Pop Culture Fix: Uzo Aduba Will Play the Openly Gay Lead in a New Drama From “The Good Wife” Creators

This weekend I started trying to write a book proposal, but only ever got as far as “My grandma really loves my stories” — and eventually just gave up and baked banana bread. Did you know some people put chocolate chips in their banana bread? I did not. Seems very divisive! As the lead story of this week’s Pop Culture Fix will be!


+ Uzo Aduba has signed a multi-year producing deal with CBS, including starring and executive producing a new series by The Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King.

Low Country stars Aduba as Shirley Johnson, the least likely deputy sheriff in South Carolina’s low country. Black and openly gay in a white southern stronghold, Shirley has been underestimated her whole life until now, when she takes on the wealthy white crime family that has kept everyone in the grip of fear.

+ Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad is making a dramedy called Birth of Cool for BET.

+ Roxane Gay on HGTV, small town racism, and “who deserves to own a home.”

+ Vulture’s 101 Greatest Endings in Movies History includes a few queer faves.

+ And speaking of Vulture rankings: Every Jodie Foster movie, ranked.

+ Kerry Washington and Laverne Cox on making their own opportunities and achieving inclusivity on set.

+ Queen Latifah’s Equalizer crushed in ratings again this week.

+ From the writer of last night’s Batwoman.

+ #BringWynonnaHome: Inside the long-shot campaign to save Wynonna Earp (again).

+ Kate McKinnon drops out of The Dropout.

+ Sasha Calle will play Supergirl in the solo Flash film.

+ A Guide to Russell T. Davies’ queer canon.

+ The trailer for Ruby Rose’s new action-thriller.

+ Ashley Benson’s starring in a new crime podcast for Audible.

+ The Mars landing was the best thing on TV last week.

+ The Hollywood Foreign Press Association reportedly has zero Black members, which sure does explain the Golden Globes nominations, eh?

+ 12 cartoon characters that definitely grew up to be lesbians.


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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1719 articles for us.

7 Comments

  1. That entire sentence about Uzo Aduba had three things I loooove:

    1. Uzo Aduba
    2. Openly GAY LEAD
    3. The Kings

    The Good Wife was ace, the Good Fight somehow even better, so the Very Good (deputy) Sheriff should be fire!

  2. – After my exams are over I really have to get started on Equalizer.

    – Hot take: Maybe its time to let Wynonna Earp end. Honestly it doesn’t feel worth the seemingly massive effort required to keep it alive anymore.

    – I liked Sasha’s performance on Y&R, so I am excited about her as Supergirl and if and how they are gonna adress her race: is she Superman’s cousin, is she Kara Danvers, what role did race play on Krypton, is she from this dimension/reality?

    -HFPA seems to weird to me if Wikipedia is correct. I always assumed it was just a non-US film/tv journalist association and nothing more, but Wikipedia says its member must have primary residence in California and publish only/minimally 4 articles or photographs in non-US outlets, so its just fancy US journalists?!

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