Joe Exotic being the hero to get us through this crisis is entirely appropriate for the weirdest year in all of history.

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

Now that we’ve all had time to watch Tiger King (and if you haven’t, you really really should), it’s time to wonder if there could possibly be a season two. And the answer is … maybe? The filmmakers claim to have a TON of footage (and I am not surprised in the least because have you SEEN these lunatics?) and would like to do a followup. Regardless of whether Netflix bites on a season two, there is going to be a limited series based on a podcast about the whole thing and if you scroll down to “Castings” you’ll see why I am so excited about it. Meanwhile, Carole Baskin does not like how she is depicted in Tiger King. LOL WHY?

Also, there are precious few Tiger King/Joe Exotic gifs out there. GET ON IT, INTERNET.

The headline claims that Ben Feldman was surprised by America Ferrera’s decision to leave Superstore, but the article makes it clear that he wasn’t at all.

Vanity Fair has an excellent deep dive into why The Muppets, despite being owned by Disney, is largely non-existent on Disney+. It’s a two-part answer: 1. The (now-former) CEO Bob Iger inherited The Muppets from his predecessor, Micahel Eisner, and didn’t care about them as much as he cared for Pixar and Marvel and Star Wars — his babies. And 2. Thanks to the cost of music rights, the original Muppet Show episodes are considered too expensive to stream. WHICH IS A DAMN SHAME because The Muppet Show is one of the greatest things America has ever done. Maybe now that Iger is out and this new guy, Chapek, is in charge, things will turn around.

Happy birthday, Queen of Soul. I am only just now putting together that the wonderful Cynthia Erivo will be playing Aretha on Genius and I am here for it.

You know, part of the whole Simpsons‘ Apu controversy that always left me conflicted was that as a character, Apu is a lovely person. And there was always this sensitivity to portraying this man who has what many would consider a menial job as being far more intelligent than many of the other characters around him. I don’t know that just having an Indian actor voicing his character would be enough — there were some broad stereotypes at play — but I never doubted that The Simpsons‘ writers’ hearts were in the right place.

Andrew Lincoln recorded a lovely tribute to his former co-star Danai Gurira:

Apparently, people are upset that Rosario Dawson was cast as Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian and not the woman who voices the character for Star Wars: The Clone Wars because people will always find things to be angry about.

Meghan Mullally gave Bill Hader his entire career.

Congratulations to Bindi Irwin.

The wonderful Cynthia Watros of General Hospital (and once of Lost) discusses upcoming plotlines (including who her daughter might be) and dealing with social distancing. Sadly, thanks to this shitty virus, we’re going to have to wait even longer to find out who the daughter is.

Going Viral

I was supposed to be in this city the day this was filmed. Eerie:

Eerie, but beautiful. I’m reminded of this Instagram post by songwriter Paul Williams which reads:

“When you go out and see the empty streets, the empty stadiums, the empty train platforms, don’t say to yourself, ‘It looks like the end of the world.’ What you’re seeing is love in action. What you’re seeing, in that negative space, is how much we do care for each other, for our grandparents, for our immuno-compromised brothers and sisters, for people we will never meet.

People will lose jobs over this. Some will lose their businesses. And some will lose their lives. All the more reason to take a moment, when you’re out on your walk, or on your way to the store, or just watching the news, to look into the emptiness and marvel at all of that love.

Let it fill you and sustain you.
It isn’t the end of the world. It is the most remarkable act of global solidarity we may ever witness. 💗”

View this post on Instagram

“When you go out and see the empty streets, the empty stadiums, the empty train platforms, don’t say to yourself, “It looks like the end of the world.” What you’re seeing is love in action. What you’re seeing, in that negative space, is how much we do care for each other, for our grandparents, for our immuno-compromised brothers and sisters, for people we will never meet. People will lose jobs over this. Some will lose their businesses. And some will lose their lives. All the more reason to take a moment, when you’re out on your walk, or on your way to the store, or just watching the news, to look into the emptiness and marvel at all of that love. Let it fill you and sustain you. It isn’t the end of the world. It is the most remarkable act of global solidarity we may ever witness. 💗🙏🏻🏆🌹🏆🌹🏆🌹🙏🏻🌹🙏🏻🌹🙏🏻🌹PW:My friends, I’m getting a lot of undeserved credit for this beautifully written piece…”Empty Streets”. I didn’t write it.A friend sent it to me. I thought it was beautiful and wanted to share it. I explained that when I posted it but mistakenly as a comment. With every generous and lovely comment that followed mine began to sink out of sight. You will find it amongst the lovely reviews below. ❤️🙏🏻🌈

A post shared by Paul Williams (@paulielama2) on

And now that we have had that uplifting moment, some sadder, more sobering business:

Floyd Cardoz, Top Chef Masters season three winner, has passed away from Covid-19.

