OOH, THIS IS AN INTERESTING POTENTIAL GAME OF THRONES SPOILER. So! Using some internet sleuthing, some folks have found the cast list for either the first episode of season 8, or maybe season 8 in general, and there are some interesting names. As Watchers on the Wall points out, all the folks you expect to be there are there (Jon, Daenerys, Arya, Cersei, etc.) but there are some surprises, if this list is for the first episode, including: Carice van Houten as Melisandre, and Gemma Whelan as Yara Greyjoy.
Now, as I mentioned, this might just be the cast list for the season and not a particular episode. In fact, it’s Melisandre’s inclusion which suggests to me that this won’t be the episode one cast list, because while I anticipate her return, I don’t think it’s going to be in episode one. But then there are two actors whose characters some weren’t expecting to see ever again, in any episode. I’m going to spoiler font this one for your safety, but I will say this: HMMMMMMMMMMM. The two actors included that were a surprise are Lino Facioli, who plays Robin Arryn; and Tobias Menzies as Edmure Tully. Last we saw Robyn, Littlefinger had manipulated him into agreeing to send the armies of the Vale up to the North, where presumably they will be eaten by White Walkers. As for Tully, the last we saw of him, he was being held prisoner by the Freys. There was no indication that Arya released him when she impersonated Walder, but who knows! There is an argument that this could be a cast list held over from last season EXCEPT! Tobias Menzies didn’t appear in season 7, and it’s not likely they’d use a cast list from season 6. So.
The TCAs will never ever end. Yesterday was Amazon’s turn in the spotlight:
First, let’s talk about my very favorite thing on Amazon: Fleabag. Season two will see Fleabag and her faith (or lack thereof) challenged by a “hot priest,” apparently. Phoebe Waller-Bridge insists that there will not be a season three, but then again, season two was never supposed to happen. (And it sounds like Amazon wants it to happen.) Here’s a profile of the wonderful Waller-Bridge, with whom I am in love.
Neil Gaiman discusses what it took to get Good Omens turned into a TV series (something that his co-writer, Terry Pritchett, wanted to see before he died, but he didn’t make it), and his favorite scene from the book that had to be cut from the script.
The fifth and final season of Transparent is going to end with a feature-length movie musical. So, that’s ambitious. Shooting finished last week, but there is no release date yet.
Amazon’s A League of Their Own series will feature new characters.
The Boys, Amazon’s new superhero series based on the graphic novels of the same name, is being helmed by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke, which I somehow did not realize until just now. The graphic novel includes what Deadline describes as “risque events” involving women, but Kripke insists that they won’t be included unless it furthers the character and that they won’t be treated as “fucking joke(s).”
Amazon didn’t have much to say about season four of The Expanse other than that it would be back sometime this year.
Oh, and Amazon isn’t moving to New York City after all. (Good.)
In other TV News:
The NAACP released its list of Image Award nominees and it looks like black-ish and This Is Us is going to be raking in the prizes.
Boy howdy, some important filmmakers are REAL MAD about the plan to hand out some awards during the commercials. (It is a fairly shitty thing to do, tbh.)
Here are a bunch of very mild spoilers about The Good Place (more Janet!), The Walking Dead (more Alpha!) and A Million Little Things (less suicide!) if you’re curious.
Speaking of The Walking Dead, here Norman Reedus teases at what those Xs are about.
Here’s your daily GO WATCH RUSSIAN DOLL reminder. Natasha Lyonne and Leslye Headland discuss how having a female director, showrunner, and star made for a better set. Also, COSTUMES!
Hey, remember Alcatraz? Or Time After Time? You can watch both on CW Seed now.
Jon Bovi. It’s as dumb as you think. Just … just watch.
Roger Stone is demanding that the judge in his case look at whether or not CNN was tipped off by the Justice Department about his arrest and his proof is … a press release about the arrest that the Justice Department put out after it happened? LOL, good luck with that, you fucking huckster.
It’s perfectly normal for a President to beg TV hosts to not shit all over him. This is very normal.
One call was made to Lou Dobbs, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s whose Fox Business Network show he often tries to catch live. Another was placed to Sean Hannity, the Fox host who regularly talks with the president. The message: Mr. Trump deserved support because he still forced concessions that he would never have gotten without a five-week partial government shutdown.
Update on the Jussie Smollet story:
“I have to acknowledge the lies, and the hate. And it feels like if I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me much more. A lot more. And that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now.”
Recently, the Chicago police have said that the redacted phone records he handed over to them were unsatisfactory, but he argued in the interview that he didn’t want to release his partner’s, friends’, family’s and castmates’ phone numbers and private photos.
Following the interview in which Smollett said he was confident the people of interest in the video the police found are his attackers and that he would be able to identify at least one of them, the Chicago Police tweeted that they have identified the “persons of interest” but they are not suspects yet.
