'Stargirl' Season 2 Starts August 10th

Yay! I think. I really liked the first season of Stargirl, but it was made for the now extinct DCU streaming service, and now it’s being officially transferred to the CW, which has a much smaller budget to work with (and commercial breaks). This trailer looks good and the show’s quality appears not to have suffered (emphasis on the word “appears”), but…it is only a trailer. And who we don’t see in this trailer is Luke Wilson’s all CGI robot superhero alter ego S.T.R.I.P.E.- that’s probably a bad sign. Still, I’m going to be optimistic for now.

REVIEW: "Mare of Easttown"

There’s a genre of female detective crime shows that seem to exist these days- a genre that includes things like Broadchurch, Happy Valley, The Fall (a lot of British shows). Broadchurch in particular was a phenomenon in the UK and an American remake was attempted, to forgettable results (the show was called Gracepoint and briefly aired on Fox- don’t remember it? Neither do I). But with Mare of Easttown, I think we finally did get our American equivalent, even if we had to snare one of Britain’s greatest actresses to do it.

Kate Winslet stars as Mare Sheehan, a detective and lifelong resident of Easttown, PA, home of the “eau’s” and “neau’s” if you’re trying to figure out what kind of accent that is. Her life is a mess- depression runs in her family, her son committed suicide two years earlier and she’s in a custody battle for her grandson with the boy’s addict mother. On top of all that, there’s a murder committed, one in which any number of suspects are introduced as we get to know the Easttown community, Mare’s family members and friends, and the various troubles and crimes running throughout her inner circle. The victim is a teenage girl, the daughter of one of her friends, and there’s been other missing girls following in the wake of this incident, as well as before.

As many crimes shows as there are, you can always make this kind of thriller work if you try hard enough

The “whodunit” is probably one of the most difficult genres to make work as well as one of the most fun to consume. You want people to become absorbed in the mystery, feel like they’re able to solve it, and yet also be surprised and satisfied at the eventual outcome. Broadchurch’s first season mystery was one of the best, because the sordid details implicated almost everyone in the town, and ensnared Olivia Colman’s lead detective on a personal level, with one of the most memorable finales in recent history. Now, Mare creator Brad Inglesby nails the complicated personal dynamics that made Broadchurch so successful, and that’s in developing each character to the point where you know them intimately, know what could have been going on in the town, know the culture and become addicted to finding out what might have happened.

We also have a great cast in Kate Winslet, who can rival Meryl Streep’s talent for dialects, and who embodies this troubled, tired, world weary character in all her faults, but with humor and intelligence and attention to detail that makes this one of the best and most lived in performances of her career. The supporting turns are also stellar, with Julianne Nicholson as Mare’s lifelong best friend, Jean Smart as her mother and Evan Peters as the local county detective sent in to help with the case. Guy Pearce shows up as well to woo Mare out of her isolation, as the show is equally about Mare’s life as much as it is the mystery of the murderer. There are red herrings to boot and constant manipulations of the audience intended to throw you off the track and suspect a different person each episode, but the finale pulls off a genuine shocker that even more surprisingly, manages to make sense in retrospect. There’s an emotional satisfaction to the ending that’s more important than any plot holes you might definitely be able to poke if you tried (why did we never find out what was going on with the boyfriend on the night of the murder exactly? And how did the neighbor notice his gun was missing in so short a time frame?) Well, none of that matters when you get such devastating and rich performances as we get from Winslet and Nicholson in the finale. Mare of Easttown is a fine addition to this genre of television and you won’t regret the time you spent with it.

Grade: A-

Mare of Easttown sticks the landing in ways few mysteries manage

'Ted Lasso' Season 2 Starts July 23

Yay! I haven’t reviewed it yet, but Ted Lasso is the lovable, warmhearted, spiritual replacement for Schitt’s Creek that came out at exactly the right time. With Jason Sudeikis at the helm it’s a fun, sweetly funny comedy with characters that you grow to like instantly. I can’t wait for Season 2.

See the Trailer for Amazon's 'The Underground Railroad'

Well, it looks like the director of Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, alright. This is another novel that I read and liked a lot, now being adapted into a limited series for Amazon, coming out May 14th. Barry Jenkins’s films are more impressionistic than literal, and his adaptation of this book looks very much in that vein. Looking forward to seeing it.

Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson Team Up for Marvel's 'Loki' Show

This appears to be more interesting and with a premise that has more potential than the two other MCU shows so far, but my expectations will always be low for Marvel. At least Tom Hiddleston as the villainous Loki is a more amusing character than people like Falcon and Wanda. Loki premieres on June 11th.

