Welcome to Memorial Day Weekend — as if holidays or, frankly, weekends mean anything anymore.
I begin with a cute video:
VERY SCARY BEARS.
But I also am going to put this here as a tease for something that I’m going to announce tomorrow:
My plans. 2020. pic.twitter.com/eFW35ZCcz4
— thereseodell (@thereseodell) May 20, 2020
(Yes, tomorrow is a Saturday, but 1. what even is a weekend anymore and 2. tomorrow’s date should be a hint …)
“Some Good News” is headed to CBS All Access. Is John Krasinski a sellout?
WAIT, Kelly Ripa has been in the Caribbean THIS ENTIRE TIME?
The executive producer of The Masked Singer talks a little about planning to tape the show for next fall, and how, exactly, they are going to do that with all THIS going on. The bottom line? They have no idea. Just crossing their fingers at this point. Also interesting: they reveal what the judges are doing at the table and it’s not using their phones to Google clues.
Will Parks and Rec be an Emmy contender this year? Maybe!
David Tennant and Michael Sheen are teaming up for a self-filmed series called Staged for BBC One.
Our New Reality: A Diane Sawyer Special will air on ABC on May 26.
Netflix is hoping to film Sex Education in the U.K. in August.
The HBO Max Gossip Girl reboot has been pushed back to 2021.
Josh Gad’s Reunited Apart show on YouTube will reunite the cast of Splash.
The My Cat from Hell guy is coming back with a special about quarantining with cats.
Some weird Belgian competition series that takes place in shipping containers is coming Stateside, possibly.
Perry Mason, Legendary, Justified, and Psych are joining the ATX Festival’s virtual lineup.
More SNL digital content because that’s going to be happening all summer apparently:
Hey, President Not Doing This Right was photographed wearing a mask for a hot second.
President Good Brain also said he “tested positively” when he meant he was negative.
By the way, a new study shows that had we begun social distancing just one week earlier, 36,000 of our fellow Americans would still be alive.
Vanity Fair asks “Why is Dr. Fauci Suddenly Off the Air?”
Chris Cuomo made a dumb joke about his brother’s nose and some on the right are clutching their pearls SO HARD about it. Sit down, Meghan McCain.
Actress Laura Bell Bundy discusses her recovery from the virus and attributes her practice of Eastern medicine to getting better. OK.
Not even making Contagion could prepare Steven Soderbergh for the public’s irrationality during this crisis. “But wow, there’s a lot of really fascinating human behavior that we didn’t even think about when we were doing this,” the filmmaker added. “It’s just a reminder of how deeply irrational we are. When we’re put into some sort of fear-threat space, we become deeply illogical. It’s crazy to witness.”
Michael Cohen is out of jail because of the pandemic.
LeBron James has been holding private workouts with the L.A. Lakers.
Disney is starting to talk about reopening the U.S. parks, but they don’t have a timetable yet.
Meanwhile, Universal Orlando is looking at a phased reopen on June 5.
Apple and Google are releasing contract tracing technology.
Good News:
Here’s a LEGO beehive an Irish beekeeper made during quarantine, just because.
All Other TV News
Tuca & Bertie has been saved! The critically-beloved animated series was killed at Netflix after only one season, but Adult Swim has ordered season two! This is the kind of good news we need right now. And honestly, this is the kind of content networks should be fighting over: animated series that can be remotely produced without sacrificing quality.
Believe it or not, there are other titles coming to HBO Max that people are more excited about than Friends, not that you would know it considering the attention everyone is putting on Friends.
Here are your Daytime Emmy nominees.
Vanity Fair has a bunch of outrageously priced clothing items inspired by The Great (which I am LOVING) but let’s all agree that this first shirt IS The Puffy Shirt, yes? NO ONE IS GOING TO PAY $1800 TO LOOK LIKE A JERRY SEINFELD PIRATE, GUCCI.
An oral history of one of the dumbest SNL sketches, in which Craig Mazin, the writer of Chernobyl, calls the movie version “sheer brilliance” and “perfection.”
Interesting: There is a documentary coming out called The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show, about one week in 1968 when Belafonte filled in for Johnny Carson. His guests included: Lena Horne, Paul Newman, Aretha Franklin, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy.
Devin Nunes is going to have to take his bullshit lawsuit against CNN up to New York. Good luck with that, asshole.
Renewals
ABC announced its renewals for the 2020-2021 season. The fall schedule will be announced later. Renewed:
- American Housewife
- The Bachelor
- black-ish
- The Connors
- Dancing With the Stars
- The Goldbergs
- A Million Little Things
- mixed-ish
- The Rookie
- Shark Tank
- Stumptown
- 20/20
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
- Prodigal Son has, finally, been renewed at Fox.
- Selling Sunset has renewed for season three at Netflix.
- Elite has been renewed for a fourth season at Netflix.
Cancellations
Sadly, ABC has also announced their cancellations for the season:
- Emergence
- Single Parents
- Schooled
- Bless This Mess
- Kids Say the Darndest Things
I was a fan of Single Parents, and Bless This Mess, and Schooled was set in my husband’s high school, so we had an emotional attachment to it, especially since it regularly featured some of his favorite teachers. This is a bummer.
