It’s TV mogul Taylor Sheridan‘s latest project — he of YELLOWSTONE, of course, but also a few pretty good films. This time, instead of a grizzled and wise middle-aged dude played by Kevin Costner, our central character is a grizzled and wise middle-aged-dude played by Billy Bob Thornton.

Trouble is, I like Thornton. So I watched all 10 episodes on business travel this week.

It was absolutely a hatewatch.

First, it’s chock full of Taylor Sheridan’s standard validation of reactionary politics by only rebutting basic or simplistic arguments to the contrary. In YELLOWSTONE, it was about conservation efforts other than whatever John Dutton wanted. Here, it’s anything suggesting oil isn’t Right and Just. It’s not that Sheridan is dumb; I’m sure he knows better. It’s craven pandering to an audience that eats this stuff up as validation for their OWN points of view.

Second, it’s grotesquely misogynistic, which is again a Sheridan tradition. There are no fully realized female characters in anything he writes, even in stories notionally centered on women like his films WIND RIVER and SICARIO. His on-and-off-again ex-wife Angela and their daughter Ainsley (a carbon copy of her hypersexual mother) are awful, awful people. Rebecca Falcone, a lawyer brought in after an accident, is a thin Big City Person who must be taught how Things Really Are by the Wise Landman Who Knows Things.

Third, it’s absurdly full of middled-aged-man wish fulfillment. A broken down landman stands up to the cartel! His daughter actually listens to his Sage Advice! He’s rewarded with a promotion for helping to cover up how mismanaged the company’s wells and infrastructure are. He acts like an asshole to everyone around him, but suffers no interpersonal or professional consequences for it. Even the fucking CARTEL boss (and I’m still mad about how wasted Andy Garcia was here) is like “our bad, respect.”

BUT

Goddamn if Thornton isn’t fun to watch. I mean, he’s been fun to watch since SLING BLADE, but he was born to play Tommy.

Ali Larter — whom GenX folks will recall first came to fame as the fictional “it girl” Allegra Coleman in a satiric front-page celeb faux-profile in Esquire back in 1996 — makes an absolute meal of a thin, unbelievable character in ex-wife Angela. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone do so well with so little.

Jon Hamm, I think we probably all agree, seems unable to do wrong, and he’s not wrong here as the billionaire owner of the oil company in question. Having Demi Moore as his wife was genius, and while she’s not given much to do she does well doing it.

The supporting roles are generally great, too. I’d single out first Colm Feore as Nate, especially reacting to Ainsley’s antics and also just generally being the guy who gets to react like an actual person in most scenes.

Multi-project Sheridan company member James Jordan is having a HOOT as petroleum engineer Dale. We’ve seen him before as the main bad guy in WIND RIVER, and then again in MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN, and again in 1883, and again as Hendon on YELLOWSTONE, and again in LIONESS as Two Cups, and again in THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD as Ben. (He, like Sheridan, had a small part on VERONICA MARS, so I reckon that was their initial connection.)

Jacob Lofland as Tommy’s son Cooper doesn’t have much to do early on, but really comes into his own in quiet scenes with Ariana, and in what comes after. However, the writing hurts him — we don’t really see anything at all that suggests he and Ainsley are related, even when they have brief scenes together. It seems obvious he’ll have a bigger role in S2.

Which is where I admit that yeah, I’ll probably hatewatch S2, too.

A couple notes that didn’t fit elsewhere

• Luring us in with Michael Pena as a seemingly central character that is immediately killed off is some dirty pool.
• Sheridan is weirdly obsessed with breastfeeding.

You know you want it.

Everybody remembers the juggernaut that NBC’s long-running ER was, but NOT everyone remembers the short-lived sitcom by the same name from the mid-1980s (don’t click these yet).

What’s fun about this is that George Clooney had roles in both of them. Obviously it’s his turn in the later show as Doug Ross that made him GEORGE CLOONEY; in the sitcom, he was a mere (recurring! not regular cast!) ER tech (which makes sense – he was only 23 at the time).

