Krista Vernoff is the showrunner of Grey’s Anatomy, and she is NOT HAPPY about ABC casting Sean Spicer on Dancing with the Stars.
I deeply abhor this decision by the company I work for and truly love.
This man lied daily, to our faces, and made a mockery of our country. This is not cause for celebration or celebrity.
It’s not too late to change this plan. Please @DancingABC @abc @RobertIger https://t.co/OAlvpgSpJg
— Krista Vernoff (@KristaVernoff) August 22, 2019
Tim Doyle is the showrunner of Schooled and he is NOT HAPPY about ABC casting Sean Spicer on Dancing with the Stars.
I’m their LEAST important showrunner and I agree. #BoycottDWTS #DWTS https://t.co/iEhNAoDg5m
— Tim Doyle (@FlakedAndFormed) August 23, 2019
Alright, other ABC showrunners — who’s next? Although truth be told, all of ABC’s showrunners could come out against Spicer’s casting and it probably won’t move the needle in the least. Dancing with the Stars is most popular in Red States, and Variety is speculating that he was cast to bring back some of those viewers. But yeah, them casting you was apolitical, Spicey.
George R. R. Martin was at World Con in Dublin earlier in the week INSTEAD OF FINISHING THE BOOKS, but I digress. He gave an interview to joe.ie where he said that he should be seeing an early cut of the prequel in the next couple of weeks and it takes place before the coming of the Andals to Westeros, there are two other spinoffs still in the script stage, and this:
When the show ended, you said you had ‘mixed feelings’ about it because in an ideal world, you wanted it to continue on for more seasons.
What’s your feeling now because at the time, it must have felt strange knowing that one chapter of your life – the TV shows – was ending but you’ve still got so much more amazing stories to tell in Westeros.
Yeah, I’ve got to finish my books. I said everything I had to say about that years ago. There’s enough material in the books that if they had included all of it, we could have gone for 13 seasons instead of eight. Really, we did seven-and-a-half seasons because the last two seasons were shortened.
The decision was made four/five years ago to eliminate characters like Lady Stoneheart, Quentyn Martell, the Young Griff arc. When you eliminate all those subplots, you simplify things and bring it to an end where it is.
Who knows? Maybe that was the right decision. You can’t quarrel with the most popular television show in the world, but I have my books in mind and I’m going ahead. I know I’m very slow, but I’ll get there eventually.
This lines up with my thoughts on what went so wrong in the final two seasons. My theory is that the Young Griff arc, in particular, will play a much bigger role in the endgame in the books, and he may well be the character that sets Daenerys onto her path towards madness. By eliminating his entire plotline, the showrunners were able to 1. reduce the number of potentially confusing characters and 2. get to the end of the series faster — which left the audience feeling unsatisfied at Daenerys’ abrupt change. (In the books, Young Griff is a secret Targaryen — or more likely a fake Targaryen — and he has arrived in Westeros at the end of the most recent book. I suspect he eventually wages war on Cersei and takes the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, Daenerys helps with the fight against the White Walkers and when she is not embraced by the people of King’s Landing as their savior and true heir, when they like Young Griff better, she loses her mind and destroys the city. But this is just a wild guess.)
So apparently, they’ve already filmed the Breaking Bad movie? In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bob Odenkirk said:
“I’ve heard so many different things about it, but I am excited about the Breaking Bad movie. I can’t wait to see it,” he told In Studio.
Speaking on the secrecy surrounding the film, Odenkirk said, “I don’t know what people know and don’t know. I find it hard to believe you don’t know it was shot. They did it. You know what I mean? How is that a secret? But it is. They’ve done an amazing job of keeping it a secret.”
We have posters for the upcoming seasons of The Mandalorian, The Walking Dead and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia if that is important information for you to have:
14th season. Still fighting dirty. Sunny’s jumping off the top rope 9/25 on FXX. pic.twitter.com/0uSytKFi9i
— It's Always Sunny (@alwayssunny) August 22, 2019
Sterling K. Brown and Susan Kelechi Watson tease upcoming plot points for Beth and Randall in this season of This Is Us, if you’re curious.
Williamson County, Texas is kicking Live PD out because they weren’t sharing footage with the DA’s office. The decision was made by the County Commissioner’s office and the Sheriff is NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.
One The OA fan is taking its cancellation particularly hard. (Unless this is all a part of the “cancellation” too?)
A special prosecutor has been appointed to look into whether or not charges should be refiled against Jussie Smollett, so this story is far from over.
Time’s Up
Harvey Weinstein is going to be indicted for another sexual assault on Monday, and speculation is that the victim in the case is Annabella Sciorra.
The Los Angeles Opera is investigating sexual harassment allegations against Placido Domingo.
Jeffrey Epstein reportedly tried to intimidate Vanity Fair editor Grayson Carter into backing off a story about him by leaving bullets and a cat’s head on his doorstep. And someone dug up Epstein’s social media accounts and they’re something. Meanwhile, for reasons that are baffling (no they’re not) the British press is continuing to rake Meghan Markle over the coals for her private jet use and love of avocado toast, while Prince Andrew is virtually getting a pass FOR HANGING OUT WITH A PEDOPHILE ON HIS PRIVATE SEX ISLAND.
This is a fascinating article about how a Sex and the City-style series called Mistress of a Married Man is scandalizing society in Senegal and how female-produced movies and TV series are proliferating in Africa and creating controversy and rocking social norms along the way.
Cancellations
- Ballers will end after this fifth season which begins on HBO this Sunday.
- Born This Way will end with a one-hour holiday special this December on A&E.
In Development
- The Bridgewater Triangle, a horror series based on a short story, and produced by Noah Hawley, has been bought by FX.
- Other People’s Houses, starring Sarah Michelle Geller, is being developed at Fox.
- Philly Reign, produced by Mary J. Blige, is in development at USA.
- All Access, a companion piece to Access Hollywood, has been set by NBCU.
- Book of Enchantment is not moving forward at Disney+.
Casting News
- There it is: Sarah Huckabee Sanders is joining Fox News as a contributor. Just a matter of time before she has her own show.
- Dabney Coleman (WHO IS STILL ALIVE) is joining Yellowstone as Kevin Costner’s father in the second season finale episode.
- William Jackson Harper is joining Amazon’s Underground Railroad.
- Matt Bomer, Vanessa Bayer, and Blythe Danner are all returning on Will & Grace for its final season.
- Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford will be leaving DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
- Elena Satine is joining Cowboy Bebop on Netflix.
- Stephan James and Hong Chau are returning to Homecoming on Amazon for the second season.
- Carter MacIntyre, Adam J. Harrington, and Terrence Terrell will recur on Amazon’s Bosch.
- Brenda Blethyn will star in ITV’s Kate and Kolo.
Mark Your Calendar
- The L Word: Generation Q debuts on Showtime on December 8.
- Goliath returns on Amazon on October 4.
- Living with Yourself will debut on Netflix on October 18. It stars Paul Rudd.
- In the Shadow of the Moon will debut on Netflix on September 27.
- Valley of the Damned will debut on Investigation Discovery on September 3.
- Chasing the Sun, season one, will debut on Ovation on October 3. Season two will premiere on the app JOURNY on October 2.
- The Mel Robbins Show, a syndicated talk show, will debut on September 16.
- Lifetime’s “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” holiday movie programming launches October 25th with 17 new holiday movies. Y’ALL CAN’T WAIT UNTIL AFTER HALLOWEEN? COME ON.
- Speaking of, here are all the Halloween cooking shows and premiere dates on Cooking Channel and Food Network that you don’t want to miss.
- The Fantasy Island movie will premiere on February 14, 2020.
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
13 Reasons Why: The third and final season asks “Who killed Bryce Walker?” Netflix
Jawline: And if 13 Reasons Why doesn’t give you enough anxiety about your kids and social media, there’s this documentary that was a Sundance Film Festival winner about kids trying to become famous on the internet. Hulu
SATURDAY
Mortal Engines: There’s this dystopian thriller that received terrible reviews. 7 p.m., HBO
Star Trek movie marathon: And the old school movies, no less: Star Trek the Movie; Wrath of Khan; The Search for Spock; The Voyage Home; The Final Frontier; and The Undiscovered Country. 4:45 p.m., Epix Drive-In
Terms of Endearment & Steel Magnolias: Just in case you’re in the mood for a good, long cry. 7 p.m., TCM
SUNDAY
The Affair: The final season sees a significant time-jump, as Anna Paquin joins the cast as Joanie Lockhart. Season premiere. 8 p.m., Showtime
Power: Season premiere. 8 p.m., Starz
Ballers: Season premiere. 9:30 p.m., HBO
On Becoming a God in Central Florida: Kirsten Dunst stars in this new series about a woman who seeks to take down the pyramid scheme that ruined her family in this new series. 9 p.m., Showtime
Good Eats: Alton Brown is back and talking about chicken parm. Season premiere. 9 p.m., Food Network
FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
ABC | American Housewife (repeat) |
Fresh Off the Boat (repeat) |
What Would You Do? (new) |
20/20 (new) |
CBS | Preseason Football: Bills at Lions (live) |
CW | Masters of Illusion (new) |
The Big Stage (new) |
Hypnotize Me (repeat) |
Local |
FOX | BH90210 (repeat) |
MasterChef (repeat) |
Local |
NBC | American Ninja Warrior | Dateline (new) |
—
SAT. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 |
ABC | Preseason Football: Texans at Cowboys (begins at 6p.m.) (live) |
News/Local |
CBS | NCIS: New Orleans (repeat) |
FBI (repeat) |
48 Hours (new) |
News/Local |
FOX | So You Think You Can Dance? (repeat) |
Beat Shazam (repeat) |
News/Local |
NBC | America’s Got Talent (repeat) |
Dateline | 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 (new) |
To Tell the Truth (new) |
CBS | 60 Minutes (new) |
Big Brother (new) |
Instinct (new) |
NCIS: Los Angeles (repeat) |
The CW | Local | Penn & Teller: Fool Us (new) |
Masters of Illusion (repeat) |
Masters of Illusion (repeat) |
Local |
FOX | Last Man Standing (repeat) |
Last Man Standing (repeat) |
The Simpsons (repeat) |
What Just Happened?! With Fred Savage (new) |
Family Guy (repeat) |
What Just Happened?! With Fred Savage (new) |
Local/News |
NBC | Preseason Football: Steelers at Titans (live) |
Ballers will end after this fifth season which begins on HBO this Sunday.
Oh no. Liz Warren and I are devastated Lol