scrb

I bet that's just the producers encouraging everyone to say it. Others are talking about it too. OTOH, it's a ginger butter face so maybe she has to have an excuse. More fake drama, now Kelsey and Garrett again. If they need to fill some time, they can always rely on these two for the on-off "relationship." She's supposedly upset that some old social media post was dredged up. But among the stories in this show, she pointedly cheated on him with Alex so either she's pretty shameless or the producers forgot who's been cheating on whom recently.

Were they angry at the character or the actress?

Jesse Armstrong is saying tentatively they hope to start shooting around Christmas. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/succession-season-3-production-shooting-new-york-before-christmas-1234728963/ But as much as I want to see a new season, I hope they're extra-cautious for older cast members like Brian Cox. Armstrong says this extra time hasn't necessarily helped him with the work for season 3. Makes sense, since a lot of the way scenes and even story lines were formed were based on the improvisations the actors did when they shot the scenes. He may prefer to keep his options open on which way story arcs develop based on how rehearsals and scene shoots go. There has also been talk about whether season 3 might reference the pandemic: Some interesting possibilities there. What if ATN, the fictitious network owned by the Roys, was spewing bad information about the pandemic like Fox News, its real-life counterpart, leading to arguments within the family? But Snook said she didn't think the show would address it head on. Recently one of Rupert Murdoch's sons resigned from News Corp because he apparently disagreed with what the media properties were doing. Of course Kendal already resigned, putting Logan on blast about the toxic culture he fostered, so maybe they're more on the trajectory of #MeToo and cancel culture.

Bill wanted to know what the Democrats would do about the Clintons. Well you don't figure they would do a lot of retail campaigning, especially with the pandemic but Bill is looking frail and his reputation is in the shitter. So is Hilary's rep. But I saw a headline that Hilary would address the convention the same night Warren would. Well they're not having a convention or at least Biden isn't going to Milwaukee. So some kind of speech on Zoom or put up on Youtube? In any event, only Bill seems preoccupied with the Clintons. Didn't Hilary appear on his show? Pretty ungrateful of him.

Maybe the writers didn't buy her as hacker either since they eventually gave her powers, renamed her. Twice, Daisy and Quake, as if to kill the original name. When they initially wrote the scripts, they probably didn't plan to give her an action role? She'd be one of the brainiacs along with Fitz and Simmons, who has never fought. But they wanted to feature the actress more so she became a fighter, with special powers and tighter outfits?

It's a 6-episode UK show, picked up by Showtime, premiering on Sunday, 8/9/2020. Can't find too many reviews for it, not even from the better-known UK media. One part of it involves at least one rookie working his first murder investigation, paired with someone else. I scanned a brief review which says they don't hide who perpetrated the crime that they're investigating. So the focus in on how the cops and the villains deal with each other. Apparently 2 cops and 2 criminals. Well, UK cop shows are generally good and who knows when we'll get new episodes of the good shows, like Succession.

Is this Honeymoon in Perth? My DVR indicates that first aired back in April so it's not a new ep?

They showed a few other issues, like him being late with meals and not having enough portions. There was another case where one plate had undercooked meat or something like that. They may not have showed all the times Kiko's meals fell short. All they said was he wasn't delivering 5-star cuisine at all times. But Bravo must have known going in that Kiko didn't have experience with fine dining. It may have been another case of Mila, someone not qualified at the supposed high-end expectations of a "super yacht" but they cast him anyways because they figure there would be drama out of it -- another unqualified chef they have to go through. Of course Kiko has been the opposite of Mila as far as personality, since he was well-liked by the crew and the viewers. So the producers may have set up Sandy to be the heavy. Or they conspired, they were going to put in a chef who was going to come up short repeatedly and Sandy could be shown on camera repeatedly pointing out these failures and then eventually pulling the plug, leading to some heart-wrenching footage or in this case, the repeated sounds of him weeping and crying all bunched up in a fetal position. Bravo is evil.

It's orchestrated, don't you think? They're talking about Kiko not being up to the task of cooking on a 60-meter super yacht after 5 charters. Why did Bravo cast him in the first place, or why did Sandy pretend to hire someone with no experience working on a luxury super yacht before? It wouldn't be surprising if they have a psychiatrist to screen for certain types of individuals as part of the casting process, as depicted in Unreal. Maybe they knew Kiko would be the type to take a show firing so hard and cry so much. He told the story of his father having a business failure in middle age and how hard it was on him and the family, including a young impressionable Kiko. Maybe they sold him this role as his entry to super yachts so the fact that he couldn't complete a TV season hits him much harder than it would other people. Jessie seems embittered a bit about Rob recently, so she has good reason to be wary of this "I love you" after a couple of weeks of canoodling together? But he's another overly sensitive guy too and may have meant it at the time. Why put something like that in front of the cameras? OK, so from the previews and based on a passing mention in this episode:

I don’t think Arabella was so preoccupied with social media earlier. Seems to be her malaise at the moment along with the vaping. She’s also passing judgement, being mean to people, like to the guy who said he liked her costume or just acting like she could do anything at the Wine and paint thing. She also seems to be far more upset about the rape, since the police ended their investigation, than she was in the immediate aftermath when she seemed so casual about the possibility that her drink was spiked and that she had little memory of what happened to her other than flashes of some stranger raping her. Next episode she’s going to see Simon for the first time since that night and it’s been 9 months. Will they revisit what happened with Biagio or that experience is all behind her now?