'Schitt's Creek' and 'The Crown' Are the Top SAG TV Winners

SAG did what is usually does on the TV side, awarding veteran favorites as opposed to newbies with people like Gillian Anderson over Emma Corrin and Jason Bateman over Josh O’Connor. But the expected faves The Crown and Schitt’s Creek won ensemble for drama and comedy series, respectively, while the only “surprise” winner here was Jason Sudeikis for Ted Lasso (I thought they’d go with Eugene Levy).

2021 SAG TV WINNERS

• Comedy Ensemble: Schitt’s Creek

• Comedy Actor: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

• Comedy Actress: Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek

• Drama Ensemble: The Crown

• Drama Actor: Jason Bateman, Ozark

• Drama Actress: Gillian Anderson, The Crown

• Limited Series Actor: Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much is True

• Limited Series Actress: Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit

HBO's 'The Nevers' Starts April 11

Can’t wait for this. This show was announced eons ago and with the beleaguered Joss Whedon as the original creator/showrunner, but he left the series halfway through production of the first season last fall. So, these first six episodes are the product of his time on the show, but the second half of the season will debut at a later time, when writer Philippa Goslett stepped in as boss. Who knows what that means for a potentially notable decrease (or increase) in quality but it does look cool to me. I’ll be checking it out. That’s Outlander’s Laura Donnelly in the starring role.

'The Crown' Dominates Critics Choice, but 'Ted Lasso' Overtakes 'Schitt's Creek'

The Crown’s dominance sailed on with the Critics Choice winners in TV, but even though Dan Levy and Catherine O’Hara did win for Schitt’s Creek, the show was overtaken by Ted Lasso in comedy series (a harbinger for the Emmys perhaps?) They also deviated from the norm in talk show, going with the deserving Seth Meyers, who’s too often overlooked at the Emmys and other places.

2021 CRITICS CHOICE WINNERS (TV)

• BEST DRAMA SERIES: The Crown 

• BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: Josh O'Connor – The Crown 

• BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES: Emma Corrin – The Crown 

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: Michael K. Williams – Lovecraft Country 

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES: Gillian Anderson – The Crown 

• BEST COMEDY SERIES: Ted Lasso 

• BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso 

• BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES: Catherine O'Hara – Schitt's Creek

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: Daniel Levy – Schitt's Creek 

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES: Hannah Waddingham – Ted Lasso 

• BEST LIMITED SERIES: The Queen's Gambit 

• BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Hamilton 

• BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION: John Boyega – Small Axe 

• BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen's Gambit 

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Donald Sutherland – The Undoing 

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Uzo Aduba – Mrs. America 

• BEST TALK SHOW: Late Night With Seth Meyers 

• BEST COMEDY SPECIAL: Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill & Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia (tie)

• BEST SHORT FORM SERIES: "Better Call Saul: Ethics Training with Kim Wexler" 

Late Night With Seth Meyers should be recognized more often than it is

'The Crown' Sweeps Drama Series, 'Schitt's Creek Wins in Comedy at the Golden Globes

The TV wins went pretty much as expected tonight, with favorites The Crown, Schitt’s Creek and The Queen’s Gambit all prevailing and taking their lead acting winners with them. The only surprise was in how many The Crown took home, dominating in every category it was up for, possibly signaling that the young Charles and Diana, played by Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor will be getting more hardware from SAG and then eventually Emmy. I went 6 for 11 in my picks, which wasn’t as bad as on the movie side at least, and still got all but one of the alternates.

GOLDEN GLOBE 2021 TV WINNERS

• BEST DRAMA SERIES: The Crown

• BEST ACTOR DRAMA: Josh O’Connor, The Crown

• BEST ACTRESS DRAMA: Emma Corrin, The Crown

• BEST COMEDY SERIES: Schitt’s Creek

• BEST ACTOR COMEDY: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

• BEST ACTRESS COMEDY: Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek

• BEST LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE: The Queen’s Gambit

• BEST LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE ACTOR: Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much is True

• BEST LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE ACTRESS: Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Gillian Anderson, The Crown

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: John Boyega, Small Axe

Schitt’s Creek got the farewell win for Series and Catherine O’Hara

Golden Globe TV Predictions

Ok, let’s go ahead with these wild card picks for TV. The HFPA just basically goes for what it likes here, no impact on future awards of any kind in this area, so these are basically wild guesses based on what this group tends to go for.

BEST COMEDY SERIES

• Emily in Paris

• The Flight Attendant

• The Great

• Schitt’s Creek

• Ted Lasso

The Globes tend to really like new shows, but is the Schitt’s Creek Emmy train unstoppable here? I thought so at first, but then I reconsidered. The HFPA doesn’t tend to care that much about what the Emmys liked, so is there a new show here that they’d go for instead? I would think if there is it’d be either Ted Lasso or The Flight Attendant. My instinct is that Apple TV’s Ted Lasso might be popular with them, so I’m guessing that one.

