West of Hollywood

I'M STILL LAUGHING

SNL is hit-and-miss at best these days but this past Saturday's with John Malkovich had me cracking up.  

Above is a fave.

TUNE IN: SORDID LIVES

Maybe because it reminds me so much of my own family in Louisiana and Mississippi which includes an aunt who burned down the trailer of her common-law husband after he locked her out for smashing his guitar, three generations of cousins living in three separate trailers in the driveway of another cousin, not to mention that crazy God Warrior woman from Trading Spouses who is actually a third cousin once removed, I am loving Sordid Lives on Logo.

Based on the movie and play of the same name by Del Shores, the series follows an impressively sordid family and their neighbors in a small Texas town as they update their youngest, a gay struggling actor living West of Hollywood. Like a twisted version of Steel Magnolias, Sordid has an exceptional cast including Rue McClanahan, Bonnie Bedilia, Olivia Newton-John, Caroline Rea and the hysterical Leslie Jordan. But who really shines is Beth Grant as the chain-smoking Sissy.

The go-to character actress whenever casting for uptight hicks, here Beth is allowed space to expand beyond the usual one-liners she's given and grows into a fully realized character that steals the scene. From the trademark flip hair-do she created herself to Sissy's signature and dismissive, "awwww" in response to anything horrible she just wants to avoid, Beth is what drew me into this series and I'm glad she did.

Witness Beth's solo tour-de-force after the jump...