Around the Tubes: April 17, 2021

       

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 Shrill, Cinema Toast, The Kings, Lord Huron, Paula Fuga, Lionel Ritchie, NOW That’s What I Call Music!, Cusp, and A Cinderella Story: Starstuck.

- Hulu's Shrill trailer has arrived, ready or not!  The final season premieres Friday, May 7, only on Hulu.  SYNOPSIS: Season three of Shrill finds Annie (Aidy Bryant) energized by her breakup with dud boyfriend Ryan and her newfound momentum at work. Annie feels like everything is finally falling into place for her, but does she actually know how to get what she wants?

-  SHOWTIME has announced that the new anthology series CINEMA TOAST will premiere all 10 episodes on the SHOWTIME on-demand streaming and partner platforms on Tuesday, April 20. Created by Jeff Baena and produced by the Duplass Brothers, CINEMA TOAST is a post-modernist reinvention of older movies that turns pre-existing imagery from the public domain on its head to tell brand new unique stories. Directors include Baena, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Alex Ross Perry, Marta Cunningham, Aubrey Plaza, Numa Perrier, Jordan Firstman, Kris Rey and David Lowery. The episodes are voiced by actors including Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, John Early, Christina Ricci, Megan Mullally, Chloe Fineman and Chris Meloni.
- In boxing, it is said that styles make fights. From 1980 through 1989, it was the style of four great fighters that not only made legendary fights, it ushered in a boxing renaissance. The fierce rivalry between world champions and future Hall of Famers known as the “Four Kings” – Roberto “Manos de Piedra” Durán, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, and Sugar Ray Leonard – produced a Golden Age defined by the nine world championship fights between them and solidified their place among the greatest to ever live.  SHOWTIME SPORTS DOCUMENTARY FILMS today announced THE KINGS, a four-part series chronicling the four fighters' dramatic and divergent ascents to greatness and the legendary matches they produced. The weekly series premieres on Sunday, June 6 at 8 p.m. ET /PT on SHOWTIME, with all episodes being made available across the network’s on-demand and streaming platforms at premiere.
- Deepening the mystery of their current chapter, Lord Huron unveil a new song entitled “Long Lost” today. It stands out as the title track of their anxiously awaited fourth full-length album, LONG LOST, out May 21^st via Whispering Pines Studios Inc./Republic Records. Listen to "Long Lost" HERE & watch the lyric video HERE.  Pre-order Long Lost HERE.
- Paula Fuga announces new album Rain on Sunday, available June 18^th through all digital services. “If Ever”, the lead track, available today along with a lyric video, is a duet with Jack Johnson featuring musician Ben Harper. Listen to “If Ever” and watch the accompanying lyric video here and to purchase, view here.  Rain on Sunday is Fuga’s much-anticipated second full-length album and also her debut album on Jack Johnson’s own Brushfire Records and Republic Records. In bringing Rain on Sunday to life, Fuga worked with producer Mike Love, recording live with her longtime bandmates and infusing every song with a kinetic and joyful energy. For the album’s creation, everything was tracked live, playing in a room together, which was of most importance to Fuga.
- While Lionel Richie and his American Idol colleagues continue their mission to discover music’s next superstar, today marks the 25^th anniversary of Louder Than Words, the Top-30 Billboard album that ushered in a new chapter for one of the most successful Pop and R&B artists of all time. Island Def Jam Music Group/UMe will celebrate this era in Lionel Richie’s illustrious career with digital deluxe editions of multiple albums throughout 2021, including Just For You (May 7) and Time (June 25). Each of the bonus tracks on the digital deluxe editions of Louder Than Words, Just For You and Time will make their streaming debut.  Kicking off these releases will be the 25^th anniversary expanded digital deluxe edition of Louder Than Words, Richie’s fourth solo studio album and first for Mercury/Island Records, originally available on April 16, 1996. Available here, Louder Than Words, which at the time was Richie’s first full album in 10 years, features “Don’t Wanna Lose You,” co-written by Lionel Richie, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Also featured are “I Wanna Take You Down,” “Paradise,” “Climbing,” “Ordinary Girl,” and Lionel Richie’s work with Babyface and David Foster. The bonus tracks include rare Spanish and Italian language versions of “Still In Love,” the radio version of “Don’t Wanna Lose You,” and non-album cuts “What Do They Know” and “Now You’re Gone.” Louder Than Words enhances Richie’s smooth R&B style with traces of funk and hip-hop for an emotional journey through heartbreak, anticipation and romance that speaks volumes.
- NOW That’s What I Call Music!, the world’s bestselling multiple-artist album series, showcases today's biggest hits across chart-topping numbered volumes and themed releases. NOW’s latest numbered volume, NOW That's What I Call Music! Vol. 78, will be released April 30 on CD and digitally. On the same date, NOW That’s What I Call A Decade! 1990s will also be available on CD and digitally.  Preorder NOW:  NOW That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 78 (CD, Digital): https://now.lnk.to/NOW78  NOW That’s What I Call A Decade! 1990s (CD, Digital): https://now.lnk.to/Decade1990s
- SHOWTIME Documentary Films announced that it has acquired worldwide rights to CUSP, the documentary feature from directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, winners of the Emerging Filmmaker Special Jury Award at the Sundance^® Film Festival, where the film premiered earlier this year. Set in a small military town in Texas, CUSP chases three wild-spirited teenage girls as they live out a fever-dream summer, when the strictures of adolescence clash with the growing desire for personal agency. SHOWTIME is planning a theatrical release ahead of a network premiere later this year.  Shot in vérité style, CUSP captures authentic moments of female friendship while examining what it means to grow up in a culture of toxic masculinity. Though the girls’ experiences are completely unique to their upbringing, CUSP is also a strikingly universal coming-of-age tale — and true-to-life, at turns funny, tragic, complicated and stirring.
- Lights, Camera, Action! Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will have you singing and dancing in your seat with the release of A Cinderella Story: Starstuck, on Digital beginning June 29^th, and on DVD on July 13^th. The all-new musical film set in Dreary, Idaho stars Bailee Madison (A Week Away) as our modern-day heroine Finley Tremain and Michael Evans Behling (All American) as her charming romantic interest, Jackson Stone. Other featured actors include April Telek (Chris Watts: Confession of a Killer) as the cruel stepmother, Valerian, and step-siblings Saffron and Kale, played respectively by Lillian Doucet-Roche (A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish) and Richard Harmon (The 100).  A Cinderella Story: Starstruck will be available on Digital for $14.99 SRP ($14.99 in Canada), and on DVD for $19.98 SRP ($24.98 in Canada).

