57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/2/2018

Sharp Objects: Last week they made a pretty convincing argument that Adora was in fact a serial murder, killing her own kid along with two local girls more recently. I was slightly disappointed because I was convinced all the way back that Amma was the killer. Of course the one thing that bugged me was they never really explained why Adora would mutilate the bodies by ripping their teeth out. My suspension was right because big twists at the end: I was right in thinking Amma was super creepy this whole time because she did end up killing those girls. The show was a rare murder mystery that cleared up all the loose ends and even managed to explain away all the red herrings. Okay I had to have it explained to me that in the brief flashes at the end was Amma killing one of the girls in the guest house where they found the girl’s blood, I totally missed that. And I am kind of left wondering just what the Sherriff knew about Adora and Amma. It was implied he knew about the Munchhausen by Proxy and I always took him dismissing the Woman in White theory because women cannot pull teeth as kind of deflecting of what he knew or at least assumed happened. I guess the only other loose end I have is who dumped the bike?

Fear the Walking Dead: Wait, the hurricane did not actually blow Morgan away did it? Or did someone actually drive him across state lines during a hurricane? Did he just sleep through the whole thing? I feel like I missed something.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: Oh my goodness, they actually played Jozea’s single. And it was just as bad as expected. I actually went to YouTube the next day and after it aired and after five months, the video had less than a thousand views. If this is the job Jozea was talking about, he is really going to need to find another one. Just please do not think you can be the next Johnny Bananas. I would not mind if this was the last season for both of you.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Castle Rock: Well Jackie finally got to partake in the horrors that happen in her time. But did she whack that guy with a wood axe or a fireman axe? Oh and Molly died in the woods. Wait, what? We have seen her interact with many different people so she is not a ghost. Was she brought back to life? Is just everyone in this town dead already? And is Henry really the “Black Death” or was the prisoner being locked up is what is truly behind what is cause people to murder?
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

Around the Tubes: 8/31/2018

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 Showtime, The First, Ray Donovan, Bob Marley, James Bay, Imagine Dragons, Ariana Grande, America From Scratch, and Turner movies.

- Showtime will be available to more than 71 million households during a Free Preview Weekend from Friday August 31 through Monday, September 3. Viewers nationwide will be able to sample the network’s award-winning programming on SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, SHOWTIME ANYTIME® and select distributors' TV Everywhere portals. The Free Preview weekend will include early sampling of the series premiere of the new half-hour comedy Kidding, starring Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey in his first series regular role in more than two decades. Showtime will also air full-season marathons of Shameless ahead of the season nine premiere on Sunday, September 9 at 9:00 The fourth, fifth and sixth seasons of Shameless will air on back-to-back days starting on Saturday, September 1 through Monday, September 3.

- Check out the official trailer for upcoming Hulu Original drama series The First. All eight episodes of The First debut on Friday, Sept. 14, only on Hulu.


- Showtime has released the season six poster and new behind-the-scenes video for its hit drama series Ray Donovan, which premieres on Sunday, October 28 at 9:00. Ray Donovan stars multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominee Liev Schreiber, with Oscar® winner and multiple Emmy-nominated actress Susan Sarandon and Jon Voight in his Golden Globe winning role.


- On August 24, The Marley Family, Island Records, and UMe will collectively proclaim the sun is shining in celebration of 40 years of Kaya, Bob Marley & The Wailers' historic March 1978 release. This most special anniversary edition will feature Stephen "Ragga" Marley's exciting and vibrant new "Kaya 40" mixes of all ten tracks from the original album alongside its original mixes in 2CD and 180-gram 2LP configurations. (The digital version will be a standalone release of Stephen's mixes only.) The album will also be available as a limited edition 180-gram 2LP green vinyl version exclusively at BobMarley.com

- Three-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multiplatinum singer-songwriter James Bay shares an acoustic version of his latest single “Just For Tonight” (Acoustic) today. Check out “Just for Tonight” (Acoustic) HERE via Republic Records.

