by Julian Spivey 10. Weekend Update Characters Weekend Update characters are frequently among the funniest recurring characters on “Saturday Night Live” and are often a good way to make cast members into stars and for the newer cast members to get their faces out there on the show for the first time. Season 48 saw a handful of terrific Weekend Update moments including classics, a potential new classic and fresh faces finding their way. Here were my favorite W.U. characters of season 48 … Drunk Uncle on Why He Hates Halloween One of my all-time favorite recurring W.U. characters in the history of ‘SNL’ was Bobby Moynihan’s irascible, offensive Drunk Uncle that I’m sure can remind everyone of one of their family members. During his time on the show, Moynihan portrayed this character 13 times and every time left me in stitches, so I was beyond thrilled to see the return of the character on the Halloween episode hosted by rapper Jack Harlow with Moynihan around the studio to make multiple cameos throughout the episode. Drunk Uncle tells W.U. anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che the many reasons why he hates Halloween, including the holiday being socialist. Among the highlights: “Not my Mario” and “Yeah, I was there on January 6.” Cathy Anne’s Farewell Cecily Strong was easily one of the greatest cast members of the show’s modern era and had a few recurring characters on Weekend Update that stood out over the years with the drug-addled, crazy lady next door character of Cathy Anne. Cathy Anne is essentially the female version of Drunk Uncle – boy, how great would it have been if they had coupled those two together for a sketch? Cathy Anne’s final appearance came in Strong’s final ‘SNL’ episode of 2022, hosted by Austin Butler. Cathy Anne is going off to prison for numerous crimes like meth, crack and “a couple of Sonic attacks.” I particularly enjoy the joke about Cathy Anne and Colin Jost doing Weekend Update together, referring to the one season Strong co-hosted W.U. Co-Worker Who’s Extremely Busy Doing Seemingly Nothing Heidi Gardner has become adept at bringing incredibly thought-out, hilariously memorable characters to Weekend Update. Some of her instant classics include Angel (Every Boxer’s Girlfriend from Every Movie About Boxing Ever), Bailey Gismert (a teen film critic) and Baskin Johns (a Goop employee constantly worried Gwyneth Paltrow will fire her). In the penultimate episode of season 48, Gardner debuted another lack a second character with “Co-Worker Who’s Extremely Busy Doing Seemingly Nothing,” which I’m sure most American workers, especially those with office jobs, will see in at least one of their co-workers. Marcello Hernandez on MLB Playoffs Marcello Hernandez, one of the few Latino cast members in ‘SNL’ history, came out of the gates on fire in his freshman season on the show with a W.U. appearance talking about his love for baseball’s postseason and his love of Latino baseball players – who really do play the game with more flair than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Hernandez changes accents with ease and really has the feel for Latin baseball down pat. Michelangelo’s David Defends Art Michael Longfellow, another of the promising new faces on ‘SNL,’ had a few memorable W.U. moments during his freshman season, but the funniest came toward the end of the season when he did a bit about a Florida teacher who was forced to resign after showing a photo of Michelangelo’s David sculpture in an art class as the David sculpture, which required what seems like it would’ve had to have been a good amount of time in makeup. The show really gets the look down. Longfellow’s wry, sarcastic sense of humor fits the bit perfectly.
9. Waking Up Pedro Pascal was certainly the M.V.P. of ‘SNL’ hosts in season 48 and the episode he hosted was likely the season’s best overall. The fact that this is Pascal’s third sketch in the top 10 from the season pretty much proves that. In “Waking Up,” Pascal portrays a man named Charlie who’s waking up from being in a long coma with his wife (Heidi Gardner) and his friends (Kenan Thompson and Sarah Sherman) surrounding his hospital bed. The only issue is Charlie doesn’t remember any of these people and he’s now speaking in sort of a California Valley-vibe mixed with mush-mouth. The voice used by Pascal leads the entire cast featured in the sketch breaking from time to time, which usually intensifies the hilarity of a sketch. 8. Return of David S. Pumpkins I never really thought we’d see David S. Pumpkins, the Tom Hanks ‘SNL’ phenomenon from 2016 (wow, really?), again. And even though sometimes the sequel can weaken the impact of a character altogether I enjoyed the return of David S. Pumpkins during the 2022 Halloween episode hosted by rapper Jack Harlow. Now, at the time of the episode airing, I’m not sure I was quite as high on it as I actually am now – I certainly wouldn’t have pegged it to be on this list – but upon a recent rewatch it’s funny stuff even if nothing could ever live up the original – which is an all-timer. The set-up for David S. Pumpkin’s return is a group of friends (Harlow, Ego Nwodim and Andrew Dismukes) going on a haunted elevator ride featuring memorable horror film characters like Pennywise, Michael Myers and Freddy Kreuger with David S. Pumpkins frequently appearing, much to the dismay and confusion of Dismukes’s character, which honestly was the part that cracked me up the most. If you can get past the horrid acting by Harlow you might enjoy this quite a bit. 7. A Christmas Carol Steve Martin and Martin Short are almost attached at the hip these days with their long-running comedy tour and two seasons thus far on the popular and critically-acclaimed