Around the Tubes: 6/6/14

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Wicked Tuna, Young and Hungry, The Hollywood Reporter Roundtables, A Star-Spangled Story: Battle for America, Grace and Tony, Monogem, Fozzy, Bari Leigh, Major Crimes, Motor City Masters, Penny Dreadful, King of the Nerds, Ascension, and Homeland.

- An age-old battle wages off the coast of Gloucester, Mass., in the icy waters of the Atlantic. As the final weeks of bluefin season approach for the fishermen on National Geographic Channel’s hit series Wicked Tuna, no captain will rest until they climb to the top of the leaderboard to snag the championship. The heart-pounding Wicked Tuna season three finale premieres Sunday at 9:00, followed immediately by the debut of National Geographic Channel’s first live talk show, Reel Talk Live, at 10:00 (tape delayed on the West Coast). Fan-favorite captains and crewmen join host Mike Salk (@TheMikeSalk; sports radio host and Boston area native) before a live audience to answer fan questions, reveal behind-the-scenes scoop and look ahead to the future of the successful Wicked Tuna franchise.

- In anticipation of the upcoming premiere of new original comedy Young & Hungry, ABC Family has launched the Young & Hungry Selfie Sweepstakes. Viewers can enter for a chance to win free groceries for a year. From now through Monday, June 30, fans can enter by posting a “selfie” of themselves on Instagram with their favorite food and include the hashtag #YoungandHungrySelfieSweeps. To be eligible to win, fans may follow the show’s Instagram @YoungandHungryABCF. For more information, visit the YoungandHungrySweepstakes.com.

- A&E Network and The Hollywood Reporter have partnered to produce The Hollywood Reporter Roundtables series, featuring Hollywood's leading Emmy-contenders in intimate discussions leading up to the award nominations. The four-part Emmy roundtables will air on A&E Network on June 8 and 15. A&E will premiere the four-part Emmy series beginning Sunday June 8 with two programs, the Drama Actor Roundtable at 8am and Drama Actress Roundtable at 9am. On Sunday, June 15, A&E will air the Comedy Actor Roundtable at 8am ET/PT and Comedy Actress Roundtable at 9am ET/PT. The Drama Actor Roundtable hosts Jon Hamm, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Michael Sheen, Jeff Daniels, and Josh Charles. The Drama Actress Roundtable hosts Julianna Margulies, Claire Danes, Jessica Pare, Keri Russell, Sarah Paulson, and Vera Farmiga. The Comedy Actor Roundtable features top comedic talents Andy Samberg, Jason Biggs, William H. Macy, Matt LeBlanc, Tony Hale, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The Comedy Actress Roundtable hosts Emmy hopefuls Taylor Schilling, Edie Falco, Mindy Kaling, Zooey Deschanel, Kaley Cuoco, and Emmy Rossum.

- Sung before almost every sporting event in the nation, The Star-Spangled Banner has stirring lyrics and a powerful melody. But many Americans don’t actually know the words or the historic events that inspired them. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Francis Scott Key’s iconic song, Smithsonian Channel will premiere A Star-Spangled Story: Battle for America, an original one-hour documentary revealing the story surrounding America’s National Anthem, on Saturday, June 14 at 9:00. Two hundred years ago, America was a young nation battling the British Empire in a conflict known as the War of 1812. By late summer 1814, the fate of the entire country hung in the balance. Washington was in flames. The President and Congress had fled the city, the American army had collapsed, and conquering troops were burning the nation’s capital. But out of this catastrophic time was born an inspiration and rallying song recognized by every: The Star-Spangled Banner.

- Loretto,TN-based husband-and-wife duo Grace and Tony’s latest Greenroom Session video clip, which went live on TheBoot.com yesterday, features Tony’s brother, John Paul White (formerly of The Civil Wars) joining them on a cover of the Grace & Tony song, November.

- Fans of indie-pop, give a listen to Follow You by Monogem:



- Fozzy have announced they will release their highly anticipated, new full-length studio album Do You Wanna Start a War (Century Media Records) on July 22nd! Fans can now pre-order the 12-track album at iTunes and receive an instant download of the song "One Crazed Anarchist."

- Boldness can take many forms. On the one hand, it can mean brazen, fearless, assured; on the other hand, sensitive, intimate, authentic. Nashville-based singer-songwriter Bari Leigh uniquely understands and embraces this duality: it's in her character. It's in both the sweetness and swagger of her music. And, it's at the heart of what her debut album, Tonight, I'm Unchained, is all about.

- As fans of TNT's Top 10 drama Major Crimes prepare for the start of an all-new season, they will get the chance to enjoy a 19-hour marathon of the entire previous season. The marathon will begin running Sunday, June 8, at 2 a.m. and will continue right up until the season three premiere on Monday, June 9, at 9 p.m.

- Motor City Masters is off to the races. truTV's new car design competition series will be at the center of an immersive car-design installation to be located in Pocono Raceway's Fan Fair for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from Pocono 400 during the weekend of June 7-8. Produced in collaboration with Chevrolet and premieringTuesday, June 24, at 10:00, Motor City Masters will bring together 10 experienced designers, with various specialties and backgrounds, all of whom share a passion for car design.

- Showtime has picked up a second season of its critically acclaimed drama series Penny Dreadful, it was announced this week by David Nevins, President, Showtime Networks Inc. The network has given an expanded order of ten episodes to the series. Created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar® nominee John Logan, Penny Dreadful has been embraced by the network’s subscribers, drawing 4.8 million weekly viewers across platforms since its launch.

- Nerdvana will be searching for its next ruler as TBS has ordered a third season of its unique competition series King of the Nerds. Hosts Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong, who also serve as executive producers, will once again supervise the proceedings as competitors from across the nerd spectrum vie for the ultimate nerd title. TBS has ordered eight episodes for the third season of King of the Nerds, which is slated to air in early 2015. The renewal comes on the heels of TBS's announcement that it has extended its hit hidden-camera game show Deal With It for an additional 10 episodes to air this fall.

- Syfy this week announced that Brian Van Holt (Cougar Town, The Bridge) will star in the channel’s new original, six hour event series Ascension, portraying eponymous ship’s captain, William Denninger. Van Holt joins the previously announced Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) in the intergalactic mystery series; the two will play husband and wife.

- Today, Showtime and Fox 21 announced that acclaimed actors Laila Robins (Bored To Death, In Treatment) and Golden Globe®nominee Corey Stoll (House of Cards) have joined the fourth season of the Emmy® and Golden Globe Award-winning drama series Homeland. Robins joins as a series regular in the role of “Martha Boyd,” the United States Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, who is professional and put together, with a ship-to-ship voice and the personality to match. Stoll will guest star as “Sandy Bachman,” the CIA Chief of Station in Pakistan and a rising star in the Agency's firmament. The series’ fourth season will begin production later this month in Cape Town, South Africa. The network's No. 1 rated series with an average of seven million weekly viewers, HOMELAND will return to Showtime this fall.