Around the Tubes: March 27, 2021

     

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 Amy Winehouse, Ben Howard, Anna of the North, The oak Ridge Boys, Koala Man, and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

- Amy Winehouse At The BBC, a 3LP/3CD collection chronicling the many remarkable performances by arguably the greatest and most genuine talent to emerge in British music in decades, will be released on May 7, 2021 through Island/UMe. For the very first time, this updated release offers audio-only versions of the songs featured on ‘A Tribute To Amy Winehouse by Jools Holland’ and the ‘BBC One Sessions Live at Porchester Hall,’ and so a high proportion of these tracks will be completely new to digital music services. “Stronger Than Me,” “Tears Dry On Their Own” and “You Know I’m No Good” will be available March 24 on streaming services, and the video for “Stronger Than Me” will be available on YouTube. This comprehensive collection captures the strong and enduring relationship that Amy enjoyed with the BBC and is further proof of quite what an extraordinarily talented, completely original, and truly engaging performer Amy was.

- Ben Howard is very excited to today release his new album Collections From The Whiteout, out now on Republic Records. Stream the record in full here.   Ben has also shared a video for the album’s “Sorry Kid.”  The track is loosely inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin, the Russian born German woman who, after moving to New York City in 2013, posed as a billionaire heiress. Watch the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsycB4z3Rn8

- Anna of the North releases her new single "Here's To Another." Out with a cinematic music video, the track leads the way to a 2021 Fall album.   Serving as an unintentional ode to 2020, "Here's To Another" is an anthem for reflecting on and letting go of all the negative in the past year. The nostalgic-sounding, melancholic but happy record sets the tone for a new era of Anna of the North. Pairing a steady yet euphoric beat with tongue-in-cheek lyrics that feel distinctly Anna but also fit the unified thought of "here's to another year," the Oslo based artist is building her own colorful world of pop music and inviting us on the ride. 

- GRAMMY® Award-winning and Country Music Hall of Fame members, The Oak Ridge Boys swing into Spring with the announcement of their new album, Front Porch Singin’, to be released on Friday, June 11. This is their fourth collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer, Dave Cobb. Recorded during the pandemic, it was imperative to create a project that offers up just what the lead single details; love, light, and healing. Building anticipation for the upcoming album, the first single, “Love, Light And Healing'' is available to download and stream on all digital services today and is premiered exclusively by People.com!

- We're very excited to announce Hulu's upcoming animated series Koala Man.  From Michael Cusack, Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez, Koala Man continues Hulu’s relationship with Justin Roiland and 20^th Television Animation who are behind Hulu’s hit adult animated Original series Solar Opposites, which returns for a second season on March 26. The first season debuted May 8, 2020 and became the streaming platform’s most-watched Hulu Original comedy premiere of the year. Koala Man joins Hulu’s growing slate of adult animated Original series including Solar Opposites, Crossing Swords, and the upcoming Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. (5/21) and Marvel’s Hit Monkey.  Logline: An animated family comedy where the patriarch lives a not-so-secret identity of Koala Man, an Australian suburban superhero with no powers but a burning passion to snuff out petty crime and bring order to the community.

- SHOWTIME announced today that Oscar, BAFTA^®, Screen Actors Guild^® and Golden Globe^® award nominee Naomie Harris (Moonlight) will star in the highly anticipated upcoming original drama series THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH. Harris will play Justin Falls, a brilliant scientist and engineer who must conquer her own demons in the race to save two worlds. The series, also starring Oscar and Emmy^® nominee and BAFTA Award winner Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), is scheduled to begin production in London this spring and will premiere exclusively on SHOWTIME in 2022. 

Previewing City on a Hill: Season Two

City on a Hill is a show I desperately needed a lengthy “previously on” for a new season.  The first season finale before anyone had even heard the term COVID way back in August of 2019.  I vaguely remember Kevin Bacon being a dirty cop (which turned out to be an FBI agent), Aldis Hodge as the District Attorney (actually got that right), and two brothers who rob bank, one a snitch and the other one  cannot remember if ended up dead or in jail (still fuzzy on that last one, but since the actor is the lead on Debris now, I am nor expected he pops up either way).  But when watching the first episode I was quickly reminded that the show does not do proper “previously on” but a couple title cards before the show.  Hopefully nothing happened last season was that important.