- Tune in Friday, August 31 at 9:00 pm ET/PT to watch the broadcast premiere of the concert special “Imagine Dragons” on AT&T* AUDIENCE Network via DIRECTV Ch 239, AT&T U-verse Ch 1114. The show will also be available streaming on-demand through DIRECTV NOW. The multi-platinum, GRAMMY® Award-winning band Imagine Dragons will bring their passionately inventive alt-rock sound to a special, one-hour concert this Friday night on AT&T AUDIENCE Network. Watch the trailer for “Imagine Dragons” on AT&T AUDIENCE Network HERE.

- Multiplatinum, record-breaking superstar Ariana Grande debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart with her critically acclaimed fourth studio album, Sweetener. In addition, Sweetener broke the record for largest streaming week for a pop album by a female artist. This is ARIANA’s third album to debut at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. Get Sweetener HERE.

- Americans everywhere are asking tough questions about the foundation of our democracy and how we think about politics at this crucial time in our democracy. America From Scratch produced by Rewire for PBS Studios as part of the Twin Cities PBS initiative “In It Together” is taking everyone back to the basics and giving the public a much-needed refresher on civics while asking viewers: If we were to build America from scratch today, what would it look like? Breaking down key ideas related to social sciences, civics and current events, the 11-episode series America From Scratch explores the biases and frustrations in our current system and aims to encourage creative thinking about how we structure our public life and how we define the common good. Actor, musician and writer Toussiant Morrison hosts the series, propelling the action forward with the force of his curiosity in exploring provocative questions such as: Should your data have rights? Should we have a president? What if there were no states? Should we elect our Supreme Court Justices? Should we rewrite our Constitution? America From Scratch sources expert insight from around the world and seeks input and commentary from ordinary viewers across the country. The most recent installment of the series, Should Voting Be Mandatory?, comes just in time for primary season as various states prepare to go to the polls. Watch that particular video here:

- What's streaming in September on tntdrama.com, the TNT App, tbs.com and the TBS App: Catch Maleficent, Alice Through the Looking Glass and more fairytale movies, streaming now on TBS.Don't miss The Dark Knight Rises and Blackhat, this month on TNT.

The Fourteenth Annual Scooter Television Awards

Welcome to the 14th Annual Scooter Television Awards honoring show that aired a majority of their season between July 2017 and June 2018. Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2018 STA's:

Best Scripted Show: The Good Place

Best Drama: The Handmaid’s Tale

Best Sci-Fi Show: Future Man

Best Comic Book Adaptation: Krypton

Best Period Show: G.L.O.W.

Best Animated Show: Star Wars Rebels

Best Reality Show: Survivor

Best Remake, Reboot, or (non-comic book) Adaptation: The Long Road Home

Best Miniseries: The Long Road Home

Best Talk Show: Pardon the Interruption

Best New Show: G.L.O.W.

Guiltiest Guilty Pleasure: The Bold Type

Best Musical: Jesus Christ Superstar

Worst Show I Made Though an Entire Season Of: Kevin (Probably) Saves the World

Best Hour of TV: eps3.4_runtime-err0r.r00 (Mr. Robot)

Best Half Hour of TV: The Trolly Problem (The Good Place)

Biggest Shocker: No cuts or commercials and Angela did not die during eps3.4_runtime-err0r.r00 (Mr. Robot)

Best Line: “I’ve only ever said I love you to two men my entire life: Stone Cold Steve Austin, and a guy in a dark club… who I mistook for Stone Cold Steve Austin.” (Eleonore Shellstrop, The Good Place)

Worst Idea: Having Axe and Chuck team up (Billions)

Worst Moment: Rio was able to get out of prison so early. (Good Girls)

Biggest Disappointment: The Jennings did not get their comeuppance (The Americans)

Best Musical Moment: Drivin’ My Life Away – Eddie Rabbit (The Americans)

Best Karaoke: I Will Survive – Vicky (The Good Place)

Best New Title Sequence: GLOW

Best Character: Jason Mendoza (The Good Place)

Best Recurring Character: Vicky (The Good Place)

Best Guest Appearance: Mindy St. Clair (The Good Place)

Best Cast Addition: Irving (Mr. Robot)

Best Duo: Alison and Donny Hendrix (Orphan Black)

Most Entertaining Reality “Star”: Kellyn Bechtold (Survivor)

Most Annoying Reality “Star”: Britni Thornton (The Challenge)

Most Anticipated New Show of Next Season: Manifest

Most Anticipated Reboot: Veronica Mars

Show That Should Be Brought Back: Orphan Black (or at the very least an Alison/Donny spin-off)

Biggest Question for 2016-2017: How long will the new Good Place experiment last?

