Last February, David Cassidy told the world that he had Dementia, something members of his family also suffered from, and that is why he could not remember the lyrics to his songs at a concert. That diagnosis, he said was the reason why he was retiring from performing. Just 9 months after that revelation, he passed away.
In between that time he filmed a documentary, that will air on A&E Monday at 11p, and he makes a startling confession to the producer of David Cassidy: The Last Session. He told a producer that he was diagnosed with a liver disease. Not only that, the doctors believed that he did not have Dementia but instead that he was suffering from memory loss due to his alcoholism. After a hospitalization that left him near death because of alcohol poising, he was able to get his short term memory back.
The months before he died, he worked on an album that included music that was special to him and his father, Jack Cassidy. In between recording the songs, he told stories about his dad. At one point he breaks down wishing his dad was there with him. That album was released earlier this year.
The documentary is about the making of that album and the last months of his life. A tragic life, but one that touched so many people.
UPDATE: I just watched the special and there is so much more to the story of that clip that airs at the end of the show. Cassidy was afraid that he thought he had Dementia and went to get tested at the beginning of the special. They did find out he was suffering from memory loss, but they were going to have to do more tests to discover what was causing it. That was in September 2017.
He then went to Chicago to record the album and he could not go on because he was in too much pain. He says from a fall. He did not want to go to the hospital to get checked out. But when he was too sick to fly home, he went. That is when they found he out he had a liver disease and was not suffering from Dementia. Not too long after that, he passed away.
I will tell you the documentary is a must watch. This an intimate look at his life, the relationship he had with his father, his fame and his work ethic. I will admit, it is hard to watch at times because you can see what the alcohol did to his body, but he never let it stop him from doing what he loved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYKRwRlSAUM
We have all recently heard a lot about the cult NXIVM, but how much do we really know about it? Tonight at 10p on A&E’s Cults and Extreme Belief, an ex-member tells us all about her experience with them.
Sarah Edmondson was a young actress, who was unsure where her career was going. She heard about NXIVM and joined the group that held personal and professional development seminars. Whatever they were doing seemed to be working on her, so she kept going. In fact, she started recruiting people to be part of the group. Looking back at her recruitment days, she is thinking that she got over 2,000 people to join them.
Even though it cost a lot of money, she did not see anything wrong with it. That was until they recruited her for DOS which was a subdivision for the women of NXIVM. They each paid $15,000 for a 3-day seminar and that is when she was branded. After the 45-minute branding, that she did not want, she realized that the symbol on her crotch was the initials of the two leaders, Keith Raniere and Allison Mack from Smallville.
Why would she do that? They had incriminating evidence of her that they forced her to make. Her husband, who was also in NXIVM, said this was the final straw and they left.
She went to the authorities, as we know, and now both leaders are facing serious jail time for committing acts like this and ones worse than this. Something Edmondson says she did not know anything about at the time.
Now she is reaching out to the people she recruited to apologize to them.
On tonight’s premiere episode of Cults and Extreme Belief we will learn even more about NXIVM. In future episodes, Elizabeth Vargas will talk with other past members from other cults who will describe what their lives were like when they were in one.
If you are like me and love learning about cults, then you are going to be really fascinated with this show that gets the story straight from the source. It is also important for people to watch so that they know what to look out for and they are not recruited by a cult who takes all their money and so much more.
First off at 10p on NBC is Good Girls and it is so gooooooooooood! The drama follows three moms who are going through some financial difficulty, so they decide to rob a supermarket. They get away with…or so they think.
Beth (Christina Hendricks) is married with 4 kids and her husband (Matthew Lillard) owns a car dealership. He is having an affair with his secretary and blew most of their money on different things. When she finds out the latter two facts, she throws him out.
Her sister, Annie (Mae Whitman), is a single mom, who is a cashier at the supermarket. Her ex-boyfriend (Zach Gilford), who is married now, wants full custody of their teenage daughter. She doesn’t have the money for a lawyer.
Finally, there is Ruby (Retta), she is a waitress. Her daughter has renal disease and she can’t afford the medicine she desperately needs. Not even with her husband’s (Reno Wilson) salary as a security guard.
One day, Annie tells her friends how she has been studying how to rob her supermarket. When Beth has had it with her husband, they decide to go ahead and do it. They think that there is only $30,000 in the vault which is enough to cover their needs.
The day comes and the robbery goes off without a hitch. Only problem is there was more than $30,000 in the vault, a lot more. That is just a beginning of their problems. There’s a reason why there was more green in there and that reason wants his money back. Only thing is they don’t have all of it and now they have to find a way to get it back to him before he kills them.
Each week, they will run into a new problem and it gets better with each one. This a fast paced show with lots of twists and turns. It is a show where the crooks are the good girls and that is nice twist on the old story that has been told time and time again. One that will have you hooked by the opening credits.
Also at 10p, but over on Lifetime is UnREAL. It is back for a third season and this time it is bachlorette trying to find love on Everlasting.
But the scripted show is not just about the reality show, it is also about what goes on behind the scenes. Which is a lot more interesting than what goes on in front of the camera.
