Vee

Take me now, serpent god:

I just loved Brooke Adams in Body Snatchers and Days of Heaven. As her sister says she probably does more theater now but I wish she still did more film. I believe she's still happily married to Tony Shalhoub.

McConnell is cutting the August recess short to try to keep Dem Senators from campaigning. He's scared.

I hope Wanda Sykes will agree to return, along with the existing writers past and present. The Deadline version of basically the same info suggests all of the cast would be back and are willing, which would be good. The THR version says the writers (Bruce Helford, etc.) would most likely all return.

Links, people.

GL's Murray Bartlett (Cyrus) and Orlagh Cassidy (Doris Wolfe) are in a new thriller, Beach House.

I think Roman may be right.

I assume that no matter what, they'd have to pay her off at the beginning.

She's falling apart:

Deadline seems to think it may actually happen:

Erika Slezak will apparently be appearing in the film version of Jeff Daniels' play Guest Artist.

This is not new news just because TMZ reported it; we linked articles about it on previous pages. And yes, it's doable - if the cast agrees.

She was pushed out of OLTL by Jill Farren Phelps.

It's not that I disagree with Bee. It's that at this point, crass performative shít like that doesn't solve anything or further any goal - it just makes everyone look fúckin' crazy. Which gives the Beltway press even more ammo to throw up their hands, chalk everything up to the crazy times and bemoan 'the lack of civil discourse on both sides'* instead of consistently being confronted with the real issue, which is first and last the GOP and Donald Trump and their insane voter base. We can be loud and angry but it has to have substance and action behind it. To me, calling the president's daughter a c**t on TV just gives them an excuse to martyr her and confuse the issue, like the Beltway's brief, failed attempt to make everyone feel bad for Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Whedon probably should be quiet, but he's right about Ivanka. Except no, "libs" did not create her sympathetic narrative. Ivanka tried to do that herself and it's failing more every day. (* - which is something we actually do need back badly, but not for the Beltway's reasons)

I've said this before, but the Johnny Jewel (from Chromatics) album of music for Season 3 (Themes for Television) is stunningly good. Evocative of Angelo Badalamenti's work but new as well. Pieces of it were used in the shadow (Windswept, Shadow, Saturday) but not much. I'm happy with the music mix as is given Lynch's love of silence and tonal sound, but I do wonder what it'd be like to have had it actively scored with more of this. Here's a playlist:

I like Samantha Bee a lot but I thought I was in some sort of bizarre dream state when I saw that bit. "Did she just do that on TBS??" I feel similarly about Ivanka Trump, don't get me wrong - but it's just not the look you want to lead with a day after Roseannegate. They are different words, but the way it will be handled is obvious. It was totally unnecessary and changes the media cycle, and allows the media to try to gun for Beltway Both Sides (I think some in the media may play that card in the neverending quest for 'balance' - not all). It was a very foolish, unforced error. That said, I like her and I hope she doesn't lose her show. I've recovered some - not all - of my old fondness for Kathy Griffin because she's been candid about having done stupid shít lately, and has worked hard to talk about substantive stuff recently. That said she also did a very stupid thing. Did she deserve how she got treated? No, but she still kind of invited some of it, if that makes sense. Don't go on TV and caterwaul, "he broke me!" (She admits that was a huge blunder, at least) More than anything, though, I think the one-two punch of Roseanne/Bee back to back in the same week - ape, c**t - shows just how far we've been divided as a country in the open and to what ludicrous histrionic extremes even public personalities will go to without taking a breath and having any kind of clarity or common sense. Imagine this kind of TV news cycle even two years ago. Just try it. I can't. It's a long, hard way down and we'll have a hell of a time pulling back up.

I didn't get a sense of that here. They had notes, but that's common.

It's Alicia Witt!

A good (and sad) piece.

Go to bed, old woman.

I didn't say I liked him much.

I've always liked Tom Arnold more than I should. Sue me.

BTS on the show: Pride and Brutal Pressure