‘American Crime Story’ is going to be about the Lewinsky-Clinton impeachment scandal and it will air right before the election so THAT’S SUPER.

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

FX had its turn at the TCAs yesterday:

The big news for FX is the next season of American Crime Story is going to be about the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky story, and Lewinsky herself is going to be a producer on it. The series will star Beanie Feldstein as Lewinsky, Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones, and in the most flattering casting ever, Sarah Paulson will play Linda Tripp.

American Crime Story will air in September 2020, right before the election, a decision that FX head John Landgraf had to defend at the TCAs: “The idea that we can’t have art, we can’t have nuance is toxic in the media environment. I believe very, very strongly in the art we’re making. I don’t think ‘Crime Story’ is going to decide the next presidential election. I think that’s a little hysterical from my standpoint. I’m insistent that I’m going to support artists and make great art and put it in the time and place where people are going to watch it.”

I MEAN OK, BUT ALSO MAYBE IT COULD JUST WAIT UNTIL MID-NOVEMBER 2020? BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW EXACTLY HOW A SERIES ABOUT A PRESIDENT BEING IMPEACHED WITH AN ANTI-CLINTON GLOSS MIGHT PLAY OUT IN OUR CURRENT BATSHIT INSANE TIME. WHAT’S WRONG WITH WAITING A COUPLE MONTHS?

~deep breath~

Look, the Lewinsky scandal as told by Lewinsky herself and seen through a #MeToo prism is a great idea. But the thing is, if American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson serves as an example, this series has the potential to be a pop culture phenomena — which isn’t a bad thing! But there are A LOT of people out there who HATE the Clintons and heading into the 2020 elections, it is IMPERATIVE to try to distance the Democratic party from them, as unfair as that might be to Hillary and her legacy. Airing this right before the election, reminding people that Bill Clinton was a sleaze and that Bill Clinton was a Democrat is a NOT GREAT IDEA, LANDGRAF. NO THANK YOU, DAMMIT.

Meanwhile, Lewinsky was busy winning Twitter yesterday:

The other big news from yesterday was that Disney is going to roll out a streaming bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99. I SURRENDER. As a current subscriber of Hulu and ESPN+, this will actually save me money, with the added bonus that I’ll get to watch the Mandalorian. AS to how this fits in with FX at the TCAs, Landgraf suggested that in the future it is possible that FX productions could debut on Hulu first. I guess to encourage FX viewers to go to Hulu? Dunno.

If they want, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia could run for seasons 15 and 16, according to Landgraf. If the series does have a 15th season, it will officially become the longest-running live-action sitcom, displacing Ozzie and Harriet. There is something poetic about that.

Landgraf claims that American Horror Story‘s upcoming season is a way for Ryan Murphy to “clean the slate” so that people new to or who have bailed on the series can enjoy it without feeling like they’re missing something.

Billy Porter addressed his nude scene in last night’s Pose and how he never expected to fulfill the nudity clause in his contract. He then had some profound things to say about representing gay people of color on the show:

“I have been in this business…30 years. I have been out since the beginning,” Porter said. “In the past, as an out, queer actor, they generally tend to cut our dicks off. We are not sexualized people.”

“Even when they started telling stories of love, they were always white boys. I have spent my entire career never having been an object of anyone’s affection in anything — until now,” he added. “I had my first kiss — my first romantic kiss — in anything ever in my life, last season in Episode 8. So, to be turning 50 on September 21, and having a very loving, connected sex scene is sort of blowing my mind.”

“My nerves are frayed, I’m gonna take a Valium and watch it tonight,” Porter concluded.

God bless Billy Porter.

Sounds like there’s a solid chance Benioff and Weiss’ next home could be Disney/Fox, in part because of FX.

When asked if Atlanta will continue filming in, well, Atlanta, in the wake of the abortion bill, Landgraf pushed that off onto Donald Glover’s plate. It’s an interesting question for Glover, and I suspect he will continue filming there not just for authenticity, but to support the film industry and people of color working in it there. But who can say?

The cast of Snowfall paid tribute to John Singleton, and say their story should be told in five seasons. Seeing that they have just been renewed for season four, that looks likely.

