Tipsy Bartender drinks for Halloween 2020

Happy Halloween! To cap off this week-long celebration of Samhain, I'm reviving an idea I haven't done in pure form since 2016, Halloween drinks from Tipsy Bartender. I begin with Halloween Hacks from 2018.


Those look like fun and evergreen party ideas, at least for when we can actually have parties again. Oh, 2020.

Skyy recycled three of the hacks, lab glassware, dry ice, and glow-in-the-dark quinine (pronounced to emphasize the i in the first syllable, not the u) in one short video the next year, Glow in the Dark Gin Tonic.

Perfect for Halloween! It glows in the dark, and it's foggy...The Glow in the Dark Gin & Tonic!

The last recipe celibrates tomorrow, Day of the Dead Watermelon Margarita from 2018.


I close today's post with the following meme.

Trick or treat!

PBS Digital's Storied exhumes the history of zombies for Halloween

I whined a bit to open yesterday's Purdue University's Marching Band performing Halloween halftime shows, including this year's socially distanced and remote pandemic edition.

The trick is that the Storied video I need for the entry on zombies I was hoping to post today isn't ready yet. Tomorrow, maybe.

Well, the third video of the series debuted last night, so it's time for the post I promised, twice.

I begin, as Dr. Emily Zarka did a couple of weeks ago, with The Origins of the Zombie, from Haiti to the U.S.

In the first episode of our three-part special series, we explore the complex history of the zombie—from its origins in the spiritual beliefs of the African diaspora to the development of Vodou in Haiti. Learn how one of the most enduring monsters in popular culture evolved in the midst of slavery, racism and prejudice.

Featuring expert interviews from Voodoo Chief Divine Prince Ty Emmecca, Associate Professor of History at LSU Dr. Kodi Roberts, and Professor and Author Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror Dr. Robin Means Coleman, you’ll get a new perspective on the long and complicated history of Voodoo in America and some insight into how the “zombi” became the “zombie.”

Three years ago, I closed Infidel 753 and I discuss zombies with the following exchange between myself and Infidel.

I know too much about zombies.

"Pinku: Well, it's nice to have the testimony of an expert.:-)"

I guess I am. Too bad it's on a topic that only exists in fiction.

After watching this video, I know that I may be an expert, but I'm not THE Expert. Dr. Zarka has that nailed down.

Follow over the jump for the second and third videos in the series, plus a bonus video about surviving the zombie apocalypse.

Purdue University's Marching Band performing Halloween halftime shows, including this year's socially distanced and remote pandemic edition

As the image above says, Trick or Treat! The trick is that the Storied video I need for the entry on zombies I was hoping to post today isn't ready yet. Tomorrow, maybe. The treat is that I have lots of ideas to recycle, so I'm going with marching bands for Halloween. This year's featured ensemble is the Purdue University "All-American" Marching Band, which uploaded Halloween Halftime Show - October 24, 2020 - Purdue vs. Iowa last week.

The 2020 "All-American" Marching Band presents their first halftime show of the season: a spooky Halloween show! Enjoy as all three platoon[s] perform these creepy classic tunes, with feature performances from the Golduster Dance Team and the "All-American" Twirling Team.

When I wrote Rose Parade cancelled because of pandemic, college football season in jeopardy, I was reporting what was true at the time, but no longer is. Big Ten (actually 14 with the additions of Penn State, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Maryland, but who's counting?) Football has resumed, pandemic notwithstanding. As I repeated in that entry, "America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­. My experience has convinced me that the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent" and "Americans want their entertainment, and will do just about anything to keep it going." This video performance serves as evidence that I was right.*

Follow over the jump for two Halloween halftime shows from before the pandemic, showing that the above performance might have looked like when conditions were more "normal."

The secrets of Disney World's Haunted Mansion for Halloween

Greetings, foolish mortals and Happy Halloween a bit early! For my week-long celebration of the spooky holiday, I'm working my way more-or-less backwards through last year's posts. More-or-less, because if I had been following the order of 2019's entry exactly in reverse, the next one should be a scholarly treatment of a monster, like 2019's Halloween science: Cyclops and other monsters inspired by fossils, but I'm waiting for the third installment of Storied's series on zombies, which I expect will be ready tomorrow. Instead, I'm revisiting the subject of the post before that, Halloween technology: the not-so-secret elevators of the Haunted Mansion. Watch TPM Videos Top 10 Spooky Secrets of Disney's Haunted Mansion, which includes other technologies used in the dark ride, like Pepper's ghost.

Disney World has hidden secrets everywhere including the Haunted Mansion. This classic Disney ride opened at Magic Kingdom in October of 1971, two years after the original Haunted Mansion opened at Disneyland. Home to 999 Happy Haunts, the iconic Ghost Host takes you through the attraction where many tricks and illusions allow the spirits to materialize. There are so many legends, secrets and hidden details to discover at the Haunted Mansion from the hidden ring in the queue, to ghosts floating in the windows and the secret illusion of how the ballroom scene works. So let's discover these spooky secrets of Disney's Haunted Mansion!

While that's not as technical as last year's video from Technology Connections, it's probably more entertaining and has trivia people can use the next time they go to Magic Kingdom at Disney World. Not so much Disneyland, as some of the facts are unique to the Florida park.

Since every video so far this week has had a drink recipe, I'm sharing Haunted Mansion | PTV Cocktail Show from Pepper Tree Villa.

This is a Haunted Mansion cocktail. Inspired by the attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, this cocktail calls in the spirits wherever they're at. It has tequila, rum, vodka, and gin among other delicious mixers.

"And there you have it!" Where have I heard that on a recipe video before? :-)

Also, every Halloween video has had music, so I'm sharing Fastpass Facts' Sing Along Disneyland Haunted Mansion.

We made this video in honor of the first video we uploaded, "10 facts you need to know about the haunted mansion", we hope you like it and we want to thank you again for your support! Let's keep our Disney love up!
Luz and Sauco

If that voice sounds familiar, it's because it's Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger. Between Ravenscroft and Leota Toombs, the Haunted Mansion had some aptly named people involved in its creation.

That's it for today's celebration of Halloween. Stay tuned for another holiday post tomorrow. Trick or treat!

Broken Peach sings Danny Elfman songs from Tim Burton movies for Halloween

I closed Drink to Santa Clara Vanguard playing 'The Phantom of the Opera' for a drum corps Halloween by telling my readers to "stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the rest of the month. Trick or treat!" For today's installment, I'm sharing this year's latest Halloween special from Spain's Broken Peach, Corpse Bride - Remains of the Day (by Broken Peach).



Song written by Danny Elfman for Tim Burton's Corpse Bride film!
For more, here's Broken Peach - Remains of the Day (Behind the Scenes).


This song hearkens back to Broken Peach's first Halloween special, which I wrote about in Broken Peach sings to update holidays from the back catalog for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

The most read entry from the back catalog about holidays is Broken Peach: Singing Spanish goths and witches for Halloween posted on October 28, 2017...To celebrate the continued popularity of this entry, I'm sharing two videos by Broken Peach. The first is Broken Peach - This is Halloween (TV Peachformance), a live reprise of the video in Broken Peach: Singing Spanish goths and witches for Halloween...Since I'm an environmentalist, I plan on recycling this video for Halloween.

As I promised, here it is.


Broken Peach has one more video of this song that I haven't shared yet, Broken Peach - This is Halloween (Official Audio) and it has the best description of all the band's clips I am using today.

"This Is Halloween" is a song from the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas, with music and lyrics written by Danny Elfman. In the film it is performed by the residents of the fictional "Halloween Town", which is the film's main setting, and introduces the town's Halloween-centered lifestyle.

Broken Peach has more new videos of their old songs to share, but I'm being a good environmentalist and conserving my resources, so look for them next year, should I live so long. It is the time of year to think about that possibility and the pandemic has made that even more salient. As I wrote yesterday, "this is still a doomer blog, even when I can't be all DOOM all the time."

Finally, it wouldn't be a good musical holiday post of mine without a themed drink, so enjoy Jack and Sally: Nightmare Before Christmas Inspired Shots | 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN from Secret of the Booze.

Jack and Sally are the most adorable of Halloween couples. In past episodes we make the Pumpkin King shot which honors Jack Skellington. Since we are re-making the drink we figure this one would also include his stitched up lady.

Each day we are creating a new drink for 31 days of Halloween inspired by iconic characters that go bump in the night.

RECIPE

JACK

INGREDIENTS
2 oz. pumpkin pudding
2 oz. spiced rum
2 oz. heavy cream
Whipped cream
Candy corn

INSTRUCTIONS
Combine pudding and liquid in a shot glass. Mix until well combined.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Top with whipped cream and a piece of candy corn.

SALLY

INGREDIENTS
2 oz. pumpkin pudding
2 oz. creme de cacao
2 oz. heavy cream
1 oz. blue curacao
Pumpkin whipped cream
Candy corn

INSTRUCTIONS
Combine pudding and liquid in a shot glass. Mix until well combined.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Top with whipped cream and a piece of candy corn.

Drink responsibly and stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the end of the month. Trick or treat!

Drink to Santa Clara Vanguard playing 'The Phantom of the Opera' for a drum corps Halloween

I wrote "I made my page view goals for October on Friday, so I'm coasting for the rest of the month" in the footnote to 'Cheer' wins 3 Emmy Awards and 1 TCA Award to lead unstructured reality shows. That means it's time to celebrate Halloween until the end of October. I'm going to start the way I usually finish with a drum corps Halloween with drinks!

This year's featured corps and repertoire is the 1989 Santa Clara Vanguard playing "The Phantom of the Opera."* I begin with the official promotional clip from Drum Corps International, DVD Spotlight: 1989 Santa Clara Vanguard.  Don't be put off by the lack of a preview image; the embed plays just fine if you click on it.

Santa Clara Vanguard won with a revamped, second-year edition of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera." For many fans, the production was everything they wanted from drum corps, and for that reason, it has long been a fan-favorite. It was voted the number one finalist performance ever by fans who selected the shows to be presented during DCI's 2007 Classic Countdown theater event.

That's only half of the opener. Follow over the jump for the rest, two other clips, and a drink recipe.

'Cheer' wins 3 Emmy Awards and 1 TCA Award to lead unstructured reality shows

"I'll see if I can do something more focused on television as a whole later this week. Stay tuned." That's how I closed 'SNL' presents its own version of the dueling town halls plus Weekend Update's take on the week's news, but it took a full week to get to one, an update on the winners of the Emmy Awards focusing on "Cheer."* I begin by looking at a different awards show first, the 2020 Television Critics Association Awards.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY
"Cheer" – Netflix
“Encore!” – Disney+
“Holey Moley” – ABC
"Making It" – NBC
"Top Chef All-Stars L.A." – Bravo
"We’re Here!" – HBO

The only reason I'm including this category is that "Cheer" "follows the cheerleaders of Navarro College as they prepare for the biggest moment of their lives." Navarro College "is a public community college in Texas," so it takes place at a local government institution. Again, public education is a function of government. Because this show has six Emmy nominations, I know now which genre I'm covering next in my Emmy nominations series — reality TV. On the other hand, I don't know which of the nominees will win.

"Cheer" did: "Netflix’s college pep squad profile Cheer landed Outstanding Achievement In Reality Programming." I had no idea then, but after I wrote 'Cheer' leads unstructured reality program nominees in a field that recognizes diversity, I had a better idea it could.


Now for the Emmy Awards "Cheer" won.

Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program

Amy Schumer Learns to Cook: Lunch Break and Pasta Night (Food Network)
Cheer (Netflix)
Kevin Hart: Don't F**k This Up (Netflix)
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked (VH1)
We're Here (HBO)

"Cheer" itself features a very diverse cast, although it's their unity of purpose and what they are willing to do to achieve it that's most important, not their diversity. "Kevin Hart: Don't F**k This Up" follows a famous African-American comedian who runs afoul of another dimension of diversity, one important in both "RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked" and "We're Here," which explores LGBTQ+ identity. The least diverse show is definitely "Amy Schumer Learns to Cook: Lunch Break and Pasta Night" but gender still counts. It's also a program that grew out of the pandemic, as Schumer is cooking at home. That's one of the reasons the field looks so different from last year.

Another is that last year's winner United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell didn't return because of eligibility rules, as more than half of the 2019 season aired before the eligibility cutoff and all of the 2020 season aired after the June 1 cutoff date. It should return as a nominee next year. That written, last year's nominees "Born This Way," "Deadliest Catch," and "Life Below Zero" were all eligible and earned nominations in other categories, yet failed to repeat in this category. Only "RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked" returned.* "RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked" was also the only program in this category to earn another nomination besides "Cheer." Normally, that would make "RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked" the favorite, but it has only two nominations to six for "Cheer," so I think the latter is really the favorite.

I was right. Watch 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Unstructured Reality Program.

The team from Cheer wins the Emmy for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.

I'm glad to see clips from all the nominees and hear director Greg Whitely acknowledge his team. Speaking of competitive teams, I made a comparison to an experience I had that related to "Cheer."

As someone who marched in drum corps and still follows the activity, I can relate to their experience, at least in terms of practice and judged competition. I wonder if my fellow drum corps alumni would agree. I'll have to ask.

I asked on Facebook and my fellow drum corps alumni agreed with me about "Cheer." They loved it!

Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program

Greg Whiteley for Cheer (Episode: "Daytona") (Netflix)
Rich Kim for LEGO Masters (Episode: "Mega City Block") (Fox)
Hisham Abed for Queer Eye (Episode: "Disabled but Not Really") (Netflix)
Nick Murray for RuPaul's Drag Race (Episode: "I'm That Bitch") (VH1)
Ariel Boles for Top Chef (Episode: "The Jonathan Gold Standard") (Bravo)

"Queer Eye" won this category this year, but I think "Cheer" is likely to give it a run for its money.

It did and unseated "Queer Eye." Watch 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Directing for a Reality Program

The team from Cheer wins the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program.

This time, Whiteley not only recognized his production team, but also the cheerleaders themselves. Without them, there would have been no show.

Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program

Cheer – Editing Team (Episode: "God Blessed Texas") (Netflix)
Deadliest Catch – Editing Team(Episode: "Cold War Rivals") (Discovery Channel)
Life Below Zero – Editing Team (Episode: "The New World") (Nat Geo)
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked – Kendra Pasker, Yali Sharon and Kate Smith (Episode: "The Ball Ball") (VH1)

This is an open category, as last year's winner "United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell" is ineligible. Based on the number of nominations, I'd say "Cheer" would be the favorite, but it could just as easily be "Deadliest Catch" or "Life Below Zero" with the latter my choice as spoiler.

My instincts proved correct. Watch 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Picture Editing for a Unstructured Reality Program.

The team from Cheer wins the Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Unstructured Reality Program.

While Whiteley thanked everyone else on the production team, the editors thanked Whiteley, Netflix and the production company in addition to the cheerleaders. Among all three acceptance speeches, it seems everyone got the recognition they deserved. With that, Congratulations to "Cheer" for winning three Emmy Awards and one TCA Award!

*If I didn't already have this entry more than half-written, I would have posted another SNL entry. Since I'm an environmentalist, I decided not to waste my work even if it means I get fewer page views, not that I need them. I made my page view goals for October on Friday, so I'm coasting for the rest of the month.

Previous posts about the 2020 Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards

• Kerry Washington promotes 'The Fight,' a documentary about the ACLU's legal battles with the Trump Administration
• Sandy Hook Promise's 'Back-To-School Essentials' and P&G's 'The Look' among Emmy nominees for Outstanding Commercial
• 'Tiger King' vs. 'McMillion$' - big cats and true crime at the Emmy Awards for World Lion Day
• For National Presidential Joke Day, I present the variety talk show nominees at the Emmy Awards
• 'The Cave' vs. 'American Factory' - Oscar nominees and other documentaries at the Emmy Awards
• 'Short Treks,' '#FreeRayshawn,' and 'Reno 911!' - government in short form at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• It's Saturday night, so here are the 15 Emmy nominations for 'Saturday Night Live'
• 'Cheer' leads unstructured reality program nominees in a field that recognizes diversity
• 'Queer Eye' leads structured reality program nominees at the Emmy Awards while 'preaching love, acceptance, pride, and compassion'
• 'El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie' vs. 'Bad Education' and 'American Son' - Outstanding Television Movie nominees about crime and punishment at the Emmy Awards
• Star Trek vs. Star Wars - futuristic politics and government at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Watchmen' vs. 'Mrs. America' and 'Unbelievable' — limited series at the 2020 Emmy Awards that examine politics and government
• 'Schitt's Creek' vs. 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' — Outstanding Comedy Series nominees that use politics and government for laughs
• Outstanding Drama Series nominees at the Emmys once again examine politics and government
• Sandy Hook Promise and Discovery Channel's Shark Week win Emmy Awards for commercials
• 'The Cave,' 'Apollo 11,' and 'American Factory' — winning documentaries at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards examined politics and government
• John Oliver examines the Supreme Court after 'Last Week Tonight' wins four Emmy Awards
• 'SNL' lampoons the debate, Trump's COVID diagnosis, and Supreme Court nomination in season premiere after winning six Emmy Awards
• 'Why We Hate,' 'Cosmos,' 'Seven Worlds, One Planet' and 'Life Below Zero' — science and nature winners at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'The Last Dance' and 'The Apollo' showcase diversity in documentaries at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards

My students are watching 'King Corn' for extra credit on National Food Day 2020

Happy National Food Day! For this year's celebration, I am taking a break from my five year project of blogging about "Food, Inc." on this day. It's only a slight break, as I am instead writing about a movie my students have been able to use for extra credit in addition to the assignment on "Food, Inc.," "King Corn."

I created the worksheet below because the YouTube uploads of "Food, Inc." I have used for my students while they take my courses remotely were blocked in the U.S., something I expected would happen eventually. However, the upload of "King Corn" remained, so I used two existing worksheets for inspiration, rewriting some of the questions and substituting my own for the rest to cover topics I found more important. As soon as I completed it, I found a new upload of "Food, Inc." at watchdocumentaries.com that I could use, so I didn't have to change the assignment or the test questions based on it (The site also has a upload of Chasing Ice so I can continue using that film as well as long as the pandemic persists). Still, I'm an environmentalist, so I won't waste what I made. I substituted the "King Corn" worksheet below for the original extra credit opportunity, a one-page essay worth 8 points. The students have a structured assignment worth two more points out of all this!

Enough introduction. Here's the assignment.

KING CORN

In this lab session, you will watch King Corn (Available on Amazon. If you don't have Amazon, there is an uploaded version on YouTube), the Peabody Award winning 2007 movie directed by Aaron Woolf about best friends Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis and what they learned about the food system when they returned to the small Iowa town where two of their great-grandfathers lived to grow corn. As you watch the movie, answer the questions beginning on the next page. After the video is over, find the best examples you saw from the show of each of the five concepts below and write them in the blanks on this page. You must answer all questions, including the ones on this page, for the full ten points. The five questions below are worth one point total. Questions 1-18 are worth nine points total, one-half-point each.

A value expressed and a decision made based on that value.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Everything is connected to everything else.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

There is no such thing as a free lunch.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Everything must go somewhere.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nature knows best.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Program description from IMDB: King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation. In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America's most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat-and how we farm.

(Follow over the jump for the rest of the worksheet.)

Emmy-nominated talk show hosts on the debate and other news for National Talk Show Host Day 2020

Happy National TV Talk Show Day! For this year's celebration, which is the day after the last presidential debate, I'm sharing the latest from the hosts of the Emmy-nominated variety talk shows aside from John Oliver, who I already featured earlier this week. I begin with Stephen Colbert's Trump Trashes New York, Joe Unveils 'Bidencare' At Final Debate - Stephen Colbert's LIVE Monologue.

Stephen goes LIVE after the final Trump-Biden matchup and finds a silver lining amid the lies, cheap shots and unmasked racism. What's got Stephen feeling optimistic? The fact that we'll never have to watch Donald Trump debate ever again.

I think Kristen Welker won the night, but I think Dr. Jill Biden is a good choice, too. She's a fellow community college instructor. Also, like Stephen, I like floral prints and coordinated plans.

The other Emmy-nominated talk show host to comment on last night's event was Jimmy Kimmel on Trump and Biden’s Final Debate. He also thought Welker did well.

Jimmy breaks down the final debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the mute button, Trump spreading lies and still refusing to release his tax returns, walking out of his 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl, VP Mike Pence stops by the show, we compare and contrast Barack Obama’s rally for Joe Biden with Trump’s rallies, and Jimmy’s wife Molly made a video that details their experience with their 3-year-old son Billy, who was born with a pre-existing condition, to help everyone remember what this election is really about.

I think Kimmel and his crew did a better job with the White House's version of the "60 Minutes" interview and former President Obama's appearance in Pennsylvania than with the debate. I have clips of Seth Meyers and Trevor Noah over the jump on those subjects, but first I'm sharing Samantha Bee's Debating Sam-antics, which serves as a good comment on political debates in general as well as a good punctuation for this part of the post.



It’s the debate we’ve all been waiting for! #ExpectTheWorst
All of the Sams have a point, including Sam as the moderator.

Follow over the jump for more from Bee along with a closer look from Meyers and the latest upload to The Daily Show's YouTube channel.

'This U.S. Election Could Be the Most Secure Yet' says The New York Times 'Stressed Election'

I told my readers to "Stay tuned" to conclude The New York Times 'Stressed Election' visits Michigan to ask 'What's the Problem With Vote-by-Mail?' That's because "This video is part of a four-part series. Two other parts about voting rights and election security are already out with one more installment about disinformation still to come. I plan on posting about all of them." Last night's news that Iran and Russia obtained U.S. voter registration data in effort to influence the election itself influenced me to share something reassuring about the vote count, This U.S. Election Could Be the Most Secure Yet. Here’s Why.

With early voting underway, states are working to reassure voters that their ballots will be counted as cast. Our video shows how states’ responses to Russian hacking and the coronavirus crisis have helped make the election more secure than ever.

One of the producer-narrators left a comment that elaborated on the video.

Hello - I am Kassie Bracken. My colleague Alex Eaton and I produced this video looking at the recent history of our voting systems, and why some experts think this could be the most secure election yet when it comes to technology. It's also a journey showing how paper has come full circle in the past 20 years. Remember the chads in 2000 (if not, you'll learn more about them here)? Well, they set off a chain of events that still resonate in our security today. Voting technology is one important aspect of how we vote — please watch the other episodes in our series "Stressed Election" where we cover the impact of voting laws, voting by mail and the effect of disinformation on our elections.

The good news is that the vote count itself is probably more secure from foreign interference and other hacks. The bad news is that what Iran did was not hacking the vote count or election software. It was a disinformation campaign.

“This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos and undermine your confidence in American democracy.”

Specifically, Ratcliffe said, Iran has been sending “spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage President” Donald Trump, who is facing former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, in the election.

“Additionally Iran is distributing other content to include a video that implies that individuals could cast fraudulent ballots even from overseas,” he said.

“This video and any claims about such allegedly fraudulent ballots are not true,” Ratcliffe said.

He added that “these actions are desperate attempts by desperate adversaries. Even if the adversaries pursue further attempts to intimidate or attempt to undermine voter confidence, know that our election systems are resilient and you can be confident that your votes are secure.”

That's exactly the message I want to reinforce tonight.

I have only two installments of "Stressed Election" left to post, one on voting rights, which came out at the end of last month, and the final one on disinformation, which I expect will be uploaded next week. I plan on getting to both. In the meantime, stay tuned for National TV Talk Show Day the day after tonight's presidential debate. Drink up!

The New York Times 'Stressed Election' visits Michigan to ask 'What's the Problem With Vote-by-Mail?'

I called John Oliver tells his viewers to expect an election month not just an election night "a good summary of all of my concerns about the election that is already in progress." One of those concerns involved voting by mail along with Trump opposing it and trying to sabotage the US Postal Service. The New York Times, in its "Stressed Election" series of video reports, focused on my adopted home state of Michigan when it asked What's the Problem With Vote-by-Mail?

The second episode of our four-part series, Stressed Election, focuses on vote-by-mail, which has become one of the most contentious issues of the 2020 election. In Michigan, a state decided by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2016, a group of bipartisan election officials worry they won’t have the time or resources to ensure results on election night.

This report hearkens back to one of the first entries of mine to focus on the effect the pandemic had on this year's election, Michigan to mail ballots and $400 million for elections in coronavirus stimulus bill update the election news and views for the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News. There, I wrote "That Michigan will be voting by mail in the May election is good news. Let's hope that, if the pandemic persists, the same will happen for the August and November elections as well." The New York Times showed what happened in August and what is being done to make November's general election run more smoothly. I hope it works.

This video is part of a four-part series. Two other parts about voting rights and election security are already out with one more installment about disinformation still to come. I plan on posting about all of them. Stay tuned.

John Oliver tells his viewers to expect an election month not just an election night

It's been more than three weeks since I posted John Oliver examines the Supreme Court after 'Last Week Tonight' wins four Emmy Awards, so it's time to check in with my favorite talk show host. Watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver's Election 2020.

Weeks out from the 2020 presidential election, John Oliver takes a look at various efforts to destabilize the vote, how to ensure your ballot is properly counted, and why we may need to prepare not just for an election night, but for an election month.

This is a good summary of all of my concerns about the election that is already in progress, a shortage of poll workers, long voting lines, and voting by mail along with Trump opposing it and trying to sabotage the US Postal Service. One of those concerns is to expect an election month, not an election night, as all those mail-in ballots are counted, which Trump is likely to use as an excuse not to concede. I'm glad Oliver wrapped it all up in a funny if ha-ha only serious manner.

Now to prepare my ballot, which I plan on dropping off later this week or early next week. Off to research down-ballot races!

'CBS This Morning' comes to Michigan to record the pulse of voters — literally

In its most recent episode, "Saturday Night Live" debuted a new Weekend Update segment, Aidy In America, which mocked both undecided voters and the reporters trying to find and interview them. Today, CBS This Morning offered an example of the kind of reporting SNL was making fun of, Tony Dokoupil travels to Michigan to get the pulse of voters.

"CBS This Morning" co-host Tony Dokoupil travels to three crucial battleground states to talk to voters about the issues that matter most to them, less than three weeks before Election Day. Monday, he visited Macomb County, Michigan, which voted twice for President Obama, before electing President Trump in 2016.

That's a good summary both of how important Michigan was in the 2016 election and the potential importance of Michigan to the 2020 election. I also think Tony Dokoupil and his news crew went to the right place to check the pulses of Michigan voters, Macomb County. It was Macomb County that swung Michigan to Donald Trump and will be one of the crucial parts of the state in this year's election, along with Detroit proper.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the clips from "CBS This Morning."

'SNL' presents its own version of the dueling town halls plus Weekend Update's take on the week's news

While there was no actual presidential debate this week, ABC and NBC managed to create the next best thing by broadcasting simultaneous town halls with former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, respectively. So, just as I did for the first presidential debate and the vice-presidential debate, I'm sharing Saturday Night Live's take on the event, Dueling Town Halls Cold Open.

George Stephanopoulos (Mikey Day) hosts a town hall with Joe Biden (Jim Carrey) while Savannah Guthrie (Kate McKinnon) hosts one with Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin).

SNL's writers were right to have Kate McKinnon as Savannah Guthrie say that people who were mad at NBC for hosting the town hall would be less annoyed after they saw what she did to Trump. I know I was.

Weekend Update also covered the debate as one of its stories in the first clip of the segment, Weekend Update: Trump Rallies.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like NBC hosting a town hall for Trump.

"SNL" has a long tradition of biting NBC and its parent company, whether General Electric, Comcast, or NBC Universal, and this segment was no exception. "NBC has a type," indeed. I thought Matt Lauer was a jerk ever since his cameo in "Land of the Lost." It turned out he was not just playing a character.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the most topical parts of Weekend Update.

Conflicting histories of the origin of Sweetest Day plus a drink and song to celebrate with your sweetheart

Happy Sweetest Day! To celebrate a very popular holiday here at Crazy Eddie's Motie News, I'm sharing three videos, beginning with Sweetest Day 2020: the history of the day and how Northeast Ohio is celebrating from WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Did you know that the holiday started in Cleveland? Sweetest Day has Northeast Ohio roots going back to the 1920s!

While this version of the holiday's origin favors Cleveland over Detroit, it accords with the one in Wikipedia.

The first Sweetest Day was on October 10, 1921, in Cleveland. The Cleveland Plain Dealer's edition of October 8, 1922, which chronicles the first Sweetest Day in Cleveland, states that the first Sweetest Day was planned by a committee of 12 confectioners chaired by candymaker C. C. Hartzell. The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee distributed over 20,000 boxes of candy to "newsboys, orphans, old folks, and the poor" in Cleveland, Ohio.[4] The Sweetest Day in the Year Committee was assisted in the distribution of candy by some of the biggest movie stars of the day including Theda Bara and Ann Pennington.

However, it's in conflict with the version at National Day Calendar, which favors Detroit, which I quoted in Happy Sweetest Day 2017!

National Sweetest Day found its beginnings in a holiday founded by the National Confectioners’ Association in 1916 called Candy Day. On October 14, 1916, candy shops around the country filled newspapers announcing their sweetest treats and delights. Originally designated to be celebrated the second Saturday of every October, the confectioners’ convention in Detroit in May of 1916 made the final resolution. Walter C. Hughes, the secretary of the National Confectioners’ Association, encouraged Americans to patronizes (sic) their local candy shops, bakers, and druggist for the highest quality confections.
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Sweetest Day’s theme of charity and giving became apparent in 1921. At the time, four Michigan confectioners united with the Red Cross. Those confectioners included the Detroit Retail Confectioners, Detroit Wholesale Confections Club, Detroit Jobbing Confectioners Association, and the Michigan Confectioners Club. Together, they distributed thousands of bags of candy to hospitals, orphanages, shelters, and homes across Michigan. The celebration also included 100 regulation army target balloons, which dropped coupons worth a box of candy.

I have a feeling that National Day Calendar's history comes from connecting Sweetest Day to Candy Day, which Wikipedia doesn't. However, the online encyclopedia does acknowledge Detroit and Michigan in the following passage.

