| It's Monday, and I'm reading W.B. Yeats and watching episodes of Maude to process the day's news. Hello from Los Angeles, where we're keeping up with Saturday Night Live and still getting to bed by 11, lending an ear to Clive Davis, and picturing Jon Hamm with angel's wings. LIVE FROM NEW YORK Saturday Night Live returned over the weekend with high ratings and major staffing changes. For the second season in a row, the show aired live coast-to-coast, which meant I got all of your messages about the Avatar Papyrus sketch in real time. Friends, I, too, am here for all font-related humor. Just over 7 million people tuned in to watch host Ryan Gosling giggle through nearly every sketch, a strong start. But, as V.F.'s Emma Stefansky writes, it wasn't strong enough to top last year's pre-election season premiere, in which Alec Baldwin debuted his soon-to-be-Emmy-winning Donald Trump impression. The show's 43rd season began with big changes, including the departures of its co-head writers, Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, who are working on a new series for Comedy Central. As V.F.'s Laura Bradley points out, Kelly and Schneider had been a key part of S.N.L.'s recent, politically fueled renaissance. Saturday's episode, which featured musical guest Jay-Z, also debuted new cast members Heidi Gardner, Luke Null, and Chris Redd, who replace departed cast members Vanessa Bayer, Bobby Moynihan, and Sasheer Zamata. The newbies didn't get much to do, but hopefully we'll see more of them next weekend, when Wonder Woman's Gal Gadot and Sam Smith take the stage at Studio 8H. TOTAL REQUEST REVIVED V.F.'s Katey Rich writes: What's that vague shrieking sound in the distance? It's the crowds of teens that, if all goes according to plan, have gathered in Times Square for the first time in nine years, heralding the return of MTV's onetime juggernaut T.R.L. The network has kept details of the big relaunch relatively secret, but Ed Sheeran and Migos will be among the guests on the debut episode, which will be hosted by DC Young Fly and include a "squad" of co-hosts, among them "content creators" like the Dolan Twins and "social-media correspondents" like Gigi Gorgeous. In an interview with Fader's Myles Tanzer, show-runner Albert Lewitinn—a veteran of CBS and ABC News—made it clear that no matter what nostalgic associations older millennials may have, the new T.R.L. is all about the kids these days. "MTV is a youth culture brand and we need to be the youth culture show that fits right into it," he said. Lewitinn added that he would be happy to have President Trump on the show as a guest, which suggests that, if nothing else, the new T.R.L. is willing to surprise us. HAIL TO THE HAMM V.F.'s Laura Bradley writes: Amazon's Good Omens adaptation just found a new A-lister to fill out its cast: Jon Hamm, who will play the archangel Gabriel. What's more, the adaptation will significantly beef up the role, which was fleeting in the original novel by show-runner Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett. (The story follows an angel and a demon who conspire to stop the birth of Satan; Michael Sheen is already on board to play the angel Aziraphale, while David Tennant will play the demon Crowley.) As Gaiman said in a statement, Gabriel, the leader of the angels in the series, is "tall, good-looking, charismatic, and impeccably dressed. We were fortunate that Jon Hamm was available, given that he is already all of these things without even having to act," Gaiman continued. "We were even more fortunate that he's a fan of the books and a remarkable actor." Hamm, meanwhile, remarked that he first read the novel almost 20 years ago, calling it "one of the funniest, coolest books I'd ever read." MUSIC MAESTRO | | V.F.'s Hillary Busis writes: Clive Davis helped launch the careers of a murderer's row of sonic talent, from Barry Manilow and Kenny G to Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys. And he's not done yet: the 85-year-old producer just launched his latest project, Johnny Mathis Sings the Great New American Songbook, and is also the subject of a documentary called The Soundtrack of Our Lives, which is being released by Apple Music. Davis invited V.F.'s Dan Gilmore to his airy, Madison Square-adjacent offices to discuss his lengthy and storied career, the triumphs and tragedy of Houston ("how lethal drugs are, how they took this wonderfully special young woman and led to her tragic, premature demise"), his experience coming out as bisexual in his 80s, and the secret to his success—which just might be his famous insistence on beginning the workday at 9:30 a.m., and ending it at 8 p.m., to maximize time spent with his family. ALL I SEE IS YOU V.F.'s Yohana Desta writes: Blake Lively is ready for you to watch the most intense film of her career. In the upcoming Marc Forster drama All I See Is You, she plays a nearly blind woman whose sight is mostly restored after a miraculous surgery. However, the recovery leads to complications in her marriage, as her husband (a scowling Jason Clarke) begins mourning the days when his meek wife was constantly dependent on him. The marriage turns into a psychological dance, with the duo feeling their way through this surprisingly complicated new phase in their relationship. "It's the performance that I'm most proud of," Lively told me in an interview. (You can also check out an exclusive new poster within the article.) From doing extensive research on how to accurately portray a blind woman, to loosening up on her strict no-nudity policy, Lively dives deep into the id of a complex character the likes of which her fans have never seen her portray before. That's the news for this overcast Monday in L.A. What are you seeing out there? Send tips, comments, and your favorite T.R.L. memories to Rebecca_Keegan@condenast.com. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca. |
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