Alan, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you and all that you do. I miss our friends at TV's Top Five since Lesley was let go, so your weekly emails are one of the few weekly updates on some of the biz goings-on. I know you have a lot going on, but again, you're appreciated!
I really miss TV’s Top 5, too! In addition to Alan’s excellent newsletter, I also subscribe to Dan Fienberg’s Now See This email. It’s basically the critics corner in an email. You can sign up on this page:
Feels like Mabel's storyline was coming to grips with who she is in her current era, which is a best friend to two, much older, folks and they team to do a podcast. When she turns down Bev Melon and rejects the potential ascension associated with this current rung, it kicks the can down the road, presumably to the end of the show, where she will truly be forced to forge ahead on her own.
Yeah, I think a through line of the season was Mabel getting validation from a lot of non-psychos*, which in theory would give her confidence to do something else, but she doesn't want that kind of path.
Is it the Millennial ideal of being satisfied with a small life that suits you?
*I think Bev counts as non-psycho, certainly compared with the creepy fans in their lawn chairs and Tina Fey's character
I know Teri Garr best as a regular panelist on Oxygen's "I've Got a Secret" game show. That show was such a delight.
There was a story on TV line about why the Diplomat was only six episodes.
"Cahn attributes the episode shortfall to limited bandwidth. “I was really tired,” she says with a chuckle. “It was a time thing. It felt like there wasn’t enough time to turn around eight of them. It was a lot to do in what appeared to be a short period of time.”
Sounds a bit like Benioff and Weiss making the final GoT seasons shorter because they were so burned out.
That they are making 8 again for next season suggests that she recognized 6 is too few. But in an ideal world, she would have just waited until she had more energy.
On a separate subject, is anyone else finding Disclaimer kind of… stupid? The suspension of disbelief is making me lose interest. At no point has she told anyone the book is fiction? The hospital doesn’t care that a man claiming to be her father is at her son’s bedside and makes HER leave? She is an award winning documentarian but at no point does she consider hiring a PR firm or speaking to her agent? Her husband isn’t the least bit curious about what actually happened? I tend to not care so much about this sort of thing, but it grates in this one!
Yeah, The Diplomat really needed more episodes to serve Stuart's grief arc, as you say. It was just head-snapping. Still a really fun show, though I hope that isn't the end of the Kate/Dennison relationship. I know the show just loves the Wyler marriage, but (actors aside) it's not as interesting as they think it is. It needs a bit of external emotional tension, beyond politics, which Dennison served. Even in S2 the Wyler relationship felt a bit stale - Hal pursues power, Kate pursues good, watch them debate it. The actors are great, but the actual substance is thinner than the show seems to think it is. Only so many times you can learn politics is a dirty business and the world is complicated, which especially does a disservice to Kate because it feels like she should get it already. I enjoy the show, glad it has a third season, I'll be curious where they go with it now that they shook up the board.
re: OMITB, I cannot believe they didn't tell us what Mabel asked for the life rights! They set it up as a mystery that they just... ignored? I'm of the camp that there are too many guest stars and they need to get back to serving the emotional arcs of the main trio first and foremost. Love the show, but those are the people we care about, the show should prioritize them.
Grew up in New Jersey, not in Newark so not a Newark Star Ledger reader, but just outside Trenton so grew up with the morning tabloid Trentonian and the evening broadsheet Trenton Times. Got the overnight sports from the Trentonian with some great headlines and national and state news in the evening from the Times. (And in each case the comic sections probably the most consulted of the daily pages.) Then in high school you could subscribe for a dime or so a week to the New York Times.
Worked at a newspaper for a time. When I interned in the summer, the managing editor talked about the future of newspapers. Surprisingly it was pretty good forecast given it was the early 70s. recall him saying that the most challenging problem in the industry was not coordinating the news content but what he said was the delivery problem of the "last 30 feet." Newspapers were looking to solve the problem - home delivery of the paper product via at the time young folks with paper routes - unaware that solving the problem with digital delivery would lead to their current death throes. (Always think of these issues as ouroboros (snake eating its tale) situations.
Of course, no going back, but it was fun while it lasted -30-
Spoilers to The Diplomat, specifically episode 5-6:
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.
.
.
.
.
.
When I just saw who comes in as the VP I thought it was such a missed opportunity to name her C. J. Cregg and place the show in the West Wing-verse :D But then by the episode's end I was like - CJ would never!
