Blue Tile Skate

While networks are still deciding which television shows will live to see another season, executives are gathering in New York this week for upfronts.

Big presentations are made, celebrities are trotted out and network execs try to dazzle advertisers with their programing slate for the upcoming year in hopes of convincing them to spend their ad dollars on the commercial breaks between what is ― fingers crossed ― the next hit show. 

Here’s your first look at some of the trailers for the new shows that will air in the 2017-2018 television season.

(This post will be updated as more networks confirm their programing schedules and release trailers.) 

“The Brave”  ― NBC

Defense Intelligence and Special Ops squads team up to save innocent lives around the world in the new drama The Brave, coming Mondays this fall to NBC.

”Law and Order: True Crime” ― NBC

From Executive Producer Dick Wolf comes a new chapter in the franchise — “Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders,” starring Edie Falco as defense attorney Leslie Abramson. Coming Thursdays this fall to NBC.

“Will & Grace” ― NBC

An encore 11 years in the making. It’ll take Will, Jack and Karen to convince Grace it’s a good idea. Will & Grace is back Thursdays this fall on NBC. 

“The Gifted” ― FOX

“The Gifted” tells the emotional story of a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family seeks help from an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.

“The Crossing” ― ABC

Refugees from a war-torn country seek asylum in a small American fishing town, only the country these people are from is America… and the war they are fleeing hasn’t happened yet. As the government tries to uncover the truth behind this mysterious migration only one thing is certain: The lives of the people here — both the townspeople and these newcomers — will never be the same. Writers Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie executive produce with Jason Reed.

“Marvel’s The Inhumans” ― ABC

After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but Earth itself.

”The Good Doctor” ― ABC

Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore, “Bates Motel”), a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital’s surgical unit. Alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues. The series is from David Shore (“House”) and “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O” star Daniel Dae Kim.

”The Mayor” ― ABC

Young rapper Courtney Rose (Brandon Micheal Hall) needs his big break. For years, he’s toiled away in a small inner-city apartment, making music in his junk-filled bedroom closet. Tired of waiting for opportunity, Courtney cooks up the publicity stunt of the century: Running for mayor of his hometown in California to generate buzz for his music career. Unfortunately for Courtney, his master plan goes wildly awry, ending in the most terrifying of outcomes: An election victory. With the help of his mother (Yvette Nicole Brown, “Community”) and friends, including Valentina (“Glee’s” Lea Michele), Courtney will have to overcome his hubris if he wants to transform the struggling city he loves.  

”Ten Days in the Valley” ― ABC 

“Ten Days in the Valley” stars Kyra Sedgwick as Jane Sadler, an overworked television producer and single mother in the middle of a separation whose life is turned upside down when her young daughter goes missing in the middle of the night. Just like her controversial police TV show, everything is a mystery, everyone has a secret, and no one can be trusted.

”For The People” ― ABC 

Set in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, aka “The Mother Court,” this new Shondaland drama follows brand-new lawyers working for both the defense and the prosecution handling the most high-profile and high-stakes federal cases in the country — all as their lives intersect in and out of the courtroom. The series is created by Shondaland’s Paul William Davies and is executive produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. 

”Deception” ― ABC

When his career is ruined by scandal, superstar magician Cameron Black has only one place to turn to practice his art of deception, influence and illusion — the FBI. Using every trick in the book and inventing new ones, he will help the government catch the world’s most elusive criminals while staging the biggest illusions of his career. The series is from writer/executive producer Chris Fedak (“Chuck”) and executive producers Greg Berlanti, Martin Gero and Sarah Schechter. Illusionist David Kwong (“Now You See Me”) will co-produce.

”Splitting Up Together” ― ABC

Based on the Danish series, “Splitting Up Together” is the story of a couple whose marriage is reignited by their divorce. Emily Kapnek (“Suburgatory”) writes and serves as executive producer of this new comedy, along with Ellen DeGeneres.

