Around the Tubes: June 13, 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 NASCAR, BENEE, Lenny Kravitz, Flikka, Paul McCartney, Yusuf / Cat Stevens, The Ed Sullivan Show, Ringside, Attica, Ponpu, 2020 Concert for Love and Acceptance, Love, Victor and Taste the Nation.

- Just two days after Bubba Wallace made a statement saying he felt NASCAR should ban fans from flying the Confederate flag at tracks, a ban has been permanently put into effect at all events and properties of the auto-racing giant. On Sunday, Bubba Wallace, the only African American driver racing full-time in any of NASCAR’s top three series wore a shirt that said “I can’t breathe” in honor of George Floyd’s last words as he was killed on May 25th in Minneapolis. After Wallace wore the shirt for pre-race ceremonies and the national anthem, NASCAR held a moment of silence before the green flag as president Steve Phelps spoke to drivers and teams over the radio about racial injustice and the move for social change.

- BENEE ft. Gus Dapperton: Supalonely:


- Lenny Kravitz: Believe (The Tonight Show: At Home Edition):

- Following her Gotts Street Park collaboration "Favourite Kind of Girl", Stockholm-based singer-songwriter Flikka today has shared her new single "Stop Me From" via Blue Flowers (Nilufer Yanya, Puma Blue, Westerman). Listen to it HERE.  Produced by Leon Michels aka El Michels Affair, Flikka explains the inspiration behind the song: “I wrote this song while going through a difficult time,” the artist explains. “I had a lot of anxiety and regret and I couldn't sleep. I remember calling up my father in the middle of the night asking what to do with the state I was in. He told me to pick up my guitar and so I did, and this song happened. This was the first song I wrote for the Flikka project and its really about  looking for love in the wrong places. It's one of my most personal songs, which makes it hard to talk about. Sometimes you trust people who you shouldn't trust. It's kind of funny how some people can treat you like shit and make you feel guilty about it.”

- Paul McCartney proudly announces the thirteenth installment in his GRAMMY Award-winning Archive Collection: On July 31, Paul’s critically acclaimed and universally beloved tenth solo album Flaming Pie will be the latest to receive the Archive Collection treatment, being released on formats including a 5CD/2DVD/4LP Collector’s Edition, a 5CD/2DVD Deluxe Edition, plus 3LP, 2LP and 2CD editions.  All digital pre-orders for the Archive Collection release of Flaming Pie will include YOUNG BOY. Also available as a stand-alone for digital download & streaming, the EP recreates the 1997 “Young Boy” maxi single and features the remastered Flaming Pie single “Young Boy," a home-recorded version of the song, the original B-side “Looking For You,” and excerpts of “Oobu Joobu Part 1,” also from the original single. The two music videos for the track have been restored and will also be published on the same day.  Two additional EPs will be available with “The World Tonight” arriving on June 26 and “Beautiful Night” on July 17.

- Yusuf / Cat Stevens today releases a 2020 reimagination of his ‘70s classic ecological anthem, “Where Do The Children Play?” - A first glimpse into the forthcoming album Tea for the Tillerman² (Out September 18^th on UMe).  50 years later, “Where Do The Children Play?” still depicts a chilling reality of modern man’s disregard for nature and its disastrous implications for our future on this precious planet. Its original release on Tea for the Tillerman - Cat Stevens’ multi-platinum selling album - made a giant imprint on the consciousness of the seventies generation and is set to do so all over again, this time accompanied by an allegorical and visually arresting animated video by director Chris Hopewell, whose previous credits include Radiohead’s “Burn The Witch.” Watch here.

- Nearly 50 years after The Ed Sullivan Show wrapped its final episode and charmed TV viewers for the final time on Sunday night June 6, 1971, it officially joins the streaming universe and lives on forever. UMe today announced an agreement with SOFA Entertainment Inc. for the global digital rights to The Ed Sullivan Show library, which encompasses the influential television program’s historic 23-year primetime run on CBS. This marks the first time that Ed Sullivan Show performance and guest segments will be officially available in their entirety across streaming services worldwide. Launching today on The Ed Sullivan Show’s official YouTube channel, the first segments showcase landmark live musical performances.

