Insights Into Entertainment: Episode 31 “Frozen in a Galaxy Far Far Away”

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Speaker 2: 00:02 Insightful podcast by informative post insights into things, a podcast network

Speaker 3: 00:28

Speaker 4: 00:28 Come to insights into entertainment, a podcast series, taking a deeper look into entertainment and media, your hosts, Joseph and Michelle, Waylon, a husband and wife, team of pop culture fanatics or exploring all things from music and movies to television and fans.

Speaker 5: 00:48 Yup.

Speaker 6: 00:51 Okay. On two insights into entertainment. This is episode 31 frozen in a galaxy far, far away.

Speaker 1: 01:03

Speaker 6: 01:04 I’m your host, Joseph Waylen and my brilliant and radiant cohost, Michelle Raylan. Hello my dear. I’m going to have to come up with some new adjective, adjectives to describe you. I’ll get you a dictionary here. They’re all, they’re all absolutely.

Speaker 7: 01:22 Ah,

Speaker 6: 01:22 So I’ve got a got a busy show today, but before we get into the show itself, a recap on what we did last week,

Speaker 7: 01:32 Last weekend. So as we had mentioned a couple of times, there was a local comic con that was going to be in Philadelphia that we had never been to before. Honestly hadn’t really heard about it before, but it’s, it’s been around for a couple of years now called keystone comic con. It’s held in the Philadelphia Convention Center. And we went to it on Sunday and we have a little video montage to play and then we’ll talk about it.

Speaker 5: 02:10

Speaker 8: 02:37

Speaker 5: 02:44

Speaker 6: 02:57 Very cool experience we had while we were there.

Speaker 7: 03:00 Definitely. had some, some good guests too. I was Kinda surprised for, for being a smaller venue. It really didn’t have tons and tons of celebrities, but, you know, they had some, some star trek people. They had some Harry Potter people. They had some voice actors from, you know, various current cartoons. There were some wrestling people. They even had like a wrestling ring set up that was Kinda cool, you know, so it was kind of one of those, a little bit of everything for, for everyone. What I thought was kind of cool was obviously we, we do a lot of the local convention. So we always seem to, you know, see the same, you know, vendors, you know, time and time again. But there were actually some different vendors different artists that we’ve, you know, never seen or never, you know, noticed before.

Speaker 7: 03:59 So that was kind of Nice that it added a little bit of a, a difference to it. We’re not autograph people w you know, we don’t, you know, wait in those lines to, to see the celebrities. But it seemed very organized from what we could see you know, that, that area. The other thing I think really the only negative thing that we had was the food, you know, and that’s definitely organized, right. And, and I don’t know if it’s, you know, if it’s them that organizes it or if it’s the convention center, you know, that was really probably, you know, and maybe a little bit more seating and it wasn’t like they didn’t have the room for it. They, there was definitely plenty of extra room around if they wanted to just put up, you know, tables or, or things like that.

Speaker 7: 04:50 But it seemed to go, you know, really smoothly. We went, like I said, on Sunday we got there, I guess it was around 10 30 when we got there. It started at 10 o’clock. The big draw was obviously Tom Holland was there and he was doing a panel at 10 o’clock. And even at 10 30, they were still letting people in to his panel. We just decided you know, let’s skip it, but we probably could have gone and, and you know, seeing, you know, some of it at least but we really didn’t know what to expect. So it was Kinda like, well, let’s just kind of venture and, and see. But it was, you know, definitely a nice mix of you know, if you were interested in comics, they had a number of people doing that board games. They had a whole area of that. The whole section of video games as well. That was one of the things that I was kind of impressed with was the, the gaming section towards the back. That was huge. It was, yeah. You know, various console, modern and classic and, and it was all free to play. Right, right.

Speaker 6: 05:58 But on top of that, you had the board games, like you would say the vendors, I think they were kind of a light on vendors though. You know, it’s, it certainly wasn’t as, as many vendors as you would normally see there for, you know, a convention center that size. But it would also seem to be, you know, much smaller and much more manageable. Like we didn’t feel overly tired after walking the floor. Like, oh, I just want to, you know, go home, you know, we could have walked, you know, and, and that was the other thing too, was because it was smaller and more manageable, I felt, you know, like when we first walked around it was like, oh, I definitely want to come back to this guy, you know, and I remembered exactly where he was, you know, it was, it was very, I felt it was more organized, you know, the layout, you know of it.

Speaker 6: 06:52 Then you know, some of the other ones that just are overwhelming and, OK, what ILM I n where am I is kind of counterintuitive was they did their ion numbering parallel to the entrance rather than right in line with the entrance. Right, right. So you’d have to come into the building, coming into the convention center room, Walk to one of the ends and then go up and down the aisles, which was kind of counterintuitive. But again, it was, I thought it was a perfect size, wasn’t, you know, we got our tickets ahead of time, so we saved, you know, $10. And on Sunday kids are free 12 and under. So, you know, I could definitely see us going back next year and looking at some of the panels and maybe doing the pounds. I kind of regret it not sitting in on that Tom Hall cause I think it would’ve been kind of, yeah.

Speaker 6: 07:42 And like I said, even for the last, you know, and, and it seemed to go almost until 11 o’clock. So, I mean we got there and there was probably 15 minutes left or we thought there were 15 minutes left cause we got there at 10 45 basically where we won’t, when we walked upstairs it was almost 10 45 and by the time we got in we had gone down the one aisle and everyone started coming out of right. Right. So we could have seen a couple of minutes of it. So, but anyway I’ve got a full show today or Disney detective, we’re going to be talking about the launching of galaxies edge at Disney world. We will be talking about the ability to bring your thermal detonators on to airplanes. Now there some controversy around that. Then we have a, a, a feel good story with a snow white in the parks interacting with the a young boy.

Speaker 6: 08:39 And then we have some frozen news to get into. And then in our entertainment news, John Travolta, once again, embarrassing himself at an awards show, which I’m not sure why he’s invited to them anymore, let alone their present. Then we have a bit of information on a new show that came out. Carnival Ro and Leslie Jones News leaving SNL. And then we pay tribute to a valor Harper who we recently lost who had been in poor health. And then we will move on to our insightful picks of the week. So I think we’ve got a good show ahead of us here. Are we ready to get started? Let’s do it. Alrighty.

Speaker 8: 09:32 Huh.

Speaker 7: 09:33 Go for Disney detective. So this past Thursday, Galaxy’s edge in Walt Disney world finally opened. It was actually not scheduled to open until 6:00 AM on Thursday, but official surprised thousands of fans with early entry around 4:45 AM really early. I actually had one one Disney friend of mine who was actually local to the area. She got there at like 3:00 AM and posted pictures on Facebook. And like the main, you know, the main street area of you know of Hollywood studios was just packed with people. So yeah. And it’s kind of funny because for the last couple of weeks they’ve been doing passholder previews and cast member previews and you know, I knew various people that were going to those and it was just so quiet and it wasn’t really packed or whatever. And you know, that’s because not everybody, you know, not the masses were in and now it’s this, you know, big giant thing.