Hulu comedy “Only Murders in the Building.” Each had hosted ‘SNL’ multiple times (Martin more than a dozen times) but hadn’t co-hosted (something that is a rare feat in general for the show) until this past season. It was a dream hosting combo for many but the episode, despite being of the season’s best overall, may have been a bit underwhelming. The best sketch of the episode was the pre-taped A Christmas Carol parody that macabrely sees Short’s Scrooge maiming orphans rather violently by innocently attempting to throw coins down to them from a window above. It’s horror-comedy at its best but might be a bit squeamish for some as it’s certainly one of the bloodiest ‘SNL’ bits of all time (is it the first decapitation in show history?) Sarah Sherman as the orphan having their eyes poked out by flying coins is a true highlight as only she could seemingly pull off. 6. Jake From State Farm Some of the best ‘SNL’ moments from season 48 seemed to be simple things turned into almost horror movie-type things – and these next couple of sketches certainly were the season’s best at that. The idea to take the “Jake from State Farm” State Farm Insurance commercials and turn Jake into a man trying to steal your wife and family is genius and host Michael B. Jordan plays Jake from State Farm worming his way into Mikey Day’s house brilliantly. 5. HBO’s Mario Kart Despite the fact that “The Super Mario Bros. Movies” wound up making more than $1.3 billion at the box office, there was controversy over the choice of Chris Pratt to voice Mario in the movie. Around this same time, the talk of the TV world was HBO’s “The Last of Us,” which finally turned a video game series into prestige television. This was the inspiration for a gritty, dramatic take on “Mario Kart,” one of the absolute best pre-tapes of the season. The HBO version of “Mario Kart” sees host Pedro Pascal (the star of “The Last of Us”) attempting to save Princess Peach (Chloe Fineman) from the villainous Bowser (Kenan Thompson) on the treacherous Rainbow Road with the help of his pals Luigi (Mikey Day), Toad (Marcello Hernandez) and Yoshi (Bowen Yang). The sketch perfectly has the world of both Mario Kart and gritty HBO dramas down pat and led many to wish Pascal had actually been Mario instead of Pratt. 4. New Cast Advice Most of the new cast members of ‘SNL’ had standout performances in season 48 (Devon Walker really didn’t), but the best of them all was without a doubt Molly Kearney’s standout “New Cast Advice” pre-taped film in the season’s second episode hosted by Brendan Gleeson. The film sees the four new cast members of the show (Kearney, Walker, Marcello Hernandez and Michael Longfellow) talking about their first episode of the show the week before and how great the whole process has been, meanwhile Kearney has been tasked with assassinating Russian leader Vladimir Putin by ‘SNL’ producer (and, I guess, CIA operative) Lorne Michaels. Kearney’s recitation of the experience is comedy brilliance. 3. Traffic Altercation Quinta Brunson has been one of television’s biggest standouts over the last two years thanks to ABC’s wonderful sitcom “Abbott Elementary,” which she not only stars in but created. Her hosting debut on ‘SNL’ this spring was one of my most anticipated hosting gigs of season 48 and while it was sort of an up-and-down episode altogether, the sketch “Traffic Altercation” stood out as one of the year’s best. It’s a simple premise: road rage resulting in two drivers (Brunson and Mikey Day) yelling and gesturing at each other during a traffic jam. But the way Brunson and Day go about yelling back-and-forth and the outrageous hand gestures by the two made it one of the biggest laugh-out-loud moments of the season. Look out for Chloe Fineman, playing Day’s daughter, almost stealing the whole sketch with her “you suck” gesture. 2. Deer On paper this one being this high is honestly surprising to me – but then again I’ve always enjoyed absurdity and this one is quite absurd. The whole premise of the sketch is a housewarming party in which the partygoers are admiring the local nature of a deer grazing in a field outside the window and an older gentleman (Kenan Thompson) not being able to see the deer and feels like the rest of the guests, including his daughter played by that week’s host and musical guest Megan Thee Stallion, are playing a cruel joke on him. Thompson as a cranky old coot is always going to be hilarious, but when the deer pops up inside of the home and Thompson hits the fuzzy prop deer with a backward punch was a true season highlight for me. 1. Lisa from Temecula Every now and then you’ll get a ‘SNL’ moment that you know immediately is going to live on in the show’s lore forever and this season’s moment that feels most likely to be that was Lisa from Temecula, the ridiculous comedy stylings of Ego Nwodim and a cast that absolutely can’t keep from breaking throughout it all. Lisa from Temecula became the modern-day version of Rachel Dratch’s Debbie Downer and the fact that it was the evening’s final sketch was wild – though the show no longer seems to be saving its worst for last as it so often did in the past. Lisa (Nwodim) is joining her sister Shayna (Punkie Johnson) at a dinner with a group of friends (Pedro Pascal, Molly Kearney and Bowen Yang) and is very particular about her meat. I’ve been occasionally repeating “COOK MY MEAT!” ever since this sketch aired in early February. But it’s the forcefulness of Nwodim cutting the steak and violently shaking the table that really makes everyone involved lose it. This could easily be Nwodim’s most iconic moment of her time on the show, which for some reason seems underrated by many. They even brought Lisa from Temecula back later in the season, in what turned into the season finale (due to the WGA Writer’s Strike) hosted by Ana de Armas, but it wasn’t quite as magical the second time around … how could it possibly be?