 

The first time we see Kevin Bacon this season, he is drinking out of a flask while driving and a woman is snorting blow off him.  So if you forgot Bacon was a shady law enforcement agent, you are quickly reminded of such.  And I just noticed that his license played is Rohr, his character’s last name.  Yep, he is also a grade A masshole turned up to eleven.   His wife is still extremely depressed being married to such a douchebag.  He does have a new daughter in a recasting who has a completely new outlook on life after almost dying of a drug overdose last season (sort of remembered that).  He also has a new superior who tells Bacon in their first meeting, “You retire or I will make your life hell.”  Apparently she forgot much of the first season too, because Bacon is able to weasel out of every situation

 

While the snitch and his sister-in-law still get some screen time, the big case that takes up much of the two leads’ time involves a Valentine’s Day shootout that resulted in a stray bullet killing a young girl in the projects of Boston.  The project’s manager and community organizer play a big role in the story along with her two sons who do some things their mother is completely aware of.  So at least we will not have to remember much of the first season to enjoy the second.  All you need to know it is another cat and mouse game between two alpha males like the other Showtime series Billions.   Hopefully unlike Billions, one of these two do not have to take five plus seasons to win.

  

City on a Hill airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.

  

Previewing Into the Dark: Blood Moon

 

I am always most interested in the episodes of Into the Dark that feature a holiday you would not expect.  Sure, some of them do not turn out very well, like the March installment in the first season that was based on the ides of March.  After the obvious St. Patrick’s Day instalment last year, the pandemic stalled second season ends in March, this time with another somewhat surprising holiday for this March: the Blood Moon.   Okay, that is not really much of a holiday and technically the full moon in a couple days is just regular one and the next Blood Moon is not until May.  But hey… werewolves!  Oh… now that I think about it, I guess the “Blood” is more literally.

 

It is pretty easy to tell we are getting the mythical creatures when the episode starts up with a woman holding a shotgun, with a ripped shirt who then takes a baby out of what looks like a dog’s travel cage.  The next time we see the kid, he is ten years old moving to another town where the mother only wants to shop local and get paid in cash.  But this is a slightly different take on the werewolf story, not told from the perspective of the creature, but that of the mother who is raising the young boy.  But this is a boy who, like most kids a little older who are going through puberty, is not entirely sure how or why their bodies are changing.

 

No word yet if there will be a third season  of Into the Dark or if they will start it back up immediate or wait to premiere in October to coincide with their annual Huluween celebration like the previous two seasons.  Hopefully we will get more monthly installments.  As up and down as some of the installments are, it is an innovated release schedule that highlights up and coming genre writers and directors.

  

Into the Dark: Blood Moon premieres tomorrow on Hulu.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 21, 2021

 

Shameless:  Once again, the Carl storyline remains the most entertaining, or really, only entertaining one, really.  So no more bouncing around from mentor to mentor, now he is just going to bounce around from department to department.    Though I hope we get another episode or two in vice.  But the Gallagher clan finally learned of Frank’s condition.  And it only took public indecency at a school.  Or I guess The Middle School as they are going the Washington Football Team route of naming.  But back to Frank, are they really going to kill him off for the series finale or is he is going to get a miraculous cure like the time he had cancer or liver failure so he can come back for the inevitable reboot?

 

The Walking Dead:  So those two have been out with Maggie’s map for two weeks even though she just returned two episodes ago?  This show has some timing problems, especially when they do these episodes that just focus on small groups of people.  Then it was weird that they brought in T2 just to kill him, have the plot twist that his twin is still alive, and then have the twin kill himself too. Maybe there is a triplet out there somewhere.

 

Snowpiercer:  When they shut down the engine, I thought for sure that is when they passed Melanie by, but it looks like they are still in Asia after it got fixed.  So that is, what four episodes this season without the biggest star?  Kind of bold.  But I guess with Wilford in charge, he is just going to stroll right by because he can.  Maybe he will push Layton out to keep her company.  Unfortunately no episode next week but a two hour finale.

 

Debris: So there is weird stuff going on even before the debris started too fall?  I guess that opens the world up a little.

 

The Challenge: Double Agents:  So the one person everyone wanted to send in won this week’s challenge.  That is always entertaining.  Unfortunately Kyle did not blow up the game by putting in Leroy but went with the safe choice of Corey.  Now the question is who gets sent in next week?  Big T needs a skull, but who is else?  Amber B seemed like the easiest choice, but she is now the Rouge Agent (pretty nice consolation prize of losing your partner, not getting sent in probably right before the final… excuse me, T.J.’s final).   Next up has to be Anessa.  But what if she wins again?  This seems like the scenario where Nany’s luck runs out.  But what I do not understand if why not manipulate it so Kam goes against Kacey?  Just take one strong person out before the finale?  Seems like everyone is playing a scared game, but why not make the TJ’s final a little easier for you?

 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier:  This just seemed like the opening scenes of a movie stretched to forty minutes.  If you are going to do these television shows, make them television shows like WandaVision, not just very long movies chopped up.  But hey, if you are going to do a four hour movie, I guess it is more digestible if you chopped it up into six episodes.  I have to stop whenever a new chapter starts on The Snyder Cut.