Tuesday, September 20, 2022
TV: Fall TV has arrived
Summer turns to fall and new programs show up on TV and
streaming services. Possibly so many new shows that important events on
existing shows get overlooked? Let's start with the new.
PEACOCK
hasn't had a great deal of luck with scripted programming. Most of it
has been British shows that they've tried to pass off as original to
PEACOCK or embarrassments like BRAVE NEW WORLD. But they have had some
success -- QUEER AS FOLK, MCGRUBER and ONE OF US IS LYING. With VAMPIRE
ACADEMY, they can add one more to their shows worth watching.
Episodes
one through four dropped last week and that was good because Julie Plec
and company are laying the groundwork for a long run. Plec is
responsible for THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, LEGACY and, most importantly THE
ORIGINALS. Plec has overseen long running shows because of her
attention to characterizations and plot points. She knows how to build
audience interest. That should make her a strong asset for PEACOCK.
Should.
But
PEACOCK thinks a season is ten episodes. Episodes five through ten
will air weekly on Thursdays. Is there a reason, other than NETFLIX
envy, that PEACOCK is going for ten episode seasons? Plec should be
able to handle it and have a tight season but she really works best on a
larger canvas.
She's got
a strong cast -- especially Daniela Nieves as Lissa -- and this feels
like a show that's not just marking time -- unlike so many shows that
debuted last fall on THE CW.
Season
two of FATE: THE WINX SAGA also reels you in -- sadly, it's only seven
episodes and WINX is petty much gone in the blink of an eye. Before
that happens, Bloom (Abigail Cowen) grows stronger and the characters
grow deeper. That's especially true of Terra (Eliot Salt) who has a
season of self-reflection and self-realization. But it's true also of
Andreas (Ken Duken) who becomes so much more than he was last season and
so many others.
While
time flies by quickly on both VAMPIRE DIARIES and FATE: THE WINX SAGA,
it seems to drag on when it comes to MONARCH, FOX news series starring
Susan Sarandon. Susan's not the problem -- killing her off in the first
episode might be. She's the only one in the cast who pulls you in.
The cast isn't bad -- and the actors may grow into their roles -- but no
one else is really able to lead. There's also the problem Mike noted,
they haven't cast the show well. A new show needs the audience to
easily follow the various characters. But when you've cast dark haired
men in the younger parts, you risk people confusing Luke (Joshua Sasse)
with Cliave (Adam Croasdell) or even Ace (Inigo Pascual) as they try to
sort through who's who. This could be avoided by casting, for example, a
bald man in the role, or a blond, or giving someone a brush cut, or a
redhead.
Joshua Sasse will
probably stand out quickly if the show lasts because he's the one who
has mastered a role. A drama -- especially a soap opera -- often
requires the actor and the writers feeling out a role. So we're not
slamming the rest of the cast. But Sasse has already mastered what's
been served up on the written page. Maybe the writers can toss his
character something to make Luke someone will root for? At present,
he's the son who's not appreciated by his father. Because he's gay? If
only. They haven't even come up with a reason for the
detachment/estrangement.
Susan
will return for flashbacks and other things but her character is dead.
What was the point? BLUE SKIES did something similar with Ryan
Phillippe; however, Ryan's character was brutally murdered in the first
episode while he attempted to solve a mystery that all the characters
swirled around. And David E. Kelley set this up wonderfully.
MONARCH
let you know Susan's character had cancer in the first episode and her
death wasn't surprising as a result. You might have been shocked that
they'd kill off Susan in the first episode, but that was it. She had
cancer, she was dying. We knew that much. Equally true, when Alfred
Hitchcock killed off Janet Leigh at the start of PSYCHO, he still had
Anthony Perkins in the cast. MONARCH really has nothing.
Trace
Adkins isn't bad as Albie. He hits the right notes. He doesn't do
much else. That's partly due to writing. The show is just starting but
it's starting with bad writing, really bad writing. That's evident in
the way episode one drags on (as does episode two) and it's evident in
the characters -- none seem to have been thought out in terms of
writing.
