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by Tyler Glover  Photo: Netflix Dear Most Gentle Reader, All the members of the ton are abuzz with the latest scandals and gossip. They all seek to discover the identity of the anonymous whistleblower, Lady Whistledown. This author knows her identity and has waited far too long to learn what is to come next. Be rest assured, dear reader, everything reveals itself with time. That time is about to come, "Bridgerton" fans, but not just yet. While it is such an exciting time for new episodes of "Bridgerton" to be streaming, Netflix decided to release the third season of their hit series in two parts. Four episodes were released on May 16, leaving us with a massive cliffhanger. The last four episodes will be released on June 13. Fans have criticized the move feeling they have waited long enough already. We are all anxious to know if our favorite best friends, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) will end up together and what will happen once her massive secret is revealed. Will it ruin any chance that the couple could have to live happily ever after? We will know soon. Netflix's "Bridgerton" has been an enormous hit for the streaming service. In its first season, it was the most-watched original series launch at the time of its premiere. The second season would go on to become the most-watched English-language series in a single week at the time. I'm sure the third season will also hit very high numbers as well. The critics have also given the show favorable reviews throughout its run so far. The series is based on the books by Julia Quinn. Every season has and will follow each of the eight Bridgerton children: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, Hyacinth, Violet and Edmund as they find love in London during the Regency Era in the 1810s and 1820s. The first season followed Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and the second season followed Anthony (Jonathan Bailey). Now it is Colin Bridgerton's turn and this season is the one that I have anticipated the most. One thing this show does incredibly well is capture the longing and yearning for someone. Circumstances come in life that make it complicated to be with a person. This show makes us feel the intensity of the character's feelings through great writing and strong performances. While the first and second seasons captured this feeling of yearning so well, the third season is much more amplified. The show has been setting up this love story since the very first season. We have been waiting to see if our beloved Penelope can get Colin to see her as something more for much longer. That is why the split of the season has divided fans. It is a new courting season but the Queen seems to be having a difficult time trying to find the Diamond of the Season. All of the ladies and their Moms are trying their absolute best to get the Queen to see their daughters as the one to be the star of the season. It is to no avail though. Of the Bridgerton ladies, it is Francesca Bridgerton's (Hannah Dodd) first time to try her hand at landing a husband. Hannah Dodd took over the role of Francesca this season from Ruby Stokes, who portrayed her in the first two seasons. Dodd is a true catch for the show. She matches the elegance, curiosity, beauty and extreme intelligence of Daphne. Also, Penelope is looking to find a husband. She sees herself as a spinster even though it is only her third season out. She was devastated to overhear Colin saying he would never marry her. She decides to be a realist and just go for what is expected of her, forgetting love. The first part of the third season is binge-worthy television. You are left on the edge of your seat with every twist and every turn. Penelope's best friend, Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) learned her friend's dirty secret and has severed ties with her but not divulged her life-changing bombshell to the ton. Francesca quickly finds herself in a dilemma and is Colin starting to see that he loves Penelope as more than a friend? This storyline is why I think the show is so successful. Most of us have had someone at some point in our lives that we loved but could not have. In some cases, we are with that person and sometimes, we have to let them go. Shows like this help us to believe that love can overcome any obstacle. A lot of times those obstacles could be societal pressures. If that is what is holding you back, go for them! Let's give Lady Whistledown something to write about!
