Relevant mostly to my interests, and probably no one else’s: Boing Boing dug up Prince’s first television appearance and BOY HOWDY did he hate to be interviewed. In his 1980 American Bandstand appearance, Prince performs “Why You Want to Treat Me So Bad?” but only after the most painful, most awkward interview with Dick Clark I’ve ever seen. Seriously, my sympathies go out to dead Dick Clark, this is rough:
Still, there are some amazing moments in here, including a coy 19-year-old Prince revealing that he turned down record deals for four years because the lables wouldn’t let him produce himself. AT 15. THAT’S HOW PRINCE PRINCE WAS.
Apparently, the song we missed at the beginning of this clip was “I Wanna Be Your Lover” and I, for one, FEEL CHEATED.
Meanwhile, David Nutter, a Game of Thrones director, described te security around those final six episodes as being like “the Gestapo.” So good luck with spoilers.
Maggie will probably be back to The Walking Dead. From an official statement by the showrunner, Angela Kang: “Maggie’s last episode this season was 905. But it isn’t the end of Maggie’s story. We love Lauren Cohan and hope to have her back on the big program and or beyond, and we have built a story to service that.”
Here’s a good breakdown of the Christmas TV wars.
The internet thinks Melania’s White House Christmas decorations look like … other things:
Hope you weren’t waiting around for a Friday Night Lights movie. (Of course, one has already been made, so.)
Judge Judy still makes more money than Ellen and Dr. Phil.
Everything you ever wanted to know about the creation of “San Junipero” and how Westworld done fucked up their original idea.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is game to return to Supernatural. DO IT, SHOW. DO IT. Gimme a John and Mary reunion. COME ON.
If Bill Clinton appears on Succession (which is a loooooong shot), it will be because of Cousin Greg because of course Cousin Greg.
Rose Tyler will be returning with her own Doctor Who spinoff series — but they will be “audio adventures.”
Someone wrote a piece about Lena Dunham, and if you feel the need to read a piece about Lena Duham have at it, but this is pretty much all you need to read:
Wait, there’s one more thing that you have to read, about her ex-boyfriend: “Our relationship probably lasted longer than it should have. He’s a very loyal person, so he was not going to bail when the going got tough. He literally held my hand while I got an enema on New Year’s Eve while his family celebrated.”
LOOK, IF I HAD TO SEE THAT, YOU HAD TO SEE THAT.
What do they mean they are going to “re-launch” Sesame Street Records? Why did it ever go away?
Ugh, let’s talk about Trump, Fox News and bullshit for a minute. I GUESS.
First of all, according to emails that were released as a result of a FOIA request, Fox News was allowing then-EPA head Scott Pruitt to dictate interviews and script approval. “The matter is being addressed internally,” according to Fox News because, “this is not standard practice whatsoever.” LOL LOL OK LOL
And yet, somehow, Fox News isn’t State TV enough for our dumb President. Exhibit A:
First of all, I almost feel bad for Fox News, who must be wondering what they have to do for Daddy to love them. I SAID “ALMOST.” But second of all, we do have a network that shares American news — proaganda — around the world called Voice of America. It’s been around for literally 76 years. Of course, that’s not what he’s talking about, what he wants is essentially MAGA TV, or Trump TV, which would only report on all the “winning” he’s doing. Good luck with that, Donnie!
Oh terrific: Diamond and Silk will be getting their own Fox News show on the streaming platform.
In Development
- Happy Accident, a comedy from a pair of Modern Family writers, is in develpment at ABC.
- 3,000 Hours, a drama from the creators of Life Sentence, has been given a put pilot order at ABC.
- Sunny-D, a comedy, is being developed at Fox.
- P-Valley, a strip club drama, and Hightown, an opioid epidemic drama, have been ordered by Starz.
- Killing Eve will be on Hulu so you won’t have any reason to not watch it.