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by Julian Spivey Deadloch – Amazon Prime Video – Friday, June 2 I saw “Deadloch,” which will be premiering on Amazon Prime Video tomorrow (Friday, June 2), referred to as an Australian comedy “Broadchurch.” That was enough for me. The series is created and written by Australian comedy duo Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, whom I’m unfamiliar with, features an outsider detective coming to the town of Deadloch, Tasmania to investigate the death of a local man as preparations are being made for the town’s Winter Feastival. Based on a True Story – Peacock – Thursday, June 8 Peacock has been on a bit of a run this year with originals like “Poker Face” and “Mrs. Davis,” and the latest comedy-thriller from the streamer has a big lead in Kaley Cuoco anchoring it. The series, created and written by Craig Rosenberg, sees a real estate agent, a plumber and a former tennis star seize an opportunity to profit off America’s obsession with true crime. The series will co-star Chris Messina and Natalia Dyer. All eight episodes will drop on Thursday, June 8. The Crowded Room – AppleTV+ - Friday, June 9 AppleTV+’s latest miniseries “The Crowded Room,” comes from Akiva Goldsman and is inspired by the 1981 non-fiction novel The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes. The psychological thriller has a big-name cast including Tom Holland, Amanda Seyfried and Emmy Rossum and follows a man, played by Holland, after his arrest for an involvement in a New York City shooting in 1979, as he tells his life story through a series of interviews with an interrogator, played by Seyfried. The first three episodes of the series will drop on Friday, June 9 with the final seven airing weekly after that. The Bear Season 2 – Hulu – Thursday, June 22 Hulu’s “The Bear” (an FX production) was my favorite television series of 2022, so it automatically becomes my most anticipated show for 2023. The second season, which premieres Thursday, June 22, will pick up the series as something of a rebirth from the first season, which ended with Chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) closing down the family restaurant in hopes of building something bigger and better after coming into a windfall. The first season was damn near perfect, so with the anticipation of the second season also comes the anxiousness of whether or not showrunner Christopher Storer can continue without messing things up. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concert – Paramount+ - Wednesday, June 28 There’s no group in rock music like Bruce Springsteen and his “heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, love-making, earth-quaking, Viagra-taking, justifying, death-defying, legendary” E Street Band. And for the first time, a wide audience will get to see one of the band’s most legendary live shows – the 1979 No Nukes Concert, which comes to Paramount+ for its streaming debut (it was originally released in 2021) on Wednesday, June 28. The band’s “Live in New York City” from 2001 will also come to the streamer, but it’s been widely available over the years and likely seen by all E Street fans multiple times. by Julian Spivey “Barry,” Bill Hader and Alec Berg’s HBO dark comedy about a hitman who wants to become an actor and the violent hijinks that ensue, was a unicorn of a television show in that it’s a mixture of dark, brooding, violent drama with frequent laugh out loud humor made it the most unique show on television for its terrific four-season run. *Spoiler Alert* If you haven’t finished the series don’t go any further! The series ended on Sunday, May 28 with an episode simply – and ultimately humorously – entitled “Wow.” The exclamation is a great title for such a series finale. We knew going in that “Barry” and many (if not all) of the show’s characters were going to have unhappy endings. Before the season even premiered in mid-April I remarked to a friend that I wasn’t sure any of the show’s five main characters – Barry, Sally, Gene, NoHo Hank or Fuches – would survive the season. So, if you were hoping for a happy ending for “Barry” I’m not sure what show you’ve been watching for four seasons, especially the super dark final two. The penultimate episode, “A Nice Meal,” ended with NoHo Hank, the always brilliant Anthony Carrigan, kidnapping Barry’s wife (or maybe still just girlfriend – did we ever find out if they were married during that “missing years”) Sally Reed, the stunning Sarah Goldberg, and John, Barry’s son, in hopes of luring Barry out for The Raven (formally Fuches), played by one of television and film’s all-time great character actors Stephen Root. The finale ends with Barry (Bill Hader) in a shopping center of some sort loading up on a militia’s worth of firearms and walking down a busy children’s toy aisle in a terrific satire of how truly fucked up America is before getting into his car and heading toward his final showdown. Except, Barry was late to his final showdown. While he was driving to the meetup to rescue Sally and John, NoHo Hank and Fuches were having their own showdown that quickly turned into a Tarantino movie. All Fuches wanted out of Hank was to be truthful with himself and admit aloud that he had his boyfriend and business partner Cristobal (the wonderful Michael Irby) killed. It was something Hank would rather die than come to terms with and the bloodiest scene in “Barry” history takes place between Hank’s crew and The Raven’s crew and damn near everybody dies. We see Hank