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: April 11, 2021

  

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist:  For the first time this season, maybe ever, an episode filled with all great songs that I actually own them all.  Well, except the Australian’s sex song about Zoey, unless you count Maroon 5’s This Love which they clearly borrowed the guitar lick from.  It also included the greatest Disco song of all time, though I wish it had been more of an ensemble than just Simon singing with everyone else being a back-up singer/dancer.  I would have been fine had they done the full song.  It was easily my favorite performance of the season so far. 

 

Also my favorite episode of the season, bumping off last week’s episode.  As much grief as I give the guy for living I  San Francisco most of his life yet having a strong Australian accent, I am beginning to enjoy Aiden’s presence,  Though I am not sure how much we will see him after getting rejected by Zoey.  I am also beginning to like the coder chick and her new weird thing with Tobin.  I even like Max’s camp buddy (can’t go wrong if you sing a little INXS).  After a rough start, things are starting to come together this season.

 

Shameless:  So the chick that may have rapped Carl by not using a condom a couple episodes ago who claimed to be on the pill and had a latex allergy is now ready to pop?  So juts what is she up to?  Is she scamming someone else and pretending it is Carl’s baby?  Has time passed that much since that episode?  More confusing is Debbie hanging out the chick who threatened to kill her daughter.  And I thought Lip was supposed to be the smart one.  It never dawned on him that selling to the other person on the other side of the three was a possibility? 

 

The Walking Dead:  So before the dead started to rise, Negan was good… but not really… but kind of was?  What a mess of an episode.  Maybe Memento is the only one that can properly tell a story backwards.

 

Debris:  Oh hey, Cocoon… but they got to actually look young too.  They the two agents came clean about the not so dead father.  This show is kind of boring.

 

Supergirl:  If there is one bright side of being sent to the Phantom Zone is it somehow got rid of Supergirl’s hideous bangs.  Oh yeah, and she found her not so dead father.  Though he seems like a complete waste of a person now.  But I am not entirely sure just how Lex got off.