Back to Plec, she thought out the characters, she thought out the plot points and she cast well.
MONARCH may have cast well -- it might not have -- but it's hard to tell when they've supplied the actors with so little.
We
heard the show was being critically trashed and that did surprise us
until we watched. Episode one would have tanked without Susan. Episode
two does tank.
What
could save this soap opera? Maybe bringing on Heather Locklear. We're
not joking. Trace Adkins needs a strong actress to work with -- a
Heather Locklear, a Michael Michele. An Amber Valletta would tank the
show as surely as she tanked BLOOD & OIL.
Trace
is the one we really feel sorry for. Opposite Sarandon, he could have
shined. Now he'll end up in some sort of Katey Sagal relationship. No,
Dan doesn't fit with Katey's Louise and he never will.
Sara
Gilbert is out of control. Her thirst for power saw her work to stab
Roseanne Barr in the back and, in the process of her power grab, she
destroyed her marriage. We don't blame her wife for leaving. We'd
already noted her how pathetic Sara was. She didn't come out until
2010. Despite having two children with her partner by 2004. Pathetic
and disgusting.
You're in the closet and you're a parent -- twice over -- with your female partner?
You're not just asking your partner to hide in the closet with you, you're asking your children too as well.
Sara
is pathetic and disgusting. She had a fit when Darlene was the source
of a joke in season ten of ROSEANNE -- she didn't like Dan and Roseanne
laughing about how Darlene might be gay.
And
that, by the way, is the attitude that ended her marriage. She's
pathetic. She doesn't want people to think of her as gay. So she won't
let Darlene be gay and she's avoided playing gay characters as an
adult. She has internalized homophobia and then some. This season, the
show goes on without Michael Fishman whom Sara fired. DJ is gone.
Roseanne's gone. Pretty soon, it'll be just her and Katey -- playing
Darlene and Lousie as gal pals -- but not lovers.
Sara Gilbert and her homophobia are aided by a garbage press and that's never more true than when it comes to SCREEN RANT.
Last week, Cathal Gunning was again lying at SCREEN RANT. ABC, he lied, fired Roseanne Barr. No, they didn't.
They didn't have the power too.
They cancelled her show, that's all they could legally do.
They
then trashed her in the press, claimed she had destroyed all these
lives. It was too late, they insisted, for the crew to get new jobs.
All the series were locked in. So they were without jobs because of
mean old Roseanne. They then made promises, if she'd let them have the
characters.
That's how they
got THE CONNERS. It's not now, and never has been, as popular as
ROSEANNE. But it had a built in audience and has made a ton of money
for ABC because they stole it from Roseanne.
This
is not a minor issue. Louis CK lost his show because of his actions.
He was not then asked to sign away his creations. No man ever is. No
woman has been before. What they did to Roseanne was outrageous.
And uncalled for. ABC heads should roll.
If you missed it, ROSEANNE is a hit on COZY and it on many streamers -- that's all ten seasons.
Twitter
was outraged but the American people weren't. That's because most
could handle a joke that bombed. And most grasped that Roseanne Barr
wasn't a racist -- she had a life and a body of work to back that up --
unlike Sara Gilbert.
Sara
stole the show. And it's a minor hit because Sara's a minor talent.
She hasn't taken it anywhere. She hasn't added to it. She's made the
generic White cast TV show while pretending that Roseanne was a racist.
The racist -- and the homophobe -- is Sara. That's why Sandra Bernhard
was brought back as Nancy on season ten of ROSEANNE (TV's first
recurring lesbian who wasn't a joke) but never showed up on THE CONNERS.
ROSEANNE was a groundbreaking show. THE CONNERS? Sara Gilbert's destroyed the sitcom and made it run of the mill.
Roseanne
supported Donald Trump, that's not a crime. She's an extreme Zionist
-- also not a crime. She attempted a joke that didn't go over -- again,
not a crime.
