Time to say goodbye to Conan. Again.

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

All Other TV News

After 28 years, two networks and three shows (with five variations) Conan O’Brien is ending his talk show career tonight. But he is not retiring, he’s moving on to HBO Max where he will do a weekly variety show. I’m old enough that I watched the very first episode of The Late Show with Conan O’Brien in my sophomore dorm room, was furious with the way NBC treated him in favor of Jay Fucking Leno, and am genuinely happy and excited for him as he ends this stage in his career.

Honestly, the talk show format is a little stale, and Conan hasn’t seemed creatively challenged by it in a long while. In fact, his best bits, the bits where he clearly is having the most fun, have always been the pre-taped pieces and his travel specials rather than his interviews. Here’s to hoping this new HBO Max series leans into those, and Conan continues to make us laugh for years to come.

There are thousands of wonderful Conan bits, but some of my favorites are from the early days of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, when he was trying to convince Houston’s NBC affiliate, KPRC, to move his show from 2:40 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Conan came down to Houston to find out who was watching the show at that time (absolutely no one except for one gentleman named “Buffalo” who had some criticisms). Later, he made a commercial for one of his sponsors in this terrible timeslot, Hilton Furniture (“That’s a fact, Jack!”)

And here’s a fascinating little Late Night with Conan O’Brien fact: his very first musical guest ever was Radiohead:

Speaking of comedies: The New York Times compiled a list of the best 21 comedies of this century and while I agree with most of these choices I am OUTRAGED at a particular omission — which they include in their “Toughest Omissions” section. THIS WILL NOT STAND.

This is genius:

While we celebrate the Summer of Jean Smart (although for some of us, Jean Smart isn’t seasonal), we learn that she very nearly wasn’t in Watchmen. I mean Sigourney Weaver is great and would have been well cast as Laurie, but she’s no Jean Smart.

It turns out that not everyone is Netflix material.

The Peabodys — easily the best awards organization — announced their winners this week, and it’s hard to argue with Ted Lasso, Unorthodox, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Good news Amazon Fire users: Peacock is now available!

The Blacklist‘s creator and executive producer, Jon Bokenkamp, is leaving the show after 8 seasons.

The Walking Dead has released the episode titles for the first 8 episodes of the final season.

TV Insider made a list of shows that benefitted from a shorter season, and they’re all procedurals. And there is no doubt that a shorter season made NCIS better, but the dirty little secret is that most shows benefit from shorter runs. Give me a 10-episode season any day.

Poor Mike Lindell thought it would be a good idea to do an interview with Jordan Klepper. Free advice: If you’re a right-wing lunatic, it’s NEVER a good idea to do an interview with Jordan Klepper.

But then, Mike Lindell thought it would be a good idea to leak the interview before it aired on The Daily Show? Because he thought this made him look … good? What even is this?

Thoughts and prayers to the HBO Max intern.

BURN THE WITCH:

RACIAL Justice

So the right wing’s newest bugaboo is “Critical Race Theory,” which according to Wikipedia is “an academic movement of civil-rights scholars and activists in the United States who seek to critically examine the law as it intersects with issues of race and to challenge mainstream liberal approaches to racial justice. Critical race theory examines social, cultural, and legal issues as they relate to race and racism,” and according to right-wing fearmongers is the Left’s attempt to corrupt our children, destroy America and rewrite history to make white people the villains.

From what I understand — which admittedly is not much — Critical Race Theory is a philosophical framework that is used in higher academics, not in elementary schools, but let’s not allow facts to get in the way of us banning any discussion of racism in our schools because it might make white people feel bad to be reminded their ancestors enslaved people. As of last month, three states have banned Critical Race Theory from being taught in schools and thirteen more states are considering it.

The New York Times is finding itself having to defend its Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project, while Fox News has latched onto this non-existent problem to terrify your parents.

The whole outrage is being manufactured by right-wing think tanks, amplified by conservative media and it’s working: now people are losing their damn minds over absolutely nothing at all:

There was one recent bright spot in all of this nonsense. Sex-pest Matt Gaetz criticized the military for being too “woke” during a House Armed Services hearing yesterday, and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, he had some thoughts on that:

But don’t worry, Matt Gaetz, Laura Ingraham stands with you:

We live in an insane time. I’ll let Amber Ruffin have the last word on this topic:

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway show-turned-film In the Heights was warmly received by critics and audiences last week, but there was some criticism that the film lacked dark-skinned Afro-Latinos, and eliminated a storyline about anti-Black racism within the Latino community. Miranda responded to the criticism with an apology:

Soon after, Rita Moreno was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he asked her about the criticism, and in an attempt to defend Miranda, Moreno said, “There’s a lot of people who are puertorriqueño, who are also from Guatemala, who are dark and who are also fair. We are all colors in Puerto Rico. This is how it is, and it would just be so nice if they hadn’t come up with that and left that alone, just for now. They’re really attacking the wrong person.” And then SHE issued a Twitter apology the next day:

Newsmax is reviewing some old tweets by Greg Kelly about morale in the military under white leadership. It appears Kelly was attempting to be sarcastic and mocking the whole idea of racial identity being a factor in troop morale, but BOY HOWDY, it comes off bad.

Apparently, ABC was planning on bringing Chris Harrison back to The Bachelor, but Michael Strahan killed that following his interview with Harrison on Good Morning America, when he said, “His apology is his apology, but it felt like I got nothing more than a surface response. Only time will tell if there is any meaning behind his words.” And with that, Harrison’s fate was sealed.

Darnella Frazier, the teenager who filmed George Floyd’s death, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize special citation.

Amazon has created a new inclusion policy and playbook.