“The Gospel of Kevin” ― ABC

Kevin Finn (Jason Ritter, “Parenthood”), a cluelessly self-serving person, is on a dangerous path to despair. In a downward spiral, Kevin returns home to stay with his widowed twin sister (JoAnna Garcia Swisher, “Once Upon a Time”) and niece. On his first night there, an unlikely celestial being named Yvette (Cristela Alonzo, “Cristela”) appears to him and presents him with a mission: to find and recruit the 35 righteous humans who can restore a sacred balance that will ultimately save the world. A light drama from executive producers Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters (“Marvel’s Agent Carter,” “Resurrection,” “Reaper”).

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The sister of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old woman who was found dead in her Texas jail cell in July 2015, is furious over the “gut-wrenching” ways she says a criminal justice reform bill created in Bland’s honor has been drastically weakened by law enforcement groups and Republicans. 

The latest version of the legislation, which unanimously passed the Texas Senate last week, has been stripped of provisions that would require a higher burden of proof for stopping and searching vehicles, as well as those that would ban arrests over offenses that are punishable by a fine. An earlier version of the bill also required officers who have racially profiled drivers to undergo training and included language to make personal bonds more easily attainable for nonviolent arrestees.

Instead the bill, which Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire (D) essentially described to The Associated Press as “a mental health and awareness piece of legislation,” has been slimmed down to focus on providing mental health and de-escalation training for jailers. It will also provide mental health care access to and increased supervision of inmates. 

“What the bill does in its current state renders Sandy invisible,” Sharon Cooper, Bland’s sister, told the AP. “It’s frustrating and gut-wrenching.”

Bland’s family was hopeful that the bill would bring comprehensive and sweeping changes to policing in Texas, but loved ones are now outraged over the ways the bill has been altered. They say it will now do little to prevent similar instances with the police like that which Bland experienced. 

“It’s a complete oversight of the root causes of why she was jailed in the first place,” Cooper told The Texas Tribune, calling the bill a “missed opportunity.”

Police said Bland, who is black, was found hanged in a Waller County jail cell three days after being arrested by trooper Brian Encinia, who is white, after she failed to signal a lane change. Bland’s family does not believe her death was the result of suicide. This, along with video of her arrest ― which shows Bland being forcibly removed from her car ― and the ongoing deaths of black men and women in police custody, has further amplified the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Since Bland’s death, family members and activists have relentlessly fought to help bring justice in her name. However, despite their best efforts, activists who have supported this bill, like organizer Fatima Mann, don’t even believe the revised legislation is worthy of having Bland’s name attached to it. “It should be a bill that actually takes away the issue that caused her death,” Mann told the AP. “Not this.”

Critics like Charley Wilkison, the executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, believed the original bill was a “straight-out attack on all law enforcement over a tragic suicide in a county jail,” according to the AP, and felt that crafting it to focus on mental health was a more appropriate measure. 

In April, Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, traveled to Texas to testify before state lawmakers and push for changes in policing that were outlined in the Sandra Bland Act at the time, the Houston Chronicle reported.  

“I need this bill to move forward so that it will prove to people who say that Texas is the most awful state to live in,” she told lawmakers. “And to me that’s true, because Texas is a place of pain for me.” 

The revised bill will now head to the House, where it has until May 29, when the legislature adjourns, to be signed into law. 

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Having a preemie in the hospital can be an emotional rollercoaster for parents. That’s why Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City decided to bring a little joy to the NICU.

In honor of Mother’s Day, the hospital teamed up with March of Dimes to give moms of preemies professional photos with their babies. 

For the photo shoots, the mothers engaged in skin-to-skin bonding with their babies ― a practice that has many benefits for both parties. The photographers were also moms, some of whom previously had preemies in the NICU.

“Finding ways to spend quality time is sometimes hard to do in the NICU, where babies who are premature or critically ill are often fragile and under constant care,” notes a press release for the initiative. “Skin-to-skin care, also called kangaroo care, or holding a diapered baby against a bare chest, is recommended by the March of Dimes and health experts worldwide.”

Keep scrolling to see some sweet Mother’s Day photos of strong NICU mamas and their little fighters. 

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If you’ve ever wondered what Disney princesses might be like IRL, you need to follow this Instagram account.

In her comics, 15-year-old illustrator Imane takes classic Disney movies and makes them a little more realistic and relatable. 