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by Julian Spivey  Photos: NBC 10. Beach Day Andrew Dismukes is always so good as the “guy who just wants to be noticed but pretends to be put off” character. One of the best examples of this from season 49 came in the season opener hosted by Pete Davidson when he plays a guy who’s been buried by his friends in the sand at the beach up to his head for a photo op and something tragic happens before the photo can take place. His insistence that the photo happens before everybody leaves is Dismukes at his best. 9. Giant Horse When Timothee Chalamet made his hosting debut on ‘SNL’ in 2020 and appeared in the Tiny Horse musical sketch about a boy and his beloved miniature (as in toy-sized) horse it made me laugh so hard I nearly passed out. So, when he returned to host this season deep down I hoped for a sequel but didn’t expect it. You don’t often get sketch sequels from hosts of the shows. The show was pretty clever in that when the sequel sketch began it wasn’t clear what it was going to be as we were thrust into the middle of a science fiction battle, whose villain’s biggest killing machine happens to be a Giant Horse, the Tiny Horse from before who’s turned to the dark side. It’s a ridiculously wild concept that doesn’t quite live up to the original, the sequels seldom do, but Chalamet crooning about a tiny horse is wacky enough to crack me up every time. 8. Immigrant Dad Talk Show Marcello Hernandez has been one of the standouts among the featured players on the ‘SNL’ cast over the last couple of seasons and he’s at his best when playing up his Hispanic heritage and background, especially when he does the speaking so fast he becomes intelligible – both in English and Spanish – thing he does so well. The idea for him to pair with host Ramy Youssef, a Muslim comedian, as a couple of immigrant dads who hold a talk show in a backyard about how much they love their daughters and are disappointed in their sons, was perfect. The best part is when they invite their white American neighbor over as a guest and are so confused by his admiration of his son, especially when the father and son kiss on the lips. I hope this becomes a recurring bit for Hernandez with any future hosts of ethnic backgrounds. 7. Little Orphan Cassidy Rarely do freshmen cast members of ‘SNL’ have breakout sketches as big as Chloe Troast’s Little Orphan Cassidy in the third episode of season 49 hosted by Timothee Chalamet. The sketch sees Troast as Cassidy, an orphan who can’t find a home who pines to Mr. Moon, Chalamet’s face as the man in the moon, to be wanted and loved. Troast breaks into song, something we’re going to see a lot from here based on her first season of the show, and when we find out she’s actually 27 years old the crowd loses it. Chalamet’s responses as Mr. Moon the more and more weird stuff we find out about Cassidy are terrific, as well. 6. Jumanji When Kristen Wiig returned to host the show for her fifth time since leaving as a cast member this season she appeared in what has to be one of her all-time greatest sketches (though I never was the biggest fan of her characters when she was on the cast) as a woman scared of being “Jumanji’d” during a game night with her friends. It’s the most absurd sketch ideas I’ve found myself enjoying the most in this current era of ‘SNL.’ Wiig’s exasperated fear of being sucked into a board game world mixed with the annoyance of the rest of the group of friends, particularly the one played by Andrew Dismukes, makes for a wildly creative and funny sketch. 5. Close Encounter I never expected to see Colleen Rafferty again after the character was taken to space by alien abduction in Kate McKinnon’s final episode as a ‘SNL’ cast member two years ago. It seemed to be the perfect finale for Colleen and the Close Encounter sketches that highlighted McKinnon’s ‘SNL’ Hall of Famer tenure. McKinnon even returned to host the show for the first time in season 49 and the character didn’t appear. So, it was a pleasant surprise when host Ryan Gosling’s episode opened with a Close Encounter sketch. Gosling was the host when the sketch debuted in 2015 and also appeared again in the recurring sketch in 2017. He seems to be a favorite of McKinnon’s Colleen to mess with and you can tell Gosling gets a kick out of it too. Anytime this wacky sketch involving Colleen’s wacky and weird alien encounters appears I’m going to love it. It’s truly one of the rare recurring sketches that loses little the more times they do it. 4. I'm Just Pete One of the biggest pop culture phenomena of the summer of 2023 was the “Barbie” movie so even though season 49 of ‘SNL’ premiered months later you had the feeling the show would work something “Barbie” into its premiere – I just didn’t realize it would be this good. One of the highlights of the film was Ryan Gosling as Ken singing the song “I’m Just Ken.” When ‘SNL’ turned the song into “I’m Just Pete” for former cast member Pete Davidson returning to host the season premiere it was one of the best examples of the show parodying pop culture. 