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2017-2018

1. The Good Place 2.x (NBC)

2. GLOW 1.x (Netflix)

3. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt 3.x (Netflix)

4. The Handmaid’s Tale 2.x (Hulu)

5. Good Girls 1.x (NBC)

6. Future Man 1.x (Hulu)

7. Claws 1.x (TNT)

8. Shameless 8.x (Showtime)

9. Homeland 7.x (Showtime)

10. The Americans 6.x (FX)


Shows that aired a majority of their season between July 2017 and June 2018 were eligible for this list.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/25/2018

Before I get into the week that was on television, I would be remised not to mention the biggest television news of the week: a Veronica Mars reboot is reportedly coming to Hulu with Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas (and other original cast members being negotiating). In the immortal words of Bart Scott: Can’t wait! Really, 2019 is shaping up to a dream year for me with the probibility of reboots of Veronica Mars, Alf, a Deadwood movie, Zombieland 2, and live action Black Manta. Since I am greedy, let me suggest some things that hopefully I can will into existence for 2019: reboots of Quantum Leap, My Two Dad, anything by Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, or Hannibal) and give another chance to the Indian chick version of The Greatest American Hero. Brittany Snow cast in the movie version of Supergirl, but that does not interfere with Pitch Perfect: The Series set between the first and second movie. Reunited Oasis and Hootie and the Blowfish or just any nineties act having a great big hit. Areatha Franklin’s death made wonder whatever happened to the musical comeback. Back in the eighties and nineties there were plenty of artists who would have late career resurgence after a decade away from the charts but cannot think of anyone who that has happened to since Santana earlier this century. Is it simply because there is no Clive Davis type figure around anymore to will it? Oh, and of course the most important thing we need to happen next year, if nor earlier, impeachment.

The Affair: Oh snap, Anton straight up called Noah a psychopath in that paper. Speaking of psychopaths, really cold to show up to the funeral of the person you killed. We did get I believe was the first ever three part episode. After a whole season of being absent from the whole show except in the title sequence, the daughter finally showed up. I do not remember her being that cheery. But I called it, Vic gets his legacy from the starlet’s daughter. At least Helen’s story added some levity to the episode so we did not end the season on the depressing Alison death.

Sharp Objects: Murder mystery shows routinely give huge red herrings in the penultimate episode, but that looked like it was definitely Adora. Unless Camille was just imagining Adora as the Woman in White (the show does get a little too artsy). But this whole time I thought Camille’s sister was brutally murdered like these girl. Well it did turn out they were killed by the same person. Except the one thing that does not add up is did Adore really mutilate these bodies? I wonder if Adora had an accomplice. The sheriff gets a little too comfortable with her and I remember it being very striking when they revealed that the girls had their teeth pulled and a couple scenes later he was seen fixing a stop sign with pliers. Oh, and Camille having sex with a teenage murder suspect who up to this point I thought was a homosexual was really creepy.

Fear the Walking Dead: So is this back half of the season just going to be pairs of cast members and how they survive (or don’t survive) this hurricane?
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: When Kam announce she had a big plan, my first inclination was that it will backfire. And I was right, TJ again pointed out he is the dirtiest player in the game by introducing Mercenaries (Smashley and someone so inconsequential, I have never bothered to learn his name, yawn). Except her big grand plan was to pit the two weakest teams was super lame. Seriously, she could have gotten Kyle and Brad vs. Zack which would have seen at least one or possibly two of the strongest guys out (although I like either of them against those Mercenaries). Just stupid and yet Kam thinks she is the smartest player out there.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: Oh my, Quigley has a Mini-Me. Although the Mini-Me turned on her by helping lock her up. It was pretty unclear just where the Mini-Me stood all season. It will be interesting if Mary Wells get back to London without fear the gallows. I actually would be interesting to see just how her talents could be used in Virginia at that time period.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Castle Rock: What the fork just happened? Okay I get Ruth has Alzheimer's and her mind sometimes lives in the past. But did they just confirm that the prisoner is some version of Reverend Deaver? Does he just want Ruth to think that? He said more this episode than the previous one’s combined so was that him or in Ruth’s mind? But it seems pretty real that Ruth did, indeed kill Pangborn. But I miss the timeline. Last week they ended with Pangborn entering the house in disarray, but other than an overdrawn bath, it did not seem to happen unless that was when Ruth was pushing her way through the funeral. But when did Panborn get out to the shed. Maybe a more coherent version of events will be shown next week.
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

