We’re halfway through 2019 because time is a never-ending wheel, crushing all of us under itself so I made a gallery of the 20 best TV shows of the year so far. I have some hesitations about this list: namely, I haven’t had a chance to watch everything I need to watch, including Years and Years, Tuca and Bertie, Dark, Discovery of Witches (which is somehow receiving great reviews even though I tried to read the book and it seemed to only be about vampires doing yoga so I gave up on it), all of Ramy, The Act and I Think You Should Leave. Maybe by the end of the year, I’ll have my hands around it. And yes, the one show you probably didn’t think I would include was included.
The Walking Dead is scrambling to get Lauren Cohan back. PAY HER, THEN. IT’S REAL SIMPLE: IF YOU WANT HER BACK, YOU NEED TO PAY HER LIKE THE STAR OF THE SHOW THAT SHE IS, BITCHES.
Location shoots in New Orleans and the area have halted ahead of the landfall of Tropical Storm/Hurricane-to-be Barry. I’ve got all my fingers and toes crossed for my family and friends in New Orleans. Stay safe, and find higher ground, y’all!
According to some sources, Robert Mueller’s testimony may be delayed by a week so that the Judiciary Committee can have more time to question him. DON’T TOY WITH ME, MUELLER. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR TOO LONG NOW.
Disney has canceled their red carpet event for The Descendants 3 in the wake of Cameron Boyce’s untimely death. Instead, they are donating to Thirst Project, a charity Boyce had supported.
Jensen Ackles has grown a director beard for Supernatural’s final season:
Oh no, Kevin Smith, WHYYYY?
Comic-Con news:
The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore are all going to be at Comic-Con this year:
An exclusive Barb from Stranger Things LEGO mini-fig will be available at Comic-Con.
And we have information on the Veronica Mars panel.
The White House hosted a “social media summit” yesterday where President Tweets-a-Lot whined about how Twitter deleted all the Russian robots who follow him and other alt-right personalities played out their victimhood fantasies. One of the things your president said was this word casserole about how free speech is only free speech if it’s nice speech about him:
THAT’S NOT HOW THE FIRST AMENDMENT WORKS GODDAMMIT.
I know I’ve said it before but we are living in the very stupidest of times.
Time’s Up
It’s a big day in sex monster news:
John Leslie, former host of the British Wheel of Fortune, has been charged with sexual assault.
Renewals
- Euphoria has been renewed for a second season at HBO.
- Grantchester has been renewed for a fifth season at PBS and ITV.
In Development
- Varsity Blues is being developed into a series at Quibi.
- Sexy Beast is being turned into a series for Paramount Network.
- Zack Synder is working on a Norse mythology anime series for Netflix.
- A Flintstones reboot is in the works at Warner Brothers.
- Paper Girls has received a series commitment at Amazon.
- A scripted series based on Last Chance U starring Courteney Cox is in the works at Spectrum.
- Sarah Adina Smith has signed a deal with Amazon.
Casting News
- Matthew Morrison has joined American Horror Story: 1984.
- Woody Harrelson will star in Netflix’s thriller Kate.
- Gina Rodriguez will star as POTUS in Diary of a Female President for Disney+.
- Lucy Lawless will star in Acorn’s My Life is Murder.
- Olivia Swan has been promoted to series regular on Legends of Tomorrow on The CW.
- Katherine McNamara has been upped to series regular on Arrow on The CW.
- Colin Donnell and Josh Segarra are returning to Arrow for the final season.
- Poorna Jagannathan is joining the cast of Mindy Kaling’s Netflix series.
Mark Your Calendar
- Succession returns on HBO on August 11.
- American Horror Story: 1984 will debut on FX on September 18.
- Sherman’s Showcase will debut on IFC on July 31.
- Mayans MC will return on FX on September 3.
- BH90210 debuts on Fox on August 7.
- Mindhunter will return on Netflix on August 16.
- Cajun Navy will debut on Discovery on July 21.
- Infinity Train will debut on Cartoon Network on August 5.
- Hallmark Channel has announced the dates for their Summer Nights movies.
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
Spongebob’s Big Birthday Blowout: Happy 20th birthday, SpongeBob! 6 p.m., Nickelodeon
Shangri-La: A four-part documentary series about producer Rick Rubin’s creative process. Series premiere. 8 p.m., Showtime
SATURDAY
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: B-level Harry Potter stuff. 7 p.m., HBO
Saturday Night Fever: “Ya know, I work on my hair a long time and you hit it. He hits my hair.” Best line in the movie. 8 p.m., Sundance TV
Rosemary’s Baby: A valuable morality tale for any woman who gets ideas about cutting her hair. 8:36 p.m., Retroplex
SUNDAY
Sweetbitter: “The Pork Special.” This is a series about the restaurant business, but there’s also a lot of sexytime, so I assume this episode title is working on two levels. Season premiere. 8 p.m., Starz
Top Gear: Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris, and Paddy McGuinness are your new hosts. Season premiere. 7 p.m., BBC America
Late Night:
- Watch What Happens Live (Sunday): Vivica A. Fox, Karen Huger
| FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (new) |
20/20 (new) |
| CBS | Love Island (new) |
Hawaii Five-0 (repeat) |
Blue Bloods (repeat) |
| CW | The Outpost (repeat) |
The Big Stage (new) |
The Big Stage (new) |
Local |
| FOX | First Responders Live (repeat) |
MasterChef (repeat) |
Local |
| NBC | American Ninja Warrior (new) |
Dateline (new) |
—
| SAT. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 |
| ABC | Shark Tank (repeat) |
The Good Doctor (repeat) |
20/20 | News/Local |
| CBS | Million Dollar Mile (live) |
48 Hours (new) |
48 Hours (repeat) |
News/Local |
| FOX | MLB Baseball (live) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Furious 7 | News/Local | Saturday Night Live (repeat) |
—
| SUN. | 6:00 | 6:30 | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | America’s Funniest Home Videos (repeat) |
Celebrity Family Feud (new) |
The $100,000 Pyramid (repeat) |
To Tell the Truth (new) |
| CBS | 60 Minutes (new) |
Big Brother (new) |
Instinct (new) |
The Good Fight (new) |
| The CW | Local | Burden of Truth (new) |
The 100 (repeat) |
Local |
| FOX | Last Man Standing (repeat) |
Last Man Standing (repeat) |
The Simpsons (repeat) |
Bob’s Burgers (repeat) |
Family Guy (repeat) |
What Just Happened?! With Fred Savage (new) |
Local/News |
| NBC | Hollywood Game Night (repeat) |
America’s Got Talent (repeat) |
New Amsterdam (repeat) |
I can’t argue with your best TV list, partly because I am not very up-to-date on this year’s shows. But that did spur me to ask, ridiculously, what else is there; what potentially great show has flown under my radar, and probably a lot of other people’s?
After doing a little research, I think I will have to check out Osmosis, a French science-fantasy romance. It’s created by Audrey Fouché, one of the writers on Les revenants.