Speaker 7: 10:42 No, no. Did they do the same reservation system in Disney world? No, I don’t think they actually did anything. I never, I know they, the only thing that they were doing was the virtual queue system. Basically. They were only allowing so many people in at a time and you basically kinda got a reservation for a time slot to go in, but nothing like they were doing in Disneyland where, you know, you had your four hour window or whatever. So it was done a lot differently. I know once the, the ride opened at one point the wait time for the, the one ride that’s only open right now was five hours. Yeah.

Speaker 6: 11:26 And that’s kind of what people expected when Disney land open and they mitigate it.

Speaker 7: 11:30 Right? Because they gave everybody that, you know, a four hour window and you know, so you didn’t have, you know, the wait time. But you know, they were saying that, you know, they were wondering, you know, how crazy it was going to be. You know, obviously the, the big thing right now is hurricane Dorian who as of right now, it looks like the last reports I read just a little while ago looks like it’s gonna kind of Miss Florida and actually it’s heading up to the Carolinas. But Disney was already starting to kind of prep for, you know, hurricane mode. And you know, I know there was a video posted the other night where they were, you know, like by the pools, all the umbrellas and stuff. They were kind of putting that away, you know, anything

Speaker 6: 12:17 Who, so as far as the galaxy’s edge, was there any announcement on why they chose not to go with the reservation system and,

Speaker 7: 12:26 No, I never saw anything you know about that. Maybe because you know, they just,

Speaker 6: 12:34 Cause I know the numbers of attendance numbers in Disneyland,

Speaker 7: 12:37 Right. And maybe right. But obviously it looks like, you know, Hollywood studios is it, you know, and, and Walt Disney world is probably gonna you know, surpass that. But yeah, there was nothing that ever set. And I was Kinda surprised because, you know, it was so stringent in California, it was like you had to be a resort guest and you had to be this and you had to be this and you know,

Speaker 6: 12:59 No, it’s entirely possible that scared a lot of the people off. And that’s why your numbers were so low in Disneyland.

Speaker 7: 13:04 Right. And maybe, you know, because they didn’t do it, you know, that’s why you have a five hour wait. Right. You know, in,

Speaker 6: 13:12 It just strikes me as odd that they handled to the two parks so differently in how this was. And you know, by all accounts it was very well managed in Disneyland or you didn’t have these ridiculous

Speaker 7: 13:27 Wait. And it seemed like it was an enjoyable experience. Like nobody was complaining, Oh, I had to wait in line.

Speaker 6: 13:33 Yeah. And then you turn around and you, you, you know, you’re blowing at Disney world.

Speaker 7: 13:38 Right, right. And I currently, there’s a, another Disney friend of mine who is actually, they’re on vacation now. I haven’t heard really anything. I’ve only seen pictures that he’s posted, you know, on Instagram of, you know, like he was obviously there during the day and then he had nighttime shots, you know, as well. So obviously again, you could stay, you know, the whole time if you want it to. So briefly what the virtual curious. So the virtual queue from, from what I understand was basically kind of like you weren’t allowed in the area until a certain, you know, almost like the reservation system for like the fastpass system or something. I’m actually, I’m not really sure. I just remembered seeing them, you know, posting pictures of, Oh, we’re getting the virtual queue system, you know, set up, you know, just like we had that was restricted to, I don’t think so.

Speaker 7: 14:35 I don’t think it was, no, I don’t think so. I think it was just any buddy, because again, like I said, my one friend who lives down there, she went you know, and she’s just an annual pass holder. She wasn’t a resort guest, whereas my other, you know, who is up from, you know he lives in New York and he’s down there. He was staying, you know, he was a resort guests, but I really haven’t, you know, found out from him like, hey, how was the experience? You know, you were down there. I just know that he was there yesterday. He had a picture of, you know, the blue milk.

Speaker 7: 15:11 That was it. So it’ll be interesting to see, you know, how this plays out. Plus, you know I know, as of right now, the only, you know, the, they haven’t really made any closing announcements of, you know, things that are going to be closed due to the weather. So it’ll be interesting to see how between, you know, hurricane Dorian coming in, what the attendance numbers are gonna be like, you know, over, over the weekend. In this case, it’s just a timing thing with the hurricane. Right, right. So, so tell us about thermal. So if you, if you don’t know, one of the things that they we’re very happy to announce was that they work together with Coca-Cola to develop these really cool looking thermal detonator looking coke bottles, which go for $6 a piece, by the way. And there was a hole for a thermal detonator.

Speaker 7: 16:08 Of course, that’s pretty cheap when you think about it. So there was a whole big thing, you know, that started when Galaxy’s edge opened up that TSA actually was not allowing you to take them on the plane. You couldn’t have them in your check luggage and you couldn’t have them in your carry ons. So people were like, oh, what am I going to do at my thermal detonator? Well, as of a yesterday, they actually released a statement that they have lifted the ban that you are allowed to put them in your check luggage or as long as they’re empty, then you can put them in your carry on. So that was kind of good news for people that, you know, wanted to bring home their, they’re relatively cheap souvenir from galaxies that we, when you think that, you know, the lightsabers are, you know, $200, you know, to start your, your $6, you know, can have of a coke is a little cheaper.

Speaker 7: 17:11 So. Well, and I think it was kind of interesting that they went the route of designing them to look like thermal detonators ever considering the fact that people are gonna want to take these things home and not throw them out and right. Walking on airplanes with what looks like a hand grenade. Right, right. You know, and, and it’s Kinda like, you know, you even look at like Snow Globes that, you know, that was a big, you used to see, you know, in the Disney gift shops, Snow Globes all over the place. And then once, you know, TSA had all these, you know, restrictions, you now see that they either don’t make these big giant snow globes anymore, or if they do, they make much, you know, smaller ones. And a lot of times, you know, when you go to check at a register, they suggest, can we just shift this home for you?

Speaker 7: 18:01 So, you know, so I guess it was kind of along the same lines of they didn’t think, oh the majority of the people flying here. You know, funny thing was when we were down there, the one time there was a toy thermal detonator very authentic. It was a metallic look to it. Right, right. And it was like a hot potato gamers. Right, right. Yeah. and you know, I have to assume people were able to, you know, get on a plane with that. Yeah. Cause it wasn’t filled with liquid. I don’t know. Right. And maybe that’s why, you know, because these are TSA changes their rules on a regular. So if you happen to be down there and you want to bring home your, you know, your bottle of coke, if you want it full, put it on your, in your check luggage. If you, you’re gonna, you know, want to bring it on at your carry on, make sure you had a drink at first.

Speaker 7: 18:52 Yeah. Interesting. what’s next? So we have a very heartwarming story. That bunch of different news outlets had posted and this was Snow White had a, a very special moment with a special needs child at Walt Disney world. So a mother who was there with her son had, you know, one of those magical experiences. The mother who actually had shared the moment on Facebook wrote that while she and her son were waiting in line at Epcot to get a picture with Snow White, he began to have an autism meltdown. He was crying, he was just overwhelmed and just having a hard time with everything. So when it was finally his turn to take his picture, the princess could tell that he was special needs and kind of just took him and took him for a walk away from the crowds. And she the mom shared photos of Snow White, just kind of hugging him, him putting his head down on, you know, her lap, kind of, you know, her consoling very, very snow whitish.

