On his show, Sean Hannity, the President’s Chief Propagandist, belittled and dismissed Jim Acosta’s concerns over the anti-media and anti-CNN fervor of the Trump supporters at the rally the other night and accused CNN of being biased. Jim Acosta responded thusly last night:
But don’t worry, Sean Hannity fired back with his typical professionalism and eloquence:
I can only say so many times that Hannity, Trump and the White House’s persistent attacks on the free press — and by extension reality itself — is dangerous and will not end well. But there is also something unseemly about legitimate newsmen having to defend themselves against personal attacks from the White House’s most influential mouthpiece. Sure, Acosta could have just ignored Hannity’s attacks, and maybe he should have. But in Acosta’s defense, Hannity is Fox News’ most popular talking head, he has a direct line to the inside of Trump’s brain, and here he is not just reporting on the rabid crowd and their behavior, but encouraging and further amplifying the hatred of the free press, specifically going after Acosta in a very direct and personal way. Hannity is not merely fanning the flames, but actively fueling a proliferating fire and there will certainly be very real consequences one day. It’s terrifying.
Meanwhile, the TV-Critic-in-Chief had some thoughts this morning:
OK.
In other TV news
Big Little Lies 2 is going to be EVERYTHING:
And LOL, Killing Eve:
The Originals came to an end last night, and the showrunner talks about those deaths.
And here’s a deleted scene from the finale. I have so many notes about how they depict Mardi Gras and the “street art” featured here. It’s like the whole scene was directed by someone who had never been to New Orleans, despite having been filmed there for the past five years.
Evangeline Lily was forced to do a scene in season three of Lost practically naked and she was not happy about it: “And I was mortified and I was trembling and when it finished, I was crying my eyes out and I had to go on do a very formidable, very strong scene thereafter.” (I am guessing it was the sex scene with Sawyer in the cage? And if so, who can blame her? I mean, it’s not exactly the most comfortable place to get naked, if we’re all going to be honest here.) Anyway, the point is, she took her power back and refused to do any other nude scenes, telling the writers to get bent. GOOD FOR HER.
Spike is down for coming back for the Buffy reboot. At least he knows: “I think we’d have to get some really good lighting together to sell Spike,” he said, “but I think they are doing more and more both with actor health and with special effects.”
And Jennifer Anniston fantasizes about a Friends reboot. Or maybe a Golden Girls reboot with Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe.
Ok, so is Rick Grimes going to make it out of this thing alive or nah? (Probably not, but who even knows.)
This is some deep inside baseball Game of Thrones nonsense: but fans of the Iron Bank — and who isn’t a fan of the Iron Bank? — will be heartbroken to learn that there won’t be any scenes at the Iron Bank or with any of the Iron Bankers in the final season. Sorry for your loss.
The weirdest thing about this story in which Chris Harrison says he was worried for Bachelor in Paradise‘s future after the whole Corinne/DeMario scandal is the headline that calls him “Bachelor in Paradise Host” instead of Chris Harrison. Who doesn’t know who Chris Harrison is? If you know what Bachelor in Paradise is, you certainly already know Chris Harrison is the host, right?
#MeToo
Moonves Update: Time’s Up warned CBS that they are watching and expect a “full, transparent and expedient investigation”; CBS has hired two law firms to conduct said investigation; Les Moonves is stepping down from Anita Hill’s Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace; Jeff Fager is in trouble.
Samantha Bee had some thoughts on Moonves still being at CBS:
Also, Terry Crews helps Bee explain that those rape jokes just aren’t funny in a PSA:
Renewals
- Baahubali has been renewed at Netflix.
Cancellations
- The Dangerous Book for Boys has been canceled at Amazon.
In Development
- Shrill, a comedy that will star Aidy Bryant and based on the Lindy West memoir, has been ordered by Hulu. But what does it mean for Bryant and Saturday Night Live? Well, they’ve only ordered six episodes, and an insider claims Bryant is returning to SNL this season, so.
- There might be an ALF reboot in the works. Sure. Why not.
- Netflix is working on an adaptation of Animal Farm with Andy Serkis.
Casting News
- Cate Blanchett is going to appear in Documentary Now! in a spoof of performance artist Marina Abramovic.
- Julia Ormond is going to star in Gold Digger for BBC One.
- Lily Donoghue, Cooper Koch, Keenan Jolliff, Ronen Rubinstein and James Bloor is joining the cast of Less Than Zero on Hulu.
- Yadira Guevara-Prip and Nesta Cooper are joining See on Apple.
- Peyton Alex Smith is going to join Legacies on The CW.
- Riley Voelkel is joining Roswell, New Mexico.
Mark Your Calendars
- Shark Tank returns on October 7, and Charles Barkley, Matt Higgins and, former Shark Tank entrepreneur, Jamie Siminoff, will fill in as guest Sharks.
- Bread will premiere on Food Network on September 3.
- Unspeakable Crime: The Killing of Jessica Chambers will debut on Oxygen on September 15.
WATCH THIS
Shahs of Sunset: Season seven premiere. (A season six marathon begins at 10 a.m.) 8 p.m., Bravo
The Four: The four winners are chosen! That’s how this works, right? Season finale. 7 p.m., Fox
Sunday Night Football: 1. It’s Thursday. 2. It’s August. I reject all of this. 7 p.m., NBC
Late Night: Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Ray Romano, Lauren Miller, Leon Bridges Late Night with Seth Meyers: Ewan McGregor, Ann Dowd, Taylor Gordon The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Chloe Grace Moretz, Bobcat Goldthwait Jimmy Kimmel Live: Bret Baier, Courtney Barnett The Daily Show: A$AP Rocky Watch What Happens Live: Reza Farahan, Mercedes Javid
| THURS | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | The Gong Show (new) |
Match Game (repeat) |
Take Two (new) |
| CBS | The Big Bang Theory (repeat) |
Young Sheldon (repeat) |
Big Brother (repeat) |
S.W.A.T. (repeat) |
| CW | Supernatural (repeat) |
Black Lightning (repeat) |
News/Local |
| FOX | The Four (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Sunday Night Football (live) |
Football is (sorta) back! Praise be!
[Yadira Guevara-Prip and Nesta Cooper are joining See on Apple.]
Welp, I guess this really-really means that we’re not getting Wayward Daughters. And I say this as someone who lurved the first three seasons of The Vampire Diaries, but GODAMMIT JULIE PLEC NO ONE WANTS THIS BULLSHIT EMO LEGACIES RETREAD.