mortally wounded. We see a dazed Sally screaming for her son. We see Fuches had intentionally fallen on the young boy to save his life before getting back on his feet and leading him outside. Barry arrives at this point. John runs to his father. Barry and Fuches have a nice little silent moment of understanding and then Fuches/The Raven disappears into the darkness, presumably never to be seen again. The camera quickly goes back inside for Hank’s final seconds as he reaches for the hand of his business’s Cristobal statue and the two are reunited in death. Hank was very possibly my favorite character on “Barry,” he was no doubt the funniest character of the show, and Carrigan’s performance is one that I hope finally wins an Emmy this fall. I think his ending was deserved – something the “Barry” finale did right by most of its characters. I also feel the end to Fuches’ character was also deserved, even if it was one of the more surprising endings for me. I really thought Fuches would die at Barry’s hand this season. The episode, moving along quickly as “Barry” episodes always do – even in the end they fit the episodes into a swift-moving 30 minutes, goes to a hotel scene where Barry, Sally and John are all lying in bed and Sally, coming to grips with everything, tells Barry he needs to turn himself in and put an end to the entire thing. In his usual denial of reality, Barry declines. The next morning Sally and John are nowhere to be seen and Barry assumes they’ve gone to the house of their former acting teacher Gene Cousineau, played by Henry Winkler in his Emmy-winning role. It is here where Barry, somewhat surprisingly, meets his end. It’s not surprising that Barry dies. I figured the entire season Barry would meet his end with the show ending, but the fact that Hader and company chose to do it with an entire third of the episode’s runtime remaining was shocking. Gene shoots and kills him (with Rip Torn’s “prop” gun – one of the show’s great lines of the season), finally avenging the death of Janice Moss in season one. It was over just like that. No major shootout and death in a blaze of glory that Barry had envisioned for himself earlier in the episode. Barry was offed the exact same way he offed those he was ordered to kill – unceremoniously. Barry, the character, got an ending he deserved. The episode quickly jumps forward another eight years or so to find Sally as a high school acting teacher celebrating the end of a triumphant school play. She seems to have gotten the happiest ending of all of the characters, though it’s still not what she envisioned for her life. The Sally ending felt the least involved in the series finale, but honestly, the character and Goldberg’s Emmy-worthy performance were the highlights of the whole final season. This is where the finale gets a bit wonky for me and I still have questions as of the time of this writing and might for some time. The show ends with John, probably now 16 or 17 years old, going over to a friend’s house to watch a movie. It turns out to be the Barry/Gene movie the studio was planning to make years earlier. It’s an incredibly corny film, a nice satire of what Hollywood will do to a true story, but in the film, we see that Gene Cousineau has been turned into the villain – an acting teacher who gets in with the mob and has Janice murdered. Barry is the hero of the story, attempting to stop Gene before being murdered by him. The film (and humorously the TV series) ends with cards showing that Gene is serving prison time for the murders of Janice and Barry and Barry was viewed as a hero and buried with full military honors. Barry got to be both the heroic figure and star he wanted to be. Gene is the only character who I’m not sure got the ending he deserved. Sure, Gene’s ego is about as big as they come, but does that mean he deserves to be viewed the way he will be for life and spend the rest of his days in prison for crimes he had no part in? Also, I’m bugged by how such a strong and smart character like Jim Moss, played by Robert Wisdom in a nice recurring role, could be duped into thinking such a thing. It seems out of character for Jim Moss. I likely would’ve gone a different way with the final scene of the series and the wrap-up of the Gene character, but I’m sure Hader and company had a point to ending it the way they did and maybe one day they’ll share it. Either way, I thought it was a pretty good series finale for one of the greatest shows of the last half decade on television.
The Word Podcast's Julian Spivey is joined by Brittany Oviedo to discuss the series finale and final season of the award-winning HBO dramedy "Barry," starring Bill Hader.
Six New Series from Disney+, AppleTV+, Hulu and Peacock Featured in May's Streaming Recommendations5/1/2023 by Julian Spivey Bupkis – Peacock – Thursday, May 4 Pete Davidson’s first regular post-‘SNL’ gig is the new Peacock action-comedy “Bupkis,” premiering Thursday, May 4. The show is supposedly a “heightened, fictionalized version of Pete Davidson’s life.” Davidson is a polarizing figure in show business as viewers either seem to be really into him or absolutely can’t stand him. I seem to be one of the few, personally, who can take him or leave him based on the content. A fictionalized version of his own life feels like something that might be done well, but it also feels like something Davidson’s done before (though I haven’t gotten around to seeing the Judd Apatow-directed “The King of Staten Island” yet). The most intriguing things about “Bupkis” are the talented supporting cast which includes Emmy-winner Edie Falco and Oscar-winner Joe Pesci, who was essentially talked out of retirement for the role, as well as the question – where is the