‘Rick and Morty’ is one of the funniest shows on TV. Its divorce plot makes it one of the best, too.

• Rick and Morty has always been darkly funny, with a humanist core buried beneath its crass veneer and sci-fi concepts — don’t be fooled by Rick’s constant belching, swearing and reality-hopping. 
  
• But the divorce storyline feels especially resonant, given the fact that co-creator Dan Harmon is currently going through a divorce of his own.
  
•  The fictionalized split has been handled with the type of nuance that’s often reserved for TV’s best dramas. 
• It’s certainly twisted and messy — that’s par for the course with Rick and Morty — but the characters’ problems are treated seriously, even when the circumstances are completely absurd. Read more (Opinion)
  

Meet the woman behind the trans-inclusive all-women’s music festival in Southern California

• In a small, air-conditioned Williamsburg apartment on a hot New York summer day, Mic sat down with Laura Wise, creator, producer and founder of MOTHERSHIP Women’s Festival & Retreat in Southern California’s Coachella Valley.
  
• This will be the third year Wise produces the annual event, and the 2017 festival is slated to be the biggest one yet, with an expected 600 to 800 women participating in the two-night, three-day camping experience from Oct. 13-15. 
• The event consistently sells out, and each year, Wise finds she needs to move to bigger grounds to accommodate the growing number of attendees. Read more (7/26/17)
  

The BBC revealed how much it pays its stars — and there’s a huge gender pay gap

• The BBC has exposed a massive pay gap among its highest-paid actors of different genders and races in a public report of the stars’ earnings released Wednesday.
  
• The list discloses the names and salaries of all 96 BBC actors and presenters who earned more than £150,000 ($195,360) last year. 
• Sixty-two of the stars on the list are men, while 34 are women.
  
• According to the report, the BBC’s highest-earning man — radio host Chris Evans — made about £2.2M ($2.86M).
• In contrast, Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman, the network’s highest-paid woman during this time period, drew a salary between £450,000 ($586,080) and £499,999 ($651,199).
  
• The list also reveals a bleak pay disparity among actors and presenters of different races. According to the Associated Press, every star who earned more than £300,000 ($390,720) in the fiscal year was white. Read more (7/19/17)

And the 2017 Emmy nominees are …

Outstanding drama series:

The Crown
House of Cards
Stranger Things
This Is Us
Better Call Saul
Westworld

Outstanding limited series:

Big Little Lies
Fargo
The Night Of
Genius
Feud: Bette and Joan

Outstanding comedy series:

Veep
Atlanta
Black-ish
Silicon Valley
Master of None
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Modern Family

Outstanding television movie:

The Wizard of Lies
Sherlock: The Lying Detective
Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Black Mirror: San Junipero

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series:

Claire Foy, The Crown
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Keri Russell, The Americans
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series:

Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Anthony Hopkins, Westworld
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series:

John Lithgow, The Crown
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
David Harbour, Stranger Things

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series:

Chrissy Metz, This Is Us
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale

Outstanding lead actor in a limited series or movie:

Ewan McGregor, Fargo
Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies
Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Lying Detective
Geoffrey Rush, Genius
John Turturro, The Night Of

Outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie:

Carrie Coon, Fargo
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan
Felicity Huffman, American Crime

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie:

Stanley Tucci, Feud: Bette and Joan
Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan
David Thewlis, Fargo
Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies
Bill Camp, The Night Of
Michael Kenneth Williams, The Night Of

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie:

Judy Davis, Feud: Bette and Joan
Jackie Hoffman, Feud: Bette and Joan
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies
Regina King, American Crime
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series:

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
William H. Macy, Shameless
Zach Galifianakis, Baskets

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series:

Pamela Adlon, Better Things
Allison Janney, Mom
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series:

Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
Louie Anderson, Baskets
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tony Hale, Veep
Matt Walsh, Veep

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series:

Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
Vanessa Bayer, Saturday Night Live
Kathryn Hahn, Transparent
Judith Light, Transparent
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding variety talk series:

