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    David Alan Grier on Navigating the Art World as a Black Collector

    The Tony-nominated actor and comedian discusses his love for overalls, citrus trees and trying to sell his teenage daughter on Frank Sinatra.David Alan Grier is riveted by jack rabbits.“I saw one the other day in a grocery store parking lot,” he said in a recent phone conversation from Calgary, Canada, where he was wrapping up filming for the Spectrum TV mystery series “Joe Pickett.” “All the Canadians were like, ‘God, jack rabbits are everywhere, they’re like pigeons. But I took pictures and posted video, I was so excited — this thing was enormous!”After five months north of the border playing a larger-than-life Wyoming game warden alongside Michael Dorman, Grier was looking forward to getting back to New York for the Tony Awards this week, where he’ll be up for his fourth nomination — and, he hopes, first win — for his role as a tyrannical technical sergeant in the 2020 Broadway production of “A Soldier’s Play.”“But there’s no Barneys anymore!” said Grier, who admitted he was craving a shopping trip to the defunct department store. “I’m still adjusting.”When we spoke, he discussed how his backyard grove of citrus trees got him through the pandemic, the comforts of all day Sunday cooking and the roots of his love of Black art. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.1. Citrus Trees During the pandemic, I planted about 14 citrus trees in my yard, and they became my obsession. I have kumquats, Valencia oranges, Ruby Red grapefruit, Cara Cara oranges that are deep red — they’re so sweet, they’re amazing. Whenever [expletive] got too crazy, I’d go water my trees. In fact, when the pomegranate one gave fruit last year, it was all split open, and I looked online and it said it was because I was overwatering the tree. My water bill was like $8,000 per month — it was like I was trying to wash Covid away.2. Vintage DenimWith my hours of free time during the pandemic, I’d go through every item of clothing on eBay and started going deeper into denim — Lee, Levi’s Deadstock, All American stuff. People were much littler in the ’50s, so to get something vintage that actually fits is such a joy. I own about 40 pairs of overalls, 27 denim jackets. My teenage daughter will be like “Oh my God, you’re wearing overalls again?”I went out to tea with my daughter in L.A. last year — she loves anime, so she was dressed as her favorite character, this Japanese fairy — and I had on these faded, vintage overalls. And this woman came up to us and goes, “I love your costumes — who are you supposed to be, a farmer?” My daughter was dying — she was like “No, that’s just what he wears.” Now I’ve weathered the tide, so I get compliments from young hipster people wherever I go. GQ called me a style god. For me, that’s bigger than a Tony.3. My Dogs I’m a lifelong dog lover, and I have two: Mr. Pickles is a Bluetick Coonhound, which is a hunting dog, and he is the loudest dog I’ve ever owned. He bays so loud — like this: [BAYS] — and does it all the time. He’s a problem child but we love him. Buttercup is a big-boned gal — body positive! — just trying to live in her truth.4. Playing the Guitar I’ve been playing — badly — since I was 12 years old. It’s a release and escape from politics, the virus, all that stuff. I wrote a list of tunes I wanted to learn — mostly blues, Rob Johnson, slide guitar. I used to write more songs, but now I mostly listen to old timey stuff — rhythm and blues, some musical theater. I used to always listen to Frank Sinatra in the car, and finally my daughter goes, “Oh, God, please don’t play that, I [expletive] hate it.” I was like, “What?” I was crushed.5. Conversations With His Late Father My father was the smartest person I knew — he went to college at 16, then went to medical school and became a psychiatrist. He’s been dead for six years, and I miss being able to use him as an intellectual and spiritual sounding board. I find myself talking, or posing questions, trying to talk to my brother about what my dad would have thought about this or that. I wish I could still get on the phone and talk to him, or just have him call me up and say “Can we vent? Can I rant?” It’s not like we had this great relationship when I was younger, but we had this détente when he got older. That’s how life goes.6. Being a Tourist in New York City I was living in an apartment in Times Square when I was doing “A Soldier’s Play,” and I can’t imagine how I’d have lived if I’d stayed in Manhattan during the pandemic. But I’m looking forward to getting back for the Tonys. I love walking around Central Park, going downtown and doing some shopping, getting dressed up and getting some fancy food. I really love the Armory Art Show and wish I could’ve been there for that. It’s all the super-touristy things I’ve been missing.7. Slow and Low Sunday Meals I’m by myself now while I’m up here working, but still, on Sundays, it’s in my veins to put on a pot, low and slow. I do a seafood soup or stew, or chicken soup from scratch — it takes all day, just kind of gurgling on the stove. It fills the house with that smell that’s just like, oh my God. My nephew, when he was really little, came over to my house for Christmas and I remember he got up early in the morning and said, “Uncle Dave, your house smells good.” [Laughs] If I were at home, it’d be short ribs, or oxtail and cheesy polenta, anything that takes all day.8. The Sermons of C.L. Franklin When Aretha Franklin came to see me on Broadway in “Porgy & Bess,” I remember telling her that I would listen to sermons that her dad gave in the 1950s. The cadence and rhythm of a Black preacher is in my bones, it’s in my soul — I love all of it. It’s just like being in church. He goes first to the announcements, like “We need this; we need that” or “We’re trying to raise more money here and there.” Then comes the sermon, the religious part. And he’d end with a story — usually a biblical story — that was perfectly crafted and choreographed so by the time he left the pulpit, it was a rock concert.9. Stetson Silverbelly Open Road Cowboy Hat That’s my favorite hat, man! The profile of this hat is an old white guy from the South in the 1960s. I never thought I’d be wearing that, but I love it. It’s an off-white, almost bone color because there’s no dye — they don’t treat the felt or the fur, so it really shows its wear, all the blemishes and sweat marks. I wear it as much as I can, and it’s broken in enough now that it feels just like an old pair of shoes.10. Collecting Black Artists I’ve been collecting for more than 20 years now. I really wanted to collect because I didn’t think I was able to — to even walk into a gallery and say, “I’m interested in that painting.” It’s like the art world does everything it can to repel you.I started collecting vintage movie posters, of all-Black cast movies, and from there I slowly moved into art — mostly emerging and midcareer Black American artists. Those were the artists I could afford, and they were the artists that represented and were painting the world in which I lived right now. I love finding new young artists. I’ve been collecting Walter Price for the past two years. When I saw his images, I immediately loved them — the crude figures, his use of color. Usually, I buy a couple of pieces, and then that person gets hot and famous, and I can’t afford them anymore. More