action part of “action-comedy” going to come from? I’m at least intrigued to find out how “Bupkis” goes. Class of ’09 – Hulu – Wednesday, May 10 Brian Tyree Henry. That’s all I need to know about “Class of ‘09” and I’m in. Henry’s performance on FX’s “Atlanta” was one of my favorite TV performances of the last decade and his Oscar-nominated performance in “Causeway” was just as excellent. He’s easily one of the most naturalistic actors currently in Hollywood. “Class of ‘09” is a limited suspense thriller, premiering on Hulu on Wednesday, May 10, that follows a class of FBI agents in three different points of time dealing with major changes in the U.S. criminal justice system. The series also features Kate Mara, Jake McDorman and Sepideh Moafi. The Muppets Mayhem – Disney+ - Wednesday, May 10 All right, Disney and The Muppets Studio, I’m going to give The Muppets one more chance. I really enjoyed the short-lived ABC ‘Muppets’ series, but ever since the company brought its shows to the Disney+ streamer I’ve found them to be too kiddie for my tastes. And, while The Muppets are certainly family-friendly, at their best they have something for the adults too. Honestly, I’m only going to give this series a shot because I love Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem Band and the idea of a show revolving around the band trying to make it in the modern music world is sheer genius to me – if it’s done right. High Desert – AppleTV+ - Wednesday, May 17 Patricia Arquette’s performance on AppleTV+’s “Severance” was one of the best performances and for sure the scariest performance on television last year. Since it doesn’t appear season two of that series is coming around any time soon, I’m happy to see Arquette try her hand at comedy (with some action thrown in) in AppleTV+’s new series, “High Desert.” Arquette plays Peggy Newman, a middle-aged woman who makes the life-changing decision to become a private investigator following the death of her mother. The series, premiering Wednesday, May 17, features supporting performances from Brad Garrett and Matt Dillon. Platonic – AppleTV+ - Wednesday, May 24 I’m sure Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne no doubt have great chemistry together after playing a married couple in multiple “Neighbors” movies (though I haven’t seen any of them). The duo is reuniting once again, but this time to play a couple of friends approaching midlife who reconnect after a rift kept them apart for many years. American Born Chinese – Disney+ - Wednesday, May 24 I’m not a big Disney+ fan. Just not really into series with incredibly vast universes based on previous I.P., which is mostly what the streamer serves in. But the fact that Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu all coming off the Best Picture Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All At Once” all appear regularly in the new series “American Born Chinese,” based on the 2006 graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, has my interest piqued. I’ll follow those three anywhere right now. by Julian Spivey When James Corden’s tenure as host of CBS’s ‘Late, Late Show’ began in 2015 it felt like a breath of fresh air for late-night television. I’ll never forget how he wrapped his first week by doing an entire show from a local person’s house – a total rando he just knocked on the door of – with guest Jeff Goldblum in tow. It was one of the wildest things I’d ever seen in decades of watching late-night television. Corden, like no other late-night TV talk show host before him, also brought the medium into the social media age with quick bite bits like Carpool Karaoke and Crosswalk the Musical that played perfectly on YouTube or on social media sites. Sure, Jimmy Fallon had beat him to the punch by a few years, but Fallon’s bits on ‘Late Night’ and later ‘The Tonight Show’ were never cultural touchstones like Carpool Karaoke. Corden also revolutionized the way the talk format was done on late-night talk shows bringing the multiple guests at the same time method used by Graham Norton on his U.K. show to the States. This is something that I don’t believe had been done regularly on a late-night U.S. talk show since “The Dick Cavett Show” in the ‘70s, and I’m not sure if it was even the main format for that show. The allure of the double interview was the first thing about Corden’s ‘Late, Late Show’ to wear off for me as a viewer. Sure, it could lead to fun camaraderie moments among celebrities, but it wasn’t as intimate as the solo interview and could occasionally lead to awkward pairings – like a fairly recent episode I saw with actress Jamie Lee Curtis and stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze as the guests. The format probably worked well for Corden, as he’s never been a strong interviewer, but more of a buddy to the guests on his show. I really do appreciate the interview aspect of the late-night talk show format, even if many viewers likely turn off these shows after the comedy portion of the first half has ended. I was a regular, if not almost every night viewer of Corden’s show for his first few years and enjoyed it, at least for the comedy bits and Corden’s personality – which we’ve come to find might be more of a put-on than most in his shoes or maybe he just occasionally has moments of unpleasantness like the rest of us do (the ordeal with a famous restauranteur last year harmed him in the public eye more than it probably should have). But at some point – and I can’t quite put my finger on when exactly, but it was definitely before the pandemic altered the way late-night television was produced in early 2020 – I went from a regular Corden viewer to almost not watching the show at all. I think this