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!
The Umbrella
Flash fiction is a writing exercise where you take a photo and just start writing with no huge preconceived notion or plan with the goal being roughly 1000 words and not stopping for any self-editing. I’ve been experimenting with writing fiction again so I started with a photo that I took years ago when I was on a work trip to Florence, Italy in 2013. W…
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.
Awards Watch: Television Critics Association Nominees
Yes, there are a lot of organizations giving awards to the best of the best in television throughout the year but I’ve always loved the Television Critics Association awards and not only because I am a long-standing member of the organization. It’s a group of awards given by those who absolutely love television. Being a critic or a television journalist…
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.
"Here's the Story"...of the Best TV Theme Songs: Comedy
Anyone have a remedy for not falling down a YouTube rabbit hole of TV theme songs and opening credits? Well, keep it to yourself because I refuse to feel guilty about having spent much time looking at how classic shows, obscure shows and even current shows began every episode. Besides some of the great theme songs that are great on their own (which is w…
…and the dramas…
"Let's Be Careful Out There": The Best TV Theme Songs: Drama
Since last week’s post on the best TV comedy theme songs was so much fun to compile (and from the clicks it received, a lot of you liked it, too), let’s dive into some of the best of the best in drama TV series. First, we’ll start with the Drama TV theme song survey since I know I probably missed some key drama themes. Just click on the tab below and te…
…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!
Mango, the Traveling Cat
I’ve written a lot about moving from the United States to Thailand last year and if there’s one question that comes up most often it’s how complicated was it to bring along our beloved 9-year old cat, Mango, with us? Pretty complicated is the short answer but despite the various Thai and U.S. paperwork that had to be filed and approved, medical requirem…