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    Bushwick Starr Gets New $2.2 Million Home

    The innovative Brooklyn performing arts space is moving three L stops away, to a former dairy plant in Bushwick — and prepping for a new chapter as a neighborhood cultural hub.The Bushwick Starr, an innovative nonprofit theater in Brooklyn, got some bad news during the pandemic: Its longtime second-floor Starr Street loft was being converted to residential housing.The theater would have to move.“It was an existential moment for our organization,” said Sue Kessler, who founded the Bushwick Starr in 2007 with Noel Joseph Allain and now serves as its creative director. “But with all the hardship everyone was experiencing last fall, we didn’t want to share more bad news until we knew where, or if, we would land.”Jarring as the June 2020 move-out notice was, Kessler said it was not exactly a surprise: They’d always known the building would eventually be brought up to code under New York City’s loft law, which requires its second and third floors to become residential. She and Allain had also felt themselves outgrowing their “beautiful, darling space” at 207 Starr Street, with its steep stairs and rickety chandeliers. “We’d long wanted to move down to street level to be more accessible,” she said.They looked at about 25 spaces in and around Bushwick, always with a long-term lease in mind. But the moment they laid eyes on a former dairy plant for sale at 419 Eldert Street, just over a mile and three L stops from their current space, they knew they’d hit the jackpot.“It had everything we wanted — a single story, a ground-floor lobby, 5,000 square feet of space,” said Allain, the theater’s artistic director. “And the price was much more within our reach than some of these other crazy, $10 million buildings we’d seen.”They bought the building in May 2021 for $2.2 million and got to work planning their new home. Construction is set to begin in April, and they intend to open in fall 2022.The renovated building will include a dressing room, rehearsal space, scenic workshop, office, gallery and an outdoor area for events. A black box theater will seat 90 people, up from 72 seats in the Starr Street space.But most important to Kessler and Allain is the accessible, street-level lobby, where they’re planning artist talks, film screenings and gallery shows to showcase the work of local artists. A folding garage door facade will also allow events to spill out onto the cul-de-sac street.And though the theater will no longer be on Starr Street, the name will remain.“We lucked out on that one,” Allain said, laughing (they’re still in Bushwick, by about 30 feet). Audience members participated in a Bushwick Starr production of “Definition,” a socially distant installation experience, over the summer.Maya SharpeA permanent neighborhood presence is a logical next step for the experimental theater, puppetry and dance space that’s served as an incubator for the work of the Tony-nominated playwright Jeremy O. Harris (“Slave Play”), and Daniel Fish, who directed the recent Tony-winning Broadway revival of “Oklahoma!”Kessler and Allain had been renting the Starr Street loft, which they converted to a black box theater, since 2001, when it served their now-defunct experimental theater company Fovea Floods. “There was no money,” Allain told The New York Times in 2014.It “was desperate, adventurous and maybe a little naïve,” Kessler added.But the Bushwick Starr — which opened several years before the neighborhood acquired its next-big-thing status and kombucha-on-tap bars — became home. The metal front door, painted brick and wooden support columns were dingy, yet elegant — and curiously welcoming. By 2010-11, it was a bright spot on the Off Off Broadway map.Now Kessler and Allain, who began working at the theater full time around 2012, can finally afford their own space. (Though Kessler says there are a couple of things she’ll miss about the Starr Street loft: The “glorious” city views and hydroponic garden on the roof deck.)The theater, which anticipates operating with an annual budget of about $1.5 million, has announced a three-year, $10 million capital campaign to raise funds to support the acquisition and renovation of the space, as well as for expanded programming. Allain said they have $6 million already committed from the city, private foundations and individual donors, but are relying on the campaign to raise the remaining $4 million.In the meantime, Allain and Kessler have a full season of shows planned for 2021-22, including four productions, all of which will be staged at other venues while the Eldert Street space is under construction.Kessler and Allain are excited to finally have an accessible, ground-floor space open to the community.Maya SharpeBut first, a celebration. Ellpetha Tsivicos and Camilo Quiroz-Vazquez, founders of the theater company One Whale’s Tale, are hosting an outdoor, quinceañera-themed block party at the new space on Oct. 10. The free event will have music, dancing and food, and will allow community members to peek inside the Starr’s new home before construction begins.In November, the season officially starts with the world premiere of Hillary Miller’s “Preparedness,” directed by Kristjan Thor, which follows the faculty members of a moribund theater department as they are forced to undergo self-defense training in order to maintain their funding, at HERE Arts Center (Nov. 11-Dec. 11). Next is a new iteration of Agnes Borinsky’s chamber play “A Song of Songs,” which is set to be staged in partnership with the Bushwick chapter of the social-justice organization El Puente at its Williamsburg location in early 2022.In the spring, the actor and playwright Ryan J. Haddad’s newest autobiographical play, “Dark Disabled Stories,” a series of vignettes about the strangers he encounters while navigating a city not built to accommodate his walker and cerebral palsy, directed by Jordan Fein. Closing out the season is a summer production of Tsivicos and Quiroz-Vazquez’s immersive “Quince” (Tsivicos directs), which follows a queer Chicana on the eve of her 15th birthday as she grapples with her identity as a first-generation American. Venues have not yet been decided for either show. The vaccination and mask policies for the four shows may vary and also have yet to be determined, Allain said.If all goes according to plan, the ribbon-cutting for their permanent home will take place in a little over a year. In a video call from the new space last week — which still looks very much like a warehouse — Allain seemed a bit in awe of the leap the theater was taking. “It’s the biggest lift we’ve ever tried as an organization,” he said. “It’s a bit of a moment of truth. I really hope people come through.” More

