadly consequences ... and the last person standing taking home a pot worth $38 million.

The propaganda site is pissed about the plotline saying, "It is said that it makes people realize the sad reality of the beastly South Korean society in which human beings are driven into extreme competition and their humanity is being wiped out."

Netflix dropped "Squid Game" in September and it's the streamer's most successful show ever. BTW, North Korea levies stiff fines, and even prison, to anyone caught watching South Korean content. That the outlet's not a fan of the show should be no surprise.

Carole Baskin hasn't been this astonished since Joe Exotic ran for president -- she can't figure out how Kate McKinnon copycatted her so perfectly for the upcoming Peacock series.

Carole tells TMZ ... she was stunned to see the 'SNL' star's transformation for "Joe Exotic" ... the dramatic series based off the Wondery podcast with the same title. As you know by now, Joe and Carole have major beef, to put it lightly.

He's accused her of feeding her 2nd husband, Don Lewis, to a tiger.

Anyway, she's stunned because producers nailed the wardrobe -- Carole says she has almost exactly the same outfit as the one Kate's wearing in a new photo from the set. Even Kate's necklace is spot on, which surprises Carole because she never wore that piece of jewelry on the Netflix docuseries.

Her only explanation for Kate's doppelganger act is sooo Baskin. Carole says Kate must be channeling her inner cat lady to be rocking those flats, jeans, sunglasses, purse and messy hair. Hell, they're even using the same 2012 Toyota pickup CB drives.

BTW, Carole says Kyle MacLachlan also did a good job portraying her current husband, Howard -- but it's not identical. She says Howard never wears short-sleeve button-up shirts nor a wedding ring, but she still approves.

Carole says she heard the series will explore her relationship with Howard -- but she's in the dark when it comes to how her battles with Joe will play out on the show.

Remember, she's never actually spoken to him in real life, so she hopes whatever the writers come up with is based on facts.

Dog the Bounty Hunter hasn't given up his hunt for Brian Laundrie -- he's got one more vital person to speak with -- and he's en route to her now.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Dog has NOT left Florida yet -- despite injuring his ankle earlier this week -- and is still working leads. We're told he's currently headed to the home of Laundrie's sister, Cassie, with whom he will attempt to discuss the case.

Earlier this month ... Cassie confronted a group of protesters outside her Florida home and told them she doesn't have the slightest clue where Brian's hiding, but added she wasn't sure if her parents had anything to do with his disappearance.

Our sources say Dog is still hobbling around on that bum ankle, but wants to make sure he's tried every possible avenue to locate Laundrie ... before heading to Colorado to get checked out by his doctor. As we reported, Dog hurt his ankle a couple of days ago in rugged terrain.

The Cassie meeting would come just a day after an autopsy report revealed Gabby Petito died by strangulation. The Teton County Coroner estimated the time she was killed might have been 3 to 4 weeks before her remains were found.

Gabby's family is heading to Wyoming to retrieve her body, and have her cremated.

For the first time ever, one of the costumes was even too outrageous for "The Masked Singer" ... and we're talkin' below the waist.

Jester, possibly the scariest costume to ever grace the 'Masked Singer' stage, almost didn't grace the stage at all ... TMZ has learned.

We're told the OG Jester costume had a specific vision for the look ... a codpiece to protect his, um, family jewels.

But, during rehearsals, we're told the codpiece caught the eyes of FOX execs and the network instantly deemed the Jester "too hot for TV."

The costume was adjusted to minimize Jester's private parts, much to the celebrity's dismay, and now he's got the green light.

While the spirit of the OG design is what folks will see on their TV sets, Jester is also family-friendly ... but our 'Masked Singer' sources say they still can’t promise kids won't go screaming when they see Jester's mask for the first time.

Dave Chappelle cracking jokes over the LGBTQ+ community is fair game, and should NOT be censored in the slightest -- so says a transgender comedian, who's backing the dude.

Flame Monroe -- a Black trans comic -- tells TMZ she's not in favor of taking Dave's new Netflix special, "The Closer," off the service ... because she says in the world of comedy, nothing is off-limits -- and she simply doesn't believe in censoring standups.

Watch her explanation here, because it's very interesting. Obviously, Flame has a multi-dimensional perspective to offer -- from race to gender identity, and also her chosen craft -- and the one she feels most strongly about is a comic's right to joke freely.