has a bit more to do with my life and a large number of worthy TV shows to watch than anything he or the show really did – but I still watched Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ and Seth Meyers’ ‘Late Night’ pretty frequently and Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’ semi-regularly. I found Corden’s show to be the fourth and later fifth-best late-night show on broadcast television. Despite Corden changing late-night TV and bringing it in many ways into the modern era I found that I kind of liked things the way they had always been - monologue (something Corden paled in comparison to Colbert, Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel in and it wasn’t even close), comedy (Corden’s strong suit) and interviews (again, Corden paled drastically, especially to Colbert). I watched the final week of ‘Late, Late Show’ episodes to see how Corden and the show sent themselves off into the sunset. And even though the occasion of it being the show’s last week was brought up often during the first three shows of the week they didn’t really have a whole lot of sense of finality to me. I felt like they could’ve been your average episodes with celebrities like Ray Romano pitching their latest work. There was also a primetime special broadcast on Thursday (April 27) before the finale regular show that featured the final Carpool Karaoke bit but I haven’t watched it yet (not sure I ever will). But the finale on Thursday had some great moments that will stand among some of the best in Corden’s run on the show. I really loved a pre-taped sketch involving all of the current broadcast late-night TV show hosts (Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers) popping up at Corden’s house (in a dream) to essentially send him off into retirement with threats about not giving away late night secrets like not actually watching every project the guests on the shows are in and the fake laughter when a guest tells a boring or uninteresting story. The part of the bit I loved the most was the David Letterman cameo – Letterman is always going to be my late-night guy of choice. The final guests on the ‘Late, Late Show’ were pop music sensation and dear friend of the show Harry Styles and actor Will Ferrell. Upon announcing Ferrell as the show’s last guest, the veteran funny man walked down the aisle toward the stage from the back as probably a thousand or more guests have done before but was carrying a sledgehammer. Ferrell has had numerous classic late-night TV bits throughout the years on various shows hosted by the likes of Letterman, Fallon and Conan O’Brien, but destroying Corden’s desk with a sledgehammer before the final interview could take place is right up there with the best of them. Ferrell is a first ballot late-night TV Hall of Famer for sure. These finales always get emotional, especially when it comes to personalities who’ve come into our homes four-to-five nights a week for eight years in Corden’s case. He got emotional when talking about the job, his crew, his writers and the band led by comedian/musician Reggie Watts. He also said, “This show is everything I wanted it to be.” The show then took its final commercial break before returning to send the show off in the only way Corden could possibly have done it – via song. It was a song about the joys of the show and the love of its audience and Corden could barely make it through the final bit filled with emotion. And that was that. After nearly 12,000 episodes at the helm, Corden was done as host of the ‘Late, Late Show.’ More so disappointing to me was that it wasn’t just Corden’s finale but the show’s in general as CBS has decided to go in another route after nearly 30 years with the hour following Colbert – a mistake, in my opinion, that will leave Meyers and NBC’s ‘Late Night’ as the only post-Tonight Show/Late Show/Jimmy Kimmel Live late-night talk show on broadcast television. It feels like the first nail in the late-night TV coffin and even though I can see reasons why the format might not be long for this world it’s always been a format I’ve loved and I think is important for television, especially for those of us night owls. by Julian Spivey Well, it finally happened. After almost 13 full seasons and 270 episodes a white character has finally been arrested on the CBS police procedural “Blue Bloods.” On the most recent episode titled “The Naked Truth,” directed by Donald Thorin Jr. and written by Nicole Abraham and Daniel Truly, a white man was arrested for serial jaywalking in the nude. “After 13 years, we thought the least we could do is throw a white guy in as the perpetrator. We’ll get back to the usual suspects – black men with the occasional black woman, Asian man and Hispanic man thrown in next week,” said Truly. Fans were shocked when in the first 10 minutes of Friday’s episode Det. Danny Reagan (played by Donnie Wahlberg) and his partner Det. Maria Baez (played by Marisa Ramirez) slapped the handcuffs on Whitey Whiteman (played by Tanner Smith IV) for the serial nude jaywalking. This led to some distaste from viewers online, like Houston Osteen who tweeted: “Wait? They arrested one of us. ‘Blue Bloods’ has gone woke. I’m never watching another episode again.” “Blue Bloods” has a history of being perhaps the most pro-police, least progressive series on primetime television and has taken a stance on controversial policing topics in the past. But for some of its audience the most controversial thing the series, led by veteran actor Tom Selleck, has ever done is bring a white man to justice – even if that white man was released on bail moments later. “Blue Bloods” showrunner Kevin Wade understands the controversy wrought by Friday’s episode but is