Around the Tubes: October 15, 2022

 

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 The L Word: Generation Q, God Forbid: The Sex Scandal that Brought Down a Dynasty, Next at the Kennedy Center, The 1975, Sting, Florence + the Machine, Hope Tala, Noah Kahan, Janice, Huluween, and And Just Like That.

- SHOWTIME has released the official trailer for the new season of THE L WORD: GENERATION Q, the returning series based on the groundbreaking drama series THE L WORD^®. Packed with jaw-dropping surprises and guest stars, including musicians Kehlani and Fletcher, Margaret Cho, Joanna Cassidy and Joey Lauren Adams, season three will premiere Friday, November 18 on streaming and on demand for all SHOWTIME subscribers, before making its on-air debut Sunday, November 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.  To watch and share the trailer, visit: https://youtu.be/cga77KHzbqA.

- Check out the trailer and for Hulu's upcoming Original documentary, "God Forbid: The Sex Scandal that Brought Down a Dynasty," which premieres Tuesday, November 1.  TRAILER: HERE  In this revealing documentary, Giancarlo Granda, former pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Hotel, shares the intimate details of his 7-year relationship with a charming older woman, Becki Falwell, and her husband, the Evangelical Trump stalwart Jerry Falwell Jr. Directed by Billy Corben, GOD FORBID: THE SEX SCANDAL THAT BROUGHT DOWN A DYNASTY outlines Granda’s entanglement with the Falwell’s seemingly perfect lives and the overarching influence this affair had on a presidential election. GOD FORBID is executive produced by Corben and Alfred Spellman for Rakontur and Adam McKay and Todd Schulman of HyperObject.

- The Emmy^® nominated docuseries THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH continues its seventh season this week as candidates face off on the debate stage in Ohio and Georgia, two crucial states that could determine control of the Senate come November.  With less than four weeks until election day, hosts John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, and Jennifer Palmieri are joined by guest host Errin Haines, the award-winning editor-at-large for The 19th and former Associated Press national writer on race and ethnicity. The episode explores how two Donald Trump-endorsed candidates find themselves in tight races, despite a political climate that should be in their favor.  For a preview, go to: https://youtu.be/VXMiDl52NZs. 

- PBS set a new date for the upcoming premiere of NEXT AT THE KENNEDY CENTER, the public broadcaster’s recently announced collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to spotlight critical contributions to the arts that continue to inspire contemporary artists. Over the next three years, this primetime series of performance specials will explore the enduring influence of artistic changemakers across art forms, genres, and backgrounds. The first five-episode season of NEXT AT THE KENNEDY CENTER will premiere with “Let My Children Hear Mingus” on Friday, Oct. 14, at 9 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS Video app.  Captured to match the unique style of the artists, each episode of NEXT AT THE KENNEDY CENTER will weave together performances filmed live at the Kennedy Center with intimate backstage moments and first-person commentary. The debut episode, “Let My Children Hear Mingus,” celebrates the legacy of composer, bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus (1922-1979), a seminal figure in American culture — a leader who spent his life pushing against musical norms and social injustice — during the centennial anniversary of Mingus’ birth.

- Vevo, the world's leading music video network, announces the release of The 1975’s Official Live Performance of “Oh Caroline” off their new album Being Funny In A Foreign Language, out today via Dirty Hit. Vevo’s Official Live Performances are the result of close creative collaboration with artists and their teams, resulting in a series of very special exclusive performances. The 1975 previously worked with Vevo in 2017 on Vevo Presents performances of “Somebody Else,” “Lostmyhead” and “Medicine.”  Official Live Performances are the flagship original content for Vevo, working with the biggest names in music. Specifically tailored creatives meant to fit the vision of each individual artist chosen, these performances connect artists with their global audience of fans adding to their visual library.

- A&M/UMe releases a digital-only 35th-Anniversary Expanded Edition of Sting’s stunning second solo album, ...Nothing Like the Sun. The album title was lovingly adopted from Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 130 (“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”).  The 26-track Expanded Edition features the original 12 songs on the album plus 14 bonus tracks that consist of B-sides, remixes, alternate versions, and instrumentals (full track listing included below). Listen or purchase Sting’s ...Nothing Like the Sun – Expanded Edition HERE.

- Dance Fever (Live at Madison Square Garden), a surprise new live album from Florence + the Machine, is out today—listen here. Recorded at the band’s two sold out Madison Square Garden shows last month, the album features live versions of tracks from the much-lauded new album Dance Fever—including “Free,” “King” and “Dream Girl Evil”—plus classics from throughout the band’s career.  Dance Fever (Live at Madison Square Garden) will be released on vinyl on April 14, 2023 and is available for pre-order today. Get it here.

