Well, it's official. After months of rumors naming nearly every actor in Hollywood as possible leads for next season's True Detective, HBO has finally made the announcement that the next iteration of the show (to air next summer) will star Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn. Nic Pizzolatto has stated that the next season was actually going to be a trio and include a female lead as well (I have to assume that's in response to the criticism from last year), but that casting announcement is still to be determined, with at least seven actresses having been called in to read for the part. What do you guys think? This seems to me to be something of a downgrade from the McConaughey/Harrelson pairing, but I guess these guys could maybe bring something interesting to the series. It's been a while since we've seen Vince Vaughn do drama, and it's been even longer since Colin Farrell has headlined anything. I have to admit I'm more curious about who the female lead will be now, whether or not their desire to get a big star for that part will end up coming true. We'll have to wait and see.
RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x11 "One For the Money, Two For the Show"
A very busy episode tonight, one that spent most of its time in the offices of Masters and Johnson, as a CBS News crew moved in to interview the pair for a piece that will presumably be their first exposure to a national audience. But Bill and Ginny were slightly less interesting this week, as some major action finally took place between Libby and Robert after weeks of tension. First off though, it is Bill and Virginia in the hotel, with Ginny tending to his bruised eye that's begun to heal up as he tells her about his brother and sister-in-law moving back to Kansas City, which is good riddance as a far as I'm concerned. Sorry, but Frank was kind of annoying and that whole storyline dragged. Bill says he's going to make things right with him though and asks Ginny if their gross, blood smearing sex last week was any good for her. She says yes and tries to egg him on when she sees he's attempting to use her goading to get hard again, but this time it doesn't work, and Bill is once more deflated (pun intended).
At Ginny's house, before going in to work she's paid a visit by George (haven't seen him in a while), who's now remarried and is apparently spending more time with the kids. He tries to get a word with Ginny, but she avoids him as she dashes in to the office, where the CBS guys are setting up, annoying both Bill and Lester, who sees that they are wanting to censor his precious footage (it looks like he now has hundreds of hours in the stock room). Bill is totally flustered by this whole thing, and to top it off is not great on camera either (big surprise). He and Ginny are lectured by PR man Adam Arkin on how to appear agreeable (he uses the old Nixon-Kennedy example, which of course was recent news at that time), and he also insists on Bill getting rid of his bowtie so as to come across less "academic." Bill isn't comfortable with any of this, but he and Ginny do manage to get through most of the interview in one piece, with Ginny having to coax Bill on when it comes to volunteering information. But the network guys are having problems with almost every word BIll and Ginny utter and tell them they're going to have take out words like orgasm, climax and masturbation. They also want to present a fake couple and film them coming in to the office to ask for advice on sexual dysfunction. Bill is adamant about not doing this, since they haven't even had any success in treating this yet, but is scolded by Arkin that he's got to be the one to get there first on camera if he wants the credit for any research that he's done or will do in the future. Bill's unsure, especially when also lectured by Lester for letting them walk all over his principles, but he does agree that they might be right about how best to present the work to the public, since he knows nothing about this area.
Meanwhile, Libby and George both come to the offices as the interview is taking place, and handing BIll his tie and seeing how Ginny and she are wearing the same color adds further fuel to Libby's insecurity over her position in Bill's life. She also sees Robert on the way to the office, where most of CORE is upset over the arrest of Martin Luther King the night before, but Libby hadn't heard anything about it, for which Robert continues to scoff at her ignorance. While sitting in the lobby waiting to be interviewed, George and one of the other salesmen in the building comment on how Libby looks too beautiful to be married to Bill, and this gives her the confidence to leave and go down to the CORE office, choosing them (or really, Robert) over her husband's work, which does not include her. Back upstairs, George finally pulls Ginny aside and tells her he wants to take the kids with him and his wife Audrey on a six-week tour of Europe- a suggestion Ginny laughs at and swiftly refuses. But George says it make more sense for them to be with him than sitting at home with a babysitter, since she never sees them anyway. Ginny is upset but knows it's true, and later solicits the advice of the building's divorce lawyer on whether she can fight George on this. He advises against it, since George has never proved irresponsible with the kids or asked for anything like this before, and besides, if she does challenge it it may open up a can of worms for the courts to see her not so motherly arrangement with them herself. So Ginny ultimately agrees to let them go, but is upset when they mention all the rules and responsible mom type role Audrey is already playing in their lives, unbeknownst to her.
