The ‘This Is Us’ finale offered a cathartic release on a terrible, sad day.

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

Today is an impossibly hard day, and it feels frivolous to talk about TV right now. I wrote down my thoughts about yesterday’s horrible shooting over here if you want to read another version of what I’ve said over and over again for the past ten years.

But this is a TV blog, so we will try to distract ourselves from the pain all of us are feeling this terrible day with meaningless entertainment news.

Here’s a picture of our leopard gecko just because you probably could use a little cute right now.

This Is Us ended last night after six tear-filled seasons. I won’t get into details in the event that you haven’t watched yet, but I will say that after yesterday’s horrific news, it served as a good outlet for a lot of sadness. It wasn’t quite the “warm hug” showrunner Dan Fogelman promised, but it was certainly cathartic.

I will note that the flashback scenes in this episode were filmed a few years ago, and that apparently, Mandy Moore had forgotten filming them. All I will say is that thematically, it’s perfect that she didn’t remember that scene.

Also, the scene with Randall and SPOILER FONT: William, when he is talking about being a grandparent was filmed in the first season, which is just goes to show that creator Fogelman really did go into this series knowing how he wanted to end it.

As for Randall’s future, and what the episode suggested, it felt a little obvious, but I also have to admit that like Fogelman I kinda like the idea that the whole series could be read as an origin story.

I still have no idea how NFTs work, and I am not interested in learning, so save your comment. That said, I do think it’s fucking hilarious that Seth Green bought a Bored Ape NFT with the intention of basing a TV show on the character. But then the NFT was stolen in a phishing attack, and he no longer has the rights to the character? So he can’t make the show? Even though it was stolen? Which seems like something that you should be able to prove in court? Again, I don’t know how any of this works, but it’s pretty funny, and also maybe don’t invest your money in links to jpgs?

Pepsi will no longer be the sponsor of the Super Bowl Halftime Show, after 10 years. The search is on for the next corporate sponsor.

There are some intriguing clues that Britney Spears might be somehow involved in that The Weeknd project at HBO called The Idol. Several weeks ago, it was announced that the entire series was being reimagined, with new showrunners and cast — this would certainly be a buzzy direction.

CNN has done some deep-dive reporting to prove that Al Jazeera reporter Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli forces.

Something I learned this morning: on this day 68 years ago, KUHT at the University of Houston became the very first public television station in the country. Happy anniversary, KUHT and public television!

Terry Gross, the host of Fresh Air on NPR, won Peabody’s Institutional Award, which was presented to her by Stephen Colbert.

Lol, well, that horse is out of the barn (via BoingBoing):

Get better soon, Steven Tyler.

Casting News

  • Tommy Chong will reprise his That 70s Show role on That 90s Show on Netflix.
  • Tim Roth is replacing Ian McShane on Last King of the Cross at Paramount+ after McShane suffered some health issues.
  • Alicia Hannah-Kim is joining Cobra-Kai on Netflix.
  • Lesley-Ann Brandt has joined the cast of History of a Pleasure Seeker on Hulu.
  • Taraji P. Henson will join the voice cast of PAW Patrol: The Movie.
  • Kailyn Lowry is leaving Teen Mom 2 after 11 years.
  • Chris Stirewalt is joining NewsNation, Nexstar’s non-partisan news network. This is interesting, as he was a veteran politics editor at Fox News who was fired after he backed the Fox News decision desk’s call that President Biden had won Arizona on Election Night.

Mark Your Calendars

  • Chloe will premiere on Prime Video on June 24.
  • Family Reboot will premiere on Disney+ on June 15.
  • Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution will air on A&E on June 29.
  • Miss Scarlet and The Duke will return on PBS on October 16.

WATCH THIS

The Great American Tag Sale with Martha Stewart: Martha hosts a garage sale — I’m sorry, “tag sale” — at her place for some reason. It’s not like she needs the money. 7 p.m., ABC

The American Rescue Dog Show: They’re all good boys, Brent. 8 p.m., ABC

Expedition Unknown: Did you know this has been on for 11 seasons? Me neither! 7 p.m., Discovery

Somebody Feed Phil: Season premiere. Netflix

Master Chef: Season premiere. 7 p.m., Fox

Survivor: Season finale. 7 p.m., CBS

Chicago Med: Crockett is faced with a difficult decision. Season finale. 7 p.m., NBC

Chicago Fire: The big wedding day is here. Season finale. 8 p.m., NBC

Chicago PD: EXPLOSION! Season finale. 9 p.m., NBC

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Jon Hamm
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Jennifer Connelly, Chloe Fineman, Danielle Ponder, Ulf Mickael Wahlgren
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Michael Che, James Stavridis
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Miles Teller, Amanda Peet
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Seth MacFarlane, Jay Ellis, Def Leppard

WEDS. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC The Great American Tag Sale
(new)		 The Wonder Years
(new)		 The Conners
(new)		 Home Economics
(new)		 A Million Little Things
(new)
CBS Survivor
(new)		 Beyond the Edge
(new)		 Good Sam
(new)
CW The Flash
(new)		 Kung Fu
(new)		 Local
FOX Masterchef
(new)		 So You Think You Can Dance
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Chicago Med
(new)		 Chicago Fire
(new)		 Chicago P.D.
(new)

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