Around the Tubes: February 15, 2020

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 Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Pearl Jam, The Weeknd, Tears For Fears, Brain Games, Lucifer, Love Fraud, Spy Wars with Damian Lewis, More Women of a Certain Age, Visible: Out on Television, and The Circus: Inside the Craziest Political Campaign On Earth.

- Republic Records announces the release of a series of official soundtrack EPs in conjunction with the critically acclaimed new NBC television series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The series is produced by Lionsgate and Universal Television in association with the Tannenbaum Company, Feigco Entertainment and Universal Music Group’s Polygram Entertainment. Going live this morning, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist: Season 1, Episode 1 (Music from the Original TV Series) is available now at all digital retailers in advance of the show’s highly anticipated two hour premiere this Sunday, February 16th, beginning at 8pm ET on NBC. Get it via Republic Records HERE. New EPs will be released in tandem with each new episode of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, which will air weekly on Sundays at 9pm ET/ PT on NBC.

- Fans can experience the activation by heading to moon.pearljam.com via their mobile device and pointing their phone camera at the moon to trigger the song snippet and pre-order the song. Pearl Jam’s highly anticipated 11th studio album, Gigaton, which will be released on March 27, 2020. The app will be available today through February 18th when “Superblood Wolfmoon” will be available at all digital retailers.

- The Weeknd has announced the name of his upcoming album, After Hours, coming soon via XO Records / Republic Records. The album has been led by his two Platinum singles "Heartless", which previously hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Blinding Lights" along with outstanding live performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. "Blinding Lights" also soundtracked the Mercedes-Benz EQC campaign which The Weeknd starred in and served as creative director for. Last week he also scored his first ever UK #1 song with "Blinding Lights" and also earned his 10th #1 song on Billboard's Rhythmic Songs chart. On March 7th, The Weeknd will be making his third appearance as musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

- Spring 2020 sees the 35th anniversary of Tears For Fears iconic ten million-selling album Songs From The Big Chair. The 35th celebrations will include the release of a limited picture disc version of the album and a reissue of the much sought after super deluxe 4CD/2DVD boxset which currently changes hands for hundreds of dollars. Songs From The Big Chair was Tears For Fears second album and spawned classic worldwide hit songs such as the US #1 singles “Everybody Wants To Rule the World” and “Shout” as well as “Head over Heels” and “Mother’s Talk.” Upon its first release, Songs From The Big Chair spent 30 weeks in the UK top ten-album chart, a whole year in the top 30 and only left the charts 18 months later. The story was very much the same all over the world, the album spent five weeks at #1 in the US, and much like the UK, it was in the Billboard Chart for 18 months.

- The Emmy-nominated Nat Geo’s Brain Games featured Jack Black as mentalist Lior Suchard was getting into his mind during the music themed episode which aired this week. Seen in the clip here: screenrant.com/jack-black-brain-games-mentalist-clip watch as Jack Black and his Tenacious D bandmate Kyle Gass learn how music affects the brain. Wonder what song he was channeling?? Well, it was none other than Don McLean’s "American Pie"!

- Your date with the Devil is soon to arrive, as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings you Lucifer: The Complete Fourth Season on DVD May 12, 2020. Put on your devilish grin as you indulge in all 10 hell-raising episodes from the fourth season and fulfill your deepest desires with tantalizing deleted scenes included in the bonus features. Lucifer: The Complete Fourth Season will be available at all major retailers and is priced to own at $24.98 SRP ($29.98 in Canada). Lucifer: The Complete Fourth Season will also available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers on May 11, 2020. Lucifer: The Complete Fourth Season will also be available on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Archive Collection. The Blu-ray release includes all the bonus features on the DVD and is also arriving May 12, 2020. Warner Archive Blu-ray releases are easily found at wb.com/warnerarchive and on your favorite online retailer sites.

- Showtime has released the trailer for the upcoming docu-series Love Fraud, premiering on Friday, May 8 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The series marks the first foray into episodic television for Emmy winners and Academy Award® nominees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. Love Fraud had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the first time in the festival’s history a television series screened on opening night. To watch and share the trailer, visit: youtu.be/FZmO_BphMQE

- Smithsonian Channel is set to investigate some of the most shocking and explosive cases of espionage over the last 50 years. Spy Wars with Damian Lewis features the incredible true stories of spy wars fought in the shadows, from the turbulent years of the Cold War to the Iran Hostage Crisis and the discovery of a complex web of sleeper agents living in the U.S. – a major inspiration for the plot of The Americans. Each episode of this new eight-part series sees host Damian Lewis revealing these remarkable tales of the secretive world of government intelligence, surveillance and international conspiracy plots with interviews from the experts and eyewitnesses that lived through them. Spy Wars with Damian Lewis premieres Sunday, March 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel.

- Caroline Rhea (Sabrina The Teenage Witch) will headline More Women of a Certain Age, a new comedy special premiering Saturday, March 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. Carol Leifer (Seinfeld), Carole Montgomery (Comics Unleashed), Julia Scotti (America’s Got Talent), Tammy Pescatelli (Finding The Funny) and Thea Vidale (Last Comic Standing) round out the lineup for the hour-long special. Filmed at the Bell House in Brooklyn, the special features six of the funniest women in stand-up for a night of uninhibited, outrageous comedy. More Women of a Certain Age is the second installment of the hit comedy showcase from Montgomery and producer Dave Goldberg. Women of a Certain Age became the network’s highest-rated premiere of a stand-up special in 2019. To watch and share a trailer from More Women of a Certain Age go to: youtu.be/RusGk64Urqk.

- Visible: Out on Television investigates the importance of TV as an intimate medium that has shaped the American conscience, and how the LGBTQ movement has shaped television. The five-part documentary series combines archival footage with interviews with key players from the movement and the screen, and is narrated by Janet Mock, Margaret Cho, Asia Kate Dillon, Neil Patrick Harris and Lena Waithe. Each hour-long episode will explore themes such as invisibility, homophobia, the evolution of the LGBTQ character, and coming out in the television industry. The five-part docuseries premieres Friday, February 14, 2020.

- Coming up this Sunday on The Circus: Inside the Craziest Political Campaign On Earth hosted by John Heilemann, Alex Wagner, and Mark McKinnon: At the biggest rally of Amy Klobuchar’s campaign, The Circus speaks with the Minnesota senator backstage about her surge in momentum ahead of an expectation-defying finish in New Hampshire. For a preview go to youtu.be/0m3B5JxukpI.