Around the Tubes: April 29, 2023

  

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post includes blurbs Joy Oladokun, Shania Twain, New West, Yellowjackets, and Waco. 

- Acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician Joy Oladokun’s anticipated new album, Proof of Life, is out today via Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records. Stream/purchase HERE.  Already receiving critical attention, Oladokun recently spoke with The New York Times, who praises, “the singer-songwriter with Springsteen aspirations wants to make music for everyone. Her new album, Proof of Life, pushes her one step closer,” and continues, “her songs are conversational and confessional, and her hooky but profound melodies turn her lyrics into mantras.” Additionally, The Tennessean declares, “everyone’s favorite unlikely breakout pop star…it’s the latest and greatest combination of eras of pop nihilism – ‘90s indie pop Beck and Weezer vibes delivered with blithe, Beatles-esque musicianship,” while No Depression proclaims, “She’s almost a throwback to a pre-internet era of big-tent pop-rock, with a tempered balance of self-doubt and affirmation delivered with a voice that can convey warm affability and stadium-filling uplift.”

- Five-time GRAMMY® Award-winning legend and the best-selling female artist in country music history Shania Twain presents the Royal Edition the Deluxe Version of her acclaimed new album, Queen Of Me, out now via Republic Nashville, a division of Republic Records. Listen to Queen of Me (Royal Edition)—HERE.  She delivers the definitive edition of Queen Of Me with five extra tracks. Among the additional material, she serves up two new originals - “Bone Dry” and “Wanted Man.”

- Toronto based “collective” New West performs their hit song “Those Eyes” in an incredible performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which serves as their late night television debut.  Watch HERE.  The song, via Giant Music/Republic Records, continues to amass major buzz with over 470 million streams worldwide and appears on their dynamic bundle entitled homecoming / in my city.

- The second season of YELLOWJACKETS will resume with its sixth episode on Friday, May 5 after taking a one-week preemption this weekend. In the upcoming sixth episode of the season, titled “Qui,” the Yellowjackets, trapped inside on a snow day, revisit the highlights, humiliations and traumas of “Health Class.” Taissa and Vanessa help each other kindly rewind, Misty explores joining a classic Cosmic American tribute band, Lisa helps Natalie carp the day, and Shauna gets a pop quiz on her cookie-reading assignment.

- SHOWTIME continues its winning streak with WACO: THE AFTERMATH’s impressive debut as a top three most streamed series launch ever for the brand behind only DEXTER: NEW BLOOD and YELLOWJACKETS while the latter extends its rise in viewership.

 Waco: The Aftermath premiere

• The most-watched debut for a new Showtime original on the integrated Paramount+ SHOWTIME bundle
• Most streamed debut since November 2021
• top 3 most streamed debut of all time for a new SHO original, only behind the launches of DEXTER: NEW BLOOD and YELLOWJACKETS
• 1M total viewers to date; doubling its audience from opening weekend

 YELLOWJACKETS Season 2

• The premiere episode has been seen by nearly 5.5M total viewers to date

• +65% gain in streaming over season one premiere episode

• Season two streaming viewership posting double digit growth each week since premiere
• Social on fire – with conversation +5X over season one 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: April 23, 2023

 

 The Blacklist:  Like I said last week, this is just going to be a greatest hits season.  Yawn.

 

The Mandalorian:  Well, that was a pretty straight forward finale, though, I was mildly surprised that IG-12 was named the new sheriff and they did not bring in Cobb Vance.  I wonder when we will see him again.

 

The Challenge: World Championship:  I was so happy to finally get rid of Kacee who grossly only seemed concerned that she was going to be kicked off the show and not at all concerned that her partner was being carted off to the hospital.  But then Amber had to go and get knocked up.  What is that, the third time a chick was kicked off for being knocked up?  And that does not even include Melissa who ran a final while pregnant.  You would think would think after the first time, they would make a pregnancy test to be part of the women’s physical.   What they should have done was bring back Jonna and have her team with Troy because at least she was more concern about Grant’s health than money.

 

Survivor:  Well, that was confusing.  So the firefighter played his Idol for Franny knowing that all the Tika players knew he was going to do it.  But if you think they are with you, why play the Idol?  And if you think they are not with they, why play it for Franny if there is a possibility they were going to switch their votes to someone else?  Then if the Tika people still voted for Franny know someone going to play the Idol, does that just show they are playing both sides and you probably should not trust them?  I feel like I am missing something.  Or maybe they are all just dumb.

 

Titans:  So Beast Boy was in The Red this whole time?  I still do not understand why the Previously On on the return episode was dedicated to him unless it was a mistake.  But it was nice to see Stargirl again, unfortunately it was not for very long and Wildcat was not with her.  I wonder what Doom Patrol Beast Boy ended up with, the one from his show, the one with its own show, or possibly a different one.  The one with its own show, the Cyborg on that lost his tech.

 

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies:  Okay, I also kind of liked the song in the classroom this week too.

 

Yellowjackets:  We waited almost half a season and Javi is not talking aside from one cryptic statement of someone telling him not to go back.  Who told him?  Are there more people out there?  Was this person in his head?  We have to add those to the questions we still need to know like where was he and how did he survive out there when Jackie was turned into a Popsicle? 

 

Of course the biggest downside of Javi returning was that he was one more mouth to feed.  But Misty gonna Misty and took care of that problem but eliminating one mouth.  When they walked up to that cliff, I said to myself, this is the second time we have seen someone stand over this cliff, someone is going to go over.  I just did not expect it to be as soon as the second time we saw it.  But as soon as they started sharing secrets, I knew Misty was going to blab about the black box.  Even then, I was not expecting her to die because I figured the other girls would figure out what Misty did eventually and this would be how.  Nope.  R.I.P. Crystal… or whatever her real name was.

 

Speaking of Misty gonna Misty, what exactly is she going to do with Walter?  He kind of seems into it, but I cannot see her keeping that loose end open.  Speaking of loose ends, when is she going to make it back to town to clean up Shauna’s mess?  But her time with the cult will likely be an all-timer.  And speaking of the cult, Nat’s vision of the plane crash kind of looked like everyone died.  Hopefully this is not a Lost-purgatory situation where they all died and the ones that were not worthy of moving on were stuck in that place before they redeem themselves.