 

The Challenge: Double Agents:  Kam forked up.  They came up with this brilliant plan, but decided against utilizing it when just because Fessy ruined the meaning Leroy would end up with Nany.  But had Kam forced Corey to go in, if Fessy wins and picks Casey, then Kam could pick Leroy as a partner.  But we got our fourth Hall Brawl of the season and second in a row, which makes me wonder if they were being lazy or being really manipulative by benefiting the Big Brother alliance.

 

The Challenge: All-Stars:  My favorite part of the episode did not actually happen on the episode by the aftershow when Darrell kept complaining that Neiamiah actually got asked to spell “Challenge” backwards with the word plastered all over the rig.  Not sure how that qualifies as ancient Challenge history.  He also complained that Neiamiah got a Wes question and it was just weird to think Neiahaih who has not been seen in a decade started on a season with Wes who has been on almost every season in the past decade.

 

Manifest:  So the meth heads were in a picture with the chick from the Americans?  That is a bizarre coincidence.  I do not remember anyone having their paths cross like that before.  Kind of ripping of Lost there.

 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier:  So Zemo had every chance to escape last week, but just bolts this week?  I guess the Wakanda warriors are that scary is they are coming for you.  But this was the first time I remember anyone dying by being thrown into something by someone with super strength.

Around the Tubes: April 10, 2021

       

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 Shameless, Ziwe, Through the Night, Zac Brown Band, Emily Kinney, Of Monsters and Men, and Sex Appeal. 

- SHOWTIME announced a virtual farewell event open to all fans of the hit comedy series SHAMELESS on Sunday, April 11 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, immediately following the show’s final episode. The two-part experience, which will take place at GallagherHouse.com, will begin with a cast reunion. From reminiscing about how they earned their now-iconic roles to discussing what it was like to end an 11-season story, this marks the first time the cast will look back together at the hit series. Fans will also have the opportunity to virtually explore the beloved Gallagher home, which will remain available beyond the finale event. In addition to executive producer and showrunner John Wells, cast members confirmed for the event include Oscar^® nominee and Emmy^® and SAG Award winner William H. Macy, Jeremy Allen White, Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney, Cameron Monaghan, Christian Isaiah, Noel Fisher and Kate Miner.

- SHOWTIME has released a first look at ZIWE, the new variety series starring and executive produced by Ziwe (DESUS & MERO^®, OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT). The series features interviews, musical numbers, guest stars, sketches and more – including unscripted and unpredictable interactions with everyday people. ZIWE will premiere on SHOWTIME on Sunday, May 9 at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

- American Documentary is proud to announce the national broadcast premiere of PBS alumnus Loira Limbal’s (Estilo Hip Hop) second feature documentary, Through the Night, premiering Monday, May 10, 2021 on PBS at 10 p.m. ET (check local listings) and at pov.org as part of the program's 33rd season. The film will also be available to stream for free at pov.org until June 10, 2021.  An official selection at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival as well as at DOC NYC and AFI DOCS, Through the Night is an intimate cinema verité portrait of three working mothers whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center in New Rochelle, New York: a mother working the overnight shift as an essential worker at a pediatric hospital; another holding down three jobs in order to support her family, and a woman who, for over two decades, has cared for the children whose parents have nowhere else to turn.  Watch the Trailer.

- Multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning Zac Brown Band announced their first-ever livestream performance event from the renowned Southern Ground Studio in Nashville, TN on Saturday, May 8, 2021 at 9 PM Eastern / 8 PM Central, in partnership with Sessions Live.  The virtual event will feature live performances from the full band, as they revisit some of their greatest hits from the past two decades. The band will also share some exciting news with fans who tune in. The livestream available exclusively through Sessions Live, will be followed up by a VIP encore set, featuring storytelling from the band and a fun-filled, fan-sourced Q&A. The livestream will take place from Southern Ground Studio, owned by Zac Brown and the birthplaces of Kris Kristofferson's first three albums, Neil Young's Prairie Wind album, and many more from the legendary artists spanning across multiple genres.

- Jullian Records and actress/singer-songwriter Emily Kinney (The Walking Dead, Showtime’s Masters of Sex, ABC’s Ten Days In The Valley) are excited to announce the release of Kinney’s brand new full-length album titled The Supporting Character (stream and purchase). Staying busy this past year, Kinney took advantage of 2020’s endless days of social distancing and time at home to finish up one of her most personal albums to date. Produced by Benjamin Greenspan, The Supporting Character touches on themes of heartbreak, loss & grief, family history, her childhood in Nebraska, creativity and personal growth, and finds Kinney tackling difficult subjects with her trademark lyrical honesty. Stream the album in full on Spotify HERE.