And people used it to destroy her. Powerful people. And they emotionally blackmailed her to get control of her show.
Those
facts are disappeared for now but they will be huge in the future. And
Sara Gilbert will have to answer for what she did. It will be attached
to her for as long as anyone remembers her. She's a backstabber who
immediately moved to attack Roseanne so she and ABC could steal the show
from her.
There's no
excuse for what she did. And there's no excuse for the embarrassment
that is THE CONNERS -- a tired show that makes MAYBERRY RFD seem
revolutionary.
Book Talk
Dona: Book talk time. We had two book reviews recently. Ruth covered Stan Saul's BECOMING RICHARD PRYOR and Isaiah covered Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey are the authors of THE COMIC BOOK
HISTORY OF ANIMATION: TRUE TOON TALES OF THE MOST ICONIC CHARACTERS,
ARTISTS AND STYLES!
Isaiah, let me start with you and your review was "The Comic Book History of Animation: True Toon Tales of the Most Iconic Characters, Artists and Styles!" You referred to
the drawings. Was this a visual book?
Isaiah:
Yes and the fact that you have to ask makes it clear I wasn't clear
enough. They're covering the history of animated films and they've done
it as a comic book.
Dona: So an animated racy cartoon back in 1928?
Isaiah:
That was a shocker. The year is not clear outside of the book. It may
be a year different. But I looked it up and it was the case. But I
did change the title of that cartoon. The book had a different title
and I could not find it on Google so I went with the title that I could
fine repeatedly.
Dona: And the man just walks around poking his thing in.
Isaiah: Yep. Ends up in a cactus tree at one point. That's not in the book, that's what I found out while researching.
Dona:
We always think we're the racy ones and that it was so quiet before we
came along. Clearly, that's not the case. Ruth, you covered a
biography, "BECOMING RICHARD PRYOR," and you liked it?
Ruth: I am torn. I wish I hadn't read it.
Dona: It made it harder for you to enjoy Richard Pryor?
Ruth:
It did. I don't care about his sleeping with whomever -- the book does
note that he publicly stated he had slept with a man. And not Marlon
Brando, this was a male prostitute he grew up with and Richard spoke
about it publicly at a charity event. But Richard sleeping with someone
-- even a married woman or man -- I have no negative judgements. For
me, the issue was the violent beatings of women. It is really hard for
me to resolve that. Trust the art, not the artist, right?
Dona: Stan asked me to tell you he really liked what you wrote regarding the barriers that Richard faced in terms of casting.
Ruth:
I honestly would not have thought about that were it not for Ava and
C.I. tackling the subject. But they really did open my eyes --
Dona: Stan's too. He wanted me to link to their "TV: First Ladies and Martha Mitchell ."
Ruth:
And they're right. It is racism when they have a certain level of
African-American male character -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack
Obama, etc. -- and they refuse to cast an African-American in the role
but instead cast a British actor. They do not go out of their way to,
for example, enlarge the scope of the characters that they will allow
Samuel L. Jackson to play. Richard Pryor became box office and deserves
praise for that. But they really did keep him as a type. And Eddie
Murphy followed -- a huge box office star -- and the studios catered to
him because he was so huge but even so they only allowed him to stretch a
little bit more than they did Richard.
Isaiah:
I read the book, by the way, to see what bothered Ruth and it bothered
me as well. For example, Richard and his wife Shelley have Sammy Davis
Jr. and his wife over. Richard starts beating Shelley at the table,
during dinner. And the next day, Sammy and his wife send flowers about
how that's not the Richard they know or something. There is a lot of
looking the other way, a lot of smoothing over and a lot of justifying.
And I am not trying to attack Sammy Davis Jr. I don't know what I
would have done, in 1960-whatever, if that had happened in front of me
at a friend's home. Today? We know about spouse abuse. Back then, I
don't want to try to guess. It was awkward and it was painful. And,
Ruth, it did harm the way I look at Richard Pryor. I understand your
reaction completely.
