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A big hearty welcome to all the new folks š I appreciate you so much. Every time the notification pops up that someone new subscribed, my heart beams š I want to send each of you a handwritten Thank You note. I might just do that, I swear to god. To returning readers, thanks for being here again š» You are the wind beneath my wings.
Weāre back for the second installment of this newsletterās second installment. So meta. Wild. Hereās a bonus edition for the weekend. Normally this will only go out about once a week but Iām a little behind and there have been a been A LOT of TV shows so enjoy!
Please forward this newsletter to a friend and TELL THEM TO SUBSCRIBE. Sorry I yelled. Letās get started.
Hereās what I watched last week - the good, the bad, and the embarrassing:
Friday, June 7
I finished the rest of Fosse Verdon because it is very good and I told many people about it IRL. Happy to be telling you about it now because it is genuinely enjoyable. Even though Bob Fosse is the bigger star and I hadnāt heard of Gwen Verdon until this series came out (soz, Gwen), she comes off as the truer talent throughout the 8 episodes.
Real Gwen Verdon (l) and white Michelle Williams as Gwen Verdon (r).
The series appropriately addresses toxic masculinity and general patriarchal bullshit but they also do justice to the particular indignities of being a midcentury Broadway actress.
Sam Rockwell is excellent as the tortured creative struggling with his success. But then, Sam Rockwell is excellent in literally everything. Find me anything Sam Rockwell has been in - it will undoubtedly be excellent.
The best part of about Fosse Verdon for me is that this is the first thing Iāve seen white Michelle Williams in where I thought, āWow, she is a great actress!ā I know the woman already has an Oscar or whatever but for the most part, her acting has always seemed meh to me. This is probably because she plays āmeek wifeā extremely well and at some point you start to wonder how much of that is acting and how much of that is default. You know, like Jack Nicholson just playing himself in everything for the last 20 years or Robert De Niro just playing himself in everything for the last 20 years or Al Pacino justā¦you get it.
White Michelle Williams was especially irritating as āmeek, supporting wife who also singsā in The Greatest Showman, a movie I think is AWFUL but watched twice just to be sure. Hereās a ridiculous photo of her as P.T. Barnumās number one fan to describe exactly how annoying that character is:
āYes, darling, I think exploiting people and furthering ableism is a terrific idea.ā
Good news though: with Fosse Verdon, white Michelle Williams really brings her A game! Sheās absolutely sensational and acts her tiny tuchus off the entire time. And sheās not even doing a direct impression of IRL Gwen Verdon - a thing I know because after the series ended and (spoiler!) Fosse died, I googled a lot of Gwen Verdon videos:
Here she is doing āIf They Could See Me Nowā from Sweet Charity
Here is is with Chita Rivera reviving āNowadays,ā the closing number from Chicago. Fun fact: Gwen and Chita were the original Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, respectively. (Chicago is my favorite musical.)
And here, for all my Law & Order lovers, is Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn singing āAll I Care About Is Loveā when Chicago was presented at the 1976 Tony Awards
Friday night, I ended up dogsitting a fuzzy monster named Biko and after picking him up, I continued True Detective.
This is Biko.
I had started the first episode of True Detective a few weeks back but couldnāt stay awake through the second. This time, we blew threw half the season, which was spooky and held my attention but I didnāt find as all-out enthralling as Season 1. This is probably because I was binging Season 3 but had watched Season 1 week to week and not at all because of Mahershala Ali, who continues to be captivating in everything.
Where to watch: For Fosse Verdon - FX app & online | For True Detective - HBO
Saturday, June 8
I was up early thanks to the very rude dog who insisted on going out at 7:30 a.m. I made the most of this extra time in my day by watching two more episodes of True Detective before it was time to leave for my haircut.
Friends donāt let friends bungle a crime investigation for 30 years alone.
I came home after and watched more True Detective but stopped before the final episode. Then I went out to meet friends, got extremely sick out of nowhere, and came home with a fever. Donāt worry - the sudden summer cold did not stop me from finishing True Detective, which I did before finally falling asleep.
Season 3 ended up being pretty weird and not what Iād have expected, mainly in that there was no weird sex cult or pedophile ring even though theyād led us to believe thatās what it was all along. They also kind of seriously messed up that investigation TWICE and just kind of moved on with their lives. And then it was āOh well, at least the kidnapped girl wasnāt sold to white slavery.ā Despite its shortcomings, I thoroughly enjoyed the adorable man-friendship between Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff and will maaaybe consider watching the much-criticized Season 2 now.
Because being sick is awful, I woke up at 4:00 a.m. feeling like Iād been beat up with a wooden beam. To soothe myself, I watched the newest episode of Jane The Virgin.
Where to watch: For True Detective - HBO | For Jane The Virgin - CW.com
Sunday, June 9
It was beautiful outside on Sunday. I only know from the 5 minutes I made it down the block to walk Biko before crawling back to bed. Thankfully, Showtime put the Billions finale online early so I watched that first. As season finales go, this one was satisfying - it resolved outstanding conflicts, set the path for new drama, and gave me plenty of storyline about the characters I care about. More on why this is important later.
Iām thrilled with what the showrunners are doing with Taylorās character and I hope when this is all over, everyone is in prison except the women and Wags.
