Around the Tubes: September 18, 2021

 

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting.  This post includes blurbs on Only Murders in the Building, Dopesick, The Circus, Coldplay, Carol Ades, Olivia Rodrigo, Foxes, Lyn Lapid, U2, and Fruits of Labor.

- “Only Murders in the Building,” the hit Hulu Original comedy series starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez has been picked up for a second season.  “Only Murders in the Building” debuted as the most-watched Hulu Original comedy on premiere day and also the most-watched comedy on premiere day across all SVOD titles ever on the platform. Additionally, the 20^th Television produced series has maintained a 100% Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score since launch.  “‘Only Murders in the Building’ reflects the kind of creative excellence that is the hallmark of Hulu Originals. Steve, John and Dan have created a uniquely captivating and entertaining series. The audience’s response to the delightful blend of mystery, humor and emotion in the show has been overwhelming and we can’t wait to follow this unlikely trio on their next adventure,” said Craig Erwich, president, ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals.

- Hulu Original "Dopesick" premieres on Wednesday, October 13th with the first three episodes.  New episodes stream weekly. From Executive Producer Danny Strong and starring and executive produced by Michael Keaton, “Dopesick” examines how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history. The series takes viewers to the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from the boardrooms of Big Pharma, to a distressed Virginia mining community, to the hallways of the DEA. Defying all the odds, heroes will emerge in an intense and thrilling ride to take down the craven corporate forces behind this national crisis and their allies. The limited series is inspired by the New York Times bestselling book by Beth Macy.

- Recently nominated for two Emmy® awards, THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH resumes its sixth season amid the spiraling pandemic and bitter partisan divide over how to combat it.  Hosts John Heilemann, Alex Wagner, Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmieri crisscross the country to examine the fallout from the Biden administration's most aggressive move against Covid to date -- requiring tens of millions of workers to be vaccinated or regularly tested. The program tracks the furious response from Republican state leaders, businesses welcoming the decision, and an American public struggling to endure the pandemic.   For a preview, go to: https://youtu.be/f9reHkhgI_U.

- Coldplay’s ‘Amsterdam Sessions’, a rarely seen and intimate 2000 performance in support of the band’s breakout critically acclaimed album Parachutes, is now available to stream for the first time ever exclusively on The Coda Collection. Taped in summer 2000 on the eve of the record’s release, the performance captures a pivotal moment in the band’s early career just prior to their meteoric ascent to global stardom. The session marked one of the first times the band had showcased their music outside of the U.K., delivering renditions of standout hits such as “Trouble,” “Don’t Panic,” and “Shiver” as well as “Yellow,” which was released as a single on the exact same day of the session’s recording.  Until now, the performance has never been seen before outside of the Netherlands. Watch the trailer now here and stream Coldplay’s “Amsterdam Sessions” on The Coda Collection now here.

- Globally successful singer-songwriter Carol Ades has released "Unlearn Me," the newest single from her much anticipated, soon-to-be-announced debut EP. "Unlearn Me" is available to stream now at all DSPs with an official lyric video on Ades' YouTube channel HERE.  "'Unlearn Me' is the result of the end of a really tumultuous breakup where I wasn’t really the good guy," says Ades. "At the very end I wished so badly that I could erase everything that went wrong and start over as a version of myself that would have done so many things different. That's obviously not how it works, but I was still grieving this relationship after so long. It felt like one of the last things I had to say to myself and the other person about it before I really started to move forward. It’s a really cathartic song for me and still breaks my heart a little every time I listen to it."

-  Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB), a leader in immersive entertainment experiences, teamed up with multi-platinum singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo to celebrate a new era for music in Dolby Atmos, which is transforming how music is created and enjoyed. Fans looking to connect with Olivia on a deeper, more emotional level can enjoy SOUR today in Dolby Atmos on Apple Music.  "I create music to tell my story and to share how I'm feeling. Songwriting is a cathartic process that’s often the clearest window into your soul,” said Olivia. “Experiencing music in Dolby Atmos is magical and allows you to hear music in a whole new way.”  The long-form commercial provides an intimate look at Olivia as she moves seamlessly between singer-songwriter, performer, and breakthrough artist on a journey of self-discovery through her craft. With Dolby Atmos, Olivia is able to look at music in a whole new way and convey her artistic expression to connect more deeply with her music.

- Foxes announces the details of her forthcoming third studio album The Kick due for release February 11, 2022, via [PIAS] Recordings. Alongside the announcement, Foxes shares the first single to be taken from the album, "Sister Ray," produced by Ghost Culture (Daniel Avery, Kelly Lee Owens) and the accompanying video directed by Florence Kosky.  New single "Sister Ray" is the first single taken from The Kick. While inspired by the Velvet Underground song of the same name, the single takes an anthemic and electronic approach akin to Robyn. Shimmering synths and an ear-wormy hook making for a quintessential feel-good track.

- After amassing over 4 million song views and 1 million likes on TikTok before officially releasing the song, singer and songwriter Lyn Lapid drops the video for her latest single, “In My Mind”—watch HERE!  On making the video, Lyn says, “I knew from the start that I wanted the video to center around the many things that run through my mind, and so what better way than to focus on the concept of daydreaming? The entire video focuses on me working at a mundane office job, trying not to doze off while I get paperwork done. Then suddenly you see me go on a rampage, chuck office supplies everywhere, and maybe swing a bat once or twice at my stingy mannequin boss. The catch is that whatever you see when I’m not typing my life away at my computer is all a daydream. It was exhilarating being able to destroy the office space in my little rampage moment, I think it was the first time someone ever told me to let loose and make a mess. I loved working with everyone on set, and one of the best parts was all of the snacks there. Eliot Lee is super talented, and he did a fantastic job bringing my initial vision for the video to life.”