- Just as the winter begins to fade and spring begins, Of Monsters and Men announce the release of “Destroyer” out today via Republic Records.  Stream “Destroyer” Here and view the lyric video HERE. 

- Emmy nominated comedian Margaret Cho (30 Rock, Law & Order SVU), Fortune Feimster (Yes Day, The Netflix Afterparty), Skai Jackson (Jessie), Rebecca Henderson (Russian Doll) and Paris Jackson (Gringo, Lee Daniels’ “Star”) have joined the cast of Hulu’s latest collaboration with American High, Sex Appeal. They join previously announced leads Mika Abdalla (Project Mc2) and Jake Short (All Night).  Talia Osteen (The Shabbos Goy) is directing from a script by Tate Hanyok (Transparent, Superstore), who is also executive producing.  Sex Appeal Logline: Avery Hansen-White doesn’t do things she isn’t excellent at. So when her long-distance boyfriend hints at wanting to take their relationship to the next level at the upcoming STEM conference (“nerd prom”), she sets out to master her sexuality. In this hilarious teen comedy, Avery begins to study the mechanics of love and realizes that relationships require less science and more heart.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: April 4, 2021

 

Shameless:  So Kev and V are moving?  Maybe the Gallagher’s are going to sell the house and scatter to the wind.  But I was expecting a fight between Lip and Mickey would be more epic.  I will say Franny putting stickers all over a priceless painting gave me one of the bigger laughs of the season.

 

The Walking Dead:  I was wrong that this was the season finale as there is another episode next week.  But maybe they should have just skipped this episode because who could possibly want to watch Carol trying to catch a rat for half the episode.  The Darryl half was not much better.

 

Good Girls:  I am glad Rio called out that the Secret Service would not try to wack him.  Beth giving him the hitman not the Secret Service certainly raised my eyebrow.  I guess maybe that plan works if Rio gets him while he was selling houses.  But I guess that begs the question, just what information did she give Rio?  Did she give Rio the cover story and then followed him to the look out?  I guess now the biggest question, does Rio suspect that Beth hired the hitman and used him to make the hitman go away?

 

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist:  Probably the strongest episode of the season but still a weak slate of songs aside from Tainted Love.

 

Snowpiercer:  Well that was an anticlimactic race to take control of Snowpiercer in enough time to save Melanie since we know it failed.  But did it really take at least three days to separate the front of the train to go back for her?  And did they really need to freeze all those fish to do it?  Maybe it did take a while, otherwise how did Alex go from Big Alice all the way up to the front to separate so fast?  Just how long does it take to go 1,000 cars? 

So Melanie is dead?  I do have the long standing belief that no one is really dead until we see the body and we did not see the body.  Layton even looked inside the rat hole.  Where else could she possibly go without food or heat?  Unless that rat hole goes deeper.

 

Debris:  Evil dude seemed to let himself get caught too easily.  I wonder how fine he is with this.

 

Supergirl:  I did not remember any of that from last season: Brainiac 5 almost dying, Lex getting super powers, they found the anti-life equation, Andrea being poor now, Supergirl had hideous bangs.  I even forgot that reporter even existed until he popped up at the end.  But now Supergirl is in the Phantom Zone.  I feel like they already did this storyline.  I just realizes how hideous her bangs are while she is there.

 

The Challenge: Double Agents:  Okay, Nany picking Kyle was hilarious.  I wonder if she did that thinking he was the best partner or just out of spite knowing whoever she picked was almost guaranteed to go into elimination next week.  Though with only five dudes left, CT safe as Rouge Agent, unless you win next week, you have a sixty-six percent chance of going into elimination.  So not only Kyle, Cory probably really needs to win too.  Or do all the people Fessy screwed over vote for him?  I hope so.

 

The Challenge: All-Stars:  Wow, I forgot how great the personalities were in the early days of the Challenge.  Now it is just Nany and a bunch of annoying or boring people.  Jissella was someone I completely forgot about but she just came back spitting fire.  But I do fear for these contestants, one challenge in and half needed medical attention.  Then in elimination, Ace just kept on getting picked up and slammed down like he was a wrestler.  Production needs to remember these are mostly people in their forties.  Someone is going to break a hip.  Maybe do some weird challenges like back in the day?

 

Made For Love:  I really did not need to see Ray Romano fork a sex doll.

 

Manifest:  Yet another show that I barely remember.  But I guess those guys at the end were the dudes who fell through the ice but their bodies were never found.

 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier:  Sharon Carter cannot possibly be the power Broker, can she?  She defied her government to do the right things than five years later she is living lavishly, commissioning super soldier experiments?  There has to be more to this story and all that teasing is just a red herring.  But really, all I really needed from this episode was the two seconds of Zemo dancing.

 

The Blacklist:  You would think after Lizzie broke out that one criminal earlier this season, the task force would have instituted stronger security.  Yet Park was easily able to slip him the note without anyone noticing it.  She looks like a pretty small person, was she really able to block what she was doing, especially when he started waving the note around?  Do they not record sound?  Someone should really be fired for this lax security.

Around the Tubes: April 3, 2021

      

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 Hootie & the Blowfish, Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, Cream, and Bellator MMA.

- Sessions is excited to announce a new livestream performance by one of America’s most beloved bands, Grammy-winning Hootie & the Blowfish. The virtual performance will be an online presentation of the tour-closing performance from their hugely successful 2019 Group Therapy Tour, broadcast exclusively via Sessions Live on Friday, April 23 at 6PM PT/9PM ET.  Early-bird GA tickets priced at $15 are on sale now at SessionsLive.com/Hootie/tickets. GA ticket prices will increase to $20 on April 20 at 9 p.m. ET. VIP ticket packages priced at $250 are also available, which include access to the live stream as well as an autographed tour pass and access to an exclusive virtual afterparty Q&A session with the band.

 

- Eat, or be eaten! Kill, or be killed! Get into survival mode with Adult Swim’s #1 prehistoric animated series with the release of Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and DVD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on June 1, 2021. The critically acclaimed series displays a perfect 100% rating by critics & 99% by audience on Rotten Tomatoes, and recently won 3 Juried Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Animation. Travel back in time and binge on all 10 fascinating episodes from the first season and go behind the scenes with interviews from the incredible talent from this wordless series. The edge-of-your-seat thriller is priced to own at $24.98 SRP for the DVD ($30.99 in Canada) and $29.98 SRP for the Blu-ray ($39.99 in Canada), which includes a Digital Copy (U.S. only). Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: The Complete First also available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers.

- UMe/Polydor is delighted to announce the limited edition, blue, 2LP release of Cream’s show Live at the Forum, recorded at the Los Angeles Forum during their Goodbye Tour of 1968. Taken from the 2020 full version of the 4-CD set of the Goodbye Tour 1968 and produced by Bill Levenson, this sumptuous 2LP set is the first authorized release of the full concert on vinyl. It captures Cream at their virtuosic best, at the end but also at the height of their career.  With Cream, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, set the template for not only the ‘supergroup’ but also the “power trio,” with their innate musical talent and brilliance. Only coming together as Cream in July 1966, they shone briefly but blindingly bright throughout two trailblazing years. 

- At just 17-years-old, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and ballerina, Claire Rosinkranz buzzed to the forefront of the conversation this Summer with the independent release of her debut EP, BeVerly Hills BoYfRiEnd in June 2020.  Her song “Backyard Boy” gained unprecedented traction on TikTok, inspiring nearly 3 million video recreations, and sparking a highly competitive signing effort from labels around the world.  In addition to generating over 103 million Spotify streams, it captured #1 on the Spotify Global and U.S. Viral 50 Charts, with the EP exceeding 405 million global streams. With outlets like BuzzFeed, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Coup de Main and Genius chronicling her rapid rise, not to mention The New York Times naming “Backyard Boy” one of their “Best Songs of 2020,” Claire Rosinkranz is poised to become one of the year’s most unexpected and significant breakout acts.  Get the BeVerly Hills BoYfRiEnd (Remixes) EP, which features guest appearances from artists including ROLE MODEL, Jeremy Zucker, Rakeem Miles & Hauskey, HERE. Listen to her recent collaboration with Sarcastic Sounds and Clinton Kane, “Change Ur Mind” HERE.