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    Seth Meyers Does His Best Tucker Carlson Impersonation

    Meyers mimicked the Fox News host on Monday night, saying Carlson could have a career in improv.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Breaking Conspiracy TheoriesSeth Meyers pointed to some of Fox News’ latest contradictions on Monday night, citing a recent poll finding a majority of viewers are in support of Covid precautions that differ greatly from the network’s Covid-19 talking points.“One way you can tell that the Republican Party is intellectually bankrupt is that they spend very little time talking about policy and a lot more time talking about bat [expletive] conspiracy theories they concocted out of nowhere,” Meyers said on Monday.“It’s so hard to keep up with the right-wing rumor mill that sometimes I’ll only find out about one after it’s been debunked. Yesterday I was scrolling through Twitter and saw a Snopes headline that said, ‘No, Joe Biden is not a Westworld Robot Created by George Soros to Steal Your Hamburgers,’ and I thought, ‘Oh, right, I forgot to tape “Judge Jeanine” last night.’” — SETH MEYERS“So, the left is focused on trying to pass a far-reaching bill that would transform child care, expand the social safety net and tackle climate change, among other things, and what’s the MAGA crowd doing? Are they offering any alternative solutions? Or are they asking Eric Trump about Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend’s swollen balls?” — SETH MEYERSThe “Late Night” host pointed to Tucker Carlson’s alarmist delivery and did an inspired impersonation.“I will say this, though: If cable news ever gets boring for Tucker, he’d make a hell of an improviser because my man knows how to heighten. [Imitating Carlson] If they can force you take a vaccine, what can’t they force you to do? Can they force you to take psychotropic meds? Make you wear a seatbelt? Make you put your shoes on at Olive Garden even though they tell you, ‘When you’re here, you’re family?’ And then when you try to fill a briefcase with unlimited breadsticks, can they call security?” — SETH MEYERSThe Punchiest Punchlines (Half a Shot Edition)“Big news today, as Pfizer announced that a low dose of its vaccine is safe and effective for kids ages 5 to 11. It’s great news until you hear a 6-year-old say, ‘I want to do my own research first.’” — JIMMY FALLON“Meanwhile, 4-year-olds are like, ‘Yeah, don’t mind us; we’ll just keep Clorox-wiping our Legos, OK?’” — JIMMY FALLON“According to a Pfizer board member, a vaccine for children could be available by the end of October. Well, I know what I’ll be handing out for Halloween — a fun-sized Pfizer.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Yeah, it’s a version of the Pfizer vaccine that’s much, much weaker, so they’re calling it Johnson & Johnson.” — JIMMY FALLON“Of course, a lot of kids will get the vaccine while a small minority will insist on taking pony dewormer, because they’re children.” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingTrevor Noah announced the nominations for this year’s Pandemmy Awards on “The Daily Show.”What We’re Excited About on Tuesday NightBob Woodward and Robert Costa will pop by Tuesday’s “Late Show” to talk about their new book, “Peril.”Also, Check This OutJosh O’Connor won an Emmy for his turn as Prince Charles in “The Crown.” The Netflix series won several awards Sunday night.CBS“The Crown” swept this year’s Emmys, winning several awards, including Best Drama. More

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    Irma Kalish, TV Writer Who Tackled Social Issues, Dies at 96