encouraging fans to continue with the show as he promises the series won’t stray from its usual bad guys anymore. “We always try to be true to real-world events and policing and we know that police in the real world mostly arrest men of color and we will continue to focus on that aspect of policing,” Wade said. He added: “We’ll stop focusing on ticky-tack crimes like nude jaywalking and get back to the real threats on the streets of New York like selling loose cigarettes.” “Blue Bloods” was recently renewed for a 14th season by CBS. by Julian Spivey Schmigadoon! (Season 2) – AppleTV+ - Wednesday, April 5 The first season of AppleTV+’s musical-comedy “Schmigadoon!,” which is a loving parody of classic Hollywood musicals, aired in the summer of 2021 and although it’s cast – lead by Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong – was terrific it was a minor letdown (worth finishing, but not as good as it could have been). That first season focused on a story that was an homage to ‘40s and ‘50s musicals like in the vein of Rodgers & Hammerstein, so not really my jam personally. Season two, which will be set in Chicago, will be an homage to musicals from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s – so probably more Stephen Sondheim. This gives me some hope for a better second outing. Tiny Beautiful Things – Hulu – Friday, April 7 “Tiny Beautiful Things” is certainly the kind of title you’d expect for a Hulu limited series (and it’s from Reese Witherspoon’s production company that did “Little Fires Everywhere”). The series is based on Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling book of the same name and stars Kathryn Hahn, always reliable onscreen, as Clare, an advice columnist who becomes famous while her own life is falling apart. The series, which premieres Friday, April 7, co-stars Quentin Plair, Tanzyn Crawford and Sarah Pidgeon. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Fifth & Final Season) – Amazon Prime Video – Friday, April 14 I might be in the minority on this, but I’m not ready for Amazon’s comedy series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” about the trials and tribulations of a divorced wife and mom who becomes a struggling stand-up comic, to come to an end. Some viewers and critics alike feel as if the show has lost its way, but it still provides stellar episodes, scenes and entertains me quite a bit. I hope the show is able to wrap up nicely, but I’m going to miss the Maisels, Weissmans and especially Susie Myerson. John Mulaney: Baby J – Netflix – Tuesday, April 25
John Mulaney’s previous Netflix comedy specials “The Comeback Kid” (2015) and “Kid Gorgeous” (2018) have been laugh riots but an awful lot has happened in his life since those moments from getting a divorce to entering rehab for a drug addiction. It’ll be interesting to see if any of those momentous life moments make the set of his newest Netflix comedy special “Baby J,” which premieres on Tuesday, April 25. One thing I hope Mulaney doesn’t touch upon is seemingly every comedian’s favorite topic of the moment: cancel culture. Mulaney has been one of the best stand-ups in the business for more than a decade now, so I’m sure “Baby J” won’t disappoint. Saint X – Hulu – Wednesday, April 26 Hulu has made a name for itself with limited stories based on novels – just look at the first selection on this month’s list – and on Wednesday, April 26 comes another in “Saint X,” based on Alexis Schaitkin’s 2020 bestseller. “Saint X” follows a young woman’s mysterious death during a Caribbean vacation and her sister’s search for answers years later. The psychological drama, starring Alycia Debnam-Carey, will be told in multiple timelines and from multiple perspectives. by Julian Spivey Daisy Jones & the Six – Amazon Prime Video – Friday, March 3 A miniseries about a fictional rock band in the ‘70s Los Angeles music scene is right up my alley. “Daisy Jones & the Six,” which will consist of 10 episodes, is based on the popular 2019 novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Created for Amazon by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the series stars Riley Keough as the titular Daisy Jones and a supporting cast featuring Sam Claflin, Camila Morrone and Suki Waterhouse. The story will be told in documentary style, which could be a pro or con depending on how you feel about the format. Chris Rock: Selective Outrage – Netflix – Saturday, March 4 Netflix was the first successful streaming platform, but when it comes to producing a live event it’s pretty much the last of the streaming services to do so. Most streaming services like AppleTV+ and Peacock have been doing live broadcasts with sporting events, while Disney+ had the high profile and very successful Elton John U.S. farewell concert in November. Netflix, which has been the home for many of the best stand-up comedy specials over the last decade, is popping its live telecast cherry with a live stand-up performance by Chris Rock on Saturday, March 4 – which is sure to draw a massive audience, especially by those hoping to see Rock mention the infamous slap at the Oscars less than a year ago. The live event will take place at 9 p.m. (CST) from Baltimore. If you can’t watch the special live, have no fear, it will remain on Netflix following the live performance. Ted Lasso (Season 3) – AppleTV+ - Wednesday, March 15 The long-awaited third season of the multiple-time Emmy-winning AppleTV+ comedy series “Ted Lasso” will premiere on Wednesday, March 15 nearly a year-and-a-half after the end of the second season. The delayed third season will pick up where season two left off with our lovable AFC Richmond soccer coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) dealing with the aftermath of his assistant Nate (Nick Mohammed) turning to the dark side to coach a rival club. It feels like this could lead to a darker season of the series than we’ve seen before, but I’d still expect much of the feel-good laughter we’ve gotten in the past. It’s been long rumored that the series was only planned for three seasons potentially making this the show’s swan song, but an official announcement has not been made on that. Swarm – Amazon Prime Video – Friday, March 17 It’s somewhat surprising to see Donald Glover come out with another TV series this quickly after the final two seasons of his critically-acclaimed “Atlanta” wrapped on FX last year. The new series “Swarm,” which premieres Friday, May 17 on Amazon Prime Video has mostly been kept hush-hush so we don’t know much more than it will be a horror series about a young woman whose obsession with a pop star takes a dark turn. That young woman will be played by Dominique Fishback, who had a star-making turn in the 2021 film “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Glover will not be an actor in “Swarm,” like he was in “Atlanta,” but will serve as co-creator and has at least co-written and directed the pilot episode. Many of the best episodes of “Atlanta” played out like horror movies, which is a good sign for “Swarm.” Rabbit Hole – Paramount+ - Sunday, March 26 Kiefer Sutherland’s return to television comes in the original Paramount+ spy thriller “Rabbit Hole,” premiering on Sunday, March 26. Sutherland stars as private espionage agent John Weir who has been framed for murder by a mysterious world-controlling power. It feels like “The Fugitive” but with bigger stakes and threats. by Julian Spivey Poker Face – Peacock – Thursday, February 2 OK, so technically Peacock’s new mystery series “Poker Face,” starring Natasha Lyonne and created by “Knives Out” director/writer Rian Johnson, premiered last week in January with its first four episodes, but its fifth episode drops Groundhog Day, so let’s make like Bill Murray and give ourselves a re-do. “Poker Face” sees Lyonne as Charlie Cale who has the special gift of being able to tell when someone is lying just by looking at them. It’s sort of a “Columbo” for today’s generation of TV viewers. The pilot, which featured a superbly sleazy performance by Adrien Brody in a supporting role, was excellent and I can’t wait to see what’s up ahead for Charlie. It’s probably the most promising and most likely stand-out series from Peacock thus far. New episodes of the series will drop on Thursdays. Dear Edward – AppleTV+ - Friday, February 3 Jason Katims is one of my all-time favorite TV writers and showrunners thanks to his work on “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood,” but since then he’s fallen on some hard times with three straight series being canceled after one season (even though I enjoyed the only one of the three I saw (“Rise”) and his most recent “As We See It” on Amazon Prime Video was well-received by critics). His latest, this time for AppleTV+, is “Dear Edward,” based on the bestselling 2020 novel by Ann Napolitano, about a 12-year-old boy who is the only survivor from a plane crash and the relationship he forms with the grieving family members of the ones who didn’t survive. The series stars newcomer Colin O’Brien in the titular role with Taylor Schilling as the aunt who takes him in and Connie Britton, reuniting with Katims after their work together on ‘FNL.’ The first three episodes premiere on Friday, February 3 with new episodes coming every Friday until the season wraps. Bill Russell: Legend – Netflix – Wednesday, February 8 Bill Russell, who died in July of last year, was such an important and giant figure in the National Basketball Association (NBA) that the league announced it would retire his No. 6 jersey league-wide shortly after his death. He was a towering figure, not just on the basketball court where he dominated the game and won more championships than any player in league history, but also as a civil rights leader. I can think of few better ways to celebrate Black History Month with media than with Netflix’s two-part documentary series “Bill Russell: Legend,” directed by Sam Pollard, about this amazing man. Sharper – AppleTV+ - Friday, February 17 AppleTV+ doesn’t have too many original films debuting on its service, but it has had a pretty good track record with them – most notably Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.” Its latest is “Sharper,” a psychological thriller by director Benjamin Caron and written by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, about a young man who exacts revenge on his family for not accepting him and cons the rich to gain the wealth he desires. The film, which premieres Friday, February 17, stars Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith and John Lithgow. Hello Tomorrow – AppleTV+ - Friday, February 17 Billy Crudup has been the best thing about AppleTV+’s drama series “The Morning Show,” even winning an Emmy for his first season performance, and while that show will return at some point (even if I’d be OK if it didn’t), Crudup is debuting his new AppleTV+ series “Hello Tomorrow” on Friday, February 17. “Hello Tomorrow” is told in a world that both feels retro and modernistic, which should be a fun setting, in which a charismatic salesman (played by Crudup) leads a team of associates trying to revitalize their customers’ lives by selling timeshares on the moon. The series co-stars Hank Azaria, Haneefah Wood, Alison Pill and Jacki Weaver. While the trailer makes everything seem cheery and bright you can just feel something sinister bubbling beneath. |
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