Speaker 7: 20:06 Right. You know and, you know, the, the mom said you know, she was just amazing. She held his hand, danced with him, took him over to a bench and sat with him. She definitely just went above and beyond and just took so much time with him. So again, the mother had shared this on Facebook and nearly 300,000 reactions came with from people praising the woman for her beautiful reaction to the sons, you know special needs. One person wrote, you know, God bless you, Snow White. What a beautiful gift of love. The mom actually did write a letter to Disney to inform them of how thankful she was, you know, for snow whites, you know, heartwarming actions and saying that it was just, you know, true magic and that she was just a pure angel and it was just a moment,

Speaker 6: 21:01 You know, they would never forget. So I ain’t, you know, it’s one of those things where I can help it Bash Disney. And I’m not gonna Bash Disney for this obviously, but I will point out the fact that it’s exactly this kind of example that shows who makes the real magic in the park. Oh, absolutely. You know, you have people like Bob Iger who make $156 million a year thinking that he’s the end all be all of why the company is so successful. And it’s people like this in the trenches who are doing that and giving that magical experience. Absolutely. you know, we had a similar experience years ago. We were getting our photos done and you know, the one of the private, you know, photo sessions that they did and they had a malfunction on the camera. Well, they could have just easily marched us back out and put us in line until they resolved the issue.

Speaker 6: 21:58 But instead you had three or four costumed characters sitting there playing duck, duck, goose, and hide and seek with our daughter for about 15 minutes, which, you know, to this day, as much as I bashed Disney for various things, that’s the one thing that still stands out in my mind is that it’s the people that are in the park that are the ones that make the experience. Absolutely. I don’t care how many executives you have, they don’t deserve the money. The people that are doing the numbers, they’re the ones, they’re the ones that deserve, they need the reward. They need the, the notoriety and yeah, exactly. They’re the ones that make Disney what it is. So just my endorsement there anyway.

Speaker 7: 22:49 Or one more Disney detective story. So it looks like frozen too. We finally have some plot details and obviously a brand new song. So Disney has been keeping the trailers very light on the plot details. But the two directors, you know, finally gave a little bit of a explanation of where, you know, Elsa and honor going on their new quest and they gave another little sneak peak clip. That’s gonna, you know, give more about their adventure. So, you know, basically what it Kinda came came about is, you know, a little bit more of the past. How did Elsa get her powers, what happened, you know, to her as a, as a child. And a little bit with the parents as well. So again, they’re going to be doing a little bit of the past. They have obviously some new characters that they’re incorporating as well.

Speaker 7: 23:47 And obviously a brand new song called into the unknown where Elsa hints that she’s heard, you know, this voice before in her head, but just never quite understood where it was coming from. And then on the other side of things, Dolphin and his relationship is going to grow even stronger and that Christoph is getting ready to pop the question but it looks like he’s going to have a hard time getting down on one knee and proposing as ana is too preoccupied helping her sister and frozen two will hit theaters November 22nd wow. Right around the corner. Yeah. Yeah. Getting closer. So I’m excited about it. I Dunno if our daughter is, but you know that’s just me.

Speaker 6: 24:30 I just hope the Disney is going to have the marketing and

Speaker 7: 24:34 Right. Yeah. Merchandise. Right. Cause that was just, that was really hysterical when, you know, the original movie came out and it just blew up and they knock off. They had, you know, they had some things but then everything was on back order. You know, if you wanted a dress or a doll or whatever. And like you said, you know, everything that was available was either a knock off or you know, you just had to wait.

Speaker 6: 25:00 So last week with News, we talked about a boatload of changes to Africa with the, with the release of the new frozen movie coming up, was there any talk of them updating the ride in ?

Speaker 7: 25:13 God, no. Nothing. Nothing with that, you know, so everything will just Kinda, you know, it’ll be remain, you know, frozen ever after, you know, the original, you know. Okay. The original ride. Cool.

Speaker 6: 25:27 So that’s it for Disney detective . That short is all right. Moving on to entertainment new.

Speaker 6: 25:39 So tell me about how John Travolta has embarrassed himself and an award. Right?

Speaker 7: 25:44 Got It. Yeah. Yeah. So he made headlines on Monday when it appeared as though he missed hook ru Paul’s drag race alum Jay Jolay as Taylor swift in the video. And she was actually dressed for the vms as Taylor swift. So MTV music awards happened earlier this week. And Taylor swift had her whole crew of people that had worked on her cast that had worked on one of her current videos and bunch of, you know drag queens and, and other, you know, characters were part of it. And one of the people that was there was actually dressed up like her. And so she actually thought it was hysterical and Travolta, you know, thought it was cool. He actually was interviewed at a Dallas Fort Worth radio station on Thursday where he addressed the confusion that had happened, you know, the, the night before he said there were just, you know, so many people, you know, on the stage.

Speaker 7: 26:52 And I was looking for her. So, you know, when I thought I found her, it was just like, okay, here, you know, take the award. You know, and then it was just, you know, kind of mass confusion and, you know, everybody had a good laugh about it. And even the, the woman who he had given me award to you know, she thought that it was just like, oh my God, it was my first award ever. Thank you, John Travolta for, you know, for giving it to me. You know, everybody just laughed it off and, you know, earlier in the week you know, that’s kind of a statement of the costume and yeah. Like, wow, you looked really.

Speaker 7: 27:37 Yeah. you know, and, and it was just, and it was funny because earlier in the week Taylor swift’s friend Todrick hall who had helped her with the video and he stars in it and he was there at the awards. He was on stage at the moment that it happened. And he ended up telling Jerry O’Connell that he thought Travolta was just so confident that it was her. Like, he was just like, here you go. And you know, and again, I could understand the craziness of it. Plus, you know, there were a whole big gaggle of, of people. It wasn’t like, oh, they were just two people, you know, in there. So they didn’t have him read the names. Well, and that was kind of funny because when he, and I believe it was Queen Latifa, we’re presenting the award and she went to go hand him the, the envelope like did you want to read it?

Speaker 7: 28:28 And he made the joke of, you know, I’ve screwed this up before. Why don’t you take it so, you know, at least he can and you know, laugh at himself and everything. So it was to give him credit for that. Yeah. So it was, it was a funny little, you know, thing that had happened. So. Very cool. Yeah. So tell us about what I’m sure is probably going to be a insightful pick of the week coming up soon. What gave it away? This is actually a show that, that definitely seems to be kinda up my alley. It’s called carnival row. It launched on Amazon prime just this week. And it’s an interesting story because it’s basically there’s humans and then there’s ferries and they live together. It looks like the 18 hundreds or early 19 hundreds, England, kind of that gritty you know, Sherlock Holmes kind of time period.