Austin this week, is still being seduced (or I guess I should say harassed) by Flo, who now wants to bring some role playing into their sex life, begging him to pretend to break into her house and have his way with her while she cries out against it (ala Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind, who died this week in the show's universe). Austin is terrible at this and uncomfortable to boot, and Flo complains about his lack of effort, describing herself as a person filled with self-loathing who wants to be hurt (ick). Austin, her polar opposite who's full of himself more than anything, thinks she ought to change since she realizes that now about herself, but Flo just laughs that self-awareness never changes someone's behavior and insists that they go on. Weird. Wonder where this is going.
Finally, back to the real fireworks this week, which is Libby and Robert. After working at the CORE offices, Libby stays around and accepts a ride home from him, where she tries to get him to warm up to her in the car by asking why he likes to make fun of her lack of knowledge about certain areas (namely current civil rights activities), but Robert asks her a pretty sensible question, which is why she's doing this in the first place. She claims to believe in the cause and that she's not just a dilettante housewife, but I don't really buy that for a second, since it's been obvious to me this whole time that she's only doing this because she's got the hots for Robert. When he pulls up to the house a police car comes up behind them and the officer gets out and starts harrassing Robert, wondering why he's in the car with a white woman in this neighborhood. Libby quickly claims that she's invited him inside and tries to stop the cop from shoving him around when they get out, ushering him into the house to get away from the guy. Boy, does that scene ring bells that are still horrifyingly potent today.
In the house, Libby basically pulls out all the stops to seduce Robert, insisting that she sew up his now torn shirt, even though he mildly attempts to stop her, commenting on what the neighbor watching the kids thought of him coming in with her, and then demanding that she NOT sew up his shirt in her bedroom (lol). But, hey, when a woman is coming on this strong it probably takes a better person than Robert to resist completely, and Libby nearly begs him to stay with her when he says he's leaving. She then goes on about not knowing who she is, or why she wants what she does, but feeling better when she's around him because people who don't like her make her feel visible for the first time, since she's never had the chance to break any rules or make any waves and no one has ever made her feel alive in that way. Which is probably a lot more honest than her genuine commitment to the civil rights cause, at least at the moment. Robert again suspects her of being a white woman with low confidence who wants to somehow "lower" herself by being with him, but when she kisses him and says she wants him he responds and the two of them end up having a passionate tryst on the kitchen floor, with Libby seeming ecstatically happy about it. For once, it's a sex scene on this show that's actually very sexy too, which is nice to see, after all the mind games of couples like Bill and Virginia and Flo and Austin.
But the last scene of the night is a bookend BIll and Ginny one, back in the office as Ginny sits with Bill while he expresses his own self-loathing, worried that no one would want to look at him on TV or even be with him in reality, wondering why Ginny even does herself. Ginny tearfully professes to find him attractive even if he doesn't, but Bill isn't convinced until she hugs him in a full embrace and they both cry as they cling to each other to end the episode. So, that was quite a night, and with just one more left, I find myself most interested, believe it or not, in what's going to happen with Libby and Robert after all this build up. It has to be a full blown affair, right? It can't just end in one episode, can it? We'll have to come back next week to find out. See you then everybody!
RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x10 "Below the Belt"
Kind of a strange episode tonight actually- draggy and a bit sluggish in places, suffering I think from a lack of focus as subplots come up and then fade out just as quickly over the hour. We start off with Bill giving a physical exam to his sister-in-law Pauline, who wants him to make up with his brother Francis after their argument last week. Bill tries to dodge the subject and is let off the hook when the lights go out in the building. He argues with Betty over the electricity bill she's paid late, and she bites back that they need to sublet the rest of the floor to make rent on time, which Bill doesn't want to do.
Virginia goes back to see Dr. Madden one last time, to fess up that she's not Barbara and was only using her name to get advice on how to counsel her, which of course didn't work out. Madden basically gets her to talk about herself and Bill again, but Ginny thinks he's being judgmental towards her when she confesses that their affair continues. We then get a flashback to the hotel room when Bill told her about his impotence, and he gives her the details, saying it started when he saw Shelly at her house, but even now he can't get over whatever psychological block he's had because of it. He also says that it's only when he's with a partner that it occurs and tells Ginny that she's the only one who can fix his "brokenness" (a line few women can ever resist). They eventually try a few different methods, and Ginny goes all in with it, but it fails for the most part, even when Bill almost gets something going after Ginny ties his hands behind him and teases his helplessness as she sits on top of him (yes, this was one of those episodes- there are actually fewer sex scenes than you'd think on this very cerebral show, but when they do come up, they deliver the goods). Ginny eventually has second thoughts about this when Betty relays her experience with a client who had chronic impotence that she couldn't fix, ending up in her dreading seeing him every week.
Back at the office, Bill is upset about an article published in a recent medical journal that sees another doctor taking credit for his and Ginny's work, so he hires a PR man (played by Adam Arkin) to come in and advise them on how to stay ahead of the curve as far as the public goes. Ginny is unsure about this but is quickly won over by the man when he suggests they start appearing on television, taking advantage of their image as a faux "married couple" to teach the public about sex. Bill balks at this however, and tells Ginny he's worried about not being taken seriously by the scientific community if they go on TV, but I think we all know how this is going to work out, considering Masters and Johnson became media fixtures as guests on talk shows for decades.
Meanwhile, the supporting characters got quite a lot of material tonight, as Lester takes it upon himself to befriend Barbara, thinking they can bond over their mutual dysfunctional "conditions." He turns out to be right, when Barbara warms up to him in their second scene, after first being offended by his blatant atheism in the first. Austin is also back tonight, ever the comedic relief, as he now works as the spokesman for Cal-O-Metric and seems to be enjoying his new job, until Flo demands he come to her house later that night and have sex with her or he's fired. Austin shows up and tries to protest, but Flo manages to seduce him anyway, and afterwards when Austin expresses his hope that this is a one time thing they can put behind them, Flo refuses, saying he'll continue to sleep with her if he wants to keep his job. Ew.
Finally, Libby continues to volunteer at the CORE offices, although I'm a little skeptical of her genuine interest in the cause, as it it seems obvious she's mostly doing this because of her attraction to Robert, whom she continues to clash with. He think it's a bad idea for her to canvass in the projects for a rent strike with the volunteers, but she shows up anyway (convincing Ginny to cover for her with Bill, who hates her working there). Ginny also sees Libby talking with Robert from across the lobby and seems to pick up on the body language between them (you can't fool a sex expert). And Essie is also back this week, complaining to Bill about Frank's sanctimonious lectures about her drinking, which Bill agrees is annoying. Later on, when Essie gets in an accident behind the wheel and has Frank stitch up a cut, he keeps going on about her being an alcoholic and accuses Bill of being one too. This leads to a long drawn out scene where the two brothers again reminisce about the abuse of their father, and eventually Bill insults Frank, calling him weak and cowardly for taking it. Frank decks him in the face and the two get in a fight before Frank takes off in anger. Bill goes to meet Virginia at the hotel covered in blood and admits to her that he knows he abandoned his brother and feels guilty about it, as he then smears his own blood on her face (gross) and the two seem to finally engage in sex. Geez, don't even bother to clean up first? We'll see where this all goes next week guys. See you then!
Michael Che to replace Cecily Strong on Weekend Update & Other SNL Season 40 News
Well, there's some big changes afoot for the 40th season premiere of Saturday Night Live in two weeks. But the Update news is the most surprising, although welcome (really any changes would be at this point). Lorne Michaels has apparently agreed with the criticism that Weekend Update wasn't solidified with Colin Jost and Cecily Strong as anchors, but he's responded to that by getting rid of Cecily and hiring comedian Michael Che (currently a correspondent on The Daily Show) to co-anchor the desk instead. Frankly, even though neither of them were great, Colin Jost in that position made Cecily look fantastic, so I can't believe they'd jettison her before him, unless that's what she wanted, since she's still a full time cast member and perhaps it's too hard to do both the news and sketches (although Jimmy Fallon did it). I'm totally unfamiliar with Che, since I stopped watching The Daily Show regularly some time ago, but hopefully he's good enough that all he has to do is show that he can do the news himself and then they'll get rid of the guy next to him (because Update is still going to suck as long as Jost remains in that position). On the bright side, Michael Che will be the first black news anchor in the show's history, so yay for progress!