- Continuing her string of critically acclaimed releases this fall, West London-based songstress Hope Tala reveals her latest single “Stayed at the Party” today via Republic Records—listen HERE. For the song, Hope once again collaborated with legendary producer Greg Kurstin [Adele, Sia, Beck].  On the song, cinematic orchestration gives way to acoustic guitar and whispery vocals from Hope. Wrapped in warm strings, it slips into an entrancing chorus, as she sings, “So I’ll just stay at the party, dance ‘till my feet hurt, tell all my friends I love them for no reason.” With the detail of a novelist and her captivating delivery on point, Hope strikes a balance between the tension of a world on the brink and the elation of a never-ending night out.

- Critically-acclaimed Vermont singer and songwriter Noah Kahan releases his long-awaited new album Stick Season via Mercury Records/Republic Records—listen HERE.  Noah says, “This album is a love letter to New England, and an attempt to paint an honest picture at what it’s like to live in a small town. Living in isolation in Vermont was incredibly challenging, but it brought about a unique perspective on small town life. These 14 songs help tell that story.”

- After recently returning to deliver her captivating single “Don’t Lay It All On Me”, Grammis nominated (the Swedish Grammy awards) Swedish soul singer Janice has now released her eagerly-awaited new EP The Playlist, alongside the mesmerizing new single "My Kind Of Woman".  Featured in the new Netflix series ‘The Playlist’, a fictional series set around the origins of Spotify in which Janice also makes her acting debut, the new four-track EP was exclusively written for the series, where she plays one of the leading characters Bobbie T, with three of the original works appearing in the show.

 

- Verve Records/UMe and Third Man Records have partnered to resurrect the popular reissue series, Verve By Request, with a vinyl twist. Focusing on rare gems and fan-requested jazz albums from the Verve Label Group’s stable of iconic labels, the series will offer two titles per month – each hand-picked by Verve and Third Man Records. The records will include both long-out-of-print titles from the vault as well as the first-ever vinyl pressings for albums released in the ‘90s and aughts that were only originally released on CD.  Albums will be newly remastered from original analog sources, when available, and pressed on audiophile-quality, 180-gram vinyl at Third Man Pressing in Detroit. Each month, a limited Third Man Edition yellow color variant of each LP will also be available exclusively via Third Man Records and uDiscoverMusic. Each of the Third Man Editions will come in a limited edition, two-color, screen-printed jacket on archival French cover stock, custom printed and assembled in Detroit. The series launches on November 11 with a nod to Third Man’s birthplace with two of Detroit’s finest: Alice Coltrane’s Ptah, the El Daoud (1970) and Roy Brooks’ long out-of-print Beat (1964).

- In celebration of Huluween, 20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween series of spooky shorts is back for a third season! Twenty new shorts from exciting emerging filmmakers premiere October 1 on Hulu, blending genres like horror, comedy, sci-fi, thriller, and more.  Shot in seven different countries, this season takes on topical issues such as racism, gender, parenthood, sexuality, and identity. SNATCHED (dir. Michael Schwartz) features Tatiana Maslany (“She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law”) in her first on-screen role with husband Brendan Hines (“Locke & Key”). Misha Osherovich (“Freaky”) stars as their son.  Other shorts feature familiar faces like Brigette Lundy-Paine (“Atypical”), Lin Shaye (“Insidious”), David Costabile (“Breaking Bad”), and former “Glow” co-stars Rebekka Johnson and singer-songwriter Kate Nash who co-wrote/directed/star in a short featuring Nash’s original music.

- Get set for the highly-anticipated return of Carrie Bradshaw and her stylish, best girlfriends as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases the first season of And Just Like That…, the new chapter of the groundbreaking HBO series Sex and the City on DVD December 13, 2022. And Just Like That… The Complete First Season will include all 10 episodes of the show’s first season and is priced to own at $24.98 SRP. The series, which has been renewed for a second season, is also available to own on Digital via purchase from all major digital retailers and is streaming on HBO Max.  From executive producer Michael Patrick King, And Just Like That…, brings the iconic characters of Sex and the City back for exciting all-new series, which finds Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) navigating the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 9, 2022

 

House of the Dragon:  I am not sure if it says more about me or the show that I found the kid fight the most entertaining thing this show has done so far.  But it is nice to see that Ser Cristian Cole has a line and that line is plucking out the eye of a young kid.  Then the best part of the aftermath was Daemon just hanging out in the back even though his kids were the ones that instigated the whole thing.  But I do wonder where the Sea Snake will land on the impending war between the greens and the blacks.  Both of his children were married to people who quickly married each other after becoming widows.  But they still have four grandchildren, though two bare someone else’s name and while the other two have his name, they certainly do not have his hair.  Of course the way to solve this problem is, in the grand Valerian tradition, is to just marry the cousins to each other, and then their kids would carry on the Valerian name and blood (as long as they do not become king and take the Targaryen name).  It is gross that I actually thought of this as a solution.

