Final countdown: The Lavender Tube on election gaslighting, ‘Real Housewives’ and more

While the networks do their best to both-sides authoritarianism and Nazi white nationalist rhetoric from Donald Trump, events like the CNN town hall Oct. 23 with Kamala Harris and perennial disappointment Anderson Cooper highlight “undecided” voters who really make us question critical thinking skills in this country. (www.cnn.com

Meanwhile, a Univision town hall was headlined as a kinder gentler Trump, but he used it to tell one man who asked what he would tell parents of school shooting victims about gun violence to say guns are crucial to our Second Amendment rights as well as “entertainment,” and to say that January 6 was a day of “peace and love.” The gaslighting is dramatic. (www.npr.org)

On CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper on Oct. 27, JD Vance lied his Maybellined face off in a series of contentious exchanges. Most telling was when Tapper said, “Trump said he going to use the military to go after ‘the enemy within,’ which is the American people.”

Vance replied, “He did not say that, Jake! Show me the quote!”

Tapper then read the Trump quote and Vance pivoted off. Later, Vance said that Trump asserting that Liz Cheney should be tried in a war tribunal wasn’t fascistic at all. Sigh. (www.cnn.com)

All you can do is vote like the lives of the most vulnerable Americans are on the line; oh, and perhaps another three U.S. Supreme Court seats.

As if the looming election weren’t a scary enough lead-in from Halloween to the Day of the Dead and all the spirits rising for Samhain, we were alarmed this past weekend when we saw a disturbing mix of Halloween ghoulishness and Christmas romances on our TV guide. First of all—whither Thanksgiving?

And please, when it’s still unnaturally warm in most of the country, don’t be pushing snow-filled romcoms at us with two months until Christmas. Don’t expect us to be reviewing these until Thanksgiving is on the horizon. Now go sip that pumpkin latté over ice.

Fortunately, there’s a lot of fun stuff to watch before the holidays take over and the election aftermath sinks i

RHONY of our owny
Let’s face it, any one of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives” franchise is an easy watch and their drama makes everyone calmer. No mention of elections here, friends. It’s just the usual drama and then some.

And “The Real Housewives of New York City” has so much to offer this season. Lesbian fashion icon Jenna Lyons is back and another out lesbian, Racquel Chevremont, is joining the group and really tearing it up. Racquel likes to say of herself that “Just like a painting, you’ll need a couple of looks to figure me out.”

Maybe. There’s a lot of Racquel, a lot of reveals, a whole lot of pigeons and just so much “Did you watch ‘RHONY’ last night?!” to text to your besties in this season. It’s streaming on Peacock if you miss it on Bravo.

Back to Kansas
We didn’t know about this queer gem on HBO, but “Somebody Somewhere” is just so much! It’s delightful, it’s heartbreaking, it’s insightful, it’s so many things.

Starring the amazing comedian/actress/writer Bridget Everett as Sam, a 40something woman who has gone back to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas to attend to the aftermath of the death of her lesbian sister. She becomes immersed in her sister’s community even as she tries to figure out her own life and what she’s doing.

The series was created by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen and also stars out gay actor Jeff Hiller and drag king Murray Hill.

Season three, the final season, premiered Oct. 27, but you really need to watch seasons one and two first. You will not be disappointed. It’s absolutely engaging. Everett is incredible and she has great support in the other cast, particularly Hiller.

Uggs
The use of plastic surgery or “body modification” has become so commonplace that simply everyone is getting an Omnilux face mask or Botox. In Netflix’s new film, “Uglies,” Joey King stars as the teen protagonist Tally Youngblood in this sci-fi set in a dystopia where everyone is granted cosmetic surgery to turn them pretty, except it’s mandatory at 16.

Tally is eager for her turn to join the rest of society. She never felt pretty and always thought that being pretty would change her life. But when a friend, Shay (Brianne Tju) runs away, Tally embarks on a journey to save her that alters her beliefs about everything she thought she wanted. “Uglies” also co-stars Laverne Cox as the villainous and devious Dr. Cable.

Grey’s area
We used to be a devotee of “Grey’s Anatomy,” so we definitely wanted to see “Anatomy of Lies,” the new Peacock original docuseries about the shocking story of “Grey’s” writer, co-executive producer and out lesbian, Elisabeth Finch. What a story.

We have been battling a particularly brutal cancer for months and in July and August spent two weeks in ICU near death. Our beloved wife of 23 years, the artist and design professor Maddy Gold, died recently of a rare aggressive stage four cancer. So we have zero patience with anyone lying about having cancer. That is Finch’s story and the tale of “Anatomy of Lies.”

As Vanity Fair reported in an extraordinary investigative series in 2022, Finch’s “purported diagnosis with chondrosarcoma (a rare bone cancer), having an abortion while undergoing chemotherapy, losing a kidney, and undergoing a knee replacement due to misdiagnosis” were all the stuff of her personal story and writing she did for “Grey’s” and for other publications.

As Vanity Fair revealed, “Finch’s medical history was never verified by any of the publications, and she parlayed these stories into plot lines on the show. After being confronted by her then-wife Jennifer Beyer, Finch confessed that none of these stories were true.”

Wow. So “Anatomy of Lies” will be both fascinating and enraging. It’s stunning what people will do to gain attention. Finch had already written and produced for the hit series “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries” before being hired at “Grey’s.” She never had to lie about anything. And yet…

Body language
On Oct. 18 Peacock began airing Julie Cohen’s dynamic 2023 documentary, “Every Body,” previously only shown in theaters.

“Every Body” tells the stories of three intersex individuals who have moved from childhoods marked by shame, secrecy, and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adulthoods.

Actor and screenwriter River Gallo (they/them), political consultant Alicia Roth Weigel (she/they), and Ph.D. student Sean Saifa Wall (he/him) are now leaders in a fast-growing global movement advocating for greater understanding of the intersex community and an end to unnecessary surgeries.

Woven into the story is a stranger-than-fiction case of medical abuse, featuring exclusive footage from the NBC News archives, which helps explain the modern-day treatment of intersex people.

“Every Body” is heartbreaking, enraging and deeply affirming and it’s an absolute must-watch about this community that has been so ignored and also subjected to such terrible hostile medicalization.
www.focusfeatures.com

Finally, you should be watching Netflix’s charming and revealing “Will & Harper.” Actor Will Ferrell and his close friend, former head writer at “SNL,” Harper Steele, embark on a cross-country road trip together after Harper comes out as a trans woman.

Also, there’s that fabulous reality series with queer realtor Chrishell Stause, “Selling Sunset.” Because we cannot have enough fun right now, right?

So, for the Sturm and the Drang, and the ghouls among us, you really must stay tuned.

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