The question I put to you, anonymous reader, is this: What other famous actor appeared in multiple episodes of both ERs?

(The Wikipedia link for the 80s show gives it away, so think hard before clicking.)

It’s a fair question.

(Letterkenny. Pick up on it.)

The writer and director, Darin Morgan, also wrote for the original series, and was responsible for two of the very best episodes of the show: Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’ and the Emmy-winning Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, both of which are brilliant.

In particular, note that both “Chung” and this week’s episode feature retelling of events from multiple perspectives as well as a certain over-arching sardonic and self-aware humor. (Did you notice Mulder’s ringtone is the X-Files’ theme music?)

Wikipedia link; more over at IO9, which also notes a few Easter eggs — the biggest of which is actually in the comments: the character Guy Mann is dressed exactly like Carl Kolchak, from the show that inspired Chris Cater in the 1970s.

Jon Stewart made his first post-retirement public appearance last night.

At the WWE Summer Slam Event. He jumped into the ring wielding a FOLDING CHAIR against a (partially dazed) John Cena, thereby allowing Seth Rollins to retain his WWE title.

I am not making this up, and is is precisely as awesome and fantastic as it sounds.

Apparently, televangelists are still a thing. And the really great part is that Jon Oliver is ALL OVER IT.

They’re surreptitiously tracking everything you watch.

Over at Rolling Stone, they’ve got a pretty solid list up. Don’t miss it.

Superfan Adam Nedeff has cataloged each of the 500+ moments included in the show-ending montage. Enjoy.

I remember an almost alarming number of these.

(Feature at Rolling Stone.)

The tributes are coming fast and furious this week, which makes sense: Letterman’s swan song is tonight, easily the biggest talk show event since Carson’s retirement over twenty years ago.

Two of the most moving I’ve seen so far are from other, younger comedians who grew up idolizing Letterman.

The first was from Norm MacDonald, who was on Letterman a couple nights ago to do a final standup set there. He’s funny, but he gets real towards then end as he talks about seeing a young Dave as a standup comic when he was a teenager in Toronto.

The second is from Jimmy Kimmel last night, who is no less choked up at the prospect of Letterman’s retirement. He talks openly of watching Late Night as a teen, just as everyone in our generation of a certain bent did.

He closes with something kind of awesome: he announced that tonight’s show will be a rerun, and that all his viewers should watch Dave’s final show instead.

The final bit of Kimmel’s tribute includes a segment from early in Dave’s career that I remember quite clearly, though my memory doesn’t have tracking problems.

Last night, Seth Meyers’ show changed its opening to a shot for shot remake of the original Letterman show opening from 1983.

(The exercise also points out just how much Manhattan has changed in 30 years.)

Kit Harrington visited the Seth Meyers show last night, and helped illustrate how Jon Snow is perhaps not the best person to invite to dinner.

Make time.

Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order, The Flash, Rent) had a Kickstarter going to try and fund a short musical film (The Letter Carrier).

Joss Whedon made an apparently significant donation.

Martin elected to thank Joss by busting out his gospel chops on the Firefly theme.

From, of course, Parks & Rec.

Audio NSFW.

A year ago, I linked to an editorial by Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen that gave a full-throated and spirited defense of Michael Sam.

Mr Hansen is at it again, this time talking about a racist incident in Flower Mound. He’s no less on point today.

I like this guy.

First, HOLY CHRIST MAN THAT SOUNDS AWESOME.

The best part is set up by this:

“They have a stage set up with just instruments: drums, mics, guitars, bass, keyboard, but no band,” Fallon said. “Just a set up in case anyone wants to get on stage and jam.”

Second, pretty much only Fallon could tell that story and not come off like an asshole. You still get the idea that he cannot believe his immense good fortune. For him, part of it are just a story about his friends (when he references cast members), but in the rest of it he’s just as starstruck as anyone else would be.

(To be fair, Seth Meyers gave a shorter recap, and he’s equally amazed and charming — and points out what Fallon kind of buries, which is Jimmy’s key role in making the jam happen.)

