Around the Tubes: 10/5/2018

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 Marvel’s Runaways, Black Monday, Escape at Dannemora, The Family Business: Trump and Taxes, Rod Stewart, Cover Story, Vanessa Hudgens, Her, Gun Tracks of Vietnam, FOX Sports Films, and Shut Up and Dribble.

The official teaser for Hulu’s Marvel’s Runaways season 2 is now available! All episodes of season 2 will be available to steam on December 21st.


- Showtime has released a provocative first look at its new comedy series Black Monday, starring and executive produced by Emmy® nominated and Golden Globe winning actor Don Cheadle and starring two-time Tony Award nominee and Grammy® winner Andrew Rannells (Girls) and Regina Hall (Girls Trip). The series was created by David Caspe (Happy Endings) and Jordan Cahan (My Best Friend’s Girl), who will serve as executive producers and showrunners. Emmy nominees Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Preacher, Superbad), who will also executive produce, directed the pilot.


- Showtime has unveiled the posters and a behind-the-scenes video for Escape at Dannemora. The seven-part limited series stars Academy Award® winners Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), and Golden Globe® nominee Paul Dano (Love & Mercy, There Will Be Blood), and is executive produced and directed by Emmy® winner Ben Stiller. Escape at Dannemora is based on the stranger-than-fiction prison break in upstate New York in the summer of 2015 which spawned a statewide manhunt for two convicted murderers, aided in their escape by a married female prison employee who reportedly carried on months-long affairs with both men. The series will premiere on November 18 at 10:00


- On the heels of The New York Times' breaking news story revealing new information about President Trump’s financial history, SHOWTIME has announced The Family Business: Trump and Taxes, a new documentary short film directed by Emmy® nominee Jenny Carchman and produced by Oscar® nominees Liz Garbus and Justin Wilkes of The Forth Estate. The film follows a team of New York Times investigative reporters through their diligent and intense efforts in uncovering the information that led to this exclusive report. The Family Business: Trump and Taxes will premiere this Sunday, October 7 at 8:30 on Showtime, after an all new episode of The Circus.

- Two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Rod Stewart will release his 30th solo album Blood Red Roses, which critics and fans around the world are raving about experiencing as a complete album collection today and live in concerts during Stewart’s sold-out North American summer tour. Released last week by Republic Records in the U.S. on CD, vinyl, digital download and across streaming platforms, Blood Red Roses’ release has been heralded by first single “Didn’t I,” which scored Stewart his 23rd Top 10 Hit on the Billboard AC airplay chart.

- Game Show Network’s Cover Story, a one-hour documentary series that looks at the fascinating personalities, memorable moments and outrageous scandals in and around the most popular games and shows of all time will return to Sundays this fall at 7 p.m. ET, beginning on October 21 with Cover Story: Game Show Super Contestants.

- Los Angeles-based electronic duo Phantoms (aka Kyle Kaplan and Vinnie Pergola), alongside superstar actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens, release the official music video for new single “Lay With Me” today. The music video is inspired by the history of friendship between Phantoms and Vanessa, giving a wink to the TV/Film phenomenon, High School Musical.


- Her unveils the live video for “Neighborhood” filmed at Studio La Fabrique in Paris—watch and share HERE! The video, directed by Rodrigue Huart, is part of the upcoming film “Are You Still Here” set for release this November.


- Smithsonian Channel is set to honor American veterans this November with two premieres offering unique perspectives and new insights on crucial aspects of the Vietnam War. One-hour special Gun Tracks of Vietnam premieres Sunday, November 11 at 9:00 and explores the ingenuity of American servicemen and the ongoing legacy of one of America’s fiercest fighting units. The following Sunday, November 18 at 9:00, The Lost Tapes returns with Tet Offensive, bringing to life a defining moment of the Vietnam War. Both premieres feature rare audio and exclusive never-before-televised 8mm films – some shot directly by soldiers during combat.