Aurora from “Sleeping Beauty,” for instance, takes naps that last way too long because she has no self-control. (Sounds like us on the weekend.)

And all the royal single ladies skip Valentine’s Day in favor of girls’ night at the bar:

Imane, who lives in the Netherlands, told HuffPost that she looks for funny plot devices in Disney movies and then tries to put her own spin on them. 

Her favorite comic so far? Her comic alter ego as Mulan, inappropriately bursting into song in the middle of a work meeting.

”That song ― ‘I’ll Make A Man Out Of You’ ― is always in my head and it’s something that would totally happen to me,” she said.

See Imane’s other Disney-inspired comics below and head to her Instagram for even more:

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This post contains “Get Out” spoilers.

The white family’s comeuppance at the end of “Get Out” is part of what made the movie a cultural phenomenon. It was the horrific-race-satire version of “We’re All in This Together.” But writer/director Jordan Peele scripted at least three much darker endings.

On Sunday’s episode of “Talking with Chris Hadwick,” Peele revealed he considered having Chris’ TSA pal, Rod, try to save the day by breaking into the gated community where Chris’ girlfriend, Rose, lives. Alas, Rod was too late: Chris was already in the Sunken Place. “He’s looking for Chris and he sees Chris looking in a window on Main Street, and he goes ‘Chris!’ and Chris turns to him and goes, ‘I assure you, I don’t know who you’re talking about,’” Peele said, according to Yahoo. 

That creepier alternative is the second nixed ending that Peele has divulged. He first talked about one in March, about a week after “Get Out” opened. In that version, cops arrest Chris for slaughtering his girlfriend and her family.  

Additionally, Peele said on “Talking with Chris Hardwick” that there’s another ending he hasn’t yet disclosed. Unlike the others, which were mere ideas, this version was filmed and will appear on the DVD/Blu-ray’s special features. That’s presumably the one that tested poorly among early audiences, prompting Peele to exchange it for a more hopeful culmination ― something producer Jason Blum encouraged, according to a recent New York Times profile.

Ultimately, Peele and Blum decided the movie needed a heroic sendoff, so Rod saves Chris and lets Rose die. “ ‘Buddy, buddy — you gotta do the happy ending! Give the people what they want!’” Peele said, imitating Blum. “That’s what Jason does. He lets you do your thing, lets you be an artist, then gently reminds you: ‘Buddy, it’s entertainment. We’re in the entertainment business.’ ”

“Get Out” is available on DVD May 23.

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What constitutes an act of self-care? The internet is full of suggestions on how to prioritize oneself, ranging from meditation to hot tea, prayer to yoga, face masks to nap time. Although such rituals are often enticing, they are not always feasible ― not when there is dirty laundry all over the floor or a pile of dishes in the sink. 

London-based occupational therapist and illustrator Hannah Daisy had this very tension in mind when she was creating illustrations that celebrate the more banal accomplishments that can go uncelebrated, from going grocery shopping to simply getting out of bed. 

The illustrations resemble DIY badges honoring achievements that require dedication, energy and resilience, even if they aren’t traditionally valued as such. One commemorates cooking and eating a nourishing meal, another changing the sheets or going outside. Such undertakings can seem simple, but for those dealing with illness, disability, depression, anxiety or fatigue, they can be revolutionary.

The conception of self-care as a radical act has roots in the civil rights movement, when women of color created spaces and ceremonies to put their health and bodies first. Self-care was, as Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, an assistant professor at the New School, explained to Slate, “a claiming [of] autonomy over the body as a political act against institutional, technocratic, very racist, and sexist medicine.”

In 2017, as a patriarchal government threatens the well-being and survival of marginalized American citizens, self-care is a crucial way for individuals to emphasize their mental and physical health. Yet some of the rhetoric surrounding self-care can over-emphasize rituals like shopping or beauty routines and can subsequently alienate those people who can’t afford to spend the money or time required to partake in them.

As an occupational therapist, Daisy helps people grappling with illness, disability or neurodiversity to accomplish daily tasks, sometimes helping them to readjust to former habits after a physical or mental transformation, other times helping them find completely new approaches and tactics. As she explained in an email to HuffPost: “Really, when we become ill, the biggest problem is ― how the hell am I going to do X task?” Daisy helps her clients figure that out.