HBO is considering rebooting the series: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/treatment-reboot-under-consideration-at-hbo-1303643 They may be more than considering it, apparently may cut a deal with state of CA to move production there to take advantage of a new tax incentives. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbos-treatment-tbs-miracle-workers-moving-production-california-1305476

So it was all about Bonnie. DeAngelo sounds like an angry guy in his youth, abusing dogs, trying to coerce his fiancée to help him cheat and tried to force her to elope with him at gunpoint. He also endured and witnessed horrific things, not that any of it exculpates what he did. This was an entertaining extended series. But Patton's celebrity no doubt helped the posthumous publication of the book and the production of this doc/mini series. Otherwise it would have been something only for buffs, to obsess over online and in CrimeCons. Michelle had some good guesses, that he might be a Vietnam War vet, in a middle-class respectable job, etc. She could also turn a phrase. (Though I wonder, was she reading her unfinished book manuscript, her magazine article, or something else? Did she know there was going to be a doc made, which is why she recorded her readings or even recorded some of her "investigation" activities like visiting Sacramento on video?) But I'm still doubtful about how much she and other amateur sleuths contributed to bringing DeAngelo to justice, other than the idea of going to DNA scanning. Bigger question is, has the intense media attention on this case, because of Patton's involvement, the book and the doc, been positive for the survivors of these crimes? We see this party after DeAngelo is caught, with the survivors meeting each other, hugging, toasting, etc. But then one of them mentions that the past year of all this media attention has "dredged up" some things which haven't been positive for her, so she's getting some kind of professional counseling. Maybe it was a kind of cathartic closure for some of the survivors. Maybe some of the survivors will bond with others. OTOH, it seems most or all of the survivors who appeared in this film had moved on with their lives over the past 30-40 years, found partners, raised families. That's not to say some of them still didn't find peace or resilience after all these years. The one couple noted that they were the only survivors who remained together after all these years, at least at that party. Impossible to know how the trajectory of their lives would have fared if they weren't vicitimized. Maybe the re-examination of these crimes and the eventual capture of the EAR may cause some to ruminate about how their lives might have been different, though there is little to be gained from such an exercise.

Young Alice doesn’t look anything like Sister Alice. Momma didn’t even have a moment of anguish before turning out her prepubescent daughter. So either it wasn’t the first time or it was the plan when money ran out on the trek from Saskatoon to LA. I guess it’s suppose to show she would do anything to keep up the grift, including that little show she set up at the cemetery. OK, Sister Alice was a rock star in her time, drawing throngs into the church and many more over the radio. Yet the church was broke because it took out impossible to pay loans? Alice and momma seem to live well, with a chauffeur-driven Rolls at their disposal. So why did Seidel have to concoct this kidnap plan? And why was Ennis involved, he expected to get his taste of the ransom or did he just steal it all? Perry fashioned a plausible narrative. If he can induce just the slightest doubt in the jury that someone other than his client had the motive to conspire in this ransome scheme, it wold meet the standard today. But what was the standard back then, much more higher than reasonable doubt? Perry would have to lay out the whole conspiracy and get a dramatic confession or catch the perpetrator on the stand, even though he’s got no experience trapping or “breaking” perpetrators? Or is this mainly a TV trope, that a defense lawyer only gets an acquittal by proving in dramatic terms who the real villain is, in effect also performing the roles of the prosecutor and the detective?

For real? I must not have been paying attention. Guess it's a way to be edgy, show what's important in a lesbian marriage. OK so they finally finished the season-long abduction plot. They needed a long story arc to structure the season but it doesn't seem well-planned. Until this episode, they didn't explicitly show that Keisha had been raped. Instead it was this creepy guy brushing, cutting and kissing her hair. Of course this was his high school dream girl replacement or whatever. What did this subplot accomplish, other than filling time? Well they could do a PSA about how dangerous it is in the hood or maybe more specific like girls shouldn't go out there alone in some neighborhoods because there's a lot of opportunistic crime. Unless this abductor had targeted her for some time and grabbed her when he saw his chance. They don't show that though. Sure they showed a bit of how Keisha's abduction put severe stresses on the family, almost leading to a break up of the new marriage. Kevin was unhappy but he essentially was back to living his life like he would have otherwise. But what little they showed of the effects on her family wasn't that well done. Emmet banging his business partner, that would have been the first two seasons. He supposedly made this big commitment to his current baby momma and he throws that away? Of course it doesn't bode well for the business arrangement lasting. Douda just beat a man, probably to death, the other episode and now he's on the verge of being elected mayor? Or at least getting the black community support all to himself? Douda's life is nothing like the black people depicted on the show. They're going to back him because he gave out some free pizzas here and there?

