June Roundup: FYC Coverage, Flash Fiction, TV Theme Song Mania and...Jesus?
Let's look back at the month that kept me busy with a little bit of everything!
Welcome to all the new followers who’ve joined Coffee, TV and Me this month. Feel free to spread the word on this page, which is now six months old! I’ve loved sharing my journalism work here as well as my personal stories (I’m still hearing from people who were touched by May’s “Memories of Mom” post so I’m glad it’s touched a lot of the readers here). As has been the cast the past six months, I’m keeping my posts free but am so grateful for those of you who have chosen to pay a monthly or annual subscription fee. As a freelancer, every little bit helps so I thank you. If you feel like paying the $8/month charge or the $80/annual, know that I truly appreciate it.
Here’s a roundup from this past month in case you missed any posts here or the outlets I’ve been working with.
My most recent post just went live on June 30 so it came in under the wire. If you’ve followed my work here and elsewhere, you know I’m a big fan of the scripted drama The Chosen. I even wrote about how I surprised myself to become a big fan of a show about Jesus when I’m not anything near what I’d consider religious. But the show just wrapped its fourth season streaming on its own app and on YouTube/Facebook for free. It will probably end up airing on some streamers (Netflix and Amazon have carried episodes in the past) and season 4 will air on the CW broadcast network starting September 1st. For Variety, here is my interview with series creator Dallas Jenkins on the season 4 finale - we do talk plot in the episode so don’t read until you’ve watched all of season 4.
The last few months have been the heated For Your Consideration (FYC) period in Hollywood with the window for Emmy nominations closed just last week. The good thing is it gave me the chance to talk to some of my favorites from this past season for Variety like Maya Erskine from Prime Video’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Alison Brie from Peacock’s Apples Never Fall (both stories dropped in May) and a really fun story on one of my favorite Emmy categories - the Guest Actor/Actress Emmy. In the latter story, I chatted with past category winners Carrie Preston, Bradley Whitford, Nick Offerman and John Lithgow about their experiences in the category, which also has an interesting history from its inception in the 1970s. Read all about that here.
Also, for Emmy Magazine, with Young Sheldon coming to an end, it was a great time to check in with Annie Potts to look back at all of her TV career including her thoughts on saying goodbye to Sheldon’s (Iain Armitage) MeeMaw after seven seasons. You can see that story by subscribing to Emmy Magazine.
I also have been working on some fiction projects and here’s one I can share so far. It’s a dose of flash fiction, which is a piece of short writing that starts from a photograph. I used one that hangs in our home from a trip I took to Florence, Italy many years ago. Hope you enjoy it!
I’m a long-standing member of the TCA (Television Critics Association) and while I won’t be in the U.S. for the annual awards ceremony coming up, I still wanted to spread the word on the nominations, which include a lot of your TV favorites including The Bear.
And I’ve fallen down more than a few YouTube rabbit holes watching old TV show opening credits. There are so many good ones that I made two posts about them - one for comedy, one for drama. And I’ll probably do a follow-up post soon since a lot of you wrote in and told me some that I missed. But I’m all for an excuse to compile more great opening credit sequences.
…and the dramas…
…and a little love for our girl, Mango, as we revisited the trip from LA to Bangkok with her a year ago. Like the “Memories of Mom” post, the stats show that you guys really like the stories I share about life in Bangkok. More to come but make sure you’re also following the travel YouTube channel I have with my husband, Boyd. More good stuff coming there including my first time trying that stinky fruit, durian!