    A female trailblazer in the TV industry, she and her husband took on topics like rape and abortion in writing for sitcoms like “All in the Family” and “Maude.”Irma Kalish, a television writer who tackled abortion, rape and other provocative issues in many of the biggest comedy hits of the 1960s and beyond as she helped usher women into the writer’s room, died on Sept. 3 in Woodland Hills, Calif. She was 96. Her death, at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home, was attributed to complications of pneumonia, her son, Bruce Kalish, a television producer, said.Ms. Kalish’s work in television comedy broke the mold for female writers. What women there were in the industry around midcentury had mostly been expected to write tear-jerking dramas, but beginning in the early 1960s Ms. Kalish made her mark in comedy, notably writing for Norman Lear’s caustic, socially conscious sitcoms “All in the Family” and its spinoff “Maude” in the ’70s.She did much of her writing in partnership with her husband, Austin Kalish. They shared offices at studios around Los Angeles, usually working at facing desks producing alternating drafts of scripts.“When I became a writer, I was one of the very first woman comedy writers and later producers,” Ms. Kalish said in an oral history for the Writers Guild Foundation in 2010. She added, referring to her husband by his nickname, “One producer actually thought that I must not be writing — I must be just doing the typing, and Rocky was doing the writing.”To combat sexism in the industry, she said, “I just became one of the guys.”Ms. Kalish moderated an event sponsored by the Writers Guild in Los Angeles. She made a mark writing for Norman Lear’s topical sitcoms “All in the Family” and “Maude.”  Richard Hartog/Los Angeles Times via GettyWriting for “Maude,” Ms. Kalish and her husband, who died in 2016, worked on the contentious two-part episode “Maude’s Dilemma” (1972), in which the title character, a strong-minded suburban wife and grandmother in her late 40s (played by Bea Arthur), had an abortion. When it was broadcast, Roe v. Wade had just been argued in the United States Supreme Court and would be decided within months, making abortion legal nationwide. Controversy over the episode rose swiftly; dozens of CBS affiliates declined to show it.Mr. and Ms. Kalish earned a “story by” credit, and Susan Harris was credited as the script writer; Mr. Kalish said in an interview in 2012 that he and Ms. Kalish had come up with the idea for the episode.Lynne Joyrich, a professor in the modern culture and media department at Brown University, called the episode a watershed moment for women’s issues onscreen. “Maude’s Dilemma” and episodes like it, she said, demonstrated “the way in which the everyday is also political.”The Kalishs’ takes on social issues also found their way into “All in the Family.” One episode centered on Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton), the wife of the bigoted Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor), weathering a breast cancer scare. Another focused on the couple’s daughter, Gloria (Sally Struthers), as the victim of a rape attempt.The topical scripts “elevated us in the eyes of the business,” Mr. Kalish said in a joint interview with Ms. Kalish for the Archive of American Television conducted in 2012.Mr. and Ms. Kalish were executive producers of another 1970s hit sitcom, “Good Times,” about a Black family in a Chicago housing project, and continued to write for that program and numerous others.Ms. Kalish’s career spanned decades, beginning in the mid-1950s, and included writing credits for more than three dozen shows, many that would make up a pantheon of baby boomers’ favorite sitcoms, among them “The Patty Duke Show,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “My Favorite Martian,” “F Troop,” “My Three Sons” and “Family Affair.” She also had producing credits on some 16 shows, including “The Facts of Life” and “Valerie.”Ms. Kalish’s work laid a track for other female sitcom writers to follow. As she said to the comedian Amy Poehler in an interview in 2013 for Ms. Poehler’s Web series, “Smart Girls at the Party,” “You are a descendant of mine, so to speak.”Ms. Poehler, beaming, agreed.Irma May Ginsberg was born on Oct. 6, 1924, in Manhattan. Her mother, Lillian (Cutler) Ginsberg, was a homemaker. Her father, Nathan Ginsberg, was a business investor.Irma attended Julia Richman High School on the Upper East Side and went on to Syracuse University, where she studied journalism and graduated in 1945. She married Mr. Kalish, the brother of a childhood friend, in 1948 after corresponding with him while he was stationed in Bangor, Maine, during World War II.After the couple moved to Los Angeles, Mr. Kalish became a comedy writer for radio and television. Ms. Kalish worked as an editor for a pulp magazine called “Western Romance” before leaving to stay home with their two children. Her first writing credit, on the dramatic series “The Millionaire,” came in 1955.She joined the Writers Guild in 1964 and began writing with her husband more consistently. The Writer’s Guild Foundation, in their “The Writer Speaks” video series, called them “one of the more successful sitcom-writer-couples of the 20th century.”Ms. Kalish was active in the Writers Guild of America West chapter and in Women in Film, an advocacy group, serving as its president.The couple’s last television credit was in 1998, for the comedy series “The Famous Jett Jackson,” which was produced by their son, Bruce. They wrote a script dealing with ageism.Along with her son, she is survived by her sister and only sibling, Harriet Alef; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Her daughter, Nancy Biederman, died in 2016. In the interview with the Archive of American Television, Ms. Kalish expressed her desire to be known as her own person, not just Austin Kalish’s wife and writing partner.“Sure, God made man before woman,” she said, “but then you always do a first draft before you make a final masterpiece.” More