3. Lake Beach Each year for the last two decades now ‘SNL’ has released some incredibly funny songs and this year had no shortage of them, but my absolute favorite from this season was “Lake Beach” during the episode hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze – likely because I enjoy country music, making fun of modern pop-influenced country music and have always lived in the South. James Austin Johnson and Andrew Dismukes have proven to be quite the tandem when paired together on the show, both seeming to really gel when the ideas are at their wildest. Johnson, Dismukes and Bargatze play a trio of country singers paying homage to the Lake Beach party life and if you’ve ever lived in the South and have been around redneck types you will recognize nearly every damn thing in this song as being potentially a bit too on the nose. 2. Beavis & Butt-Head Sometimes it’s the way out in left field ideas that make for the funniest sketches on ‘SNL’ these days, especially when all those involved know it’s way out there to the point where they struggle to contain their composure on the live show. When Ryan Gosling hosted late in season 49, such a moment occurred in a sketch where Kenan Thompson is playing a professor being interviewed by Heidi Gardner’s anchor about artificial intelligence and a couple of people in the audience catch his attention for looking stunningly like the animated TV characters Beavis and Butt-Head. It’s a funny idea, especially as Gosling as Beavis and Mikey Day as Butt-Head play the town hall guests as clueless to the fact that they resemble these characters. But the sketch truly becomes an instant classic when Gardner turns to face Day as Butt-Head and has one of the greatest breaks in the history of ‘SNL,’ especially as a cast member who rarely seems to break on air. 1. Washington's Dream Nate Bargatze might be the funniest stand-up comedian in the business today but when it was announced he would host a season 49 episode of ‘SNL’ I was a bit concerned that his lack of acting might hurt him when it came to sketch comedy. At times throughout his episode, it was a bit jarring but I think that aspect, mixed with his style of making the mundanities of life hilarious truly helped the best sketch of the season fly. Co-head writer Streeter Seidell and cast member Mikey Day had been trying to get their George Washington pep talk sketch on the show for some time but it never quite fit the week’s host. But the humor of the sketch, which pokes fun at how many things differ in America from the rest of the world, really fits Bargatze's style. Bargatze plays Washington during the Revolutionary War giving a pep talk to dejected soldiers, played by Day, James Auston Johnson, Bowen Yang and Kenan Thompson. The sketch received a lot of “best sketch in years” treatment from the media in the days following it. What was your favorite sketch of Season 49? by Aprille Hanson Spivey  Photo: CBS I have been a fan of the reality show “The Amazing Race” from almost the beginning of its 36-season run, starting in 2001. The show sets itself apart from other reality shows by its world travel, educating viewers as two-member teams compete in various challenges surrounding the local cultures and traditions of that country. The globe-hopping nature of the show keeps it fresh and entertaining after so many years. But on the May 1 episode, “That’s What Being Strong Will Do,” the show had an unprecedented upset that was mindboggling for a seasoned show like “The Amazing Race.”
Beloved mother-son teammates Danny and Angie Butler were eliminated in leg eight of the race in Bridgetown, Barbados, leaving five teams to compete for the $1 million prize. Their elimination had nothing to do with their abilities, but by a grave mistake by their camera crew and show producers, creating an unnecessary controversy. The two decked out in their Walla Walla shirts, a nod to their hometown in Washington state, accurately dubbed themselves underdogs early on. The lanky Danny, 27, is a superfan of the show, hosting his own versions of “The Amazing Race” in his hometown as a kid. His mom Angie, 55, is a seventh-grade teacher. The brilliance of “The Amazing Race” is how physically strong teams aren’t always the ones to dominate. Teams like Danny and Angie, who are incredibly intelligent and excellent navigators, can make it to the end. It doesn’t mean it’s not a tough road and the Walla Walla team certainly endured their share of hardships, but always prevailed with both endurance and endless positivity. It’s why their elimination was so crushing for fans. While navigating the chaotic streets in Barbados, Danny and Angie were driving in a tiny Jeep, made a quick turn in a roundabout and part of their camera crew went another direction. The episode shows the pair immediately realizing they lost their crew and the pair explained one of the rules of “The Amazing Race” is not to lose their crew. The show broke the fourth wall to show Danny radioing their crew with no response. While Angie was apprehensive, Danny persuaded her to keep going toward the Detour