Soooooo in last night’s Silicon Valley finale, we said goodbye to T.J. Miller’s character Erlich Bachman. Spoiler alert: in China, Gavin Belson pays an opium den operator to keep Erlich in a drug stupor for five years and leaves him there. Miller then gave an interview about his leaving the show to The Hollywood Reporter that was … weird. Really weird.
He attacked the showrunner Alec Berg and co-star Thomas Middleditch … while also praising Middleditch:
I think that HBO and Alec Berg, specifically, kind of thought — and I guess apparently Thomas Middleditch — I guess they thought, “Alright, maybe this is the end of the character. But like everything in the show, we’ll sort of solve this and then it’s back to normal.” And they just didn’t imagine that I would be in a position of being like, “I think that’s it.” … I don’t know how smart [Alec] is. He went to Harvard, and we all know those kids are f—ing idiots. That Crimson trash. Those comedy writers in Hollywood are f—ing Harvard graduates and that’s why they’re smug as a bug. … I think that in television you usually have one element that is very challenging, very frustrating. It’s an obstacle, right? So you’re doing the best work that you can do. Alec was that for me, and I think I was that for Alec. And a very good article was written that says that Erlich in the show is just this constant annoyance to Richard. … And I think in some ways, that is analogous to real life. I think in some ways Thomas Middleditch is … we have a contrarian relationship, like a big brother-little brother relationship. And this is also an opportunity for me to be like, “Let me just step off, dude. Like, just do your f—ing thing. You’re amazing.” I did a two-man improv show with him for a decade. He’s amazing.
And he calls Yogi Bear 3D his best work?
And then the people that don’t are like stupid f—king websites like TV Over Mind or something, and they’re putting forth very reasonable, well-written logic for why this is so dumb and the only thing I’ll ever be good at was this part in Silicon Valley.” Yet none of them have seen Yogi Bear 3D, so they’re all talking and chit-chattering and squawk, squawk, squawk — but none of them have seen Yogi Bear 3D. So they don’t know that I’ve already done the best thing that I’ll ever do. And because of that, there is no fear about any move in Hollywood for me. I’m just on the downslope. This is all a downward spiral, career-wise.
And he argues that he wants to do more like The Emoji Movie, while also saying that The Emoji Movie is bad for American culture while also suggesting that his family wants him to die?
Christopher Evan Welch, who was 10 times funnier than I am, died. They lost someone to eternity who was much funnier than my character and the show found a way to pivot and find its way. Erlich failed to prove to be meaningful or of any value to Pied Piper, and so he pivoted. That’s what every company in Silicon Valley does. That’s what America is. There is failure, but we pivot. … My departure will do the same. Instead of dying, like everybody in my family would love, I go and make The Emoji Movie. It’s worse for American culture.
Go read the whole thing. Like I said, it’s weird. Really, really weird.
In Other News
According to Maths, Tyrion is the main character in Game of Thrones. This breakdown both tells us what we already know: that Jon, Daenerys and Tyrion are the most important characters; and ultimately is worthless. Just because a character doesn’t have as much screentime or doesn’t appear in as many episodes as another character doesn’t mean that they aren’t important to the plot, right Varys? Basically, breaking down the show this way isn’t effective because it lacks real context.
This problem extends to this piece which argues that Cersei received the biggest upgrade in importance from books to show. Except no? Except that Cersei, while she didn’t have her own character chapter until the fourth book was always pulling strings behind the scenes, manipulating events — HUGE events, like murdering king events — to her advantage. And she didn’t require her own chapters for that to be blatantly obvious. My point is Cersei has always been super important in both the books and the show and if you couldn’t see that (or the fact that the data cruncher above was surprised at how much time both Cersei and Sansa received) maybe you’re not paying enough attention to the female characters. WHATEVER. I HATE MATH.
Here’s the Washington Nationals’ mascot dressed up as his favorite character for Game of Thrones night:
They are coming for your drugs, Bachelor in Paradise contestants. Y’all better have prescriptions for all that Xanax it would require to be on this show.