Speaker 7: 29:36 England always looks, I’m ready to get this story of the country. That’s true. You know, but it, it’s, it also has a lot you know, Kinda has an important story to tell because it has a lot about the social commentary on immigration and racism and discrimination issues that are part of our world right now. Donald Trump should love this. Right. and you know, basically the, the two main characters is, you know, Orlando Bloom who plays a human cop and basically his, Umm, forbidden love affair with a pansexual fairy. And you know, that whole dynamic of, you know, two different worlds, you know, trying to be together and can you really be, you know, together in society. So the entire eight episode season is actually now available on Amazon prime. I have yet to watch it cause we were finishing up mine hunter.

Speaker 7: 30:38 So I’m looking forward to, to this. It definitely has that look of another show that I watched, which was penny dreadful. So it Kinda, it Kinda reminded me that s one person had said that the show might feel like something based on a book from game of Thrones. But it’s, it’s, you know, obviously set, you know, a different time period. But again, you have these different races of, of creatures I guess. So I guess that’s maybe where they were making, you know, the parallel. But again, the big thing is that, you know you know, it’s the social commentary really the underlining, you know, of the discrimination and, you know, the love affair and, and immigration and everything that, you know, our country’s kind of going through right now. So it, it looks really good and I’m looking forward to getting into it.

Speaker 6: 31:36 Cool. Very cool. So tell us before we go on, I did want to make a comment of what I thought was kind of interesting about that show and would seems to be a trend in streaming now. And that is these big name movie stars jumping on board with what would traditionally be seen as TV, but not TV because it’s streaming, right? I mean, you see Orlando Bloom, who’s a major block buster star. They’re doing that. You’ve got Ewan McGregor coming back to do stuff for Disney. You’ve got countless other big screen actors, which makes me reflect back on a very early episode of the podcast that we did with Netflix and the Oscars and Alli, there’s something I’ll mention after you. Okay. So w w what I find interesting is you had this push by Spielberg and some others to remove Netflix shows from being in the running for rosters, but you also now just in the last less than a year, you see all these big screen actors moving into a Netflix and Amazon prime and on all the other streaming services as you know, mainstream entertainment now. So it’s not like, oh, I’m a big screen actor. I don’t want a movie actor. I don’t do TV. You’re seeing a big trend moving towards that direction, which to me means whatever argument had been made previously, which had been invalidated and shot down with the Oscars and Netflix is going to have even less credence moving forward in the next award show and forward.

Speaker 7: 33:22 Well, and, and to Kinda excuse me, and to add to that, there is a, a movie that is, you know, very much being looked forward to called the, the Irishman. Yes. and it’s Martin Scorsese, so it’s not even like it’s some little whatever. And it’s coming to theaters and it’s one of those where it’s going into little movie houses, but it’s going to be on Netflix. And the idea of putting it in the theaters is, again, they’re hoping to be nominated for, you know, an academy award where I don’t think with the, the movie that won last year, I don’t think it was their intention. It was just, no, it just happened. It just kind of happened. Wow. Well, obviously it was their intention to get it in the running and get to do it and maybe not to win. I don’t think it was expected, but obviously, you know, with this, it’s more, you know, okay, maybe they’re, they’re kind of doing it. You know, and the release date is November 27th for the Irishman. So it’s, you know, later in the year. But again, as long as it’s released before, a certain time before the end of the year, a can be, you know, a contender.

Speaker 6: 34:39 You were released in theaters before it’s released on the streaming service.

Speaker 7: 34:43 Right. And that was the end. That was the idea that it’s going to be, it’s actually a New York Film Festival on September 27th. And then the IFB, the, the B F I, sorry, London Film Festival on October 13th and then late later on by, by Netflix,

Speaker 6: 35:04 What it means to run in the La Studio Circuit Theater circuit in order.

Speaker 7: 35:10 Right, right. And I’m sure they have that all, you know, play it out and it’s good. It’s a big cast. You know, it’s Robert De Niro, Joe Peshy. Yeah. Oh, Pachino Harvey Kai Dao, , all the guys that always back in the mafia movies. And, you know, we haven’t had a good mafia movie. We haven’t met a good Martin Scorsese you know, mafia movie in Awhile. Yeah. So we had a bed revolt, the mafia movie, but now the good mafia. Right. So we kind of just, you know, yeah. So that, you know, again, like we said, we talked about that, you know you know, last year we, with all of that, so it’ll be, you know, cool. So tell us about Leslie Jones, who I have to say I absolutely adore her before we even get in. I absolutely adore her. Really. I’m, she’s hilarious and she’s so in your face. That’s what I love about her, you know, and it was funny cause I started hearing things that, you know, different projects that she was doing.

Speaker 7: 36:06 So it was kind of making me think, all right. I think she, she’s leaving as now. I think one of the things I saw in entertainment tonight was they were bringing back supermarket shopper. I can’t remember the, I don’t think that’s the name of what the, the game show was where, you know, they had contestants that ran around a grocery store. Well, she’s bringing it back. She’s going to be the host of it. So when I heard that, I was like, okay. So yeah, so you know, Jones will be leaving making her exit from studio eight h. She’s actually been on the show since 2014. And additionally, Kate McKinnon was actually rumored to be exiting as well. But as of right now she’s staying on for the, for the 45th season. NBC would not confirm any news, basically just an email.

Speaker 7: 37:06 CNN had sent an email to her representative. Nothing had come back. But she’s, you know, she was known for her frequent appearances on the mid show, weekend update news segments where she would frequently comment on politics and social issues which were just always spot on. And you know, definitely made you think and you know that in your face, you know, hysterical shit from anybody. Yeah. Your face, let’s not dance around. Controversial topic. Let’s hit it straight on. Right, exactly. She actually joined the cast at age 47 giving her the distinction of being the oldest person to join the show as a cast member. It was also the first time that they had two African American women as cast members at the same time. She was actually nominated for the outstanding supporting actress, actress in a comedy Emmy in both 2017 and 18.

Speaker 7: 38:05 But she has a number of movie projects, you know, lined up and a comedy special with Netflix that’ll be coming out. So, you know, obviously the cast always changes, you know, you have people coming and going. That’s kind of, you know, comedy is. But you know, they basically said that they will never be able to replace, you know, her unique, larger than life delivery, her infectious and unbridled enthusiasm for all things Olympics. Yeah, I do remember when the Olympics came out and they would have all these, you know, sketches with her on, on the Olympics or commercials and it was like honest. She w she loved the Olympics was just like her thing. And so much energy. Oh my God. Boy Energy whenever the camera was on. Yeah. Yeah. And it was to me, she was almost like a female version of Chris Farley.

Speaker 7: 39:01 Yes. I could definitely see that kind of enthusiasm and spontaneity and you know, she didn’t have to have, she didn’t have to be scripted. No. And she could just kind of go off and do her thing. She’s hysterical on Twitter. You can, you know. Yeah. You know, I follow her on Twitter and again, like you said, she takes no shit and you know, and she tells you how it is and you know, so only great things for her, you know, for her in the future. So it’ll be, you know, it’ll all miss her, you know, on it. The new season actually returns on September 28th and they have some really good guest stars coming on. They have woody Harrelson and Kristin Stewart and David Harbor and Eddie Murphy is actually set to Telcos for the first time, you know, as being a former, you know, cast member. So that’ll be, that’ll be kind of a trend.