That jibes with what Damon Wayans told us just the other day on this whole debate. He, too, seemed more focused on the comedy side of things ... rather than the LGBT vs. Black comparisons Dave raised in the special.

Flame goes further ... praising Dave as "great," while also saying she believes he's brought people together in a way -- to have a much-needed dialogue.

Bottom line ... Flame seems to be OK with Dave using Netflix's platform to speak his mind -- and clearly believes that outweighs the actual inflammatory content itself.

The house where Sabrina Spellman and her witchy aunts cooked up mischief on TV has been summoned anew -- hitting the market in real life ... at a cost that'll make ya scream.

You might recall seeing the exterior of this Victorian home a lot during the original run of the 1990s comedy series -- it was where Melissa Joan Hart, Beth Broderick, Caroline Rhea and Salem (the cat) resided in the made-up Massachusetts town of Westbridge. Well, now the actual crib is for sale!!!

It's being listed by its mortal owners for a whopping $1.95 million in the New Jersey city of Freehold. Here's the weirdest part though ... the real estate agent is advertising it as an office building instead of an actual place to live -- which sorta makes sense considering the layout.

For starters ... this "house" is located in a business section of Freehold, and it actually has a small parking lot behind it. The inside is more office-y than home-y ... even though there are rooms -- they're not traditional bedrooms, per se ... and do seem more suited for a staff.

And yet ... there's a freaking kitchen inside -- so, we suppose any future would-be employees can cook up lunch on their break??? Whoever designed this place way back when didn't seem to know what they wanted it to be ... but in any case, it's going for a bundle.

If you're not inclined to plunk down nearly $2 mil for this pad/edifice ... you can rent it in two parts -- the front house goes for $9,750/month, while the back end's $3,200/month.

Wendy Williams is stepping away from her show after experiencing "serious complications" as a direct result of Graves' Disease and her thyroid condition.

"The Wendy Williams Show" announced Tuesday that while Wendy's making progress ... she's not 100% ready to return to her hosting duties due to her immune system disorder. Wendy continues to be under medical supervision and meets with her medical team on a daily basis.

That being said ... the show says it's been determined more time is needed before Wendy's able to return.

In the interim, the popular daytime program will start airing original shows on Monday ... "with an exciting lineup of guest hosts and panels to be announced shortly."

A statement from the show added, "Wendy is a valued and stalwart member of the Debmar-Mercury family and has been so for 12 years. We want her health to be her top priority. As soon as she's ready, she will be back in her treasured purple chair."

As we previously reported ... Wendy was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. We were told she was voluntarily admitted to an NYC hospital last month. On top of all of that, Wendy also had COVID but, thankfully, she was asymptomatic.

Wendy's 13th season was set to premiere Sept. 20, and while the new season will kick off in less than a week ... it's clear now Wendy won't be taking part for the time being.

"Squid Game" is Netflix's surprising, massively successful survival drama out of Korea, but its popularity could pay dividends for people in India too.

Geoffrey Giuliano -- the actor who plays 'VIP 4' on the hit series -- tells TMZ ... he's planning to auction off the robe he wore on the show, as well as his copy of a "Squid Game" script and storyboard, to raise money for widows and children living in West Bengal.

Geoffrey says his auction will be held by a memorabilia dealer in North Carolina, and all the proceeds from it will go to the organization Sri Radhe International.

The actor says he doesn't usually hold on to scripts, but he happened to for "Squid Game" ... and he also asked to keep his robe because he liked it.

Seems like a shrewd move, but Geoffrey points out that nobody knew how big the series would become. Still, he hit the jackpot.

Giuliano tells us he hasn't set a date for the auction yet, but when the bidding starts he expects to see six figures for the robe and at least $10k for the script.

Dave Chappelle is now the great emancipator of comedians thanks to his latest Netflix special -- so says Damon Wayans, who drew a parallel to slavery while praising Dave.

We ran into the comic and actor Monday at LAX and got his take on Dave's standup special, 'The Closer' ... which is STILL being hotly debated nearly a week after its release. As for where Damon lands ... count him as firmly in Chappelle's camp.

You gotta watch how DW breaks this down for us ... saying Dave "freed the slaves" as it pertains to other comics who might be fearful to speak on certain subjects in a PC/woke culture world.

