Best Lines of the Week (April 21-27): ‘A Train Cover Band — Tram’
As we round out April and the showers bring May’s flowers, we cannot help but admire our growing garden of great TV.
NBC was in the celebratory mood with its special, Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love. Stars and friends paid tribute to the television star, host, comedian, and icon that is Carol Burnett on her 90th birthday.
On April 27, The Late Late Show with James Corden aired its last broadcast with the host himself. Special guest stars included Harry Styles, Adele, Will Ferrell, President Joe Biden, and Tom Cruise, who abandoned the espionage gear of Mission: Impossible for dancing with puppets in the musical The Lion King. Corden ambushed Cruise with what turned out to be the action star’s first theatrical run, but we think he stunned in his performance as Pumbaa in “Hakuna Matata” and may have caused us to shed a tear at his and Corden’s duet to “Can You Feel The Love Tonight.” It might have been the end of an era for James Corden, but it could be the start of something new for Cruise. Top Gun: A New Musical, possibly?
TV kept the laughs coming this week with a hilarious lack of whistles on Apple TV+‘s Ted Lasso, a meddlesome teen ghost from the ’80s awakened on CBS‘ Ghosts, and a big reveal on Freevee‘s Jury Duty.
And there’s more where that came from. Keep scrolling to read more of our favorite lines of the week!
American Idol (ABC)
“Fifteen-year-old Haven in school wanted it now. Then 16-year-old Haven auditioning for American Idol wanted it now. And I’m 17, and by the grace of God, I’m gonna go get it now.”
— Haven Madison performs her original song “15” after being told she’s in the Top 12.
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
“You sure you don’t want a plastic whistle?”
— Conscious of Roy’s (Brett Goldstein) metal allergy, Ted (Jason Sudeikis) offers him a plastic whistle in place of just aggressively yelling the word ‘whistle.’
The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS)
“I’m James Corden, Tony Award winner, veteran of the National Theatre at the West End and, of course, Broadway. This is Tom, limited or next to no theatrical experience.”
— James Corden goes back to his roots and introduces theatre newbie Tom Cruise to the cast of The Lion King at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (NBC)
“I just want to tell you, Mrs. Carol Burnett, look at you at 90 looking like a snack.”
— Abbott Elementary actor Sheryl Lee Ralph tells Carol Burnett that she is still looking good at 90 years old.
Night Court (NBC)
“We met at the 99.7 Not Bummer Summer Concert. We roasted hot dogs together while Train played ‘Drops of Jupiter.’ Well, a Train cover band—Tram.”
— Abby (Melissa Rauch) reminisces about her first encounter with her fiancé Rand (Pete Holmes).
Riverdale (The CW)
Jughead: “Who can keep up with all the horny teens at Riverdale High?”
Veronica: “I mean, what else is there to do? It’s why God created high school, so there’d be a place where boys could chase girls, and vice versa.”
Jughead: “Yeah… I mean, girls will do just about anything to get a boy’s attention.”
Veronica: “Including feigning an interest in comic books apparently.”
— Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is oblivious to Veronica’s (Camila Mendes) attempts to get his attention by adopting his interests.
Bob's Burgers (FOX)
“This wrestling stuff is all the time. I’ve already cut out homework, but now my TV-watching is starting to suffer.”
— Gene (voiced by Eugene Mirman) won’t let Louise’s (voiced by Kristen Schaal) dream of creating a sibling wrestling team cut into his precious TV time.
Survivor (CBS)
“Enjoy your rice, you bitches.”
— Kane Fritzler’s final words to his tribemates after they went behind his back and sent him to the jury despite assuring him he wouldn’t be voted off for choosing to sit out of an immunity challenge.
Succession (HBO)
Kendall: “Shiv, we’re death-wrestling with ogres.”
Shiv: “You’re reading documents is what you’re doing, Ken.”
— Shiv (Sarah Snook) gives Kendall (Jeremy Strong) a reality check while he and Roman (Kieran Culkin) appraise how to get the most money out of the GoJo deal.
Ghosts (CBS)
“Is it really that difficult to carry one’s weight at a social function? I mean, Elias was a syphilitic philanderer, but that man sparkled at a dinner party.”
— The era differences between ghosts Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) and Trevor (Asher Grodman) catch up with them as she laments their awkward double-date with Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) and Nigel (John Hartman).
Jury Duty (Freevee)
“As I said weeks ago when you first entered this courtroom, that this is the last trial of my career, what I didn’t tell you is it’s also the first, because I’m not a real judge and you’re not a real foreperson. This is not a real case.”
— Actor Alan Barinholtz reveals to Ronald Gladden that the entire case he sat on for jury duty was fake and everyone around him is an actor.
