Get your CGI wolves ready, ‘Manifest’ might be coming back.

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

This is a bad marmot.

Marmot attempting to steal a trekking pole from AnimalsBeingJerks

Marmots! They eat cars!

Going Viral

Last week:

This week:

Oh, and life expectancy dropped a full year and a half here in the United States in one year because of this fucking virus, but sure, let’s keep “asking questions” about the vaccine. You know, like, “is the government micro-chipping me with it?” as some 20% of our fellow Americans seem to believe.

As the Delta variant tears through this country, particularly here in the South where vaccine refusal is highest, cases are up in every state in this country and suddenly some — SOME — Republicans are realizing that maybe it’s not a great thing for their political base to die off from a perfectly preventable virus. Of course, they need to find some way to blame it on their political enemies, so they’re trying everything from “people aren’t getting the vaccine because President Biden is being too partisan about voting rights” to “people in the Bronx are also vaccine hesitant.”

You think I’m kidding; I’m not kidding:

But despite Meghan McCain’s dumbassery, the truth of the matter is that it is largely Republican and conservative voices that are spreading lies about the vaccine and the virus.

President Biden also has pointed out that social media — Facebook in particular — is responsible for spreading deadly disinformation about the vaccine and virus, saying that Facebook is “killing people.” Facebook is all, “NUH-UH,” but a study suggests that 65% of the misinformation spread on Facebook comes from only 12 accounts. 12! How hard is it to shut down 12 accounts?

Speaking of Fox News, there have been some glimmers of a realization that maybe killing off their viewership isn’t the best idea. On Fox & Friends, Brian Kilmeade had a little rant about President Biden condemning misinformation on Facebook, and Steve Doocy responded with, “If you have the chance, get the shot. It will save your life.”

Of course, that’s not the beginning and end of the story, because Brian Kilmeade responded with a bunch of irresponsible bullshit like, “You make your own decision. It’s available to everyone. We’re not doctors. You can say, ‘We got it,’ but I’m not gonna go there and give you other medical advice.”

And then there is this moment from Sean Hannity’s show:

And I genuinely hope some Fox News viewers are convinced by Hannity here, I want them all to get vaccinated, and I appreciate him pleading with his audience to do so. Conservatives are not going to be convinced by President Biden and Dr. Fauci to get the shot, but they might be convinced by Hannity.

All that said hold your applause because this being Fox News, this plea from Hannity was sandwiched between two anti-vax segments:

And rest assured, Tucker Carlson’s still up to his bullshit. And Laura Ingraham immediately followed this episode of Hannity with a rant about the vaccine’s effectiveness, saying, “Anyone else think it’s weird that five fully vaccinated members of the Texas Legislature who fled to D.C. in their voting rights stunt tested positive for the coronavirus? We have to know more about that.”

YES, LET’S KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT. Let’s talk about the fact that some people who are fully vaccinated have tested positive, and some have even become sick. LET’S TALK ABOUT IT. Because the thing is the scientists have always said that the mRNA vaccine protects you somewhere in the 94-98% range against death and serious illness, not that it prevents you from contracting the virus.

It should be noted that most of the people hospitalized and dying from COVID right now, at a rate about 90-96% are unvaccinated, but you can still get sick from the virus even if you’ve had the shot. But most of the vaccinated people who have become sick or died, however, have been the very old and/or ill, meaning that young and healthy people who are vaccinated should be fine.

But if you’re young and healthy and unvaccinated …

But going back to that part where the vaccinated can still contract COVID and presumably spread it — THAT’S EXACTLY WHY EVERYONE NEEDS TO GET VACCINATED. Follow me here, because I know that sounds illogical to the likes of someone like Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, but if the vaccine keeps you from becoming sick but only slows, not prevents, the spread of the virus, that means as long as we have as many as 40% of people unvaccinated, the spread of the virus will not be stopped anytime soon and the best way to prevent yourself from becoming sick is to get the vaccine.

Why is this so fucking hard to understand?

