SNL vs John Oliver: Who you got?

And Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' explodes in new trailer

What to know

• Emmys overhaul variety categories… Remember when SNL and A Black Lady Sketch Show were the only sketch shows nominated at the Emmys? To fix that, the TV Academy is debuting “Outstanding Talk Series,” for shows with the main intent of interviews, and “Outstanding Scripted Variety,” for shows with the main intent of scripted segments (monologues, musical numbers, stand-up, sketches). The former category would house My Next Guest… With David Letterman and The Problem With Jon Stewart, while the latter would give us an exciting showdown between perennial winners SNL and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. Where traditional talk shows like Fallon and Kimmel fit in is unclear. It seems they’d be in “Talk Series” as the main intent of those shows is interviews. I like these changes, mostly because it’s boring to see SNL and John Oliver win every year. 🏆

• Movie theater stocks fall after Avatar 2 opening weekend… That’s not good. It seems unfair to pin the future of cinemas on one movie, and Way of Water’s opening wasn’t even that bad, but sometimes the macro trends are plain to see. Meanwhile, Way of Water added another $38.8M to its global total on Monday. It will cross $500M worldwide today, just 5 days after opening. Are these the legs we’ve been promised? Stay tuned. 🌊

• The E.T. animatronic sells at auction for more than $2.5 million… It’s being brought home by anonymous bidder. No word on if it comes with a wig, dress, and Reese’s Pieces. 🌖

• Trey Parker and Matt Stone secure $20M investment for deep fake VFX business… Step one, collect deep fake investment. Step two, ???. Step three, profit. 🥸

• Mindy Kaling’s adult animation series, Velma, gets HBO Max release in January… I didn’t know HBO Max was still putting out shows. Interesting! 🙃

• Almost Famous to close on Broadway in January; Funny Girl breaks house record… It’s feast or famine on Broadway right now. 🎭

• Taylor Sheridan’s 1923 sets Paramount+ premiere record… Death, taxes, and people loving Taylor Sheridan shows. 🤠

• Edie Falco shot Avatar: The Way of Water so long ago she thought it already came out and flopped… Queen shit. 🌊

• Violent Night is now available on demand… Scar your family this weekend. 🎅🏻

• The Menu to hit HBO Max Jan. 3… Dig in this new year. 🍴

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What’s new

• The Best Man: The Final Chapters — Dec 22 | Peacock miniseries | 🍅

• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — Dec 23 | Netflix movie | 🍅 93%

• Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical — Dec 25 | Netflix movie | 🍅 90%

• Returning: Emily in Paris s3, Jack Ryan s3, I Hate Suzie s2, The Head s2, The Witcher: Blood Origin

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What to watch

Trailer: Oppenheimer — July 21 in theaters

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, Josh Peck, Jason Clarke, David Dastmalchian, Alex Wolff, and James D’Arcy.

Christopher Nolan is one of the remaining directors whose movies are box office events unto themselves. It’s basically him and Jordan Peele. Nolan’s name alone is the signal to buy a ticket — or at least it was before the pandemic, before Warner Bros. completely botched the release of Tenet and sent the director fleeing to Universal. The question is, does Nolan still have the juice? Tenet is not his most beloved movie and box office conditions are tough these days. The good news is, by this trailer, Oppenheimer looks great. Cillian Murphy appears to be giving an outstanding performance and Nolan is providing the visual grandiosity while grappling with the subject matter’s difficult themes. There’s tension and intrigue for days here. Universal marketing, meanwhile, is doing its best to eventize Oppenheimer, making this trailer feel, um, explosive. Though I’m wondering why movie stars Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, and Emily Blunt are not featured in this spot? Regardless, the cinema landscape has completely changed since Dunkirk came out in 2017. Even if this World War II period piece had all the dynamism of Dunkirk, it would be a hard sell as a summer blockbuster in 2023. Will Nolan deliver? I hope this movie is the director at peak form, that it gets amazing reviews, and has a successful run off strong word of mouth—not unlike Dunkirk—but I’m worried come July 24, I might have to wade though cringey headlines calling it a box office “bomb.”

For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!