In the realm of occupational therapy, self-care refers to a wide range of “occupations,” or “things you have to do every day” ― a somewhat different understanding than most contemporary self-help guides prescribe.

“I started noticing that online, self-care was talked about in a very different way,” Daisy explained to HuffPost, “often only about nice or lovely things you can do for yourself, like a bubble bath, a massage, buying nice crystals, etc. … I started to feel that conversations online about self-care often alienated people [who thought], ‘I can’t go and do this nice thing for myself because I have this huge pile of washing up and my house is a tip.’”

Daisy began to illustrate some of the lesser-acknowledged actions that help bring people clarity and peace of mind. She uploaded the drawings on Instagram along with the hashtag #boringselfcare. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with many grateful to see responsibilities that can feel burdensome if not impossible framed as triumphs, instead of givens. 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to educate oneself about the importance of mental health and the various illnesses and disorders that should not be stigmatized or silenced, but explored. Daisy’s illustrations, revolutionary in their everydayness, offer a perfect place to start. 

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The New York Public Library has joined the growing ranks of public library systems contemplating the end of overdue fines for children, according to a WNYC report. 

A fifth of NYPL accounts held by children have been blocked due to unpaid fines, but the library president, Tony Marx, would like to motivate kids to be good library users without charging them for failures. 

“We’ve heard stories of parents saying to their kids, ‘We don’t want you to borrow books because you might be late with them and then you’ll have fines to worry about,’” he told WNYC. In fact, overdue fines can end up keeping thousands of kids from accessing library resources, just because they’re unable to pay what they owe.

Library fines may be small ― NYPL charges children just 10 cents a day for an overdue book ― but many of us live in disproportionate terror of them, a terror forged in our tender, formative years.

“When you’re younger, one of the first or the only external pressures that’s put on you, that’s punitive, could easily be from a library setting,” American Library Association President Julie Todaro explained to HuffPost. Outside of library fines, “Young people really do not have the credit fears that adults do.”

Those childhood fears retain significant space in our consciousnesses, even years after, effectively demonstrated by the highly on-point “Seinfeld” episode, “The Library,” in which Jerry is tracked down by a library detective still searching for a book he failed to return decades before. 

Despite this effect, libraries did not institute fines in order to shame, punish or make money off of patrons, Todaro emphasized. Rather, a fine is “supposed to maximize use of the material” by providing a small but sharp reminder to return what we’ve borrowed.

“People want those books,” she told HuffPost, “and there’s not enough.” What’s more, she explained, replacing a lost or stolen book eats up more library resources than delinquent borrowers may realize ― not just in the price of the new book, but in costly human labor to acquire and process it. Fines provide a classic economic motivation for cardholders to avoid those negative externalities.

In times when government funding for libraries dwindles, some argue that libraries can succumb to the temptation to depend on fines, along with fees for library services, to supplement their operating costs. At most libraries, the proceeds are reinvested in the library in some form, though sometimes the money is allocated to the city’s general fund. Fines and fees are dwarfed by a public library’s overall budget, however ― according to Library Journal, fines often make up less than one percent of funding, and enforcing fines itself requires funding.

Aside from the impracticality of funding a library based on fines, Todaro argued that depending on these nominal fees undermines a library’s essential mission. “We don’t want to run a for-profit business, or even a break-even business that’s based on income,” she said. “It’s something that would not return a great deal of money for us and would create an adversarial role.” Once a public library is funded by use rather than by taxpayer funds, she added, the question arises: “What’s different from a bookstore?”

The NYPL would be far from the first library system to dump fines for children. New York’s Rochester Public Library made the move earlier this year, as did Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado. Others, like Oak Park Public Library in Illinois and Worthington Libraries in Ohio, already have or plan to eliminate fines for all residents. The key to this experiment, as Todaro explained, is finding ways to maximize access and positive relationships between libraries and patrons.

“Technology was a huge boon for us,” she said. Not only can libraries send out automatic return reminders, a significant percentage of books checked out today (about 20 percent, according to Todaro) are eBooks. When an eBook’s due date arrives, a library need not depend on the patron to bring it back; instead, it can simply disappear the eBook from a patron’s device. 

