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Here’s a terrible-seeming idea: The Rolling Stones should get started on their next album.

Like, now.

After taking nearly two decades to release 2023’s “Hackney Diamonds” — the band’s first set of original material since “A Bigger Bang” in 2005 — the Stones are back this week with a follow-up, “Foreign Tongues,” that took them less than 36 months to get out.

And it’s the better record in every way.

In the old days, of course, two and a half years was all they needed to make “Beggars Banquet,” “Let It Bleed” and “Sticky Fingers.” So let’s not get too carried away by the fact Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood are working as fast as they are in their late 70s and early 80s.

Yet to listen to the brisk and sportive “Foreign Tongues” is to hear a band clearly going on instinct rather than overthinking the music à la any number of veteran acts in legacy-maintenance mode. I don’t know if the result is the Stones’ best since 1978’s “Some Girls,” but it’s definitely the funniest, which is actually the more impressive achievement.

“Wake up in the morning and you wanna make me puke,” Jagger sneers in the punky “Hit Me in the Head” — exactly the kind of lyric you’d hope to hear from a band whose only possible reason for still being in the game is to have a gas-gas-gas.

Like “Hackney Diamonds” — and, for that matter, like Paul McCartney’s “The Boys of Dungeon Lane” (to name one recent overthinking-veteran LP) — “Foreign Tongues” was produced by 35-year-old Andrew Watt, who’s made a career of helping boomer icons put a little shine on their late-in-life efforts. And he’s helped the Stones convene an appealingly motley crew of collaborators here, including McCartney (who plays bass on “Covered in You”), the Cure’s Robert Smith (who contributes guitar to “Divine Intervention”), Steve Winwood (who plays piano and organ throughout the album) and Bruno Mars (who’s credited with, uh, cowbell in “Never Wanna Lose You”).

You also get a welcome appearance from the late Charlie Watts in a hard-thwacking performance recorded before his death in 2021. (Steve Jordan otherwise keeps time.)

But none of the stunt casting feels like the point of the album, which instead simply doles out a dozen tunes in the Stones’ various idioms — the bluesy stomp, the country-ish lope, the sleazy disco jam — plus a couple of covers in just over an hour. It’s frisky and lighthearted, even when Jagger is lamenting what he sees as the sorry state of his beloved America in “Ringing Hollow” and when Richards is croaking about love having put him on his knees in “Some of Us.”

And when they go goblin mode, they really lean in: “Mr. Charm” is a demented soul-rock rave-up about how boring money is — OK, Mick — in which Jagger drops a diss of the “mad mogul Mr. Musk” into a verse laying out the delights of staying home and doing anagrams.

In “Divine Intervention,” Jagger offers a colorful travelogue of trips through New York and Los Angeles — “I kept moving on to Silver Lake / To play guitar with a brand new friend of mine” — while Richards and Wood get their guitars slip-sliding all over the place. “Jealous Lover” is gorgeously trashy: a horny little strut that sounds like “Dirty Mind”-era Prince doing “Waiting on a Friend.” (Legitimately loony Mick vocal here.)

For God knows what reason, the Stones offer up a faithful rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” with Jagger on harmonica. And the album ends with a very ragged take on Chuck Berry’s “Beautiful Delilah,” obviously meant to remind you of how the two lifers at the core of the Stones came together more than half a century ago.

The memory is ancient; the thrill, somehow, is alive.

Fans can’t get enough of the series even after watching multiple times

Fans claim that the prequel series is even better than the movie it is based on.

An ‘absolutely genius’ show that has just been added to Netflix has been labelled as the ‘funniest show ever’. Containing eight episodes in total viewers should be able to binge watch the title in record time.

The first season of Ted is now available on the platform as of today (July 1). It serves as a prequel for the film of the same name written and directed by Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane.

McFarlane returns to voice the titular character Ted as well as serving as one of the show’s writers. He also directs every episode of the show.

According to its synopsis, the comedic prequel event series to the films begins in 1993. Ted the bear’s moment of fame has passed.

He’s now living back home in Framingham, Massachusetts with his best friend, 16-year-old John Bennett, along with John’s parents, Matty and Susan and cousin Blaire. Ted may be a lousy influence on John, but at the end of the day, he’s a loyal pal who’s always willing to go out on a limb for friendship.

MaxBurkholder takes over the role of John, which was previously played by Mark Wahlberg in the films. Meanwhile, Euphoria’s Alanna Ubach plays John’s mother and The Punisher’s Giorgia Whigham plays his cousin.

