Sunnyside, the Kal Penn immigration comedy, has been moved off the broadcast schedule and into the digital ghetto for its final episodes. This comes as absolutely no surprise as the NBC show was the season’s lowest-rated new series. So, it’s time to start hazarding guesses as to who’s next and who’s safe. I’ve built a gallery over at Chron.com with my predictions — Prodigal Son is safe, but watch your backs, Perfect Harmony, Evil and Almost Family, the clock is ticking.
It’s official, Felicity Huffman is in jail.
Here’s a love letter to Los Espookys, one of television’s most underappreciated, weirdest little shows that makes no apologies.
I’m sorry, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?
The law firm depicted in the upcoming Netflix film, The Laundromat, is suing the streamer to keep it from being released because according to them, the film, “defames and portrays the Plaintiffs as ruthless uncaring lawyers who are involved in money laundering, tax evasion, bribery and/or other criminal conduct.” It should be pointed out that “Mossack Fonseca & Co, which specialized in offshore financial services, closed down last March due to the economic and reputational damage caused by the disclosure of its role in widespread global tax evasion.” So. You know. It ain’t defamation if it’s true.
POTENTIAL STRANGER THINGS SPOILER! Or is it? (It is not.)
Ahead of Sunday’s Watchmen premiere, this is a decent piece about how The Watchmen changed pop culture. It’s fascinating.
Impeachment Corner!
Today’s testifying superstar is Michael McKinley. McKinley was a career diplomat and aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo until he resigned last week.
DRAMATIZATION:
McKinley is not expected to have much to say about Ukraine or Rudy Colludy, but he does have some SHIT TO SAY about how politicized the State Department has become under Trump and this fucker, Pompeo.
Michael McKinley testified this morning before House investigators about his concerns over how the State Department did little to protect the former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch – as well as the slumping morale at the department, per multiple sources
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 16, 2019
And early reporting says that according to his testimony, one of the reasons McKinley resigned was that he repeatedly asked Pompeo for a show of support for Marie Yovanovitch, but got bupkis.
New – McKinley testified that he repeatedly asked Pompeo for a show of support for the ousted US Ambassador Yovanovitch – but was greeted with silence from the Secretary of State, according to multiple sources. That silence was a key reason McKinley decided to resign. Live @CNN
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 16, 2019
As for yesterday’s testimony from George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for Ukraine, back in March he raised concerns with his superiors that Yovanovitch was being targeted for a disinformation campaign by Giuliani — disinformation that was being fed to Giuliani by … Yuriy Lutsenko, the former prosecutor that Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire for NOT prosecuting corruption.
Kent also told Congress that he needed to not be too concerned with Ukraine, to focus more on the other five nations in his portfolio and to defer to (and this is AMAZING) “the three amigos” — Kurt Volker, Gordon “Call Me” Sondland, and Rick Perry — on all things Ukraine.
Frankly, it’s the perfect nickname: three overconfident idiots find themselves embroiled in a foreign mess that they are completely unqualified for. Let’s get Rick Perry a sombrero, STAT.
According to Kent, it was Mick Mulvaney who organized a meeting on May 23rd — just days after Marie Yovanovitch was fired — where it was announced Ukraine policy was being removed from traditional diplomatic channels, away from experts on the region in the National Security Council and State Department, and instead would be run by Rick Perry, the Energy Secretary; Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union (which, again, Ukraine is not a member of), and Kurt Volker, a special envoy to Ukraine.
Career State Department People:
But …
But current and former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said Mulvaney contributed substantially to the unfolding political crisis, both through his connection to key events related to the attempt to pressure Kiev and through his general approach to the chief of staff job, which was driven by a perceived reluctance to displease the president.
U.S. officials said Mulvaney met frequently with Sondland and that details of their discussions were kept from then-National Security Adviser John Bolton and other officials who were raising internal concerns about the hidden Ukraine agenda.
And more importantly, it sounds like Mulvaney, acting on orders from President Loyalty Is A One-WAy Street, is the one who put the hold on the $400 million in aid to Ukraine ahead of the famous phone call. BETTER BE LAWYERING UP, MICK.
Oh, and guess who is on his way to Washington D.C. right now
Meanwhile, the White House is doing an internal investigation into why deputy White House counsel John A. Eisenberg hid the transcript of the phone call in a sooper secret server. Sounds like it’s blood sacrifice time, Eisenberg. BOAR ON THE FLOOR, ASSHOLE.