Dona: Ruth, you note that it's probably not a book for big fans of Richard Pryor.
Ruth:
I don't feel it is. I picked it up thinking I would enjoy it because I
love Richard Pryor. But I did not enjoy the book. Well written and
great for digging deep but I didn't plan on that. I had a question for
Isaiah.
Isaiah: Shoot.
Ruth: On your review, you were emphasizing the things covered in the book you read that were not so obvious, right?
Isaiah:
Yes. I could have written a ton about Walt Disney, for example, that
we already know but what would the point be. The racy film, for
example, was completely new to me and that's why I included it in my
review.
Dona: Isaiah, Ruth
wants more book coverage -- even like what we did in 2020 where it was
at least one book a week. How do you feel about that?
Isaiah:
I don't know about that much -- not sure I could do that much. But I
am glad that Ruth, Rebecca and Marcia continue to cover books.
Dona: I am too.
Hypocrite said what?
We're not Bernie-stans. We do believe he would have made a much better president than Joe Biden but we're not in love with him and we don't really want him to run again -- especially not after the way he caved in March of 2020.
But we'll note if he's right about something. And if he's unfairly attacked?
Yeah, we'll defend him.
Joseph Zeballos-Roig and Bryan Metzger (BUSINESS INSIDER) report:
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia griped on Tuesday about bipartisan opposition to his plan to streamline construction of fossil fuel and clean energy projects, assailing it as a form of vengeful politics.
"I've been around a long time in state politics and federal politics," Manchin said at a Tuesday press conference. "I've never seen stranger bedfellows than Bernie Sanders and the extreme liberal left siding up with the Republican leadership in the caucus."
Wait a second, the craven politician who repeatedly runs to the Republicans to make deals and alliances is trashing Bernie for working across the aisle?
Charles Haymaker Tweets:
Bernie Sanders is blocking manchin’s fossil fuel buys and manchin has accused Bernie being in bed with repubs. Name calling fools. Manchin acts like a 6 yo.
Exactly.
2022 deaths
Each year, people are born and people die. Reader Troy Montgomery
e-mailed noting that many community sites note passings and thought we
could keep a running link page on that. That's a good idea. We'll try
to include this in future editions this year as sites cover additional
deaths. You'll note a lot of links go to Ruth because she tends to
cover passings more than anyone else in the community. The list may not
be complete and the only order for the first twelve is the order of
what we remembered while we were doing this -- the order we remembered
the deaths in.
1) Sally Kellerman -- see Ruth's "Sally Kellerman"
2) Ronnie Spector -- see Betty's "Ronnie Specter," Ruth's "Ronnie Spector" and C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot"
2) Naomi Judd -- see Kat's "Grace Slick, Naomi Judd," "One more time honoring Naomi Judd" and "Naomi Judd"
3) Sidney Poitier -- see Betty's "A great actor passed -- not a great person, not a great lover, not a great activist"
4) Ray Liotta -- see Ruth's "Ray Liotta"
5) Peter Bogdanovich -- see Stan's "Peter Bogdonavich"
6) Andy Fletcher -- see Kat's "Andy Fletcher"
7) Bo Hopkins -- see Ruth's "Bo Hopkins"
8) William Hurt -- see Ann's "Not sure if I believe Marlee Matlin now"
9) Meat Loaf -- see Kat's "Meat Loaf"
10) Howard Hessman -- see Ruth's "Howard Hessman"
11) Rosa Lee Hawkins -- see Ruth's "Rosa Lee Hawkins"
12) Dwayne Hickman -- see Ruth's "Dwayne Hickman"
13) William Hart -- see Ruth's "William Hart of The Deflonics has passed away"
14) Mark Shields -- see Ruth's "Mark Shields"
15) Nichelle Nichols -- see Ruth's "Nichelle Nichols"
16) Bob Rafelson -- see Ruth's "Bob Rafelson has passed away"
17) Olivia Newton John -- see Kat's "Olivia Newton-John," "Have You Never Been Mellow and a buried treasure," "More on Olivia" and "Olivia Newton-John," Marcia's "ONJ" and "Olivia Newton-John"
18) Lamont Dozier -- see Ruth's "Lamont Dozier grabbed our hearts through our ears"
19) Anne Heche -- see Marcia's "Yes, you belabored the issue long enough (and Anne Heche will be missed)," Rebecca's "anne heche and robin griggs - 2 another world cast members pass away ," and C.I.'s "Walking and Talking (12/12) Movie CLIP - I Love Yo."