As alternatives to fines, she suggested allowing patrons to pay via food donations, working off their debt in the library, or simply excluding certain vulnerable populations from fines. Suspending accounts until books are returned, rather than involving fines, was one measure Marx floated as an option for NYPL’s young readers, though Todaro notes that “[libraries] do it grudgingly, because we don’t want to limit access.”

Or, libraries can just drop fines altogether and depend on residents to bring back books in a timely fashion without punitive measures. In February, Slate’s Ruth Graham looked at the aftermath of a Colorado library district’s elimination of overdue fines in 2015 and found that the financial loss was manageable and the boost to morale ― for both patrons and librarians ― was striking. Perhaps most notable: “95 percent of materials are returned within a week of their due date.”

Such a simple move might seem too good to be true, but perhaps sometimes the simplest solution really is also the best for all concerned.

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Brad Grey, a former talent manager and producer of some of your favorite movies, died following a battle with cancer Sunday night in his home in Holmby Hills, California, according to Deadline. He was 59.

Grey spent 12 years as chairman/CEO of Paramount Pictures before reportedly being forced out this year due to “five years of dismal results at the film studio.” His death comes only months after leaving the company and is a surprise to many.

The CEO’s successes at Paramount included strong showings from the “Transformers,” “Mission: Impossible” and “Paranormal Activity” franchises, as well as Oscar winners “The Big Short” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” However, some undeniable flops led to big losses, such as “Ben-Hur,” “Zoolander 2” and the bad idea on wheels, “Monster Trucks.”

Grey previously founded Brillstein-Grey Entertainment with Bernie Brillstein, where he became executive producer of shows like “The Sopranos” and “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

He also co-founded Plan B Entertainment with Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Grey reportedly left Plan B before production began on “The Departed,” which would take home the Oscar for Best Picture in 2007. The company was also behind “Troy” while he was still there.

According to Deadline, Grey is survived by a number of family members, including his wife, Cassandra Grey, their son, Jules, three grown children from a previous marriage, his mother, Barbara Schumsky, his brother, Michael Grey, and his sister, Robin Grey.

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Scrabble is a word game, perfect for those with silver tongues and vast vocabularies. It’s also a game the characters in “The Handmaid’s Tale” do not play properly.

The new Hulu TV show, adapted from Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, frequently features two of its main characters partaking in games of Scrabble. Offred, played by Elisabeth Moss, faces off in tense, albeit brief, word games with the Commander, played by Joseph Fiennes.

These scenes are meant to be serious. The commander regularly invites Offred, disallowed from fraternizing with men otherwise, to secretly spar with him in his study at night. The meetings could be described as intimate, illicit and revealing.

But fans and viewers of the series have been harping on a different aspect of the Scrabble scenes: Offred and the Commander don’t play by the rules.

They also seem to have inordinately high scores …

Some have said they’re just making up their own methods as they go …

 

Others can’t believe these two players are getting such great letters every round …

 

The lesson here is simple: Hulu, if you’re going to film people playing Scrabble, expect to get served.

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“I knew that Dee Dee was murdered, but that wasn’t the most interesting thing,” director Erin Lee Carr told HuffPost about her latest documentary, “Mommy Dead and Dearest.” “It was about why.”

On the surface, Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter, Gypsy Blanchard, seemed to be the textbook example of mother-daughter BFFs. Gypsy, who used a wheelchair and received treatment for several conditions, was always at her mother’s side, sporting a huge grin. The two made appearances at Relay for Life events, went on Make-A-Wish trips together, and even received a house through charity upon leaving their home state of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

Yet, when Dee Dee was found murdered in her Missouri home in June 2015, a different story began to emerge. Gypsy wasn’t sick at all — in fact, she could walk. Authorities discovered her in Wisconsin, on the run with a boyfriend she met online. Later, he would confess to stabbing Dee Dee at Gypsy’s request.

This explosive case spread like wildfire around the internet after Michelle Dean’s comprehensive, chilling BuzzFeed article that detailed the abuse and the grisly end for Gypsy’s mother.