In other news, Michaels has hired three more new writers (thank god) and also seems to agree that they had WAY too many cast members last year, so they've fired Brooks Whelan, Noel Wells, John Milhiser, and possibly Mike O'Brien, with Nasim Pedrad leaving as well. Totally saw that coming for all of them, but strangely, aside from Nasim those were all newbies last year anyway. And of course, with the stalwart announcer Don Pardo's recent death, a new person will be taking over that role as well. Will all this make the show better, finally? No idea, but Che anchoring Update might actually make it different, if he brings his own style, and that can only be a good thing. I'm dreading my yearly recap of this show after the dreadful last season they had, but I'll still be tuning in. Chris Pratt hosts the season premiere on the 27th (a rather obvious choice) with Ariana Grande as the musical guest, so fingers crossed that things improve this year.
PROMO: "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Season 2
Yes, I'm still watching this show. It's probably the least essential of all the shows I stick with, but sometimes you do kind of want something a little less highbrow. Plus, at the end of the last season it had picked up a bit, maybe finally getting to that point where it was coming into its own (I find that if you're going to take on a network show you have to at least give it a full season to find its groove). Hopefully this year they keep the momentum going. Season 2 premieres Sept 23rd.
James Corden to take over The Late Late Show
Who? You might ask when you see the picture of this guy on the right, but yes, apparently he's the one taking over after Craig Ferguson leaves CBS at the end of the year. I guess the answer for who should take over Craig's position was just- well, another guy from the U.K. Yeah, because that was always the key to Craig's success, right? Maybe I'm being a little unfair- apparently Corden is very well known in Britain, having been the star and creator of the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey (2007-10) for which he won a BAFTA, and he's hosted various comedy shows, but I just saw him in a bit part in Begin Again this summer (he played Keira Knightley's best friend) and that was the first I'd ever seen or heard of him in my life. So I have no real opinion about this, but for those who are familiar with him, what do you guys think? Is he funny? Will he be a good late night host?
Here's an ET segment showing off a little more of what Corden's known for in the UK:
TRAILER: "American Horror Story: Freak Show"
American Horror Story is returning October 8th, as usual a perfect release date for Halloween month, and with many of its recurring cast members, including as always, Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulsen (check out her two heads!). This time, newly-minted Emmy winner Kathy Bates also returns, and the show welcomes Michael Chiklis into the fold. The Emmys may have loved the third season more than ever, but most fans thought it was a step down from the entertaining lunacy that was Season 2, so hopefully this installment brings the crazy back.
TRAILER #3: "Homeland" Season 4
Quite a lot of promotion for Homeland this year, as another trailer gives us way more clips from the various upcoming episodes of the fourth season. Looks like Carrie's going to abandon her baby as she takes off for her new job, and even from this trailer you can see how different the show is going to feel without Damien Lewis. It really is a series reboot, but maybe that will help to revitalize it. Claire Danes looks as good as ever in what's become her signature role. Homeland's set to come back with a two episode season premiere on October 5th, and I'll be recapping again this year too, so tune in for that.
RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x09 "Story of My Life"
Again this week, Bill and Virginia are dealing with separate but related issues concerning a new area- the psychology of sexual dysfunction. Bill is still battling with his own impotence and trying to deal with it through Lester as a proxy, while Ginny continues to dive into Barbara's problems concerning brother, and neither of them find much success.
Ginny starts off with Dr. Madden, the psychiatrist she met last week, continuing to pass herself off as Barbara so she can counsel her through Madden's advice (really, obviously a bad idea). So Dr. Madden immediately catches on that something's fishy about Ginny's telling of her own story, but gives her the idea to go back in her head and say to her brother what she should have said when they were kids. Barbara then comes in to the office to be treated for her physical dysfunction by Bill and Virginia, but cannot go through with the procedure and breaks down in tears. Ginny wants to help her, but Bill insists they stick to treating the physical symptoms only, so Ginny gives her the advice she obtained from Madden. This backfires when Barbara comes in for her next appointment to tell Ginny she met with her brother (whom she's still close to) only to be reminded that the games they used to play were her idea in the first place. Ginny is rendered speechless at this. When she goes back to Madden for more advice she ends up drifting into explaining her own affair with Bill and how Lillian once disapproved. When Madden questions her about why her friend would object, she starts to wonder if she should be feeling more guilty about seeing Bill behind Libby's back, which is made worse when Libby comes up to her in the diner at the Masters and Johnson complex and expresses admiration for what a courageous person she is.