Around the Tubes: 8/24/2018

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 The Last Ship, Ariana Grande, The Spencer Lee Band, Rose Villain, Air Disasters, Naked With Niecy Nash, Our Cartoon President, and Too $hort.

- TNT is revealing The Last Ship's new, action-packed long-form trailer. The Last Ship will complete its mission when the show returns for its fifth and final season on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 9 p.m.


- Grammy Award®-nominated, multiplatinum, record-breaking superstar Ariana Grande releases the highly anticipated fourth studio album, Sweetener, via Republic Records. The album debuted at #1 in over 90 countries on the iTunes Album Chart. Sweetener includes three previously released tracks, “No Tears Left To Cry” now officially certified RIAA PLATINUM, “The Light Is Coming”, and current second single “God Is A Woman”. Get Sweetener HERE.

- The Spencer Lee Band releases their self-titled debut EP, The Spencer Lee Band [School Boy Records/The Brain Music/Republic Records]. Check out the lyric video for “River Water” HERE and The Spencer Lee Band EP HERE.

- Rising pop antihero Rose Villain reveals the vertical video for her new single, “Funeral Party,” via Republic Records—watch here. The track is produced by SIXPM and is Villain’s first release with Republic. Of the song, Villain says, “It’s a song about the definitive end of a relationship, where he acted like a total jerk, and she moved on with a bang.”

- A 747 explodes in the skies above New York. An Indonesian airliner crashes in the jungle with no survivors. A Taiwanese commuter aircraft clips a highway on takeoff and plunges into a river. In the aftermath of the world’s deadliest airplane tragedies, the world is often left to wonder: What happened? Smithsonian Channel's long-running series AIR DISASTERS returns with a new season to uncover the truth behind what went wrong and how to prevent these fatal crashes in the future. The 11th season of Air Disasters premieres Sunday, September 30 at 8:00 on Smithsonian Channel.

- It’s time to slay in a whole new way. Turner’s TNT has ordered a pilot for Naked With Niecy Nash, a decidedly unique show with a late-night feel hosted and executive produced by the queen of Claws and author of the best-selling book It’s Hard to Fight Naked, the inimitable Niecy Nash. Nash, never afraid to get real and tell it like it is, will serve up a tall glass of humor, advice, and one-of-a-kind “Niecy-isms” on all things love, sex, romance and relationships with everyday people. The pilot will tap Niecy’s unparalleled strengths to inspire, empower and make viewers laugh out loud. Nothing is off limits and no topic will be out-of-reach.

- With one of the most consequential midterm elections of our time looming, the Showtime animated series Our Cartoon President takes a look at the political field in a special one-hour episode that involves Cartoon President Trump, his closest advisors, leaders of the Democratic party, a Russian president and an unforgettable hot air balloon ride. Premiering Sunday, November 4 at 10:30 on Showtime, Our Cartoon President: Election Special 2018 focuses on Cartoon Trump’s deepening concerns about what he fears is a coming Democratic blue wave and the threat of impeachment.

- “Hey dad, can you play that new Too $hort?” a seemingly upper class-born girl asks as she hops into the car with her family. Directed by Embryo, the hilarious new music video for Too $hort’s star-studded “Ain’t My Girlfriend (feat. French Montana, Ty Dolla $ign, Joyner Lucas and Jeremih)” track features a formally-dressed family driving through their neighborhood in a minivan, having the time of their life singing along to the raunchy and explicit lyrics. The creative visual features a comical cameo from the Bay Area legend and makes for a fitting introduction to his forthcoming studio album The Pimp Tape [Dangerous Music/EMPIRE]- available everywhere November 9. Pre-order the album HERE.