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    Watch These Two New Shows Starting This Week

    Fall TV is back, and our critic recommends a thoughtful reboot and a new scripted series about reality shows.This is the web version of our Watching newsletter, in which Margaret offers hyper-specific viewing recommendations like these every Monday and Friday. Read her latest picks below, and sign up for Watching here.Dear Watchers,The Emmys were last night. You can catch up on all our coverage here.Have a beautiful week.I want something new.Simone Recasner, left, and Ser’Darius Blain in a scene from “The Big Leap.” Sandy Morris/Fox‘The Big Leap’When to watch: Monday at 9 p.m., on Fox.This new light drama is set behind the scenes of a reality show, also called “The Big Leap,” which means the series gets to have it both ways: We get the contrived but alluring arcs of a reality competition with some of the more earnest, more textured parts of a feel-good scripted show.Scott Foley stars as the scheming producer of a new competition show that casts amateur dancers in Detroit and stages a nontraditional production of “Swan Lake.” (Would watch!) Our heroine is Gabby (Simone Recasner), a young woman who decides to audition for the show and whose dancing dreams were derailed when she had her son right out of high school. Recasner is easily the breakout star of this TV season, so Gabby burns a bit brighter than all the other characters.After the scathing, glorious first season of “UnReal,” I was hoping we’d get more scripted shows about reality shows — it just seems like such a fertile premise, especially given how familiar we as viewers are with the standards and styles of unscripted series. “The Big Leap” is nowhere near as prickly as “UnReal,” but it, too, definitely sees “reality” production as sleazy and manipulative. The difference is that in “The Big Leap,” the overall tone is a sunnier one.There’s a corny predictability afoot, but that didn’t really bother me — that’s a foundational comfort of shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” and “The Voice.” We know what will happen; it’s not the what, it’s the who, and sometimes the when. That can be trickier on scripted serialized dramas, but if you still think the pilot of “Glee” was good (it was), watch this.Uh, something else new, but also sort of less new.Dulé Hill in a scene from the reboot of “The Wonder Years.”Erika Doss/ABC‘The Wonder Years’When to watch: Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., on ABC.Few shows arrive as fully hatched as this reboot of “The Wonder Years,” still set in the late 1960s but this time centering on a Black family in Alabama. Dean (Elisha Williams) just turned 12, the age when “a boy starts smelling himself,” according to grown-up Dean’s narration (provided by Don Cheadle).The show of course feels like “The Wonder Years,” but it also feels a lot like “The Young Rock,” “The Goldbergs,” “Fresh Off the Boat” or “Everybody Hates Chris,” family shows set in the past, maybe with a knowing voice-over from a famous actor, with a habit for communicating sage lessons about growing up. This is on the richer, more dramatic side of the spectrum rather than the strictly comedic one.You already know if you like shows like this; if you do, you will.Also this weekA scene from the final season of “Dear White People.”Lara Solanki/Netflix Two seasons of “Drunk History Mexico” are now on Paramount+.“9-1-1” returns for its fifth season Monday at 8 p.m. on Fox.Season 30 of “Dancing With the Stars” begins Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC.“The Voice” starts its 21st season Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC.“Star Wars: Visions,” an anthology of “Star Wars” anime shorts, arrives Wednesday, on Disney+.The season finale of “Nine Perfect Strangers” arrives Wednesday, on Hulu.The final batch of episodes of “Dear White People” arrives Wednesday, on Netflix.The ninth season premiere of “The Goldbergs” airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. on ABC.The season finale of “The Other Two” arrives Thursday, on HBO Max. So far the show has not been renewed for a third season, which is outrageous — this is the most dazzlingly biting show on TV right now, funny and naughty and great.The season finale of “Holey Moley” airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC.“Law and Order: SVU” returns for its 23rd season Thursday at 8 p.m. on NBC. More

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    2021 Emmys: Best and Worst Moments