- This month, FOX Sports Films, in association with Major League Baseball, expands the company’s coverage of America’s pastime with documentaries, honoring legendary player moments from Kirk Gibson, Jim Abbott, and Aaron Boone. The three one-hour films air throughout the month of October as FOX Sports also delivers the Major League Baseball Playoffs starting at 5:00 pm ET with National League Division Series (NLDS) Game 1 Thursday, Oct. 4 on FS1. The announcement was made by Charlie Dixon, EVP, Content at FOX Sports. The first documentary, Walk-Off Stories: Improbably Gibson, debuts Sunday, Oct. 7 at 11:30 pm ET on FS1 following the MLB on FS1 postgame coverage. Set Apart: The Jim Abbott Story premieres Sunday, Oct. 14 on FOX. Walk-Off Stories: From a Battle to a War airs Sunday, Oct. 21 on FOX.

- Showtime has announced the airdate for its upcoming docu-series Shut Up and Dribble, with the first episode premiering on Saturday, November 3 at 9:00 on Showtime on-air, streaming and on demand. The remaining two episodes will continue at 9:00 on Saturday, November 10 and Saturday, November 17. Narrated by acclaimed sports journalist and commentator Jemele Hill, the three-part documentary series is a powerful inside look at the changing role of NBA athletes through the lens of our shifting cultural and political environment. Hill is among one of the many luminaries featured in the documentary that includes former NBA players, executives, sports journalists and pop-culture icons. SHUT UP AND DRIBBLE is directed by Gotham Chopra and executive produced by LeBron James, Maverick Carter and Chopra. To watch and share a first look from the docu-series, go to: https://s.sho.com/2OsUXt2.

Previewing Into the Dark

Sure they mostly got shut out at the Emmy’s, but Hulu did seem to muster plenty of discussion this spring and summer with weekly releases of Handmaid’s Tale and Castle Rock. But it looks like Hulu is going to mirror that other streaming service and start releasing all their shows all episodes at once starting with this fall. I do have to question that logic as discussion of The First died before network fall television even started. It will be interesting if they continue this or if Handmaid’s and Castle Rock still with their weekly released.

There is one glaring exception to the fall episode dump and that is Into the Dark which not even airing episodes weekly, instead is airing a new episode every month. The show comes from Blumhouse and if you are unfamiliar with the studio, it basically produced almost every horror or thriller movie you have watch in the past decade from Paranormal Activity to The Purge to Get Out. Then the show is an anthology that will feature a new episode based around a holiday that month.

Naturally with the show starting in October the first episode, entitled, The Body, which involves a hitman who uses the guise of Halloween to transport a body where his employer wants it to be found. We even get a four hour ticking clock by when he needs to get the body to the destination. Naturally complications arise and he ends up with a group of people at a party who take interest in his very real looking costume.

Okay, I figured out exactly how the episode would end about ten minutes in, but it was a fun ride as a couple members of the group provide plenty of comedic relief. And I came away from the episode wondering why Rebecca Rittenhouse is not in more things as she really steals the show.  Unfortunately the same the guy who plays the hitman as he lacks even a hint of charisma. Really, had they gotten a better actor, this episode could have been a feature film.

Next month features a teenage girl who has not left the house since her mother died and the murder remains unsolved. Ironically as the main character is agoraphobic, as the viewer, this episode feels very claustrophobic. Sure she can reach her arm out to the mailbox that is affixed the house but cannot quite reach the package left on the far edge of the porch. So obviously the therapist comes to her. Then as the anniversary of the death of her mother approaches on Thanksgiving, the girl’s mind starts playing tricks on her and leaving the house may be the key to her survival. Dilemma, dilemma.

Of the first two episodes, the Halloween one is defiantly the better of the two thanks to some comedic moments. And I have been using the term “episode” loosely, the first two run eighty-two and ninety-three minutes respectively. Really, they are feature film length which makes me wonder if they are films Blumhouse thought about making and are only producing them under the Into the Dark label because they did not think they garner a theatrical audience. Really the Thanksgiving episode could have taken place any time of year and could have just been jammed into Thanksgiving to fit the series theme.

