Religious Right

Showtime's Shameless doesn't always live up to its name but, when it does, it really, really does. In the January 7 episode, "The Fugees," gay activist Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) is taking on Christians all over Chicago, shouting lewd things at leaders and congregations alike, which doesn't seem like the most effective way to change minds. Meanwhile, on a trip to Canada, Frank learns to…

Here's hoping Showtime's Shameless decides to leave worn-out tropes in 2017. They certainly closed out the year with a bang, with their New Year's Eve episode "Frank's Northern Shuttle Express" having Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) continue to shuttle "brown people" into Canada for a better life while bringing back cheaper drugs for Americans.

Unless you are spending this time of year at a spiritual retreat cut off from TV, newspapers or internet service you cannot escape the blaring music and the marketers attempting to sell you something they promise will bring you happiness and peace. The many definitions of peace seem inadequate at this or any other time of year.

On Sunday's AM Joy on MSNBC, it was another case of liberals speaking of former Bill Clinton's sex scandals as if consensual adulterous sex with Monica Lewinsky were the worst thing he was accused of as the panel discussed recent scandals from Roy Moore and Al Franken to Donald Trump. And for her part, pretend conservative Jennifer Rubin actually hit Democrats from the left as she complained that…

TNT’s Major Crimes continued its all-out assault on the Catholic Church and priests in its Tuesday, November 24 episode, “Sanctuary City: Part 3.” They also kept up with their caricature of deranged, gun-toting, right-wing white males who oppose illegal immigration to the point of wanting illegals dead, and, for good measure, took a quick jab at homeschooling, too.

On Saturday's AM Joy on MSNBC, during a Roy Moore discussion, recurring liberal MSNBC guests Bishop William Barber and author Frank Schaeffer both engaged in hyperbolic rants against white Christian conservatives. After Barber tried to link "white evangelicalism" to "white supremacy," and accused Christian conservatives of engaging in "policy pedophilia" by not doing enough to help poor children…

I had very low expectations of SMILF, and the November 5 premiere “A Box of Dunkies and Two Squirts of Maple Syrup” lived down to every one of them. In only 30 minutes, the show fit in more crass content than most shows do in years on the air. Since there was no real theme to said content, aside from "gratuitous,"  I think it's best to introduce you to this show simply by walking you through the…

On Saturday's AM Joy, guest Richard Painter -- a University of Minnesota professor and former Bush administration offiical -- was again trashing Breitbart News and "so-called religious conservatives," as he smeared them as being linked to radical groups like the Ku Klux Klan. The frequent MSNBC guest brought up the KKK twice in about one minute of commentary, and ended up deriding Breitbart News…

With storylines about gender-curious gerbils and killer clowns, American Horror Story: Cult has been pretty off-the-wall but, in the October 24 episode "Winter of Our Discontent," they managed to go off the deep end. The episode had everything, from a Nazi cop, to an incestual threesome, to a woman bleeding to death from an abortion.

I watch NBC's Will & Grace so you don't have to, and be grateful I did. In the October 19 episode, "Grandpa Jack," Jack (Sean Hayes) is surprised to find out that his son Elliot is now a father himself. So, Jack is now grandfather to Skip who, his parents suspect, is gay (like Jack). Why didn't Jack know about his grandson? Because Elliot moved to Texas and became a conservative, so they no…

On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, the panel spent a great deal of time covering the recent allegations made by a Democratic Congresswoman from Florida that President Trump was disrespectful to the wife of an American soldier who was recently killed in Niger. Host Joe Scarborough and frequent guest Jon Meacham used the story as an opportunity to attack Christians and church leaders from the South who…

In a brief and oddly biblical rant on Tuesday’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough cast Donald Trump as the Antichrist. Apparently, Joe did this because he was still very upset by the positive reception that both the President and Steve Bannon got at the Values Voter Summit.

On Saturday's AM Joy on MSNBC, during a discussion of President Donald Trump's appearance at the Values Voters Summit, host Joy Reid fretted over MRC bumper stickers criticizing the liberal media while also griping about flyers for a book exposing the dangers of homosexual behavior that were given out. Reid reacted: "I mean, the stuff that they're distributing there, it feels so counter to the…

On Friday morning's MSNBC Live, host Stephanie Ruhle was freaking out over Republican Roy Moore getting nominated for Senate in Alabama as she hosted liberal guest David Litt and right-leaning guest Elise Jordan to discuss the subject. As is typical, Jordan contributed no right-leaning commentary into the discussion as Litt -- a new recurring guest on MSNBC -- was more partisan as he accused…