- SHOWTIME has released a first look at its upcoming award-winning documentary RINGSIDE, premiering on Friday, June 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. Filmed over the course of nine years by award-winning director Andre Hörmann, RINGSIDE chronicles the dramatic upbringing of two boxing prodigies and follows the divergent paths they take as they navigate life’s uncertainties on the South Side of Chicago. The never-before-seen clip illustrates the separate paths of Destyne Butler Jr. and Kenneth Sims Jr. In an emotional letter to his father, Butler reflects from a correctional center in Shawnee, Ill. upon the mistakes he’s made, while Sims travels the country fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a prosperous professional boxer. To watch or share the first look, go to: https://youtu.be/yjC2AoiYPP8. 

- SHOWTIME Documentary Films announced ATTICA, a new feature-length film from acclaimed Emmy-winning documentarian Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders, The Murder of Emmett Till). The project details the five-day prison rebellion that transpired in the fall of 1971 in upstate New York and still stands as the largest and deadliest the country has ever witnessed. The film is set to premiere on SHOWTIME in 2021, the 50^th anniversary of the uprising. The announcement was made by Vinnie Malhotra, Executive Vice President, Nonfiction Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. More than a simple recounting of the five days of rebellion, ATTICA will also offer a broader understanding of the Attica tragedy in the crosscurrents of politics, race, power and punishment during the early 1970s. Through expert voices and archival images of urban and suburban life, the film explores the tensions between a young, radicalized population of mostly Black and Latino inmates, and correctional officers from a predominately white company town, where the Attica prison was the primary employer for generations of families. ATTICA examines inmates’ demands for recognition of their humanity at the culmination of a moment where racial justice activists embraced prisoner rights as an extension of their fight for civil rights. Dr. Heather Ann Thompson, the Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, will serve as the lead historical consultant on the project.

- Developer Purple Tree Studio and publisher Zordix today announced that due to overwhelming fan demand, their upcoming four-player duck-on-duck destruction game Ponpu will feature both local and online multiplayer when it releases for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Steam, and Xbox One this Fall. The all-seeing Duck God has had enough and the world has run out of time. Every 2 billion years the world must be refreshed through divine destruction and he has sent you, a Ponpu, as his herald. But, a nasty bump on the head during a crash landing took your memory and now you find yourself working against the Duck God in a carnage-fueled battle against other Ponpu to save the very world you were sent to destroy. 

- The Academy of Country Music’s charitable arm ACM Lifting Lives®, CMT, GLAAD, and country music star and philanthropist Ty Herndon today announced new appearances and performances for the upcoming 2020 Concert for Love and Acceptance, set to take place as an online event amid the ongoing COVID19 crisis. Musicians Lauren Alaina, Lewis Brice, Terri Clark, Billy Gilman, Dennis Quaid, Kalie Shorr, and Rita Wilson will join the performance lineup, which already includes two-time 2020 Grammy® winner Tanya Tucker, who is set to open the show. In addition, singer Mickey Guyton will make a special appearance, as will actor, producer, and director Matt Bomer, who will introduce Wilson. The event will be live-streamed on YouTube, Facebook, and at www.F4LA.org/concert, with additional appearances and performances to be announced. 

- This coming June 19 -- Juneteenth  -- will mark 155 years since slavery was abolished in America. This date represents an important turning point for our nation and for human rights, and we believe that now, more than ever, it deserves to have its own day in the spotlight.  For this reason, we are shifting the premiere dates for our new original series, Love, Victor and Taste the Nation, to June 17th and 18th, respectively.

Previewing Into the Dark: Good Boy

With nothing being filmed since March, it is a bit surprising that there is still plenty of stuff that is already in the can. I was kind of hoping we would get a Coronapocalypse induced episode of Into the Dark with a creative writer/director filming some Father’s Day lockdown themed episode in their house, but the episode had already finished filming by the time lockdown when into effect. They are already done with the July episode too.

But it turns out this month does not even feature a father; instead this month’s holiday is Pet Appreciation Week. After some research, there is actually over 175 themed pet holidays this year. I guess whenever I go to the vet there is some new pet disease awareness month they are celebrating. Granted, technically we are actually at the end of Pet Appreciation Week as it ends Saturday. So it is time to sit your furry friend down and watch the latest installment of Into the Dark: Good Boy.