Agatha is one of my favorite shows of the year. I was hoping to enjoy it, but I never expected to love it.
I love Keri Russell and was excited to watch the first season of The Diplomat, but never made it to episode two. The first episode seemed unnecessarily complicated. Maybe I’m just not that smart.
When I was almost 13, I saw Springsteen at the Orange Bowl, then came home where my mom was watching Teri Garr on Letterman. I still like Bruce, but I LOVED Teri. Really one of my only serious celebrity crushes, and I think it's because, in addition to her being in some great movies when I was a kid, she was so great on Letterman. A little bit like Gordon, the two of them had a schtick, but it was overlaid on a sort of real connection or affection. A lot of Garr's later interviews reveal how mad she was at the sexism & bullshit of the industry, and while Dave was certainly sexist, he also has never had any patience for the bullshit. Maybe that was it.
— minus the murder. Meryl and Marty have great chemistry and the Sazz bits were moving and the best aspect of this season. It’s not a great show by any stretch, but I like it.
Can’t wait to read the Keri interview. Regarding OMITB, I’ve been underwhelmed in the past 2 seasons. I knew who the murderer was probably a few minutes after they introduced him mid-season. I still love Martin Short’s performance but they’re just stuffing the show with way too many stars. My standout guest star was Eva Longoria, who was hilarious early in the season (reminiscent of Desperate Housewives days) but then was given so little to do. I also really disliked all the Westies and didn’t find them very funny, nor did I like Rudd’s character. I liked getting more on Charles’ emotional impotence too and of course his and Oliver’s episode about their relationship. I think it’s clear they need to scale back with the stars next season. The first season was a perfect mix of the core 3 plus 1-2 incredible guest performances (Nathan lane)
The death of newspapers is such a weird thing. I, too, am sad to see newspapers dying.
But also, I haven't read a printed newspaper in years. I reluctantly subscribe to the local digital paper, but only because they give me a ridiculously low rate when I tried to cancel. Part of the problem with my local paper, is they have significantly cut back on the amount of coverage they give to local issues.
So happy to see Lana Kim show up here. FX has the best publicists in television.
Alan, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you and all that you do. I miss our friends at TV's Top Five since Lesley was let go, so your weekly emails are one of the few weekly updates on some of the biz goings-on. I know you have a lot going on, but again, you're appreciated!
Thanks, Lamar!
I really miss TV’s Top 5, too! In addition to Alan’s excellent newsletter, I also subscribe to Dan Fienberg’s Now See This email. It’s basically the critics corner in an email. You can sign up on this page:
https://cloud.email.hollywoodreporter.com/signup/
Thank you, Lynn. Done!
Feels like Mabel's storyline was coming to grips with who she is in her current era, which is a best friend to two, much older, folks and they team to do a podcast. When she turns down Bev Melon and rejects the potential ascension associated with this current rung, it kicks the can down the road, presumably to the end of the show, where she will truly be forced to forge ahead on her own.
Yeah, I think a through line of the season was Mabel getting validation from a lot of non-psychos*, which in theory would give her confidence to do something else, but she doesn't want that kind of path.
Is it the Millennial ideal of being satisfied with a small life that suits you?
*I think Bev counts as non-psycho, certainly compared with the creepy fans in their lawn chairs and Tina Fey's character
I know Teri Garr best as a regular panelist on Oxygen's "I've Got a Secret" game show. That show was such a delight.
There was a story on TV line about why the Diplomat was only six episodes.
"Cahn attributes the episode shortfall to limited bandwidth. “I was really tired,” she says with a chuckle. “It was a time thing. It felt like there wasn’t enough time to turn around eight of them. It was a lot to do in what appeared to be a short period of time.”
Sounds a bit like Benioff and Weiss making the final GoT seasons shorter because they were so burned out.
That they are making 8 again for next season suggests that she recognized 6 is too few. But in an ideal world, she would have just waited until she had more energy.
On a separate subject, is anyone else finding Disclaimer kind of… stupid? The suspension of disbelief is making me lose interest. At no point has she told anyone the book is fiction? The hospital doesn’t care that a man claiming to be her father is at her son’s bedside and makes HER leave? She is an award winning documentarian but at no point does she consider hiring a PR firm or speaking to her agent? Her husband isn’t the least bit curious about what actually happened? I tend to not care so much about this sort of thing, but it grates in this one!
