‘Platonic,’ the ‘Vanderpump Rules’ reunion and more TV to watch Memorial Day weekend
Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s used — or maybe thought better of using — the term “work wife.”
That’s the phrase spouses and “Platonic” showrunners Francesca Delbanco and Nick Stoller say makes them “barf,” but according to the pair it also illustrates the ongoing currency of an idea behind their new Apple TV+ comedy: Yes, it’s hard for heterosexual men and women to be “just” friends.
In addition to Delbanco and Stoller’s visit, this week’s Screen Gab features recommendations from TV critics Robert Lloyd and Lorraine Ali, expert analysis of the scandal that’s rocked reality hit “Vanderpump Rules” and more. Want to be featured in a future newsletter? Pretend we’re at the water cooler and give us your review of a TV show or streaming movie you’ve loved. (Submissions should be approximately 100 to 150 words and sent to screengab@latimes.com with your name and location.)
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Must-read stories you might have missed
A bittersweet goodbye to ‘Barry’: The cast on the dramatic turns of the hit man comedy: The characters on HBO’s brilliant comedy-drama never stopped evolving. As the show wraps its four-season run, the main cast sits down to reminisce.
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‘American Born Chinese’ began as a photocopied comic. For its creator, the journey has been ‘surreal’: Gene Luen Yang’s award-winning graphic novel started as a self-published comic. Now it’s a Disney+ series featuring Oscar-winning actors Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan.
After two ‘catastrophic’ years for Broadway, have the Tonys become too big to fail?: The threat to this year’s Tonys underscored their sway over the industry. Some say making them the ‘be-all, end-all’ of shows’ survival is risky business.
Turn on
Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
A churchgoing, small-town mom turns ax murderer in “Love & Death” (Max), a limited series starring the multitalented Elizabeth Olsen. If this tale sounds familiar, that’s because it’s based on the true story of Candy Montgomery (Olsen), a rural housewife in a small community outside Dallas who in 1980 chopped up her friend Betty Gore (Lily Rabe) after having an affair with Gore’s husband (Jesse Plemons). The story is well-known in true-crime circles and was the inspiration for Hulu’s 2022 drama “Candy,” but David E. Kelley’s “Love & Death” takes a fresh look at the woman behind the brutal slaying and delves deep into her motivations. The excellent cast also includes Thomas Pelphrey, Krysten Ritter and Keir Gilchrist, all of whom bring the story to life in nuanced, chilling detail. —Lorraine Ali
When rich girl Marina Quiroga (Aura Garrido), the sister of the new police commissioner, sees a woman murdered down by the port, she sets out, with the help of her faithful butler, Hector (Jean Reno), to investigate. Set in 1950s Galicia, in the northwest corner of Spain, “A Private Affair” (Prime Video) is a corking Nancy Drew tale with Indiana Jones set pieces and Hitchcockian suspense. A natural sleuth, kept by hidebound tradition from exercising her gifts professionally, Marina is also up on all the latest science; she keeps up with the trade journals, which have to be smuggled — for some Franco-era reason? — from abroad. Her intelligence, beauty, bravery and madcap fabulousness inevitably spark romantic interest from detectives Pablo (Gorka Otxoa, sweet) and Andrés (Alex Garcia, rakish). The production values are high, the cinematography cinematic, and planes and boats and trains (and recklessly driven automobiles) carry the action across eight episodes for an epic feel. —Robert Lloyd
Catch up
Everything you need to know about the film or TV series everyone’s talking about
At this stage in its 20th season, “Top Chef” (Bravo, Peacock) might well have returned to convention from its moving pandemic peak. Instead, the London-set “World All-Stars” has doubled down on the series’ highest ideals: Gathering, among others, a Congolese immigrant to Italy, a Jordanian prodigy, a queer Mexican, an Australian modernist and a Deep South crowd-pleaser, the season marshals the force of a truly global reality format to suggest the variability of a plate of food.