Scott Grimes, who has appeared in multiple MacFarlane projects including American Dad, The Orville plays John’s dad.

A second season released earlier this year but the future of the show is up in the air. McFarlane has said there aren’t any plans for a third season saying its production costs might be too high, although he’s also hinted there could be a film in the future with the series cast.

For now Netflix users can enjoy all episodes of the first season. The second is currently only available via Sky or NOW streaming platform.

Fans are full of praise for the series that boasts a rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is higher than the original film. One person labelled it a “hilarious masterpiece.”

They added: “The CGI for the bear is insanely good, you almost forget he isn’t real. Seth MacFarlane does an incredible job bringing Ted to life, and the chemistry between the entire cast makes the show feel effortless. The cast bounce off the absurdity perfectly, and the dialogue never stops being funny. It’s one of those comedies that’s just pure fun to watch from start to finish.”

Someone else claimed they still love it just as much after multiple watches. They said: “I’ve watched Ted at least 10 times, and it still makes me laugh every single time. The jokes are sharp, the timing is perfect, and the cast is just amazing. it’s absurd, honest, and perfectly delivered. Shows like this don’t come around often, and it’s my ultimate rewatchable series.”

While one person posted: “It’s absurd, a little bit chaotic, and somehow still incredibly charming, much like the bear himself. The show cleverly balances raunchy humour with an oddly heartfelt coming-of-age story, proving that even a foul-mouthed, beer-loving teddy bear can provide surprisingly good life advice—albeit sandwiched between jokes that would make your grandmother faint.”

The go on to say: “Seth MacFarlane’s voice work is as sharp as ever, delivering laugh-out-loud moments with the kind of deadpan brilliance usually reserved for grumpy old men at the pub. In the end, Ted Season 1 is exactly what you’d expect: hilarious, ridiculous, and strangely heartwarming.”

Others warned that as soon as you watch one episode, you will quickly find yourself breezing through the whole series. They said: “Seth is a comedy genius and this project is no different after putting it on with the intention of watching one at 12.30am at night I binge watched it and was left wanting more.”

Ted is streaming on Netflix and NOW

All six episodes are available to binge in one go via Channel 4’s catch-up service after the series premiere this week

A brand new Channel 4 comedy series premiered last night and audiences are split.

Surreal six-part sitcom Make That Movie aired its first two episodes on Channel 4 on Thursday evening (May 28) with the entire series also made available to binge in one go on the broadcaster’s catch-up service.

The mockumentary follows a director named Sam (portrayed by Australian comedian Sam Campbell) who scours the UK in search of weird and wonderful ideas for feature films from the general public. He and his team then bring the ideas to life in just three days, though the quality of the finished product is always slightly questionable.

The official synopsis reads: “Hotshot director Sam and his elite team of filmmakers race against the clock to turn ordinary people’s extraordinary, chaotic and surreal ideas into hit movies.”

Alongside show creator Sam, who plays an exaggerated version of himself, the cast also includes Michell and Webb Are Not Helping’s Lara Ricote as runner Jess, and Am I Being Unreasonable’s Helen Bauer, cast as sound engineer Pat. Meanwhile, Aaron Chen (Fisk) takes on the part of intimacy coordinator Sebastian, and This Country’s David Hargreaves assumes the role of cinematographer Winnie.

In the wake of its release, reviews have ranged greatly with some declaring it the best thing on TV and others calling it the worst, something Sam had been wary of. He admitted in a chat with Metro: “It’s really hard making a show. It’s better to watch a show,” adding: “There’s a big, serious threat of it being t**d of the year.”

Professional critics appeared to enjoy the series, with The Guardian calling it “the funniest TV show of the entire year” in their five-star review. Meanwhile The Times offered it a more meagre three stars, branding it “just so weird.”

While it is still lacking a Rotten Tomatoes rating, viewers at home that dove straight into it have been vocal with their thoughts. One disgruntled viewer commented: “That make that movie programme with Sam Campbell is absolutely HORRIFICCCCCCCC.”

“A few episodes in on #MakeThatMovie (love Sam Campbell) and while it’s genius to cast Aaron Chen in roles such as intimacy coordinator and stunt coordinator, he just feels very underused,” another remarked.

A third urged “everyone watch Make That Movie by Sam Campbell,” while a fourth was unsure, commenting: “Hmm… Sam Campbell is great at spontaneous weird ideas but I’m not sure it works so well committed to a script… And Sam won’t be winning any Oscars for his acting.”

Make That Movie is available to stream via Channel 4’s catch-up service.