Around the Tubes: 5/5/2017

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 Twin Peaks,
Power, Emogenius, Becoming Carey Grant, The Putin Interviews, America's Secret Space Heroes, Tony Lucca, Alisan Porter, Karoondinha Music & Arts Festival, Freakish, and The Looming Tower.

- Showtime has released a new promo from the limited event series Twin Peaks, which will debut with a two-part premiere on Sunday, May 21 at 9:00 on air, on demand and over the internet.


- Starz announced the highly-anticipated Season Four return of the #1 hit STARZ Original series Power on Sunday, June 25, starting at 12:01 am on the STARZ app and On Demand. The network on-air premiere will be at its regularly scheduled time of 9:00 pm ET/PT. Season Four of “Power” will consist 10 one-hour episodes.


- GSN, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, announced today the premiere of its newest game show, Emogenius, hosted by Hunter March (AwesomenessTV). The show debuts Wednesday, June 7 at 9:00pm ET/PT (8pm CT) with back-to-back episodes.


- Showtime Documentary Films will debut the new documentary Becoming Carey Grant, a definitive biography of the extraordinary Hollywood icon, at the Cannes Film Festival. Following the festival, the film will have its world television debut on Showtime on Friday, June 9 at 9:00 on air, on demand and over the internet. Directed by Mark Kidel (Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance, A Journey With Peter Sellars), the captivating biopic reveals Cary Grant’s inner search to find himself at the height of his fame.


- – Showtime Documentary Films will release The Putin Interviews, a revealing series of interviews between renowned filmmaker Oliver Stone and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who has reemerged as the central antagonist and wild card to the United States on the world stage. The Putin Interviews will have its world television premiere on SHOWTIME over four consecutive nights starting on Monday, June 12 at 9:00.


- America’s conquest of space may be our nation’s finest moment. But behind the faces of fearless astronauts like John Glenn and Buzz Aldrin and a crusading president stood an army of unsung heroes and heroines: the engineers, mathematicians, designers and technicians who actually built the machines that put humanity in space. AMERICA’S SECRET SPACE HEROES unearths the untold stories of the space program – from the men and woman who created everything from the Saturn V moon rocket to the first successful Mars lander. America's Secret Space Heroes premieres on Smithsonian Channel on Sunday, May 14 at 9:00.

- Nashville-based singer-songwriter Tony Lucca has confirmed a residency in Nashville this summer with a series of four free shows at The Country (110 28th Avenue North, Nashville) on June 28th (8 p.m.), July 27th (6 p.m.), August 23rd (8 p.m.), and September 6th (8 p.m.). Billed as “Tony Lucca and Friends,” the residency is an opportunity for Lucca to work on some new material for a forthcoming album in a live setting. “I plan on getting into the studio at some point this year for a new record, so I will be utilizing the shows to work out some new material and putting songs up on their feet for the first time in front of an audience,” says Lucca. “That environment can be extremely helpful and constructive. And hopefully entertaining.”

- Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and history-making Season 10 victor of NBC's The Voice Alisan Porter released her brand new single "Deep Water" at all digital retailers, now trending on iTunes at number 18. Available now on iTunes and Spotify. On Tuesday May 2, she made her triumphant return to NBC's The Voice for the song's very first television performance. Watch her perform her new single HERE now.

- wk Eye Presents, LLC announces its full artist lineup for the first annual Karoondinha Music & Arts Festival {pronounced ka-roon-din-ha} to take place on Friday, July 21, Saturday, July 22, and Sunday, July 23, 2017, with a kick-off party on Thursday, July 20th at Penn’s Cave & Wildlife Park, America’s only all-water cavern and wildlife park in Centre Hall, PA. Set on 1,600 unspoiled acres of rolling hills and rich farmland, the festival site, the largest in the northeast, boasts acres of sunflowers, world-class trout fishing, off-road tours, native North American wildlife, including mountain lions, wolves, bison, bears, longhorn cattle, bighorn sheep and more.

- Hulu and AwesomenessTV announced this week that Freakish will be returning for a second season.

- Hulu announced this week that Alec Baldwin has been cast as a guest star in Hulu's original new drama series The Looming Tower.

I Want My Music Television: 5/1/2017

Right Now - HAIM


Haim put out one of the best debut albums this decade, an indie pop band that was heavily influenced but nineties rock and RnB. So I have been eagerly anticipating the follow up but the first single is kind of boring. And why even get Paul Thomas Anderson to direct if you are just going to record a studio video? Hopefully there are better things to come.


DNA. - Kendrick Lamar


Does that make me less racist that I did not know what DNA stands for? Though I do not understand how a lie detector can make Don Cheadle channel Kendrick Lamar. Art, I guess.