Speaker 7: 39:55 Now. Adam Sandler, him for his first time, they’re going to start bringing, a lot of them are, aren’t around, unfortunately. You know, some of the older cats, they’ve got a lot of talented people, and that thing is a lot of people, you know, have, you know, gone on, you know, and been very successful. You know, Lauren, Michael is definitely has the golden touch when it comes to certain things. So, awesome. So we wish her well. Absolutely. So, and Said News, we lost Valerie Harper. Yeah. This, this came came out last night that she had passed away. We knew she had not been doing well. There were actually news reports not that long ago where her husband actually had declined hospice. He did not, he was not ready to let go now. He, he wasn’t. And you know, it, it’s a hard thing. So, you know, one of the TV’s most beloved sidekicks, you know, she was, you know, came to to popularity on the Mary Tyler Moore Show as Mary’s, you know, a neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern.

Speaker 7: 41:12 And from, you know, the Mary Tyler Moore show, once that ended, she actually got to spin off of, you know, the Rhoda show that lasted I believe four or five seasons. And that was interesting cause it started out with her basically moving back to New York, reconnecting with her family meeting somebody getting married. And actually before the s the series that ended, she was separated, you know, and back to being a single nice cross section, you know, a single woman, you know, in, in the 70s. So, you know, it was an interesting commentary of, you know, of our time. Her daughter actually had tweeted out that, you know, her father basically saying, my beautiful caring wife of 40 years had passed away. Rest in peace. Mia Valerea. And that, you know, bunch of different people, you know, obviously came forward.

Speaker 7: 42:12 And as an owner who was a, a Costar had said, you know, called her a great friend. Good night. Beautiful. I’ll see you soon. In 2009, she had actually had a cancerous tumor removed on her lung and in 2013, the doctor told her that her cancer had spread to areas surrounding the brain and she probably wouldn’t make it through the spring. In typical Harper fashion, she remained upbeat in interviews and and as a guest on the TV talk show the doctors in March of 2013 she said more than anything, I’m living in the moment. I want Americans and all of us to be less afraid of death and knowing it is just a passage. Don’t go to the funeral before the day of the funeral roll while you’re living live. Good philosophy, good philosophy as well. So awesome. Rest in peace. Absolutely. And that is it for entertainment news. We will be back with our insightful picks of the week.

Speaker 7: 43:22 As always, I bow to you dear. Do you, do you bow to me? Not so much. My back usually hurts. Sorry. I balanced spirit. Gotcha. Okay. So my insightful pick is actually an older show, but the reason why I bring it up is because there’s something new coming around with it. So of course you always like to make fun of me because of my British show that I do love a good British. I do. I do. And this one is obviously Downton Abbey, one of the big one town Abby downtown Abbey Brown. So it’s a historical drama that follows the lives of the Crawley family and their servants in the family’s Edwardian country house. The program begins in 1912 with the sinking of the titanic, which leave Downton’s Abbey. Yeah, exactly. It was so basically because of the sinking of the titanic, it leaves Downton Abbey’s future in jeopardy as Grantham’s heir.

Speaker 7: 44:32 His cousin James and his son Patrick had died on the ship, leaving them without a male offspring to take the throne of, of Downton. No, I don’t remember there actually. No, that’s a whole other thing. And so basically as a result, Lord Grantham is on the search for a new air. And it basically progresses throughout the decade. So you have, you know, British, you know, the British at war with Germany you have world war one. So basically the whole series takes place between 1912 and 1926 and you know, you see the different things that had happened throughout history and how, you know, they reacted to it or, or how it affected them. So you have, you know, obviously the titanic, then you have the first world war, Spanish influenza pandemic the Irish war of independence. You know, various different things, you know, throughout, and you know, the, the three daughters growing up and

Speaker 6: 45:42 No, I’ve never watched this show, but the way you’re describing it now, it sounds like a British version of Forrest Gump

Speaker 7: 45:54 Transposing these characters across historical events. You know, not really. They’re not, you don’t see their part in it. You see facts, right. You know, like with World War One, like, you know, Lord Grantham goes off and he fights in the war and some of the servants go and you know, now they’re coming back and you know, the One servant was not a low ranking, you know, like a higher rank. So, you know, and he was Kinda like a, a foot man and here, you know, he was at, you know, like this level in the war, but in house he’s at this level. Like now you have to take orders. How do you,

Speaker 6: 46:35 I’ll take a moment to explain to you. Same thing I explained to our daughter hand gestures don’t work in an audio pod.

Speaker 7: 46:41 I understand that. So he’s up really high. You know, when he’s in the army, he’s a high military rank but low household. Right, right, exactly. So it’s, you know, so it’s interesting to see where, you know, things kind of go back into place. How do you get back into, you know, your place in society after you’ve just been in the war and things like that. So then what’s the big new news? So obviously the big news, which you know, anybody that’s a fan already knows this, but we haven’t talked about it on the podcast yet, is that they are actually doing a movie of Downton Abbey, which will actually be coming out September 20th and it’s set in 1927 so it’s a after the last season had ended. So it’s a continuation, you know, just like kind of a, I guess an update of, so it’s not a like, oh 30 years later, here’s what the household looks like.

Speaker 7: 47:44 It’s, you know, the, the idea is basically seeing how, you know, people are kind of getting away from having a full staff of, you know, of servants and maybe only having three servants, you know, like, where’s this person? Where’s this person? And you kind of saw that in the series too, where, you know, people were being let go because you know, for each, you know, person in the household, maybe they didn’t need three different service servants just for them. They only needed one. So, you know, you got to see the house kind of, you know, slimming down. So that’s the, that’s the one first servants do. I have well, and that was the average who would be even released. And that was kind of what was interesting because the one character, he starts off as the shofar. He’s, you know, he’s the blue collar, you know, person and B and falls in love with one of the daughters, marries her, you know she unfortunately passes away but they have a daughter.

Speaker 7: 48:51 So he’s in the family and he has a hard time with that, you know, letting the opulence of everything kind of take over and oh I have to go get dressed before I have lunch. I have to go change before dinner. I have to go put on my Tuxedo for that. Like, and that kind of adds the everyday man aspect to it. Like he just thinks it’s silly, but then, you know, it’s like, all right, well this is our tradition. Okay. You know, and he kind of makes changes throughout the years to kind of bring them a little bit more down. Cause it’s a lot of British accents. Absolutely. Sure it justify it. Absolutely. so I believe you, if you’ve never seen it and you know, are, are interested. I believe Amazon prime has it. I know some of the local PBS stations have it, you know, on demand.

Speaker 7: 49:47 If you’re a member you know, obviously the people that are going to go, excuse me and see the movie are going to be people that were fans of the show. I’m not going to take you to go see it cause you’re not going to know, you’re not gonna know anything about it. How many seasons were there? It was, I believe it was six seasons. The first episode aired in 2010 and the final episode was actually on Christmas Day in 2005 15. So there’s a lot of content. Yup. Yup. Cool. All right, well good pick. Thank you.

