Around the Tubes: December 9, 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 Yellowjackets, Letterkenny,  Koala Man, Favorite Daughter, Al Jardine, Sabrina Song, POV, and The D’Amelio Show.

- SHOWTIME announced that the Emmy-nominated drama YELLOWJACKETS will return for its highly-anticipated second season starting Friday, March 24 on streaming and on demand for all SHOWTIME subscribers, before making its on-air debut on Sunday, March 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Season one, which has a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes and received seven Emmy nominations, averaged over 5 million weekly viewers across platforms and was the second-most streamed series in SHOWTIME history. Produced for SHOWTIME by studio Entertainment One (eOne), the series is currently in production in Vancouver.

- LETTERKENNY Season 11 premieres on Hulu, WATCH THE NEW TRAILER HERE!  The residents of Letterkenny belong to one of three groups: the Hicks, the Skids, and the Hockey Players, who are constantly feuding over seemingly trivial matters that often end with someone getting their ass kicked. In Season 11, the small town contends with the best chip flavors, lost dogs, an influencer invasion, Skid business, a mystery at the Church Bake Sale, unwanted guests at beer league, and the Degens stirring up trouble. And that’s just for starters.

- We are excited to announce the Hulu Original animated series "Koala Man" starring Michael Cusack, Hugh Jackman, Sarah Snook, Jemaine Clement, Demi Lardner and more, will premiere Monday, January 9th on Hulu.  "Koala Man" follows middle-aged dad Kevin and his titular not-so-secret identity, whose only superpower is a burning passion for following rules and snuffing out petty crime in the town of Dapto. Though it may seem like any other Australian suburb, forces of evil both cosmic and man-made lie in wait to pounce on unsuspecting Daptonians. On a quest to clean up his hometown, and often roping his frustrated family into his adventures, Koala Man stands at the ready. He’ll do whatever it takes to defeat villainous masterminds, supernatural horrors, or worse: jerks who don’t take their rubbish bins down on the proper days.

- FAVORITE DAUGHTER is an intimate portrait of the director's grandmother Sylvia Weinstock and mother Janet Isa, sheltering in place together in a lower Manhattan apartment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sylvia was living alone for the first time in her life when after her partner of 69 years, my grandpa, Ben, passed away. Then her youngest daughter, Janet, moved in.  This short documentary is both raw and charming, melancholy and funny—a portrait of two women with vastly different experiences coming together and supporting one another through the uncertainty of spending the next chapters of their lives “alone,” without a partner.  Watch the Trailer Now - Just Released

- Al Jardine’s acclaimed debut solo album, A Postcard from California, is now available on CD once again via UMe. The album was recently reissued digitally for streaming and download, just ahead of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and legendary co-founder of The Beach Boys’ 80^th birthday on September 3^rd. Originally released in 2010 on CD and again in 2012 with two bonus tracks, “Waves of Love” and “Sloop John B (A Pirate’s Tale),” the much-sought-after record hadn’t been available digitally for several years before making its streaming debut in September. The album quickly sold out when released on limited edition translucent blue vinyl for Record Store Day in 2018. Purchase or stream A Postcard from California here: AlJardine.lnk.to/APostcardfromCaliforniaPR  “I can’t believe it’s been twelve years since Postcard came out and I thank everyone involved in the production and creation of this album to help me get my songs out there,” says Al Jardine. “Brian’s advice to aspiring young songwriters has always been ‘finish your songs’ so I took it to heart and I hope everyone who has listened to A Postcard from California feels my excitement and enthusiasm for this great land and sea of ours and our need to protect it forever. Thank you for all your support over the years, it is greatly appreciated and I will continue to dedicate Postcard to all the pets we love and who love us back!”

- Brooklyn-based alt-pop singer-songwriter Sabrina Song shares her long-awaited, delicate third EP When It All Comes Crashing Down, produced, written and engineered by Song herself, out everywhere now. Alongside the full release, Song shares the latest melancholic, piano-driven single & accompanying stirring video, "Down" out now. The dark, weighty tune sees Song earnestly wrestling with the fears that come with falling in love.  The four track collection from Sabrina Song is a tender, observational glimpse at the artist's assessment of relationships in her life where she discovers her own strength as she learns to advocate for herself, further solidifying both her sound and sense of self. Song explains, "'When It All Comes Crashing Down' represents a personal and musical evolution for me. The majority of my songwriting prior to this project was extremely inward-facing, working through my internal issues, insecurities, doubts, and streams of consciousness. I began writing this project at the end of college, and finished writing it through the end of last year. It was a period of rapid growth and transformation for me, and for the first time in a long time, I felt real security in who I am as a person and artist. I found the ability to turn outward, and begin evaluating my relationship dynamics, holding people accountable that I’ve let walk over me in the past, and being the best person I can be in the friendships and relationships that I hold dearly in my life. The result is four songs that find me trying to advocate for myself in my romantic and platonic relationships, and find a stronger sense of self and happiness."

