Cameron Boyce, Jada Pinkett Smith talk childhood stardom in ‘Showbiz Kids,’ ‘Clueless’ turns 25, the newly named Chicks drop ‘Gaslighter’ and the best in pop culture the week of July 13, 2020

The It List is Yahoo’s weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. During the coronavirus pandemic, when most of us are staying at home, we’re going to spotlight things you can enjoy from your couch, whether solo or in small groups, and leave out the rest. With that in mind, here are our picks for July 13-19, 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: See one of Cameron Boyce’s last interviews in Alex Winter’s moving documentary, Showbiz Kids

There’s no shortage of cautionary tales chronicling the perils of child stardom in Hollywood. What sets Alex Winter’s new HBO documentary apart from the pack is the obvious empathy that the director — a former child star himself — has for his subjects, and their own clear-eyed accounts of the highs and lows of their youthful Tinseltown experiences. Without dumpster diving for the most salacious stories, Winter still draws out some remarkable, and sometimes troubling, memories. Milla Jovovoich, for example, speaks candidly about the way she came to accept older men pursuing her on movie sets as being normal, while Todd Bridges remembers how the adults in his life helped themselves to his salary and Evan Rachel Wood describes wrestling with her bisexuality in an industry that was ready to sexualize her at a young age. And then there’s Wil Wheaton, who allows his anger and regret to come to the surface as he talks about being pushed into child stardom by his parents and some of the abusive on-set environments he endured while wishing for a more ordinary childhood. Winter intercuts those memories with the present-day experiences of two contemporary child actors as they decide whether show business is an industry they want to grow up in.

Showbiz Kids also features a never-before-seen interview with Cameron Boyce, the former Disney Channel star who died last July at age 20 following an epileptic seizure. Unlike Wheaton or Bridges, Boyce says that he wasn’t taken advantage of by his parents during his childhood, although his friends were another story. “After awhile, you don’t really know ‘Do you want to be my friend because you want to be my friend or do you want to be my friend because I’m on TV,” he says, adding “I got used.” The pressures of being raised in the public eye — particularly as a “Disney kid” — also weighed heavily on his mind. “Everyone has an idea of what they want you to be, and at that age even you don’t even know what the hell you want to be,” he tells Winter, a sentiment that takes on extra resonance in light of his early death. “I still want to be a good example, but at the same time… I’m an actor and I want to do cool stuff.” — Ethan Alter

Story continues

Showbiz Kids premieres Tuesday, July 14 at 9 p.m. on HBO.

STREAM IT: Demi Moore is back like it’s 1990-something

Not that she ever really went anywhere — and we wouldn’t want her to — but one of the most ubiquitous stars of the ‘90s is back in a big way this week. What’s arguably her most famous movie, Ghost, marks its 30th anniversary, just as she launches two new projects. The first is a TV adaptation of Brave New World, author Aldous Huxley’s classic dystopian novel from 1932, on the new Peacock streaming service. She’s also set to star in and executive produce a new six-part podcast, Dirty Diana, about a couple who’s drifted apart but learn to connect again over perseverance and lots of sex. — Raechal Shewfelt

Demi Moore’s movie Ghost is available at Amazon; Brave New World premieres Wednesday, July 15, on Peacock; and Dirty Diana premieres Monday, July 13 on QCode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKQQGZzLfBw

HEAR IT: The newly named Chicks light it up

This band by any other name is just as badass. Fourteen years after their Grammy-sweeping comeback album Taking the Long Way, the much-missed rebellious country trio formerly known as the Dixie Chicks — and now known as simply the Chicks — is back again with Gaslighter. The incendiary title track and protest anthem “March March” prove that the name change and hiatus haven’t diminished their spark one bit. — Lyndsey Parker

Download/stream Gaslighter on Apple Music.

STREAM IT: 30 years later, Quick Change remains one of Bill Murray’s best comedies 

When it opened in theaters in the crowded summer of 1990, Quick Change quickly raced to the bottom of the box office. But if you grew up in a cable household during that era, chances are that you subsequently watched Bill Murray’s hilarious crime caper over and over and over again. A passion project for the comedy legend — Murray co-produced and co-directed the movie in addition to starring in it alongside Geena Davis and Randy Quaid — Quick Change is a fleet-footed romp through the streets of New York City that’s only gotten funnier with age. The central trio play bank robbers who pull off an ingenious bank heist in the opening moments of the movie, and then spend the rest of the runtime trying to get the heck out of the Big Apple as every exit route is steadily blocked off. You don’t have to be a New York commuter to laugh at — and sympathize with — the traffic jams, crazy cab drivers and mass transit mishaps that befall our crooked heroes… but it helps. — E.A.

Quick Change is available to rent or purchase on most digital services including Amazon and iTunes. 