- Roald Dahl’s library is coming to Netflix as animated series, including: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, George’s Marvellous Medicine, Boy – Tales of Childhood, Going Solo, The Enormous Crocodile, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, Henry Sugar, Billy and the Minpins, The Magic Finger, Esio Trot, Dirty Beasts, and Rhyme Stew.
- Win Your Country, an adapation of a Romanian game show, is being developed by Whoopi Goldberg.
- 25 Words or Less, a game show hosted by Meredith Viera is coming to Fox stations.
- Manhunt has been picked up by Acorn TV.
- Ultraman, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac have been added to Netflix’s anime lineup.
- Dark One, a noir thriller, is coming to YouTube.
- The Eddy, a Paris-set musical drama, is coming to Netflix.
- Viola Davis and Julius Tennon have signed a first look deal with Amazon.
Casting News
- George Eades is leaving MacGyver.
- Jason Momoa and Matt Damon will host Saturday Night Live next month. Leslie Jones is already gearing up.
- Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, John Slattery, Dev Patel, Catherine Keener, Andy Garcia, Cristin Milioti, Brandon Victor Dixon, Olivia Cooke, Andrew Scott, Julia Garner, Shea Whigham, Gary Carr, Sofia Boutella, and John Gallagher, Jr. are going to star in Modern Love, a romantic comedy series on Amazon.
- Gloria Estefan will host the Kennedy Center Honors on CBS.
- Dennis Haysbert will co-star in CBS’s upcoming series Surveillance.
- Michael Urie is going to guest on The Good Fight as his Good Wife character.
- Vanessa Bayer will play Taran Killam’s ex on Single Parents.
- Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, Falk Hentschel, Florence Kasumba, and Désirée Nosbusch will star in Syfy’s Spides.
- Gwilym Lee will join the cast of Hulu’s The Great.
Mark Your Calendars
- RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars will return on VH1 on December 14. CAN. NOT. WAIT.
- I Am the Night will premiere on TNT on January 28.
- Rilakkuma and Kaoru will debut on Netflix on April 19 and it is freaking adorable.
- The Shivering Truth is considerably less adorable. Considerably less. It debuts on Adult Swim on December 9.
- I neglected to post the trailer for the return of The Walking Dead yesterday. Whoops! The Walking Dead returns on AMC on February 10. Ride With Norman Reedus will return that same night.
- The Emmys will air on Fox on September 22. This is a good indication that the networks’ premiere week will begin on Monday, September 23.
- The NFL Draft will air on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes on April 25-27.
- Worst Cooks in America will return on Food Networks on January 6.
- Dolly & Friends: Making of a Sountrack will air on CMT on November 29.
- Stand Up and Away! With Brian Regan will debut on Netflix on December 24.
R.I.P.
Stephen Hillenburg, Creator of SpongeBob SquarePants
Vernita Lee, Oprah’s mother
WATCH THIS
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: Remini is back to harass Miscaviage and the rest of the cultists. Season premiere. 8 p.m., A&E
This is Us: In the mid-season finale, Jack struggles to get through to his brother and the promos make it look like he fails. But who knows. 9 p.m., NBC
Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross and Dave Attell: The kings of roasting roast one another. Netflix
Late Night: Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: John Oliver, Rachel Brosnahan, Mike WiLL Made-It, Swae Lee, Young Thug The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Jon Stewart, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jake Tapper, Kerry Washington, Charlamagne Tha God The Daily Show: Diego Luna Watch What Happens Live: Kate Chastain, Josiah Carter
| TUES. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | The Conners (new) |
The Kids Are Alright (new) |
black-ish (new) |
Splitting Up Together (new) |
The Rookie (repeat) |
| CBS | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | NCIS (repeat) |
FBI (repeat) |
| CW | The Flash (new) |
Black Lightning (new) |
Local |
| FOX | The Gifted (new) |
Lethal Weapon (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | The Voice (new) |
This is Us (new) |
New Amsterdam (new) |