As we pay five dollars for avocados and start hoarding champagne and Bordeaux, and we wonder yet again who that chameleon Gavin Newsom really is, TV news feels more crucial than ever. And yet it's sickening to watch the Trump-Musk reality series every day, with his billionaire oligarchy Cabinet.
Out gay Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, himself a billionaire, told MSNBC's Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press" that the American Dream was not "cheap bobbles from China" when she asked about the impact of Trump's lunatic tariffs and the threat of a recession.
Seriously? Does no one remember that Trump ran on ending high grocery prices, lowering the cost of eggs which are now about $1.50 per egg, or that the stock market would crash if he lost the election? Given the state of the State, it's unsurprising how many series based on real-life stories and podcasts are becoming series TV.
Twists & turns
The latest in this genre is Hulu's original drama "Good American Family," which starts March 19. The series has everything. It's a thriller, it's a mystery, it's full of shocking twists and incredible turns. It also represents a new break out role for ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo, who is the second-longest running series star on TV after "Law & Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay. Hargitay is now in season 26, Pompeo is in season 21.
"Good American Family" is quite the turn from "Grey's" Meredith Grey, a surgeon, mother, researcher, sister and friend who has been through every conceivable trauma and loss over 21 seasons of the hit medical drama.
Pompeo plays Kristine Barnett, who with her husband Michael (Mark Duplass), adopt a seven-year-old child, Natalia Grace (Imogen Faith Reid) with a rare form of dwarfism.
But as the story begins to evolve, questions arise. And the conflicts over the adoption, which was supposed to draw the Barnetts closer, start to create a chasm between Kristine and Michael which Natalia uses –or does she?– to her own advantage.
Pompeo told The Hollywood Reporter that she had been looking to try something different after being on "Grey's" for decades. She said she had not seen the documentary, "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" that had captivated so many viewers, but "then I got the script and read it and was blown away by the first episode."
Co-creator and showrunner Katie Robbins told The Hollywood Reporter that she had wanted to utilize different perspectives in the drama which begins by being told from Kristine's and then Michael's points of view, but then everything shifts. "All of a sudden all the things we thought were fact we begin to question," Robbins said. "We start to grapple with our own biases in these unexpected ways."
British actress Reid said she wanted to bring her own take to Natalia's story and, "I just wanted to give her that empowerment and just that light was seen and that fight for justice."
Could "Good American Family" sound more intriguing? What a story for this time, definitely must-watch TV.
Grey scale
Speaking of "Grey's Anatomy," one of our fave out lesbian actors (and directors and producers) Lena Waithe has joined "Grey's" for a gay story arc. Waithe plays Dr. Evynn Moore who has come to Grey Sloan Memorial as a former student of Dr. Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) seeking help for her wife, who has a unique medical problem.
Of course, Waithe tears up the screen. She is so good in everything. We last saw Waithe keeping company with Oscar-nominee Cynthia Erivo at the Oscars as Erivo's plus-one and we were definitely intrigued. Erivo came out as bisexual on the pages of British Vogue in 2022 and has talked about "coming to terms with being queer," including on "The Kelly Clarkson Show."
"I stand here in front of you as a Black, bald-headed, pierced and queer woman. I know a thing or two about being Other," Erivo said at a gala last year for the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center where Erivo was given the Schrader Award by Jada Pinkett-Smith.
The Tony Award-winning star of "Wicked" spoke about how much she had always admired those who were able to be authentically out. It was a very moving testament and one that so many watching "Wicked" will have their own opportunity to embrace as Erivo's earnestness about her coming out touches them.
Doctor, doctor
Throughout our relentless hospital stay, where we have been since January 22 because cancer is a slog, we delight in our afternoon guilty pleasure, ABC's "General Hospital." We have watched this soap opera off and on since we were kids, so there is a feeling of familiarity that is why people still gravitate to soaps and telenovelas: five days a week with these characters pulls one in and "GH" has great storylines, a lot of solid acting and compelling cliffhangers.
For the past few months Brad Cooper (Parry Shen) has been working out in the gym and working his blackmailing of chief of staff Dr. Portia Robinson to find ways to lure Dr. Lucas Jones (Van Hansis), his ex-husband, back to him.
Brad got Portia to agree to send him to the same medical conference that GH is sending Lucas to, even though it's for doctors and Brad is a lab tech. But he finds an entree at the conference and Portia agrees to send him.
In the interim Brad keeps trying to reignite the spark between him and Lucas, turning up in the locker room with his favorite donuts or being commiserative over crises Lucas is having at work.
But Lucas is trying to move on from Brad, and from his time away from Port Charles. He goes on a blind date with a model arranged by a friend, but there is zero chemistry and the model tells Lucas he doesn't seem to be over his ex.
That same night Lucas ends up at the bar with Brad, who is drowning his sorrows and they have a drink together. It has the feeling of old times, which is what Brad wants, but Lucas is resisting.
They each go their separate ways that night only to meet again in Miami where the alcohol and South Beach fuel the undeniable chemistry that still exists between them.
The Friday cliffhanger episode, March 13 finds the couple in Brad's hotel room, kissing passionate (no fake kisses here) and tearing each other's clothes off. But just as the shirtless and panting couple are about to have sex, Brad stops them.
Wait; what?
Brad decides, in the way of all soaps, to tell Lucas the truth about how he got to be in Miami. If Brad thought Lucas would view this honesty as a turning point in their relationship, he hasn't been watching soaps.
Lucas views it as yet another betrayal. Rather than exemplifying how Brad has changed, for him, it underscores how untrustworthy Brad is and why he can never be with him again. Brad tells Lucas his expectations of people are too much and also says that no one will ever love him as much as he does.
Lucas leaves a crushed Brad and heads back to the bar. He finds a corporate credit card on the floor and the handsome and hot stranger to whom it belongs, Marco, offers to buy Lucas a drink. A now drunk Lucas pours out his soul about Brad to the hot mystery man who seems to take Brad's side, which gives Lucas a different perspective.
What makes Lucas lean over and kiss Marco is unclear, but it is a wild moment. Lucas puts his room keys down on the bar and Marco says he will take those.
Finally, Amanda Seyfried has a new series, "Long Bright River" set in the drug-ridden neighborhood of Kensington in Philadelphia. Republicans, including Dr. Oz and Trump, have used videos from the area to exemplify how "Democrat cities" are failing.
If you loved "Mare of Easttown," this new Peacock drama is for you. Seyfried is compelling as police officer Mickey Fitzpatrick whose personal history leads her to question things she witnesses.
So, for the hyper-real and the quixotically intriguing, you know you must stay tuned.
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