Landgraf discussed the importance of hiring diverse directors and writing staff and had some pretty good new on how FX is doing: “In the charts presented, the writing staff for FX shows in 2019-2020 was 44% white male, 20% non-white female, 16% non-white male and 25% white female. On the directing side, it is 48% white male, 28% white female, 17% non-white male and 16% non-white female.”

It’s probably a tough time to be the creator of a series about a dangerous Mexican motorcycle gang right about now. Kurt.

Mrs. America, a limited series about the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, has released first-look photos of the cast which includes Cate Blanchett, Uzo Aduba, Sarah Paulson, Margo Martindale, Elizabeth Banks, Rise Byrne, Tracey Ulman, John Slattery, and James Marsden. Related: Phyllis Schlafly can go fuck herself.

Here’s how that little sleeper series, Mr. Inbetween, found its way onto FX.

FX is expanding their non-fiction slate with Outlaw: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur; Pride; The Most Dangerous Animal of All; A Wilderness of Error; Hip Hop Untold; and Women In Comedy.

Fox Entertainment has bought the animation studio, Bento Box, that produces Bob’s Burgers.

I am growing very, very tired of the TCAs, by the way. It looks like Fox and NBC are today and tomorrow and we will finally be done. FINALLY.

In Non-TCA news:

HBO has launched Recommended by Humans, a tool that recommends HBO shows by actual humans. You can play with it here: humanreco.com (or you could just read this blog, tbh).

Elisabeth Moss would like you to know that cream cheese and jelly was involved in The Handmaid’s Tale‘s most difficult scene.

WELCOME TO YOUR NIGHTMUSTACHMARE:

Netflix has a female creator problem.

Reminder: This premieres tonight:

Renewals

  • Snowfall has been renewed at FX for a fourth season.

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • Godfather of Harlem will debut on Epix on September 29 and it looks intense:
  • Carnival Row will debut on Amazon on August 30.
  • Elite returns on Netflix on September 6.
  • Titans returns on DC on September 6.
  • Mr. Inbetween returns on FX on September 12.
  • The Goldbergs returns on ABC on September 25.

R.I.P.

Barry Coe, Actor

Henry Belolo, Creator and producer of the Village People

WATCH THIS

BH90210: In this barely fictional new series, the cast of Beverly Hills 90210 try to get a reboot of Beverly Hills 90210 off the ground. Meta, I know. Series premiere. 8 p.m., Fox

Hypnotize Me: So in this insane-sounding new competition, competitors travel around the world, attempting to complete tasks while hypnotized. LOL, WUT. Series premiere. 8 p.m., The CW

Bulletproof: Two undercover cops track down bad guys in London. Series premiere. 7 p.m., The CW

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Greg Kinnear, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Big Sean
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Amanda Seyfried, Sandra Bernhard, Storm Reid, Julian Dorio
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Tiffany Haddish, Jared Harris, Smashing Pumpkins
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Joel McHale, Betty Gilpin
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Josh Gad, Michael “The Miz” Mizanin, Chris Janson
  • The Daily Show: Sen. Michael Bennet, Natasha Lyonne
  • Lights Out with David Spade: Jim Jefferies, Steve Byrne, Kaley Cuoco
  • Watch What Happens Live: Milo Ventimiglia, Rebecca Romijn

 

WEDS. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Press Your Luck
(new)		 Card Sharks
(new)		 Match Game
(new)
CBS Love Island
(new)		 Big Brother
(new)		 S.W.A.T.
(repeat)
CW Bulletproof
(new)		 Hypnotize Me
(new)		 Local
FOX Masterchef
(new)		 BH90210
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Ellen’s Game of Games
(repeat)		 Ellen’s Game of Games
(repeat)		 The InBetween
(new)

One thought on “‘American Crime Story’ is going to be about the Lewinsky-Clinton impeachment scandal and it will air right before the election so THAT’S SUPER.”

  1. So I mis-read it at first as “American HORROR Story’ is going to be about the Lewinsky-Clinton impeachment scandal” and didnt catch it until halfway through the paragraph. I was thinking to myself they really went out there with that one.

    You bring up a good point about the actors/actresses and other people who help film in Atlanta. They are being punished by representatives that I’m pretty sure they did not vote for. Is the legislature that passed the bill really being punished? We know for sure the people who work for a living are.

    Reply

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