-  POV takes a look at the dynamic between parents, educators, and students embroiled in a battle over closing a top-ranked elementary school with a predominantly Black student population in a gentrified Chicago neighborhood in the inspiring documentary Let The Little Light Shine, directed and produced by Kevin Shaw (America To Me, The Street Stops Here), produced by Rachel Dickson (‘63 Boycott, Hard Earned) and executive produced by Academy Award® nominee Steve James (Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Hoop Dreams).  Let The Little Light Shine makes its national broadcast premiere on POV Monday, December 12, 2022 (check local listings) and will be available to stream with no PBS Passport membership necessary until March 12, 2023 at pbs.org, and the PBS Video app.

- Hulu Original docu-series “The D’Amelio Show” has been renewed for a third season with 10 episodes.  The second season premiered on September 28th and all ten episodes are now streaming on Hulu.  Season Two Synopsis: From public relationships, to private struggles, to new pursuits, with millions watching their every move, each decision The D’Amelio family makes comes with unfathomable pressure and scrutiny, in an era when comments and opinions are hard to tune out.  Dixie and Charli struggle to separate their own self-love and identity from their online presence.  Marc and Heidi parent in uncharted territory, as they try to protect their family from new pitfalls at every turn. With their spectacular rise comes one-in-a-lifetime opportunities from business to personal relationships, but can they hold on to what matters most–staying together as a tight-knit family?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 4, 2022

 

The White Lotus:  The “rich” gays really shot to the top of my whose gonna die power rankings.  But who pushes them off their boat is the real question now.

 

Let the Right One In:  At first, I thought it was Mark that knocked out the new vampire, but I guess he did not get there in time.  But where was the henchman that whole time?  Was he following Mark?  Now what?  Will Mark tell Clair his sympathetic story and start working together?

 

Survivor:  While possibly not the first time, you can say the time was when the dude voted out fourth won, but awarding the Immunity Necklace to two people really feels like a jump the shark moment.  Seriously, how does this happen?  It feels like every other time they have done this, they contestants would be fully submerged and just became a who can hold their breath the longest.  Did they not have the grates low enough?  Did they think the tide would get higher?  Then actually it was not just two people immune in the group of seven, because the latest dumb twist made Cody immune.  But to make the dumb twist even dumber, only Cody knew if he was immune or not.  With three Idols still in play and the shot in the dark, they could have had everyone immune.  Just poor planning.  Speaking of shot in the dark, I believe that was the seventh attempt at a one in six chance.  So that twist is becoming a bust too.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  Once again, a team wins mostly because of the peanut gallery.  And the peanut gallery is just making sure the same boring people that are dragging down this show stay in the game while the few interesting people go home early.  Seriously, either stop letting people help during elimination or have it happen in an empty arena.  It is horrible television when you know the people who get the most help are always winning.

 

Stargirl:  Those scenes with Starman last season were really weird and a few times this season I wondered why he was getting irrationally mad many times this season, but I was not ready for him to end up being the Ultra-Humanite.  Though I do have to wonder why he helped the JSA at all and why he was really against former allies Sportsmaster and Tigra.  Then why tell Artimis he was going to kill Icicle if he is working with him.  And just what his, Icicle, and Dragon King’s plan?  And how did the dead Dragon King’s brain get into the gorilla?

 

Big Sky:  So the husband is the Broken Heart Killer.  It seems like he has more in common with his wife’s other kid than the one he had with her.  Though I missed how the step father with the diary pages knows the evil gangster trying to find it.

 

Titans:  Um… what the fork just happened?  Where did everyone go?  Did they transport somehow?  But putting two people back together is bad, how wrong can putting six people back together.  And if Jinx said, “Not again,” does that mean that was not the first time she has been fatally stabbed and will be likely back again?