It’s Friday, it’s Halloween Eve, it’s four days until Election Day.
Here are some capybaras eating a jack-o-lantern:
All Other TV News
It’s the day before Halloween, so it’s time for daytime TV to humiliate themselves again.
Bloody Disgusting has a great list of forgotten animated Halloween specials none of us watched back in the day because It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! was on. Where do I get my hands on The Adventures of the Scrabble People in a Pumpkin Full of Nonsense?
If you’re looking for something to scare you this weekend for some reason, The AV Club has posted some great social media horror stories; a list of scary documentaries; some spooky podcasts; and a handful of scary short films. If you have a little more time, here’s a list of 2020’s scariest movies, according to IndieWire. I would add Host to this list, but otherwise, it’s pretty good.
And here are just some very charming vintage Halloween costumes.
But hands-down, the most terrifying thing you’ll see this Halloween season is …
For my birthday, Kanye got me the most thoughtful gift of a lifetime. A special surprise from heaven. A hologram of my dad. ✨🤍 It is so lifelike! We watched it over and over, filled with emotion. pic.twitter.com/jD6pHo17KC
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) October 29, 2020
Misha Collins has some thoughts on the meaning of Supernatural as it nears the end of its run: “It’s always been about this dynamic interplay between fighting the forces of the universe and fighting for the last remaining threads of a tattered family,” he explains. “Ultimately as we get closer to the end of the season it’s not about compromise, it’s about sacrifice — it’s about characters making huge sacrifices for one another.”
Did The Conners just write off one of the Conner kids? Well, maybe. The producers leave an opening for the character to return, but I’m not buying it. I’m pretty sure they forgot there were four Conner kids and are trying to cover their tracks.
True story: David Duchovny is banned from one Vancouver strip club for complaining about the city’s weather.
Congratulations, Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson!
Political Crap
My home county, Harris County, is making the news these days, impressing the rest of the country with our voting turn out. We surpassed all — not just early votes — ALL of 2016’s votes yesterday, and we still have today and Election Day to go. It’s amazing.
It's time to EXPLORE THE SPACE IN THE ROOM because as of now, Harris County early voters have surpassed the total turnout from 2016. Keep voting tonight at eight 24-Hour Voting locations: https://t.co/s3HBl2J9bW #HarrisVotes #VoteEarly #24HourVoting pic.twitter.com/zZI2XuzgSh
— Harris County Clerk (@HarrisVotes) October 30, 2020
But the only reason this happened was that voters in Harris County showed up during the midterm elections in 2018, and voted blue. We voted out our Republican judges, we voted out our Republican County Judge, Ed Emmett and we voted out our Republican County Clerk, Stan Stanart.
Side note: on that day, I saw Stan Stanart in person at the voting location, and readers, he did not disappoint:
So anyway, we voted him out and elected Diane Trautman who immediately put in measures to make it easier to vote, specifically allowing voters to vote at ANY location. In May, she stepped down for health reasons and was replaced with Chris Hollins, a motivated young man who had even more ideas about how to make it easier for everyone to vote. He, working with our new County Judge, Lina Hildago, made all sorts of changes: drive-thru voting, 24-hour voting, adding DOZENS of voting locations, and extending not only the early voting period, but also the hours that polls would be open.
It worked.
NEW: We just hit our highest voter turnout. Ever. Nearly 1.4 million votes have been cast in Harris County and we’re not even done with Early Vote yet. Let’s run up the score, Texas!
— Lina Hidalgo (@LinaHidalgoTX) October 30, 2020
Voting matters. Vote in every election. And vote down-ballot.
In other news: Trey Parker and Matt Stone are doing God’s work in this 15-minute video exposing the threat of deep fakes by deep faking President Gaslighter, Al Gore, Javanka, Michael Caine, Julie Andrews, and Mark Zuckerberg. In the bit, reporter Fred Sassy explores the very real threat of deep fakes and imparts some valuable lessons on critical thinking in a time when the truth is constantly being twisted and manipulated for political gain. It’s a nice reminder to not take everything you see at face value.
Also, it is FUCKING HILARIOUS.
Still, as sassy as Fred Sassy is, he’ll never be as sassy as this guy:
Black Lives Matter
CBS’ The Neighborhood will address police brutality in their season premiere on November 16.