Anyway, back to Fox News: despite their on-air rants against the Socialist threat of vaccine passports, guess who has instituted their own vaccine passport at their corporate offices?

And I’m not saying that Fox News’s turnaround on this issue was because the stock market is becoming wobbly again as Delta surges, but I’m not NOT saying it.

But hey, Facebook might be uncooperative, but Twitter has kicked Marjorie Taylor Greene off for spreading lies.

Oh, and before I end my screaming tirade against conservatives and misinformation, I would tell Rand Paul to go fuck himself, but Dr. Facui did it for me:

Because the Delta variant is running rampant everywhere, including Los Angeles, the city is reimplementing their mask policy (not that the county sheriff is going to enforce it because he’s an idiot), and not everyone is happy about it:

In Hollywood, the studios and unions have reached a tentative agreement that includes a provision that productions can require vaccinations. Additionally, more events like movie premieres and festivals will require proof of vaccination and in some instances, proof of a negative test. Good. I mean, the bottom line is that having people contract the virus and/or get sick means productions have to shut down, and those shutdowns costs the productions a lot of money, money that insurance companies are increasingly unwilling to pay. Requiring vaccines is the only way for the business to move forward.

Speaking of production shutdowns, in the past week, House of the Dragon; American Horror Story; Bridgerton; and Matilda have had to shut down because of positive COVID cases on set.

Over in the U.K., Andrew Lloyd Weber’s new West End musical Cinderella, has been shut down, as has Kenneth Branaugh’s play The Browning Version.

Boris Johnson is a monster who tried to kill the Queen.

And last week, the Yankees/Red Sox game had to be postponed when multiple players tested positive.

Additionally, NFL Network and NBCSN/Peacock/Westwood One radio host Rich Eisen tested positive and had symptoms despite being vaccinated.

Again, it can happen, people. The point is, he’s alive. As he said: “Every health care professional I’ve come across in the last few days tell me the two shots of Pfizer I got in February are what’s keeping a 52-year-old like me from a far worse experience than the awful one I’m having,” Eisen wrote. “So, be careful if you’re vaccinated, and if you’re not vaccinated, don’t wait another second.”

And then there are the Olympics which according to the calendar are still set to begin on Friday, despite the entire country of Japan wanting nothing to do with it. It’s so unpopular, Toyota will not advertise during it in Japan. 

Last week, we had our first positive test in the athletes’ village, and since then, tennis player Coco Gauff; Kara Eaker, an alternate on the United States women’s gymnastics; Taylor Crabb, a male beach volleyball player; Katie Lou Samuelson, a player on the women’s 3×3 basketball team; and Bradley Beal, a member of the men’s basketball team, are just the Americans who have tested positive. Since Saturday.

It should be noted, there is no requirement for the athletes to be vaccinated to participate in the Olympics which seems batshit insane to me, but then why should the Olympics be any different than anything else during this pandemic?

All Other TV News

Turns out, the rumors of Manifest‘s death may have been premature, just like Flight 828’s passegers’. After fans streamed 2.5 billion — BILLION! — minutes of the show in ONE WEEK, Netflix has decided that maybe they do have something to discuss with showrunner Jeff Rake after all. Rake had originally envisioned the series lasting six seasons, three of which have been made. But he also has said that he would be willing to make a two-hour film that could possibly wrap up the story, too. Stay tuned. More terrible CGI wolves and 45-second water vomiting to come! Probably!

Speaking of Netflix, they’ve released their ten most watched movies and TV series.

TV series:

1. Bridgerton S1 – 82 million views
2. The Witcher S1 – 76 million views
3. Stranger Things S3 – 64 million views
4. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness – 64 million views
5. The Queen’s Gambit – 62 million views
6. Sweet Tooth – 60 million views
7. Emily in Paris – 58 million views
8. Fate: The Winx Saga – 57 million views
9. Shadow and Bone – 55 million views
10. You S2 – 54 million views

Movies:

1. Extraction – 99 million views
2. Bird Box – 89 million views
3. Spenser Confidential – 85 million views
4. 6 Underground – 83 million views
5. Murder Mystery – 83 million views
6. The Old Guard – 78 million views
7. Enola Holmes – 76 million views
8. Project Power – 75 million views
9. Army of the Dead – 75 million views
10. Fatherhood – 74 million views

Games will not be a separate part of Netflix — meaning those of us who are not gamers will not be able to opt-out of it, and will probably have to shell out more for Netflix because of it. 🙄

But I guess on the upside (at least for me), Netflix isn’t looking into the live sports arena. (Yet.)

