Jimmy Fallon just TikTok danced his way into a whole mess

by Therese Odell, posted in watch this

It’s Thursday and I am absolutely in love with this owl:

 

Did Jeffrey Dean Moran just suggest that The Walking Dead was canceled by AMC, instead of coming to an end on its own terms? (Yes, he did.)

Yes, Piers Morgan is impossible to replace because self-important racist old White guys are a rarity.

The Shah Chalet on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is as much a fraud and Jen herself.

“How do I sleep at night? Ask your husband,” is an EXCELLENT Real Housewives tagline, Miss Trixie Mattel.

CBS will be hosting the Daytime Emmys for the next two years.

Hey nerds: it looks like Erryk and Arryk Cargyll will be in House of the Dragon. (I apologize to everyone for whom those words have no meaning.)

POSSIBLE BACHELORETTE SPOILER. It involves a goatee.

Thanks, I absolutely hate it.

The Supreme Court just made it easier for media companies to own more than one station in a market. Terrific.

As for Georgia boycotts, Stacey Abrams would rather you didn’t, thanks.

Black Lives Matter

So, last week, TikToker Addison Rae was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where they did a segment in which she showed him various TikTok dances.

The problem with this is: 1. Addison Rae did not create these dances and the show did not give credit to the choreographers who did and 2. most of those choreographers were people of color.

And it is part of an on-going problem with TikTok (and culture in general, going all the way back to the early days of rock ‘n’ roll, honestly) in which White people co-opt Black creators content and become far more famous than the original performers. The fact that Addison Rae was given a platform on The Tonight Show to promote her own new single was just added insult to injury. Oh, and this is not the first time The Tonight Show has done this.

Greg Spottiswood, the creator of All Rise — a courtroom drama about a Black female judge — has been fired for using offensive and racist language in the writers’ room.

Last weekend, a controversy erupted over a White CAA agent emailing to a Black manager a clip from Menace II Society of a crack addict willing to perform sexual acts to feed his habit. Deadline reached out to the actor who portrayed the crack addict, Dwayne Barnes, about his feelings about taking the role, especially in this much different culture moment. He wrote a very moving, personal essay about why he took the controversial role, the way people in his community reacted to it, and what it means to him personally to have the role weaponized.

HOW DARE ANYONE EVER SAY SUCH A THING ABOUT TINA TURNER. UNACCEPTABLE. I DEMAND A NAME SO I CAN PUT A HEX ON HIM.

The violence against Asian-Americans continues: earlier this week, an elderly Asian woman was walking down a Manhattan street when she was horrifically attacked by a man spewing anti-Asian statements. The attack is nightmarish, and was only made worse by the fact that it was caught on security footage from a building where the security guards not only did nothing to help her, but closed the door on her as she lay helpless on the sidewalk. Fortunately, the NYPD have made an arrest, and the building has suspended the security guards.

Reminder: anti-Asian racism is not a new thing. This is from 2016, long before COVID-19.

Matt Groening says he’s proud of Apu on The Simpsons and while he’s all for diversity, he was also fine with having Hank Azaria voice him. And look, I’m not mad at Groening for not entirely getting it: Apu is a sweet, nuanced character that the writers did their best to make more than a stereotype. But, by policy is that if the people of that particular race are upset with the depiction, you should listen to them and try to do better by them.

The United States of Al producers want you to know that they have a diverse writing staff, so please do no Apu them.

Maybe PBS relies on Ken Burns too much?

The Cleveland Indians have banned headdresses and face paint at their stadium. It’s a start.

I’m going to leave this on a more upbeat note: I learned of Eugene Bullard from My Favorite Murder, episode 261, “What’s Cookin’?” and was amazed by his story (note: it contains very little murder, don’t be put off by the podcast’s name). But the long and short of it is he was the first Black American fighter pilot, and that is perhaps the least interesting thing about his life. He was a prizefighter in Europe, a nightclub owner in Paris, friends with Louis Armstrong and Josephine Baker, and a spy who was used against the Nazis. It’s utterly heartbreaking he’s not a household name because he has an unbelievable story that is worth your time.

Going Viral

The vaccine rollout continues to be going well: according to the White House COVID data director, Cyrus Shahpar, we administered more tha 3.36 million doses yesterday.

But Michigan is experiencing a horrific outbreak, and Connecticut, New Jersey, New York are experiencing high case numbers. We’re not through this yet, folks.