Last night, NBC ran the October 11, 1975 premiere of Saturday Night Live. I was struck by a few things in particular.

First, the tone and rhythm of the show is very different — pacing is weird and more haphazard, for example, which makes sense since the show as brand new and running at a time when they could generally assume almost no one was watching. It’s also way more of a variety show than the pure sketch show it became. George Carlin has several segments of standup, and the two musical guests — Janis Ian and Billy Preston — each get two songs. Jim Henson’s Muppets have a bit, even.

Second, there’s a LOT more show. The show as broadcast last night seems completely uncut; this may be the first time I’ve seen ALL of the first episode. There seem to be many, many fewer commercial breaks, and they’re shorter when they happen. I knew commercials had become more pervasive in my TV-watching life, but it was gradual. Seeing an example of 1970s TV today, complete with period breaks, is pretty shocking. (I’m willing to stipulate that 11:30 on a Saturday may not have been particularly appealing ad time, so maybe the first SNL has fewer breaks than a prime time show of that era would’ve had, but the difference is still shocking.)

Finally, well, you can’t help but notice how many folks in the first episode have died. Because I’m morbidly curious, I made this list of the dead people I saw, in the order in which they appear:

• Michael O’Donoghue (1994, 54)
• John Belushi (died in 1982 at age 33)
• George Carlin (2008, 71)
• Billy Preston (2006, 59)
• Gilda Radner (1989, 42)
• Andy Kaufman (1984, 35)
• Jim Henson (1990, 53)

It’s sad to see that, of these, only Carlin lived past the three score and ten we think of as a “normal” life before dying of heart failure. Belushi of course did himself in, but the rest of them passed naturally despite their relative youth.

All of the surviving original cast is north of 60 now. The oldest, Garrett Morris, is 78. Dan Ackroyd and Laraine Newman are the babies at 62.

(Update: Alert reader F.D. notes that my order above was off; O’Donoghue appears in the first sketch, but I didn’t realize that was him.)

Ladies and Gentleheathen, I give you the Shiiiiiit Button.

A sound editor who worked on the Wire did an AMA over at Reddit; Kottke has highlights but this is my favorite:

McNulty (Dom West) came in often and was awesome, as well. His accent showed most often when the character was drunk or angry. Oddly, the name “Stringer Bell” tripped him up a lot. “Stringa” and then a very over-enunciated end to “Bell-eh.” Also, the words “fuck” and “cunt” came out “feck” and “cahnt” and the only way to break him of it was to stand right in front of him (so he could watch the mouth shape) and say the word over and over again. So a Dom West ADR session often went like this:

Me (with Dom staring at my mouth): Cunt. Cunt. Cunt.
Dom: Cahnt. Shit, do it again, please.
Me: Cunt. Cunt. Cunt.
Dom: Cunt. Cunt. OK, let’s record…
(three beeps, the line starts and):
Dom: …cahnt. Feck! Say it again.
Me: Cunt….

As a consequence of my injury back before Thanksgiving, Mrs Heathen and I spent a little time between then and Chrismas trying to keep me on the first floor of Heathen World HQ (and plan we’ve subsequently abandoned, because NO). During our evenings there, we were limited in televised entertainment, as we remain (apparently) the last remaining single television home in Christendom.

This limited us to things would could watch for free on NetFlix or Hulu, or on a pay-per-episode basis via iTunes. I don’t remember where I got the tip, but somehow I became aware of a show from the BBC, currently available on NetFlix, called The Fall. It stars Gillian Anderson (who apparently keeps a portrait in her attic) as an investigator in Belfast who in relatively short order finds herself pursuing a serial killer.

(Unlike lots of transatlantic casting, this works, largely because Anderson’s accent is spot on. The reason, apparently, is that she lived in the UK until she was 11, and can code-switch from American to British on the fly. Neat trick.)

Anyway, the first season is there, and you should watch it — and soon, so that you’ll be ready to enjoy season 2 when it arrives on Netflix on January 16.

