Because of the dumb times we live in, here goes: Some guy called CNN’s anchor and protein enthusiast Chris Cuomo “Fredo,” and Cuomo melted down, insisting that “Fredo” is the Italian “N-word,” and threatening to beat the man. Obviously, it was all caught on camera:
A man in NY yesterday approached CNN's Chris Cuomo and called him "Fredo"
Cuomo: "You're going to have a problem"
Man: "What are you going to do about it?"
Cuomo: "I'll fuckin ruin your shit. I'll fucking throw you down these stairs"
Credit: "THAT'S THE POINT with Brandon" pic.twitter.com/4iWwzaSQpF
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) August 13, 2019
A couple of things: 1. Fredo is not the “Italian N-word.” Cuomo actually gets it right the first time: it’s an insult, but it’s about being the dumb brother. (Which, to be fair to the guy who called Chris Cuomo “Fredo,” Chris Cuomo is TOTALLY the Fredo in the Cuomo family. His brother is the governor of New York for crying out loud.) 2. But as John Mulaney once said, “when comparing the badness of two words, and you can’t say one of the words, that’s the worst one.”
But in Cuomo’s defense, this whole thing does totally feel like a dumb set-up, and CNN is defending him as is, ~checks notes, rubs eyes~ Sean Hannity?
I say good for @ChrisCuomo
He’s out with his 9 year old daughter, and his wife, and this guy is being a jackass in front of his family.
Imho Chris Cuomo has zero to apologize for. He deserves the apology. https://t.co/VnyMNgz14U
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 13, 2019
Meanwhile, while the world burns, this very important issue has the undivided attention of the most powerful man on Earth. This is going to make for an awkward phone call with Hannity tonight:
I thought Chris was Fredo also. The truth hurts. Totally lost it! Low ratings @CNN https://t.co/yBpGjt4N1T
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2019
And bless his heart, Dummy Jr. continues to be the actual Fredo in this whole mess:
is this a parody account https://t.co/XPGl1RAwXj
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) August 13, 2019
And now let us never discuss Chris Cuomo again.
“I think Sansa would have been super Thrones because she got into the game and she played it. She survived a lot of crap—Ramsay Bolton, all that garbage—but she played the game well. She told Tyrion what was going on with Jon—knew it would get back, knew that would stir some crap up. That would have been epic Thrones to have her on there after all that. I also think Arya, in her moment of triumph, there with the Hound, it would have been epic for her to take out Cersei, who I think got a soft [landing].”
Before the season started, I was calling for Sansa to take the Iron Throne for these exact same reasons. And while I still think Jaime needed to be the one to kill Cersei, I would have been fine with Arya taking the honors, because you’re right, Football Guy, Cersei did get a soft landing.
“I think there was such a buildup that some of the stuff wasn’t as believable or maybe as Thrones-y as it has been in previous seasons, such as the big battle with the White Walkers [in Episode 3]. I feel like that should have been a multiepisode one, possibly,” Rodgers said. “Or, more people should have died. Because they had so many characters left to resolve so they had to slam everything quick, quick, quick, because episodes were not two hours like we originally thought they were going to be.”
CORRECT. 75% MORE PEOPLE NEEDED TO DIE. ALSO, EPISODES NEEDED TO BE MUCH LONGER. AND WE NEEDED MANY MANY MORE OF THEM.
As for the Battle of Winterfell, the director of the episode, Miguel Sapochnik, said some words that might not make everyone particularly happy, especially those people who were bothered with how Arya got to the Night King in that climactic moment:
I questioned everything and we worked long and hard to find the right balance of credibility versus wish fulfillment. Then we shot it and reshot it and found that what was really important was rhythm. At one point there was an elaborate plan to have her fight her way into the Weirwood forest, but as we progressed we realized she’d already done that earlier in the episode, so it felt like a repeat. In the end we felt it didn’t matter how she got there — what mattered was setting up that moment when the Night King catches her mid-leap and we think she’s done for, then she pulls her knife switch and takes him out. I loved Maisie’s performance post the takedown as well, sharing a moment with her brother, Bran. That weary smile. “Not today.”
Yeah, look. I wasn’t bothered by them not showing Arya making her way to the Weirwood, but I get why other people were. And the thing is, we need to be honest here: they didn’t show her fighting her way in there because they wanted her attack on the Night King to be a surprise — we were expecting Jon but in comes Arya. Just admit it was about the shock and I think people will move on.
Here’s the boss of Marvel TV talking about the future if you’re interested in Marvel TV productions.
And if you’re a Legion fan, here’s Noah Hawley talking about that series finale and time loops and all that. SPOILERS, Y’ALL.
Khaste Kardashian and Cousin Max got married. If those words mean nothing to you, don’t click through, but I, for one, am rooting for those crazy kids.
Tyler is still in the running to be the Bachelor (even though they just need to GIVE IT TO MIKE JOHNSON ALREADY), there are no plans for a gay Bachelor anytime soon and Chris Harrison thinks what Blake did to Caelynn was really shitty because IT WAS.
Friends will play in movie theaters in celebration of the show’s 25th anniversary because why wouldn’t you want to pay to go watch a TV show in a theater with a bunch of strangers, that just makes very good sense.