The season starts off several months after the season 2 finale. Rachel (Shiri Appleby) has been trying to deal with all of her many issues in a retreat like place, and wants nothing to do with the show. Quinn (Constance Zimmer) doesn’t care, all she cares about is saving her show. It appears that Everlasting Love is in its way out because of all their scandals. Quinn needs Rachel, so she convinces her to come back. She does.
Rachel is assigned to take care of the Bachelorette. Serena (Caitlin FitzGerald) is a smart business woman who is not going to put up with the same crap the men did. She thinks she can outsmart Quinn, but we all no one can do that. Even though Quinn is not on her game like she used to be.
The head of the network is over Quinn and Madison (Genevieve Buechner) sees her downfall as a way to move up in he world. She teams with the network head to bring down Quinn, what happens when Quinn finds out?
There is also Chet and he has a new girlfriend this season. Will Crystal (Kassandra Clementi) keep him out of trouble? Is the new Rachel going to stay this way or will she retreat back to her old self? Will Quinn lose the show? All of that and bunch of sexy men trying to win the heart of one woman. There will be fights, the slicing off of a man bun, sex, drugs, drinking, bets and did I mention sex? Forget those other dating shows, this is the one you need to be watching.
Over at 9p but on A&E is the 2-hour special Jonestown: The Women Behind The Massacre. On November 18, 1978, 918 members of The People’s Temple died, most of them drank Kool-Aid mixed with cyanide. People wondered why so many would end their life and their children’s lives like that and tonight’s special takes a look at their leader Jim Jones.
Jim Jones was not the only one in charge of his temple, the women in his life helped play a part in it too. How much of a part did his wife Marceline Jones and mistresses Carolyn Layton, Maria Katsaris and Annie Moore play in ending it all, that is something that is looked at in the special.
The episode tells their story with archival video and interviews with survivors of the cult including his natural son Jim Jones Jr.
Had Jones never left San Fransisco for Jonestown, the People’s Temple would have been remembered for their activism. Instead they are known for “drinking the Kool-Aid.”
If you are not familiar with Jonestown and the People’s Temple, tonight’s episode is a good starter course. It is the most interesting cult story few hundred years. It is because of them that I am obsessed with cults. It is why I took a course on cults in college. In other words, you want to check this out.
Finally at 9:30p on CBS is the new sitcom Living Biblically. Chip’s (Jay R. Ferguson) best friend just died suddenly and he is not handling his death very well. To makes things even more complicated his wife (Lindsey Kraft) tells him she is pregnant. That is not the only thing he his told that causes him to rethink his life. His friend’s mother tells Chip her son went to hell because he stopped going to church.
All of those things combined cause him to reevaluate his life and his decides he is going to live by the words of the Bible. Sounds easy, but in 2018 it is not. Luckily, he has Father Gene (Ian Gomez) and Rabbi Ableman (David Krumholtz) helping out with some of the lessons from the good book. Wait until they get to the one about worshiping idol Gds like cell phones.
But they are not only people helping him, so are the people at his job where he writes movies reviews. When his boss (Camryn Manheim) hears about his new path, she tells him to write a column about his year of living biblically.
Each week is a new lesson and laughs for us. Even though the show will make us think, we also know there is no way we would ever do it. Which makes it even funnier.
We have seen Rob Lowe do somet interesting roles like Bad Influence and The Stand, and his latest one might be his most interesting one to date. Along with his sons, Matthew and John, he is going to investigate the unknown in The Lowe Files starting tonight at 9p on A&E.
The reality show’s first case is the very haunted Preston Castle. The three Lowes along with Shaman investigate the castle and it is unlike any other paranormal program on television. Because it is their first time, they ask a lot questions which gives you more insight into the workings of ghost hunting. Plus, since they are novices, they are very skeptical to it all. Will spending the night in a place that has seen its fair share of death change their minds? You will have a ball finding out. Ball is a hint, BTW!
It is not only their curiosity of the unknown that makes show a must watch, it is their father/son relationship that will instantly have you addicted. They are just like most families where the sons and dad have a bond that makes them inseparable even though they sometimes want to be separated. Plus, the actor is the biggest kid of them all. So much so, you will want to be his friend because he is such a cool dude.
Like the Lowes, I love urban legends and unsolved mysteries, so I have been dying to see this show since it was announced. Files did not disappoint and even exceeded my expectations because of the family ties between Rob, John and Matthew! It that relationship that makes this different than anything else like it on television. Plus, who doesn’t want to get to know the real Rob Lowe?
Not many shows can say they were cancelled not once, not twice, but three times. Today, Unforgettable gets that strange and awful honor.
After its first season, CBS announced that they cancelled the show about a cop who remembers everything. Then a few weeks later, they picked it up for another season and moved it to summer. After two seasons of airing in the summer, they pulled the plug on the drama again.
Then a few months later, A&E announced they picked it up for a fourth season. Now that show aired all of its episodes for this season, Deadline reports it cancelled once again.
Since this is a Sony show, I really hope they pick up for a 5th season. I want to know if Al lives. Don’t you hate when a show ends on a cliffhanger and then gets cancelled?