    Streaming services dominated a ceremony that suggested that for all of TV’s evolution, some aspects of the Emmys will always be with us.The Emmy Awards were back to being mostly in person after last year’s virtual ceremony, with TV’s best and brightest amassing in a classed-up event tent with banquet-style seating reminiscent of the Golden Globes.It was a more informal approach to TV’s biggest night, one that was not appreciated by all attendees as the Delta variant rages on. (“There’s way too many of us in this little room,” said Seth Rogen, the night’s first presenter.) But the new format was apt for a night that perhaps heralded a new chapter of TV history, or at least the official recognition of the streaming-dominated era most of us already take for granted.For the first time, streaming services won all of the major series awards, with Netflix’s “The Crown” winning top drama and “The Queen’s Gambit,” also on Netflix, taking best limited series. “Ted Lasso,” on Apple TV+, was named best comedy. These shows and a couple of worthy challengers — “Hacks” on HBO Max, “Mare of Easttown” on HBO proper — dominated the categories.The result was an awards ceremony that both signaled new beginnings and announced a handful of titles over and over and over. In the time between, it suggested that for all of TV’s evolution, some aspects of the Emmys — dud bits, overlong speeches, occasional moments of true inspiration — will always be with us. JEREMY EGNERCedric opened with a tribute to TV … and Biz Markie.Cedric the Entertainer opened the Emmy Awards broadcast with a riff on the Biz Markie song “Just a Friend.” CBSCedric the Entertainer promised that with him as the host, the Emmys broadcast would be a little different this year. Different how? The first hints arrived immediately, when Cedric put off the traditional opening monologue in favor of a song that immediately infused the show with energy.“TV, you’ve got what I need,” he sang, riffing on the song “Just a Friend” by Biz Markie, who died this past July. Rita Wilson, LL Cool J, Lil Dicky and others joined in with verses of their own.Cedric did eventually offer a traditional monologue after the first two awards, variously skewering The Met Gala, Nicki Minaj and Billy Porter. “Look at this room, man, so many talented people in here,” Cedric said. “Matter of fact, lock the doors — we’re not leaving until we find a new host for ‘Jeopardy!’” MATT STEVENSIs there an echo in here?“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” won two awards on Sunday night, one of just a handful of shows that combined to gobble up a big share of the wins.CBSIn the first hour of the show, the first two awards went to “Ted Lasso,” the second two to “Mare of Easttown,” the next four to “The Crown” and then the next two to “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.”I’m not saying these aren’t good shows — some of them are great shows! But there’s a lot of variety on television, more than the Emmys seem to know about. Monotony is a vice. MARGARET LYONS‘Hacks’ gave ‘Ted Lasso’ a run for the money.Jean Smart won best actress for her role in the HBO Max showbiz comedy “Hacks.”CBSThe relentlessly optimistic Apple TV+ comedy “Ted Lasso” was expected by many prognosticators to clean up in the various comedy categories on Sunday. But after a couple of hours, the night had evolved unexpectedly into a two-horse race between that show and the more acerbic HBO Max showbiz comedy “Hacks.”“Ted Lasso” started strong, taking home top honors in three of the four comedic acting categories, including a best actor Emmy for Jason Sudeikis. The show was also nominated for best comedy writing and directing, but in something of a surprise, both of those awards went to “Hacks.”The HBO Max series picked up its third straight award when Jean Smart won for best comedic actress. Suddenly, the best comedy category, which had seemed like a lock for “Ted Lasso,” got more interesting.But only for about an hour. In the end, “Ted Lasso” took the top trophy, as expected. The suspense was fun while it lasted. SARAH BAHRyyyyYEAAAHHH!Cue the “Ted Lasso” music … again. CBSI love “Ted Lasso,” but this is too many times to hear the opening bars of its theme song.Perhaps next time a show is nominated multiple times in multiple categories, the nominee clip segments can use a variety of music from the show, and not just the same 1.5 seconds over and over, and then maybe when people from that show win, we can also shake up some of the music design. MARGARET LYONSDebbie Allen won the Governor’s AwardDebbie Allen, receiving the Governors Award, a de facto lifetime achievement honor.CBSDebbie Allen, the actor, writer, director, choreographer and producer (among other things), was given this year’s Governor’s Award. It is a de facto lifetime achievement honor, but Allen is still plenty productive — last week she won two Creative Arts Emmys for her work on “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” for Netflix.“It’s taken lot of courage to be the only woman in the room most of the time,” Allen said in a pointed speech that paid tribute to all women, all over the globe. “Let this moment resonate with women across this country and across the world, from Texas to Afghanistan.”She continued:Young people who have no vote, who can’t even get a vaccine — they’re inheriting a world that we leave them. It is time for you to claim your power, claim your voice, say your song, tell your stories. It will make us a better place. Your turn.It was a good reminder that while much of TV looks far different than it did even a few years ago, some of its most transcendent talents have been at this for decades. JEREMY EGNERMichaela Coel won her first Emmy.Michaela Coel addressed her acceptance speech to all the writers listening and dedicated her series “I May Destroy You” to “every single survivor of sexual assault.”CBSAfter it was snubbed by the Golden Globes, the HBO limited series “I May Destroy You” received some measure of awards justice when it received six Primetime Emmy nominations.And on Sunday night, Michaela Coel — the show’s creator and star, as well as a writer and co-director — won her first ever Emmy Award, for limited series writing. That also made her the first Black woman to win in that category. In her acceptance speech, Coel told the audience to “write the tale that scares you, that makes you feel uncertain, that isn’t comfortable.”“I dare you,” she continued. “Visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success. Do not be afraid to disappear from it, from us for a while, and see what comes to you in the silence. I dedicate this story to every single survivor of sexual assault.” LAURA ZORNOSAConan won only our hearts.Conan O’Brien, who wrapped up nearly 30 years as a late-night host in June, didn’t win any awards on Sunday night. But perhaps no one had more fun.He mugged for the cameras when John Oliver — who once again won the variety talk Emmy — paid tribute to him during his acceptance speech. He enlivened the annual energy vacuum that is the address from the Television Academy president. And when “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” won for best variety special, for its live election show, O’Brien bounded onstage with the show’s contingent.“Most of the people behind me really deserve this Emmy right now,” Colbert said. But O’Brien deserves our appreciation for inserting a note of chaos into a long night of predictable self-congratulation. JEREMY EGNER‘Mare of Easttown’ put ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ in check … but not for long.Kate Winslet won best actress in a limited series for her role in the gloomy HBO murder mystery “Mare of Easttown.”CBSAs has often been the case in recent years, the best limited series trophy seemed the most up for grabs among the top awards heading into Sunday night. The picture grew sunny early for the somber HBO murder mystery “Mare of Easttown,” after the supporting actress and actor awards were snatched up by Julianne Nicholson and Evan Peters.The series, which garnered praise for the way it nailed the look, feel, sound and salty attitude of the people of Delaware County, Pa., became appointment viewing last spring. Its odds for winning the top prize seemed only to increase when Kate Winslet also won best actress for her role as the title character, Detective Mare Sheehan.Like Anya Taylor-Joy’s drug-addled chess champion, however “The Queen’s Gambit” was not easily vanquished. Though it came up short in the acting categories, it won big on look and feel — 11 Emmys total, including for direction, cinematography, editing, costumes, makeup and music — and went on to win the top limited series prize. SARAH BAHRRobin Thede melted down.HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show” may not have won an Emmy against the perennial hardware-collector “Saturday Night Live.” But in a few seconds, its star Robin Thede showed why she’s one of the biggest talents in TV comedy right now. Her comically incensed response to the announcement was a sketch in itself, testimony to the outsized characters she embodies on her own show. Maybe before long that’ll take her all the way to the acceptance podium. JAMES PONIEWOZIKHamilton Is Not TV.The “Hamilton” streaming on Disney+, which is a filmed version of the Tony-winning stage musical, won for best prerecorded variety special.CBSThe Revolutionary War musical, which won the Emmy for prerecorded variety special(!), is a remarkable work of theater. It deservingly won Tonys for that. That it was captured on camera does not make it television — at least not the kind of TV art the Emmys should reward over the likes of Bo Burnham’s “Inside,” a stunning and original treatment of isolation and digital overload in a year much of its audience spent bouncing off the walls. JAMES PONIEWOZIKOlivia Colman started a new royal tradition.Olivia Colman won best actress in a drama series for playing Queen Elizabeth II in “The Crown,” the second actress to win that award for that role. Television Academy, via Associated PressOlivia Colman’s Emmy win for best lead actress in a drama for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II on Netflix’s “The Crown” created an unusual situation on Sunday. Two different actors have now won that award for playing the same role in the same series.Colman took over the role for the third and fourth seasons of the popular Netflix series as part of a broad, preplanned change over of the show’s principal characters meant to help better reflect their advancing ages.And so now, away goes Colman after her two-season turn as queen. And in will step Imelda Staunton for Seasons 5 and 6. We won’t know until next year whether she will complete a royal Emmy trifecta. MATT STEVENSScott Frank might still be up there.No one plays Scott Frank off the stage.  CBSBeth Harmon spent less time on many victories than Scott Frank did on his victory speech.The co-creator of “The Queen’s Gambit,” who won an Emmy for directing in a limited series, defied the play-off music not once, not twice, but three times as he read from his acceptance essay. Twitter, as is its wont, noticed.The series may be limited but a creator’s self-regard? Maybe not. TV keeps on changing but the Emmys are eternal. JEREMY EGNER More