20) Jean-Luc Godard -- see Stan's "Jean-Luc Godard"
This edition's playlist
1) Harry Styles' HARRY'S HOUSE.
2) Diana Ross' THANK YOU.
3) The Pretenders' THE SINGLES.
4) Chrissie Hynde's STOCKHOLM.
5) Diana Ross' THE BOSS
6) Rod Stewart's OUT OF ORDER.
7) George Ezra's GOLD RUSH KID.
8) Aretha Franklin's WHO'S ZOOMIN' WHO?
10) Chase Rice's THE ALBUM.
Highlights
This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.
"As climate change harms Iraq, they remain governme..." -- most requested highlight by readers of this site.
"Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Miss Moqtada E..." and "Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Question"" -- Isaiah's latest comics.
"BECOMING RICHARD PRYOR," "Books" and "The Comic Book History of Animation: True Toon Tales of the Most Iconic Characters, Artists and Styles!" -- Ruth and Isaiah on books.
"Spicy Taco Soup in the Kitchen" and "Best Black-Eyed Pea Bruschette in the Kitchen" -- Trina serves up two recipes.
"Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Julian," "Cuba," "Joe's a failure and no US president needs attend Liz's funeral (she never attended their funerals)," "In a country where Congress screws the worker, we need Will Lehman," "Isaiah, House Democrats, Phil Butland," "Graham Elwood, Lee Camp and David Lindorff," "An old rich bitch died after destroying lives -- forgive me for not sobbing," "Music, Sam Pizzigati and MONARCH," "Graham Elwood, Mickey Z and Iraq," "Don Lemon, Judge Judy, the Supreme Court," "Jen Psaki is a liar, an idiot or a whore," "DoorDash and Third," "Sotomayor," "Hellbenders," "Jimmy Kimmel needs to be held accountable," "The Moon and other things in space," "Science grab bag," "Glad he got demoted," "Unlike the Green Party, Howie Hawkins keeps working," "Howie," "Revolutionary Blackout = the White bunny with a ca...," "The Bidens have no family values -- only greed," "Stop using my tax dollars to protect Hunter Biden," "Oswald's Raleigh Call : Dr. Grover Proctor. Jr.," "Gasoline," "Joe Biden's the bastard -- Biden family values," "Joe Biden sewing conflict intentionally," "Jonathan Turley on Hillary's e-mails, Ava and C.I....," "the ugly," "time for some anti-trust action" and "THIS JUST IN! FAT JOKES FROM AMERICA'S PRINCESS!," "The Fat Shaming Meghan McCain," "Meghan McCain, you do not have the right to self-harm" and "Oh, Meghan" -- news coverage in the community.
"dynasty's 2nd to last new episode," "party girl," "i want to dump a glass of cold water on my daughter's head," "Jackee Harry is a class act," "DO REVENGE, Flabby Viola, Sally Field and THE FLYING NUN," "Upcoming films," "The Emmys, Viola Davis more courtroom than action hero," "Jean-Luc Godard," "Shame on the lazy ass studios" and "I'll stand with Rosie" -- TV and film coverage in the community.
"Chase Rice," "Carly Simon's classic," "Demi Lovato, Bathory, Lil Nas X, Chase Rice," "Robbie Williams and Crypt Keeper James Taylor," "Harry Styles, stay out of US elections" and "PnB Rock" -- music coverage in the community.
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