Perhaps most intriguing of all, it features, in recent back-to-back challenges, host and judge Padma Lakshmi and acclaimed chef Asma Khan explaining the concept of thali — an Indian plate featuring salty, sweet, bitter, sour, pungent and hot flavor profiles — and a team-based “Battle of the Wellingtons” inspired by that most sedate tradition of British dining. Though “Top Chef” has always played in a bigger culinary sandbox than, say, “Chef’s Table,” no season has combined, and confused, haute cuisine and home cooking more successfully than this one — and no cooking show on TV, even two decades in, is as consistent an exemplar of Khan’s wisdom. “Cooking is not just looking at notes,” as she tells the chefs upon serving them her own, deeply personal illustration of the task before them. “You need to feel it. You need to cook from your heart.” —Matt Brennan
Guest spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
Quite possibly the first guests of this newsletter to have appeared together in the New York Times’ Vows column, spouses and writing partners Francesca Delbanco and Nick Stoller are no stranger to the subject of navigating midlife. Their previous collaboration, Netflix’s “Friends From College,” explored the lives of a group of 40-something Harvard alums; in “Platonic,” which premiered Wednesday on Apple TV+, they imagine what happens when two childhood friends — played by Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen, together again nearly a decade after Stoller’s comedy “Neighbors” — reunite in adulthood to knock each other out of their well-established ruts. Answering as a unit, Delbanco and Stoller stopped by Screen Gab recently to talk about playing with rom-com tropes, picket-sign humor and what they’re watching. —Matt Brennan
What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?
We’re completely obsessed with the Italian crime drama “Gomorrah” [Max] and have been unable to bring ourselves to watch Season 5 because then it will be all over forever. The show is so amazingly well plotted and so incredibly written — at least it seems that way in translation, neither of us speaks Italian — and it’s shot so stylishly, watching it makes you feel like you could be cool enough to throw on a black leather jacket and a pair of Ray-Bans and drive a motorcycle through Scampia with some ambient synthesizers scoring the ride. It’s a dark series about the brutality of the criminal underworld in Naples, but it has a sense of humor too — like when one of the main characters goes to London for a sketchy business deal and tells his gorgeous Italian wife that the coffee there is undrinkable.
What’s your go-to “comfort watch,” the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?
“The Royal Tenenbaums” [VOD, multiple platforms] is our family’s perfect movie. Have been flirting with matching red Adidas track suits for all of us for years now.
“Platonic” makes reference to a rom-com sticking point since at least “When Harry Met Sally”: that idea that heterosexual men and women can’t really be friends. Cards on the table: What say you? Is there a grain of truth in it or is it retrograde B.S.?
Of course there’s a grain of truth to it! It is absolutely complicated for heterosexual men and women to be independent friends with each other. Would the expression “work wife” (barf) even exist, if it didn’t make people feel sort of weird? It’s doable, it’s worth it, it’s rewarding, it’s different than friendships with people of the same gender, but that kind of intimacy can sometimes be uncomfortable, for sure.
What’s the funniest picket sign you’ve seen since the strike started?
A lot of the picket signs we’ve seen have been insanely clever — no surprise there — but ours say boring stuff like “Union Strong” and “Fair Pay.” If you want anything funnier, we’re gonna need a contract.
Break down
Times staffers chew on the pop culture of the moment — love it, hate it or somewhere in between
In this week’s edition of Here’s the Other Show Besides “Succession” Delivering Some of TV’s Best Work This Season, we break down the latest on Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” and its cheating scandal, dubbed #Scandoval, as its reunion of Super Bowl proportions kicks off.
On Wednesday, the first installment of the three-part reunion premiered to the delight of viewers who’ve been rubbernecking over the reality TV scandal that broke the internet. To briefly recap: “Vanderpump Rules” stars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix broke up after nine years together when Sandoval cheated on Madix with their friend and castmate Raquel Leviss. It gets more complicated because Leviss, who recently called off her engagement to Sandoval’s friend James Kennedy, was initially linked to Tom Schwartz, Sandoval’s best friend and business partner, following his split from Katie Maloney. Got it?
Ahead of Part 1 of the reunion, which received an extended, uncensored treatment on Peacock, I spoke with Madix and Maloney about being embroiled in the drama. If you’re trying to keep up with the Bravo fan in your life, here are five things we learned from our chat with the women and watching the explosive reunion to help you get by. —Yvonne Villarreal
Production was shorter than any previous “Vanderpump Rules” reunion: “It was so quick,” Maloney told The Times. “It was the shortest reunion ever.” Production started mid-morning and was expected to go until about 7 p.m., according to Maloney, but ultimately finished around 6 p.m. “We didn’t need to warm up,” Maloney added. “Everyone was just ready to talk about everything. There was stuff I wish we would have got to but every time we tried to, it went back to the [affair].”
What’s the timeline? When reunion host Andy Cohen questioned Schwartz about when he found out about the cheating, Schwartz replied, “late August,” prompting Sandoval to interject. Sandoval claims he told Schwartz about the affair in late January.
