‘SNL’ to Celebrate Prince’s Life with a ‘Goodnight Sweet Prince’ Tribute

SNL to celebrate Prince’s life with a Goodnight Sweet Prince tribute

This weekend’s regularly scheduled Saturday Night Live rerun has been replaced by an SNL tribute to Prince that will presumably include his three musical guest stints in 1981, 2006 and 2014, plus his performance at the 1989 SNL 15th anniversary special. Expect to also see Fred Armisen’s Prince talk show sketches, one of which was done the same night Prince was a musical guest (though he didn’t make a cameo). PLUS: Fox will re-air Prince’s New Girl episode on Tuesday.

Veep is so good it can get away with avoiding Donald Trump jokes

The key to Veep’s success as it returns for Season 5 is that “it deals strictly in its own absurdity, instead of helping itself to the mess we’ve made of real-world politics,” says Hank Stuever. The Julia Louis-Dreyfus-led comedy, he adds, “remains a refreshingly Trump-free, Hillary-free, Bernie-free universe. It’s probably the only Washington-centric comedy on television that sees no need to partake in the actual madness because it has been so exceptional at making its own hay, sending up Beltway culture in a manner that cuts more deeply than any halfway-funny Saturday Night Live sketch or Daily Show bit.” PLUS: Veep’s new showrunner didn’t screw uphttps://uproxx.com/sepinwall/relax-veep-fans-the-new-producer-didnt-screw-up-the-show/ the show, don’t get your hopes up for a Larry David cameo, Season 5 relieves the stress of the real-world election, and why Selina Meyer can never be veep again.

Why ABC is unlikely to bump Live from its timeslot for an extra hour of GMA

Moving Live to the 10 a.m. hour, as has been speculated amid the Kelly Ripa fallout, would disrupt appointment TV for 4 million viewers, as Cynthia Littleton points out. She adds: “The hurdles for ABC to take over the 9 a.m. hour on its 200-plus affiliate stations for an extra hour of GMA are significant. But more important, pursuing such an effort would break a cardinal rule of television: If something is working, don’t break it. And Live, by any measure, is a workhorse for Disney.” PLUS: Quit calling Kelly Ripa a “diva”!, and this is ABC’s “Ann Curry Moment” — will Michael Strahan suffer like Matt Lauer? UPDATE: Kelly Ripa says she’ll return to work Tuesday: “I wanted to thank you all for giving me the time to process this new information,” she said in an email to Live staff sent late Friday.

Sloppily dropped arcs are plaguing Empire Season 2

The Lola storyline has been especially problematic.

NCIS boss doesn’t expect to kill off Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo

“He plays a tremendous part in this last episode so to necessarily think that I’m killing him off may not be the case,” says showrunner Gary Glasberg. “I urge people to go along for the ride. I think they’ll be pleased with what he does and what we offer.”

Patton Oswalt’s wife dies: True-crime writer Michelle McNamara was 46

McNamara, founder of the website True Crime Diary, died in her sleep last night. No cause of death was given.

Breaking Bad alum Betsy Brandt had no idea she was considered for a Better Call Saul Season 2 finale cameo

The Life In Pieces star said upon hearing this week that her potential Season 2 finale cameo was scrapped, “This is crazy! I’ve talked to all those guys and they never said anything!”

What are the most popular shows in each city?

Silicon Valley isn’t even a Top 10 show in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Showtime picks up F To 7th based on Ingrid Jungermann’s web series

Jungermann, who stars on the web series, won’t be acting on the proposed comedy about “the female descent into pre-middle age in a world where sexuality and gender have left old-fashioned lesbianism behind.” Jungermann is bringing her web comedy to TV with the help of
Wet Hot American Summer‘s Michael Showalter.

How The Simpsons mastered the art of neutral political satire

The long-running animated comedy takes shots at both sides equally.

CBS to air 2 new I Love Lucy colorized episodes in May

Lucy Visits Grauman’s and Lucy and John Wayne, will debut in colorized form on May 22.

Louie works perfectly as a silent film

Watch Louis CK’s FX comedy get the classic silent film comedy treatment.

Steven Universe is coming back for a 4-week special event

The Cartoon Network series returns for five episodes, starting May 12.

W. Kamau Bell has found the perfect fit with CNN’s United Shades of America

The canceled FX/FXX talk show host travels the country and discusses race and culture in America with people, starting with the KKK in his new show premiering Sunday. PLUS: CNN originally pitched Bell a show about a “black guy in white America.”

Silicon Valley may have its most spot-on send-up ever in Season 3

Stephen Tobolowsky’s addition as the new CEO of Pied Piper is great casting, especially with his character’s ability to promote products that don’t necessarily exist. Tim Goodman says Mike Judge and Alec Berg “have seemingly understood from the beginning that cynicism can be soul-sucking to witness in real life but also a wonderful source of humor. Season three comes out of the gates on April 24 so furiously the assured sense of self is almost breathtaking.” PLUS: Producers did a lot of research to determine if Richard’s Pied Piper ouster could really happen, Thomas Middleditch delivers a highlight reel of facial expressions, HBO’s Silicon Valley store merchandise is eerily accurate, and Silicon Valley can’t keep up with reality.

HBO and Game of Thrones executed the Jon Snow cliffhanger perfectly

HBO treating Jon Snow as if he did die, and refusing to address his status on the show is an “invigorating rebellion against a TV state of affairs that’s robbed death of its narrative power,” says Daniel D’Addario. Other shows like The Walking Dead like to play fast and loose with death. “By refreshing contrast,” adds D’Addario, “the Game of Thrones team used no narrative trickery or artful camerawork; Jon Snow was shown to actually die, and nothing HBO has said or shown in promotional materials contradicts that. Fan theories would be inevitable at any time, but have never been easier in the age of the global social web and of telephoto-lensed paparazzi. Either way, HBO’s refusal to give fans the red meat they crave—even to hint that (Kit) Harington has a story to tell beyond that of a corpse needing to be disposed— is oddly refreshing. It’s a stark contrast to most of the TV landscape, where death is anything but grave.” PLUS: Presenting the 5 most bonkers book theories that could happen, Maisie Williams no longer pays attention to complaints over her nose ring and cigarette smoking, how to fix what’s wrong with GoT, how much time has passed so far?, Isaac Hempstead-Wright talks about his return after a one-year absence, Sophie Turner aims to prove all the haters wrong this season, George R.R. Martin’s lateness may benefit the show, why Sansa Stark would make a better queen of Westeros than Daenerys, Ramsay Bolton actor Iwan Rheon feels he’s already being typecast — his next role is Adolph Hitler, Hodor’s Kristian Nairn tells annoying fans to “Piss off,” check out the GoT opening recreated with paper, GoT’s fantasy cartographer also hates when the show strays from the book, Tyrion Lannister beats both Clinton and Trump in a new presidential poll, and here’s a very simple explanation for why Game of Thrones has been disappointing.