- SHOWTIME Sports and BELLATOR MMA will deliver its inaugural event, BELLATOR MMA 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2, live for free to non-SHOWTIME subscribers across multiple streaming services, online platforms and cable television providers when the premier combat sports partnership debuts on Friday, April 2 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.  The main card, in addition to airing live on SHOWTIME for subscribers, will be available for free to millions across the United States on industry-leading streaming services Pluto TV, Hulu, YouTube and FuboTV, in addition to participating television providers Armstrong, Buckeye, Liberty, Optimum and Suddenlink without the need for a SHOWTIME subscription. The main card of BELLATOR MMA 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 features five high-stakes matchups and is headlined by the next round of the Featherweight World Grand Prix tournament, as BELLATOR’s reigning lightweight and featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (31-4) defends his 145-pound title against Emmanuel Sanchez (20-4) in a semifinal bout.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 28, 2021

 

Shameless:  Usually the Carl storyline is the best, but bringing back his first partner and making him boring killed that streak.  Though not that any of the other storylines were much better.  Okay, I will admit to laughing pretty hard at Papa Milcovich dating a Jew who ended up marrying a black man.

 

The Walking Dead:  Yeah, that was pretty easy to spot that was not really Ezekiel.  First off, the guard did not even notice he was there until he got punch?  Plus Ezekiel has never been that violent before.  Granted, the biggest red flag for me was why did he drop into the train car with no way of escaping?  That just seemed really dumb because there would be no way he knew that Princess found a way out?  Or did she?  I am not entirely sure she even left the car at all.  None of these new people knew there was a easily to remove wooden piece in the car?  Plus shortly after returning to the car, the new people have everyone lined up outside it before she reopened the door?  Unfortunately it may be a while before we get a conclusion to this cliffhanger, next week in the finale and the previously on focuses solely on Daryl and Carol.  Ugg, the pandemic shut down the show right before the season finale, so they added six more episodes and then end the season there.  I wish they just added the finale to the eleventh season and just air those together.  Oh well.  Then the week after that, we get the four final episodes of Fear the Walking Dead.  Now I got to try and remember what happened before the Coronapocalypse shut that show down.

 

Good Girls:  Okay, weird co-worker was pretty entertaining.  Give him and check-cash guy their own spin-off.  They have been low-key the best parts of the last two seasons. But just how does Dean get out of this?  Beth and FBI lady have to team up, they did kind of tease it there at the end.  But how do you tie that all to Rio?  And what about the hit on Rio?

 

Debris: So English agent hears American agent knows her father is alive and then seemingly orchestrates the brother in law break into storm to be with his family?  Am I getting this right?  If yes, then why?

 

The Challenge: Double Agents:  Poor Anessa, out again right before the final.  I went back and looked at her results and she went out first once, out the six episode another time, but other than that, she makes to at least the ninth episode every other time.  Well, now she is off to the Senior Tour where twelve twenty-two appeared in shows after her.

 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier:  Still no Sharon Carter and Baron Zemo only got a couple seconds at the end.  I wonder had it been better if they did not announce them if they are only going to be in about half the episodes.  Better than waiting for them to show up.  I thought for sure the stowaway in the truck was going to turn out to be Sharon.  Oh well.  But the biggest problem is it still feels like an elongated Marvel movie that just finished its first act.  Had this been an actual movie and Zemo and Sharon do not show up until the second act, I would be fine with that.  But not getting any substantial screen time until at least the third episode when there are only six feels weird.

 

The Blacklist:  Still no Lizzy?  But what I do not understand about this week is why the hostage still had her phone?  Isn’t that something you want to take so she cannot text someone and be tracked?  But that lady turned out to be John Wick who managed to kill four out of five armed men with just a self-made shiv.  Give that lady her own show.

Around the Tubes: March 27, 2021

     

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 Amy Winehouse, Ben Howard, Anna of the North, The oak Ridge Boys, Koala Man, and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

- Amy Winehouse At The BBC, a 3LP/3CD collection chronicling the many remarkable performances by arguably the greatest and most genuine talent to emerge in British music in decades, will be released on May 7, 2021 through Island/UMe. For the very first time, this updated release offers audio-only versions of the songs featured on ‘A Tribute To Amy Winehouse by Jools Holland’ and the ‘BBC One Sessions Live at Porchester Hall,’ and so a high proportion of these tracks will be completely new to digital music services. “Stronger Than Me,” “Tears Dry On Their Own” and “You Know I’m No Good” will be available March 24 on streaming services, and the video for “Stronger Than Me” will be available on YouTube. This comprehensive collection captures the strong and enduring relationship that Amy enjoyed with the BBC and is further proof of quite what an extraordinarily talented, completely original, and truly engaging performer Amy was.