spot and the crew would meet them at that challenge location. In a May 2 article on Yahoo.com, Danny explained that the show’s security had told the competitors if they ever felt unsafe or are separated from their crew, they should continue onto the next destination. It’s exactly what the pair did, continuing on for about 16 minutes. But when they arrived, their crew didn’t show up. Because of this, they had to wait at the Detour for their crew to arrive before starting their next challenge. Viewers were led to believe their crew finally showed up, but it turns out, they never did. In an interview with US Weekly, Angie explained another team’s crew offered to film the pair when they first arrived, but producers decided the team needed to wait. Though it’s unclear in the show how long they waited, articles about the incident say they were stalled for about 45 minutes when producers relented and let another team’s crew film them so they could continue with the competition. But by that point, the other five teams had already shown up, completely obliterating their second-place standing. In reality, their actual crew didn’t show up until about an hour and a half later. This obscure penalty caused them to be the last team to arrive at the mat with host Phil Keoghan. In true Danny and Angie fashion, the pair took the elimination in stride. They have not once attacked the show for the decision and have been nothing but grateful for the opportunity to participate. They pointed to the silver lining that neither of them ultimately caused their team to be eliminated, something that would have been particularly devastating for mom Angie to be the cause of her son’s dreams being dashed. “The Amazing Race” does not play favorites. I’ve watched teams take multi-hour penalties for something they forgot or did wrong, have to apply for new passports when they lose theirs and just make crazy mistakes that force them to be the last team to arrive. I’ve seen everyone’s favorite team go home on countless seasons. But what bothers me, and so many other fans, about this elimination scenario, is that Danny and Angie did not do anything wrong. Their crew did. The team made a quick turn but they hardly made a maneuver to purposely evade their crew. They made contact immediately and continued to the Detour as they were told. They were not the ones driving that crew vehicle and had no control over what they did next. To suddenly go missing for over an hour when the Detour was 16 minutes away does not make sense. And if the rule was really that they had to wait for their crew to show back up, producers made an exception anyway, since an alternate crew filmed them after all. As Danny explained to US Weekly, a local instead of an official show crew member was driving the crew’s vehicle. I have no idea how common a scenario this is, but it’s inexcusable no matter who was driving, to take that long to get to the Detour location. It’s something producers should have recognized right away. Given the extra confusion in driving around Barbados – every team experienced navigation issues when most of the streets they were driving past were not named – producers could have let them continue to play right away with the other crew filming them and possibly given them some sort of penalty at the mat. It’s something that Danny pointed out on Reddit, the only slight criticism of the situation the two have expressed. But any on-the-fly penalty for something their crew did seems unfair. As a fan, I’d like to know explicitly where it says in “The Amazing Race” rules that if you lose your crew, whether intentionally or not, you have to wait for them to return before continuing to play. I suspect there is no written rule because it hasn’t happened before – at least it’s never been televised. And that likely reality makes this moment a bit of a black eye for a show that thrives on rules and fairness to all teams. By all means, give penalties to teams that do something wrong, but don’t punish them for mistakes by the crew that are supposed to be the silent documentarians. Because of the backlash, it wouldn’t surprise me if Danny and Angie were back in a future all-star season, where the show brings back old teammates to compete again. But it won’t be the same because these two had a shot at making it to the end this go around and I’m not sure all the stars and teams would align for them to do it again. “The Amazing Race” caused a team to be eliminated because of a mistake by their production crew, and it ultimately destroyed some of the magic of this season and the show in general. by Julian Spivey  Photos: Netflix, BBC/Disney, Paramount & HBO/Max Hacks: Season 3 (Max) – Thursday, May 2 The long-awaited third season of Max’s Emmy-nominated comedy series “Hacks” is finally upon us and if you’re expecting a fall in quality don’t as critic Brian Tallerico is calling season three the show’s best yet (which is terrific but also a bit hard to believe). Jean Smart’s twice-Emmy-winning performance as comedian Deborah Vance is back on top of the comedy game after a successful comedy special but has cut ties with her much younger writing partner Ava, the exquisite Hannah Einbinder (this better be the year she wins the Emmy!), who is now working for a ‘Daily Show’-esque show and is bitter about being cut off by Deborah. “Hacks” has always worked best with Deborah/Ava as frenemies so this seems like a perfect place to start the third season. Unfrosted (Netflix) – Friday, May 3 Jerry Seinfeld has had the most peculiar career for a man who was on the top of the world with his ‘90s NBC sitcom “Seinfeld.” Since then, he hasn’t done a whole lot other than return to what he was in the first place, a stand-up comedian. His forays into other forms of pop culture have been head-scratchers: “Bee Movie,” a reality series about arguing married couples. His short-form love of comedy, coffee and cars series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” has been pretty cool though. His latest foray outside of stand-up is the original Netflix film “Unfrosted,” which he directed and stars in, about Kellogg’s and Post in a “space race”-like battle to create the Poptart that is very loosely based on reality. The comedy co-stars Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Sarah Cooper, Hugh Grant and Amy Schumer. Dark Matter (AppleTV+) – Wednesday, May 8 Last year as part of my monthly book club we read Blake Crouch’s 2016 sci-fi novel Dark Matter. It was an interesting tale of a man kidnapped and forced to find his way back home through alternate versions of his life. The novel has been turned into an AppleTV+ limited series starring Joel Edgerton as the lead character Jason Dessen. There’s not a whole lot one can say without giving away too much about “Dark Matter,” but it should be a thrilling ride for viewers. Bodkin (Netflix) – Thursday, May 9 Will Forte’s terrific, but unfortunately canceled before it wrapped up Fox sitcom “The Last Man on Earth” was one of my favorite comedies of the last decade. I’ve been longing for him to get another interesting look series – and sorry Peacock’s “MacGruber” wasn’t it. In the Netflix original “Bodkin,” Forte is an American podcaster looking to discover his Irish roots but winds up meeting an Irish journalist, played by Siobhan Cullen, and teaming up to discover mysterious disappearances from a charming, yet dark Irish town. “Bodkin” is billed as a dark comedy, something I know Forte can be terrific in. Doctor Who (Disney+) – Friday, May 10 “Doctor Who” fans should be excited for the new season featuring the time-traveling alien as it will be something of a restart for the series, which struggled a bit under previous showrunner Chris Chibnall. Russell T. Davies, who brought the show back to television in 2005, is back at the helm and with an exciting new actor Ncuti Gatwa taking over the controls of the TARDIS as The Doctor. Gatwa’s official debut in the 2023 Christmas special and his instant chemistry with new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, was a nice start. I’m excited to see what Davies, Gatwa and Gibson can do with a full season. Evil: Final Season (Paramount+) – Thursday, May 23 The long-awaited fourth season of the excellent Paramount+ horror-drama series “Evil,” which is hard to believe began as a CBS series, is a bit of a bittersweet thing as it was announced it would also be the show’s final season – and unfortunately, that decision wasn’t made until the season was almost completed. Thankfully, Paramount gave the series a few extra episodes to wrap things up but I can’t help but feel things might be a bit rushed toward the finish line. The show, which stars Katja Herbers as a skeptic and Mike Colter as a priest tackling cases in the spiritual realm, has been one of the underdog triumphs on television since its debut. It’ll be interesting to see if good can conquer evil in the final season but when it comes to Robert and Michelle King’s series it’s likely to be a toss-up. We Are Lady Parts: Season 2 (Peacock) – Thursday, May 30 Earlier this year I finally got around to watching “We Are Lady Parts” on Peacock, even though it had been more than two years since its debut. What I found was one of the loveliest shows I’d seen in quite some time. “We Are Lady Parts” is the story of a group of Muslim women who form a kickass punk band and seem on the precipice of something big with the least punk person possible, Amina (played by Anjana Vasan) joins as lead guitarist. The chemistry between the bandmates, Vasan, Sarah Kameela Impey (as Saira), Juliette Motamed (as Ayesha), Faith Omole (as Bisma) and Lucie Shorthouse (as Momtaz) is unbelievable in the first season, especially for only being a six-episode season. I can’t wait to see what Lady Parts has in store for us in season two. |