- Island Records and UMe announce the 40^th-anniversary vinyl release of “Gloria,” a limited-edition 12” yellow vinyl EP to celebrate RSD Black Friday on Friday, November 26, 2021.  Originally released as a single in October 1981, “Gloria” is the second single to be taken from U2’s second studio album October and has been a staple in U2’s live set to this day. This very special anniversary release includes the studio version of “Gloria” plus three live versions from three different decades.  The 1990s are represented by the Point Depot show on the band’s home turf of northside Dublin.   Although ticketed as  December 31, 1989, the show started at midnight on January 1, 1990, with a live radio simulcast broadcast across Europe.  Side B contains two previously unreleased live recordings of “Gloria” – recorded at the Fleet Center in Boston during the 2005’s Vertigo Tour, and at London’s O2 Arena during the third night of their run of shows in the English capital as part of the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour in 2015.

- Fruits of Labor, which had its world premiere at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, follows Ashley, a Mexican-American teenager living in a small agricultural town on the central coast of California. A moving coming-of-age story about a determined young woman and an eye-opening look at the seen and unseen forces that trap many families in poverty, Fruits of Labor is a co-presentation of POV and Latino Public Broadcasting’s VOCES.  Produced and directed by Emily Cohen Ibañez, the film premieres on Monday, October 4, 2021 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS, pbs.org and the PBS Video app.

Previewing Back to Live: Season Two

Of all the post Fleabag shows where a British female made a half hour show with limited amount of episodes starring themselves, Back to Life clicked with me the least.   The lead character was just too unlikeable and may have been better off in prison where she spent eighteen years, half her life for luring her best friend to her death, even though there was more to that story that was explored in the first season.

 

When season two starts, it has just been six weeks since Mari was released from prison.  Right after being released from prison, she gave herself some hideous bangs.  She upped that bad hair for the season season by pulling out her old crimping iron which disturbingly manages to stay for the entire season.  It has not been three weeks since she has talked to her mother despite still living with her parents.

 

Her father remains the best part of the season as he attempts a social media campaign to help the environment.  But he does have some competition this season in a cop who would like any chance she can find to put Miri back in prison for any reason.  While the show is a bit funnier in places, it does get much darker at times.  The second season does improve on the first, but still not something that fully clicks together.

 

Back to Life airs Mondays at 10:00 on Showtime.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: September 12, 2021

  

The Walking Dead:  So what exactly was this plan?  Take a small group and try to steal food around a bunch of savages that are good at stealth attacks?  Why are they doing this?

 

Reservation Dogs:  For the run of this show, I have found the tertiary characters than the main four.  The rapping twins, the doctor, the policeman, the crazy uncle, the succubus, but this episode just lacked any interesting tertiary and just ended up being the least interesting of the season so far.

 

Only Murders in the Building:  Well, Tina Fey just moved to the top of my murder board.  Really, what better way to find compelling true crime subjects for your podcast that committing the crime yourself?  Then it sounds like she is setting up the New Three Amigos as patsies by entitling her podcast “Only Murderers in the Building.”  That has to hurt; someone steals your podcast idea and rips off the name too.  But Tye-Dye Guy has to be the guy who was just released from prison. 

 

But really, all the Sting related jokes were just hilarious.  I loved how Martin Short was being coy about the celebrity in their building, but when Tina Fey could not get the puns, just finally blurted out, “Sting, I’m talking about Sting.”  I laughed so hard at that bit, I had to pause and rewind because I could not stop laughing.  Then I was laughing and deeply offended at the same time when Selena Gomez was trolling the old dudes about not knowing who Sting was.

 

Stargirl:  Well, the good episode streak ends at two.  I really did not care about the weird teacher or Stargirl’s crush who seemingly is a different person now.

 

Nine Perfect Strangers:  The show just completely went off the rails this week with everyone just tripping hard.  But I cannot decide what was the weirder hallucination, the Cabaret on the toilet or the nose falling off.   Just as wild was Nicole Kidman telling Regina Hall that she knows Hall knows she was forking her husband.  But is he the father of Kidman’s daughter?  It is hard to figure out the timeline on this show to decide if that is a possibly or not.

 

Wu-Tang: An American Saga:  Finally some of the Wu members are getting their Wu-monikers.  I spent too much time the first season consulting the internet on what their government names were.  But what was with the weird ODB scene where he turned into Jon Wick all the sudden?  Did he just tell that story and everyone just took it as fact?  I am kind of into them just presenting the stories he told as fact and filming them that way no matter how outrageous they are.

 

The Challenge: Spies, Lies, and Allies: I cannot decide who is more annoying, Hughie or Emy.  It is really disturbing that Josh is somehow not the most annoying, or even the second most annoying person this season.  As much as I am ready for the vet alliance to implode, I would be perfectly okay if those two get sent in next week.

 

In the Dark:  I scoffed when I saw how managed cops they brought to arrest the blind chick, but it turns out they needed more because she still managed to escape custody.  Just how can an incompetent blind chick be able to get out of a police station and avoid a police manhunt in her neighborhood without being caught?

 

Titans:  Ha, evil crime boss just murdered her son.  Maybe that is why Nightwing does not work with crime bosses.  But that was a bit much for Starfire to just burn her from the inside.  But after they shut down Scarecrow’s plan, now what?  I have a feeling Blackfire will break bad again soon.  Or maybe we could finally find out what Raven is up two.  We are now officially more than half way through the season.