May 2020 interview via Zoom with several cast members, mostly talking about the process of developing chemistry between characters. They say often that they continue to film after the written script so they're kind of improvising to see what kind of dynamics there might be between characters. For instance, the thing between Jerri and Roman developed out of one of these extended scenes. They also like the freedom that cameramen have to float around the scene, especially the large ensemble scenes that the show is known for, instead of the traditional camera blocking done on other TV and movie productions. Brian Cox says HBO is working on what's possible, when and where they would film. They mostly film in NY but also some European locations. He says Jesse Armstrong, the creator and show runner, has told him what his season 3 arc will be. But in the first two seasons, the actors didn't know where their characters would end up. For instance, Jeremy Strong said he didn't know how Kendall would end up at the end of season 2 when they started filming the season. But he was one who continually asked Armstrong about his character while the other actors went with it, trying to capture the moment and see which way the characters would lead.

Kyle Brandt, from RW Chicago, is on the Bill Simmons podcast. Apparently he's had a media career for several years now.

Juliette pretends to like the ginger. But still obsessing over the gender reveal? Alex having a daughter would make him treat women better? Isn't there a shotgun wedding? Madison was actually crying at that gender reveal party? Kelsey was telling what's his name to stay away while Garrett conveniently wasn't on the boat party? Where do they get this stuff?

Sure joke about it a few times. But when Johnny sat down with Simmons recently, he was talking about it semi-seriously. Sure he wants to hype up the Challenge, not just his past winnings but probably to keep the show popular or raise its popularity.

Fifth sport my ass. No transparency or consistency of rules. Most events we’re simply told who won. We really don’t see it, even in timed events. No drug testing of any kind.

Bayleigh looking at Swaggy all turned on when he was talking about how he was ready to beat up Nelson for calling her a rat. They want to keep doing seasons but they might get targeted, just so she could screech about how unfair it is.

Filming in the US would be fine. The last few seasons, they stopped identifying the location on air so it's not like the location gives viewers a sense of how challenging the conditions might be.

I caught Vienna in the HGTV app. -- curses my DVR. Would be an interesting story why she would choose a field which had no job prospects at home. Vienna is very nice but someone from Lisbon may not be so positive on the city from December to February. Great command of English, which probably opened up this job opportunity for her, because doubtful Portuguese would be of much use in Vienna. Also got her on HHI! Agree with everyone, second apt. was best, especially if it was furnished with what was shown. But sounded like she was making good money for the first time in her life so maybe she appreciates the extra $100. OK, she liked Pedro but he's not going to move in for a couple of years so why worry about what he says? So are viewers more lenient on these pandemic era HHI episodes because we have to savor the ones which come out once a week or every two weeks? No signs of masks so probably filmed no later than fall/winter last year. Though supposedly masks weren't big in Austria during the winter and spring.

Just started the second season. I guess they plan to have some criminal investigation hanging over each season? For an exclusive, elite private school, which places students in the Ivy League, there sure is a lot of criminal activity. You wouldn't think the parents would be so hands off, letting their kids do whatever, as long as it doesn't affect their business or their own criminal activity. If the rep of the school suffers, then their kids wouldn't benefit from going to the school? BTW, the school building whose exterior they feature so much looks like a corporate campus, not really a school? It was filmed in Madrid and in some mountains to the north of the city according to the Wiki but I guess they never got license to film in Madrid itself? The place seems very suburban (though the mountain views from Guzman's house look great). I would think these elite schools for the 1% are pretty conservative so the acceptance of gay relationships seems surprising. Ander's parents, whose mother is the school principal, readily accepted his homosexuality and even let him give up a potential pro tennis career. But they wouldn't tolerate Nadia's hijab, so contrasting renditions of tolerance. Presumably the show does well in Spain/Europe and Mexico/Latin American markets? How well are depictions of gay characters accepted in these markets, especially the latter? Are gay characters common in telenovelas for instance? BTW, one of the best lines so far is Christian telling Lu something like "I always knew you wanted me Ms. Acapulco, I'll give it to you good as soon as I'm well."

Was Vienna a new episode? Not seeing it on the program guide or in the HGTV app.

It's obviously her role though. Lee is detached, pretending to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, except on the reunion and WWHL. Sandy is hovering and encouraged to do so. They could hire some "quality control" person to check in on guests constantly. You get that on some flights in business or first class. But on these BD shows, you can see such a person clashing constantly with the chef and the first stew. Oh gawd, hope I didn't give them any ideas. Finally you have Glen who's somewhere in between, doesn't raise his voice or escalate things. So all the BD shows run the gamut from completely hands-off to busybody. None of this is an accident. They wanted to differentiate the shows in more ways than by craft, crew or location.