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Omono Okojie Upped To Series Regular, via Deadline.

The three were arrested for the alleged murder of Penelope, not for using magic. From the Vice President's dialogue, starting at about the 23:25 mark: The mechanics of this "show trial" prosecution are honestly quite fascinating. In the real world, the investigation and prosecution would be handled by the specific service branch, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. But, here we have the Camarilla-aligned Vice President swooping in with a presumably civilian (U.S. Department of Justice) criminal indictment, which would mean a federal civilian trial, with the potential for a civilian jury, instead of a military court-martial with a jury made up of service members. If the series wasn't going to end in ten episodes, a multi-episode arc exploiting the drama of the prosecution process could have been really interesting and a great exercise in world-building.

Have you heard that the next Women's World Cup (in 2023, hopefully) will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand? 😬 With Mark Parsons taking over for the departing Wiegman, I'll be interested in seeing what he can do with the Netherlands in a year for the Women's Euro, although there won't be too much room for experimentation, as WWC qualifying begins right away in mid-September. Though, NED's biggest weakness at the moment seems to be a lack of depth, especially concerning game-changing substitutes, which is not something that can be readily fixed in a year or even two. I expect chippiness. And, some blood. Through four matches, Andonovski seems to be splitting center forward duties between Lloyd and Morgan, giving each player alternating starts, and with almost even playing time so far, as each player has 192 and 198 official minutes, respectively (cumulative stats, PDF file). Alternating players like that, especially for more attacking-oriented positions (as opposed to the goalkeeper and back line) isn't unusual, and is almost a necessity, given the more compressed nature of the Olympics tournament, versus a World Cup. I rate Morgan as the better all-around player, though she has a history of injury issues, so limiting Morgan's exposure to injury risks is a wise move, especially in the opening stages of this tournament. If Andonovski continues to alternate, then Morgan would be expected to be in the starting line-up against Canada, though given the physicality of Canada, I could see giving Lloyd the start and evening resting Morgan by subbing someone else in for Lloyd, if the USWNT has a comfortable lead at half-time and at the 60-minute mark. As to why Lloyd doesn't play more, besides not having the legs for speedy runs, I think one of the main reasons is that she doesn't currently have the goal-scoring rate of other options at the center forward/striker position. Specifically, Lloyd's old school physicality lacks the technical finesse of Alex Morgan or even Christen Press. It's also worth noting that up to the 2012 Olympics, and going back to her NCAA days, Lloyd was primarily an attacking midfielder. Emphasis on "attacking", as she was never really a classical #10 playmaker and was known for optimistic shots from outside the box, rather than racking up assists. Nowadays, she is exclusively a center forward. I'd also add that none of the top younger forward options have broken through to a regular starting position: Mallory Pugh (age 23) has struggled to make an impact after debuting for the USWNT at age 17; Catarina Macario (age 21), who is on this Olympic squad, only recently acquired her FIFA eligibility for the USA and is viewed as a midfielder at the moment; and, Sophia Smith (age 20) only has a handful of senior USWNT caps and no goals. I'm not saying that any of these players are prime center forward candidates right now, but if they were competitive options, then that would allow Press or Lynn Williams to move to the center forward position. Another thing to keep in mind is that the USWNT has plenty of depth at all positions, so it's much more rare to have a young player break through while college age or younger, compared to Canada or even strong European teams such as Germany, Sweden, or England.

And, Naeher with similar heroics for the USWNT, setting up a rematch of the 2012 semifinal between the USA and Canada. Starting Lynn Williams looks like a genius move. Though, I question the utility of giving Lloyd the start, but given the forward options, it was probably the correct move, as it allowed Press or Morgan to be saved for the second half and then-potential extra time. The USA looked out-of-sync for the last 20+ minutes of normal time, so I was a bit surprised that the USWNT pulled it out, especially via a penalty shoot-out. (I was away from a TV during the extra 30 minutes, so I don't have any opinion on that section of the match.) The USWNT also excises some of the demons from 2016 by not only winning a penalty shoot-out at the quarterfinal stage, but also converting all its spot kicks in the shoot-out (bonus: both Morgan and Press converted their kicks). If the Netherlands had a healthy Sherida Spitse to take the penalty kick in regular time and/or a kick in the shoot-out, I think that the USA would have been the more likely team to go home early. In the most entertaining match of the day, Australia gets it done in extra time versus Great Britain and an Ellen White hat trick, thanks in part due to another second-half penalty kick save. (Only Sweden's Asllani converted a regular penalty kick during the quarterfinals.) I was hoping that GBR would advance, but it's great to see a worthy Australia advance to a semifinal, especially with former USWNT assistant Tony Gustavsson at the helm. In the Brazil match, defender Jayde Riviere picked up another yellow card, so she will not be available for the semifinal against the USWNT. (For the NBCOlympics.com stream of the USA-NED match, the shoot-out begins at the 161:30 mark)

