The It List: 'Adults Adopting Adults' explores lesser-known world of adult adoption, Hulu's sex-tape saga 'Pam & Tommy' debuts, 'Phat Tuesdays' traces Black comedy history and the best in pop culture the week of Jan. 31, 2022

The It List is Yahoo's weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for Jan. 31 - Feb. 6, including the best deals we could find for each. (Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.)

WATCH IT: Adults Adopting Adults brings the family drama

Did you know that adults can adopt other adults, just as they would a child? The new "parents," who are actually unrelated to their new adoptee, might do so because they want to establish family ties to someone or even to make it easier to transfer their estate to them when they die. And while the whole set-up may sound sweet or just plain logical, the result, as seen in this 10-part A&E series, can be more uncomfortable than a Thanksgiving dinner with relatives you haven't seen in months. The show features six stories, including one in which a woman seeks to replace her mother, who's devastated about the decision, and another in which a husband in a rocky marriage believes everything is going smoothly, even as his wife attempts to hide her pain over their new, expectant adoptee. As if that weren't enough, later in the series the show turns its cameras on TMZ favorite Prince Frederic von Anhalt, a former husband of late actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, in his attempt to install a future heir. — Raechal Shewfelt

Adults Adopting Adults premieres Monday, Jan. 31 at 10 p.m. on A&E.

WATCH IT: The Worst Person in the World is already one of the best films of the year

According to Joachim Trier, the worst person in the world isn't Lex Luthor. Or Thanos. Instead, the protagonist of the Danish filmmaker's antagonistically-titled new movie is Julie, a young woman living in Oslo and experiencing a serious quarter-life crisis. In a star-making performance that scooped up the Best Actress prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival, Renate Reinsve beautifully captures her alter ego's multi-faceted personality in all its compassion and contradictions. Behind the camera, Trier enlivens the narrative with a novelistic structure that leaves room for whimsical flights of fancy, including a drug-induced hallucination and a morning run through the city streets as time literally stands still. This exclusive clip from The Worst Person in the World features Julie turning the page on one chapter in her life — only to later learn that some goodbyes aren't permanent. — Ethan Alter

The Worst Person in the World opens Friday, Feb. 4 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtime and ticket information.

STREAM IT: Say goodbye to Blade Runner: Black Lotus and hello to Shenmue the Animation

Do anime fans dream of electric sheep? The Adult Swim/Crunchyroll collab, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, continues to build out the world that Ridley Scott created in his seminal 1982 Philip K. Dick adaptation. The 13-episode series — which is set between the events of Blade Runner and Blade Runner: 2049 — airs its finale on Feb. 5, and surprises are sure to be in store as we learn the final pieces of the puzzle involving female replicant Elle and the black lotus tattoo that hints at her troubled past. Check out the exclusive action-packed clip above as evidence that Elle won't melt away quietly like, you know, tears in the rain. Speaking of action, Feb. 5 also sees the launch of Shenmue the Animation, an all-new adaptation of Sega's beloved late '90s video game franchise that follows vengeance-seeking martial artist, Ryo Hazuki. No Dreamcast required to watch these battles play out. — E.A.

The finale of Blade Runner: Black Lotus and the series premiere of Shenmue the Animation premiere Saturday, Feb. 5 on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim.

STREAM IT: Pam & Tommy is even wilder — yet also more thoughtful — than it looks

The hype has been real around Hulu’s 8-part miniseries Pam & Tommy since the release of those first jaw-dropping photos of Lily James and Sebastian Stan in character as Baywatch star Pamela Anderson and Motley Crew drummer Tommy Lee, the former celebrity couple who also happen to be famous for a certain home video once leaked in the ‘90s — not to mention Seth Rogen’s own motley mullet. The early trailers promised a hyper, sexy, revealing, wacky series, and Pam & Tommy is that and more, especially when it comes to the sex (there’s a lot), the revealing (Stan stans will be happy) and the wacky (have you heard Tommy’s penis talks to him?). But beyond the shockfestness of it all, there’s surprising depth to the series, particularly when it comes to its clear intent to portray how poorly Anderson was treated through it all by just about everyone. — Kevin Polowy

Pam & Tommy premieres Wednesday, Feb. 2 on Hulu.