Additionally, there was a fuck-up at Johnson & Johnson which contaminated 15 MILLION DOSES. OH NO-SES! The good news is that the J&J vaccines that have been administered so far and those that are out for distribution now were not effected as they came from the Netherlands, and not in the U.S. factory where this occured. And federal officials are still confident that we should have enough supply of all three vaccines to vaccinate every adult by next month. BUT STILL. 15 million doses is nothing to sneeze at!

Fox News is going full conspiracy nutter on this vaccine passport issue. Some background: the Biden administration revealed that since so many organizations were looking into requiring proof of vaccination, they would work with private companies to develop a standard way of handling credentials. Maybe a digital QR code that would be easily scanable! This only makes sense! If some businesses will — UNDERSTANDABLY AND REASONABLY — require proof of vaccination to use their services or return to work, we should have a standard program to go by so that everyone is on the same page, and we don’t have to have multiple ways of proving our status.

However, the far right is turning this into proof that the GLOBALISTS are all TRYING TO CONTROL US and THIS IS THE NEW WORLD ORDER and they are literally calling vaccine passports “the mark of the beast,” and Fox News is happily fanning those flames, viewing the issue as a way to attack Presidnt Biden’s vaccination program which has been very successful.

Anyway. Here’s a good tip: after you receive your second dose, you might be tempted to laminate your CDC card. Maybe don’t? If we need booster shots down the road, you’re going to want that card to be alterable so you don’t have to carry multiple ones around. Instead, think about buying a plastic badge holder to protect your card. Your CDC’s Mark of the Beast card is 3″X4″ and there are plenty of badge holders available on Amazon. (This is not an ad for Amazon.)

Have we talked about this stupidity? Today is MLB’s Opening Day and those morons in Dallas have decided to host a full house at the Rangers’ ugly-ass new stadium on Monday for their first home game before reducing capacity for later games. Sure! Pack them in on Opening Day in a state that no longer requires masks! WHAT COULD GO WRONG? (Yes, the Rangers are requiring face coverings, but come on.)

Eurovision Song Contest will have a COVID-tested audience for the semi-finals and finals.

Renewals

  • Magnolia Table has been renewed for two more seasons at Magnolia Network.

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • Mare of Easttown will premiere on HBO on April 18.
  • The Big Day will premiere on Netflix on April 7.

R.I.P.

Evelyn Sakash, Emmy-winning production designer

WATCH THIS

Top Chef: Top Chef is in Portland this season, and God bless them, between COVID, the BLM protests, and the crisis the restaurant industry is facing, it will be quite the season. Season premiere. 7 p.m., Bravo

Law & Order: Organized Crime: Elliot Stabler comes home in his very own Law & Order spinoff following a special crossover Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode. Series premiere. 9 p.m., NBC

Manifest: AH, MY OLD NEMESIS. I SEE YOU ARE BACK. Ben takes the hunt to figure out what happened to Flight 828 international in season premiere. 7 p.m., NBC

Made for Love: Cristin Milioti stars as a woman who is on the run from her controlling tech billionaire husband, who discovers he’s implanted a chip in her brain in this dark comedy. HBO Max

United States of Al: A Marine vet is reunited with his Afghanistani translator and friend in this new sitcom that is already raising some eyebrows for its portrayal of Muslims and immigrants. Series premiere. 7:30 p.m., CBS

The Moodys: Sean Sr. makes plans for retirement in this new special. 8 p.m., Fox

Wipeout: John Cena and Nicole Byer are your new hosts of the wild obstacle course show. Reboot premiere. 8 p.m., TBS

Creepshow: Season two. Shudder

Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula: A standalone sequel to the cult Korean zombie film. Shudder

The Great Pottery Throwdown: The pottery reality competition you didn’t realize you needed in your life. Premiere. HBO Max

The Challenge: All Stars: Premiere. Paramount+

Late Night:

  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Octavia Spencer, Melissa McCarthy, Nasim Pedrad, Fitz featuring Bryce Vine
THUR 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Station 19
(new)		 Grey’s Anatomy
(new)		 A Million Little Things
(new)
CBS Young Sheldon
(new)		 United States of Al
(new)		 Mom
(new)		 B Positive
(new)		 Clarice
(new)
CW Penn & Teller: April Fool Us Day Penn & Teller: Fool Us News/Local
FOX Hell’s Kitchen
(new)		 The Moodys
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Manifest
(new)		 Law & Order Special Victims Unit
(new)		 Law & Order: Organized Crime
(new)

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