DanaK

Highlights for June: American Masters: "Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", June 2 "Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts" (the often contradictory role played by Black soldiers throughout American history), June 12 Frontline: "America's Dangerous Trucks", June 13; "Inside the Iranian Uprising" (about the recent protests), June 27 "The Great American Recipe, Season 2", 8 episodes, premieres June 19 Independent Lens: "Mama Bears" (Evangelical mothers protecting their LGBTQ+ kids), June 20 "Below the Belt: The Last Health Taboo" (through the lens of endometriosis, looks at widespread problems in the US healthcare system that disproportionately affect women), June 21 POV: "After Sherman" (how systemic racism has affected generations in the South), June 26 American Experience: "Casa Susanna" (refuge for transgender women and cross-dressing men in the 50s and 60s), June 27 Scripted: "Masterpiece: Ridley", 8 episodes, Sundays, premieres June 18 As always, check your local listings

They seem to usually be a few weeks ahead on taping but I'm not sure how far ahead they usually are on scripts, so it could be awhile longer

It seems like they kept it pretty quiet, I hadn’t heard any rumors that he was leaving

I’m watching yesterday’s episode and thought the TJ/Molly talk was well done, if maybe a little histrionic, especially when Molly pointed out that women have suffered pain and had to suffer through it for centuries. I look side eye at TJ, being a doctor, not apparently understanding that so many women have pain, especially with their periods, and just have to suck it up. I have the condition Polycystic Ovary Syndrome that affected my periods and caused weight gain among several issues. It likely kicked in when I hit puberty but I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 19, but I wasn’t told much at the time and learned more as time went by. Fortunately, I didn’t have the excessive pain and heavy bleeding with my periods, it was more that it was uneven, and later I needed medication to make sure it happened at least a few times a year. Ultimately I needed a hysterectomy a few years ago as a result of problems from my condition. My mom tried to get the Navy doctors (my dad was in the Navy) to pay attention to things she was noticing about me, but the doctors blew off her concerns. Needless to say, I too don’t have a lot of faith in individual doctors (I trust science and medicine in general, including vaccines) and I’ve had to push at times to get something I need. I should also point out I’ve had and currently have some really good and caring doctors. So this storyline is bringing up good stuff that somewhat resonates with me

Note: Futon Critic is listing this as 3 parts shown in one night, so that's why I'm putting it here Full press release http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2023/05/10/aande-network-sets-june-17th-at-8pm-et-pt-for-the-premiere-of-investigative-documentary-event-exposing-parchman-produced-by-roc-nation-good-caper-content-and-red-summer-tv-431114/20230510aande01/ Trailer:

Full press release http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2023/05/25/hbo-original-docuseries-burden-of-proof-debuts-june-6-533213/20230525hbo02/ Trailer

The actor playing Will has definitely left the show with the season finale https://www.givememyremote.com/remote/2023/05/24/chicago-med-season-8-finale-recap-will-leaves-natalie-returns/

Yep, he’s really gone https://www.givememyremote.com/remote/2023/05/24/chicago-med-season-8-finale-recap-will-leaves-natalie-returns/

The young lady with the baby now has custody back so she can let Sylvia adopt, but it isn’t a done deal yet, right? The lady can change her mind and keep the baby, though that seems unlikely

Yes, it was the finale. I’ll miss him if he’s really gone, though given the sendoff he got, it’s probably true since the character reunited with old girlfriend Natalie. He was a putz at times but I mostly liked him. But wow at Will and Dr. Song sabotaging 2.0, though I can see Will at least considering it, but Song joining in was really a surprise. And Jack is now ruined and has to sell the hospital, which could be worse or better than being owned by Jack. Some good threads being set up for next season. Can Med go back to being the kind of hospital it was before?

I believe so. The band overwhelmed him and I think his voice couldn't quite reach a few times

Dead at 83 😒 https://www.npr.org/2023/05/24/834507345/tina-turner-rock-and-roll-icon-dead-at-83

Regarding all the money Alex was accused of stealing, he's now been indicted for it https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/24/us/alex-murdaugh-fraud-indictment/index.html

Actress Indira Varma joins Series 14 in the mysterious role of the Duchess https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/indira-varma-joins-doctor-who-as-the-duchess

This season has felt like it’s been far more about Blake leaving than about the contestants, but it’s always been more focused on the coaches

And Henry had already died before being resurrected so now he’s back to being dead. Does that count as killing someone?

He probably really hurt himself with his poor second performance

Gina Miles wins My guy Noivas goes out at 5th. What a bummer, I really liked him

Wow this show, this season so far. If it ends up getting canceled, at least it will have had a fantastic season instead of the lackluster previous season. That ending was wonderful

HBO Max is now officially "Max" with a quicker and cleaner interface. On the website, I logged into Max.com and all my login information was there from the old site. I just couldn't find where I had written down my account information and had to change my password because I couldn't remember it; everything is now fine and dandy and written down in my accounts notebook

And to note, in the US, you do not need special access, like Passport, to watch it on PBS.org or the PBS app (and it's available to stream as of yesterday). And as noted in a previous post, if you can't access PBS via streaming, PBS will show all 5 parts on linear PBS in late August I hope to get to this some time in the next few months as it sounds really interesting

The hazards of major budget cuts

Favorite performances: Noivas - 1st song D. Smooth - 2nd song Gina - 2nd song Guest artist Alex Newell was incredible. I’ve liked him since Glee. I’ve been hearing good things about him in “Shucked” Tonight’s performances were pretty mixed for me. Some were good, some really good, some meh. Noivas’ 2nd song felt like the music overpowered his voice and I usually like his performances

Knowing that everybody but Bob and Abishola won’t be seen much next season kind of cast a pall over this finale but I mostly enjoyed it