Mr. One-Liner: If there was one breakout performance from the first part of the reunion, it came from James Kennedy — he walked off set, he cursed, he nearly came to blows with Sandoval. But it was his one-liners that brought some much-needed humor to the fraught atmosphere. After Sandoval delivered a teary apology to Madix, Kennedy quipped: “Pull yourself together, you’re not at the Academy Awards.” When Cohen suggested the Mr. See You Next Tuesday DJ was now the “No. 1 guy” in the group, Kennedy said: “It’s not hard to compete when I’m working with [Tom] Schwartz and a clown.” Later, he called Sandoval a worm with a mustache. We can only hope Jeremy Strong plays him in the scripted adaptation.
Déjà vu? Near the end of the season, Sandoval began expressing his frustration about his relationship with Madix, saying that he felt like he annoyed her and that her support of him was lacking — some of the same issues Maloney often complained about in her relationship with Schwartz (and Sandoval sometimes ridiculed). “I was like, ‘This sounds like there’s an echo; what is happening?’” she told The Times. “I don’t know how he never drew any kind of correlation, or he was just borrowing from my book. But also, it’s bull— because Ariana was putting all the work into that relationship and wanting to go to bat for that. ... He sounds like an idiot.”
Reality blurred: According to Sandoval, his relationship with Madix wasn’t what it appeared. “Ariana and I kept our relationship pretty private for many years,” he said. “I felt like I was her gay BFF. We put on a front when we were filming and I even talked to our showrunner. For us to be having these issues and keeping it from people, I just didn’t think it was fair to the rest of the cast.”
A never-before-seen clip from September 2022 was cued up in which Sandoval tells a producer, “I feel guilty, people put themselves out there, man. It’s not fair. I feel like it’s important for us to, like, talk about this s— and not pretend like it’s all amazing.”
Madix refuted his characterization: “I feel like I always showed everything, from my point of view,” she said during the reunion.
When asked about her breakdown in the penultimate episode, as she watched her good friends Maloney and Leviss fight, Madix recalled instances in which Sandoval “got on [her] case” about not having strong opinions. “Off camera, he had been kind of like, ‘You’re not doing your job as a cast member,’” said Madix, who spent part of the season grappling with the deaths of her dog and her grandmother. “I felt like I’m not good enough. I’m not living up to what everybody needs me to be right now. And I just want to go home to my mom. And I saw Lisa [Vanderpump] and I was just like, ‘Oh my God.’”
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Recommendations from Screen Gab readers
“Babylon Berlin” is, in my view, one of the top 10 TV series of all time. This tale of post-World War I Berlin, with the slow death of German democracy and the growing power of the Nazis as a backdrop, is told as a thriller and at times a dazzling musical. I’ve never seen those genres mixed this way before. The casting is perfect. Production equals anything in the history of Hollywood.
The first three seasons are still on Netflix.
Bob Klein
What’s next
Listings coordinator Matt Cooper highlights the TV shows and streaming movies to keep an eye on
Fri., May 26
“The American Barbecue Showdown” (Netflix): They’re getting all up in each other’s grills as the competition returns with new episodes.
“Citadel” (Prime Video): The action drama starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas ends its first season already renewed for a second.
“Kendra Sells Hollywood” (Max): Ms. Wilkinson puts her real estate agent credentials to good use for a second season.
“Influencer” (Shudder): A social media star’s solo trip to Thailand takes a wrong turn in this 2023 terror tale. “Riverdale’s” Emily Tennant stars.
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Prime Video): Midge, we hardly knew ye: The period comedy starring Rachel Brosnahan presents its finale.
“Being Mary Tyler Moore” (HBO, 8 p.m.): She had spunk! The beloved sitcom star, who died in 2017, is remembered in this new documentary.
“Run the World” (Starz, 9:37 p.m.): This comedy about four longtime gal pals in Harlem is back for a second season. With Amber Stevens West and Bresha Webb.
Sat., May 27
“The Steel Helmet” (TCM, 5 p.m.): TCM’s annual Memorial Day weekend marathon includes Samuel Fuller’s gritty 1951 Korean War drama. Gene Evans stars.
“The Love Club: Sydney’s Journey” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.): She’s a track star turned food blogger but she hates to eat and run in this new TV movie. With Lily Gao.
“Who Killed Our Father?” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.): A woman raised in foster care tries to solve that mystery in this new TV movie. With Kirsten Comerford.
Sun., May 28
The Indy 500 (ABC, 9 a.m.): IndyCar’s finest take to the track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Coca-Cola 600 (Fox, 3 p.m.): NASCAR’s finest take to the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“Killer Relationship With Faith Jenkins” (Oxygen, 7 p.m.): The true-crime series is back with new episodes.
