Being a Madonna Fan Is Incredibly Disappointing

Everything we can’t stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. [View in Browser]( [Subscribe]( [Image] with Kevin Fallon Everything we can’t stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. This Week: - Madonna does another really stupid thing. - Wash the horrible away with The Muppets. - Now is Valerie Cherish’s time. - Remembering Reeg. - Betty! Gilpin! Madonna Goes Full Demon Sperm Madonna is nothing if not the Queen of Reinvention. And the Material Girl was at it again this week, sending shockwaves by revealing that her latest reinvention is as [a Karen](. Instagram [deleted a post]( the singer made this week that shared and celebrated the Citizen Kane of dangerous and factually inaccurate [coronavirus conspiracy videos](. [Alternate text] Pushed and promoted by Donald Trump, shared and consumed wildly by [the Plandemic crowd]( on social media, and debunked by just about every reputable scientist, doctor, or casual viewer with three brain cells, the video shares the views of one Dr. Stella Immanuel. Her claims are so harmful we won’t give them space here, but suffice it to say they were enthusiastically embraced by the anti-mask community. So yes, Madonna’s Instagram post singing her praises was deleted for, as my colleague Will Sommer summarized in [his searing exposé on Immanuel](, “pushing the coronavirus theories of a Houston doctor who also says sexual visitations by demons and alien DNA are at the root of Americans’ common health concerns.” Madonna had gone full QAnon Karen. Qaren? Still workshopping that one. But anyway the point is, MY GOD does it suck that Madonna did that. On the one hand, what the hell!? On the other hand, maybe we should be used to this by now. The running theme of being a huge Madonna fan in recent years is that it really kind of blows to be a huge Madonna fan in recent years. Basically, you’re just habitually disappointed by Madonna. Case in point: On Monday, [Dua Lipa announced a remix]( was coming of her standout track “Levitating” featuring Missy Elliott and Madonna. My reaction: QUEENS! LEGENDS! WE DO NOT DESERVE! INJECT INTO MY VEINS! GIVE IT TO ME NOW! (I sat silently on my couch while scrolling through my phone and liked the tweet announcing it. But spiritually…) Not 24 hours later, that very phone was being chucked violently across the room, when that night’s scrolling surfaced Madonna’s reposting of the controversial video hyping Dr. Demon Sperm’s wack-job video. The caption, which we were impressed she managed to type, what with the weight of the tinfoil hat on her head probably making it difficult to see her phone: “The truth will set us all Free! But some people don’t want to hear the truth. Especially the people in power who stand to make money from this long drawn out search of a vaccine which has been proven and reliable for months. They would rather let fear control the people and let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This woman is my hero. Thank you Stella Immanuel.” [Alternate text]( It’s all so outrageous that fans were certain she had been hacked and would soon explain herself. [What they got instead]( was a video of a desert sunset narrated by her Kabbalah teacher, Eitan Yardeni, with the note, “I will spread the teachings of all the great prophets if they resonate with me. They all have something to teach us. They all came here to teach us. One of the most important teachings is tolerance and forgiveness.” Once upon a time, Madonna was a prophet of sorts for many people, too. I mean, in the pop-culture sense, sure, but I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that. Her fearlessness, her agency, and her own blend of rebelliousness tinged with compassion for those who needed to feel seen is what elevated her to the exalted stature she has occupied for so many fans. The fans who so many times lately have been left with no other recourse but to heavy-sigh and groan: Just...why? To start, if only this was the first controversial stance Madonna has had about the coronavirus pandemic. (Has there been a more upsetting phrase than “[breathe in the COVID-19 air](”?) Then there’s her ties to and [promotion of Louis Farrakhan](. Her [tone-deaf tribute to George Floyd](. The “[God Control](” video. This is all just in the last three months. There was a time when it was a good thing to hear that Madonna was causing an uproar. Now it’s just wearing down her fans’ defenses. It’s not a new problem for fans: deciding just how far they’re willing to stretch in order to separate a celebrity’s behavior from the work they love. But it’s not a particularly fun problem for the generations who have loved Madonna. The Muppets! Delightful! Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s Miss Piggy who landed the best joke on TV this last week. Nonetheless, I nearly spit out my coffee when [pop culture’s most iconic swine said it](. [Image] In Disney+’s just-launched Muppets Now, the latest in an exhausting number of attempts over the decades to make Jim Henson’s treasured characters relevant to new generations, there’s a segment called “Mup Close and Personal,” in which the show’s famous characters interview celebrity guests. The diva herself was handling the questions in this particular conversation with actress Aubrey Plaza. After a team of handlers primp and touch her up—ignoring Plaza’s request for some powder—Miss Piggy launches into her first question: “What is your favorite very personal story that your publicist has ever written for you?” If you would like an approximation of my reaction to the joke, read aloud the phrase “aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhAAAAHhhhhAHHHHH,” pitch it up approximately seven octaves, and