Yeah, The Diplomat really needed more episodes to serve Stuart's grief arc, as you say. It was just head-snapping. Still a really fun show, though I hope that isn't the end of the Kate/Dennison relationship. I know the show just loves the Wyler marriage, but (actors aside) it's not as interesting as they think it is. It needs a bit of external emotional tension, beyond politics, which Dennison served. Even in S2 the Wyler relationship felt a bit stale - Hal pursues power, Kate pursues good, watch them debate it. The actors are great, but the actual substance is thinner than the show seems to think it is. Only so many times you can learn politics is a dirty business and the world is complicated, which especially does a disservice to Kate because it feels like she should get it already. I enjoy the show, glad it has a third season, I'll be curious where they go with it now that they shook up the board.
re: OMITB, I cannot believe they didn't tell us what Mabel asked for the life rights! They set it up as a mystery that they just... ignored? I'm of the camp that there are too many guest stars and they need to get back to serving the emotional arcs of the main trio first and foremost. Love the show, but those are the people we care about, the show should prioritize them.
Grew up in New Jersey, not in Newark so not a Newark Star Ledger reader, but just outside Trenton so grew up with the morning tabloid Trentonian and the evening broadsheet Trenton Times. Got the overnight sports from the Trentonian with some great headlines and national and state news in the evening from the Times. (And in each case the comic sections probably the most consulted of the daily pages.) Then in high school you could subscribe for a dime or so a week to the New York Times.
Worked at a newspaper for a time. When I interned in the summer, the managing editor talked about the future of newspapers. Surprisingly it was pretty good forecast given it was the early 70s. recall him saying that the most challenging problem in the industry was not coordinating the news content but what he said was the delivery problem of the "last 30 feet." Newspapers were looking to solve the problem - home delivery of the paper product via at the time young folks with paper routes - unaware that solving the problem with digital delivery would lead to their current death throes. (Always think of these issues as ouroboros (snake eating its tale) situations.
Of course, no going back, but it was fun while it lasted -30-
Spoilers to The Diplomat, specifically episode 5-6:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
When I just saw who comes in as the VP I thought it was such a missed opportunity to name her C. J. Cregg and place the show in the West Wing-verse :D But then by the episode's end I was like - CJ would never!
Happy to see we'll have more Janney next season.
Agatha is one of my favorite shows of the year. I was hoping to enjoy it, but I never expected to love it.
I love Keri Russell and was excited to watch the first season of The Diplomat, but never made it to episode two. The first episode seemed unnecessarily complicated. Maybe I’m just not that smart.
It took a minute for that show to settle. Maybe if the mood strikes, give it another try.
When I was almost 13, I saw Springsteen at the Orange Bowl, then came home where my mom was watching Teri Garr on Letterman. I still like Bruce, but I LOVED Teri. Really one of my only serious celebrity crushes, and I think it's because, in addition to her being in some great movies when I was a kid, she was so great on Letterman. A little bit like Gordon, the two of them had a schtick, but it was overlaid on a sort of real connection or affection. A lot of Garr's later interviews reveal how mad she was at the sexism & bullshit of the industry, and while Dave was certainly sexist, he also has never had any patience for the bullshit. Maybe that was it.
A surprisingly sweet Only Murders finale
— minus the murder. Meryl and Marty have great chemistry and the Sazz bits were moving and the best aspect of this season. It’s not a great show by any stretch, but I like it.
Can’t wait to read the Keri interview. Regarding OMITB, I’ve been underwhelmed in the past 2 seasons. I knew who the murderer was probably a few minutes after they introduced him mid-season. I still love Martin Short’s performance but they’re just stuffing the show with way too many stars. My standout guest star was Eva Longoria, who was hilarious early in the season (reminiscent of Desperate Housewives days) but then was given so little to do. I also really disliked all the Westies and didn’t find them very funny, nor did I like Rudd’s character. I liked getting more on Charles’ emotional impotence too and of course his and Oliver’s episode about their relationship. I think it’s clear they need to scale back with the stars next season. The first season was a perfect mix of the core 3 plus 1-2 incredible guest performances (Nathan lane)
The death of newspapers is such a weird thing. I, too, am sad to see newspapers dying.
But also, I haven't read a printed newspaper in years. I reluctantly subscribe to the local digital paper, but only because they give me a ridiculously low rate when I tried to cancel. Part of the problem with my local paper, is they have significantly cut back on the amount of coverage they give to local issues.