Jamie Chung, the actress who plays Ji-Ah on Lovecraft Country, discusses the role, and how she wants to start a conversation with Asians about pride in their culture.
Megan Amram promises to do better.
Huh. So … it was a right-wing White lunatic from Texas who shot up a Minneapolis police station and helped set it on fire during the early days of the George Floyd protests? You don’t say.
And this is a few days old already, but I’m not going to miss out on the opportunity to point out that this asshole who has literally LITERALLY! had everything in his life handed to him is out here calling Black people lazy.
Of this I am certain: The average Black person in this country puts in more work by noon than Jared Kushner puts in the whole damn day. https://t.co/exYSJZ6pAp
— Hakeem Jefferson (@hakeemjefferson) October 26, 2020
Whoopi Goldberg, for one, was not amused: “like a fart in a dust storm.”
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, stores are already boarding up, worried about what will happen after the election. Weird times.
Going Viral
Here is Dummy Jr. telling Laura Ingraham that the COVID numbers are “almost nothing” and citing his own Instagram page as a source. Yesterday, according to Worldometer, 91,530 Americans tested newly positive, and 1,047 Americans died. A total of 234,177 Americans have died.
Jr. claims Coronavirus death numbers are down to “almost nothing” pic.twitter.com/NGMDLYkdsD
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 30, 2020
Alan Alda has feelings about President Science Denier’s herd immunity ideas:
Trump’s deceitful assurances that covid-19 is nothing to worry about have laid untold dead at the feet of this president. And now, his administration is flirting with a policy to achieve “herd immunity” by following a theory put forth in a statement known as the Great Barrington Declaration that calls for deliberately allowing the less vulnerable among us to become infected while somehow protecting the more vulnerable. The authors call this “focused protection.”
This is decidedly a minority view, and it has been excoriated by the world’s leading infectious- disease experts. But the Trump administration seems willing to let a few hundred thousand people die and hope for the best.
Trump once said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without consequences. At this moment, we are all on Fifth Avenue.
The Rose Parade is being turned into a variety special that will benefit Feeding America.
Here’s your Michael Bay coronavirus movie that you did not ask for:
MasterChef has resumed production, after pausing halfway through the season last spring.
Renewals
- My Life Is Murder has been renewed at Acorn TV.
Cancellations
- The Chop: Britain’s Top Woodworker has been canceled by Sky History because of the Nazi.
In Development
- Cult Following, a limited series starring and produced by Dakota Johnson and Riley Keough, is in the works.
- Einstein, a police procedural adapted from a German series, is in the works at CBS.
- David Beckham is getting a docuseries at Netflix.
- Public Figures is moving from Quibi to HBO Max.
- Tell Me Your Secrets is moving from TNT to Amazon.
- Biography: TLC has been greenlit at A&E.
- A comedy from Lewaa Nasserdeen has been put into development at Showtime.
- Havenfall is being adapted into a series by Amazon.
- Ruby, a female assassin action feature, is about to be bought by Amazon.
- Can I Improve My Memory? has been ordered at Channel 4.
- Holly Carter has signed a first-look deal with OWN.
- Bobby Bones has signed a development deal with BBC.
Casting News
- Awkwafina and Sandra Oh are starring in an untitled sister comedy for Netflix.
- John Turturro is joining Severance on Apple TV+.
- Laura Benanti is joining the Gossip Girl reboot on HBO Max.
- Erika Alexander is joining the cast of Run the World on Starz.
- Lana Parrilla, B.K. Cannon, Jordane Christie, Matthew Daddario, and Veronica Falcón will join Why Women Kill on CBS All Access.
- Steve Agee will join the Peacemaker series on HBO Max.
- Jee Young Han and Felix Mallard have been cast in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on NBC.
- Gino Vento and Carlos Miranda are joining Bosch on Amazon.
- Bryce Gheisar, Arjun Athalye, Beatrice Kitsos, Malia Baker, Dominic Mariche, and Parker Queenan are joining Are You Afraid of the Dark? on Nickelodeon.
- Jodie Turner-Smith will play Anne Boelyn in an upcoming Channel 5 limited series.