Trailer for the Second Season: From the accompanying description:

Series premiere is Monday, September 20th at 10:00 p.m. EDT/PDT (after the season premiere of The Voice). (source: nbcumv.com press release) Official Trailer Promotional Summary (from the show's nbcumv.com micro-site):

Three quick character teasers just dropped: Claudette (1956) Shanice (2005) Reverend (1994)

Kasie Hunt is moving to CNN's new streaming project. Today (Friday, July 16th), was her last day anchoring "Way Too Early". From the Variety article on the move:

"Important" Season Trailer

"Season Trailer"

Brianne Howey (Reagan) is starring in a new Netflix drama series, Ginny & Georgia, which premieres February 24th.

The TCA Winter Press Tour event for this show was held today (February 18th). We now have an official trailer (embedded below) and some fresh news articles about the series. Official Trailer Official Twitter Feed is twitter.com/KevCanFHimself (launched this month). Vanity Fair: "Exclusive interview" article with Annie Murphy (short, not a back-and-forth transcript) Entertainment Weekly's write-up (with a few "exclusive" photos): Here's one journalist's brief live-tweeting of the event, with quotes from Murphy and the creator, Valerie Armstrong. (The below tweets are from later in the thread.)

CNN just announced some new roles and schedule changes (press release). Wolf Blitzer's weekday anchoring duties are being reduced to one hour per day, and apparently he will no longer be the lead anchor for election nights. I've posted the entire press release, below, but have quoted it in three different sections for clarity. Additionally, Kaitlan Collins is set to be the next chief White House correspondent, per the Washington Post's Erik Wemple. Edit: CNN's Brian Stelter has an article with additional details, confirming Blitzer's exit from anchoring election night coverage. The article also lists new roles for other correspondents/reporters: Stelter's article specifically mentions that "further announcements are expected about time slots and anchor roles in other cities."

Two photos and some details about Routh's Rookie character, via TVLine:

30-second trailer: "Where the hell is Hope Mikaelson when you need her?"

Add Maggie Q makes three. Yes, really. From Deadline :

Phil Griffin is maybe, finally, hopefully leaving MSNBC in the next month or so... (not the actress/etc. Rashida Jones) Variety's quick write-up: Here is Jones' abridged official MSNBC bio:

Trailer for Season Two ,"Bandwidth"

Today, the CW released the season premiere dates and times for the bulk of their original series. (press release - cwtvpr.com) Most start the week of Sunday, January 17th. The Flash and Superman & Lois will premiere in late February (the 23rd).

The CW is developing an updated "Tom Swift" series, with one episode of Nancy Drew this season possibly being used to introduce the character. Sounds like it will be more of an Arrowverse-style introduction of the titular character, rather than a push-aside-the-regulars backdoor pilot. From TVLine's write-up: From Deadline's write-up: I'm sure that will make sense in context.

Via THR: 'Flashdance' TV Reboot in the Works at Paramount+ Logline:

Season Five Trailer: The first three episodes of the season will drop on Wednesday, December 16th, with a single new episode released each following Wednesday, until the season finale on February 3rd. (press release via TheFutonCritic.com).

From The New Yorker: The Secret History of Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Departure from Fox Somehow The New Yorker got a hold of a former assistant's never-filed legal complaint -- because everything was settled out of court -- against Guilfoyle. Some of this was previously known, but, ugh, this article has a lot more (graphic) detail.

Evel Knievel's Son Suing Disney Over 'Toy Story 4' Character (AP, via THR): Here's the complaint (in PDF format), via CourtListener (docket page for the case). Disney's official response to this lawsuit should be filed within a few weeks. The complaint includes six causes of action, three of which are based on state law: Right to Publicity, NRS 597.770, et seq. Trade Dress Infringement, 15 U.S.C. § 1125 False Endorsement/False Description, 15 U.S.C. § 1125 Trademark Dilution, 15 U.S.C. § 1125 Nevada Common Law Trademark Infringement/Unfair Competition Nevada Common Law Unjust Enrichment I haven't found any legal analysis (e.g., a Twitter thread by a law professor or entertainment attorney) on the merits of the complaint's claims, but they seems to be fairly to very weak.

Press release (nbcumv.com): Jim Carrey will play Biden this season. Three new featured players. IMDb Profiles: Lauren Holt, Punkie Johnson, Andrew Dismukes. Just including the below tweet because it has photos of the new players: