CBS’s schedule suggests everything will be perfectly fine by fall. Do they know something we don’t?

Welcome to Wednesday.

LOOK AT THIS GOOD BOY.

And now I’m bummed about missing my ski trip all over again. HEAVY SIGH.

CBS announced their fall schedule, and bless their hearts, they seem to think this whole thing is going to blow over in time for them to start filming new episodes that will be ready for airing in September or October.

I mean, look at this:

Mondays

7/8:00 pm: The Neighborhood

7:30/8:30 pm: Bob Hearts Abishola

8/9:00 pm: All Rise

9/10:00 pm: Bull

 

Tuesdays

7/8:00 pm: NCIS

8/9:00 pm: FBI

9/10:00 pm: FBI: Most Wanted

 

Wednesdays

7/8:00 pm: Survivor

8/9:00 pm: The Amazing Race

9/10:00 pm: SEAL Team
Thursdays

7/8:00 pm: Young Sheldon

7:30/8:30 pm: B Positive

8/9:00 pm: Mom

8:30/9:30 pm: The Unicorn

9/10:00 pm: Evil
Fridays

7/8:00 pm: MacGyver

8/9:00 pm: Magnum P.I.

9/10:00 pm: Blue Bloods
Saturdays

7/8:00 pm: Crimetime Saturday (encores of dramas)

9/10:00 pm: 48 Hours

 

Sundays

6/7:00 pm: 60 Minutes

7/8:00 pm: The Equalizer

8/9:00 pm: NCIS: Los Angeles

9/10:00 pm: NCIS: New Orleans

 

Granted, there are only two new series on the lineup: B Positive and The Equalizer, which reflects the impact the lack of a pilot season has had on the season. But unless CBS knows something that the rest of us don’t, it seems really optimistic that any of these shows will be filming by mid- or late summer. BUT WHO KNOWS? NOT ME, THAT’S FOR SURE!

CBS also is pretty sure they are going to be able to air Big Brother and Love Island this summer. At least with those shows, you have some automatic quarantining happening with the cast, but it is still going to be a lot to ask of the crew and staff to make this happen.

They might postpone the Oscars, you guys.

Making TV during the pandemic ain’t easy, right, Norah O’Donnell?

Pandemic — A Nation Divided is being developed by ABC News.

They’re doing a Just Shoot Me virtual reunion over on Hulu.

MTV International is doing a lockdown version of Cribs with two soccer players, Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard and Arsenal’s David Luiz.

The White House has decided that the response to the virus will now be finding right-wing doctors to go on Fox News and parrot any insane shit President Ding-a-ling spouts off. This should end well.

CBS’s Paula Reid asked President Hydroxychloroquine what his plan is to get 30 million Americans back to work, and he called her “rude.”

Meanwhile, he’s threatening to withhold federal funds from two states who have announced plans to mail absentee ballot applications to voters.

Reminder #1: States run their own elections. Reminder #2: President Hypocrite voted by mail.

The Republican National Convention will happen as planned. OK! Good luck with that!

A scientist who was in charge of Florida’s “dashboard” of information on COVID-19 says she was removed from her position because she wouldn’t manipulate the numbers. Coooooooooollllllllll.

PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT WAFFLE HOUSE EMPLOYEES WHO ASK YOU TO PUT ON A DAMN MASK.

This pandemic is going to hurt George Springer’s pocketbook. (And everyone else’s.)

The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain has canceled their 2021 awards.

Michael Bay wants to film a movie about a pandemic lockdown during the lockdown.

Annie Glenn, widow of astronaut John Glenn, has passed away from COVID-19.

Good News:

Janelle Monae and Beyonce are joining YouTube’s virtual commencement, “Dear Class of 2020.”

Julio Torres raised $50,000 for undocumented immigrants with his comedy special.

Mike Schur is a mensch:

Sex Monster News

I’ve not been covering #MeToo stories in the past few weeks, thanks to being overwhelmed by this pandemic, but thanks to that asshole Matt Lauer, I guess it’s time to open this file up and see what we’ve been missing.

So, the most recent story is that The New York Times did a story on Ronan Farrow, accusing him of being a “fabulist” and not crossing all his Ts and dotting all of his Is in his reporting of sexual abuse and harassment scandals. Frankly, it’s a dubious piece that reeks of journalistic jealousy more than anything. But then, for some dumb reason, Mediaite gave Matt Lauer an opportunity to respond. NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU, MATT LAUER. GO CLIMB BACK UNDER YOUR ROCK.

As for the other ENORMOUS sexual harassment story: Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden has been accused by a former staffer, Tara Reade, of sexually assaulting her in the 90s. I should note here that Joe Biden was not my candidate; my candidate was a woman and had we gone with her or any of the many other female candidates running for office, this would not have been an issue. As for what I think of Reade’s allegations, I believe they should be heard and investigated, and I held off writing about this in part to let that process unfold before I started shooting my mouth off about it. And in fact, reporters have done the digging around in this story and found that her story is messy, complicated, singular and has changed over time — around the same time, in fact, that her preferred candidate dropped out of the race. Biden himself has addressed them in a way that seems to me to be forthcoming without diminishing Reade or any other accuser. And I, for one, will crawl over broken glass to vote for him in November. But this story does remind us all that sexual abuse and harassment allegations can be used as a cudgel particularly against liberals because we give a shit about them, unlike our counterparts on the right who will happily once again vote for a man who has been accused by TWO DOZEN WOMEN of sexual abuse in one form or another.

Rose McGowan has accused Bill Maher of being a gross jerk to her back in the 90s. And let me just say, I don’t need a whole investigation to believe this one.

A former NBC News staffer has said that “men in power” sexually harassed her during her time there.

All Other TV News

Ruby Rose has quit Batwoman, which is surprising since she’s … well, Batwoman. No one is talking officially why she’s leaving but it is important to note that she was badly injured in a stunt gone wrong last season that nearly left her paralyzed. Also, according to anonymous sources, the breakup was mutual. She didn’t like the long hours or Vancouver, and according to this source, she wasn’t easy to work with. The series has already been renewed for season two, and CW is committed to recasting the role with another LGBTQ actress. TV Line has come up with some ways as to how the show might explain the recasting.

We now know the highest-rated network shows of the season (people love them some Chicago-based dramas) and the lowest-rated (and that’s why God Friended Me didn’t make it).

The Stand first look photos are up and, honestly, the timing on this one could not be more on the nose.

HBO Max is scrambling to make deals with streaming devices ahead of its debut ~checks notes~ one week from today. It looks like “Microsoft’s Xbox One, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s PlayStation 4, Samsung, and pay-TV operators Altice USA (on its Optimum and Suddenlink brands), Cox Communications’ Contour, and Verizon’s Fios TV and Fios Internet” have all agreed to carry it, but two of the biggest services, Roku and Amazon Fire, have not because of some disagreement over whether HBO Max should be a channel or an app. I don’t know, business stuff, but I am really surprised that these agreements weren’t made months ago.

So how will HBO Max work, exactly? Warming Glow has a good rundown on who will get it for “free”; what it means for the other HBOs; and how much it will cost.

Also, it’s possible that the long-rumored “Snyder Cut” of Justice League will be on HBO Max, so if that’s important to you …

Apple TV+ is looking to buy older shows to bulk up its streaming library.

Here’s a list of horror episodes of shows that were not horror shows. Just because.

The director of God’s Own Country, a romantic indie U.K. film, is claiming that Amazon has censored a gay sex scene in the movie.

Renewals

Cancellations

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • Muppets Now will premiere on Disney+ on July 31.

  • B Positive will premiere on CBS sometime … sometime.
  • 13 Reasons Why will return on Netflix on June 5.
  • Greenleaf returns on OWN on June 23.

  • Sweet Magnolias debuted on Netflix yesterday:
  • The Last Days of American Crime will debut on Netflix on June 5.
  • Ringside will debut on Showtime on June 12.

R.I.P.

John Mahon, Actor, director and writer who appeared in The Exorcist and L.A. Confidential among other films

Marty Cohen, Editor and post-production head on more than a dozen Steven Spielberg movies

Hagen Mills, Actor in Baskets and others

WATCH THIS

The 100: Clarke and her friends try to rebuild Sanctum in the season premiere. 7 p.m., The CW

The Masked Singer: Time to unmask! NO, NOT YOU, THE SINGERS. Season finale. 7 p.m., Fox

Once Upon a Time in Quarantine: This series follows four couples who self-film their lives under lockdown. Series premiere. 8 p.m., Lifetime

S.W.A.T.: The team looks for drug smugglers who crash a plane into a Los Angeles neighborhood. NOT COOL, DRUG SMUGGLERS. Season finale. 9 p.m., CBS

At Home with Amy Sedaris: Well, everyone is at home now. Season premiere. 9 p.m., truTV

Barkitecture: It’s a show about dog houses. DOG HOUSES. Maybe there’s too much content out there. Series premiere. Quibi

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Anthony Anderson, Michelle Dockery, Gary Clark Jr.
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Kumail Nanjiani, Sharon Horgan
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Keegan-Michael Key, Wilco
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Simon Pegg, Ben Platt featuring Finneas
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Patton Oswalt
  • The Daily Show: The Daily Social Distancing Show
  • Watch What Happens Live: Lisa Rinna, Sutton Stracke

 

WEDS. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Moana Holey Moley
(new)
CBS NCIS
(repeat)
FBI
(repeat)
S.W.A.T.
(new)
CW The 100
(new)
Bulletproof
(repeat)
Local
FOX The Masked Singer
(new)
Ultimate Tag
(new)
News/Local
NBC Chicago Med
(repeat)
Chicago Fire
(repeat)
Chicago P.D.
(repeat)

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