BUY IT: Be the best villain you can be with Ravensburger’s Marvel Villainous: Infinite Power board game

Take it from Tom “Loki” Hiddleston: It’s cool to be the hero, but it’s more fun to play the villain. Ravensburger’s latest board game, Marvel Villainous: Infinite Power invites Marvel fans to test that theory by taking on the roles of such powerhouse enemies as Killmonger, Hela, Ultron, Taskmaster and, of course, Thanos. Like its Disney Villainous counterpart, Infinite Power gives each of these villains their own objective, and they’ll have to defeat the Avengers — as well as each other — to achieve it. With an infinity (war) of gameplay options, this game should keep you occupied until the Black Widow movie finally gets released. — E.A.

Marvel Villainous: Infinite Power will be available July 26 and can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.

STREAM IT: Clueless is marking its 25th anniversary? No way

We can only imagine how cool of a bash the cult classic would throw for its 25th birthday. (Can you see us twirling our gum right now?) There would be Alicia Silverstone, Donald Faison, Breckin Meyer and more, in funny and smart performances as affluent teenagers traipsing through life in Beverly Hills. The music would be upbeat and make you wanna cruise around in a jeep with the top off. And the clothes! The ensembles would be unforgettable. (Speaking of, shouldn’t we all have that computer program for getting dressed that Cher has by now?) While the cookies would probably be burnt, the bash would still be worth a cameo. — R.S.

Clueless is available on Netflix.

STREAM IT: Road Rules hit the gas 25 years ago

If you find yourself being sucked into the various margarita-and-muscle-fueled iterations of MTV’s The Challenge, you have Road Rules to thank (or blame). When it debuted 25 years ago, this spinoff essentially amounted to “The Real World in an RV” — back when the network’s groundbreaking reality show was more into exploring the human condition and not contaminating hot tubs — with current Access host Kit Hoover among the relatively wholesome inaugural group of road trippers. Over the years, Road Rules’s outdoorsy travel vibe took on more of the game-show-style jock drama that now defines The Challenge. The show itself stopped running in 2007, though many of its rugged, ax-grinding former cast members regularly resurface on Challenge spinoffs like Rivals and Total Madness. — Erin Donnelly

Alas, the Road Rules archive isn’t available to stream (or watch on DVD) legally, but fans can catch up with some of their favorite alums on The Challenge, multiple seasons of which can be streamed on Amazon.

STREAM IT: See The Ed Sullivan Show the way it was 

As TV buffs know, this nightly talker, which ran from 1948 to 1971, was one that was sure to come up at the dinner table, the water cooler or wherever you went in the days before everyone watched something different. Now, you can officially stream appearances by stars including Judy Garland, Jackie Robinson, the Mamas and the Papas and Nat King Cole in their entirety for the first time through a new licensing deal. They’ll be rolled out a few at a time all week, beginning with the footage from the late Carl Reiner and comedy partner Mel Brooks performing their famous “2,000 Year Old Man” joke. — R.S.

The Ed Sullivan Show segments will premiere Friday, July 17, on YouTube.

HEAR IT: Ellie Goulding shines bright again 

Five years after her last album and more than a decade after her breakthrough with “Lights,” the British indie-pop diva is back with her most ambitious effort yet, Brightest Blue. The record is divided into a more confessional and vulnerable Side A and a Side B featuring collaborations with Blackbear, Diplo, Lauv, serpentwithfeet, Swae Lee and the late Juice Wrld. — L.P.

Download/stream Brightest Blue on Apple Music.

BUY IT: Basic Fun brings the caring back with a new line of Care Bears plush dolls 

Do the Care Bears countdown! Cheer Bear, Share Bear, Tenderheart Bear and their caring pals — even Gumpy — are back and cuter than ever in a new line of plush figures from Basic Fun. The dolls’ bright colors (Funshine Bear’s yellow fur is so bright, you gotta wear shades) should provide instant nostalgia trips for ‘80s kids, while their expressive faces and stylized tummies (check out that wicked clover leaf on Good Luck Bear) will delight youngsters who maybe don’t have a Care Bears cartoon show in their lives. All six bears are available at Walmart, and Basic Fun has additional Care Bears goodness coming your way later this year. — E.A.

Basic Fun’s Care Bear plush toys are available at Walmart. 

HEAR IT: Bush’s new music is. everything Zen

When Gavin Rossdale set out to write Bush’s eighth studio album, The Kingdom, he had no idea how timely the LP’s theme would become in the COVID-19 age. The record presents a vision of a utopian world, an ideal society, and in an era that now feels dystopian to many, this concept of a “kingdom” certainly strikes a chord. “It just taps into the Zeitgeist,” Rossdale recently told Yahoo Entertainment. — L.P.

Download/stream The Kingdom on Apple Music.

— Video produced by Gisselle Bances