Retail Confectioners International describes the observance as "much more important for candymakers in some regions than in others (Detroit and Cleveland being the biggest Sweetest Day cities)".[9] The popularity in Detroit was greatly perpetuated by the Sanders Candy Company. Frederick Sanders of Detroit was a large promoter of the holiday.

Both WKYC and Wikipedia also conforms to the origin of the holiday described in The History of Sweetest Day video I embedded in 2015's Happy Sweetest Day! Now I'm torn. On the one hand, as someone who has adopted Michigan as his home state, I prefer the National Day Calendar version with its older Michigan roots. On the other, Wikipedia is better known, more respected, and usually better researched.* If I were a historian of holidays instead of a paleontologist, a scientific historian of ancient life, I might try to resolve the conflict between the two accounts. Instead, I'll be lazy and hope someone else does it for me. Anyone, anyone, Bueller, anyone?

Follow over the jump for a song to play with your loved one and something to drink while listening to it.

Business Insider and CNBC explain the rise and fall of Chuck E. Cheese, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic

"Looks like I have more stories to write about restaurants in distress during the pandemic. Stay tuned." That's what I told my readers as my conclusion to Ruby Tuesday and Sizzler file for bankruptcy, tales of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic. Before I tell any new stories, I'm returning to an old one, Chuck E. Cheese. Business Insider told a condensed version of the story in The Rise And Fall Of Chuck E. Cheese.

With a combination of arcade games, pizza, and animatronics, Chuck E. Cheese became the go-to spot for kids' birthday parties in the '90s. But a $1 billion debt load and shuttered dine-in service due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced Chuck E. Cheese to file for bankruptcy in June. So what happened?

That's very much the same story that Company Man told, just with a bigger budget and more professional production values.* Both versions make clear a point I made in CNN Business explains retail bankruptcies and how private equity is gutting retail, tales of the Retail Apocalypse.

As I wrote in Company Man describes the decline of GNC, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic, "Usually it's private equity leveraging a company and making it vulnerable to bankruptcy during downturns, which happened to KB Toys, Sears and KMart, Toys R Us, Art Van, J. Crew, and Chuck E. Cheese's." As the video pointed out, I should now add Neiman Marcus to the list. So, don't just blame Amazon and the COVID-19 pandemic for retail bankruptcies and closures; vulture capitalism plays a major part in the story as well.

As the video made clear, Chuck E. Cheese was already in trouble before the COVID-19 pandemic hit; the pandemic response was just the final straw.

Two days after Business Insider released their video, CNBC uploaded one of their own, which asked Can Chuck E. Cheese Survive Bankruptcy?

Chuck E. Cheese reigned as a favorite for kids birthday parties for over 40 years. But in June 2020, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is reopening restaurants after nationwide closures in an attempt to entice families back. While indirect rivals such as Domino's and Papa John's have managed to recover some of their business, Chuck E. Cheese's struggles may be more than it can handle, as it tries to regain its footing in an industry ravaged by the pandemic.

While CNBC retold the history of Chuck E. Cheese, it also connected the chain's situation to those of its competitors and to the restaurant business as a whole, placing its bankruptcy in context. In particular, the relative success of Domino's and Papa John's, both of whom focused on take-out and delivery of high-quality, competitively priced pizza, pointed out the kind of restaurant operation that is succeeding in the current retail environment. Also, I did not know that Chipotle had invested so heavily in mobile ordering technology, which appears to have kept their overall revenues from dropping more than 10%. Meanwhile, Dave & Busters really looks like an adult version of Chuck E. Cheese and could suffer many of the same issues. At least it's publicly traded, so private equity won't have the same pernicious effect that it's had on so many other retail and restaurant chains I've written about here.

If CNBC answered its question about Chuck E. Cheese surviving bankruptcy, I don't remember it. However, Business Insider thought the company would. Stores reopening with safety measures in place support that conclusion. KOAA 5 in Colorado Springs showed some of them in Chuck E. Cheese locations reopen with safety measures in Colorado Springs.

Finding a way to safely and responsibly reopen is a challenge businesses still face during this global pandemic. News5 found out longtime family entertainment hub Chuck E. Cheese is trying to rebound in Colorado Springs.

That's encouraging. I wish Chuck E. Cheese luck; they'll need it.

I have more Retail Apocalypse stories to tell, but only after Sweetest Day and the Sunday entertainment feature. Stay tuned.

*That's not a knock on Company Man Mike; he does a great job for a one-man operation. It's just that it's hard to compete with the resources of a professional news organization.

Samantha Bee explains the importance of voting for U.S. Senators

In the same episode where Samantha Bee asked her viewers to Power The Polls, she explained the importance of down-ballot races, specifically the U.S. Senate, in a monologue that her show uploaded in two parts on YouTube. Here is Part 1.

It’s easy to blame Trump for the current hellish state we find ourselves in. But much like his business “success”, when it comes to enacting harmful legislation, Trump couldn't have done it alone. November is the perfect time to hold his accomplices accountable.

Since this was uploaded four weeks ago, the FiveThirtyEight Senate Forecast shows that Jaime Harrison has a 23% chance of winning to Lindsey Graham's 77%. That's not as good as Bee made it out to be, but it's better than one would have expected a few months ago. FiveThirtyEight's Perry Bacon Jr. explains how that happened in How Did Lindsey Graham End Up In Such A Close Race? Click on the link to read his answers to the question.

The situation is reversed in Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly is leading Martha McSally 79% to 21%. FiveThirtyEight's Clare Malone explains what is happening in Arizona Is The Democrats’ Purple Splotch In The Sunbelt.

Bee continued describing the state of the race in the more visible Senate elections in Part 2.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from horror movies, it’s to always expect the worst. So when it comes to the 2020 election, voting Trump out of office won’t be enough to save our country. We have to also get rid of the monsters that lurk down the ballot!

Bee and her Emmy-winning writers were right about that attack ad on Sara Gideon; it looks like something her campaign could have produced as a positive ad. It may actually be helping the Democratic challenger. A few days ago, the Maine Senate election was the closest one at FiveThirtyEight, with Collins marginally ahead. Now, it's the third closest, with Gideon having a 63% probability of winning.