As in the always entertaining Giuliani news, I’m not sure if I mentioned, but he’s definitely under investigation. But this asshole, he’s refusing to hire a criminal attorney, while also giving Congress the finger, refusing to comply with their subpoena:
I will not participate in an illegitimate, unconstitutional, and baseless “impeachment inquiry.”
Jon Sale, who is a lifelong friend, has represented me for the sole purpose of analyzing the request and responding. At this time, I do not need a lawyer. pic.twitter.com/l0IR0ikEHD
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) October 15, 2019
People close to Giuliani are advising him to hire a criminal lawyer as questions linger about his connections to two of his indicted associates. Giuliani has been resisting that advice, according to those people. @evanperez @MichaelRWarren https://t.co/arqSiprTsm
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 15, 2019
I’m sure that’s going to work out for you, jackass.
You sure you don’t want to hire that criminal lawyer, Rud?
Renewals
- Why Women Kill has been renewed at CBS All Access.
In Development
- Rydell High, a Grease spin-off, is being developed at HBO Max.
- The Most Fun We Ever Had, a drama produced by Laura Dern and Amy Adams, is being developed at HBO.
- A Rick Fox biographical esports comedy is being worked on at CBS.
- The Sky is Everywhere is being adapted at Apple TV+.
- The Daily Chill, an ASMR series, is coming to Quibi. Quibi is also developing a weather series with The Weather Channel.
- Avlu, a Turkish drama, has been bought by Netflix.
- Island Of Misfits, an animated series is being developed by the creator of Bob the Builder.
Casting News
- Renée Elise Goldsberry is joining Evil. Y’all, please watch this damn show, it’s good.
- Heather Graham has joined the cast of The Stand at CBS All Access.
- Austin Abrams & Midori Francis will star in Dash & Lily on Netflix.
- Joey King is going to star in A Spark of Light based on the Jodi Picoult novel.
- Zahra Bentham and Mouna Traoré have joined the cast of Madam C.J. Walker on Netflix.
- Sugar Lyn Beard has joined HBO Max’s UNPregnant.
Mark Your Calendars
- No Activity will return on CBS All Access on November 21.
- Smart & Classy will debut on Netflix on October 29.
- Netflix wants you to get excited about Christmas.
- Ambitions returns on OWN on November 12.
- The Bronx, USA will debut on HBO on October 30.
- Bombshell will hit theaters in December and it looks delicious.
WATCH THIS
Stumptown: Uh-oh, that guy who WANTS HIS MONEY, he’s on the loose. Look out, Grey! 9 p.m., ABC
Chicago series crossover event: A deadly bacteria forces the city’s first responders to act together alongside the CDC to contain the threat. Fun fact! It’s a Walking Dead prequel! (It is not.) 7 p.m., NBC
Ghosts of Sugar Land: A documentary about a group of Muslim Americans living in Sugar Land, Texas, speculating on the disappearance of their friend, whom they worry joined ISIS. (It’s only 21 minutes long.) Netflix
Limetown: Jessica Biel stars as a podcaster who tries to unravel the mysterious disappearance of some 300 people from a medical facility. Series premiere. Facebook
Late Night:
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jennifer Aniston, Dave Matthews, Blanco Brown
- The Daily Show: Cyntoia Brown-Long, Ali Wong
- Lights Out with David Spade: Thomas Lennon, Diplo, Whitney Cummings
- Watch What Happens Live: Ben Platt
- A Little Late with Lily Singh: Meghan Trainor
| WEDS. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | The Goldbergs (new) |
Schooled (new) |
Modern Family (new) |
Single Parents (new) |
Stumptown (new) |
| CBS | Survivor (new) |
SEAL Team (new) |
S.W.A.T. (new) |
| CW | Riverdale (new) |
Nancy Drew (new) |
Local |
| FOX | The Masked Singer (new) |
Almost Family (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Chicago Med (live) |
Chicago Fire (new) |
Chicago P.D. (new) |
No baseball! Rain delay.
Caught up on Evil last night. It’s good-ish and would have been a phenomenal hateblog
I am enjoying ‘Evil’ (probably because I’m not tearing it apart in a blog), but the show that would have made the best hate blog is ‘Prodigal Son.’ It’s SO BAD and I would have had so much fun screaming about it. ALAS.
-T