project your volume until you hear the faint sound of a dog bark in the building next door. Is this The Muppets going straight-up Between Two Ferns, adopting the Zach Galifianakis satire talk show’s strategy of epically roasting both its celebrity guests and the very concept of the celebrity press circuit with its line of questioning? The answer is yes, and that’s precisely the point. Consider Muppets Now the latest reinvention for the more than 50-year-old pop-culture property, this one an attempt at reviving some of the peak popularity from The Muppets Show/Muppet Movie era by adopting the hallmarks of today’s YouTube, viral video culture. It’s certainly more successful than the [mockumentary-style The Muppets]( that tanked after one season in 2015 or the go at a new [movie franchise that fizzled]( the decade prior. Whether you find it a clever play at Gen Z relevance or the equivalent of Boomer Muppets strolling into a high school with a skateboard and backwards baseball hat asking “[how do you do, fellow kids](” depends on how generous you’re feeling. Me? I’m feeling quite generous. I loved it. [Alternate text] (I don’t want to blow anyone away, but, yes, I did that Photoshop myself.) Muppets Now is a collection of segments like Lifestyle With Miss Piggy, Pepe’s Unbelievable Game Show, and Økėÿ Døkęÿ Køøkiñ with Swedish Chef that resemble the YouTube vlogs and series that the youths seem to love, and the rest of us can at least recognize in format. (Why is the Swedish Chef mumbling always unbelievably funny? I wish I knew.) In other words, it’s basically an updated, if less manic and energetic The Muppet Show, which is frankly all any Muppets fan wants anyway. Short of just bringing that back—which, I mean, why not just bring it back?!—this is good as it gets, and as it’s been. So Mahna Mahna to that. Give The Comeback Another Take! Last weekend, I was in desperate need of some comfort, joy, and a reliable good time, so I sought out one of my favorite TV series of all time. By the time Lisa Kudrow’s Valerie Cherish bellowed her first rousing “hello hello hello,” I was soothed. Well, then I was cringing, almost unbearably uncomfortable, and struggling to keep my soul from itching its way out of my skin, which is just about the highest praise I can pay to the miraculous HBO comedy series The Comeback. It is one of the great conundrums of human behavior: There is excellence right there for you all to watch, and instead you all watch some really dumb shit. Such was the plight of The Comeback, which was at first canceled before its time when it aired in 2005, and then brought back after becoming a cult favorite nearly a decade later with the concept of the original run being before its time...only for that one to eventually be cut short before its time, too. [Alternate text]( That’s all annoying because no show has better captured the TV industry, specifically an industry at a crossroads, better than The Comeback. Initially, it chronicled the ways in which reality TV disrupted the landscape. And then a decade later, it asked who gets empathy and who gets power as Hollywood both gets more compassionate and also more cynical. I can’t think of a time more primed for a The Comeback/Valerie Cherish examination than the current one, in which industry veterans struggle to navigate the disorienting explosion of streaming services, the proliferation of celebrities on social media, and the debate over “cancel culture.” C’mon, HBO. Give her another take! Who knows if that will ever happen, but as a glorious tease, here is what Kudrow and co-creator [Michael Patrick King said last week]( during a cast reunion when asked what Valerie Cherish would be up to during the pandemic. It is perfect. [Alternate text] Regis Philbin Was the Best I don’t know how you can be both breezy and bombastic at the same time, but maybe the fact that it should seem impossible is exactly why Regis Philbin was so great. After his death last week, I’ve been watching all the clips of his work that have gone around and marveling at that unicorn attribute of his. One that I’ll never forget is how deftly he handled what may remain the most monumental game-show moment in U.S. television history: When John Carpenter became the first winner of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ([Watch it here](.) [Alternate text] It can’t be undersold how perfect he was in that situation, very much a vital part of it without stealing an ounce of the attention John earned. In any case, my cousin got married that year and you should know that I styled my wedding outfit after what Regis wore in this clip. Betty Gilpin Is Our Queen Now, Sorry! I have never been more confident in an opinion than when I say there has never in the history of awards shows been a better reaction to being nominated than the one GLOW star Betty Gilpin gave this week on Emmys nominations morning. A WORM’S HYMN IN A CANYON!!! [Alternate text]( [Image] - Muppets Now: Start the music! Light the lights! Figure out how to find this on your danged Firestick! - The Fight: A superhero story’s telling of the ACLU’s epic battles. - Black Is King: Beyoncé! Enough said. [Image] - Real Time With Bill Maher: No one’s forcing us to let this show still be a thing! Advertisement [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( © Copyright 2020 The Daily Beast Company LLC 555 W. 18th Street, New York NY 10011 [Privacy Policy]( If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, [click here]( to view this email in your browser. To ensure delivery of these emails, please add emails@thedailybeast.com to your address book. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, or think you have received this message in error, you can [safely unsubscribe](.