Happy 250th Birthday, America!
@kitschyb1tch And yes I put the whole clip #30rock #tinafey #funny #trend #tv
Here’s A BUNCH OF TV News
John Oliver made his General Hospital debut on yesterday’s episode, and it was glorious. Even Laura Wright, GH‘s Carly, thought he did a great job:
“We had no idea what to expect,” she says of Oliver’s turn on the series. “A lot of times people like to come on and make fun of what we do, and I’m not a big fan of that. Our job is as important as anyone else’s, and we don’t consider it a different type of acting or anything like that. So, I was so impressed with the writing that honored what he does well while also staying true to what we do, and how he showed up and delivered. It was incredible.”
Genuinely, it was better and campier than I even expected.
Wednesday’s World Cup game between the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina was the most-watched soccer telecast in English-Language U.S. history. By the end of the game, some 32 million people had tuned in.
Marla Gibbs was celebrated by her hometown, Chicago, which named June 30th Marla Gibbs Day. This is very sweet, and I’m glad the legend was recognized.
Mike Rowe is suing Discovery Channel over Dirty Jobs and $2 million he claims he’s owed.
Kalshi betting is now manipulating Spotify. When are we going to regulate this nonsense?
Ahead of their wedding (if you believe they’re not actually married already), Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce gave 20 different charities a total of $26 million in donations. (Get it? 2026?) And we know at least one of Taylor’s bridesmaids.
So, we need to talk about tomorrow’s Fourth of July celebrations. I’m in New York this weekend and yeah … I don’t want to go outside. A hellmouth has opened up on the East Coast this week, and it’s much worse here than in Houston right now. This heat wave is also engulfing Washington, D.C., where President Wingnut has, as mentioned yesterday, announced his intention to deliver a long speech tomorrow night ahead of the fireworks display.
Amazingly, that’s not the worst idea this administration is going with for this celebration. Apparently, President Nero also wanted the “largest” fireworks display of all time, and they’re going to give it to him. Typically, the fireworks display in D.C. features 20,000 explosions, running about 10 minutes long. This year, there will be 850,000 fireworks, running about 40 minutes. You did not misread that. Aside from this being well, obviously very dangerous, it’s also going to create an almost unimaginable level of air pollution. July 4th is traditionally the day in DC with the highest pollution levels, and that’s before increasing the number of fireworks exploded 42.5 times. It’s so bad, the Park Service is urging spectators to … get this … wear N-95 masks. That should go over well with MAGA.
Oh, and did I mention that this fireworks display won’t begin until 11 p.m.? And that gates open at 5? And people aren’t allowed to bring coolers or chairs or even more than a single bottle of water per person? Happy birthday, America! Hope you don’t have asthma!
(Personally, I think I’m staying inside and maybe watching the tall ships parade on my teevee.)
Let’s check in with the Freedom 250 celebration:
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Renewals
- Dragon Striker has been renewed for a second season on Disney+ and Disney XD.
Cancellations
- The Hunting Party is officially dead, and will not be shopped.
In Development
- Toxic Moms, a comedy starring Ashley Tisdale, Ali Wong, and Sabrina Jalees, is in development at Netflix.
Casting News
- LaRoyce Hawkins is leaving the cast of Chicago P.D. on CBS.
- Asjha Cooper has joined the cast of Power Book III: Raising Kanan on Starz.
Mark Your Calendar
- Spooky In Love premieres on Netflix on July 18.
- Seasons will return on CNN International on July 4.
- Nando Between Two Worlds – A Sintonia Film debuts on Netflix on August 12.
R.I.P.
Moritz Borman, Producer on Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation, The Crow: Salvation and several Oliver Stone movies
Kjell Nilsson, Australian actor who played Lord Humungus in Mad Max 2
Keith Mitchell, Former NFL player for the Saints
LeRoy Irvin, Former NFL player for the Los Angeles Rams
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
Silo: Third season premiere. Apple TV
Independence Eve Live with Anderson & Andy: Celebrating 250: Anderson and Andy have found a new reason to get sloshed in Times Square. i CNN
Disney Celebrates America: America the Beautiful: There’s some kind of light show on the Statue of Liberty? This will lead into 24 hours of Fourth of July programming on ABC, “the longest commercial broadcast in history.” Premiere. 9 p.m., ABC
SATURDAY
Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks: Noah Kahan, Post Malone, Salt-N-Pepa, Bebe Rexha, Shaboozey, and Blake Shelton will perform. 7 p.m., NBC and Peacock
The Great American Block Party: Performances by Zac Brown Band, Jon Batiste, Goo Goo Dolls, and The War and Treaty, and the largest fireworks display in history. Supposedly. 8 p.m., CBS
Disney Celebrates America: Nashville’s Star-Spangled Bash: Performances by The All-American Rejects, Boyz II Men, Brothers Osborne, Clint Black, Lauren Daigle, Little Big Town, NE-YO, Nick Jonas, Reba McEntire, Sublime, Tim McGraw, and Elizabeth Nichols. 7 p.m., ABC
SUNDAY
Sharkfest: Disney out here trying to get a jump on Shark Week with their own shark programming, including: Hammerhead Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory; World’s Biggest Mako; Shark vs. Giant Croc; Shark Island Showdown & Sharks: Reef Rivals and more! Hulu and Disney+
Soylent Green: ~insert joke about Reflecting Pool here~ 7 p.m., TCM
| FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Disney Celebrates America: The Pursuit of Happiness | Disney Celebrates America: America the Beautiful |
| CBS | Sheriff Country (repeat) |
Fire Country (repeat) |
Boston Blue (repeat) |
| CW | Celebrate 250 – Main Street USA (repeat) |
Totally Funny Animals (new) |
News/Local |
| FOX | World Cup (live) |
| NBC | America’s Got Talent (repeat) |
Dateline |
—
| SAT. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 |
| ABC | Disney Celebrates America: Nashville’s Star-Spangled Bash | News/Local |
| CBS | The Great American Block Party 250 | News/Local |
| FOX | MLB Baseball (live) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Sail4th 250 | Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks | News/ Local |
Saturday Night Live (repeat) |
—
| SUN. | 6:00 | 6:30 | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | America’s Funniest Home Videos (new) |
America’s Funniest Home Videos (repeat) |
The Sandlot |
| CBS | 60 Minutes | Marshals (repeat) |
Tracker (repeat) |
Marshals (repeat) |
| The CW | Superman the Movie | Local/News |
| FOX | World Cup (live) |
Local/News |
| NBC | MLB Baseball (live) |