Hard Times - Paramore


Paramore have always been a power-pop band but a lot of songs on their last album lost that “power” part of their sound. This just sounds like something that come out of the new wave eighties, and visuals to match. But much like their power pop days, this is mostly mediocre.


Total Entertainment Forever - John Mayer Misty


I know Father John Misty is making some comment on pop culture with his new album, but it is getting harder and harder to enjoy his stuff anymore. Mackuly Culkin as Kurt Cobain? Pass.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/30/2017

Once Upon a Time: Um, so what happened to the Tin Man? How about now that the Wicked Witch has drained her magic into that heart you give it to the Tin Man?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Billions: Oh yeah, Chuck is into kinky stuff. I thought it was finally going to catch up with him but he stole the laptop himself. And syncing up “My hands are tied” to him and Wendy reuniting was a little too on the nose. And I have a feeling Taylor with have a change of conscious before the end of the season.

Gotham: So the Riddler has finally gone full green. Um, yeah? But of course the Penguin did not die, the only question would be how he would return. Um, Poison Ivy fished him out of the river? Alright. I guess maybe they will finally give her something to do.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Supergirl: Thank goodness Kara got her job back, blogger just seemed like a horrible cover for a Superhero.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

The Voice: I hate Adam, sure Shakira and Gwen are worse coaches but Adam does plenty of head scratching things. One thing he does almost every season and every time he does it it backfires miserably is that he almost always gives a Battle Round pairing a song by the mentor and it always suck. Every time but twice since season four. That is seven times and never has any of these Battles ended in a Steal. So why the fork does he give Lilli Passero a Shania Twain song other than she was the mentor this week? And more importantly, why did he give Lilli that song? Maybe had he given her You’re Still the One or You’ve Got a Way that could have worked with Lilli’s style. Instead Adam’s inner dialogue said, “Lilli’s sassy, this song is sassy… gold!” Seriously I hate Adam. But by some miraculous event, America took pity on Lilli, be it the horrendous song choice or she was rushed to urgent care earlier that week and still seemed out of it after her performance. So hopefully Lilli is back at one hundred percent this week and Adam does not give her a G-Eazy song.

Bates Motel: Wait, what just happened? Did they really kill of Norman Bates well before he was supposed to? I believe in artistic licenses, but it is weird to build this as a prequel to the movie and then kill him before he gets there.
You can download Bates Motel on iTunes.

Harlots: Awesome, the goat is still around. But poor Emily, she just cannot find a place anywhere. But what actually does she do now, start her own house? Then you have Charlotte and her relationship just get weirder by the episode.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions: So they finish the Men’s challenge in five minutes, announced these are your finalists, but did not actually start the Final Challenge until about five minutes before the credits. Then in between all we got was fifty minutes of filler. Why not run the final this week instead of wasting my time?
You can download The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Oh snap! Daisy just tossed Aida out that window. Which begs the question; if a robot dies in the framework does it die in the real world? Real world Aida seemed fine after the fall.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Handmaid’s Tale: So what the fork did they do the Rory Gilmore?!? Is this the gental mutilation I hear from time to time but never bother to read the article to find out exactly what it is? That is the only thing I can think off.
You can stream The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu.

Survivor: Game Changers: When Zeke flipped last week and starting targeting Andrea I got worried she might actually go home. This week when Sierra said it time to get rid of Andrea in the post challenge confessional I had a sense of calm. The season premiere was the five hundredth episode of Survivor and probably of the five hundred and nine episodes in the history of the show, I would venture to guess whoever’s name is mentioned in the pre-commercial confessional does not actually go home. And in the end, Michaela was snacking while Andrea name was read except Debbie’s name was written down more often (really, how big must your stones be to have your name brought up only to have a snack while votes are read; she was sipping away when JT was blindsided too).

Though I am not sure if that was the right move for Sarah. In her old alliance, I would be worried sitting next to Brad or Sierra, but in the new one, I would be worried about everyone except for Michaela. And she may not know this but she just left an alliance with three Hidden Immunity Idols and the Legacy Advantage which make her Stolen Vote thing look worthless. Unless of course the deck shuffles next week. The promo looks like the deck will shuffle with all the females on one side (Sierra does approach Andrea and Cirie) and the male identifiers on the other (Zeke talks to Not-Dante and Troyzan). Of course the dudes may have the advantage despite being out numbered six to four with enough Idols to cover everyone if one of them wins Immunity. Still that would be enough to keep them around for another week and maybe the deck will reshuffle again after that.
You can download Survivor: Game Changers on iTunes.