Speaker 6: 50:28 So my pick this week is a documentary. I’m so shocked. I have been watching history’s greatest hoaxes and what actually kinda turned me onto this was when I was watching the one show that I used as a insightful pick about the allegations that the moon landing was faked. So I found that interesting, the scientific methods that they took to get to that point. So I’ll read the intro to this one. Okay. The loch ness monster, Hitler’s diaries the Roswell Alien Autopsy and the Moon Landings. These are the stories that amazed and enthralled the world yet what if they were too tantalizing to be true? The history channel reveals the stories of the world’s tallest tails in history’s greatest hoaxes complete with fresh footage from the hoax sites. Do interviews with those involved, specially filmed recreations and contributions from top experts who dreamed up the hoaxes. Why did they do it?

Speaker 6: 51:37 Who exposed them, and what were the consequences? It’s tying to find out as well as examined 10 of the world’s most infamous hoaxes. History’s greatest hoaxes, looks at some of the most spectacular hoaxes that show that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time. It looks at remarkable hoaxes, including Hitler’s diaries, the Piltdown man, the war, the worlds broadcast, a pantheon and the lochness monster and the alien autopsy film. So some of these are obvious hoaxes, but what’s interesting about the show is they take you through and delve into a level of detail that most documentaries on these have never looked at before. You see how some of these hooks were perpetrated, you see some of the props that were used, like for the lochness monster one, they go back and they look at like, I don’t know, six or eight of the most famous photos or videos of it, and they show you how they were created.

Speaker 6: 52:42 One that was back in, I think the forties or 50s was a combination of a cardboard cut out of a head on top of a toy submarine from Woolworth. Okay. You know, and someone build it and they interview a gentleman who’s a researcher in it and he built a replica of it. You see how it works and everything and it’s like, okay, well they filmed it from this angle. So the waves look like they’re larger than normal because really the, the, the prop that they used was about two feet long and the way they took the picture perspective. Yeah. So it was, it’s very, it’s very interesting to see how he did this. The one that I just watched yesterday was the alien all tops you won. And they actually go in and they interview the, the special effects artist who was hired by this one guy to recreate it.

Speaker 6: 53:40 And, and it’s interesting because the person who created the film did it under the guise of, well, he received this film from the army soldier who did film the alleged autopsy originally from Roswell. And he got the film for the guy because the guy was on his death bed and he wanted the information out there, but the film was so deteriorated that there were only six frames from the original film. So it’s less than a second. And these were included in the recreation, but they don’t show your where it is or anything like that. So the story goes is that, you know, the guy took these six frames from this original film that he could recover, went to a special effects expert and the guy who created a, a cadaver, you know, a fake cadaver using various meat parts from the local market and everything else.

Speaker 6: 54:42 But it was portrayed in such a way as this is not the full original film. This is a loyal recreation of it based on what we saw from the ridge. So it was one of these, you know, I heard it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it from someone and then we recreated it. So there was always this idea that it’s probably fake, but here’s what we have and you, you decide you, he, they, they basically, they sold it to Fox and you’re like, cause Rupert Murdoch, go buy anything. They sold the Fox and a couple other broadcasters and they said, all right, you guys verify whether it’s real or not. And you know, for, you know, in, in Fox’s case, they didn’t even bother to, they basically put it out there as, as a, as a special and that it was real.

Speaker 6: 55:34 I remember right autopsy, you decide if it’s real, you know. So I was like, okay, whatever guys. But the film is neat because they, they go about it in a scientific method where they look at it, but they do it through a series of interviews recreation’s and stuff like that. And some of the peoples you’d love it because it’s a British fashion. There’s a lot of people would British accents with a British accent I will watch and it’s, it’s funny who they get cause like one guy, he’s a comedian, another guy’s a professional skeptic, another guy’s a journalist. So then they have a scientist. So they bring these all these different aspects in to offer perspective on it. And it’s like quasi science, a little bit of humor to sort of poke fun at these things. Okay. The film was the, the show was originally put out by history channel back in 2016, but it is available for streaming now on Netflix. Awesome. Good history’s greatest hoaxes. And that was all I had. Did we have any afterthoughts? I don’t think we did. All right. I think we are done. We will be back next week with another very podcast and we have a couple of interesting shows in the works right now that we will have for the network itself. I don’t think we have anything special planned right now and if we don’t, any more events that we’re doing right now,

Speaker 7: 57:06 Not for us, that we know of, but we do know that our insights into teens podcasts, we’ll have something special coming up in the next couple of weeks. Right. And you’re also working on a new channel insights into tomorrow,

Speaker 6: 57:24 Tomorrow. Yes. So hopefully we should have a that airing premiering soon. So keep your eyes out for that. But other than that, we’ll see you guys next week. Have a good week everyone. Bye. Bye.

Show Notes

• Introduction
  • Insights Into Entertainment Episode 31 “Frozen in a Galaxy Far Far Away”
  • My and  co-host Michelle Whalen
• Disney Detective
  • Despite Hurricane Dorian, Disney World’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge draws ‘thousands’
  • https://www.foxnews.com/travel/hurricane-dorian-disney-world-star-wars
  • https://fxn.ws/2zD1Uil 
    • The pull of “the force” has loyal Star Wars fans flocking to Walt Disney World’s highly anticipated, $1 billion Galaxy’s Edge attraction –despite Hurricane Dorian’s race towards the Sunshine State.
    • Though the gates of Disney’s Hollywood Studios were not scheduled to open until 6 a.m. on Thursday, officials surprised the “thousands” of fans gathered with early entry around 4:45 a.m., the Orlando Sentinel reports.
    • Two Florida sweethearts even got engaged in front of the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride that day.
    • “I’ve never been too much of one to have an audience, but that was awesome,” Robert Trevelyan said of popping the question to his girlfriend Megan Bender before the signature ride. “The energy around is just amazing.”
    • All storm-related concerns aside, Star Wars lovers waited for as many as five hours to hop on the Millennium Falcon ride, while people queued in long lines to buy $6 Coca-Cola sodas in thematic “thermal detonator” shaped bottles.
    • With both the Disney World and Disneyland branches of the buzzed-about attraction finally open to the public, one expert believes the entertainment giant will quickly turn a profit following the company’s purchase of Lucasfilm for a whopping $4 billion in 2012.
    • “It’s important to the company. It’s one of their most expensive IP [intellectual property] acquisitions,” Dennis Speigel, an industry theme park analyst, told the outlet. “It would be the Harry Potter of Disney.”
    • Despite all the fanfare, locals who live near the Happiest Place on Earth were stocking up on water, gas and the essentials as the Category 2 storm moves towards the Sunshine State, reported the Orlando Sentinel.
    • Dorian is expected to become a major hurricane Friday as forecasters are warning Florida residents that there is an “increasing likelihood” parts of the state will face “a prolonged period of hazardous weather conditions” early next week.
    • As of early Friday morning, the Category 2 storm – which has maximum sustained winds blowing at 110 mph – was centered about 255 miles east of the Bahamas, moving northwest at 12 mph. It was only about 1 mph away from reaching Category 3 status.