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    Michaela Coel Wins Her First Emmy Award

    After it was controversially snubbed by the Golden Globes, the HBO limited series “I May Destroy You” received some measure of awards justice when it received six Primetime Emmy nominations.And on Sunday night, Michaela Coel — its creator, writer, co-director and star — won her first ever Emmy Award, for limited series writing. That also made her the first Black woman to win in that category.In her acceptance speech, Coel told the audience to “write the tale that scares you, that makes you feel uncertain, that isn’t comfortable.”“I dare you,” she continued. “Visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success. Do not be afraid to disappear from it, from us for a while, and see what comes to you in the silence. I dedicate this story to every single survivor of sexual assault.”Immediately after Coel won, she was congratulated by Cynthia Erivo, one of her former co-stars on her first series, “Chewing Gum.” Olivia Colman, who starred in “The Crown,” later saluted Coel in her own acceptance speech for best lead actress in a drama.“I May Destroy You” had racked up all of its nominations in the stacked limited series category: best limited series and best actress (Coel), supporting actor (Paapa Essiedu), writing (Coel) and two nods for directing (Coel and Sam Miller for the “Ego Death” episode and Sam Miller for “Eyes Eyes Eyes Eyes”).“‘I May Destroy You’ is a coming-of-age story, a generational snapshot and a tart, tender salute to the primal value of friendship when you’re young and underemployed,” wrote the New York Times TV critic Mike Hale in June 2020. “Its plot is built around a hazily remembered rape (based on Coel’s own experience), and the processes of recovery and investigation that follow. But the show is never just about that.” More

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    What’s on TV This Week: ‘The Big Leap’ and ‘The Wonder Years’

