Arrested Development season five is going to debut on Netflix on May 29, and Netflix is in a bit of a pickle over Jeffrey Tambor. He has been fired by Amazon over accusations he sexually harassed women on the set of Transparent and was abusive towards his assistant. However, Netflix and Arrested Development chose to keep him in the cast, which is going to be awkward and distracting and lead to a thousand think pieces when Arrested Development returns. Cue the “Jeffrey Tambor Comes Forward With His Side of the Story” piece.
There’s a lot to digest in there, including suggestions that the accusations against him were part of a trans conspiracy against the show for hiring a cisgender man to play a transgender woman; that Jill and Faith Soloway supported him and thought that a “coup” was taking place; that the set of Transparent was inherently sexual in nature; and that Tambor is at root an asshole, and even got into a fight with Jessica Walter on Arrested Development which leads to my favorite parenthetical in the piece: “a rep for Walter says, “Jessica does not wish to talk about Jeffrey Tambor.” The piece as a whole comes off as Tambor damage control, and he is REALLY feeling very sorry for himself here. Tambor never delves too deeply into specifics about what he did or did not do for obvious legal reasons, but it is an interesting read, nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Jill Soloway has announced that the fifth season of Transparent will be its final season. It will not include Tambor.
Charlie Rose has been sued by three former CBS employees. SO MAYBE RIGHT NOW ISN’T THE BEST TIME FOR THAT LITTLE SHOW OF YOURS, CHUCK.
This R. Kelly story, guys. How many women have to come forward, and how many denials of denials of weird denials have to be issued?
John Amato, the president of Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, may have been protecting Charlie Walk, going so far as to “interven[e] in the editorial process to stop multiple stories with new, original reporting on Walk from running at Spin and Billboard.” Not a good look, yo.
Bravo is investigating Thomas Ravenel.
Ava DuVernay is not interested in your whining about her only hiring female directors for Queen Sugar.
God dammit, Family Guy and Seth MacFarlane. Don’t make hating you hard.
In Other TV News That Does Not Involve Gross Men Being Gross
Speaking of Arrested Development, the recut of season four — which really does improve the season — suggests that Hurwitz has learned from his mistakes: namely 1. keep the family together, and 2. keep the episodes at 22 minutes. Brevity really is the soul of wit. Let’s hope he applied both of these to season five.
Television Academy’s 11th Annual Television Academy Honors are set to honor One Day at a Time, 13 Reasons Why, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Andi Mack, Daughters of a Destiny, Forbidden: Undocumented & Queer in Rural America, and LA 92 for being “some of the most meaningful and relevant series, programs and documentaries of the past year.”
Here is a handy guide to which robots are woke on Westworld.
Killing Eve. Killing Eve. Killing Eve.
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND IS NOT DONE WITH YOU, RYAN MURPHY.
Eric Kripke is calling on Timeless fans to raise the banners again.
Lisa Vanderpump doesn’t care about January Jones.
The Mountain is the world’s strongest man again.
OK, White Walker scotch is something I can absolutely get behind. I mean, I’d rather have the new book, but this will help me drink my bitterness away.
For those of you not on Twitter, this weekend we all learned a lot about the sad and disappointed life DJ Khaled’s wife lives. Anyway, Evan Rachel Wood rode to the rescue like the BADASS that she is. And look at Dictionary.com trying to play Miriam Webster’s game:
Congratulations, Danielle “Square Tits” Staub! I hope no one threw any tables at the reception!
Renewals
- American Idol was renewed by ABC for a second season, surprise surprise.
- While this is not an official renewal, it sounds like Peaky Blinders will go on for seasons six and seven.
In Development
- New Amsterdam has been ordered to series by NBC, the announcement made ahead of next week’s upfronts.
- Dietland will have a companion series hosted by Aisha Tyler.
- Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue has been optioned by Greg Berlanti.
- Coop and Cami Ask the World has been greenlit by Disney Channel.
- Shook Up is being developed by Epix.
Casting News
- Michelle Monaghan will star in the Netflix drama Messiah.
- David McCallum is returning to NCIS next season.
Mark Your Calendar
- Luke Cage returns on Netflix on June 22.
- Wrong Man will debut on Starz on June 3.
- Cults and Extreme Belief will debut on A&E on May 28.
- That ABBA special will air on NBC in December.
- A Very English Scandal will air on BBC One … at some point. And over here … eventually?
WATCH THIS
A Dangerous Son: A heartbreaking look at mental illness in children and how our society is failing these families. 7 p.m., HBO
E! Live from the Red Carpet: The 2018 Met Gala: Fancy people in fancy costumes! 5:30 p.m., E!
Kevin Can Wait: Kevin is talked into getting the band back together in the season finale. 7 p.m., CBS
Running Wild with Bear Grylls: Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays wilderness man with Bear Grylls in the season premiere. 9 p.m., NBC
Late Night: Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Michael Shannon, Andrew Rannells, Father John Misty Late Night with Seth Meyers: John Goodman, Jeffrey Wright, Aaron Spears The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Jim Parsons, Alexis Ohanian, Lake Street Dive The Late Late Show with James Corden: Zach Braff, Jada Pinkett Smith, Portugal. The Man Jimmy Kimmel Live: Melissa McCarthy, Luke Bryan, Cody Bellinger Conan: Jim Jefferies, Natasha Lyonne, Wajatta The Daily Show: Ronan Farrow The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: Jonah Goldberg Watch What Happens Live: Charlize Theron, Ron Livingston
| MON. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Dancing with the Stars (new) |
The Crossing (new) |
| CBS | Kevin Can Wait (new) |
Man with a Plan (new) |
Superior Donuts (new) |
The Big Bang Theory (repeat) |
Elementary (new) |
| CW | Supergirl (new) |
iZombie (new) |
Local |
| FOX | Lucifer (new) |
The Resident (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | The Voice (new) |
Running Wild with Bear Grylls (new) |