He also goes on to call him the van Gogh of the comedy game -- saying he cut off his ear, in a sacrificial sense, to let the others know ... you can still joke, be yourself and operate without fear of being canceled. Or at least, you should be able to in Damon's view.

Our photog asks about the actual content of the special -- namely, the jokes that have deeply offended folks in the LGBT community (especially transgender people) but Dame won't touch on that.

Demi Lovato has an out-of-this-world take that's bound to get eyeballs rolling -- they think we should retire the term "alien" when referring to extraterrestrials ... seriously.

The pop star made the bizarre plea to us earthlings during an interview with Australian outlet PEDESTRIAN.tv -- in which they say the term "alien" itself is offensive ... even as it pertains to actual would-be aliens from outer space ... who may or may not be zipping around above us.

The context here is that Demi is plugging this new Peacock special of theirs called "Unidentified" ... where they and their pals go looking for proof of Martians, and seem to find something.

While talking shop on their E.T. project, they said this ... "I really think that if there was anything out there that would want to do that to us, it would have happened by now. But, I think that we have to stop calling them aliens because aliens is a derogatory term for anything." DL adds, "That’s why I like to call them ETs! So yeah, that’s a little tidbit. A little information that I learned."

It doesn't sound like Demi got this intel from the actual mothership or anything ... so it's unclear if aliens are, in fact, outraged by humans referring to them as "foreigners," which they would be by the word's definition.

Of course, the term does carry a negative connotation when applied to actual people -- like immigrants to the U.S., for example -- which is why some have called for phrases like "undocumented" and the like to be used instead ... as it's more kosher.

With that said, Demi demanding we nix the term -- one that's been used for at least a century or more in this country -- when talking otherworldly beings ... it's absolutely absurd.

Barbara Corcoran is NOT persona non grata at 'The View' -- because Whoopi Goldberg is already past the fat joke BC cracked at her expense ... saying it's water under the bridge.

We got the comic and talk show host Monday leaving ABC Studios in NYC, and just had to ask where things stood between her and her old 'Shark Tank' pal ... who got a little out of pocket last week in taking a crack a Whoopi's weight.

Watch Whoopi's reaction when he asked her about the incident ... she legit looks like she doesn't even remember it, which reflects how she feels about it -- literally, NBD.

Now, for the why ... Whoopi explains to us that Barbara has a unique sense of humor as it is -- see her funeral birthday thing as exhibit A -- and that she really didn't take offense to it all.

There's also the history between them, which WG also touches on -- saying their friendship of 20-plus years isn't going to crumble over a little quip like that ... especially since Barbara fully apologized for it right afterward. And, yes -- that means Barb isn't banned by any stretch.

Sounds like people made a bigger issue out of it than it actually was to Whoopi herself -- who, BTW, tells us she's feeling pretty good these days. Well enough to be "up," anyway.

Granville Adams -- famous for his ongoing role as Zahir Arif in "Oz" -- has died after a battle with cancer.

His costar, Kirk Acevedo, made the announcement Sunday ... writing, "I lost my brotha today after a long battle with cancer. I don’t do well with loss because I'm unfamiliar with it." He adds, "Yo Granny we'll be chopping it up on the other side one day. Until then… Rest easy my friend."

Adams appeared to announce his diagnosis back in December of last year, posting a photo of himself in a hospital bed, looking ill, and captioning it ... "F*** CANCER!"

His "Oz" family started a GoFundMe on his behalf shortly thereafter, explaining that the guy's hospital bills were mounting for both him and his family ... asking the public for help. At the time, they wrote ... "In this quarter alone, the unpaid bills have piled up to $69,550. We want to gather together and show Granville our love by clearing this quarter’s bills, giving Granville concrete support in his fight against this vicious disease."

The GFM also notes that Adams hadn't been able to work over the past year (2020) and that all funds would be donated directly to his loved ones. As of this writing, it's reached nearly $100k in contributions.

Like we said, GA is perhaps best known for appearing on 48 episodes of the hit HBO show, first appearing as a guest and then a recurring supporting role until it went off the air in 2003. Adams played Arif -- a Muslim inmate who served as a lieutenant to Kareem Said.

Adams had a few other acting credits under his belt ... including roles in "Homicide: Life on the Streets," the movie "Empire" and "Magic City Memoirs."

Granville is survived by his wife, Christina. He was 58.

Kim Kardashian has a message for Debra Messing ... you don't have to be an actor to kill it on "Saturday Night Live."

Kim came out of the gate with some shocking humor ... "I'm a Kim, not a Karen. Somehow [my mom] just knew. I don't know how she saw that coming, and not Caitlyn."

And then, there's this ... Kim said one thing she isn't is a gold-digger, "Honestly, I'm not even sure how you become one. So, I asked my mom's boyfriend, Corey."

And, she went on and on with jabs at her fam ... “[I'm] so much more than just a pretty face and good hair, and great makeup, and amazing boobs, and a perfect butt.  I’m so much more than that reference photo my sisters showed their plastic surgeon.”

Kanye wasn't spared, at first saying how grateful she was to be married to him and then slamming the brakes by saying she's divorcing him because of his personality!

There were sex tape jokes, O.J. Simpson jokes ... almost no one escaped her line of fire.

Of course, the writers killed it, but Kim was shockingly relaxed and ... well, really funny.

The skits were also mostly hilarious -- A "People's Kourt" where she settled lame family disputes.

Kris and Khloe made cameos and Halsey played a hilarious Kendall.

Lots of celebs also joined in -- Blake Griffin, John Cena, Chris Rock, Tyler C, Chase Crawford, Amy Schumer and Jesse Williams.

Chumlee is a whole new man ... after practically losing an entire man's weight.

The guy from "Pawn Stars" tells TMZ ... he was tired of struggling with his weight, which constantly fluctuated 100 pounds at a time. He says it had been a years-long battle and he felt it was time to make a drastic change after getting all the way up to 350 pounds in January 2019.

That dramatic change started the following month when he went in for gastric sleeve surgery ... a popular weight-loss procedure in which a large portion of the stomach is removed to create a smaller stomach pouch.

This, of course, reduces the quantity of food one can eat while making them feel fuller even when consuming less food. The stomach size is brought down to about the size of a banana.

As you can see, Chumlee's looking slim at 190 pounds now. He says he went through the 160-pound transformation because he wanted to not only get healthy, but stay healthy ... unlike his years of yo-yoing.

Chumlee, who got the procedure done at Blossom Bariatrics in Vegas, says now that he's slimmed down he's committed to maintaining his weight by embracing a lifestyle change ... eating clean, healthy food and getting his sweat on.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West put on a united front ahead of her "Saturday Night Live" appearance -- well, sorta ... dude still seems hesitant to acknowledge they're rekindling.

The recently estranged couple -- who are still technically in the middle of a divorce -- were seen leaving a hotel Saturday ... surrounded by a crush of paps, presumably on their way to NBC Studios to settle in ahead of KK's debut as host later this evening.

Kim was leading the charge with her head high ... and Kanye trailed behind, obscuring his face and keeping his head low -- even though everyone in town knows he's there. Seems the whole low-key vibe might be an act ... 'cause moments later, he took a selfie with a fan.

They hadn't been snapped together in NY prior to this -- but considering Ye was spotted out and about in the Big Apple over the past 24 hours ... it was no secret he'd likely be in attendance for Kim's big show. Now, it's all but certain he's in the audience, if not backstage.

We've seen them hanging out with one another quite a bit lately on the West Coast -- so it's obvious they're working out their issues and, seem to be on the road to reconciliation ... which may well lead to the divorce being called off.

While we haven't witnessed any full-blown PDA between them just yet -- the fact that they continue to step out publicly is a good sign for their relationship ... at least on its face.

Kim Kardashian's burning the midnight oil to get ready for her highly-anticipated hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live," showing that no matter what she says ... it ain't easy!!!

Production sources tell TMZ ... Kim's been putting in 20-hour days since she got into NYC Monday night. We're told call times for the 'SNL' talent have been 5 or 6 AM all week ... and some of the rehearsals have lasted until 3 AM. Sounds crazy, but we've independently confirmed it.

Our sources say Kim's been a trooper through it all too -- no complaints and no drama -- and has been laser-focused on the task at hand. We're told it's very clear ... she seriously wants to deliver as host.

As we told you ... one of Kim's promos for the Oct. 9 show has her joking the job is "so easy" because she's got the good looks for it, but the truth is she's also been getting guidance from some of the best in the biz.

We're told comedy legends like Dave Chappelle, Michelle Wolf, Ellen DeGeneres, Amy Schumer and James Corden have all been giving Kim tips on what to include in her monologue, how to approach the skits and nail her delivery.