Another detail about the story that is interesting (but not addressed in the interview) is that a New York Post reporter recently found a bottle filled with something that smells like bleach near the site where the attack took place. It has been handed over to the police. This potentially important clue was reported at the end of an article whose headline reads: “Jussie Smollett’s neighbors cast doubt on his attack story.” Because of course. Reminder: The New York Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
“GLAAD joined with Color of Change to condemn the racism and homophobia that fueled the physical violence against Jussie and today we double down on that stance, while also calling out a culture where LGBTQ people of color are too often the last to be believed. Jussie’s experience is sadly not unique in today’s America and we all must lock arms to change that.”
Sex Monster News
Musician Ryan Adams is the most recent accused bad man. Seven women, including one who was underage at the time, and his ex-wife and This Is Us star, Mandy Moore, have accused him of emotionally abusing them, using his clout in the music industry to coerce them into sexual relationships, and harassing them and derailing their careers when he spurned them. It’s an important story that some might want to brush off because there are no accusations of rape or physical abuse (unlike the horrific story below), but it is a crystal clear example of this issue of gender power dynamics that lays at the root of the #MeToo movement.
Six women have come forward to tell their stories about A.J. Calloway sexually assaulting them and they are awful. The question remains why Warners took as long as they did to investigate this man.
Bill Cosby is having an “amazing” time in prison, regrets nothing and compares himself to Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela. Christ, what an asshole.
In case you care about comics and male tears and controversies that are fucking stupid, here’s a piece about how Brie Larson made a bunch of boys (yes, boys, not men because men aren’t babies) SO MAD because she demanded that female movie critics be allowed to visit the Captain Marvel set. Once again for the idiots in the back: “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
Renewals
- Jack Ryan has been renewed at Amazon for a third season.
In Development
- Sisters, a drama based on an Australian series, has been given a pilot order at Fox.
- An animated Star Trek series is close to a deal at Nickelodeon.
- They Both Die at the End is being produced for HBO by J.J. Abrams and Chris Kelly, yay!
- Amazon has ordered 20 new and returning international series, including the Japanese version of The Bachelorette which 1. is really specific, but 2. makes me wonder why more streaming services haven’t started offering more international versions of shows that we know, like The Bachelor or Survivor or The Office. They’re out there, and I think there’d be a natural audience for them.
- The Power has been ordered by Amazon.
- Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino have signed an overall deal with Amazon.
- There are rumors that there are two Alien series from Ridley Scott being developed at Hulu.
Casting News
- Benedict Cumberbatch is your new Satan. Delicious.
- Edie Falco is going to star in the CBS pilot, Tommy.
- Ginnifer Goodwin is going to co-star in CBS All Access’ comedy, Why Women Kill.
- Al Pacino, Logan Lerman and Jerrika Hinton, Lena Olin, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek, Tiffany Boone, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Greg Austin, and Dylan Baker is the cast of Amazon’s Nazi hunter series, The Hunt.
- Kellan Lutz, and Roxy Sternberg are joining the CBS pilot FBI: Most Wanted.
- Emily Alyn Lind is going to star in Syfy’s (Future) Cult Classic.
- Christina Milian and Adam Demos are starring in Netflix’s movie Falling Inn Love.
- Diego Boneta will star in the MGM TV adaptation of El Gato Negro.
Mark Your Calendars
- Killing Eve will return on BBC on April 7.
- Santa Clarita Diet returns on Netflix on March 29.
- Desus & Mero debuts on Showtime on February 21.
- American Idol returns on ABC on March 3.
- The Son returns on AMC on April 27.
- Don Cheadle is this week’s host of Saturday Night Live.
- Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1 will premiere on Hulu tonight.
- MasterChef Junior and Mental Samurai will return/debut on Fox on March 12.
WATCH THIS
Dating Around: Celebrate Valentine’s Day by watching other people go on awkward first dates. Netflix
Ken Jeong: You Complete Me: Dr. Ken gets his own stand-up special. Netflix
The Philadelphia Story: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart. What more do you need? 7 p.m., TCM
Late Night:
- Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Kendall Jenner, Fred Armisen, Florida Georgia Line
- Late Night with Seth Meyers: John Mulaney, Stacey Abrams
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Jeff Goldblum
- The Late Late Show with James Corden: Ray Romano, Lukas Graham
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Ben Affleck, Dane Cook, Bring Me The Horizon
- The Daily Show: Chris Wilson
- Conan: Aubrey Plaza
- Busy Tonight: Pete Holmes
- Watch What Happens Live: Andy’s Favorite Divas
| THUR | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Grey’s Anatomy (new) |
A Million Little Things (new) |
How to Get Away with Murder (new) |
| CBS | The Big Bang Theory (repeat) |
Young Sheldon (repeat) |
Mom (new) |
FAM (new) |
S.W.A.T. (new) |
| CW | The Top 14 Greatest Valentine’s Day Movies of All Time | Legacies (repeat) |
News/Local |
| FOX | Gotham (new) |
The Orville (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | The Titan Games (new) |
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (new) |
Will & Grace (new) |
Law & Order: SVU (new) |