DRAMA, SHOCK AND AWE
Melissa McCarthy adds ‘Spicy’ to ‘SNL’
As former White House spokesman Sean Spicer on “Saturday Night Live,” Melissa McCarthy slammed her lectern into the open arms of a public obsessed with POTUS 45. “SNL” ratings spiked and love for the funny lady flowed. Alas, when “Spicy” made a cameo as himself come Emmys time, it wasn’t nearly as amusing.
‘Dear Evan Hansen’: Love, the Tonys
The Tony Awards were all about “Dear Evan Hansen,” a young adult musical that explores teen suicide through the story of an awkward, anxious high school nobody whose lie gets caught up in a social media chain reaction. The show took home half a dozen trophies (after nine nominations) during a broadcast hosted by a pre-scandal Kevin Spacey.
Pirates of the Caribbean get enlightened
Presciently, the Pirates of the Caribbean crew found itself among entertainment’s most evolved men after Disney announced in June that it would bring on a female pirate and swap out the ride’s buy-a-bride auction for a more forward-thinking scene of villagers queuing up to surrender their belongings to the conquering horde.
Los Angeles succumbs to ‘Hamilton’
“Hamilton” finally arrived in L.A., bringing with it sky-high show prices and a Pantages-adjacent mini-concert for fans who gathered for a shot at 40 opening-night tickets being sold, via lottery, for $10 each.
Wait, what? Doctor Who is a … woman?
In a groundbreaking casting move, the 13th actor chosen to play “Doctor Who” was, well, an actress. “Whovian” fans, who had apparently wanted a lady Doctor for a while, celebrated online after Jodie Whittaker got the gig.
A new look for the Grammy Award nominations
As the Recording Academy finally woke up and embraced hip-hop — and rap and R&B — its Grammy Award nominees skewed heavily toward women and artists of color. For the first time in Grammy history, no white men were up for album of the year.
Shonda Rhimes’ move is a gut punch to ABC
Drama queen Shonda Rhimes (we mean that in the best way) took her “Scandal”-spinning showrunner skills to Netflix over the summer, reinforcing the growing influence of streaming services. In jumping ship, the producer delivered a gut punch to ABC, her former network home.