Yes, you can bring Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Coke cans on a plane, TSA says

• https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-bz-tsa-star-wars-cans-20190830-juvv3ekvnzeezkjakx5xgkuysi-story.html
• http://bit.ly/2MMUpy2 
  • It’s OK to fly home with the Coca-Cola cans shaped like thermal detonators sold at Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge, TSA said Friday.
  • People who want to take them home as souvenirs should put them in checked baggage or empty the cans and stick them in a carry-on item, the TSA said.
  • The Transportation Security Administration, which handles security at airports, had been reviewing its policy after online posts saying the cans were banned went viral.
  • On Friday, TSA issued a new statement, saying, “We have completed our review, and instructed our officers to treat these as an oversized liquid.”
  • The update comes as Disney opened Galaxy’s Edge, a $1 billion land dedicated to the “Star Wars” universe Thursday at Hollywood Studios.
  • Opening day drew long lines and cheerful but tired theme park fans, some of whom arrived at the park hours before the sun rose.
  • Reedy Creek first-responders and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office did not report any major problems, despite the big crowds.
• Snow White shares heartwarming moment with special needs child at Disney World
• https://www.foxnews.com/travel/snow-white-autism-child-disney-world
• https://fxn.ws/2NH3Tu7 
  • A mother was left emotional during a trip to Disney World when one of the park’s characters went above and beyond for her son, Brody, who has autism and is non-verbal.
  • Lauren Bergner, who shared the sweet moment on Facebook, wrote that she and Brody were waiting in line at Epcot to take pictures with Snow White when he began to have an “autism meltdown.”
  • “He was crying and was overwhelmed and just having a hard time,” she wrote in the social media post Sunday.
  • When it was Brody’s turn to take his picture, Bergner writes that the Disney princess “could tell Brody had special needs” and took him for a walk to get him away from the crowd. She also shared photos showing Snow White hugging and cuddling the child, and allowing him to rest his head on her lap to calm down.
  • “She was amazing. She held his hand, danced with him, took him over to a bench and sat with him,” she wrote. “She went above and beyond!! She took so much time with him.”
  • The picture Bergner shared on Facebook received nearly 300K reactions with people praising the woman for her “beautiful” reaction to Brody’s special needs.
  • “God bless you Snow White…what a beautiful gift of love,” one person wrote.
  • Bergner, who also wrote that she sent a letter to Disney parks to inform them of how thankful she is of Snow White’s heartwarming actions, described the moment as “true magic.”
  • “She was a pure angel!” she added. “She was magical and my family is forever thankful and touched!”
• ‘Frozen II’ Finally Gets Some Plot Details…And a New Song
• https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/frozen-ii-finally-gets-some-plot-details%e2%80%a6and-a-new-song/ar-AAGhiTe
• http://bit.ly/30NS7lx 
  • Disney has kept their trailers for “Frozen II” very light on plot details, but directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee finally explained to an eager crowd at the D23 Expo just where Elsa and Anna are going in a new quest that, by the looks of a sneak peek clip, promises to be more intense than their first adventure.
  • The two said that the question the film’s crew was regularly asked after “Frozen” came out was where Elsa’s powers came from. That led to new ideas between Lee and Buck about both Arendelle and Elsa & Anna’s past. Key to that past are the sisters’ parents, and the directors announced that Evan Rachel Wood, who was previously reported to star in the film in an unknown role, will play Anna & Elsa’s mother. Sterling K. Brown will also appear in the film as a new character, Lieutenant Matthias.
  • And in a new clip from the movie, we see Elsa hearing a strange melody calling her while playing a game of charades with Anna, Kristoff and Olaf. In a new song, “Into the Unknown” Elsa hints that she has heard this voice before in her life, and she is conflicted over whether she should answer the call and possibly learn even more about her powers…and risk everything she has gained.
  • Meanwhile, Kristoff and Anna’s relationship grows even stronger, and Kristoff is getting ready to pop the question to her. But it looks like he’s going to have a hard time getting down on one knee and proposing, as Anna is too preoccupied with helping her sister.
  • “Frozen II” hits theaters November 22.
• Entertainment News
  • John Travolta Explains His Taylor Swift Mix-Up With ‘Drag Race’ Alum at VMAs
  • https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/john-travolta-explains-his-taylor-swift-mix-up-with-drag-race-alum-at-vmas/ar-AAGwJ6d
  • http://bit.ly/2Ztr3eD 
    • John Travolta knows how to laugh anything off. 
    • The actor made headlines on Monday when it appeared as though he mistook RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Jade Jolie, who played Taylor Swift in the video and dressed as her for the VMAs, as the real Swift when presenting her with the Video of the Year award at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards. 
    • While Swift thought it was “hilarious,” Travolta thought “it was cool.” The actor stopped by Dallas-Fort Worth radio station Hot 93.3 on Thursday, where he addressed the confusion that happened that night.
    • “There’s so many people that bombarded the stage, that I was looking for [Swift]. So the video has me trying to find her, and you know, I thought it was so funny the way it was interpreted, and it was cool, I didn’t care,” Travolta explained, adding that at this point in his career anything he does makes headlines. “If I shave my head it’s headlines. If I mispronounce something, that’s headlines, and I know that about me.”
    • Explaining that he knew she wasn’t the real Swift, he added that, “Sometimes I fantasize what if I had given it to [Jolie]? That would have been awesome.”
    • “I should have just gone all the way with it,” he said. “I have a sense of humor about all of that. I always have because, look, we’re in pretty good shape on any given day that that kind of thing could make headlines.”
    • Earlier this week, Swift’s friend Todrick Hall, who was onstage with the singer when the moment happened, told Jerry O’Connell that he thought Travolta “was so confident that it was her.”
    • “I loved it, I saw it and we talked about it backstage. Taylor thought it was hilarious,” Hall said. As for Jolie, she also relished in the moment and shared a snippet of it on her Instagram.
    • “😂😂🤷‍♀️❤️Almost got my first award tonight thanks to @johntravolta 😂😂😂😘😘😘,” she posted on Instagram alongside video of the interaction.
  • Carnival Row Has Fairy Sex But Also an Important Story to Tell
  • https://www.eonline.com/news/1069354/carnival-row-has-fairy-sex-but-also-an-important-story-to-tell
  • https://eonli.ne/2ZIAlP8 
    • Ready to watch Cara Delevingne and Orlando Bloom have some fun and freaky faerie (yes, faerie) sex? 
    • Yes, Carnival Row is absolutely more than that, and even features some social commentary on immigration and racism and discrimination issues that are very much part of our real world, but if you’re not also interested in human cop Orlando Bloom and his forbidden love affair with the pansexual faerie played by Cara Delevingne, then you’re not living your best, most joyful life. 
    • The entire eight-episode season is now available on Amazon Prime Video, but if you’re most curious about the faerie sex and the affair between Rycroft Philostrate (Bloom) and Vignette Stonemoss (Delevingne), that backstory plays out in episode three.
    • Of course you’ll need to watch from the beginning to get the full story of the Burgue, a city populated by both humans and mythical creatures who have fled their homelands, bursting with tension between the citizens and the immigrant population, and unrest over a series of unsolved murders that Philo is trying to solve, but if you’re primarily interested in finding out what happens to faerie wings during sex, there’s episode three for you. 
    • The show might feel like something that’s based on a book a la Game of Thrones, but it actually was originally a film script created by writer Travis Beacham, who dreamt up the whole thing in his college dorm a decade ago, as Bloom reminded us at the show’s premiere. 
    • “I hadn’t read anything like this,” he told E! News’ Erin Lim about why he wanted to sign on to the project. “Obviously Lord of the Rings had this incredible IP and this amazing book that we could use as a bible, and this was like this brain child of Travis Beacham, his dormitory fantasy brain, which is kind of fantastical, right?” 
    • Bloom says he saw it as an opportunity to feel “liberated” and “excited” in a new fantasy world, with a character he could potentially sustain for two or three seasons. 
    • Delevingne, who plays a character displaced from her home, was excited about the chance to tell stories with a deeper message about immigration on TV.
    • “The subject matter, the social commentary is incredible, but also the character that I play,” she says. “But I just think talking about immigration and refugees is something that needs to happen in any sense of the word, whether it’s in art or in the world generally.” 
    • So there you go: it’s a show with many layers, telling stories of both immigration and a love affair between a human named Rycroft Philostrate and a faerie named Vignette Stonemoss. It’s got something for everybody, and you can find out exactly how the stars would describe it by hitting play above!
    • Carnival Row is now streaming on Amazon Prime and has already been renewed for a second season.
  • Leslie Jones leaving ‘SNL’
  • https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/27/entertainment/leslie-jones-snl-exit/index.html
  • https://cnn.it/2ZDfzVd 
    • “Saturday Night Live” cast member Leslie Jones is making her exit from Studio 8H.
    • Jones, a beloved member of the comedy ensemble who made her debut on the series in 2014, is leaving the sketch show, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
    • Additionally, Kate McKinnon, who had been rumored to be considering an exit, is expected to stay on board for Season 45, the source said.
    • NBC would not confirm the news. An email to Jones’ representatives was not immediately returned.
    • Jones was known for her frequent appearances on the mid-show Weekend Update news segment, where she’d frequently comment on politics and social issues like Alabama’s abortion ban legislation, with must-watch results.
    • She joined the cast at age of 47, giving her the distinction of being the oldest person to join the sketch show as a cast member. Her addition also marked the first time the show had more than one African American woman as a cast member.
    • Jones was nominated for the outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series Emmy in both 2017 and 2018.
    • Jones next has a number of movie projects lined up and a comedy special with Netflix.
    • “SNL” cast changes ahead of new seasons are not uncommon. However, Jones’ exit leaves a hole in the lineup that won’t be easily filled. The show will likely be unable to replace the performer’s unique, larger-than-life delivery or her infectious, unbridled enthusiasm for all things Olympics.
    • “SNL” returns September 28. Woody Harrelson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, David Harbour, Kristen Stewart and Eddie Murphy are among those lined up for hosts in the new season.
  • Valerie Harper, Who Played Beloved TV Sidekick Rhoda, Dies At 80
  • https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/512035751/valerie-harper-who-played-beloved-tv-sidekick-rhoda-dies-at-80?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=npr&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR0xbDmI4cGytq_axWgQSbPsSAT-MSO6Gkzvq-CF0bB6UbVKoYnoyBh0eW4
    • One of TV’s most beloved sidekicks has died. Valerie Harper, best known for playing Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died Friday in Los Angeles. She was 80.
    • As the blunt, self-deprecating Rhoda, Harper created one of the most beloved sitcom characters of the 1970s. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a ratings powerhouse, centered on best friends Rhoda and Mary Richards, two single women making their way through life, love and career.
    • Harper’s daughter Cristina Cacciotti tweeted her father Anthony Cacciotti’s statement saying, “My beautiful caring wife of nearly 40 years has passed away … Rest In Peace, mia Valeria.”
    • Moore show co-star Ed Asner extolled Harper’s acting talent and called her “a great friend … Goodnight, beautiful. I’ll see you soon.”
    • In 2009, Harper had a cancerous tumor removed from her lung, and in early 2013, doctors told her the cancer had spread to areas surrounding the brain and that she probably wouldn’t make it through the spring. In typical Harper fashion, she remained upbeat in interviews. As a guest on the TV talk show The Doctors in March 2013, she said, “More than anything I’m living in the moment. I really want Americans — and all of us — to be less afraid of death and know that it’s a passage. Don’t go to the funeral before the day of the funeral. While you’re living, live.”
    • Long after The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Valerie Harper often talked about how grateful and lucky she was for landing the role of Rhoda. Millions of viewers felt exactly the same way.