TBS aired this episode of Bee's show before Cal Cunningham's sexting scandal broke or she would have mentioned it. Despite that, the polls haven't moved much, which FiveThirtyEight's Geoffrey Skelley tried to explain in Despite A Sexting Scandal, Democrat Cal Cunningham Is Favored In North Carolina’s Senate Race, noting "On Oct. 2, Cunningham had a 67 in 100 shot of winning; today, Cunningham has a 67 in 100 chance, according to the Deluxe version of FiveThirtyEight’s Senate forecast." Right now, it's 66%. Still, not much movement considering the potential from a sex scandal, however mild.

Other close contests for the U.S. Senate Bee didn't mention are happening in Iowa, Georgia, Montana, Kansas, and Alaska. For those, I recommend reading Why Democratic Senate Candidates Are Competitive In Red States Like Alaska, Kansas And Montana and Will Georgia Turn Blue?, both on FiveThirtyEight. Maybe Bee and her writers will find enough material for a monologue about these contests in the next three weeks. Stay tuned.

Ruby Tuesday and Sizzler file for bankruptcy, tales of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic

It's time for another installment of Tales of the Retail Apocalypse. First, I learned that Sizzler filed for bankruptcy when compiling the videos for 'SNL' satirizes the vice-presidential debate and puts the news in the context of Mental Health Awareness Week. My reaction was "Sizzler filed for bankruptcy? I'll have to write about that for my next Retail Apocalypse entry." Second, when searching for videos about Sizzler's bankruptcy, I found out that Ruby Tuesday filed for bankruptcy last week. I'll begin with the latter story, as Ruby Tuesday is the larger company and its filing is more recent.

WATE 6 On Your Side in Knoxville, Tennessee, covered the story more thoroughly than the other television stations, uploading three videos more than a minute long, while everyone else averaged 30 seconds. That's because Ruby Tuesday started in Knoxville. Here is the longest clip from the station's YouTube channel: Ruby Tuesday files for bankruptcy.


Another clip, Ruby Tuesday files for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had the only video description beyond the title.

Ruby Tuesday announced today that it has filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

I could feel how important Ruby Tuesday was to the people in Knoxville, especially those who dined at the original location. I feel sorry for them and hope that the original location stays open after bankruptcy.

None of WATE's reports specified if any locations would close, but Fox 2 in St. Louis did in Ruby Tuesday files for bankruptcy, saying 185 stores would shut their doors permanently.

Ruby Tuesday is filing for bankruptcy protection, the latest casual restaurant chain to suffer from coronavirus-related closures and changing consumer habits.

For what it's worth, the location nearest me, four miles away by car and less as the crow flies, closed last year and has been rezoned for a fast food restaurant and a gas station. Good bye, Ruby Tuesday!

Follow over the jump for a news report of Sizzler's closing and the reaction to it.

'The Last Dance' and 'The Apollo' showcase diversity in documentaries at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards

I told my readers "I was planning on continuing my coverage of the Emmy Awards today, but I'm just not feeling it...Don't worry, I'll get to it, especially since I have the next planned entry mostly written already" to open and close 'SNL' satirizes the vice-presidential debate and puts the news in the context of Mental Health Awareness Week. After posting Coffee Party USA announces the 2018-2019 Golden Coffee Cup Television Winners! and TV news reports on Indigenous Peoples Day plus comedy for Canadian Thanksgiving, I'm finally ready to deliver. The result is a grab bag of sports, true crime, entertainment, and religion out of which I can only pull out one connecting thread — the awards for "The Last Dance" and "The Apollo" show that Black stories matter.

I begin with what I wrote about "The Last Dance" in 'Tiger King' vs. 'McMillion$' - big cats and true crime at the Emmy Awards for World Lion Day.

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
American Masters (PBS)
Hillary (Hulu)
The Last Dance (ESPN)
McMillion$ (HBO)
Tiger King (Netflix)

"Tiger King" may be the last show listed alphabetically, but it's the first in terms of nominations with six. Moving up the list is the next most nominated series, "McMillion$" with five nominations. Continuing to the head of the alphabet, "The Last Dance" has three nominations, while "Hillary" and "American Masters" each have one.

In addition to the true crime angle shared by "Tiger King" and "McMillion$," the two shows also explore politics and government in their own ways. Joe Exotic ran for the Libertarian nomination for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018. He came in last, proving that some candidates are too weird even for the Libertarians. The stars of "McMillion$" are the FBI agents who cracked the case and the FBI, like all law enforcement, are part of the government. Finally, "Hillary" is about the life and career of Hillary Clinton, First Lady, U.S. Senator, and Democratic nominee for President, so it's definitely about politics and government. Meanwhile, "The Last Dance" is about sports, namely Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, and "American Masters" focuses on artists of various kinds. It's a consistent nominee, but hasn't won since 2014.
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While I'm not optimistic about the chances of "The Last Dance" winning an Emmy, I can at least say its subjects are inspiring instead of criminal, although the FBI agents in "McMillion$" come close.

I was even more dismissive of the awards prospects of "The Last Dance" in 'The Cave' vs. 'American Factory' — Oscar nominees and other documentaries at the Emmy Awards."'The Last Dance' may have to be satisfied with its Black Reel Awards for Television 2020 win for Outstanding TV Documentary or Special, at least until the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards this fall, where it might qualify for Best Sports Documentary." I was less pessimistic about its chances at the 2020 Television Critics Association Awards, "Out of all the documentary nominees I examined in 'Tiger King' vs. 'McMillion$' — big cats and true crime at the Emmy Awards for World Lion Day and 'The Cave' vs. 'American Factory' — Oscar nominees and other documentaries at the Emmy Awards, I would say it's between "McMillion$" and "The Last Dance" for the most likely to win this category." It ended up being "The Last Dance" that won Outstanding Achievement in News and Information at the Television Critics Association Awards.



If I had been paying more attention to that win and my own changing opinion, I would have been less surprised when it won 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Documentary or Non-Fiction Series.

The team from The Last Dance wins the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series.

Congratulations! When sports were delayed or cancelled because of the pandemic, "The Last Dance" filled the void. In that way, it provided a public service by way of documentary television.

