Monday Musings: Is Samantha Jones Returning To 'And Just Like That'? 'Emily in Paris' Season 4 Trailer, Weekend Recap, This Day in History 1982
Just another a'MUSING Monday...
Happy Monday! Wondering if anyone is having a better Monday than….
Maya Rudolph
The former SNL cast member will have to dust off her pant suit and get a sturdy straw for her daiquiri because Lorne Michaels will be calling! President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 Presidential race on Sunday during bottomless brunch (just ask Wolf Blitzer who was out getting blitzed at a Washington D.C. bar before having to rush on over to the CNN news desk for duties).
Biden announced he will be endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. Talk about a plot twist.
GOSSIP: Is Kim Cattrall Returning As Samantha Jones in ‘And Just Like That’?
Rumors have been circulating around social media lately that Kim Cattrall will star in the third season of the Sex and the City sequel series And Just Like That. Whispers that producers have been romancing Cattrall with promises of money, money, money, for returning in her iconic role seem to be just that. Looks like Cattrall is making like Samantha and putting those rumors to bed.
Breaking News: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will stream on Hulu on August 2
Weekend Recap 📺
Lady in the Lake
So one of my absolute favorite movies of all time is The Witches of Eastwick. I read an interview with Susan Sarandon in Cosmopolitan magazine many moons ago and I’ll never forget her saying the filming of that movie was such a train wreck because there wasn’t even a script and they were making things up as they went along. I think about that often and was reminded of it again when I streamed the first two episodes of Lady in the Lake, the new Apple TV+ series starring Natalie Portman. The script felt really rough, all over the place. Lots of “ooh let’s make this a mystery, don’t give too much away, confuse the audience” bits. What happens though is that it makes your main protagonist very unlikeable because the writers are holding back anything interesting about them. I definitely felt the interference of the director and the editor in the script — inserting “look what I learned at film school” shots and complex overlays that do absolutely nothing but disrupt the cohesion of the scenes. I’ll give it another go when a new episode comes out on Friday, but I’m afraid it might be too late.
Mafia Spies
There are a couple of political documentaries I highly recommend — Slowburn on MGM+ and one I am currently streaming, Fiasco, also on MGM+. Both talk about conspiracies and scandals (Watergate and the Iran-Contra) that were uncovered in the American government. The new documentary Mafia Spies, streaming on Paramount+ starts off strong with an episode dedicated to the mob’s infiltration into Cuba — opening casinos there, becoming super rich while leaving the Cuban people in poverty. I had no idea. Like Slowburn and Fiasco, this multi-episode documentary does a great job with reenactments, stylistic intros and fillers, and the archival footage is quite remarkable. Some of the footage of when Fidel Castro came from Cuba to visit the residents of Harlem, I had never seen before. Just getting started, but so far I recommend.
July 23 - This Day in History 1982: Actor and Two Children Killed on ‘The Twilight Zone’ Set
If you’re reading this on Monday, you’re probably like “Hey, it’s July 22!” But just so you know, my laptop clock went wild over the weekend and it was showing a day ahead so today was showing as July 23! (insert Twilight Zone theme music here).
If you’re old enough (hands raised), you might have remembered this shocking and tragic loss that happened this day back in 1982. During the early morning hours of July 23, Director John Landis was filming his episode for the new Twilight Zone movie. The story was of a racist, belligerent man who was transported back in time to the Vietnam War.
The scene called for the character Bill Conner (played by actor Vic Morrow) to be chased by American soldiers in a helicopter while carrying two children across a river. Morrow and the two children, Myca Dinh Le, seven, and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, six, were killed when the helicopter crashed at Indian Dunes in Valencia, California. Six other passengers were injured.
I will save you the gruesome details of the crash, but you can read about it here in The New York Times. Morrow, who was the father of actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, was vocal on set about the scene, angry that he felt it was poorly planned. He took out a life insurance policy on himself before filming any scenes with a helicopter as he had a premonition that he would die in a helicopter crash.
The trial lasted nearly nine months and Director John Landis and four other defendants were acquitted.
Jennifer Jason Leigh and her sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Warner Bros., John Landis, and producer Steven Spielberg. They settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. The Twilight Zone Movie (1983) is currently streaming on Tubi.
NEW TRAILER! Emily in Paris: Season 4
Streaming Today and Tomorrow
July 22
Fatal Affairs: Season 1 (ID/Max)
Candice Renoir: Season 9 (Acorn TV/AMC+)
July 23
All American: Season 6 (Netflix)
Dress My Tour: Complete Season 1 (Hulu)
Femme (Hulu)
Bob Marley: One Love (Prime Video)
Below Deck: Mediterranean - After Show: Season 1 (Peacock)
Chopped, Season 58 (Food Network/Max)
Secrets & Spies: A Nuclear Game (CNN Originals/Max)