57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/13/15

Orphan Black: Oh Donnie, how long until he tries to have sex with one of the clones, I thought it may actually happen this week with Helena. Then I thought he might accidentally kill another dude this week but instead just gets into a slap fight instead (where I thought he might have been dead until the promo monkeys went and spoiled that).
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: Fun fact: I was once an award winning actor who once was tasked with throwing confetti on stage during every performance. After the first time I actually did it and the play was over, I went to sweep up the mess I created until the director came by and told said the star does not have to clean anything, leave that to the minions. I felt bad as someone else had to clean up after me every night. It was that thought that ran through my mind when it started raining blood this week, somebody is going to have to clean that up, wash the clothes and everything. And just for a dream sequence. Poor chaps. But I have a feeling we may never see Dorian Grey's ball room again after that.
You can download Penny Dreadful on iTunes.

American Odyssey: Of course Odell gets captured by a pre-teen army. Why would she not? Luc not selling her out would have may actual sense, he has to flip on her for no reason at all every other episode. I also liked Yucef's plan to assassinate a sitting Senator so he could go on trial and tell his story as if that really would have happened his security team would have totally shot first and asked questions later, instead of wrestling the gun toting terrorist to the ground without a shot fired by them.
You can download American Odyssey on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Well that was boring. After a tense season premiere, that was really boring with the girls moping around for the whole episode. So much for the Summer of Answers.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Aquarius: I had spent the first two week making fun of the hot cop with the embarrassingly bad American accent but I have to admit I kind of his her and her howling this week. Oh well. But hey, Mulder rescued the runaway about eight episodes before I expected him too. And the acid trip scene was almost as entertaining as the howling.
You can download the full season (just the televised version as of now) of Aquarius on iTunes.

Hannibal: When Abigail Hobbs walked into Will's room as he was coming to I thought, she has to be a hallucination. They actually got me to believe she was real when she was still around "8 months later." Well they got me, of course no one is going to survive getting their throat slit twice. Noe she can go to that big fly fishing river in the sky. But this reintroducing only one character per episode like it is Lost is getting kind of annoying.
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 6/12/15

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 The Strain, Operation Wild, Conan, Masters of Sex, VH1 Premiere Dates, Master P’s Family Empire, Separation Anxiety, Perfect High, Showtime, Lyfe Jennings, Make Music Day, and Episodes.

- It’s getting darker. More horrifying. And fun to watch. Get a FIRST LOOK at what’s to come in the all new season of The Strain which premieres Sunday, July 12 at 10:00 only on FX.


- In an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how pioneering human medicine can also transform the way to treat ailing wildlife, the three-part series Operation Wild (watch a clip here) premieres Wednesday, July 1, 2015, at 8:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings). Filmed over 18 months in co-production with the BBC Science Department, Operation Wild follows veterinarian teams from around the world as they undertake groundbreaking operations to try to save, or at least improve, animals’ lives.

- Conan O'Brien's shows are legendary for breaking hot new musical acts into the mainstream, a phenomenon Billboard Magazine recently called "The CONAN Bump." Now Conan's music tastemakers are coming to Spotify and letting the public in on the fun. Team Coco on Spotify will launch with a splash, releasing 22 historic playlists featuring every song played over two decades on Conan's three different shows. Additional playlists – including favorite songs from celebrities and pop stars, themed playlists from Conan and other Team Coco talent – will all be shared across Team Coco's powerful network of social media channels. The Team Coco web site will drive awareness for the playlist.

- On the heels of today’s announcement of the new Showtime over-the-internet partners, the network unveiled the season three key art and a newly released teaser for the award-winning drama series, Masters of Sex, which premieres Sunday, July 12th at 10:00. To watch the season premiere of Masters of Sex, in early July consumers will have the option to subscribe to Showtime through the stand-alone streaming service on Roku® and Apple devices, or through Sony PlayStation® Vue, in addition to their cable, DBS or telco provider. To watch the newly released teaser for the third season of Masters of Sex, visit: s.sho.com/MOSSexualRevolution

- VH1 has updated the premiere dates of Dating Naked: Playing For Keeps to 9:00 on Wednesday, July 22nd, and the series premiere of Twinning to 10:00 on Wednesday, July 22nd. The second season of Candidly Nicole will debut the following Wednesday, July 29th at 11:00. Stay tuned on July 22nd for Dating Naked: Playing for Keeps episode 202 at 11:00.

- REELZ today announced that, for the first time, music mogul Master P is opening the doors to his family home on the network’s original series, Master P’s Family Empire. Master P, whose real name is Percy Miller, is a single father who made it his mission to forge the Miller family empire—but with five kids ranging in age from 9 to 25 it’s not always easy keeping his business interests in order, let alone keeping his kids on track. How will he manage his own projects along with the singing, modeling, acting and sports careers of his children without losing his mind? Master P’s Family Empire will give an inside look at how this single father skillfully juggles his roles as entrepreneur, philanthropist and hip-hop artist with his most important role: being a dad. Master P’s Family Empire is produced by Asylum Entertainment and premieres Saturday, November 28.

- Comedian Iliza Shlesinger (Excused, Last Comic Standing) has been named the host of the upcoming TBS series Separation Anxiety, a comedic, relationship-based game show featuring a unique twist that isn't revealed to contestants until after they've played the game. TBS has ordered 14 one-hour episodes of Separation Anxiety, with plans to launch the show in late 2015. The series, which was announced in May during Turner's Upfront presentation in New York, is being produced by 5x5 Media and Electus.

- Los Angeles-based Just Singer Entertainment and Vancouver-based Sepia Films have announced the airdate for the powerful new television movie Perfect High set in the world of teenage drug use. The film is scheduled to air Saturday, June 27 at 8:00 on Lifetime in the US and Sunday, July 5 at 8:00 on SuperChannel in Canada. The film stars Bella Thorne in a bold departure from her earlier work and an outstanding ensemble cast including Israel Broussard, Daniela Bobadilla, Ross Butler, Jasmine Sky Sarin and Matreya Fedor.

- On the heels of announcing the Showtime stand-alone streaming service, Showtime has partnered with Roku, Inc.’s Roku® players and Roku TV™ models and Sony Network Entertainment International LLC’s PlayStation® Vue for the launch in early July. SHOWTIME is a brand which has been embraced by consumers as the home for cutting edge original programming, sports and movies, and it is the only premium streaming service to offer customers live East and West Coast feeds. Showtime will be available through these new internet distributors on all supported streaming platforms prior to the highly-anticipated July 12th season premieres of the critically-acclaimed hit series RAY DONOVAN, starring Liev Schreiber, and MASTERS OF SEX, starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan. The announcement was made today by Matthew C. Blank, Chairman and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc.

- R&B artist Lyfe Jennings’ highly anticipated sixth studio album, Tree Of Lyfe, is now available for iTunes pre-order http://smarturl.it/TreeOfLyfe_LJ ahead of its June 23rd release via RAL/Sony Music Entertainment. Fans can also get a first listen of snippets of the full album at VEVO http://www.vevo.com/watch/USQX91501052.

- Make Music Day announces full lineup of more than 2,250 free, outdoor musical events taking place in 23 U.S. cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Nashville, San Diego, Seattle, Madison and Philadelphia. The world’s largest annual music event will fill June 21, the first day of summer, with every imaginable sound. Make Music Day is free to the public and everyone is invited to play along.

- Showtime has ordered a fifth season of Episodes, consisting of nine, half-hour episodes. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President of Showtime Networks Inc. The series stars Matt LeBlanc in his three-time Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning role as a fictionalized version of himself. Creators and executive producers David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik have also received three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, as well as two Writers Guild of America nominations. The series will begin filming in London in 2016.

Previewing Murder in the First: Season Two and Major Crimes: Season Four

I like a good murder mystery, I even enjoy bad ones too, hey I made it through two seasons of The Killing (but I stopped after I learned who killed Rosie Larsen, I am not a sadomasochist). The first season of Murder in the First was alight, when the detectives went home to their families (or lack there of in one case) was a bit of a drag but we did get a conclusion that satisfying for the most part. I did not give much thought of it after the finale and to honest was a bit surprised there is a second season.

But hey, the new season features the addition of Emmanuelle Chriqui (You Don't Mess with the Zohan) so it has to be on an upswing on that bit of casting alone. Sure he plays a member of the Gang Task Force but she does not even crack the top ten list of least believable law enforcement agents in the history of television. The new season also features of shift in storytelling. Gone is the murder mystery (at least for now) and instead of one case, the log lines promises "a series of crimes" that will take the time of the San Francisco Police Department.

Sure we have all seen our fair share of fictitious school shooting that have police and high school dramas since Columbine, but the season starts off with a slightly new take with two kids taking out their classmate on a school bus before escaping on the streets of the city with a few smoke bombs that will instantly make anyone who has picked up a controller of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Though the theme is familiar, the season premiere is very gripping, tense, and a better hour than any of the first season episodes. You may think it cannot possibly take too long to hunt down a pair of teenagers, you would be right, that case seems to be closed by the time I watched all the episodes TNT sent over. It is unclear where they will go next, but a couple time over the first two episodes the department talked about an undercover officer who has gone missing while ingratiating a prostitution ring.

Murder in the First airs Mondays at 10:00 on TNT.


Prior to the new season of Murder in the First is the fourth season of Major Crimes. The new season starts off as it usually does, Lt. Provenza is being grumpy and looking a way to dump their current case on another department because he does not think it is a "major crime." It almost works this time until someone come out crying from a neighboring house with what he has to admit actually is a major crime. The neighbor's mother has been murder which may be linked to a rash of break-ins around town.

Also this season, the team will be investigating a case involving a dead body left in the trunk of a car that is wrecked during a high-speed chase and a gangland shooting case involving an 11-year-old witness. During his first drive-along as a Reserve Officer, Buzz Watson will be dragged into the latest Flynn and Provenza investigative debacle after a dead body in a bathtub threatens an extremely expensive wedding. And Sanchez will return to the Major Crimes unit, but struggle to rebuild relationships and trust with his fellow officers. Back at home, Sharon Raydor’s newly adopted son, Rusty, will discover a passion for journalism that tests his mother’s patience, and could threaten the prosecution of a confessed murderer.

Major Crimes airs Mondays at 9:00 on TNT.