“The Red Badge of Courage” (TCM, 7:30 p.m.): TCM’s annual Memorial Day marathon continues with John Huston’s 1951 Civil War drama.
“National Memorial Day Concert” (KOCE, 8 and 10 p.m.): The nation honors its war dead in the annual special from the U.S. Capitol. Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise co-host.
“Succession” (HBO, 9 p.m.): See who, if anyone, ends up at the helm of the house Roy Logan built in the high-stakes drama’s expanded series finale.
“Barry” (HBO, 10 p.m.): This pitch-black comedy starring Bill Hader as a troubled hit man/wannabe actor also ends its run.
Mon., May 29
“American Ninja Warrior” (NBC, 8 p.m.): The top female contestants vie for the title in the women’s championship.
“The Rising” (The CW, 8 p.m.): A recently deceased woman tries to solve her own murder in this supernatural mystery drama.
“FDR” (History, 8 p.m.; also Tuesday-Wednesday): This three-night special salutes the U.S. president who guided the nation out of the Depression and through the better part of WWII.
“Barons” (The CW, 9 p.m.): BFFs find themselves the heads of rival surfwear brands in 1970s Australia in this imported drama.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” (Investigation Discovery, 9 p.m.): Was she a 6-year-old Ukrainian orphan or was something more sinister afoot? We’ll see in this three-night special.
“Reality” (HBO, 10 p.m.): “Euphoria’s” Sydney Sweeney portrays former NSA translator turned whistleblower Reality Winner in this new fact-based TV movie.
Tue., May 30
“I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson” (Netflix): And here’s to you, Mr. Robinson, and new episodes of your quirky sketch-comedy series.
“Jelly Roll: Save Me” (Hulu): The award-winning country-rap artist shares his story in this new documentary.
“The Ride” (Prime Video): This ain’t their first rodeo in this new unscripted series about life on the professional bull-riding circuit.
“30 for 30” (ESPN, 8:30 p.m.; concludes 9 p.m. Tuesday): A new two-part doc remembers the syndicated 1989-96 competition series “American Gladiators.”
“America’s Got Talent” (NBC, 8 p.m.): Summer’s here and the time is right for another season of the reality competition. Terry Crews hosts.
“Lidia Celebrates America” (KOCE, 9 p.m.): Celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich stirs the melting pot in the special episode “Flavors That Define Us.”
“Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge” (NBC, 10 p.m.): Everyday folks’ favorite rides get makeovers inspired by classic toy cars in this new competition.
“Frontline” (KOCE, 10 p.m.): The new episode “After Uvalde: Guns, Grief and Texas Politics” reflects on the horrific school shooting in that small town in Texas in May 2022.
“The Ultimate Fighter” (ESPN, 10 p.m.): MMA stars Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler serve as coaches for a new cycle of this reality competition.
“Doubling Down With the Derricos” (TLC, 10 p.m.): The Nevada couple and their supersize brood are back with new episodes.
“The Dark Side of the Ring” (Vice, 10 p.m.): The saga of pro wrestling’s Chris Candido and Tammy Sytch is retold in the season premiere.
Wed., May 31
“Drag Me to Dinner” (Hulu): Teams of drag queens leave it all on the table in this new party-planning competition. With Neil Patrick Harris.
“Nancy Drew” (The CW, 8 p.m.): Our intrepid amateur sleuth (Kennedy McMann) is back on the case for a fourth season.
“Sistas” (BET, 9 p.m.): The Atlanta-set dramedy from Tyler Perry serves up a sixth season.
“I Survived a Crime” (A&E, 10 and 10:30 p.m.): Those who lived to tell the tale do so in new episodes of the unscripted series.
Thu., June 1
“Charles R: The Making of a Monarch” (AMC+): The newly crowned British king is profiled in this new documentary.
“iCarly” (Paramount+): Miranda Cosgrove logs back on for another season of her rebooted sitcom.
NBA Finals (ABC, 6 p.m.): The league’s top two teams hit the hardwood in the tipoff of the best-of-seven series.
“Unidad: Gay & Lesbian Latinos Unidos” (KCET, 8 p.m.): This documentary celebrates one of L.A.’s first queer Latino advocacy organizations.
“Re(solved)” (Vice, 9 p.m.): A new episode reexamines the death of controversial antivirus software mogul turned international fugitive John McAfee in 2021.
“Eli Roth Presents: The Legion of Exorcists” (Travel, 10 p.m.): Whatever possessed them to choose that particular profession? Find out in this new series.
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