Next, my discussion of "The Apollo" from 'The Cave' vs. 'American Factory' — Oscar nominees and other documentaries at the Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special

The Apollo (HBO)
Beastie Boys Story (Apple TV+)
Becoming (Netflix)
The Great Hack (Netflix)
Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time (EPIX)

The most nominated entry is "Beastie Boys Story" with five nominations, followed by "Becoming" with four, "Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time" with three, and "The Apollo" and "The Great Hack" with one each. While the explicitly political documentaries are "Becoming" about Michelle Obama and "The Great Hack" about Cambridge Analytica, I think one of the three music documentaries will win. Hollywood loves a good show about entertainment and, while none of these are about movies and television, music comes close. That's why I suspect "Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time" might be favored over "Beastie Boys Story." Laurel Canyon is in the Hollywood hills, while the Beastie Boys are from New York.

Well, I was right that "one of the three music documentaries will win." Watch 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Documentary or Non-Fiction Special to see which one.

The team from The Apollo wins the Emmy for Oustanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Special.

Congratulations to the director and producers of "The Apollo" and kudos to the Emmy voters for surprising me in not favoring Hollywood over New York. Also, between "The Apollo" and "The Last Dance," the Emmy voters demonstrate that Black stories matter, which will be a theme in future installments

Follow over the jump for the remaining winners of nonfiction programming.

TV news reports on Indigenous Peoples Day plus comedy for Canadian Thanksgiving

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving and Indigenous Peoples Day! For today's celebration, I'm flipping the two around to observe Indigenous Peoples Day, which I used to call Native American Day, with TV news reports about the day first.

I begin with WROC in Rochester, New York, which has the best summary of the issues surrounding the day I've found so far: Celebrating Indigenous People's Day.

Monday is Columbus Day but many people are choosing to celebrate Indigenous People's Day which focuses on the contributions of Native Americans in our society.

When I posted I haven't seen this many statues fall since the end of the Cold War, it struck me that many of the statues were of Christopher Columbus in addition to Confederate monuments. WROC quantified it as seven statues defaced, destroyed, or removed. It's not just Black lives who matter, but indigenous ones, too!

ABC 13 in Houston reported Houston recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day today from the former site of Houston's Columbus statue.

The city council voted last month to recognize the holiday today, in addition to Columbus Day, but the decision was highly debated.

That clip shows small-d democratic government in action, including arguments from all sides. The next video, State Officials To Announce Legislation To Change Columbus Day To Indigenous Peoples' Day from CBS Chicago, shows citizen activism for inclusion in a decision by a democratic government in action at a site where a Columbus statue also stood.

Another is underway in in Arrigo Park, a place that has significance for Italian Americans in Chicago. It's where a Columbus statue once stood.

I'm not surprised the Italian-Americans are objecting; it was their day as well as Columbus's and they can claim that the descendants of immigrants who came centuries after Columbus had nothing to do with the dispossession of the natives. That written, I expected that same reaction in Boston, where I spent two summers, and where there is a large and influential Italian-American community, but that didn't show up in CBS Boston's Rally In Boston Calls For Indigenous Peoples' Day To Replace Columbus Day.  Maybe that shows Italian-Americans' opposition is not universal.

A rally in Boston on Saturday called for the Boston City Council and Mayor Marty Walsh to create Indigenous Peoples' Day to replace Columbus Day. WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod has the story.

CBS Boston's report is about the support for the change in observance, not the opposition. So is Indigenous Peoples's Day from KTSM 9 News in El Paso, Texas.



The previous videos were more about the opinions and reactions of non-indigenous people than the people the day celebrates. Not this clip, where the local indigenous people are front and center, as they should be.

Now to celebrate the holiday I traditionally do on this day with Brittlestar's Explaining Canadian Thanksgiving To Americans.


HAHAHAHAHA! That comedy makes for a good palate cleanser after all the serious business of Indigenous Peoples Day.

Once again, Happy Indigenous Peoples Day and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Coffee Party USA announces the 2018-2019 Golden Coffee Cup Television Winners!

For the past three weeks, the members and volunteers of Coffee Party USA have been voting on the nominees for the 2018-2019 Golden Coffee Cups for television. Voting closed this morning and it's time to announce the winners in six categories showcasing the best in politics and government on the small screen during the 2018-2019 television season.

Succession won Best Drama Series about Politics and Government. Saturday Night Live defeated last year's winner Veep for Best Comedy Series about Politics and Government. Chernobyl earned the award for Best Miniseries or Movie for Television about Politics and Government, unseating Black Mirror. The inaugural title of Best Talk Show went to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The Man in the High Castle displaced Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for Best Comedy, Drama, Miniseries, or Movie for Television about Fantastic and Futuristic Politics and Government. Finally, Coffee Party USA inaugurates Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer on Veep as Best Television President for 2018-2019 Season, replacing Kiefer Sutherland as Tom Kirkman on Designated Survivor, whose term expired. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all of our members and volunteers who voted for the best shows and performances about politics and government during the 2018-2019 television season.

With the 2018-2019 television season out of the way, the members and volunteers of Coffee Party USA will move on to the 2019-2020 television season. Watch for the posting of the shortlists for the show categories along with an invitation to stream them while staying safe at home. If you want to become one of the voters for this or future Golden Coffee Cups, such as for the best political movies of 2020, become a member. Voting will happen on a members-only Facebook group.

Coffee Party USA ia a 501c(4) nonprofit social welfare organization dedicated to empowering and connecting communities to reclaim our government for the people. To support its efforts, which include educating the public on our website and on our Facebook page, registering people to vote with our partners TurboVote and National Voter Registration Day, and reminding them to vote through our Voter Buddy program, please consider donating. A donation of $10.00 for ten years of Coffee Party USA is recommended. Ten dollars will also buy our partner stamp with Stamp Stampede to stamp money out of politics. For those who wish to give at a higher level of support and be more involved in the organization, please consider becoming a member, which will allow you to vote for future Golden Coffee Cup nominees and winners. To do the valuable work of the Coffee Party, volunteer. Not only will Coffee Party USA thank you for it, so will our democracy!

Follow over the jump for the nominees in each category.