- Ben Howard is very excited to today release his new album Collections From The Whiteout, out now on Republic Records. Stream the record in full here.   Ben has also shared a video for the album’s “Sorry Kid.”  The track is loosely inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin, the Russian born German woman who, after moving to New York City in 2013, posed as a billionaire heiress. Watch the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsycB4z3Rn8

- Anna of the North releases her new single "Here's To Another." Out with a cinematic music video, the track leads the way to a 2021 Fall album.   Serving as an unintentional ode to 2020, "Here's To Another" is an anthem for reflecting on and letting go of all the negative in the past year. The nostalgic-sounding, melancholic but happy record sets the tone for a new era of Anna of the North. Pairing a steady yet euphoric beat with tongue-in-cheek lyrics that feel distinctly Anna but also fit the unified thought of "here's to another year," the Oslo based artist is building her own colorful world of pop music and inviting us on the ride. 

- GRAMMY® Award-winning and Country Music Hall of Fame members, The Oak Ridge Boys swing into Spring with the announcement of their new album, Front Porch Singin’, to be released on Friday, June 11. This is their fourth collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer, Dave Cobb. Recorded during the pandemic, it was imperative to create a project that offers up just what the lead single details; love, light, and healing. Building anticipation for the upcoming album, the first single, “Love, Light And Healing'' is available to download and stream on all digital services today and is premiered exclusively by People.com!

- We're very excited to announce Hulu's upcoming animated series Koala Man.  From Michael Cusack, Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez, Koala Man continues Hulu’s relationship with Justin Roiland and 20^th Television Animation who are behind Hulu’s hit adult animated Original series Solar Opposites, which returns for a second season on March 26. The first season debuted May 8, 2020 and became the streaming platform’s most-watched Hulu Original comedy premiere of the year. Koala Man joins Hulu’s growing slate of adult animated Original series including Solar Opposites, Crossing Swords, and the upcoming Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. (5/21) and Marvel’s Hit Monkey.  Logline: An animated family comedy where the patriarch lives a not-so-secret identity of Koala Man, an Australian suburban superhero with no powers but a burning passion to snuff out petty crime and bring order to the community.

- SHOWTIME announced today that Oscar, BAFTA^®, Screen Actors Guild^® and Golden Globe^® award nominee Naomie Harris (Moonlight) will star in the highly anticipated upcoming original drama series THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH. Harris will play Justin Falls, a brilliant scientist and engineer who must conquer her own demons in the race to save two worlds. The series, also starring Oscar and Emmy^® nominee and BAFTA Award winner Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), is scheduled to begin production in London this spring and will premiere exclusively on SHOWTIME in 2022. 

Previewing City on a Hill: Season Two

City on a Hill is a show I desperately needed a lengthy “previously on” for a new season.  The first season finale before anyone had even heard the term COVID way back in August of 2019.  I vaguely remember Kevin Bacon being a dirty cop (which turned out to be an FBI agent), Aldis Hodge as the District Attorney (actually got that right), and two brothers who rob bank, one a snitch and the other one  cannot remember if ended up dead or in jail (still fuzzy on that last one, but since the actor is the lead on Debris now, I am nor expected he pops up either way).  But when watching the first episode I was quickly reminded that the show does not do proper “previously on” but a couple title cards before the show.  Hopefully nothing happened last season was that important.

 

The first time we see Kevin Bacon this season, he is drinking out of a flask while driving and a woman is snorting blow off him.  So if you forgot Bacon was a shady law enforcement agent, you are quickly reminded of such.  And I just noticed that his license played is Rohr, his character’s last name.  Yep, he is also a grade A masshole turned up to eleven.   His wife is still extremely depressed being married to such a douchebag.  He does have a new daughter in a recasting who has a completely new outlook on life after almost dying of a drug overdose last season (sort of remembered that).  He also has a new superior who tells Bacon in their first meeting, “You retire or I will make your life hell.”  Apparently she forgot much of the first season too, because Bacon is able to weasel out of every situation

 

While the snitch and his sister-in-law still get some screen time, the big case that takes up much of the two leads’ time involves a Valentine’s Day shootout that resulted in a stray bullet killing a young girl in the projects of Boston.  The project’s manager and community organizer play a big role in the story along with her two sons who do some things their mother is completely aware of.  So at least we will not have to remember much of the first season to enjoy the second.  All you need to know it is another cat and mouse game between two alpha males like the other Showtime series Billions.   Hopefully unlike Billions, one of these two do not have to take five plus seasons to win.

