President Tasmanian Devil has wreaked chaos everywhere, including in scripted television. This is an interesting article about how his policies, the non-stop news cycle, and our sense of political uncertainty has created creative challenges for television, notably scripted series from black-ish to Veep to Homeland to a show that ostensibly has nothing to do with Trump or even American politics, The Crown, and everything in between.
In many respects, creating scripted fare these days feels not unlike working as a producer for CNN. With each update of the Trump era, each tweet or contradictory statement, “there was a considerable amount more energy in the room,” says “Homeland’s” Gansa. The show has remained “politically agnostic” since launching in 2011 as an attempt to take stock of the war on terror, and has been criticized by both the left and the right for favoring one side or another.
“All of a sudden, we were confronted by a challenge. Anyone who is creating films or plays or TV shows understands — we are seeing everything through this prism now.”There have been elections before where the mood of the country shifted, he continues. But 2016 was different.
“After an election — Bush, Clinton, Obama — you sort of were able to go back to your normal life and see that there was a recognizable situation in Washington, D.C. I was not waking up every morning when Obama was president wondering what happened overnight. I was pretty sure that things were going to be OK. Not anymore.”
No fucking kidding.
Speaking of waking up in the morning and realizing that things are not going to be OK, as you well know by now, President Trash pulled out of the Paris Accord, making us only one of three countries who are not going to comply with the agreement on global warming. Anyway, The Weather Channel’s homepage was NOT HAVING IT.
National Geographic’s homepage is also NOT HAVING IT:
Even your Sharkndaoes aren’t immune. We have our title for the fifth movie: Sharknado 5: Global Swarming: “Make America Bait Again!” I know, it’s pretty amazing.
Here’s a long interview with a couple of Saturday Night Live writers about the show’s political comedy, which is interesting, but it includes a bit about a sketch that Trump did not want to do. It involved him being in a tree costume.
We did do a dress-rehearsal sketch where he was the Giving Tree, and the Giving Tree was giving fruit to a boy. And eventually the Giving Tree got completely chopped down and was a stump, and Trump was a neighboring tree saying, “You’re a sucker, you’re getting played, you should not be giving things to these people.” And Trump had to stand in a tree with his face looking out of the hole of this tree, and he did not like that. I don’t think he enjoyed looking like a tree. He was not into it and it showed, and it did not get a lot of laughs.
ABC is going to broadcast Ariana Grande’s benefit concert for Manchester on Sunday — sorta. The concert will broadcast on Freeform, and then ABC will air it after the NBA finals game.
Are diverse shows in danger? After the cancellations of Sense8, Underground and The Get Down, Variety is sounding an alarm.
Yes, [Spoiler] is returning on Fear the Walking Dead, but whatever happened to Tobias? WE NEED ANSWERS, SHOW.
In honor of the Wonder Woman movie, here’s a look back on why the 70s series was unlike anything we’d ever seen on TV.
Got $2 million burning a hole in your pocket and are a child of the 70s? Good news!
In Development
- Today Will Be Different, a miniseries that Julia Roberts will star in and produce, is being brought to HBO.
- HBO is working on Euphoria, a provocative teen drama based on an Israeli series of the same name.
- A bunch of projects have been killed:
- NatGeo is killing Killing Patton because no one wants to be in the Bill O’Reilly business.
- NBC is not moving forward with The Sackett Sisters, the Tina Fey/Robert Carlock series that was going to star Busy Philipps and Casey Wilson and I am BUMMED. Netflix? You saved Kimmy Schmidt … how about you swoop in and be a hero again?
- TNT is not going forward with that Tales from the Crypt reboot after all.
Cancellations
- Sense8 has been cancelled by Netflix. It’s a shame: it was an intriguing series, beautifully shot and full of interesting ideas. However, it was expensive as hell, and considering its global scope, it took forever to produce. I’m not surprised, but I am a little sad.
Casting News
- Brendan Fraser is joining the cast of FX’s Trust.
- Mark-Paul Gosselaar is going to star in The Passage on Fox now that he’s been freed up from Pitch.
- Katrina Norman will be joining Nashville.
- Tim Griffin (Wayward Pines) is going to be in the second season of Chance on Hulu.
R.I.P.
- Wendell Burton, actor
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
Flaked: Chip returns to a Venice that is NOT HAPPY with him in season two. Netflix
The 76th Annual Peabody Awards: The only awards that are worth a damn. 9 p.m., PBS
Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo: Sorry, Sharknado, this is the greatest sequel title ever. 7:17 p.m., Starz Family
SATURDAY
Rushmore: Houston, represent. 6:55 p.m., HBO2
Shaun of the Dead: One should watch this movie once a year for their own mental acuity. 8 p.m., TMC
SUNDAY
The Leftovers: The best show on television ends tonight. WELL, NOW WHAT. Series finale. 8 p.m., HBO
Fear the Walking Dead: Border politics. Season premiere. 8 p.m., AMC
American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. the World: Thanks, Trump. 7 p.m., NBC
| FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Shark Tank (repeat) |
Shark Tank (repeat) |
20/20 (new) |
| CBS | MacGyver (repeat) |
Hawaii Five-0 (repeat) |
Blue Bloods (repeat) |
| CW | The Originals (new) |
Reign (new) |
Local |
| FOX | Masterchef (repeat) |
The F Word (repeat) |
Local |
| NBC | America’s Got Talent (repeat) |
Dateline NBC (new) |
—
| SAT. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 |
| ABC | To Tell the Truth | 20/20: In an Instant | News/Local |
| CBS | Hawaii Five-0 (repeat) |
Criminal Minds (repeat) |
48 Hours (new) |
News/Local |
| FOX | MLB: Astros at Rangers (live) |
News/Local |
| NBC | World of Dance (repeat) |
Dateline NBC (repeat) |
News/Local | Saturday Night Live (repeat) |
—
| SUN. | 6:00 | 6:30 | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (new) |
NBC Playoffs (live) |
| CBS | 60 Minutes (new) |
NCIS: Los Angeles (repeat) |
Madam Secretary (repeat) |
Elementary (repeat) |
| FOX | Bob’s Burgers (repeat) |
Last Man on Earth (repeat) |
The Simpsons (repeat) |
Family Guy (repeat) |
Bob’s Burgers (repeat) |
Family Guy (repeat) |
| NBC | Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly (new) |
American Ninja Warrior (new) |
Take that right back!!!! What you said is disrespectful to Tasmanian devils everywhere! I dont think I can watch Looney Tunes the same anymore after that.