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Real Time with Bill Maher
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Late Late Show with James Corden

Outstanding variety sketch series:

Billy on the Street
Documentary Now!
Drunk History
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live
Tracy Ullman’s Show

Outstanding reality-competition program:

The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

Read more (7/13/17 12 PM)

The ‘Wonder Woman’ sequel will reportedly take place during the Cold War ‘80s

• In a few short weeks, Wonder Woman will likely pass Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as the top-grossing film of the summer domestically — truly a remarkable feat for a standalone film set during World War I. 
• According to Screen Rant, the not yet dated, but inevitable, Wonder Woman sequel is set to take place during the 1980s, pitting the hero against the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. 
  
• This is an enticing plot that could make for another spectacular superhero film with a spy-thriller feel — not unlike Captain America: The Winter Solider. The report also suggests that Chris Pine could be returning, after he and Gadot displayed wonderful on-screen chemistry in the first film. Read more (7/11/17)

‘Degrassi: Next Class’ handles Yael’s gender fluidity intelligently and gracefully

• There’s something refreshing about how Netflix‘s Degrassi: Next Class underplays Yael’s coming out as gender-fluid.
• Though the reveal was one of the most heavily teased parts of the teen dramedy’s fourth season, it plays very much as a B-story through the 10 episodes dropped on Netflix Friday.
  
• This isn’t to say Yael’s story is minimized in any way: Their process is well-paced, and their eventual revelation feels earned.
•  But Degrassi smartly doesn’t play the storyline for heavy, overwrought drama — and in the process, it crafts a graceful, intelligent story about personal discovery that feels like a vital addition to the stories about queer and gender non-conforming people that are being told on TV today. Read more (Opinion)
  

‘Sense8’ renewed for two-hour finale special

• Netflix has proven no match for Sense8 fans.
  
• Just a month after cancelling the acclaimed series, the streaming service has finally given in to fan demands and ordered a two-hour series finale.
•  Co-creator Lana Wachowski broke the news on Twitter. 
• “It is my great pleasure as well as Netflix’s (believe me, they love the show as much as we do but the numbers have always been challenging) to announce that there will be another two hour special released next year,” she wrote. “After that… if this experience has taught me anything, you NEVER know.” Read more (6/29/17)

JK Rowling tweets an emotional thank you on the 20th anniversary of the first ‘Harry Potter’ book

Rihanna’s boobs in her “Wild Thoughts” are a feminist masterpiece

Deaf singer Mandy Harvey performs stunning original song on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ earns the golden buzzer

James Corden sends a touching message to Ariana Grande and Manchester following tragedy

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Homes.com identified the top American cities for creative workers. To come up with its rankings, the real estate company compared the 50 most populated Metropolitan Statistical Areas based on four metrics: creative jobs, creative schools, performing arts companies, and motion picture and video companies. Read more

The Rock’s stunt double Myles Humphus stars in a painfully real short about trying to make ends meet

Emma Watson won MTV’s first-ever gender-neutral acting trophy and nailed why it was so important

• In its first year with gender-neutral performance of the year categories, Sunday night’s MTV Movie and TV Awards saw two women crowned. 
• Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown took home best actor in a show, while Beauty and the Beast’s Emma Watson won best actor in a movie.
  
• Say what you will about the choices made; calling Watson the best actor of the year is quite a statement. 
• But through a fan vote, MTV’s awards managed to produce two female winners. Considering how skewed against women online voting for films and TV shows can be, that’s impressive. Read more (5/8/17)

‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Riverdale’ star Shannon Purser comes out as bisexual

• After receiving some criticism over a now-deleted tweet about Riverdale fans who ship Veronica and Betty, Purser apologized Tuesday and came out in a note posted to Twitter. 
  
• She had been accused of “queerbaiting” and wanted to set the record straight herself, admitting that being part of the LGBT community is still new for her.
  
• She followed her coming out with “Psalms 42 God is too kind to me” and then asked fans, “Should I confront the creature living in my attic, or?” Read more (4/19/17 9:45 AM)