Helen Hunt says she wanted to remake Twister with all Black and brown storm chasers, but no one would buy it.

Billie Eilish is sorry for singing along with a song that included an Asian slur when she was 13.

And in good news, we’ve officially turned what had been a Texas holiday, Juneteenth, into a federal holiday. (Though there were fourteen Republicans who were opposed to it because Republicans gonna Republican.)

Renewals

  • Legendary has been renewed for a third season at HBO Max (yay!).
  • The Upshaws has been renewed for a second season on Netflix.
  • Couples Therapy has been renewed for a third season on Showtime.
  • The Hardy Boys has been renewed for a second season on Hulu.
  • The Challenge has been renewed for a 37th season on MTV.

Cancellations

  • #blackAF has been canceled at Netflix.

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • Ted Lasso returns on Apple TV+ on July 23.
  • The Harder They Fall will premiere on Netflix soon.
  • The White Lotus will premiere on HBO on July 11.
  • The Shrink Next Door will debut on Apple TV+ on November 12.
  • Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace will debut on Lifetime soon.

  • The Beast Must Die will debut on AMC on July 5.
  • The Patrick Star Show will debut on Nickelodeon on July 9.
  • Sophie: A Murder In West Cork will premiere on Netflix on June 30.
  • The Dog House: UK will premiere on HBO Max on July 8.
  • The Pursuit of Love will premiere on Amazon on July 30.
  • Looney Tunes Cartoons returns on HBO Max on July 8.
  • This Way Up returns on Hulu on July 9.
  • Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson will premiere on Apple TV+ on July 30.
  • Eden will debut on Spectrum on July 12.
  • Sky Rojo 2 will premiere on Netflix on July 23.
  • Heist will premiere on July 14.
  • Robin Robin will premiere on Netflix on November 27.
  • The Witcher will return on Netflix soon.

  • Arcane will premiere on Netflix in the fall.

  • Fena: Pirate Princess will debut on Adult Swim sometime this summer.
  • Ice Cold will premiere on YouTube on July 8.
  • How I Became a Superhero will premiere on Netflix on July 9.
  • Young Royals will debut on Netflix on July 1.
  • Titans will debut on HBO Max on August 12.
  • Middlemost Post will premiere on Nickelodeon on July 9.

 

R.I.P.

Frank Bonner, Actor best known for playing Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati

John Paragon, Actor and comedian who played Jambi on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse

Janet Malcolm, Author and long time writer for The New Yorker

John David McAfee, Software engineer, fugitive, weirdo, possible murderer

WATCH THIS

Conan: Conan says goodbye to broadcast TV and the talk show format after nearly 30 years. Series finale. 10 p.m., TBS

Making It: The makers have to craft a toy that shows their personality on the season premiere of the nicest show on broadcast television. 7 p.m., NBC

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars: RuPaul’s moves over to Paramount+ which, combined with Evil being on the streamer, is reason enough for me to be a subscriber. Season premiere. Paramount+

The Good Fight: How am I just now seeing that every episode in the fourth season was titled, “The Gang (does X, Y, or Z)”???? Welp. I guess I have to go back and watch all of this show now. Good thing I’m a subscriber, as noted above. Paramount+

When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren: Helen Mirren narrates this cheeky new nature documentary series. Series premiere. 7 p.m., ABC

False Positive: Ilana Glazer and Justin Theroux star in this twist on the Rosemary’s Baby story. Hulu

Epstein’s Shadow: This series studies Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s partner and enabler. Series premiere. Peacock

Sisters On Track: The story of the Sheppard sisters, Tai, Rainn, and Brooke, who become track superstars despite living in challenging conditions. Netflix

LFG: This documentary follows the USWNT’s quest for equal pay and treatment and their 2019 World Cup win. Premiere. HBO Max

Mary J. Blige’s My Life: A look back at the inspiration for the legendary R&B’s star’s 1994 album, “My Life.” Premiere. Amazon

Bosch: Final season premiere. Amazon

Who Are You, Charlie Brown?: A love letter to Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts, and a look at his legacy. Premiere. Apple TV+

Central Park: Season premiere. Apple TV+

United States of Al: Al and Vanessa try to convince Riley to take advantage of his military benefits in the season finale. 7:30 p.m., CBS

Good Girls: Things become more complicated (than they already are??) in the two-hour season premiere. 8 p.m., NBC

Legacies: The past comes back for Hope in the season premiere. 8 p.m., The CW

Clarice: Clarice is imprisoned in an animal testing facility where she finds a number of trafficked women in the season (series?) finale. 9 p.m., CBS

Godzilla Singular Point: Premiere Netflix

An Unquiet Grave: A husband who loses his wife too soon enlists her sister to help him raise her from the grave in this horror film. Shudder

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Jon Hamm, Ozuna, Rojo Perez
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: John Cena, Kristen Schaal, Kristina Schiano
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Robert Duvall, JP Saxe with John Mayer
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Liam Neeson, Anthony Ramos
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Chris Pratt, Michael Cohen, the Isley Brothers & Snoop Dogg
  • Conan: Jack Black
  • Watch What Happens Live: Ian Somerhalder, Annie Murphy
THUR 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren
(new)		 Holey Moley
(new)		 The Hustler
(new)
CBS Young Sheldon
(repeat)		 United States of Al
(new)		 Mom
(repeat)		 B Positive
(repeat)		 Clarice
(new)
CW Walker
(new)		 Legacies
(new)		 News/Local
FOX Beat Shazam
(new)		 LEGO Masters
(repeat)		 News/Local
NBC Making It
(new)		 Good Girls
(new)		 Good Girls
(new)

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