Monday Musings: Demi Moore's Glow Up, My Current Stream Reviews, Upfronts 2024 - Which New Series Just Got The Green Light? Paul Giamatti Goes 'Downton'
Just another a'musing' Monday...
Hello Monday!
It’s another overcast day in beautiful Southern California 🌥️ . May Gray is in full battalion, but there’s some sunshine on the horizon in the form of new series that recently got picked up — keep scrolling to see if any of your favorite TV stars are on the roster.
Breaking News! 🗞️ Paul Giamatti Joins The Third ‘Downton Abbey’ Movie
The third film in the Downton Abbey franchise is finalizing their incredible cast (all the usual suspects will be returning in their respected roles) and will include Paul Giamatti fresh off his Oscar nominated role in The Holdovers. Giamatti will be reprising his role as Cora Grantham’s brother, Harold Levinson. Also coming back is The Affair’s Dominic West as Guy Dexter from Downton Abbey: The New Era. Among the newcomers to the Abbey will include Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck), Alessandro Nivola (American Hustle), Simon Russell Beale (Mary & George), and Arty Froushan (House of the Dragon).
Let’s hope they bring an In N’ Out Burger truck to the set as craft services because Giamatti is just like us. #animalstyle
What I’m Currently Streaming:
Hacks (MAX)
I love this series and my TV is filled with pure joy because of it. The first four episodes of the third season are now streaming (if you haven’t watched this yet, it’s a gem and you must binge it!). Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder star as a stand-up comedian and writer duo hitting those heavy glass ceilings with laughter and not-so-much grace.
The writing is so good, the characters are flawed but written flawlessly and of course it is funny. I love how each episode is just over 30 minutes giving it that sitcom feel without the corny laugh track. Some of these first episodes felt a bit predictable and forced, like how Ava was able to work for Deborah Vance again (of course, she had to break up with her girlfriend!), however the writers put up road blocks, enough so it took four episodes to get to and thus their tarnished relationship was able to shine again while building story and character through it.
Mary & George (STARZ)
Based on actual historical events, this limited series starring Julianne Moore as The Countess of Buckingham is about a mother who is determined to see her second son become not another wasted life as second sons at that time were considered. She coaxes him into becoming King James I preferred lover leading her to more wealth, status, and influence. I love historical stories, even if they are way off like The Great on Hulu. However, I’m two episodes into this and it’s quite gratuitous and I don’t mean that by all the bare bottoms and erections — totally fine with that. However, even the language and some of the scenes I feel are are just meant for shock value. They feel very staged for the audience and not giving towards the storyline.
The series plays out like a swampy version of My Fair Lady against the soundtrack of Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer”. I’ll keep watching for the historical intrigue and erections, but not quite committed to this series yet.
Born on this Day: Bea Arthur (1922-2009)
You of course know actress Bea Arthur as the straight-shootin’ Dorothy on one of the greatest comedies of all time, The Golden Girls.
Bea was born Bernice Frankel on May 13 in New York. She grew up in Maryland to parents who ran a dress shop. She was always the tallest person in her class, even at nine-years-old she was already towering over her classmates at 5’9”. Even though she was voted “Wittiest Person” at her school she went on to become a lab tech, then went on to join the Marine Corps where she drove a truck. After a brief marriage (that’s where the name Arthur comes from) she got her parents’ support to attend the New York’s Dramatic Workshop at the New School to pursue a career in show business.
Bea had success in stage plays where she starred in “The Threepenny Opera” and as Yente the Matchmaker in “Fiddler on the Roof” where she stole the show each night.
Her big break came in the Broadway musical “Mame” where she co-starred with Angela Lansbury (they became lifelong friends) and from there she went onto roles in television like 1971’s All in the Family and the spinoff based on her character Maude.
Maude was a success running for six years, but after the series ended she had a couple of film and television flops, but surged again in the 1985 series The Golden Girls. The series went on for seven years, but Bea wanted out at its peak. The show’s producers decided to cancel the series as it wouldn’t be the same without her.
When she passed at her home in Brentwood, surrounded by family, she left $300,000 to the New York's Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth.
Stream Bea Arthur In…
Maude (PlutoTV)
All in the Family (Freevee)
The Golden Girls (Hulu)
Upfronts 2024
What the heck are Upfronts? Upfronts is an event over a few days in New York City where television industry heavy-hitters court advertisers and media buyers for the upcoming TV season.
Here are some of the series that were being propped up…
Happy Place: a comedy starring Reba McEntire who inherits her dad’s bar and has to run it with a half-sister she never knew she had. (NBC)
Rescue: Hi-Surf: a drama that follows the personal and professional lives of lifeguards who patrol the North Shore of O’ahu. (FOX)
Sheriff Country: Homeland’s Morena Baccarin stars in this drama about a sheriff who investigates criminal activity as she patrols the streets of small-town Edgewater while contending with her ex-con father and a mysterious incident involving her wayward daughter. (CBS)
The Renaissance of Demi Moore
Someone’s having a glow-up! Did you see Demi at the Met? On FX’s Feud: The Swans vs. Capote? She’s popping up like tulips. Here’s what Demi has stirring up in her pot.
The Substance: a horror film co-starring Dennis Quaid and Margaret Qualley that is set to make its debut at the Cannes Film Festival.
Landman: a modern-day series from Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan about the fortune-seeking world of West Texas oil rigs.
The Magic 7: Moore lends her voice in this animated family adventure about the six archenemies of the earth who are challenged by two kids and one five-toed dragon.
Where to Stream Classic Demi
Ghost (Paramount plus)
A Few Good Men (tubi)
About Last Night (rent on demand)
St. Elmo’s Fire (Paramount Plus)