PROFILE
FROM Eric Deggans
Highlights of Sunday's overtly political Emmy Awards Stephen Colbert’s opening monologue was full of Trump jabs, and Sean Spicer made an appearance. There were many firsts: Donald Glover was the first black man to take home the award for directing for a comedy series; Riz Ahmed was the first male actor of South Asian descent to win an acting Emmy.
Is Hollywood out of touch with this political moment? During her speech at Sunday’s Golden Globes, Meryl Streep said, “Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners and if we kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.” She went on to excoriate Donald Trump. We look at the awards, speeches, and whether they reflect America.
The lowdown on Netflix's 'The Get Down' Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann explores the birth of hip-hop – 1977 in the South Bronx – in the new Netflix series The Get Down . Luckily, the series employed an impressive list of collaborators and consultants, including Grandmaster Flash and Kurtis Blow, who weren’t just there for the birth of hip-hop – they fathered it. Link to Eric Deggan on twitter
BET Awards Gets Political Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar wowed the crowd with a joint performance at the BET Awards Sunday. Tributes to Muhammad Ali and Prince moved the audience and viewers at home. But actor Jesse Williams, who played Dr. Jackson Avery on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, stole the show with an eloquent civil rights speech after accepting the Humanitarian Award. “If you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those to those who do. Sit down,” he said. The annual event celebrating African Americans in the arts and entertainment is consistently the highest rated awards show on cable, and it’s BET’s highest rated show.
The Relevance of the 'Roots' Remake Nearly four decades ago, the ABC miniseries Roots was a cultural sensation. Half of all households with televisions tuned in for the finale. Airing a decade after the Civil Rights Movement, for many whites it was the first time they really understood slavery on a visceral level, and the lasting effects it had. A new version of Roots is airing this week on the A&E’s History channel. How does the remake compare with the original? How does it depict slavery differently from the 1977 original?
TV Roundup: Can HBO Remain Supreme? HBO had a big weekend. Beyonce dropped a surprise hour-long visual album on Saturday. On Sunday, its popular shows Game of Thrones, Veep, and Silicon Valley returned. Looking ahead, though, HBO may be in some trouble. Girls is ending, as is The Leftovers; and the big budget show Vinyl has been disappointing. Amazon and Netflix are getting a lot of attention for their original shows. Can HBO remain supreme in the premium television realm?
TV Roundup It’s time to talk TV! Girls is back this week from a break and so is the Duplass Brothers show Togetherness. And back from the 1980’s is the sitcom Full House. After reading a new USC report about diversity in Hollywood, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the main characters on all those shows are white. That and more in our regular Monday TV roundup.
TV Roundup: 'The Big Bang Theory,' 'Fargo,' and more Like a spaceship door opened to the emptiness of space, ‘Star Wars’ has sucked the air out the movie business this week. But there’s plenty to talk about in the TV world. We discuss ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ ‘Fargo,’ ‘Luther’ and more in our regular Monday TV roundup.
TV Roundup: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Debuts, Empire Returns It might be summer weather outside, but fall has definitely come to TV. New shows debuting, old favorites still crushing it. It’s a busy time of year for TV critics, but we’ve snagged two of our regulars to talk about what’s going on.
TV Roundup: Colbert, Political Ads and More Donald Trump hasn’t spent a dime on TV advertising so far in his campaign. Why? Because of all the free publicity he gets from the media’s Trump frenzy. In general, the 2016 race is looking very different for candidate ad buys than past campaigns have. How so? Also in our weekly TV roundup, how was Stephen Colbert’s first week hosting The Late Show?
TV Roundup: Shark Week, Comedy Central's Diverse Roster, and Colbert Shark Week is back on the Discovery Channel, along with the requisite media feeding frenzy. A few of today’s headlines include TIME.com’s “ This Gruesome Video Will Get You Pumped for Shark Week ” and USA Today’s “ Justin Bieber is not a fan of Shark Week .” Despite the link-bait, Discovery Channel is promising more science this time around. Also, we discuss diverse programming at Comedy Central, and Stephen Colbert’s surprise appearance hosting a public-access show in Michigan.
TV Roundup: 'The Bachelorette' and More In a bit of reality TV inception, this week in our regular small screen roundup we’ve got both The Bachelorette and a scripted drama about a reality TV show. Everyone gets a rose today! Those stories and more.
The End of 'Mad Men' and Other TV News The Mad Men season finale aired last night and fans are in mourning. After seven seasons, we try to understand the final scenes and what it all meant. After that, we discuss the winner at TV’s giant preview party known as the Upfronts, a new Muppets TV show, and the buzz around Supergirl.
TV Roundup: Bruce Jenner Comes Out Bruce Jenner spoke with Diane Sawyer Friday night in a two-hour interview that transgender advocates are calling a breakthrough moment for their community. For ABC, the interview was also an enormous ratings success, drawing some 17 million viewers. We talk about that and more in our weekly TV roundup segment.
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What did Trump accomplish on his first trip abroad? President Trump is wrapping up his Mideast and European tour. We find out what he has accomplished -- good and bad -- and look at what he faces when he comes home.
The Other Man Stories of two men who meet by chance and emerge indelibly changed – or at least, one of them does.
'Dandelion and Quince,' food and crime, 'All About Eggs' Sarah Lohman talks about the murder and historic recipes that form the backbone of her new book, “Ohio 1910,” and Rachel Khong shares highlights from Lucky Peach’s last cookbook, “All About Eggs.” Michelle Mckenzie tells us how to cook oft-forgotten fruits, veggies and herbs, and Jonathan Gold reviews AR Cucina in Culver City. Plus: raspberries at the market and a special guest DJ set from Alton Brown.
Why did Jared Kushner want a back channel with Russians? News broke Friday that President Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, tried setting up a back channel between the Trump transition team and the Russian government. What are the consequences for Kushner, President Trump, and the investigation into Russian meddling?