Television

Meyers said wearing a mask was the polite thing to do, like removing your shoes when asked: “You don’t make a big show of leaving them on and tracking mud everywhere.” More

Janelle Monáe stars in the second season of Amazon’s “Homecoming.” And a documentary about Norma McCorvey debuts on FX. More

[embedded content]The NBC drama “Smash,” though both loved and abhorred when it premiered in 2012, has since grown into a cult favorite among theater buffs. There were flashy musical numbers! Christian Borle sitting at a piano! The high stakes of putting on a show! (Critics were less thrilled.)But the series — about two songwriters creating a Broadway-bound Marilyn Monroe bio-musical and the potential stars competing for the leading role — burned bright and short, canceled after two seasons of disastrous ratings. Now, for the “Smash” loyalists waiting for a comeback, there is a glimmer of good news: The series is being reimagined for the stage, where perhaps it belonged all along.The adaptation will be based on the soapy ups and downs of “Smash” — not its fictional show-within-a-show “Bombshell,” as originally announced under a different production team five years ago, nor its other show-within-a-show, the grittier downtown “Hit List,” that was staged as a concert at 54 Below after the demise of the series in 2013.And though the musical will include many of the same songs written for television by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the plot will “depart liberally from the series,” the production said in a release.The stage musical has not announced any timeline, but it boasts a hefty slate of producers: Steven Spielberg, who served as an executive producer on the series; Robert Greenblatt, who was chairman of NBC Entertainment when “Smash” was on the air; and Neil Meron, another “Smash” executive producer who also produced the movie musicals “Chicago” in 2002 and “Hairspray” in 2007.Bob Martin, who wrote the books for “The Prom” and “The Drowsy Chaperone,” will write the book for “Smash” with Rick Elice, who penned “Jersey Boys” and “Peter and the Starcatcher.”And Joshua Bergasse, who won an Emmy Award for his choreography in the original series, will return to the same role for the musical.The original cast of “Smash” included a slew of familiar faces from Broadway: Borle, Megan Hilty, Jeremy Jordan, Leslie Odom Jr., Brian d’Arcy James, Krysta Rodriguez and others. Some, like Debra Messing and Katharine McPhee, would go on to play leading Broadway roles after the series ended.“Smash” was also known for bringing aboard an array of powerhouse guest stars, including Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli and a pre-“Hamilton” Lin-Manuel Miranda. More

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. We’re all stuck at home at the moment, so here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Mail InsecurityOn Wednesday, President Trump incorrectly asserted that Michigan and Nevada were engaging in voter fraud, accusing both states of sending mail ballots to its residents. His comments were followed by a threat to pull federal funding from these states and any others that allowed voting by mail.“I guess in Trump’s mind, voting should be like your wife smiling at you: once a year, in public, and never at home,” Trevor Noah joked on Wednesday night’s “The Daily Social Distancing Show.”[embedded content]“There are two surefire ways to piss Donald Trump off: showing him that shirtless photo of Obama, and giving people access to mail-in votes.” — TREVOR NOAH“President Trump today accused officials in Michigan of illegally sending out almost eight million absentee ballots and claimed he would withhold funding from the state if they, quote, ‘want to go down this voter fraud path.’ Yeah, you’d hate for us to get rid of our foolproof system of showing up to an abandoned library where an octogenarian looks for your name in a big binder, can’t find it, then finally says, ‘I don’t know. Just go ahead.’” — SETH MEYERS“And, by the way, Michigan isn’t sending out ballots, they’re sending out mail-in ballot applications, just like a bunch of Republican states are also doing. So clearly Trump is just looking for an excuse to avoid losing. As the election gets closer, Trump is going to get crazier. He’s going to be like one of those second-graders playing sports. [imitating Trump] ‘The results from Wisconsin don’t count. I didn’t say I was ready. Didn’t say I was ready. OK, I’m ready now — Florida, I win!’” — TREVOR NOAHThe Punchiest Punchlines (Georgia Edition)“The Georgia Department of Public Health posted a bar chart that appeared to show that new confirmed cases had dropped each day over two weeks. Good news, until it turned out that chart put the days in the wrong order. The Georgia Department of Public Health is just a little confused. It explains their sign, ‘Put a mask on your elbow and cough directly into the face.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Now, we know Georgia did this because they left the dates on the chart. Apparently, in the Peach State, the calendar goes April 30, May 4, May 6, May 5, May 2, May 7, and then April 26. Come on, Georgia. At least try to hide the lie. When your parents come home to a house full of teenagers and alcohol, you don’t say, ‘No, I didn’t have a party while you were gone. My party is scheduled for next Friday, which, as you know, here in Georgia, was last Tuesday — and I have coronavirus.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“But take it from me, Georgia: cheating only hurts you in the long run. Yeah. When I was in school, I forged straight A’s on my biology report card instead of studying, and to this day, I still don’t know where my labia is.” — TREVOR NOAHThe Bits Worth WatchingKaren Chee, a writer with “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” shares how she’s celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month by doing things like being “grateful” to a man who tells her to “go back to Korea” — since, she notes, South Korea has controlled the coronavirus epidemic.What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightJoe Biden will chat about the latest malarkey with Stephen Colbert on Thursday’s “A Late Show.”Also, Check This OutImageThe New York Times Book Review’s Summer Reading special has its selections for the best things to read during the warm-weather months. More