So, there’s a Sharknado theme park attraction now. It’s in Malaysia, and I can not for the life of me figure out … what it is? The video, which involves choreographed dancers, is not much help.
Time’s Up
Opera singer Placido Domingo has been accused by nine women of sexual harassment, “including one who said that he ‘stuck his hand down her skirt’ and others who claim that he ‘forced wet kisses on their lips.'” He claims that it was all consensual. OK. (And this was a VERY SERIOUS story, but this line from the story made me laugh: “Domingo, who exec produced 1998 Mexican film The Other Conquest and was a voice star of Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua, has denied the claims.”)
Josh Kloss, a male model who worked on Katy Perry’s video for “Teenage Dream” claims that the singer sexually harassed him by grabbing his pants to show her friends his penis. Oh, Katy. This is really not good.
As I noted yesterday when I mentioned that Missy Elliott would receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the VMAs this year, maybe the name of the award should be reconsidered? Wade Robson, it should come as no surprise, agrees with me: “’I don’t personally need MTV to do one thing or the other, but as child abuse survivors all over the world watch to see whether society will support them or not if they have the courage to come forward, in that regard, it’s an unfortunate choice,’ Robson told TheWrap Monday.”
More on the Jeffrey Epstein situation: The FBI raided his private island in the Virgin Islands yesterday. I MEAN, WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG? DID THEY WALK THERE? Epstein had an accomplice, a monster named Ghislaine Maxwell, who would help him procure young girls, and no one knows where she is. (Also, there’s a good story about Donald Bankrupt Trump in here.) Gloria Allred is going to find you, Ghislaine.
Bill Cosby’s appeal doesn’t seem to be off to a good start. GOOD. STAY THERE.
Hannah Gadsby says there is a path for redemption for Louis C.K., he’s just not taking it.
“There’s a clear path to redemption, he’s just not taking it. He’s being self-indulgent and he’s being a cry baby. That’s not a path to redemption, that’s just throwing a tantrum for the tantrum itself.”
“You can apply it to anyone. I just think there’s an issue at large, and it goes across all issues of representation. I think because we think about men as the default, they don’t know how to let other people talk about their experiences without centering themselves. And that runs deeper than two lonely comedians.”
Renewals
- Good Eats: Reloaded has been renewed at Cooking Channel (whoops — I might have earlier written that it was at Food Network).
In Development
- Nathan Fielder has signed a deal at HBO. He will produce How to … with John Wilson and star in, write and direct an untitled pilot. YES TO ALL OF THIS.
- Jessica Darling is being adapted into a series at ABC.
- Charlemagne, a drama from the creator of Vikings, is being developed for Quibi.
Casting News
- Penelope Ann Miller and Mia Kirshner will star in Lifetime’s movie about the college admissions scandal.
- George Newbern, Nia Vardalos, Phil Morris, and Dannah Lockett are joining the cast of ABC’s Same Time, Next Christmas.
- Martha Plimpton is going to guest star on Flack on Pop TV.
- Robert De Niro, Blake Griffin, Caitlyn Jenner, Joel McHale, Debra Messing, Chris Redd, and Jeff Ross will roast Alec Baldwin for his Comedy Central special.
- Ben Lawson will co-star in Firefly Lane on Netflix.
- Keesha Sharp will guest on Empire on Fox.
Mark Your Calendars
- The Flinstones (original episodes, not new ones) will begin airing on MeTV on September 30.
- Lip Sync to the Rescue will air on September 9 on CBS.
- The Devil You Know will debut on Viceland on August 27.
- Chesapeake Shores will return on Hallmark Channel on August 25.
- The 2020 Billboard Awards will air on April 29 on NBC.
WATCH THIS
America’s Got Talent: The show goes live. 7 p.m., NBC
Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready: Tiffany Haddish introduces new stand-up comics in this new series. Netflix
Adam Ruins Everything: Adam ruins America — as if that’s even possible anymore. Season premiere. 9 p.m., TruTV
Mysteries Decoded: Lizzie Borden is the first subject of this new series that explores old mysteries using high-tech tools. Series premiere. 8 p.m., The CW
Late Night:
- Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Henry Golding, Jonathan Groff, Rick Ross featuring Swizz Beatz
- Late Night with Seth Meyers: Danny McBride, Yvonne Strahovski, Marianne Williamson, Nate Smith
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Jada Pinkett Smith, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Goo Goo Dolls
- The Late Late Show with James Corden: David Oyelowo, Alfie Allen
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Henry Winkler, Roselyn Sanchez, Daniel Caesar
- The Daily Show: Burna Boy
- Lights Out with David Spade: Dennis Miller, Jo Koy, Punkie Johnson
- Watch What Happens Live: Betty Gilpin, Tamra Judge
TUES. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
ABC | Bachelor in Paradise (new) |
Bless This Mess (repeat) |
black-ish (repeat) |
CBS | NCIS (repeat) |
FBI (repeat) |
NCIS: New Orleans (repeat) |
CW | Pandora (new) |
Mysteries Decoded (new) |
Local |
FOX | Spin the Wheel (repeat) |
First Responders Live (new) |
News/Local |
NBC | America’s Got Talent (new) |
Bring the Funny (new) |