Winner: Ted Lasso

Alternate: Schitt’s Creek

Dark Horse: The Flight Attendant

BEST TV COMEDY ACTOR

• Don Cheadle, Black Monday

• Nicholas Hoult, The Great

• Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek

• Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

• Ramy Youssef, Ramy

They usually pick the lead actor for their series winner, so I’m gonna go with Jason Sudeikis here.

Winner: Jason Sudeikis

Alternate: Eugene Levy

Dark Horse: Nicholas Hoult

BEST TV COMEDY ACTRESS

• Lily Collins, Emily in Paris

• Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant

• Elle Fanning, The Great

• Jane Levy, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

• Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek

Catherine O’Hara should win this of course, but it’s the Globes. They love newbies SO much, I have to go with Kaley Cuoco for her new show.

Winner: Kaley Cuoco

Alternate: Catherine O’Hara

Dark Horse: Lily Collins

BEST DRAMA SERIES

• The Crown

• Lovecraft Country

• The Mandalorian

• Ozark

• Ratched

They love new shows, but I really think this is The Crown’s year, given the immense popularity of its fourth season. It has all the buzz, it’s never been more beloved and it hasn’t won before. I think it’s got this.

Winner: The Crown

Alternate: The Mandalorian

BEST TV DRAMA ACTOR

• Jason Bateman, Ozark

• Josh O’Connor, The Crown

• Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

• Al Pacino, Hunters

• Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason

At least one of The Crown actors is going to win, but will both of the leads do it? I’m not sure. I feel like Jason Bateman, an old Globe favorite (and apparently in a show they liked, since it’s nominated for series) might have the edge, but Josh O’Connor is certainly a strong contender. 

Winner: Jason Bateman

Alternate: Josh O’Connor

BEST TV DRAMA ACTRESS

• Olivia Colman, The Crown

• Jodie Comer, Killing Eve

• Emma Corrin, The Crown

• Laura Linney, Ozark

• Sarah Paulson, Ratched

This one I feel sure is going to Emma Corrin, who wowed everyone as Diana. Olivia Colman is also a strong possibility for the same show, but I’m certain it’s one of the two.

Winner: Emma Corrin

Alternate: Olivia Colman

Dark Horse: Laura Linney

BEST TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES

• Normal People

• The Queen’s Gambit

• Small Axe

• The Undoing

• Unorthodox

I feel the buzz and zeitgeist hype for The Queen’s Gambit makes that one unstoppable in this category.

Winner: The Queen’s Gambit

Alternate: The Undoing (the other popular/populist choice)

BEST TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES ACTOR

• Bryan Cranston, Your Honor

• Jeff Daniels, The Comey Rule

• Hugh Grant, The Undoing

• Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird

• Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much is True

The only series nominated from these actors is The Undoing, which seemingly makes Hugh Grant the frontrunner. But for this one I could also see it going to Mark Ruffalo or Ethan Hawke, so it’s a close call.

Winner: Hugh Grant

Alternate: Mark Ruffalo

Dark Horse: Ethan Hawke

BEST TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America

• Daisy Edgar-Jones, Normal People

• Shira Haas, Unorthodox

• Nicole Kidman, The Undoing

• Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit

Anya Taylor-Joy is the frontrunner and the likely winner, as her show is too popular and also most likely winning limited series. She’s also nominated on the movie side for Emma. In second place would be Globes veteran Nicole Kidman.

Winner: Anya Taylor-Joy

Alternate: Nicole Kidman

BEST TV SUPPORTING ACTOR

• John Boyega, Small Axe

• Brendan Gleeson, The Comey Rule

• Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek

• Jim Parsons, Hollywood

• Donald Sutherland, The Undoing

I’m not totally sure about this one, but I kinda feel like Brendan Gleeson’s gonna take it for his Trump portrayal. Dan Levy is a real threat though, especially if as I suspect, they don’t wind up going with Schitt’s Creek as the winner in comedy series. They can still say they gave it something.

Winner: Brendan Gleeson

Alternate: Dan Levy

BEST TV SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Gillian Anderson, The Crown

• Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown

• Julia Garner, Ozark

• Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek

• Cynthia Nixon, Ratched

I’m thinking Gillian Anderson for her Margaret Thatcher, such a big performance that can’t be ignored, right? Probably, but this category can be really random sometimes with the HFPA. They occasionally use it to catch up with someone they’ve overlooked before, so…could that maybe be Julia Garner? I could almost see any of these nominees winning

Winner: Gillian Anderson

Alternate: Julia Garner

Dark Horse: Annie Murphy