Around the Tubes: September 14, 2019

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 Castle Rock, Shameless, Looking for Alaska, Kate Tempest, Isle of Chimps, Gorilla Gabon, Robin Williams: Comic Genius, and The Hunt for Eagle 56.

- Check out the first teaser for the new season of Hulu Original Castle Rock. Season two stars Lizzy Caplan, Tim Robbins, Paul Sparks, Yusra Warsama, Barkhad Abdi, Elsie Fisher and Matthew Alan. Castle Rock premieres Wednesday, Oct. 23, only on Hulu.


- Showtime has released a new trailer for the upcoming tenth season of Shameless, premiering on Sunday, November 10 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Starring Oscar® nominee and Emmy® and SAG Award® winner William H. Macy, Shameless is the network’s No. 1 comedy series.


- All eight episodes of Looking for Alaska will debut on Friday, October 18 only on Hulu. Looking for Alaska is an 8-episode limited series based on the John Green novel of the same name. Set in 2005, it centers around teenager Miles “Pudge” Halter (Charlie Plummer), as he enrolls in boarding school to try to gain a deeper perspective on life. He falls in love with Alaska Young (Kristine Froseth), and finds a group of loyal friends. But after an unexpected tragedy, Miles and his close friends attempt to make sense of what they’ve been through.


- British spoken word artist, rapper, poet, novelist and playwright Kate Tempest drops a new version of her song “People’s Faces” off of her critically acclaimed album The Book Of Traps & Lessons—listen to “People’s Faces” (Streatham Version) HERE! Of the song, Kate Tempest says “‘People’s Faces’ is the final song on my recent album The Book Of Traps And Lessons. It’s where all of the agonising and soul-searching of the entire record culminates in this very simple expression of deep love for people’s faces. We wanted the song to have the possibility of connecting with as many people as possible. So, we made a version that was shorter and was more song-like, we are calling it the ‘Streatham Version’ as that is where Dan [Carey] is based. I really hope that it connects with you and that you feel it.”

Smithsonian Channel is spotlighting the incredible conservation work being done to save great apes in two new films to debut as part of the network’s signature Wild Wednesday lineup. From an island sanctuary giving orphaned and rescued chimpanzees a second chance to a journey through a distant land to save a silverback gorilla and his rainforest, both programs will share the heartwarming yet difficult paths to safeguard these endangered species. Viewers can follow these extraordinary animals and their human allies on Smithsonian Channel’s Isle of Chimps (October 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT) and Gorilla Gabon (October 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT).

- On October 1, Time Life celebrates Williams' memorable, inimitable 40-year career with Robin Williams: Comic Genius. Decades in the making, the TV DVD archivisists at Time Life have collected all his most memorable stand-up and television performances across three singular collections: a 5-Disc Collector's Set (Available exclusively at Walmart), a handsomely-packaged 22-Disc set featuring 50+ hours of comedic genius, and a single disc featuring Robin's first HBO stand-up special. All DVD releases also feature newly produced featurettes and exclusive interviews.

- The Hunt for Eagle 56 follows the Nomad Exploration dive team – a group of amateur divers who made the stunning discovery of the USS Eagle 56 shipwreck off the coast of Maine. Their missions, documented in Smithsonian Channel’s new three-part series, THE HUNT FOR EAGLE 56, uncovers exclusive images of the lost WWII warship lying at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, unseen anywhere else before. The Eagle 56 has been missing for over 74 years, ever since a German U-boat torpedoed the ship in April 1945 just 5 miles off shore. Long-believed to be the result of a boiler explosion, the case of the Eagle 56’s sinking marks the first time that the U.S. Navy has changed a classification from accidental to combat loss due to enemy action. The Hunt for Eagle 56 premieres on Sunday, September 22 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 9, 2019

The Affair: Oh joy, we get three different perspectives on Vic’s funeral. But how obvious that Janelle was going to fork her ex-husband? What is the show without actual affairs? I do wonder if we ever get an explanation why we sometimes get wildly different versions now that we are in the final season. But Helen wasted no time in getting over Vic. I kind of thought for a second she would end back with Noah by the end of the series. There was a point during Helen’s act, I actually though Joanie may have actually died because it was getting kind of late. But now she is back on Montauk. I wonder if she runs into anyone we know. It sounds like Cole is dead, but I wonder what connections she has to Noah. He did raise her for a while. Maybe the show can come full circle and she can have an affair with one of the Soloway children while in Montauk.

Fear the Walking Dead: That storyline just really made me think of the time Rick on the main show ran into a preacher alone in his church who was testing his faith in the middle of the of the zombie apocalypse. So around the fifth season of the next spin-off, is someone going to run into an Iman testing his faith?
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge;War of the Worlds 2: I did not really like the new tribunal rules when they were first announced last week but seeing them in action again it just makes less sense. Seriously, someone can just shout out I am the head of the tribunal? Seems like they could do this better. I think in the past when they had large team they would have captains and if the winning caption won they were in the power position but the losing captain was up for elimination. That just seems better.

Titans: I guess it was good they introduced Trigon in human form because he real form looked pretty bad. And where did he go? I though he gets trapped in Raven’s crystal. She just psychically pushed him into some wormhole thing and then everyone was like, alright, let’s go to San Fran. What an anti-climactic ending. And they had the entire year to come up with that. They should have just kept with that being the season finale instead a season premiere.