Or, well, maybe don’t because you may not want to give them any ideas. Judy Greer, plays a culture editor at a newspaper that is about to go digital who’s biological clock is ticking pretty loud. While looking for a donor, she decides to adopt a dog, and shortly after, people around her start dying. Though we do not get to see the deaths, the bodies are hilariously gruesome.

Okay, it is pretty easy to see where this going, but it is so nice to see Greer being a leading lady after way too many years as the best friend or side kick. She is literally just the ex-wife in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The supporting cast is pretty good, Steve Gutenberg is her boss, Ellen Wong plays a girl Greer used to babysit, while Elise Neal is her fertility doctor. After seeing Good Boy, you may want to skip Take Your Dog to Work Day which is coming up later this month.

Into the Dark: Good Boy premieres today on Hulu.

Into the Dark Season Two Power Ranking:

1. Uncanny Annie (October)
2. A Nasty Piece of Work (December)
3. Pooka Lives! (April)
4. Good Boy (June)
5. Delivered (May)
6. Crawlers (March)
7. Pilgrim (November)
8. My Valentine (February)

57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 6, 2020

Billions: I predicted in the premiere that the college professor and the painter would be new love interests, but extremely weird that both showed up to the hospital for Chuck’s father.

Killing Eve: So the first season ended with Eve seemingly killing the crazy French assassin, the second season ended with the crazy French assassin seemingly killing Eve, and the third season ends with… what the fork was that?
You can download Killing Eve on iTunes.

Snowpiercer: So was there ever a Mr. Wilford? The big twist was that Jennifer Connolly was called Mr. Wilford. Here we have her playing a tape of a dude. Is that Wilford? Just a dude she got so she can continue to keep up the rouse? There is a Mr. Wilford in the movie but it seems like they do not take place in the same universe so it seems like a clunky way to make Connolly the head person.
You can download Snowpiercer on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: Well that was a masterclass of detectiving. Nathan Lane just managed to figure out that Tiago’s brother did it and got the other dude to not only admit to killing that cop, but also got him to admit to the murder that set off the series. Not too bad for the only two straight arrows on the force. But this begs the question, will we ever learn who really killed that family. They certainly implied that Miss Adelaide had something to do with it last week and she was going to take care of Tiago in the same fashion.

Barskins: Um, why as the new husband so disappointed when his new bride got naked? I have never seen a guy so sad to see a hot chick take off her clothes. Was she packing a little something extra downstairs? Was there a baby bump? I just feel like I missed something.
You can download Barkskins on iTunes.

Stargirl: They need to get to the pink pen sooner than later because I need to know whvt is up with that. And has Stripsey been feeding that owl? It has been like a decade since his master die and it just sits there in the dark?

Love Life: Man, Anna Kendrick’s boyfriends just get worse (note I have only seen one of the new episodes this week). Seriously, dude’s massive debt gets exposed and his response is to propose? That is some stones to think someone will take over your debt.

The Challenge: Total Madness: You knew the unholy alliance would not continue but boy did it go down in flames. Johnny was definitely one in the wrong. Whoever is in the tribunal should be assumed they would be the one who will pick themselves especially this late in the season. I am actually shocked whenever someone in the tribunal does not go in if they do not have a red skull.
You can download The Challenge: Total Madness on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Really, Daisy is that stupid that the robot dude who went back in time to specifically set a timeline that would help them rule the planet, and she was like, yeah, Deke, kill the person that the robot dudes want dead. At first I felt bad for the good robot dude for being left behind, but I guess he can just hang out for a couple decades and meet back up with everyone later, not like he will age, he once just hung out in that pod with Fitz for a century or two.
You can download Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

In the Dark: So the uncle guy is the little brother of the Queen Pin? Um, so that makes the dead kid her nephew too? Why was she not more mad that Harry Crane killed him?
You can download In The Dark on iTunes.

Blindspot: A whole episode full of Reade flashbacks? Yeah, continues my belief that he is not really dead. But if Weller was so mad at those two, why did he quickly pick them for the task force a short time later? I guess it mad for a funny site gag, but does not make much sense.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.