  

City on a Hill airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.

  

Previewing Into the Dark: Blood Moon

 

I am always most interested in the episodes of Into the Dark that feature a holiday you would not expect.  Sure, some of them do not turn out very well, like the March installment in the first season that was based on the ides of March.  After the obvious St. Patrick’s Day instalment last year, the pandemic stalled second season ends in March, this time with another somewhat surprising holiday for this March: the Blood Moon.   Okay, that is not really much of a holiday and technically the full moon in a couple days is just regular one and the next Blood Moon is not until May.  But hey… werewolves!  Oh… now that I think about it, I guess the “Blood” is more literally.

 

It is pretty easy to tell we are getting the mythical creatures when the episode starts up with a woman holding a shotgun, with a ripped shirt who then takes a baby out of what looks like a dog’s travel cage.  The next time we see the kid, he is ten years old moving to another town where the mother only wants to shop local and get paid in cash.  But this is a slightly different take on the werewolf story, not told from the perspective of the creature, but that of the mother who is raising the young boy.  But this is a boy who, like most kids a little older who are going through puberty, is not entirely sure how or why their bodies are changing.

 

No word yet if there will be a third season  of Into the Dark or if they will start it back up immediate or wait to premiere in October to coincide with their annual Huluween celebration like the previous two seasons.  Hopefully we will get more monthly installments.  As up and down as some of the installments are, it is an innovated release schedule that highlights up and coming genre writers and directors.

  

Into the Dark: Blood Moon premieres tomorrow on Hulu.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 21, 2021

 

Shameless:  Once again, the Carl storyline remains the most entertaining, or really, only entertaining one, really.  So no more bouncing around from mentor to mentor, now he is just going to bounce around from department to department.    Though I hope we get another episode or two in vice.  But the Gallagher clan finally learned of Frank’s condition.  And it only took public indecency at a school.  Or I guess The Middle School as they are going the Washington Football Team route of naming.  But back to Frank, are they really going to kill him off for the series finale or is he is going to get a miraculous cure like the time he had cancer or liver failure so he can come back for the inevitable reboot?

 

The Walking Dead:  So those two have been out with Maggie’s map for two weeks even though she just returned two episodes ago?  This show has some timing problems, especially when they do these episodes that just focus on small groups of people.  Then it was weird that they brought in T2 just to kill him, have the plot twist that his twin is still alive, and then have the twin kill himself too. Maybe there is a triplet out there somewhere.

 

Snowpiercer:  When they shut down the engine, I thought for sure that is when they passed Melanie by, but it looks like they are still in Asia after it got fixed.  So that is, what four episodes this season without the biggest star?  Kind of bold.  But I guess with Wilford in charge, he is just going to stroll right by because he can.  Maybe he will push Layton out to keep her company.  Unfortunately no episode next week but a two hour finale.

 

Debris: So there is weird stuff going on even before the debris started too fall?  I guess that opens the world up a little.

 

The Challenge: Double Agents:  So the one person everyone wanted to send in won this week’s challenge.  That is always entertaining.  Unfortunately Kyle did not blow up the game by putting in Leroy but went with the safe choice of Corey.  Now the question is who gets sent in next week?  Big T needs a skull, but who is else?  Amber B seemed like the easiest choice, but she is now the Rouge Agent (pretty nice consolation prize of losing your partner, not getting sent in probably right before the final… excuse me, T.J.’s final).   Next up has to be Anessa.  But what if she wins again?  This seems like the scenario where Nany’s luck runs out.  But what I do not understand if why not manipulate it so Kam goes against Kacey?  Just take one strong person out before the finale?  Seems like everyone is playing a scared game, but why not make the TJ’s final a little easier for you?

 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier:  This just seemed like the opening scenes of a movie stretched to forty minutes.  If you are going to do these television shows, make them television shows like WandaVision, not just very long movies chopped up.  But hey, if you are going to do a four hour movie, I guess it is more digestible if you chopped it up into six episodes.  I have to stop whenever a new chapter starts on The Snyder Cut.