The less-good news: Many people think third-degree murder is too lenient and there are other cops who were also holding Geroge Floyd down who should also be arrested who remain free.
The wholly unsurprising and distinctly American news: Omar Jimenez, a CNN reporter of color — who was just doing his damn job — was arrested hours before Chauvin was.
CNN reporter Omar Jimenez arrested at protest. He asked “Why am I under arrest sir? Can you tell me why i’m being arrested?” and received NO response. pic.twitter.com/51ldHGOJjE
— 🍪 (@sb13525) May 29, 2020
This is what censorship actually looks like, for all the conservative pearl-clutchers who are upset that the president has been fact-checked.
Mr. Jimenez has since been released, the Governor has apologized, and Mr. Jimenez is already back at work.
And we’re back pic.twitter.com/dkYHYxe0u7
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) May 29, 2020
Meanwhile, President Firestarter tweeted something so horrific that Twitter, fresh off of fact-checking an earlier tweet of his, hid the tweet for promoting violence.
A study in contrasts:
When the protesters are white vs when the protesters are black pic.twitter.com/sZ0NLiaq0S
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 29, 2020
It’s days like this that it feels dumb writing a dumb blog about dumb television. It feels hollow to write about some show being bought by Disney+ that won’t start production until God knows when thanks to the global pandemic that we are all going through, all the while the president calls for violence on our streets and another American city burns because another black person was senselessly murdered by the police.
I’m not going to write about George Floyd’s murder — that is his name, George Floyd, and he was a father and a son and a friend and he was born in Houston and he played football for Jack Yates High School and he was a musician and he lived in Minneapolis and he was a security guard and he was a truck driver and he deserved to live — but his murder and his community’s response to his murder are not my stories to tell. I am the most protected person in America: a privileged white woman, and I am literally incapable of knowing the depths of the pain of the African-American community in this moment. That doesn’t make me incapable of empathizing with them, however, and recognizing that their anger and grief is valid and 400 years old.
My statement on the death of George Floyd: pic.twitter.com/Hg1k9JHT6R
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 29, 2020
It might not be my story to tell, but it is my responsibility, it is all of our responsibilities, to do better, to be better, to shut the hell up and listen for once, and support our communities of color in the ways that they ask to be supported.
It would be nice if we had some leadership right now, instead of a toddler who spends his days throwing matches at a tinderbox. But we don’t. And because we don’t, until we can get to November, we are going to have to carry each other through this. Here are some places white people like myself can begin. And then, for God’s sake, vote. All of us have to vote. Vote for better DAs, vote for better judges, vote for better mayors and governors and congresspeople, and please, PLEASE, vote for a competent president.
And now on to the dumb TV content.
Going Viral
Riverdale‘s Cole Sprouse gets it: “Our show is the exact kind of rubric which is going to come under a scrutinizing lens in terms of how things are gonna to change technically,” he said. “I mean, the nature of romantic scenes are going to change quite a bit. Kraft service: catering is going to change quite a bit. Interactions with cast and crew are gonna change quite a bit. What kind of stages you’re allowed to shoot in are gonna have to change; the ventilation is going to have to change on a technical level. The amount of background they’re allowed into shots is gonna change quite a bit.”
With all our talk about production on movies and TV coming back soon, here’s a wrinkle: good luck getting A-lister stars back on set before there’s a vaccine.
Network primetime TV’s ratings boost from the lockdown have taken a downturn. People may be bored, but not bored enough to watch a bunch of reruns.
MTV is hoping to host the VMAs from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in August. We’ll see.
Sean Penn, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Munn, Blake Shelton, Gary Sinise and Reba McEntire will appear on CMT Celebrates Our Heroes, which will air on June 3 on CMT, Paramount, TV Land, and Pop TV.
Homeschool Musical: Class of 2020 is coming to HBO Max.
Crikey! It’s the Irwins: Life in Lockdown will air on Animal Planet sometime later this year.
The BAFTAs have been moved to July 31 and will be presented virtually.
Hey, some states are lying about testing and deaths. Coooooooool.
Governor Cuomo is signing a law that allows businesses to bar those who refuse to wear a mask.
The Boston Marathon has been canceled. And Coachella is about to be … stay tuned.
Japanese amusement parks are instructing visitors to not scream on rides. Yeah, good luck with that here in the States.
A bunch of Indian monkeys has stolen a bunch of COVID-19 blood samples. Because just when we think we’ve reached peak 2020, something comes along to remind us that we are only in May.
Conan O’Brien gave a virtual commencement address to the Harvard Class of 2020.
And John Waters gave a virtual commencement to the School of Visual Arts Class of 2020.
All Other TV News
Tom Ellis has FINALLY signed a deal for a sixth season of Lucifer, so it looks like it might happen after all.
Looks like YouTube is pulling out of scripted series altogether. Though a third season of Cobra Kai has been made, YouTube will not be the home for it and Sony TV has been shopping it to other streaming services, with a deal nearly complete. This will hopefully be good news for the series, as it received plenty of good reviews, but no one watched it because who in their right mind was going to subscribe to YouTube? If Cobra Kai moves to a Netflix, or a Hulu, it might actually have a chance to be seen by people.
The claps in the Friends theme song have a weird story behind them.
I told y’all to watch To Tell the Truth last night. Apparently, it was a wild episode.
Space Force debuts on Netflix today. Here’s why they never mention President Monster by name.
HBO Max still has a few glitches to work out.
All My Children‘s Cady McClain finally opens up about the truth behind Dixie’s death-by-pancake. As the Winchester brothers on Supernatural could have told you: NEVER PISS OFF THE WRITER WRITING YOUR STORY.
I never want to hear another moralizing word from this family or this man ever again.
And speaking of men I never want to hear from again: Harvey Weinstein and Disney have been hit with a sexual abuse lawsuit by four more women, one of whom was 17 when she was raped by that frogmonster.
Renewals
- Dishmantled has been renewed at Quibi for a second season.
In Development
- Hedy Lamar, the series starring Gal Gadot, has moved from Showtime to Apple TV+. And they are moving maybe because of Ruth Wilson’s allegations of abusive behavior during the filming of The Affair? Interesting.
- Paul Feig is going to direct Netflix’s film The School For Good and Evil.
- What We Keep, a docuseries from Cynthia Ervio is coming to Quibi.
- A TV series sequel to the film Upgrade is in the works.
- The novel Exciting Times is being turned into a TV series.
Mark Your Calendar
- The Thomas John Experience will debut on CBS All Access on June 4.
- F is for Family will return on Netflix on June 12.
- Curon will debut on Netflix on June 8.
- Japan Sinks: 2020 will premiere on Netflix on July 9.
- Tough as Nails will debut on CBS on June 8.
- Palm Springs will debut on Hulu on July 10.
- Revenge Prank with DJ Pauly D and Vinny will debut on MTV on June 25.
- American Chopper returns on Discovery on June 9.
- Free Solo will air on National Geographic on June 3.
R.I.P.
Marge Redmond, Actress best known as Sister Jacqueline in The Flying Nun, but she had many other TV and film roles
Anthony James, Actor who appeared in In The Heat of the Night and Unforgiven among other films, and The A-Team, Simon & Simon and Buck Rogers among many other shows.
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
Space Force: Steve Carrell, John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, and Ben Schwartz star in this new comedy about the dumb Space Force from the creator of The Office (U.S.) Greg Daniels. Series premiere. Netflix
Ramy: Season two of the award-winning comedy. Hulu
Central Park: A new animated musical comedy from the geniuses behind Bob’s Burgers. Series premiere. Apple TV+
Haircut Night in America: Celebrities give each other haircuts because that’s where we are now. 7 p.m., CBS
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Season finale. 7 p.m., VH1
SATURDAY
The Last Dance: If you missed this documentary about Michael Jordan and the Bulls the first time around, here’s your chance to catch it. 7 p.m., ABC
Lucy in the Sky: Apparently this was a movie? That came out? That stars Natalie Portman? And she plays an astronaut? How do I not know anything about this movie? 7 p.m., HBO
Hidden Figures: Or you could watch a movie about real NASA heroes. 6:35 p.m., FXM
SUNDAY
Celebrity Family Feud: Queer Eye versus Queer Eye. Season premiere. 7 p.m., ABC
Press Your Luck: Season premiere. 8 p.m., ABC
Match Game: Season premiere. 9 p.m., ABC
Quiz: Michael Macfayden, who you know as Tom from Succession, stars in this limited series based on the true story of a couple who tried to scam the U.K. version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Premiere. 9 p.m., AMC
Laurel Canyon: This documentary explores the 70s music scene in Los Angeles, including the Eagles, Joni Mitchell, The Doors, The Mamas and Papas, and many others. Premiere. 8 p.m., Epix
Killing Eve: Season finale. 8 p.m., BBCA & AMC
Vida: Series finale. 8 p.m., Starz
Late Night:
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Sean Penn
- Watch What Happens Live: (Sunday) Below Deck Sailing Yacht reunion
| FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Shark Tank (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 | World of Dance (repeat) |
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 | The Last Dance | The Last Dance | The Rookie (repeat) |
News/Local |
| CBS | NCIS (repeat) |
48 Hours | 48 Hours | News/Local |
| FOX | Flirty Dancing (repeat) |
LEGO Masters (repeat) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Despicable Me | Saturday Night Live (repeat) |
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 (new) |
Celebrity Family Feud (new) |
Press Your Luck (new) |
Match Game (new) |
| CBS | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
| The CW | Local | Batwoman (repeat) |
Supergirl (repeat) |
Local |
| FOX | Last Man Standing (repeat) |
Duncan-ville (repeat) |
The Simp-sons (repeat) |
Bless the Harts (repeat) |
Bob’s Burgers (repeat) |
Family Guy (repeat) |
Local/News |
| NBC | The Titan Games (repeat) |
America’s Got Talent (repeat) |
One thought on “This is America.”