Wired has a nice piece up about the show which you may enjoy; it’s spoiler-free, mostly (a last-episode plot detail drops late in the piece, but it’s not a major thing).

Since 1986, David Letterman has celebrated Christmas on his programs by inviting Darlene Love to sing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on his last pre-Christmas show. It’s a wonderful thing that’s grown in size and scope and power over these 28 or so years.

Letterman, of course, is retiring next year; tonight will be his final Christmas show. Love will deliver her signature holiday tune, but with Letterman’s retirement she’s announced that she will be retiring the song from television out of respect.

Tune in. It’s sure to be lovely.

(More on the series at Mefi.)

Bad Lip Reading does The Walking Dead again.

This is completely amazing and awesome..

Well, new SNL featured player Brooks Wheelan made one.

What’s neat about this is that a year ago, in early 2012, Wheelan had an engineering job in Los Angeles and did comedy on the side, as a hobby. He did not even have a Wikipedia page.

The video ends up documenting what will probably be one of the most momentous and amazing years in his life, but he had no way of knowing that would be the outcome when he started the project last January.

That’s pretty cool.

This finale rundown is pretty spot on, but the real hilarity comes from the top comment:

THERE IS STILL A LIVE HUMAN CHILD IN THE ATTIC BEING CARED FOR BY A DOLL-HOARDING GHOST.

RIGHT?

Best unresolved thread EVER.

No, seriously.

More from TechDirt.

Allison Janney did “The Jackal” on Arsenio Hall last night.

Also, apparently Arsenio Hall has a talk show again. He is a very well preserved 57. Janney, for her part, looks substantially the same as she did when she played C. J. Cregg.

(Confused? Here, from Season 1, Episode 18, which aired in April of 2000.)

H/T to Mrs Heathen.

Breaking Bad is racking up the praise at this point like nothing since the Wire, so I’ve been meaning to dive in — but, at this point, with four seasons in the can and another one in progress, that’s a rather daunting prospect. Especially when it’s exactly the sort of show (violent, bleak) that Mrs Heathen wants no part of. (We are sometimes accused of un-Americanism because we have only one TV.)

However, she’s out of town this weekend, and I have the first 2 seasons on DVD on loan from a friend. So, since Friday evening, I’ve watched the entire first season (only 7 episodes) plus over half (8 of 13) of the second season. It’s network TV, not pay cable, so each episode is only about 47 minutes, but that still means it’s been a pretty serious binge.

It started simply, which is fitting for a show about meth: I watched the first two episodes on Friday night before I stepped out for a party.

Then I went a little nuts. On Saturday, after lunch, I sat down and watched SEVEN EPISODES IN A ROW — over six hours of this bleak cancer-and-meth extravaganza. And I only quit because I wanted to go catch a band. Then, when I came home, I watched ANOTHER episode.

Today, I spent the bulk of the afternoon doing something really incredibly geeky with four other people, but I got back from that at about 7. It is now 11:47, and I’m still up because I have a con call with Abu Dhabi in 13 minutes. But for that con call, I’d still be watching Breaking Bad, but as it is it appears that I’ll have to content myself with only five episodes today.

For devoted fans, I’ll note that my latest episode is the 8th of season two, which is where we’re introduced to Bob Odenkirk‘s character, Saul Goodman. Who is AWESOME. Also awesome: the entire “wrong bald guy” sequence.

The show is not the equal of the Wire, but I can absolutely say that Bryan Cranston has deserved every nice thing said about him here — and more. The evolution of Walter from the first episode is astounding. His ability to channel that prior Walter becomes more and more unnerving as the choices he makes take him further and further into damnation.

You will feel very, very old when you click this link and discover that the title is what John Scalzi’s daughter said to him when he described, to her incredulity, that the “M” in “MTV” stands for “music,” because they used to play music videos exclusively.

Will Forte is leaving SNL after 8 seasons.

“Keep fucking that chicken.”

NSFW. Watch it anyway.