    A new comedy series on Fox follows a group of people auditioning for a TV dance competition . And a reboot of “The Wonder Years” debuts on ABC.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Sept. 20-26. Details and times are subject to change.MondayTHE BIG LEAP 9 p.m. on Fox. Monday night will bring the premiere episodes of two new shows that Mike Hale, the New York Times television critic, included in his list of 31 television shows to watch this fall. First up is Fox’s “The Big Leap,” a scripted comedy from Liz Heldens (“Friday Night Lights,” “The Passage”) about a group of people auditioning for a TV dance competition. Next, at 10 p.m., NBC will debut ORDINARY JOE, a drama that follows a man (James Wolk) who is faced with a life-changing decision. We see him live three parallel lives that result from his choice. In one, he’s a doctor. In another, he’s a police officer. In the third, he’s a rock star.TuesdayFrom left, Warren Stevens, Leslie Nielsen, Richard Anderson and Jack Kelly in “Forbidden Planet.”MGMFORBIDDEN PLANET (1956) 6:15 p.m. on TCM. When this science-fiction classic debuted in 1956, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer screened it at the Globe (now the Lunt-Fontanne Theater) on Broadway. That audiences viewed “Forbidden Planet” at a venue which shared its name with the Elizabethan playhouse where Shakespeare debuted many of his plays is fitting: The film shares more than a little DNA with “The Tempest.” It stars Leslie Nielsen as the commander of a spacecraft sent to investigate a colony of scientists left on a far-off planet years before. There, he finds that Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and Altaira, the doctor’s daughter (Anne Francis), are the only survivors of the colony. As the film goes on, he (and the audience) begin to learn why. The Times critic Bosley Crowther wrote that the movie offers audiences “the gaudiest layout of gadgets this side of a Florida hotel.” It would have more competition these days, of course, thanks to the decades of gaudy sci-fi films that have come out since — and which “Forbidden Planet” helped inspire.UP (2009) 5 p.m. on Freeform. The actor Ed Asner died late last month at 91. Whether you associate him with “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” on which he played a crotchety journalist, or with Pixar’s “Up” may depend on your date of birth. For some, he’ll forever be associated with Carl Fredricksen, the widower from “Up” who attaches about one hundred birthday parties’ worth of balloons to his house, then sets off for South America without realizing that there’s a young stowaway on his vessel. For another do-it-yourself tribute tied to an August celebrity death, leave “Up” on for the kids and go to the next room to hear the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who died in late August at 80, in Martin Scorsese’ THE DEPARTED (2006), which airs at 7 p.m. on Paramount Network and opens with the Stones’s “Gimme Shelter.”WednesdayElisha Williams in “The Wonder Years.”Erika Doss/ABCTHE WONDER YEARS 8:30 p.m. on ABC. The Times television critic Mike Hale included this ABC reboot in his list of 31 television shows to watch this fall. The show is based on the coming-of-age series of the same name, which starred Fred Savage and ran for six seasons beginning in 1988. Like the original, the new version opens in the late 1960s and centers on a boy (Elisha Williams) and his family. This time, though, that family is Black and living in Montgomery, Ala., which has been transformed by the Civil Rights Movement. Don Cheadle narrates.ThursdayKENNY ROGERS: ALL IN FOR THE GAMBLER 9 p.m. CBS. This tribute concert for the country star Kenny Rogers was recorded before Rogers’s death last year. It includes performances from Dolly Parton, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, Lionel Richie, Reba McEntire and more artists, who play songs and tell anecdotes about their own connection with Rogers and his music.FridayTHE SHOW (2021) 9 p.m. on Showtime. Every Super Bowl halftime show requires a dizzying amount of planning and preparation, but the Weeknd’s performance this year called for a special kind of choreography: dancing around pandemic-era limitations. This documentary covers the planning and execution of that performance.SaturdayIn “Promising Young Woman,” Carey Mulligan plays a woman set on avenging the sexual assault of her college best friend.Focus FeaturesPROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020) 8 p.m. on HBO. Emerald Fennell won an Academy Award for her screenplay for this dark revenge thriller. Perhaps more important, she prompted a lot of discussion about sexual assault and accountability through the story of Cassandra (Carey Mulligan), a woman set on avenging the sexual assault of her college best friend years before. Cassandra’s trajectory is briefly altered after she reconnects with a former classmate (Bo Burnham) — but then ramps up to an intense finale. In her review for The Times, Jeannette Catsoulis praised Mulligan’s performance but found the movie itself to be less effective. “Mulligan lends depth and sensitivity to a character that’s little more than a vengeful doll,” Catsoulis wrote. “Supporting performances from Laverne Cox, as Cassandra’s sardonic boss, and Alison Brie, as a former school friend, add snap and texture to a movie that’s too tentative to sell the damage at its core.”SundayTHE TONY AWARDS PRESENT: BROADWAY’S BACK! 9 p.m. on CBS. The Tony Awards are on Sunday night. You’ll need an internet connection to watch most of it: The live ceremony is being shown exclusively on the streaming service Paramount+ beginning at 7 p.m. At 9 p.m., both CBS and Paramount+ will show a special, “Broadway’s Back!,” in which three key awards will be presented: best play, best revival of a play and best musical. The special will also include performances of Broadway classics and songs from a few of the musicals that are up for the best musical awards, including the night’s most-nominated show, “Jagged Little Pill.” More