'Rutherford Falls' mixes comedy, culture wars, native voices

ABC is the broadcast network with the most outstanding current scripted series whose fate has not been decided.

This year, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month comes at a peculiar time where members of the community are simultaneously celebrated and attacked. In April Chloé Zhao and Yuh-Jung Youn made Oscars history, less than a week after an Indianapolis shooter killed four members of the Sikh community, and nearly a month after an Atlanta gunman carried out a mass shooting that left eight victims, six of which were Asian women, dead.

NEW YORK -- CNN analyst Rick Santorum's claim that he misspoke during a recent speech where he said there was “nothing here” when the United States was founded did little to diminish anger against him.The National Congress of American Indians on Tuesday renewed calls for CNN to fire the former Pennsylvania senator.

Chris Willman Music WriterNo music artist is more intrinsically identified with Los Angeles than Los Lobos — unless, say, we’re talking the Beach Boys, Thee Midnighters, Jackson Browne, Little Feat, Buffalo Springfield or the Blasters, to name a few of the fellow homegrown musicians that the group proudly covers on “Native Sons,” their debut for the New West label.Variety has the premiere of two tracks from the project, due out July 30.

A long in the work expose in the Los Angeles Times by reporter Wendy Lee is now up on the LAT website. The crux of the story is to question the agency’s commitment to diversity and whether a toxic male culture and discrimination continues despite pledges to the contrary.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent“Emily In Paris” became Netflix’s biggest comedy series of the year, with 58 million households sampling the freshman series during the first month of its debut in 2020.But, despite the popularity, the show was also met with critique for its handling of French culture, with some saying the series showcases a glamorized view of Paris through an American girl’s eyes.

Rick Santorum said that he “misspoke” when he told a conservative youth conference that there was “nothing here” at the founding of the United States.

Sex Pistols’ frontman Johnny Lyndon, better known as Johnny Rotten, spoke out against cancel culture and modern activism. The 65-year-old conservative rocker recently did a profile with the Times UK in which he was asked about gaining American citizenship in 2013 and moving to California from London to take full-time care of his wife, Nora Forster, 78, as she battles Alzheimer’s disease.

On Tuesday’s episode of The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon offered his thoughts on a “huge announcement” made by the CDC earlier in the day, concerning mask usage.

CNN commentator Rick Santorum has generated a backlash for comments he made about Native American culture before Europeans arrived.

LOS ANGELES -- In Sierra Teller Ornelas’ family, those who could spin a good tale earned a seat at her grandmom’s expansive dining table, with lesser voices banished to the living room.“There was the feeling of holding court that was really big in my family,” said Teller Ornelas, who happily recalled another of the perks: “If I was in trouble and I could say something funny, I would get in less trouble.”The Native American writer is now sharing her narrative gifts with the world at large in

A popular gay character on “The Simpsons” is getting a brand new voice.

Caroline Framke Chief TV CriticThe most memorable moment of “Rutherford Falls” — featuring two characters sitting opposite each other and just talking with startling honesty — deviates sharply from the show’s established norm.

The seed of Peacock’s new sitcom Rutherford Falls — set in a Northeastern town next door to a Native American reservation — emerged from conversations between Ed Helms and Michael Schur, but its spiritual origins may well have come from the comedy hitmaker’s Parks and Recreation, too.

Danielle Turchiano Senior Features Editor, TVWhen Sierra Teller Ornelas was in pre-production on her new Peacock comedy “Rutherford Falls,” she found inspiration in a quote she read from showrunner Prentice Penny describing his movie “Uncorked” as “This is Black people on a Tuesday.”The film, which follows a young man on his quest to become a master sommelier, did not take place at a major life event such as a wedding, nor did it result in tragedy; it told a slice of life story.

Ed Helms, who is absolutely a comedy icon that has become a comedy mentor — I almost don’t have words to describe how exciting that has been for me,” said Schmieding, who is Lakota and enrolled in the Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux Tribe. “And I also got to work closely with Michael Greyeyes, who is a Native performing mentor and a Native icon.

Native American-themed films and TV shows have been on the rise recently – Ava DuVernay and Bird Runningwater are developing a dramatic series for NBC about the struggles and triumphs of an Indigenous family – but Hollywood has a long way to go to include Native Americans into its storylines.