Manu Dibango, African musician also died from complications related to the virus.

And NBA superstar Karl-Anthony Towns’ mother is in a coma with severe symptoms.

Meanwhile, among those who have tested positive: Prince Charles, Houston rapper Slim Thug, singer Jackson Browne, two more Fox News employees and Dr. Ian Lipkin, the medical consultant on Contagion.

As for TV bidness:

Several shows have had everything thrown for a loop in the middle of all this:

New Amsterdam is shelving an upcoming episode about a flu pandemic for obvious reasons. Their season finale will air on April 14.

FBI and The Resident are both ending their seasons early. FBI will end with episode 19 on March 31; The Resident will end with episode 20 on April 7.

The Walking Dead‘s season 10 finale has been postponed and the season will end with the 15th episode on April 5.

Big Brother Canada has shut down production.

Netflix went down this morning FREAKING EVERYONE OUT. NOW IS NOT THE TIME.

Anthony Mason is co-hosting CBS This Morning from home.

Now the important question: OK, but how is this mess affecting tapings of the Real Housewives series? Also, hold up, Ramona is quarantining with Mario? For real?

And in happier news:

Fox Presents the iHeart Living Room Concert For America hosted by Elton John will air instead of the canceled iHeartRadio Music Awards on Fox on March 29.

And Homefest: James Corden’s Late Late Show Special, a primetime special, will air on CBS on March 30.

Channel 4 is going to host an internet wedding.

HBO Now has had a 40% boost in its viewership, and everyone is getting around to finally watching The Wire.

More movies are being postponed: Malignant, Wonder Woman: 1984; Scoob!; and Saint Maud have all been pulled from their release dates.

And some events still hadn’t been canceled until now, including the Tony Awards.

Despite President Vector’s insistence that the country will be open for Easter, Houston’s own Joel Osteen isn’t so sure.

Congress is very close to passing a $2 trillion stimulus deal (but as of this writing, it hasn’t happened just yet). As part of the deal, neither President Grifter nor any of his family members, including Jared, will be eligible for bailout money, thank Christ.

Seattle’s NPR station has decided to not broadcast the White House Covid-19 briefings because they are so full of bullshit.

Meanwhile, President Ill-Informed is still talking about opening the country up by Easter and is whining that the media are out to get him.

1. It’s not a coincidence that he started whining about wanting to open businesses back up as soon as his six most profitable clubs were forced to close and 2. he’s going to get so many people killed. Liberty University is already opening its campus back up against the advice of EVERYONE and in the middle of the alarming discovery that here in the States, 40% of those hospitalized with this are under 55.

Meanwhile, we can add Brit Hume to the bizarre Boomer death cult who thinks we should sacrifice our grandparents to the stock market.

I have to say, “Britney Spears Calls for Wealth Redistribution and a General Strike” was not on my pandemic bingo card.

People doing good things:

Apple donated 10 million masks to health care workers.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has donated $1 million to a frontline responders fund and James Taylor and his wife are donating $1 million to Massachusetts General Hospital.

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show will premiere on Netflix on April 1.
  • Kareem and Coffee is going to debut on Netflix on April 3.
  • Baghdad Central will debut on Hulu on March 27.
  • Solar Opposites will premiere on Hulu on May 8.
  • Singled Out will debut on Quibi on April 6.
  • The Big Show Show will debut on Netflix on April 6.
  • Hightown (originally called P-Town) will debut on Starz on May 17.
  • Uncensored will return on ITV on April 26.
  • Deadly Cults will return on Oxygen on April 26.

R.I.P.

Stuart Gordon, The director of Re-Animator and other films

Bill Rieflin, Drummer for Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, R.E.M., and King Crimson

WATCH THIS

Stumptown: Dex is at the forefront of a murder investigation in which she is the prime suspect in the season finale. 9 p.m., ABC

Awkwafina is Nora from Queens: Season finale. 9:30 p.m., Comedy Central

Year of the Rabbit: Rabbit is framed for murder in the first season finale. 9:30 p.m., IFC

Pandemic: COVID-19: Experts explain this whole mess to us. 9 p.m., Discovery and Science Channel

 

WEDS. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC The Gold-bergs
(new)		 Schooled
(new)		 Modern Family
(new)		 Single
Parents
(new)		 Stumptown
(new)
CBS Survivor
(new)		 Criminal Minds
(new)		 S.W.A.T.
(new)
CW Penn & Teller: Fool Us
(repeat)		 Whose Line is it Anyway?
(repeat)		 Whose Line is it Anyway?
(repeat)		 Local
FOX The Masked Singer
(new)		 LEGO Masters
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Chicago Med
(new)		 Chicago Fire
(new)		 Chicago P.D.
(new)

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