foolish watcher

Is Meghan Markle in or out of ‘The Gentlemen’? Or was she ever in consideration in the first place?

Therese Odell
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Running into the weekend like… 🐧🏃 📷: Biologist Sailor

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Here’s A BUNCH OF TV News

So this is super weird, and I want a whole Netflix documentary on what is ACTUALLY happening here because I doubt it’s just a “contract issue,” but basically, a week before they were supposed to air on The CW, The Miss USA Pageant and The Miss Teen USA Pageant have been pulled from the network’s schedule. HUH.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta was scheduled to meet with Paramount today to chat about his lawsuit against their merger, but then Paramount tried to get cute and leak details about the meeting ahead of it, so Bonta canceled the meeting altogether. Thing is, Paramount, Bonta and the states have all the time in the world to get this settled. You? Not so much.

Speaking of Paramount, and their never-ending quest to be seen as the bad guys: Mark Ruffalo expressed his concerns about the merger, pointing out the fact that money for the merger is being provided by David Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, who owns Oracle, a wide-reaching computer conglomerate that provides technology to Israel’s military (and our own), and creates “scary technology.”

Here is Ruffalo’s post:

Paramount accused him of being “antisemitic” in response.

Ruffalo did not allow Paramount to have the last word on the issue:

Mike Schur has written a piece explaining his opposition to the merger, and the impact it will have on writers in particular.

Oh, Karen Bass, no.

So last week, included in the news that Meghan and Harry were returning to the U.K., it was reported that Markle would be taking a role on Netflix’s The Gentlemen, marking her return to acting. But almost as soon as that news broke, British journalist Tina Brown reported that Markle had been dropped from the series after “intense backlash” from the British public.

Now, I’m not in the U.K., but I am drowning in entertainment news over here, and I’ve heard … nothing about a backlash? Nothing at all? Not a peep? It should also be noted that Brown, who has notoriously had it out for Markle for years now, is the only person reporting this, almost as though she’s single-handedly willing for this supposed backlash to happen. There’s also the fact that Tina Brown was the person who broke the news that Markle had been cast in ‘The Gentlemen’ in the first place, so there’s another possibility that Markle was actually never in discussions to join the show, and to save face, Brown is now spinning it as a huge public outcry to something that never happened and was never going to happen.

Whatever is going on here, big congratulations to Netflix’s p.r. department for leaping on this moment (maybe spreading the Markle rumor to Tina Brown themselves?) to drop the new trailer for and announce the renewal of a series none of us were talking about until now (see below). Anyway, stay tuned.

While we’re on the topic, takes one to know one, Meghan “My Father” McCain.

Hey — could Pluribus be filming season two sooner than we realized?

John Oliver had some feelings about the Duffy family’s reality series.

Let’s give it up for The Olds! Give them all the Emmys!

Taylor Sheridan, Paramount, and NBCUniversal are being sued by a woman claiming they stole her idea for Yellowstone.

Great news, everyone! Streamers are only increasing their subscription prices by 14%, not 24% anymore!

People are loving them some Lanterns.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is calling out Marvel for being racist (and he’s not wrong).

There’s been an alarming cleaning of house at Stars and Stripes, the publication that covers the Pentagon and military affairs and is partially funded by the government. The editor-in-chief was fired after being interviewed by CBS News, in which he said censorship by the Pentagon would constitute a “red line” for him. The report was about growing concerns that the Pentagon was pulling back on the publication’s independence, including rescinding a federal regulation that it be published “without news management or censorship.” Publisher Max Lederer and journalist Lara Korte were also fired. COOL. NOTHING TO SEE HERE. EVERYTHING SOUNDS GOOD AND HEALTHY.

I know I rant here about the mergers of the corporations that own the local broadcast stations, and it might feel like a really inside baseball wonky concern. Which, fair enough. But if you want to know more, the AV Club has written a very good piece about what is happening and why we should all be A LOT MORE ALARMED right now. Or might already be too late.

Patti LaBelle’s nephew Byl Holte needs to read the parable of the Golden Goose.

Get better quickly, Simon Cowell.

Get better soon, Bret Michaels.

You too, Barry Manilow.

GOD DAMMIT, DOLLY, YOU BETTER GET WELL SOON.

Renewals

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendar

R.I.P.

Shelley Fabares, Co-star of Coach, the daughter on The Donna Reed Show, co-star in three Elvis movies, and wife of M*A*S*H actor Mike Farrell

Craig T. Nelson said in a statement about Shelley Fabares:

“Shelley was a great and grand lady… just a rock. I will miss her,” Nelson wrote. “She was a foundational part of my life during the run of Coach.”

Nelson called his costar of nearly a decade “just an extraordinary woman. She always had a smile. She was welcoming in the midst of chaos and always someone I could go to for advice and counsel, not only myself but others as well. I’ll remember you with love, Shelley Fabares.”

Michael Wright, Actor known for V, Oz, The Five Heartbeats, Streamers and The Principal as well as others

Bunny Levine, Actress who appeared in Gilmore Girls, Law & Order, Everybody Loves Raymond, Ugly Betty, Private Practice, Criminal Minds, 2 Broke Girls, Raising Hope, Southland, New Girl, Getting On, The Mindy Project, Fuller House, Shameless, Dave, The Upshaws and The Cure as well as movies Slime City, The Jimmy Show, A Thousand Words, La La Land, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, Sandy Wexler, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, The Invisible Raptor, Sacramento, and Thelma

Leslie Parrish, Actress who appeared in Li’l Abner, The Manchurian Candidate, Batman, Star Trek, and others

Nick Glennie-Smith, British composer who worked on The Rock, The Man in the Iron Mask and Secretariat

R.J. Kizer, Sound editor and ADR specialist

Janie Bradford, R&B singer who co-wrote “Money (That’s What I Want)”

Sheila Mathews, British stage actress and early ITV star of Channel Nine and Star Cabaret

Jo Gardiner, Star of British series Race Across the World

René Malo, Québécois filmmaker

WATCH THIS

The Wall: It’s the 100th episode, for whatever it’s worth. 9 p.m., NBC

Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Jelly Roll will have some big guest host shoes to fill, following Rosie O’Donnell’s great week. Good luck, I guess. 10:30 p.m., ABC

The Terminator: I’m so old I remember when the idea of self-aware, murderous robots was the plot of science fiction and not, you know, something to actively worry about. 6:30 p.m., Cinemax Hits West

Late Night:

MON. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro
(new)		 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
(repeat)		 Celebrity Family Feud
(repeat)
CBS The Neighbor-hood
(repeat)		 The Neighbor-hood
(repeat)		 FBI
(repeat)		 CIA
(repeat)
CW All American
(new)		 Penn & Teller: Fool Us
(repeat)		 Local
FOX Beat Shazam
(new)		 News/Local
NBC American Ninja Warrior
(new)		 The Wall
(new)
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