- Showtime has announced that Emmy nominee Kari Skogland (The Handmaid’s Tale) will direct the first two episodes of the network’s eight-episode limited series about Fox News founder Roger Ailes, based upon the extensive reporting of Gabriel Sherman in his bestselling book, The Loudest Voice in the Room, and starring Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind) in the title role.

- Lt. Governor Dan Patrick put out a tweet saying he is agreeing to debate Fox News personality, Geraldo Rivera, who is not a candidate for any public office in Texas, nor anywhere else in the United States. This comes as Patrick continually refuses to debate his actual opponent, Democratic Lt. Governor Nominee, Mike Collier.

- Following Micheal Cohen's guilty plea and Paul Manafort's guilty sentencing, BetDSI.com has cut odds on the possibility of the House impeaching President Donald Trump. As the odds currently stand, Trump is a slight underdog to be impeached during his first term, but he's an overwhelming favorite to be impeached before the end of his projected Presidential tenure. A bettor would have to risk $500 just to win $100 if he believes Trump will be impeached before 2021.

Donald Trump is impeached by the House during first term

Yes +100
No -130

Donald Trump is impeached by the House before Nov. 3, 2020

Yes -500
No +350

Previewing Safe Harbour

They say no deed goes unpunished and five Australians learn just that in the show from Down Under Safe Harbour (which explains the extra “U”). Five years ago, the aforementioned Aussies are out in international waters celebrating their upper middle class lives when they happen upon a boat filled with refugees from Indonesia that has stalled out in the ocean after the engine died. So the partiers have to decide whether to help or not.

After a four to one vote (how the voting goes down is eventually revealed) they decide to pull the foreigners to safety. But after the approaching storm, the rope gets cut and the two vessels never see each other again. That is until present day when one of the Australians gets into a taxi with a familiar looking driver. After a reunion of the two families, it becomes the two groups have a very different account of their fateful meeting.

Then after four episodes tensions escalates between the two sides, some by bad decisions, some by bad luck until a climatic conclusion where we finally learn what happened to the rope (each of the previous three episodes end with what looks like someone getting caught red handed). Safe Harbour is a fascinating look at what we owe to each other with all the hallmarks of a mystery that refreshingly does not revolve around who murdered who. There is intrigue, betrayal, arson, plenty of guilt, and during all of it, the daughter of an Australian befriends a son of the Indonesian. And at under four hour runtime, they manage to wrap everything up nicely making it something quick to watch on a lazy weekend.

All four episodes of Safe Harbour are available on Hulu tomorrow.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/18/2018

Claws: So they arrested Desna at the end of an episode and made me assume the cops were going to use her to flip the Russians, but the cops made her look like the bat ig fish, only for the cops to pull the reveal this week that they were using Desna to get to the Russians. But where exactly was the cops when all murder was going down? Shouldn’t they set up shop next door? But that was a plenty shocking ending. But who shot Virginia? Uncle Daddy? The Haitians? The Russians? But they really did not killer her, right? She is the best part of the show.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: Wait a second, has the Fiona Apple theme song been a huge spoiler this whole time. Hearing it an episode after we learned Alison died just seemed to tie everything together. “I have only one thing to do and that's be the wave that I am and then sink back into the ocean,” is just eerier now. Then we had the weird two parts both being Alison. The show typically has had two sometime wildly different narratives. Does this confirm than Alison is the unreliable narrator? Granted just this season Noah and Helen had different telling of events. Maybe the second act is always the truth versions of events. But surprisingly we did get confirmation that Ben did kill Alison (assuming that the second act is reliable). So is next season going to be Noah and Cole teaming up to find the truth? I would actually be happy if Noah and Cole team up My Two Dad style to raise Joanie.

Sharp Objects: Amma is still on top of my suspect list and her drug filled episode just solidified that even more, but the cheerleader has vaulted into second on the list. She cares way too much about getting into Camille’s article. And the “baby killer” comment, does everyone know that she has an abortion? Could they be referring to the girl?

