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Sarah Cooper
It's not easy for a stand-up comedienne to compete for online traffic with better known comics during a pandemic in which all the bars and comedy clubs have been ordered shut. But that's exactly what Sarah Cooper has done, taking the internet by storm and getting a number of those established comics to declare themselves her fans.
In addition to earning millions of followers and views on her video impersonations of President Donald Trump, Cooper's been getting regular appearances on the late night comedy shows -- and now she is going to get her very own show.
On Wednesday, Netflix announced a comedy special featuring Cooper called Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine, set to premiere this fall. Natasha Lyonne, who starred in Netflix's Russian Doll, will direct the special as well as serve as executive producer, along with Saturday Night Live alum Maya Rudolph.
Lyonne and Rudolph are both heavy-hitters in the entertainment industry, with years of experience directing and producing, in addition to strong comedic chops of their own. With this Netflix special, Cooper is not just getting the kind of exposure that comedians dream about, but gaining two mentors perfectly suited to help her build a successful and long-lasting career.
This pandemic has been especially hard on many who work in the entertainment industry, with both live performance venues and television and film production shut down almost completely. For Cooper to not just survive but thrive right now, solely on the merits of her very real, raw talent, is an unquestionable win, and for an increasingly bored and frustrated nation stuck at home, something new coming up on Netflix is a win for us as well. 6.5.0 |
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 | MEDIA LOSER:
Tucker Carlson
Fox News host Tucker Carlson has become not just one of Trump's loudest and most steadfast cheerleaders but also a regular ratings juggernaut for his network, thrilling his audience as he lets his opinions fly without filter. You don't get to host a primetime show unless you're good TV, and Carlson knows what his audience wants.
Jon Stewart used to handwave away some of his excesses by dismissing the shenanigans as just being a "comedy show host," and not a journalist. That argument isn't quite fair due to the outsize influence Stewart wielded, and his spiritual successors like John Oliver and Trevor Noah continue to wield, but at least his show was on a channel labeled Comedy Central.
Carlson is on Fox News. He's supposed to be hosting a news show, which obviously can include opinion commentary, but it is supposed to have a foundational element of, you know, basic news standards. Far too often, however, Carlson acts like he would really rather be a comedian.
Tuesday evening's show was a classic example of this. Joe Biden had announced, at long last, that Senator Kamala Harris would be his running mate, and Carlson spent his show offering a detailed and nuanced critique of her policy positions...
LOL, just kidding. He played schoolyard games with her name.
Carlson repeatedly mispronounced Harris' first name, and even after getting corrected on-air by a guest, dismissed the correction and then mispronounced Harris' name several more times. It's not the first time he's repeatedly butchered her name on air either.
The whole thing was childish, silly, and unnecessary. No one expects Carlson to offer fawning praise upon Harris, much less vote for her, but the California senator's nomination was a historic moment for America and the best he could offer was kindergarten-level games. 6.5.0 |
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| KAMALA-MANIA Biden's selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate obviously dominated the last 24 hours of the news cycle.
Biden had promised to select a woman back during the primary debates and then added that he wanted a woman of color during the George Floyd protests, but nothing was guaranteed until the announcement was actually made, and it finally came, after missing his own self-imposed deadlines several times.
Harris' selection was met with relief and words of praise from many liberals, who viewed her as not just an asset to the ticket, but representative of a historic moment for "every little brown or black girl out there," as the first Black and Asian-American woman to run for president on a major party ticket.
Biden also shared a video of the moment he officially asked Harris to join his ticket, and on Wednesday, the two made their first public appearance together as running mates, delivering a pair of well-regarded, if somewhat tame, speeches.
Team Trump, predictably, hit low, calling Harris a "far left" extreme liberal and a "socialist," and dropping not-so-thinly-veiled racist attacks.
In addition to the immaturity from certain media figures like Carlson described above, CNN pounced on Fox' coverage as indistinguishable from the actual Trump campaign.
Fox News' Chris Wallace pushed back with fact checks on some of Trump's criticisms, as did Neil Cavuto.
"I think that's just crap," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, herself a former presidential contender, smacking back at Trump's insults of Harris as "nasty" and "angry.
Palin plays nice
Oddly enough, one of the classiest reactions came from a former Republican candidate who is no stranger to tossing sharp insults -- Sarah Palin. The former Alaska governor and running mate to John McCain made no insults or attacks, but instead posted a heartfelt message on her Instagram page welcoming Harris to the very small and exclusive club of American women who have sought these top offices.
Palin urged Harris to "fight mightily" to keep her own trusted team around her, not let herself get "muzzled" by her handlers, and to remember to have fun, among other kind and encouraging words.
Con-ye?
Ok then. Kanye West is still running for president, despite the fact that he is going through some troubling personal issues and can't get on enough state ballots to actually win electoral college votes and, you know, win. And news reports keep popping up showing GOP consultants and other Trump allies continuing to boost his campaign.
Now we're learning that West met with Trump son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner last week.
"I kind of expected to speak." Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang was open about his disappointment at not having a larger role in the upcoming Democratic presidential convention. Read about it -- and his speculation about how successful he might be convincing his supporters to go all-in for Biden -- here.
Zingers from Kinzinger
A supporter of the bonkers set of conspiracy theories called "QAnon" won the GOP primary for a Georgia congressional district on Tuesday, and got a shout out from Trump, but at least one Republican member of congress wasn't on board. Rep. Adam Kinzinger called QAnon a "fabrication" and said there was "no place in Congress for these conspiracies." Guess he won't be endorsing her.
Narcissist-in-Chief
This story sounds like an SNL skit but it's not: the actual President of the United States who's presiding over a spreading viral pandemic and the weakest American economy since the Great Depression thinks it would be a "good idea" for his face to be added to Mount Rushmore.
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6.5.0 |
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