It should also be noted that Netflix’s growth slowed in the past quarter. It still added subscribers, but it definitely is looking like the addition of more streamers in the past year, 18-months, including Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ are eating into Netflix’s dominance of the streaming world.

Happy 25th anniversary to The Daily Show, and to its two female creators, Madeleine Smithberg and Lizz Winstead.

HBO Max is offering free episodes of some of their shows on HBO Max Mini on Snapchat, for the kids. I guess.

Coach Beard is one of my old friend’s first cousins in real life. You didn’t need to know that, but I don’t care, I am one degree away from Coach Beard and that’s cool.

Meghan McCain is threatening to quit Twitter the same day she quits The View, and SHE BETTER GO THROUGH WITH IT. DO IT, MEGHAN.

Joni Mitchell; Bette Midler; Berry Gordy; Lorne Michaels; and Justino Díaz are the next recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors.

First of all, “someone” leaked a picture of one page of the Sex and the City: And Just Like That …  script? You mean, HBO Max’s publicity team leaked a picture of one page of the Sex and the City: And Just Like That … script, I’m pretty sure.

Brisbane will be the host of the 2032 Olympics, which considering how things are going in the world right about now seems really optimistic.

Dolly Parton is here to make you feel bad about yourself. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, DOLLY.

OH NO, MARLA GIBBS, BE CAREFUL!

Renewals

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • The Problem With Jon Stewart will premiere on Apple TV+ in September.

  • Queens will premiere on ABC on October 19.

  • One of Us is Lying will premiere on Peacock soon.

  • Small Town News: KPVM Pahrump will debut on HBO on August 2.

  • The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will debut on Netflix on August 23.

  • Homeroom will premiere on Hulu on August 12.

  • Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life premieres on Disney+ on July 28.

  • Celebrity Game Face and Jason Biggs’ Cash at Your Door will be airing on E! beginning August 31.

  • Fena: Pirate Princess will premiere on Adult Swim on August 14.

WATCH THIS

Sexy Beasts: WELCOME TO YOUR NEW NIGHTMARE. Series premiere. Netflix

Olympic Dreams Featuring the Jonas Brothers: The Jonas Brothers train with Team USA to compete against one another or something. Premiere. 7 p.m., NBC

Turner & Hooch: While Drake is out there getting himself arrested for being gross with kids, his former co-star Josh is becoming the next Tom Hanks. Series premiere. Disney+

Golden: The Journey of USA’s Elite Gymnasts: Follow Laurie Hernandez, Morgan Hurd, Sunisa Lee, Konnor McClain, and MyKayla Skinner as they compete for a spot on Team USA in this docuseries. Series premiere. Peacock

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Emilia Clarke, Mark Ronson, Brandi Carlile
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Lorde, Taku Hirano
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Emily Blunt, Bob Costas
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Margot Robbie, John Cena, James Gunn, PnB Rock featuring Swae Lee & Pink Sweats, guest host Anthony Anderson
  • Watch What Happens Live: Liz Gillies, Sutton Stracke

WEDS. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Press Your Luck
(new)		 The $100,000 Pyramid
(new)		 Match Game
(new)
CBS Big Brother
(new)		 Love Island
(new)		 S.W.A.T.
(repeat)
CW Kung Fu
(new)		 In the Dark
(new)		 Local
FOX MasterChef
(new)		 Crime Scene Kitchen
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Olympic Dreams Featuring Jonas Brothers
(new)		 Chicago Fire
(repeat)		 The Blacklist
(new)

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