Now, Carr’s film further explores the incident, featuring interviews with family members, medical professionals, law enforcement and Gypsy herself, who is now serving out a 10-year prison sentence. And while there are no tantalizing uncertainties in the way of “Making a Murderer” or “Serial,” the sheer facts of what happened are enough to get you hooked.

“It’s really important that it starts off big and bold and scary and weird, for me,” Carr explained, saying that her previous film, “Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop,” unfurled in a similar way, where social media and the internet are the catalyst for revealing darker truths. 

Gypsy, the film shows, was a victim of Munchausen by proxy, in which a caretaker exaggerates or induces illness in a child for sympathy or attention. 

Dee Dee tightly controlled Gypsy’s interactions with the outside world. From a young age, we find, Gypsy was told she suffered from epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, intellectual disabilities and more. Scenes from Gypsy and Dee Dee’s house show an entire hall closet full of medications. Elsewhere, in a scene where Gypsy’s father and stepmother meet with her attorney, stacks of medical records detailing doctor and hospital visits through the years surround them. Oftentimes, Gypsy wasn’t certain of her actual age.

“Sometimes, my mouth drops,” Gypsy’s stepmother, Kristy Blanchard, told HuffPost. “You know, when I think I’ve heard it all, and then you get hit again with something.” 

Dee Dee and Gypsy’s father, Rod Blanchard, were young when they married. They separated before Gypsy was born. Rod then remarried, and he and Kristy saw Gypsy often as a young girl in their home state of Louisiana. But after the mother and daughter’s move to Missouri, the distance allowed Dee Dee’s control over Gypsy to grow even greater.

“Most of the times, I would call to talk to [Gypsy], she told me, ‘I’ll call back in a little while and have her ready,’” Rod said of Dee Dee. “To me, I’m thinking, OK, she’s gonna get her by the wheelchair, wake her up, or do whatever. But looking back now, she was telling her what to say or kind of coaching her along. ‘Don’t talk about this, talk about this.’ So there was never a time that I felt like she wasn’t being coached.”

In the documentary, we see a different Gypsy from the version shown in news stories about the case. There’s no wheelchair, no feeding tube. Her hair has grown out more. She’s able to speak for herself.

“Gypsy kind of changed almost every time I saw her or talked to her,” said Carr. “She was in the process of growing up, she’s in the process of configuring sort of who she was.”

Carr still stays in touch with Gypsy. “I hope that I’m one of many women that will just be like, ‘Hey, you have a voice. You deserve to be listened to,’” she said of their relationship.

“Mommy Dead and Dearest” succeeds in navigating the complications that come with true crime, highlighting what Carr called the “WTF factor” of the murder without feeling exploitative or sensational. By the film’s end, it’s impossible not to feel for Gypsy’s plight, even if she isn’t the one who ended up dead.

“From a New Yorker’s perspective, it felt totally unconscionable that this wasn’t seen quicker,” said Carr. “But as we dove into investigating this story, it was like, [Rod] lived in a different state, Dee Dee literally kept Gypsy from him. She monitored everything that they said to each other. Rod would send her Christmas gifts and Dee Dee would say that she had bought them. There was no shot that he was going to be able to see what was happening here.”

While watching, your heart goes out to Rod and Kristy, who reunite with Gypsy in the courtroom in an emotional scene near the end of the film. The couple represent a kind of silver lining in this sad story — without Dee Dee’s overwhelming presence, Rod and Kristy can finally establish a real relationship with his daughter. Kristy said they now speak all the time on the phone, and showed HuffPost a photo of the three during a recent visit to Gypsy around Easter.

“I was so nervous about it at the time,” Rod said of their initial meeting shown in the film. “Now, when I watch it, now I get more emotional watching it … It was scary, I mean, for a long time I didn’t know if she hated me or what Dee Dee told her about me, so this was the first time I got really face-to-face with her and rejoin with her.”

Carr said she sympathizes with Rod. “He lost years of a life with his child, he almost lost his kid, and what’s gonna happen to Gypsy while she’s in prison? That is a difficult road ahead of her. But they are there for her, and that is a very rare thing.”

”Mommy Dead and Dearest” airs May 15 at 10 p.m. on HBO.

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