I'm breaking protocol, but wanted the @goldnerds to hear it from me. @SchooledABC won't get a season 3. Big hugs to our brilliant cast, crew & writers. I'm beyond grateful to Karey Burke and @ABCNetwork for giving us 35 episodes to show that teachers like CB are the real heroes. pic.twitter.com/ox7piI5tcO
— Adam F. Goldberg (@adamfgoldberg) May 21, 2020
In Development
- ABC has officially ordered The Big Sky and Call Your Mother.
- ESPN has ordered a Last Dance-esque documentary about Tom Brady. Pass.
- Chelsea Handler has set her first stand-up special in six years at HBO Max.
- Here She Lies, a dark comedy starring Yael Grobglas, is in the works at HBO Max.
- Apple TV+ is developing a series about Gawker.
- Washed Up, a comedy series based on The Little Mermaid, is being developed at Peacock.
- You can now watch that terrible Halle Berry series, Extant, on CW Seed.
- In The Footsteps of Killers, a true-crime series hosted by Emilia Fox, is being developed at Channel 4.
Nat Geo and Nat Geo Wild have announced a new slate of shows:
Nat Geo:
- 9/11
- Breaking Bobby Bones
- Explorer
- Race to the Center of the Earth
- Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller
- Planet of the Wild
Nat Geo Wild:
- Cesar’s Way
- Secrets of the Zoo: North Carolina
- The Puppy Draft
Mark Your Calendar
- The Alienist: Angel of Darkness will return on TNT on July 26.
- Queer Eye returns on Netflix on June 5.
- Dear … will premiere on Apple TV+ on June 5.
- Kirby Jenner will debut on May 24 on Quibi.
- We Bare Bears The Movie will be available for streaming on June 8.
- The Simpsons will be available in their original 4-by-3 aspect ratio on Disney+ on May 28.
- Launch America: Mission to Space Live will air on National Geographic on May 27.
- I May Destroy You will premiere on HBO on June 7.
- Little Voice will debut on Apple TV+ on July 10.
- Knives Out will be available on Amazon Prime on June 12.
- Diesel Brothers: Diesel Nation will air on Discovery on May 25, and a new season of Diesel Brothers will return on June 22.
- Killer Couples will premiere on Oxygen on June 18.
- The Clearing will stream on Crackle on June 4.
- Baki: The Great Raitai Tournament Saga will stream on Netflix on June 4.
- Dark Girls 2 will premiere on OWN on June 30.
R.I.P.
Jerry Sloan, Former coach of the Utah Jazz and former player for the Chicago Bulls
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
The Lovebirds: Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani star in this romantic comedy thriller that was supposed to be released in theaters until … well … you know. Netflix
Homecoming: Janelle Monae stars in the second season of the mysterious drama. Amazon
AKA Jane Roe: Norma McCorvey, the woman known as Jane Roe, tells her story in this documentary. 8 p.m., FX
SATURDAY
Ready or Not: Samara Weaving stars as a woman whose wedding night takes a dark turn when her new in-laws insist on playing a game. 7 p.m., HBO
Toy Story marathon: Need a good, cathartic cry? 3:55 p.m., Freeform
SUNDAY
Run: Ruby and Billy have to consider their future in the season finale. 9:30 p.m., HBO
Betaal: In this Indian horror series, an undead British army officer and his army of redcoats wage war with modern-day Indian officers in a remote village. Series premiere. Netflix
Titanic: THERE WAS ENOUGH ROOM ON THE DOOR. 6 p.m., CBS
Late Night:
- Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Friday): Jennifer Lopez, Henry Winkler, Twenty One Pilots
- Watch What Happens Live (Sunday): Goldie Hawn
| FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II (repeat) |
20/20 |
| CBS | MacGyver (repeat) |
Magnum P.I. (repeat) |
Blue Bloods (repeat) |
| CW | Masters of Illusion (new) |
Masters of Illusion (repeat) |
Whose Line is it Anyway? (repeat) |
Whose Line is it Anyway? (repeat) |
Local |
| FOX | Friday Night Smackdown | Local |
| NBC | The Blacklist (repeat) |
Dateline |
—
| SAT. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 |
| ABC | Shark Tank (repeat) |
American Idol (repeat) |
News/Local |
| CBS | MacGyver (repeat) |
Magnum P.I. (repeat) |
48 Hours | News/Local |
| FOX | Flirty Dancing (repeat) |
Labor of Love (repeat) |
News/Local |
| NBC | the Secret Livse of Pets | Saturday Night Live (repeat) |
News/ Local |
Saturday Night Live (XXX) |
—
| 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 Fmaily Feud (repeat) |
Press Your Luck (repeat) |
Match Game (repeat) |
| CBS | Titanic |
| The CW | Local | Stargirl (repeat) |
Supergirl (repeat) |
Local |
| FOX | NASCAR Cup Series (live) |
| NBC | America’s Got Talent (repeat) |
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (repeat) |
Good Girls (repeat) |
As a parent and being married to an educator it sucks to see Schooled and Single Parents canceled.
Are you going to rewatch and blog about Lost? Please, please. I think maybe you already did this when it was on, but I wasn’t following you then. I am such a Lostie, that I flew to Honolulu for the premier of the final season. And I loved the ending. I’ve been considering a rewatch and would be all about it, if you are launching a summer of Lost!