In which I work through my complicated feelings about Matthew McConaughey declining to run for governor of Texas.

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

Hope everyone had a healthy and happy Thanksgiving, but please do not take our awesome Houston cats back home with you:

This is not my cat. He just decided to get into my car and be my friend. Orange cats are awesome. from aww

All Other TV News

Matthew McConaughey is NOT, I repeat NOT going to be the next governor of my (once) great state. I have a lot of complex feelings about this: on the one hand, the last thing we need is more celebrities as politicians; on the other hand, celebrity or not, he’s still better than Greg Abbott; on the OTHER other hand, we definitely don’t need someone who doesn’t understand vaccines to be running this state during a pandemic; on the OTHER other other hand, he’s at least open to adults and teens being vaccinated which we can’t say for the right-wing in this state; on the OTHER other other other hand, he’s getting out of the way for Beto, a real Democratic challenger; on the OTHER other other other other hand, there was some polling that suggested McConaughey could actually beat Abbott, and the polls aren’t so positive for Beto. So, you know, it’s confusing.

Disney wanted to remove all the cursing in Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary, Get Back, that everyone and their dad has been watching this weekend. However, the remaining Beatles, Paul and Ringo, and George’s widow Olivia and their teams were like, cursing or nothing: “‘That’s how we spoke. That’s how we talked. That’s how we want the world to see us.’”

La Brea ends its first season run tomorrow (thank God), but the creator has some ideas about what will happen in season two:

“Without actually giving away what happens, this is a story about a family trying to reconnect—emotionally and physically. They’re on that path in the finale but it won’t be easy. They’re going to be separated in new and interesting ways. We’re going to be putting characters in different worlds moving into Season 2. There are going to be a lot of unexpected surprises that will happen at the end of the finale that is going to put our characters in a lot of different places. But also, we’re going to retain a lot of what we saw in Season 1. There are still going to be characters in the clearing trying to figure out how to survive down [there]. But one of the goals of the show for future seasons is to expand what the show can be.”

I’m old enough to remember when this show was just about running away from CGI saber-toothed tigers.

Some Succession business for those of you who watched last night’s episode:

The Ringer contemplates the Waystar/Gojo purchase as if it’s a real thing.

We were ROBBED of Tiny Wu-Tang. They actually started casting it, you guys.

And this is actually from last week’s episode, but Greenpeace would very much like to not be sued by Cousin Greg, thanks.

Apparently, George R.R. Martin began to worry about Game of Thrones and where it was headed beginning with season six.

“George loves Dan and Dave, but after season five, he did start to worry about the path they were [going down] because George knows where the story goes. He started saying, ‘You’re not following my template.’ The first five seasons stuck to George’s roadmap. Then they went off George’s roadmap.”

Yeah, this would be a much more interesting thing to whine about if YOU HAD FINISHED THE BOOKS. GEORGE.

The real reason Adam McKay and Will Ferrell’s partnership broke up: John C. Reilly.

Disney has removed an episode of The Simpsons that contained a Tiananmen Square joke from the streaming service in Hong Kong because of course they have.

Here’s a weird fact: David Hornsby, who plays Rickety Cricket, was originally supposed to be Mac on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Lorraine Bracco had feelings about Dr. Melfi’s exit on The Sopranos.

Russian Doll season two will have a “very different vibe” than the first season according to co-star Charlie Barnett. This concludes your annual Russian Doll update.

HBO Max accidentally uploaded the censored network TV version of Birds of Prey, launching a thousand conspiratorial tweets. The original R-rated version is back now.

Sheree Whitfield’s boyfriend Tyrone Gilliams is suing Bravo to stop using his name and likeness in The Real Housewives of Atlanta as if he didn’t know he was being filmed the whole time. This is a telling passage: “Tyrone’s been upset lately … as we first told you, he’s not on speaking terms with Sheree because ‘RHOA’ filming almost put him back in prison due to Sheree’s plans to shoot scenes with him at a restaurant. That would’ve been a huge problem because he’s currently sentenced to home confinement.” LOL, good luck with all that, Tyrone.

Those of you who watch cable news regularly might remember about two weeks ago when you couldn’t turn on CNN or MSNBC without finding Chris Christie hawking his new book about how he’s the only Republican with the balls to stand up to the Former Asshole or whatever. Well, we have the numbers on how that book did in its first week, and it’s been a while since I worked in the book publishing business, but if I remember correctly, 2,289 sales of a heavily publicized title is … not great.

Just as I had all but forgotten about Jussie Smollett and his (alleged) hate crime hoax …

Congratulations, Lindsey Lohan.

Renewals

In Development

Mark Your Calendar

  • The Book of Boba Fett begins streaming on Disney+ on December 29.
  • The Witcher returns on Netflix on December 17.

  • Coming Out Colton debuts on Netflix on December 3.
  • Saturday Morning All Star Hits! will premiere on Netflix on December 10.
  • Called to the Wild will debut on National Geographic on December 7.
  • The Tragedy of Macbeth will premiere in theaters on December 25 and on Apple TV+ on January 14.
  • Stories of a Generation with Pope Francis premieres on Netflix on December 25.
  • The Ferragnez debuts on Amazon on December 9.
  • Single’s Inferno will premiere on Netflix on December 18.

R.I.P.

Stephen Sondheim, Broadway king

Lisa Brown, Actress on Guiding Light and As The World Turns

Thomas Wells, Singer who appeared on X-Factor, America’s Got Talent, and The Voice

David Gulpilil, Actor who appeared in Rabbit-Proof Fence, Crocodile Dundee, The Tracker, and Walkabout

Don Phillips, Casting director who is credited for discovering Sean Penn, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, and Mary Steenburgen

Geoffrey Johnson, Broadway casting director

Virgil Abloh, Artistic director for Louis Vuitton and creator of Off-White

Check out more tributes here from everyone from Pharrell Williams, to Lenny Kravitz, to Gigi Hadid.

James Rocchi, Film critic

WATCH THIS

CMA Country Christmas: Gabby Barrett and Carly Pearce host this special, featuring performances by Jimmie Allen with Louis York & The Shindellas, BRELAND, Brett Eldredge, Lady A, Pistol Annies, Carrie Underwood, and Lainey Wilson. 7 p.m., ABC

That’s My Jam: Two teams of celebrities compete in a series of music, trivia, and dance games in this new series from Jimmy Fallon. In the series premiere, the hosts of The Voice compete in a bit of NBC synergy. 9 p.m., NBC

The Black Pack: We Three Kings: Taye Diggs, Ne-Yo, and Eric Bellinger bring classic holiday music to life in this new special. 7 p.m., The CW

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Alessia Cara, Pistol Annies
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Peter Jackson, Chelsea Cutler
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kathy Griffin, Alan Ruck, Inhaler
  • The Daily Show: TBA
  • Watch What Happens Live: Charlamagne Tha God, Mary J. Blige

MON. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC CMA Country Christmas7:00pm
(new)		 The Great Christmas Light Fight
(new)
CBS The Neighborhood
(new)		 Bob ♥ Abishola
(new)		 NCIS
(new)		 NCIS: Hawai’i
(new)
CW The Black Pack: We Three Kings
(new)		 The 4400
(new)		 Local
FOX 9-1-1
(new)		 The Big Leap
(new)		 News/Local
NBC The Voice
(new)		 That’s My Jam
(new)

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