• Insightful Picks
  • Michelle
    • Downton Abbey – British drama series
    • This historical drama follows the lives of the Crawley family and their servants in the family’s Edwardian country house. The programme begins with the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, which leaves Downton Abbey’s future in jeopardy, as Lord Grantham’s presumptive heir — his cousin James — and his son, Patrick, die aboard the ship, leaving him without a male offspring to take over the throne upon his death. As a result, Lord Grantham must search for a new heir. As the programme progresses through the decade, other historical events happened leading up to Lord Grantham declaring in 1914 that Britain is at war with Germany, marking the beginning of World War I, which becomes a major plot on the programme.
    • The series, set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey between 1912 and 1926, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era—with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy. Events depicted throughout the series include news of the sinking of the Titanic in the first series; the outbreak of the First World War, the Spanish influenza pandemic, and the Marconi scandal in the second series; the Irish War of Independence leading to the formation of the Irish Free State in the third series; the Teapot Dome scandal in the fourth series; and the British general election of 1923. The sixth and final series introduces the rise of the working class during the interwar period and hints towards the eventual decline of the British aristocracy.
    • First episode date: September 26, 2010
    • Final episode date: December 25, 2015
    • The Movie in Sept 20th –  Set in 1927
  • Joe
    • Histories Greatest Hoaxes on Netflix
    • THE LOCH NESS MONSTER. Hitler’s diaries. The Roswell alien autopsy. The “Moon landings”.
      
      They’re the stories that amazed and enthralled the world.
      
      Yet what if they were too tantalising to be true?
      
      The HISTORY Channel reveals the stories of the world’s tallest tales in History’s Greatest Hoaxes, compete with fresh footage from the hoax sites, new interviews with those involved, specially filmed recreations and contributions from top experts.
      
      Who dreamed up the hoaxes? Why did they do it? Who exposed them and what were the consequences?
      
      It’s time to find out … as well as examine 10 of the world’s most infamous hoaxes.
      
      
    • History’s Greatest Hoaxes looks at some of the most spectacular hoaxes that show that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. It looks at remarkable hoaxes including the Hitler Diaries, the Piltdown Man, the War of the World broadcast, Papillon, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Alien Autopsy film.