The Aliens Are Coming for TV. Thank God.

This week:

• A weirdly timely TV show.
• It’s been a year since we were all changed.
• Why aren’t you watching Bravo?
• Robyn is back!
• So is Andy Sachs.

Beam Me Up:

I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Bring on the aliens, am I right?

Somehow, my social media algorithm has morphed itself to, almost exclusively, updates on the strange amorphous body “31/Atlas” that is apparently heading to Earth.

As a lonely, single man, I say: Come and get me, boys.

You think that you become more sane, and wiser, as you get older. Me? I believe that an alien spaceship is coming to shock us all. (Also, ghosts are real. But that’s another story.)

I’ve been thinking a lot about this UFO’s sad journey—You get one vacation, and you choose Earth? Devastating.—because one of the best shows of the year just premiered. And it validates my belief in aliens.

Plur1bus is the new show from the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Those shows were devastating commentary on the corruptness of the human condition. Plur1bus? Gird you loins, because E.T. is coming.

I’m not a science fiction person, but given [looks around dramatically] everything, it’s somewhat comforting to rely on sci-fi instead of reality. I think that’s why Plur1bus is such a critical hit. Its protagonist, played by Better Call Saul breakout Rhea Seehorn, is trying to shoo the aliens away. But, the more I watch the show, the more I feel like, girl, let’s just embrace it.

The show centers around a grouchy author, who thinks that her fantasy novels, despite their commercial success, are garbage. Not only does she discover that she is immune from a pandemic that is sweeping the globe, she later discovers that aliens chose her to communicate with.

That’s a lot of responsibility for a cranky person. (I would simply decline the offer.) But what spins from it is one of the most inventive series of the year, bolstered by an unsurprisingly brilliant take by Seehorn.

The mysteries are unfolding weekly on Apple TV. Luckily, I’m gullible enough that I’m impressed by every twist.

The Best Video of All Time

I remember specifically when I was changed for good.

It’s been a calendar year since Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were “holding space” for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity,” as journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist looked on baffled that her innocuous question became so deep, and the meme to end all memes was born.

Even now, a full year later, I crack up watching this video. “I’ve seen some posts” is the comedy line of the decade, from a woman who was so confused that her question took on such meaning.

There are many reasons to love this video. First of all, it is so funny. And so weird. The holding the finger? Why?

But I appreciate it for what it says about Grande and Erivo. On Day 4,000 of a global press junket, they were engaged with the interviewer. It would have been so easy to just mug a WTF face and ask the journalist to move on. Instead, they attempted to meet the journalist at the moment, and feel the emotion she was telegraphing to them.

The Wicked: For Good press tour is speeding up now, and I hope it never ends. I think we’re all better people when Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are crying together, Jonathan Bailey winks about some innuendo, and Michelle Yeoh tries to convince us her performance in the films isn’t a disaster.

Do you know how rare it is these days for actors to be both enthusiastic about and respectful of the press? It’s been calming. My algorithm serves me photos of these interviews and appearances each night before bed. They’ve basically become my nighttime tea..

I am in queer media, so…

Masterful Television Has Arrived

If you’ve been reading me for this long and you still don’t watch The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, easily the best program on television, then I don’t know what to do with you.

Maybe I’ll pull a Bronywyn and Meredith and throw you overboard, like the stuffed unicorn. (That was so deeply cruel, and surfaced so many memories of middle school bullying. These women are, like, 50.)

The three-episode crossover arc of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and Below Deck Down Under was a gift that kept on giving. Did anyone think the women could top Lisa’s meltdown, or the accusation that Bronwyn’s husband was allegedly caught making out with someone, farting the whole time?

But these girls zig when you think they’re gonna zag. Who had money on a six-hour meltdown on a transatlantic flight that was so messy Bravo had to design a rudimentary seatmap of where all the women are sitting?

You’d be wise, even if you haven’t been following the show, to bear witness to this excellent television. It’s called culture.

This Song Is Saving Me

Are you an elder millennial who may or may not have lost their voice while screaming the lyrics to “Dancing On My Own” at a bar in East Brooklyn? Have you regretted that night on the subway back, yet sill played “Call Your Girlfriend” on repeat, as you cried on the L train?

You are the exact right audience for “Dopamine,” the new song from Robyn that is just as its title describes. I was, as the kids say, “over it.” Now, I am still over it, but making, like, one plan a weekend. Dopamine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vitil9qMN6A

The Most Deserved Award

Sarah Jessica Parker will be awarded the Carol Burnett honor for contribution to television at this year’s Golden Globes.

As a person who begins each therapy session by comparing it to something Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, or Samantha did on the show, I would say this recognition is beyond observed.

Suddenly I See

So far, there’s been no reason to suspect that the Devil Wears Prada sequel will be awful, and for that I am grateful.

More From The Daily Beast’s Obsessed

Real Housewife Heather Gay and I chat about her brave decision to expose the Mormon church’s darkest secrets. Read more.

The star of Portlandia responds to Trump’s fake Portland war. Read more.

This Netflix series will be even bigger than Squid Game. Read more.

What to Watch This Week:

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Resisting this show is futile. (Now on Hulu)

The Last Samurai Standing: It’s like Squid Game, but…better. (Now on Netflix)

What to Skip This Week:

The Jonas Brothers Christmas Movie: Utterly shocked this is not a masterpiece. (Now on Disney+)