That’s almost certainly the reason - for instance, they had an Aidy doppelganger last season because she was filming Shrill and not consistently available, but they cut the double loose now that Aidy is back.

But part of what makes the show good is newness, and that’s what is lacking. The veterans have kept things stagnant - the only one of the veteran cast whose work on the show has improved in the past five years or so is Cecily. The rest are just coasting, have been for a while, and every time one of them shows up as…

It was a still from when she did the ‘Discover Card’/‘Us’ parody.

That was a helluva first episode. Maybe it’s because there’s so much familiarity it really did seem like mid-season form. The new Biden was something else, that’s a debut up there with Kate’s earliest episodes among recent-ish years.

People just need to stop thinking anyone is ever doing a final tour. See bands/artists when you can if you like them, don’t get nostalgic until they’re dead. Problem solved.

How is this show still on the air? Ellen Pompeo has to be in her 60s by now.

Given the timing, I think it was related to him directing ‘Fences’ - needed to stretch those muscles again before doing something actually important.

This....took a turn.

I was surprised to read in this article that Holt “was promoted to key player in the past season” because I don’t remember anything she did, and I’m not familiar with the phrase “key player” in the SNL lexicon - isn’t “featured player” for the JV and “repertory player” for varsity?

Not a game show per se (since points don’t matter) but the British panel show ‘Have I Got News For You’ has had new weekly hosts for the past 20-ish years, and the format is a pair of permanent captains with a new weekly teammate.

This is why I prefer @ClimateTown’s YouTube channel, which centers the onus for climate action on corporate dobadders (is that a word?) rather than telling people to compost their feces.

This was really beautiful. I hadn’t heard of his connection to Ian Charleson before, and hadn’t heard of his motivations for taking “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” - a wonderful actor gone far too soon.

Agreed entirely. The source material had a clear narrative arc and worked as a standalone mini-series. Fleshing it out made the entire work bloated.

Don’t sleep on Catherine O’Hara, either!

YES! 100% agreed.

He’s not wrong at all. It’s nearly all fan service, and that doesn’t lend itself to story or structure innovation. It’s the same old routine of movies that ruin show business - everything becomes a knock-off of the successful model until there are enough bombs to for studios to pivot.

I know some folks have an issue with Ken Jennings, but he makes more sense than anyone short of Buzzy Cohen, so I’m fine with this.

By “these people” you mean “women who received undue media mockery”?

Am I crazy or does he not look too old? None of the stills I’ve seen or the trailer took me out of the suspension of disbelief.

Loved the ‘Mogambo’ reference, because I’ve been waiting for Archer’s squadmates to shoot him when he dicks around on a mission. That’s the one thing they did a lot in early seasons that hasn’t been done since he came out of the coma.