Bill this week is still dealing with his own problems, and tries to get poor Lester set up with a prostitute friend of Betty's who specializes in fixing male impotence. Lester really doesn't want to do it, but ends up meeting her in a hotel anyway, hilariously nervous and stammering the whole time, as the girl gets to work on him. But it doesn't take at all, and Lester won't give Bill the details on what happened, preferring instead to try to be with someone who's familiar with similar problems, as he seems to relate when he sees Barbara struggling in the exam room. Bill's also spending more time with his brother Francis, who has dinner with his wife at their house and wants to take Bill to meet some "friends" of his. The friends turn out to be an AA meeting, where Francis gets up on his one year anniversary of being sober, and relates his stories of abuse at the hands of his father. Bill walks out on this speech and later confronts Francis about stealing his own story, but Francis insists that their dad did the same things to him when Bill left, as Bill had abandoned him to his fate when he left home. He says that he forgives him though, which makes Bill feel guilty when he goes to meet Ginny at the hotel. They had met once earlier this episode but nothing happened, as Bill still doesn't want to admit that he's become impotent, and instead tells Ginny he'd just been with Libby instead. This of course makes Ginny feel uncomfortable, and when they meet later on, she's now feeling wracked with guilt over her meetings with Dr. Madden, and suggests they talk about what's really going between them.
Bill doesn't want to deal with this, but Ginny insists, saying it's clear by now that their meetings haven't been about the work or the study in years. Bill doesn't deny it, but ends up sidestepping the issue, saying that they can treat dysfunction there, because that's exactly what he's suffering from. The episode ends on that note, as Ginny looks surprised, but she always manages to get him to admit what's going on with him eventually, so none of the audience really should be. Meanwhile, Libby in this episode wants to testify about what she saw on the street the other day, but at the CORE office, it's made clear to her that her testimony would only be useful if she could relay the license plate, which she didn't see. They do have the number though, and want her to go to the police with it, but Robert doesn't think she'll be able to go through with a lie. He ends up telling her they need a different kind of witness, someone who would have actually gotten out of the car to help the people she saw attacked on the street. Libby is offended by this, and later on when Francis's wife confides in her that she drew the line on her husband's drinking and demanded that he stop or she would leave him, Libby decides she wants to become the kind of strong person who's able to do courageous things. She says as much to Ginny (who's preoccupied), but then goes directly to the CORE office and says she wants to volunteer her services. Robert and his colleagues are skeptical and he tries to test her by saying they need someone to do a sandwich run, but Libby doesn't flinch and asks what kind they want.
That's pretty much it this week, as a lot of talking and discussion is mostly had, but with just three more episodes left this season, I am wondering if this is eventually leading to a Libby-Robert affair. If it does, then I'll be able to forgive all the "Libby is racist" nonsense that came earlier this year, because at least it was headed somewhere, even if written a bit awkwardly. See you guys next week!
Joan Rivers 1933-2014
In what's turning into a quite a morbid year for famous deaths indeed, Joan Rivers has now passed away at 81, after spending the last few days on life support after surgery on her vocal chords went awry. The legendary comedian was a ferocious force to behold, hardworking well into the present day on E!'s Fashion Police (a channel that she practically placed on the map single-handedly), as well as continuing stand-up, reality shows, etc. An entertainer for more than fifty years, she first became famous as a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the 1960's, and was one of the pioneering female comedians of the era, and as a regular guest host of the show, was the first woman talk show host on late night television. Controversy followed her regularly, through her rifts with Carson, her canceled talk show of her own in the 80's, but she always reinvented herself, most influentially as a red carpet host of awards shows in the late 90's, a gig she basically turned into the monster industry that it is today (credit her with popularizing the "who are you wearing" question). Love her or hate her, she was uncompromising, pulled no punches, and always one to make fun of herself as well as the hordes of celebrities she targeted, and because of that she never lost any of the spark that made her so fierce up until the day she died.
On The Tonight Show in 1986 with Johnny Carson:
