No stranger to rabid fan bases in genre television, Emma Caulfield, who plays Dottie on Marvel Studios' WandaVision, is reveling in the various fan theories that have sprung up during the show's nine-episode run.
"Obviously I knew what the truth was, and I couldn't say anything," Caulfield told Cheddar regarding speculation about her character running rampant on social media. "These are all so good, and I wish that some of these were actually true."
The veteran actress, who also once starred as a demon-turned-human character in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, even issued a tongue-in-cheek plea to Kevin Feige, who runs the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to make more of those fan-derived storylines come to pass.
"Dear Kevin, what can I get you for Christmas?" she added with a laugh.
Without giving away the ending for the series, which is now completely available on Disney+ after a traditional run of weekly episode drops, Caulfield's Dottie is one of the significant residents of Westview, New Jersey, the setting for superhero Wanda Maximoff to seemingly living vicariously through TV sitcoms that magically envelop the town. The episodes of the streaming show correspondingly pay homage to classic broadcast staples that run the gamut from The Dick Van Dyke Show to Modern Family.
Caulfield noted that emulating some of those earlier TV aesthetics was part of the fun challenge of creating the series.
"Getting the period correct, making sure that the voice and the body language and all that stuff was spot on, the technical aspects of that, that was the most actor-y good stuff that you get to do," she said.
Offering up that the work environment was supportive to take on those challenges, Caulfield took time to praise dialect coach Courtney Young, as well as WandaVision showrunner and her previous collaborator on the film Timer, Jac Schaeffer.
"She's just this wonderfully supportive, hilarious, gifted person," Caulfield said of Schaeffer. "I would read the phone book for her if she wanted me to."
The six-month trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has come to an end with the former tech startup star found guilty of four out of 11 counts of fraud. Michael S. Weinstein, Esq, chair of the white collar criminal defense practice at Cole Schotz, and former Department of Justice trial attorney, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what happens next for the former mogul. "Do I think it's going to be more than five or seven years? Probably yes. I think that's probably a fair range at this point," he said about her potential prison sentence.
We are just one day away from what has been called the most influential tech event in the world. CES 2022 will officially kick off on Wednesday in Las Vegas, but the annual tech summit is being impacted by COVID-19, like so many other recent events. The Consumer Technology Association originally planned for a hybrid event to take place from January 5-8, with some in-person events and some virtual; however, a few big-name companies announced they will not be attending in-person, so the CTA decided to shorten the event by one day, with it now ending on Friday. Consumer electronics senior analyst Will Greenwald joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
California's new composting law will affect what residents do in their kitchens. As of this week, Californians will have to recycle excess food in an effort to reduce emissions caused by food waste. Cities and counties will turn recycled food into compost or use it as a renewable energy source. California's new law is the largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the country. Rachel Wagoner, Director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery called the law 'the biggest change to trash' since recycling started in the 1980s. She joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Fast-casual restaurant chain Sweetgreen is rolling out its first salad subscription service called sweetpass as it looks to customers tackling new year weight loss and health goals. Members will receive up to 30 percent off of purchases.
Washington DC and the surrounding areas saw a record breaking snow storm Monday as a strong storm system works its way across the eastern U.S. The extreme weather event caused extensive damage in the greater Washington area, leaving thousands in the region without power. Jonathan Porter, Chief Meteorologist, AccuWeather, joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss the fierce storm.
Airlines canceled more than 3,000 flights on Monday over severe weather and crew shortages. The cancellations come on one of the busiest travel days of the holiday season, and is a continuation of the industry-wide disruption that started before Christmas. Thomas Pallini, Aviation Reporter for Insider joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
Millions of Americans with young children have relied on the child tax credit since the federal government began issuing checks in July 2021. The last round of payments was sent out just before the Christmas holiday — at the same time as the omicron variant surged. Leah Hamilton, associate professor of social work at Appalachian State University, joined Cheddar to discuss what the end to the tax credit means as the U.S. sees the end of many relief programs and its highest number of COVID cases since the start of the pandemic. "It'll become harder for families to meet their basic needs, increasing national childhood poverty rates and the proportion of families who have difficulty putting food on the table, maintaining stable housing, and paying their bills," Hamilton said. She also pointed to research that the credit as a long-term investment in children offsets claims that it contributes to macroeconomic impacts like inflation.
Several Silicon Valley insiders are being accused of contorting a 1990s-era tax break to avoid taxes on millions of dollars of investment profits. The tax break is known as the qualified small business stock exemption, and it allows early investors in certain companies to avoid half of the taxes on up to $10 million in capital gains. A piece recently published in the New York Times says venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz replicated the tax exemption by giving shares of companies to friends and family, who would otherwise face a 23.8% capital gains bill. The CEO of Roblox is also accused of replicating the tax break for his family members at least 12 times. Although the loophole known as 'stacking' is considered to be legal, the Times piece implies that the exemption has been manipulated for the ultra-wealthy to become more wealthy. Greycroft co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Alan Patricof joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