Fear the Walking Dead: Does one really need to make their own Scrabble game in the zombie apocalypse? It just seems like you could go down to the local Target and find a copy or two.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: When they announced this new voting format I really hated it because I assumed everyone would just vote for who they thought was the weakest team in case they got picked to go in against them. Except half the teams are even bigger cowards than I gave them credit for because half the teams admitted to burning their vote. Though it will be extremely funny if they all burned their vote on the same team, sending that team in for an epic backfire.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: The season started with Quigley in a jail cell and here we are at the end and Margaret is in the same jail cell. Except Margaret could not wiggle out her charge yet still left the prison alive. Just how long does it take someone to die by hanging? Then there was the other big reveal of the episode in that Emily Lacey lied about being pregnant. I had a feeling that it might be the case. And now she is picking up more clients to see that her lie becomes true. We end the episode with Margaret being sent away which begs the question how long before she finds herself back to London. I have to think her return will be important to the downfall of Quigley.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Castle Rock: Oh, hey, Henry has a kid. Who knew? I believe that was the first time his birth parents were mentioned. What happened there? So it was weird when kid Molly killed Henry’s dad, or at least that is what it looked like, I was not sure how reliable the perspective was at the time. But Molly claims that Henry killed his dead through Molly? Wait, what? So when Henry disappeared, did he go inside Molly? But I have to say the mysterious guy is less scary the more he talks. Though if a bird dropped out of the sky for the second time this week, who else is at that psychiatric hospital? Or is this one of those Stephan King Easter Eggs that will not be explained. What better be explained next episode is what he did in the house this week. Who’s blood with that and what exactly happened to Henry’s mom and where was his son during all this?
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

Around the Tubes: 8/17/2018

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 JEOPARDY!, Toto, Greta Van Fleet, Joseph Angel, Secrets, SafeWord, The Alienist, America Says, Scream, and Hulu Fall Premiere Dates.

- After 35 years in syndication, JEOPARDY! - the most honored quiz show in television history – makes its streaming debut now on Hulu. To celebrate the premiere, Hulu has curated 60 episodes of some of JEOPARDY!’s flagship special events, including a TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, a COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIP, a KIDS WEEK, as well as some of the show’s fan-favorite contestants throughout its history.


- Toto have released their personal interpretation of Weezer’s “Hash Pipe”. The smoking rendition of the song is a direct response to the run-away success being witnessed globally for Weezer’s covers of the hits “Africa” and “Rosanna.” Toto’s rendition is available HERE. Toto is currently touring North America in support of the band’s recent release 40 Trips Around The Sun. For more details keep an eye on totoofficial.com.

- With the band’s new single “When The Curtain Falls" already Top 10 at Rock Radio and nearly eight-million streams to its credit, Greta Van Fleet presents the companion music video, a performance piece that finds the band in an esoteric foreign landscape filled with mystical symbolism, celestial events and otherworldly psychedelia. Filmed in Southern California and conceived and directed by acclaimed visual effects artist Benjamin Kutsko (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Iron Man”), you can check out the video here!

- Rising artist and multiplatinum songwriter Joseph Angel shares his debut single “Shame” via Republic Records—listen here. “Shame” is the debut song from the vocalist, songwriter and producer, who is known for penning Rihanna’s triple-platinum smash “Love On The Brain” from ANTI, among many other chart-topping hits.

- Archaeologists investigating a site in Iraq destroyed by ISIS have discovered a 2,700-year-old temple that reveals new insights into one of the Bible’s most famous stories, “Jonah and the Whale.” That’s just one of the revelations explored in the new season of Smithsonian Channel’s popular series Secrets, which follows the world’s leading archaeologists as they use modern technologies to solve some of history’s oldest riddles. A mysterious tomb from the final days of the Vikings, a forgotten princess of Egypt and the true origin of King Solomon’s mines are among other startling finds revealed in season five of Secrets, which premieres Monday, September 24 at 8:00 on Smithsonian Channel.

- MTV’s highly anticipated series SafeWord, returns for a second season on Friday, August 24th at 11PM ET/PT with celebrity captains Michael B. Jordan and Steelo Brim, with cameos by Tiffany Haddish and Issa Rae. On MTV’s “SafeWord,” stakes are high when a pair of close celebrity friends act as “captains” of their respective “teams” and go head-to-head in hilarious games and social media challenges that push them out of their comfort zone.