 

The Walking Dead:  Yippie, part 3 of the final season is upon us.  Except I vaguely remember what happened in part two.  I remember the evil dude going to Negan’s compound and killing people and that is why he is chasing them, but I forget what was going on in the city and why those people are being chased.  Worse, I do not even care to search the internet to find out why.

 

Quantum Leap: So Al’s daughter has what I assume is a hologram room somewhere, so will Ben have two people talking to him?  Will the two holograms be able to see / hear each other?  Will Al’s daughter be able to block the other chick somehow?  I say this every week and will likely continue to say it until I will it into existence, but just have Al’s daughter be the hologram and get rid of everyone else in 2022.  But it looks like Ben is already jumping into female bodies, I looked it up and this did not happen until the second season of the original, thirteenth episode overall.

 

La Brea:  The most interesting setup of the second season was Scott going into the big glass building in the middle of 10,000 BC, yet he does not show up until the end of the episode and they seemingly just yadda-yaddaed him going into the building.  They better be filling in the gap in the next episode because that building in the most interesting part of the show.  Where did it come from?  Who build it?  How did they build it?  Could they be rewarding the cave people for uncovering the stuff they are digging for?  And just how hard would it be to get into that hole in 1988?  There cannot be a barricade with police all around it, just walk until you find a gap. 

 

The Handmaid’s Tale:  So June is now back under the control of Giliad?  I know every other time she escape and was captured, she was returned with mostly a slap on the wrist, but they cannot just put her back as being a handmaid after murdering a Commander and helping so many escape with her.  Even if they do send her back to like as a handmaid, is the show really going back to season one thru three?  And Luke definably should not be spared.  Yet, I am sure both will somehow survive, and hopefully escape.  Then is Serena a prisoner now?  It seems like she is very limited as to what she can do and where she can do at that house she is living at.

 

Tell Me Lies:  Bree sure like using her hand.  At least she found someone to reciprocate.  So those two are just going to date for the next six or so years?  Will Bree ever learn how Evan confessed his love to Lucy? 

 

Survivor:  Those guys really made the wrong choice there; the time to dump Nnecka was last week.  One of them even said they made their bed now they have to lay in it.  They already burned that bridge with Noelle and the other dude (whose name I still have not bothered to learn, like most people this season), how are they supposed to trust them?  If they go back, it is 2-2, and they will stuck having to go with a 50-50 shot to correctly play the idol.  Might as well vote off Noelle this week, and then they could get rid of the guy if they go back. 

 

Stargirl:  I really hope Shiv reconsiders Mike and Jakeem’s offer because that trio could be like a bad 80’s teen comedy right there.  Maybe they can have the pink pen force her to join their sub faction.  But she will need some new allies after Wildcat found the Gambler’s laptop in he room

 

Big Sky:  Yeah, I guess it makes perfect sense the creepy psychopath is obsessed with Miley Cyrus.  But what exactly will creepy momma do with the knowledge that Cassie is on to him?  And does Cassie know he is creepy momma’s kid?

 

She-Hulk:  He was not quite Madisynn, but the Rabbit guy was fairly entertaining in his own right.  But Todd has to behind this all.  Though, it would be hilarious if it turns out to be Mephisto who is behind everything.  That kind of would be the perfect way to end the season.  With all the winking this show does, it is surprising they did not do any Mephisto teasing, but I guess they did write this long before Wandavision premiered.

 

Pennyworth:  So the last season ended with the start of a civil war and the new season starts five year later skipping over all the fighting and Britain (mostly) back to normal.  How very Hot D of them.  But Lucius has a basement full of meta-humans, I have feeling the blue guy will not be the only one escaping this season.

 

A Friend of the Family:  I have got through the first two episodes (releasing two episodes up front in mildly annoying, but four episodes is absurd, especially when you are just doing 9 total and they are all pushing a full hour).  That first episode was boring, and then the second episode was extremely weird.  I just do not know how they stretch this story out to seven more episodes.