Will & Grace isn’t going to be all about Trump, despite last summer’s reunion being ALL ABOUT TRUMP.
Oh, great, now the actors are talking about striking.
Now Bill Cosby’s lawyers are saying that his town halls aren’t going to be about how to beat sexual assault charges and says it’s the media’s fault anyone thought that in the first place EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE THE ONES WHO SAID IN THE MEDIA THAT TEACHING YOUNG MEN HOW TO AVOID SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES WAS WHAT THE TOWN HALLS WERE GOING TO BE ABOUT. Jesus Christ.
Here’s Larry King saying “fuck” a whole bunch of times.
In News News
CNN had to retract a story involving a member of Trump’s transition team and a Russian investment fund and now everyone is in BIG TROUBLE, MISTER.
In case you missed it: CNN sent a court sketch artist to the White House press briefing after cameras were banned. It was a cheeky stunt, but a lot of people thought it was the wrong approach and didn’t go far enough, demanding that CNN refuse to turn off their cameras and force the White House’s hand.
Can you sit through four minutes of the BBC having a meltdown and its anchor sitting silently waiting for his network to pull its shit together?
Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly is just not working out for NBC.
Cancellations
- Bye, Girlboss, bye.
- Downward Dog has also been sent to the doghouse, which is not surprising since ABC clearly burnt this one off over the course of one month in the summer.
In Development
- Syfy has ordered a pilot based on George R.R. Martin’s Nightflyers.
- Magician/comedian Justin Willman is getting his own Netflix reality series.
- Amazon has greenlit a docuseries based on Hannah Grant’s Tour de France book,The Grand Tour Cookbook.
- A production company is working on a miniseries based on the murdered family that was featured in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.
- Dan Harmon promises that Rick and Morty is returning, everyone needs to chill.
- Netflix has launched interactive shows with Puss in Boots.
Casting News
- Mireille Enos, Oona Chaplin and Harriet Walter are joining HBO’s My Dinner with Hervé.
- Heather Graham, Lolita Davidovich, Elizabeth Reaser and Larry Cedar have joined Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.
- Angela Lansbury might join the cast of the Little Women miniseries.
- Stephen Williams (The Leftovers, Supernatural) is joining Showtime’s The Chi.
- Ed Quinn (2 Broke Girls) is joining One Day at a Time.
- Emily Rudd will star in Olive Forever.
- Alejandro Edda (Fear the Walking Dead) has joined the cast of Cocaine Godmother.
- Birgundi Baker (Empire) and Cameron Gellman (20th Century Women) are joining the cast of Heathers.
R.I.P.
Marion Goldin, 60 Minutes producer
WATCH THIS
The Bachelorette: Kenny and Lee dramaz continue. 7 p.m., ABC
O.J. Made in America: If you missed this amazing documentary last year, catch it now. Seriously — this was one of the best things on television last year. The rest of the documentary will air on subsequent Monday nights. 8 p.m., A&E
Southern Charm: An apology sends shockwaves through the season finale. 8 p.m., Bravo
So You Think You Can Dance: New York City auditions. 7 p.m., Fox
Late Night: Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Pharrell Williams, Chris Colfer, Vince Staples Late Night with Seth Meyers: Dave Franco, Ruth Negga, James Blunt, Sam Fogarino The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Michael Keaton, Zoe Kazan, Tom Shillue Watch What Happens Live: Landon Clements, Thomas Ravenel
| MON. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | The Bachelorette (new) |
Celebrity Family Feud (repeat) |
| CBS | Kevin Can Wait (repeat) |
Man With a Plan (repeat) |
Mom (repeat) |
Life in Pieces (repeat) |
Scorpion (repeat) |
| CW | Supergirl (repeat) |
Whose Line is it Anyway? (repeat) |
Whose Line is it Anyway? (repeat) |
Local |
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance (new) |
Superhuman (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | American Ninja Warrior (new) |
Spartan (new) |
Just a head’s up – Wednesday night’s Astros game is Game of Thrones Night. I cannot wait to see what Orbit has in mind.