STREAM IT: Stars remember an institution in Phat Tuesdays: The Era of Hip Hop Comedy

Dave Chappelle. Tiffany Haddish. Nick Cannon. Cedric the Entertainer. Those are just a few of the Black comedians who entertained at Phat Tuesdays — a weekly event, held from 1995 to 2005, at The Comedy Store on the famous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Funny man Guy Torry created it out of need, at a time when Black comics were often shut out of the area's mainstream venues. He and many others recount the story of it in this new, three-part docuseries, on which Torry is an executive producer. "For the first time," Steve Harvey says, "I was able to do Black humor." Cannon reveals that the shows were the model for his long-running, former TV series Wild 'N Out. And Snoop Dogg, one of the many celebrities who showed up to watch — Magic Johnson, Eddie Murphy and the late Kobe Bryant and Tupac Shakur among them — described the nights as "a melting pot for, like, genius s***." — R.S.

Phat Tuesdays: The Era of Hip Hop Comedy premieres Friday, Feb. 4 on Amazon Prime Video.

HEAR IT: J.Lo and Maluma are a pop power-couple

Jennifer Lopez and Maluma marry their talents for the rom-com Marry Me and its soundtrack of the same name. The soundtrack’s teaser single “Pa' Ti” has already gone to No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts, and has also cracked the Hot Latin Songs chart’s top 10 — indicating that the Latin music multi-hyphenates, who play pop superstars and ex-fiancés in the movie, have chemistry both onscreen and in the recording studio. — Lyndsey Parker

The Marry Me soundtrack by Jennifer Lopez & Maluma is available Friday, Feb. 4 to download/stream on Apple Music; the film hit theaters and Peacock on Feb. 11.

WATCH IT: Toast to a TV icon with Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl

Fans and celebrities, even President Joe Biden, can't stop gushing about White, weeks after her Dec. 31 death at 99. In this one-hour special, her famous friends will get a chance to do it on the small screen, the medium where White felt most at home, having become a staple of game shows, hosting her own talk show and playing iconic roles, such as Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls, Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Hot in Cleveland's Elka Ostrovsky. We'll enjoy plenty of laughs from White herself, too, thanks to clips from her many performances, which also included her beloved part in a 2009 movie, romantic comedy The Proposal. Sixty minutes is not going to be nearly enough time. — R.S.

Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl airs Monday, Jan. 31 at 10 p.m. on NBC.

HEAR IT: Bastille goes into Future shock

On their fourth studio album, Give Me the Future, the Britpop group teams with executive producer Ryan Tedder, as well as with Oscar-nominated Sound of Metal actor and rapper Riz Ahmed, who contributes a spoken-word interlude to the track “Promises.” According to a recent NME interview with Bastille’s lead singer/main songwriter, Dan Smith, the album changed shape during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on more "prescient" themes in the “age of deep fake, fake news and lying world leaders.” — L.P.

Give Me the Future by Bastille is available Friday, Feb. 4 to download/stream on Apple Music.

PLAY IT: Never leave The Office again with the new mobile game Somehow We Manage

It's never been more fun to take your work home with you. The beloved NBC comedy The Office enters the free-to-play mobile game space with Somehow We Manage. Help Dunder-Mifflin's eternally-struggling Scranton branch avoid downsizing by collecting animated versions of your favorite employees — from Jim and Pam to Kelly and Ryan — and acting out immortal moments from the show's nine-season run. And if you're extra-savvy, you can micro-manage your way to some serious in-game rewards. Michael Scott would be proud. — E.A.

The Office: Somehow We Manage is currently available for iOS and Android.

HEAR IT: Animal Collective returns just in time

On their 11th album, Time Skiffs, the experimental, exploratory indie icons continue to blur musical boundaries, drawing from inspirations as disparate as the Grateful Dead, Scott Walker, Brian Eno and Paul Simon but sounding unmistakably like, well, Animal Collective. The jam band's first studio LP in six years, Time Skiffs is hotly anticipated by diehard fans, but of course the best way to experience it will be in a live setting, when Panda Bear and company embark on their North American tour in March. — L.P.

Time Skiffs by Animal Collective is available Friday, Feb. 4 to download/stream on Apple Music. 

HEAR IT: Korn’s Requiem for a nu-metal dream

The 14th album by nu-metal veterans has been shrouded in secrecy, with Jonathan Davis and company posting a series of mysterious teaser visuals on Korn’s website. But from the sound of singles “Start the Healing” and “Forgotten,” Requiem is going to rock, hard. — L.P.

Requiem by Korn is available Friday, Feb. 4 to download/stream on Apple Music.

— Video produced by Anne Lilburn and edited by John Santo