Betty Gilpin says what we’re all thinking about ‘Widow’s Bay’

Therese Odell

1 week ago

Here’s A BUNCH OF TV News

A quick recap: President Friviolous Lawsuits decided to sue the BBC over a January 6th documentary, claiming that the selective edits hurt his brand and businesses. So BBC was like, “Cool. So turn over your financial documents and prove your brand and businesses were hurt by this documentary.” President Money Laundering was all, “AACK!” and his lawyer is now claiming that the lawsuit won’t include claims that the documentary hurt his brand and business and will be about … something else … so he doesn’t have to turn over his finances. For now. Stay tuned.

Hey Widow’s Bay fans: you’ll be able to watch the final three episodes of the first season in AMC theaters in certain cities on August 12. (Sorry, Houston: not us.) It’s the first Apple TV show to get the movie theater treatment.

The fantastic Betty Gilpin (who is brilliant in everything) sums up Widow’s Bay:

“I’m so glad that the exhausted people that I worked with who were like, ‘I hope we made something good. I don’t know. I’m so tired,’ they made the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen. … The show as a whole feels like the ultimate fuck you to safe, algorithm-friendly, ChatGPT, copy/paste television. And yet, it’s found such mainstream success, and that’s what people fucking want. It’s just so satisfying.”

Yes, it is.

The Critics Choice Super Awards, which was a thing I did not know existed despite being around for six years, and which honors movies and TV shows in the often overlooked sci-fi, horror, and super hero genres, shows some love for The Boys and Widow’s Bay.

The thing is, as long as Martha Stewart is still with us, she’s never going to make room for another lifestyle guru.

As everyone expected, the FCC lifted the cap on how many television stations any one entity can own. However, it will face court challenges. From the one Democrat remaining as an FCC Commissioner:

“The large station groups positioned to grow even larger under this decision are not local broadcasters, they are national companies that own local stations and increasingly dictate what airs on them. Trading a squeeze from Big Tech for a squeeze from Big Media does nothing to protect the communities this cap was designed to serve.”

Meanwhile, the corporations who want to buy up all the TV stations are pointing to the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger as the reason they have to be allowed to monopolize access to local news because they are competing against these behemoths WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY THAT MERGER SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO THROUGH. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, y’all.

Netflix put a guy inside a billboard.

Debbie Matenopoulos is threatening a tell-all about her time on The View and her lasting PTSD. Do it, Debbie. (Genuinely, Netflix, I would watch the face off of a documentary about The View in the same vein as the America’s Next Top Model doc you did. MAKE IT.)

Meghan McCain just wants to be “left alone,” you guys! And the best way to do that is constantly going on social media and saying outrageous things to get attention; everyone knows that!

Speaking of being left alone and former View ladies: hey Jesse Watters, don’t be a creep.

Meryl Streep is auctioning off her The Devil Wears Prada 2 costumes to raise money for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Hell yeah, Meryl.

Here’s Ryan Murphy threatening us again.

UM, WHERE IS JOHN OLIVER ON THIS LIST?

The Real Housewives return with another Girls Trip today, while also celebrating 20 years of this nonsense:

The cast of Girls Trip, a who’s who of original Housewives, got together for a very candid talk about what the Housewives shows did for them and did to them, including the moments they wish they could take back.
Here are some reasons why you are not too good to watch some Real Housewives.
The Housewives say they were “lied to” about what they were auditioning for before being cast.

Heal up quickly, Grocery Store Joe!

You better get better soon, Joan Jett!

Mitch McConnell has “gone home.” I bet he has.

Renewals

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been renewed through season seven on Hulu. They’ve ordered 20 more episodes, to be split between seasons six and seven. Season five, which will debut later this year, will only have five episodes.

In Development

Bad News Dads, a comedy starring James Marsden, is in development at Apple TV.
A Really Bad Person, a drama from the writers of KPop Demon Hunters, is being developed at FX.
A Spaceship Earth TV series has been given a pilot order at Disney+.
Lala IRL, a scripted series starring Lala Sadii, is in development at Disney+.
Joe Dirt is being turned into an animated series at Fox. David Spade will reprise his role.
Grown Ups 3 is in production at Netflix.
Descendants: Wicked Wonderland has been ordered at Disney+.
The Bonfire of the Vanities series is not moving forward at Apple TV. It’s being shopped to other buyers.
That American Squid Game series (movie?) from David Fincher does not appear to be moving forward at Netflix. GOOD. NOW USE THIS NEW FREE TIME TO GO MAKE MORE MINDHUNTER.

Casting News

DeWanda Wise, Tian Richards, and Marcus Mitchell have joined the Black rodeo series at Starz.
Bailee Madison and Deon Cole have joined Grown Ups 3 at Netflix.
Julia Brown, Chris Fulton, Ewan Miller, Rishi Nair, Phyllis Logan, John Gordon Sinclair, and Gordon Kennedy have been cast in Monarch of the Glen on PBS.
Kelly Sullivan is joining The Bold and the Beautiful on CBS.
Giorgia Whigham will co-star in Summoner at Amazon MGM.

Mark Your Calendar

War will debut on HBO on October 1.

Conan O’Brien Must Go will return on August 21.

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City will return on Bravo on September 16.

Average Joe returns on Paramount+ on August 19.

Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear debuts on Hulu on August 13.

Celebrity Crime Scene: Princess Diana will debut on Fox on August 20 and Hulu on August 21.

Lovesick debuts on Netflix on September 2.

Big City Greens returns on Disney+ on August 21.

Madden will premiere on Prime Video on November 18.
Tip Toe will debut on Starz on October 2.

R.I.P.

Joan Blackman, Actress who appeared in Peyton Place, Perry Mason, Bonanza, I Spy, Gunsmoke, Run for Your Life, Blue Hawaii and Kid Galahad among others

Abbe Lane, Singer who appeared in multiple Italian movies, and starred on Broadway

Peter Katsis, Music manager who worked with Jane’s Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, Morrissey, Backstreet Boys, and Audioslave among others

WATCH THIS

FRIDAY

The Last House: A mysterious force traps families in their homes for an indeterminate amount of time and then things get weird. (Are we ready for the pandemic metaphors yet, guys?) Premiere. Netflix

Anna Pigeon: A city slicker turns park ranger after the tragic death of her husband in this new drama series. Series premiere. 9 p.m., USA

Alley Cats: In this new animated comedy from Ricky Gervais, feral cats run amok. Series premiere. Netflix

Power Book III: Raising Kanan: Series finale. 7 p.m., Starz

SATURDAY

The Strangers: Chapter 2: Maya once again is harassed by these jackasses, in a sequel that took 18 years to make for some reason. Cable premiere. 7 p.m., HBO

The Blob: When this movie came out in 1958, it stood as a metaphor for Western societies’ fear of the unstoppable spread of Communism; others read it as a critique of post-war consumerism and materialism. Some enterprising filmmaker should remake it today re: MAGA. 7 p.m., TCM

SUNDAY

House of the Dragon: Season three finale. 8 p.m., HBO

Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th: These women have been bitching it up for TWENTY YEARS NOW. Keep it up, ladies. It never gets old. Season premiere. 8 p.m., Bravo