Still, these first two episodes were good enough that I will stick around all year to check out the rest. I am just curious what holidays will be coming next. The promo did suggest Christmas and New Year’s Eve (though they both technically fall in December) before skipping to April Fool’s Day before filling the screen with holidays that are probable (St. Patrick’s Day) and some absurd. They are not actually going to do National Grandparent’s Day, are they? And where every month has an obvious holiday or three, I do have to wonder what Into the Dark has in store for August. My calendar only has listed Civic Holiday which is Canadian and (Eid) al Adha which Google tells me is an Islamic holiday also referred to as the Festival of Sacrifice. I guess we have to wait ten months for that.

Into the Dark airs new episodes every month starting tomorrow on Hulu.

I Want My Music Television: 10/1/2018

Africa - Weezer


What strange long trip this year has been to Weezer’s biggest hit in over a decade. From a kid requesting they cover Toto on Twiiter because she heard the song on Stranger Things and culminates with “Weird Al” Yankovic. Though if you are going to parody Undone, where are the dogs? Even Africa mentions wild dogs crying out in the night.


Mary Don't You Weep (Piano & a Microphone 1983 Version) - Prince


Leave to Prince to have one of the best albums of the year even after he died with a simple piano live to tape album. And he does not get enough credit for his social activism despite Sign O’ the Times being very profound, but the video just follow his legacy in that matter.


Colors - Beck


Here is a video Beck released six months ago on Apple Music but it has only become available on YouTube now. But anything with Alison Brie and directed by Edgar Wright is certainly worth the wait. Thankfully there have not been many exclusive since.


Head Above Water - Avril Lavigne


Everyone has to grow up sometime (except for maybe Angus Young) but it is weird seeing Avril Lavigne in what could have been a treatment for a Celine Dion music video. Unfortunately the song is about as boring as a Celine Dion ballad.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/30/2018

Shameless: You would think Frank supporting a pedophile foe Congress would be the most shameless moment of the season, but it was not even the most shameless part of the episode. No, Lip pulling the plug of someone on a ventilator so he could kidnap a kid was really bad.

The Last Ship: Well that was a novel way to blow up a bridge.
You can download The Last Ship on iTunes.

You: Call me old fashion, but seeing who I thought I was dating forking some other dude she just met would be a huge deal breaker for me. Doing that seems more psychopathic than killing your crush’s boyfriend. Although leaving the body in your car while putting together the girl’s bed is probably up there. But really, trying to get a child to buy that stuff should be child endangerment that should come with some jail time. And I hope that ending was intentionally funny.
You can download You on iTunes.

Manifest: Going into the show I kind of expected it to knock off Lost, but I was not expected the show to also knock off another mid-nineties show, Wonderfalls. And really poorly because being told to do ambiguous things that turn out to be for the better is much more entertaining when it is done by inanimate objects rather than your voice in your head.
You can download Manifest on iTunes.

The Gifted: And I though the kid’s Beiber haircut was laughable. But other than him, I really wish they would just get rid of the Mutant Underground and spend all the time with the inner Circle, all of the more interesting character are there.
You can download The Gifted on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: Oh snap, someone on this show went with the strongest team to meet in elimination. And then actually defeated them.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Survivor: David vs. Goliath: What a horrible way to end an episode. Definitely should have done a double episode on that. And why were they making such a big deal of Christian solving that first puzzle, which was the easiest one in the show’s history. A child could have done that in a minute or two.
You can download Survivor: David vs. Goliath on iTunes.

The Good Place: Kind of a meh start to the season. I guess having the characters all being on Earth kind of eliminates some of the zanier aspects of the show. Hopefully Trevor spices things up next week (but thanks to the promo right before the last segment and Adam Scott’s name appearing in the credits before he was actually on screen, that surprised was kind of ruined). Granted, if the demons are sending up their own to taint this experiment, it really should have been Real Eleanor. Hopefully Trevor fails and she is next.
The Good Place on iTunes.