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 B.B. King, The Island, The Strain, Seinfeld, T. rex Autopsy, Turner Classic Movies, EPIX, and the Stars For Second Harvest.
- B.B. King personified blues music for the whole world,” says Austin City Limits (ACL) executive producer Terry Lickona, "but when he first appeared on Austin City Limits in 1983 it was rare for a blues artist to command a full hour on national television.” In honor of the late, undisputed King of the Blues, ACL is proud to bring that iconic hour out from the vault and back to television for the first time in 22 years. This special encore episode airs Saturday, May 23rd at 8:00 on PBS stations (check local listings for times).
- In the hour-long The Island, internationally acclaimed adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls gives the modern American man the ultimate challenge: Can a man of today's world survive on a deserted island without the luxuries - or even the basics - of contemporary everyday life? Check out a preview below of the showw that premieres Monday at 10:00 on NBC.
- The Strain returns to FX this summer for its highly-anticipated second season on Sundays at 10:00, beginning July 12th. The award-winning thriller from Guillermo del Toro and Carlton Cuse, based off of the best-selling The Strain Trilogy by del Toro and Chuck Hogan, was the most-watched new cable drama of 2014.
- One of the most popular, most award-winning and longest-running comedy series of all time Seinfeld will be available to stream – in its entirety – for the first time ever on Hulu beginning June 24th. Jerry Seinfeld stars as a stand-up comedian whose life in New York City is made even more chaotic by his quirky group of friends who join him in wrestling with life's most perplexing, yet often trivial questions. Often described as "a show about nothing," Seinfeld mines the humor in life's mundane situations like waiting in line, searching for a lost item, or the trials and tribulations of dating.
- This summer, dinosaurs will again capture the world’s imagination with a trip to “Jurassic World.” And though National Geographic Channel cannot bring any dinosaurs back to life (at least not yet!), we will make our own attempt to crack the paleontological code with the new two-hour world premiere special T. rex Autopsy, premiering Sunday, June 7, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
- Time Out New York reveals a killer feature where the Pixies’ Black Francis and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe interview each other! As we set the stage for bringing together the two indie-rock heroes, the outcome makes for a once-in-a-lifetime, awesome conversation all on its own.
- Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today announced a collaboration with Ball State University and Canvas Network, an open online educational platform from Instructure, to present Into the Darkness: Investigating Film Noir, a free online multimedia course open to the general public. The open online course is one of several interactive initiatives TCM is launching in connection to its Summer of Darkness programming event for fans that want to dive deeper into the world of film noir. Enrollment begins today and noir fans can sign up for the course at tcm.com/summerofdarkness
- Ross William Ulbricht, the convicted 31-year-old entrepreneur accused of being Dread Pirate Roberts, and founder of the Silk Road drug marketplace, will be sentenced on May 29 in New York. Lyn Ulbricht, mother of Ross Ulbricht and Alex Winter (Downloaded), director, writer and producer of the EPIX Original Documentary Deep Web that chronicles Ulbricht's trial, will participate in a Periscope live video session immediately following the sentencing from the steps of the courthouse. In February 2015 Ulbricht was convicted of seven felony charges including drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit computer hacking and a kingpin charge. He faces a minimum sentence of thirty years, with a maximum sentence of life in prison. Deep Web makes its World Television Premiere on EPIX Sunday, May 31, 2015 at 8:00.
- Premium TV network EPIX announced today that it is adding original, scripted series to its programming slate, beginning with series from its joint-venture studio partners Paramount, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Two of the series will begin production this fall for premiere autumn 2016. The series, "Graves" from Lionsgate Television and "Berlin Station" from Paramount Television, mark the first original series that will appear on EPIX across its channels, EPIX On Demand, EPIX.com and TV Everywhere platforms with its distribution partners. A third original series from MGM will be announced in the near future.
- ACM’s New Artist of the Year winner Cole Swindell , CMA nominee Sarah Buxton and BMI Songwriter of the Year Rodney Clawson join the All-Star lineup of singers and songwriters for the 11 th annual Stars For Second Harvest event on Tuesday, June 9 at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. Presented by O’Charley’s, hosted by acclaimed hit songwriter Craig Wiseman , and benefitting Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, the show will feature unplugged acoustic style performances by some of country music’s most acclaimed songwriters and performers. Concert tickets are on-sale now for both general admission $35 plus applicable service charges and preferred seating $55 tickets and are available at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, Ryman box office, Ryman.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.