Happy 100th birthday, Norman Lear!

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

Sheep dog means something else here:

One of these is not like the others from AnimalsBeingDerps

Here’s A BUNCH OF TV News

After Democrats called attention to the fact that Hulu wasn’t being particularly clear on their political ad rules, and calling for a boycott after Hulu refused to stream two Democratic ads on gun violence and abortion, Hulu has reversed their position and agreed to run the ads. That was quick. And a good reminder that Hulu refusing the ads in the first place was an expression of their First Amendment rights — as was the criticism and boycott of Hulu was an expression of their critics’ First Amendment rights.

WHOOPS: Tony Dow isn’t dead after all. Now, his son says that he’s in his “last hours” so by the time this is published he might actually be dead, but he wasn’t dead yesterday when everyone was reporting that he was.

Happy 100th birthday, Television Genius Norman Lear! To celebrate his amazing career, ABC will air Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter on September 22.

It’s also this icon’s birthday:

Better Call Saul writer takes notes from some random fan:

So, who killed Good Girls? (It was definitely Manny Montana.)

BREAKING NEWS: The JoJo Siwa/Candace Cameron feud has officially been squashed. And if you didn’t know there was a feud in the first place, don’t worry your pretty head about it. 

Warming Glow has a decent breakdown on what we know about the upcoming The Boys spinoff, Gen V.

There will not be a Dawson’s Creek reboot with the original cast, people. Let it go.

I keep seeing this story everywhere, so I guess I should share it: Stranger Things‘ Joseph Quinn was detained at U.S. Immigration on his way to do The Tonight Show until the agents recognized him as Eddie, and released him. That’s it. That’s the entire story.

Now the Stranger Things writers are saying that old episodes have NOT been cut to make Jonathan less skeevy:

Carole Baskin’s big cat bill restricting exotic animal ownership has been backed by the Biden administration. It’s been a weird couple of years, guys.

Charles Barkley is considering working for the Saudis on the LIV golf tour. Gross.

This isn’t TV news, per se, but Zooey Deschanel had thoughts about two of the worst movies she was in: The Happening and 500 Days of Summer (do not @ me, 500 Days of Summer is a TERRIBLE movie, and we will get to that in one second).

First, she says The Happening was basically misunderstood. Shyamalan “was going for a stylized horror, like The Birds, and maybe people didn’t get that.” That, or Shyamalan failed at making a tree version of The Birds, and it’s not the audience’s fault that they “didn’t get it.”

As for 500 Days of Summer, it’s a terrible movie because it asks you to sympathize with Tom’s character, a narcissistic stalker whose refusal to let Summer go is painted as being romantic. Deschanel and the interviewer both understand that Summer is not the villain in the film, but audiences can’t seem to wrap their head around it (in large part because the direction is sympathetic to Tom).

Deschanel’s response to fans who don’t get it: “People want the characters to be together, but that not happening makes the movie interesting. She is upfront that she doesn’t want a relationship, but he ignores her. The most telling scene is when she tells him: ‘I’ve never told anybody that before,’ and he makes it about himself. He is fixated on external details – such as her liking the Smiths – that has nothing to do with who she is as a person. To anyone who thinks Summer is the villain, I say: think a little deeper.”

Other people who need to think deeper: the people who seem to think that the Game of Thrones stories are “misogynistic” when I, for one, read them as an indictment of the patriarchy and the real world, which, by the way, is misogynistic and always has been. It’s not a celebration of misogyny, it’s an exploration of how women have attempted to take a little power for themselves in a world that would not merely deny them, but oppress them. 

During a live political debate in the U.K., the presenter fainted and fell to the floor, and the debate was immediately canceled. Yikes! Hope everyone is ok!

LOL, sure thing, Becky, I’ll get right on it:

 

Going Viral

A month ago (June 29, 2022):

Today:

So, as you can see, we’re still trending slightly upwards, and over 400 deaths a day is NOT GREAT. Nor are the hospitalization or ICU numbers. The BA.5. variant is extremely contagious and the case numbers are probably very underreported as most people use home tests. The problem with BA.5. is not that it is more severe than other strains, but that it is more contagious, making it much more dangerous to the vulnerable among us. Take care, make sure you’re up-to-date with your boosters — only 32% of us are current on our boosters, which is not great —  and look out for each other. It’s easy for all of us to pretend that COVID is over but it is most certainly not.

In fact, last week President Biden tested positive. It was reported this morning that after five days of quarantine, he’s tested negative again.

Late Night with Seth Meyers had to cancel tonight and tomorrow’s episodes after Meyers tested positive. This is the second time Meyers has had COVID, the first being back in January.

Witcher also had to pause production after Henry Cavill tested positive.

The Television Critics Association summer press tour, which begins today, is going virtual as cases are rising in California.

Comic-Con, which was in San Diego last weekend, put into place a mask mandate, along with proof of vaccination or a negative test within 72 hours. Better to be safe than a super-spreader event.

And over on Broadway, Bettlejuice had to cancel shows last week after a COVID outbreak.

Finally, Novak Djokovic still hasn’t been vaccinated and still won’t be allowed to compete in the U.S. Open unless he does so.

Cancellations

In Development

  • The Palace, a drama series starring Kate Winslet, is in development at HBO.
  • My Dentist’s Murder Trial, a true crime limited series starring David Harbour and Pedro Pascal, has been ordered at HBO.
  • Animal Control, a workplace comedy, has been given a straight-to-series order at Fox.

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • Let the Right One In will debut on Showtime on October 7.
  • Me Time will debut on Netflix on August 26.
  • Fate: The Winx Saga will return on Netflix on September 16.
  • Echoes will debut on Netflix on August 19.
  • Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio will premiere on Netflix in December.
  • Pantheon will debut on AMC on September 1.
  • Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee will debut on Netflix on August 24.
  • Ludik will premiere on Netflix on August 26.

R.I.P.

Howard Kleinberg, Top Chef contestant

WATCH THIS

The Most Hated Man in America: This three-part limited series follows a mother’s crusade to remove her daughter’s images from a revenge porn site. Premiere. Netflix

Light and Magic: This six-part series takes a look behind the scenes at Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects and animation arms of Lucasfilm. Series premiere. Disney+

We Met in Virtual Reality: This documentary, filmed entirely in virtual reality, explores relationships formed within VR, many begun during COVID-19. 8 p.m., HBO

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Neil Patrick Harris, Cara Delevingne, Bruce the Robot
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Maren Morris, Art Cruz
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Amanda Seyfried, Stephen Merchant, St. Vincent
  • The Daily Show: Rafael A. Mangual
  • Watch What Happens Live: Sara Al Madani, Caroline Stanbury

WEDS. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC The Conners
(repeat)		 The Goldbergs
(repeat)		 Abbott Elementary
(repeat)		 Home Economics
(repeat)		 Press Your Luck
(repeat)
CBS Big Brother
(new)		 The Challenge: USA
(new)		 S.W.A.T.
(repeat)
CW Mysteries Decoded
(new)		 Wellington Paranormal
(new)		 Wellington Paranormal
(repeat)		 Local
FOX MasterChef
(new)		 So You Think You Can Dance
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Chicago Med
(repeat)		 Chicago Fire
(repeat)		 Chicago P.D.
(repeat)

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