āHello, 911? Iād like to report some money crimes.ā
After I moved to the couch, I spent roughly 20 minutes scrolling through movies across Hulu, Netflix, Prime, HBO, and Showtime. After adequately assessing my options, I set out on a sick day movie marathon that included:
Tully - takes a total turn but very worth watching and a nice exploration of gender norms & expectations in hetero relationships
Tag - cuter than Iād have thought, stay for the real-life footage at the end
Blockers - just ok but John Cena is a delight
Night School - Tiffany Hadish for all the things
Where to watch: HBO (yes, all of these)
Monday, June 10
Because I still had a fever, I stay home and embarked on another movie marathon. This time, I took a different route and watched:
A Walk In The Clouds - KEANU!
Julie & Julia - it was a special day when they added this Nora Ephron gem to streaming. Iāve already watched it 3 times in 2 months
The Wedding Date - truly one of my all-time favorite rom-coms especially because ā¢ Debra Messingās hair is perfect ā¢Amy Adams is not yet An Actress and has fun with her ditzy sister role ā¢ the cousin and stepdad characters are so charming ā¢ the ridiculous golf-themed bachelorette party is perfect
The Pelican Brief - dated and extremely long but worth it for the ā90s fashion alone
What else do you wear to a golf-themed bachelorette?
Hereās what you need to know: Debra Messing stars in The Wedding Date AND plays Keanu Reevesā wife in A Walk In The Clouds. Amy Adams is in Julie & Julia (Meryl always gets top billing) AND plays Debra Messingās sister in The Wedding Date. And Stanley Tucci plays Julia Childsā husband in Julie & Julia AND an assassin in The Pelican Brief.
I planned none of this but itās funny how it all turned out. Reminder I was very ill and this fun game of 6-degrees kept my fevered brain from melting.
Very late Monday night and still with a fever, I remembered Claws had started again.
Seriously, watch Claws.
Now in Season 3, itās the story of a nail tech/artist and her gang of girlfriends who fall in with the Dixie Mafia when their salon starts laundering money for the pill mill next door. Niecy Nash leads the pack and she is GLORIOUS - boobs as big as her hair and jumpsuits as tight as her full sets. Dean Norris from Breaking Bad plays an openly bisexual Palm-ghetto mobster named āBig Daddyā and it gets even weirder when the Russian, Haitian, and Native American gangs get involved.
Where to watch: For Tully and The Pelican Brief - HBO, for The Wedding Date - Prime, For Julie & Julia - Hulu, for Claws - TNT.com
Tuesday, June 11
I was still home sick and took a break from working mid-morning for the Gentleman Jack finale. Because I had already googled Anne Lister, the real life woman whose diaries the show is based (and because I love spoilers), it was pretty obvious how the ending would go. But when Anne and Ann finally declare their love for one another on the hilltop a la Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in the Kiera Knightley Pride & Prejudice, it still made my heart smile. Thereās nothing better than a happy ending, or show that treats complex adult emotions with respect and care.
I love love!
The scene at the very end of the episode where the two women, having taken Easter communion together ā in what would be a secret exchange of commitment vows (again, this really happened!) ā walk down the lane lovingly bickering with each other is the most. delightful. thing. Couples really be like that and the writers make it a point to show these women as normally as possible. The entire series that been a true joy to watch and I canāt wait for them to make more of it.
I finally felt better Tuesday night and made myself dinner. It was an incredibly delicious pasta loosely based on this NYTimes recipe. While cooking, I wanted something in the background but nothing Iād have to focus on so I watched Fixer Upper.
When I got into bed, I realized it was Bold Type night and found the finale playing on the Freeform website. (Normally, I wait until the next day and watch it on Hulu.) I watched it and absolutely hated it. Here are my qualms:
I am unreasonably annoyed with the cliffhanger on this fictional television show
I don't care about Jane or dumb Pinstripe (dumb nickname AND magazine title tbh). She should have dumped him. They both suck
They didn't focus enough on Richard potentially moving to California. Itās the best relationship on the show and this potentially massive thing was glossed over
They made a big deal out of the abusive photographer storyline all season long and even cast an actress to play Pamela Dolan but in the end, it didn't get fully fleshed out AT ALL
When will Jacqueline get a win? They keep putting her in career peril and it seems rude and unfair
Sutton's weird ā70s costume clothes sucked and no, Joanna Coles, would not have liked them
She put Kat in a giant afro?!
Paisley?! Justā¦no.
The season 2 finale with Richard flying to Paris and declaring his love to Sutton was so satisfying
I really expected more out of this one
Literally the only thing they didnāt fuck up is Kat finally deciding to stop dating and figure herself out (which, yes, I realize will go right out the window when Adina starts working at Scarlet next season)
āthe dot com.ā
A friend pointed out that this is āa show for tweensā and I am expecting too much. Do you agree? Am I being too harsh? Did you like it? Tell me why with your reply :o)
Where to watch: for Gentleman Jack - HBO, for The Bold Type and Fixer Upper - Hulu
Wednesday, June 12
The day finally came to pick up my CSA, a hip New Yorker rite of passage Iāve been dreaming of since moving here 10 years ago. To celebrate, I cleaned my veggies and watched some more Fixer Upper.
Where to watch: Hulu
Thursday, June 13
I put on Late Night With Seth Myers when I got home but really just paid attention through the opening and his āCloser Look.ā Then I just let it run in the background while I stared at my Instagram.
Where to watch: Hulu
And thatās all she wrote, folks. Stay tuned for this weekās TV diary where we WILL discuss Claws in as much detail as requires to get you to start it.
xoxo,
-delia
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thank you, delia, for bringing [the keanu reeves walking to music] twitter account into my life. - Jae Salinas
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