Mark Your Calendar
The CW has announced its winter premiere dates:
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?: January 8
- Penn & Teller: Fool Us: January 8
- Two-Second Horror Stories: January 12
- Trickster: January 12
- Batwoman: January 17
- All American: January 18
- Riverdale: January 20
- Nancy Drew: January 20
- Walker: January 21
- Legacies: January 21
- Charmed: January 24
- Black Lightning: February 8
- The Flash: February 23
- Superman & Lois: February 23
- My Psychedelic Love Story will debut on Showtime on November 29.
- Virgin River returns on Netflix on November 27.
- Sketchy Times with Lilly Singh is now streaming on Peacock.
SURPRISE! #SketchyTimes is now streaming FOR FREE on @PeacockTV. It's as simple as download & watch. Shot completely during the pandemic, in my house and I play every character (except one…)
SPREAD THE WORD! #SketchyTimes
LOVE Y'ALL 💋WATCH NOW: https://t.co/PtDCMnpj0B pic.twitter.com/4Ja24DneFa
— Lilly Singh #SketchyTimes streaming NOW! (@Lilly) October 30, 2020
- Nightly News: Kids will being airing on NBC on October 31.
- The Real Housewives of Atlanta will return on Bravo on December 6.
- Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will arrive on HBO Max in 2021.
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
The Mandalorian: BABY YODA IS BACK, BITCHES. Season premiere. Disney+
Truth Seekers: It’s a supernatural comedy series from Nick Frost and Simon Pegg — what more could you possibly need to know? Series premiere. Amazon
Halloween: A little on the nose, I know, but whaddya gonna do? 7 p.m., Syfy
SATURDAY
Saturday Night Live: John Mulaney & The Strokes 10:30 p.m., NBC
Black Christmas: In this movie I’ve never heard of, a bunch of sorority girls is hunted down by a psychotic killer but they fight back or something. It received a 33% from critics and a 31% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes, so proceed accordingly. 7 p.m., HBO
Ghost Nation: Spooooky two-hour Halloween episode. 7 p.m., Travel
Home Alone marathon: Y’ALL, DID YOU KNOW THERE WERE MORE THAN TWO HOME ALONE MOVIES? I HAD NO IDEA THERE WERE MORE THAN TWO HOME ALONE MOVIES. 6:10 p.m., HBO family
SUNDAY
Race in America: A Movement Not a Moment: Bravo celebrities share their thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement in this new special. 9 p.m., Bravo
Roadkill: Hugh Laurie and Helen McCrory star in this new British political thriller. Series premiere. 8 p.m., PBS
The Simpsons: The Treehouse of Horror episode, one day after Halloween 7 p.m., Fox
The Christmas Aunt: It’s a typical Lifetime holiday movie but the hook this time is the heroine is an aunt? LOL OK. 7 p.m., Lifetime
Late Night:
- Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Friday): Nick Offerman, Stacey Abrams, Busta Rhymes featuring Anderson .Paak
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: (Friday): Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jon Stewart
| FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Shark Tank (new) |
20/20 |
| CBS | The Greatest #AtHome Videos (repeat) |
The Deciders: A CBS News Special (new) |
Blue Bloods (repeat) |
| CW | The 13 Scariest Movies of All Time |
World’s Funniest Animals (new) |
World’s Funniest Animals (new) |
Local |
| FOX | Friday Night Smackdown | Local |
| NBC | American Ninja Warrior (repeat) |
Dateline |
—
| SAT. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 |
| ABC | College Football (live) |
News/Local |
| CBS | Manhunt: Deadly Games (repeat) |
Manhunt: Deadly Games (repeat) |
48 Hours | News/Local |
| FOX | College Football (live) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Weakest Link (new) |
Ellen’s Game of Games (new) |
Saturday Night Live (repeat) |
News/ Local |
Saturday Night Live (John Mulaney & The Strokes) |
—
| SUN. | 6:00 | 6:30 | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | America’s Funniest Home Videos (new) |
Supermarket Sweep (new) |
Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? (new) |
Card Sharks (new) |
| CBS | 60 Minutes | Star Trek Beyond |
| The CW | Local | Pandora (new) |
Whose Line Is It Anyway? (repeat) |
Whose Line Is It Anyway? (repeat) |
Local |
| FOX | The OT (live) |
The Simp-sons (new) |
Bless the Harts (new) |
Bob’s Burgers (new) |
Family Guy (new) |
Local/News |
| NBC | Sunday Night Football (live) |