- TNT has ordered The Angel of Darkness, a new limited series based on the sequel to best-selling author Caleb Carr’s The Alienist. A huge critical and ratings success, The Alienist is 2018’s #1 new cable series in 18-49, having reached more than 50 million people across multiple platforms. It also earned six Emmy® Award nominations, including Outstanding Limited Series. The Alienist’s lead cast including Daniel Brühl (Rush), Luke Evans (The Girl on the Train) and Dakota Fanning (American Pastoral) will return for The Angel of Darkness in an all-new storyline.

- Game Show Network, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, announced today its original hit series America Says, hosted by John Michael Higgins, will return for a 95-episode second season. The announcement comes on the heels of a successful premiere season, which has seen the show build over its lead-in by +26%, while also performing over +40% above YTD time period average among our core W25-54 demo.

- MTV, together with Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment, today announced that Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee, Grammy Award®-winning artist and philanthropist, Mary J. Blige, will appear in MTV’s Scream later this year. She joins the previously announced all-star cast including Keke Palmer, Tyler Posey, Tyga, Giorgia Whigham, Jessica Sula, RJ Cyler, C.J. Wallace and Giullian Yao Gioiello. The news comes as the network just closed four consecutive quarters of YoY prime ratings growth – its best streak in seven years- and ranks as the fastest growing network in prime among Top 40 networks across all of television.

- Hulu's Fall 2018 Programming Slate Premiere Dates (click links for trailers):
Minding the Gap (documentary): August 17
Crime + Punishment (documentary): August 24
Safe Harbour (Season 1): All Episodes, August 24
I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman (New Episodes): September 6
The First (Season 1): All Episodes, September 14
Into the Dark (Year-round Event Series): The Body: October 5; Flesh and Blood: November 2
Light as a Feather (Season 1): All Episodes, October 12
Marvel's Runaways (Season 2): All Episodes, December 21

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/12/2018

Claws: Well that was an, um, interesting way to end the penultimate episode before what is presumably explosive final episode. We will get to finally see what side the Russians are on. And I only have to guess Desna has a contingency plan know that she knows her future husband owns all that property.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: Well, that was shocking. When they said Alison was dead, my initial cynic television watcher was it really was not her. But then Noah identified the body. Although I have a sinking suspicion that we do not know the whole story. We do have two episodes left so it seems safe to assume we will get Alison’s perspective of her last days. But is it going to be next week or the finale. Do we even need a conclusion to the Helen and Vic storyline?

Sharp Objects: Well we knew she cut herself, but that was a lot of scars on Camille, some I wonder how exactly was she able to contort her body into making. But nothing changed this week to made me question my prediction that Amma had something to do with the murders.

Harlots: So Lucy has shacked up with a killer and is not at all fazed by the news. Oh, and he is in cahoots with Liv Tyler’s brother. Battle lines are being redrawn. But that is not the worst news for Margaret Wells, her plan to unseat Quigley completely unraveled. But hey, at least she got one daughter back. Although she may not be with her daughter long after confessing to murder. Did she do that just to get Lord Fallon arrested? Lucy cannot take the fall if her mom already confessed.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Castle Rock: Oh wow, they let the nameless inmate out. And he noticeably did not shake the lawyer’s hand so clearly just a touch can make people go insane. And maybe even less than a touch because it seemed by the just the presence caused that family to get very aggressive with each other. But he does seem to like high places, kind of reminds me of the mascot from what think was the first episode. So Tessa Altman talks about how all this weird stuff happened in this town before she was born and it presumably stopped when the warden first took the inmate, which we now know Pangborn knew about, and now things are getting weird again. But how long until we know what exactly is going on. Sure the inmate told Pangborn that he is not the Devil but of course the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was to make people think he doesn’t exist.
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

Around the Tubes: 8/10/2018

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 Safe Harbour, The Circus, Crime + Punishment, Wyeth, The Fog, and Showtime TCA news.

- Hulu has boarded the critically acclaimed Australian series Safe Harbour for its U.S. debut as a Hulu Original Series. In a deal with NBCUniversal Television and New Media Distribution, the four-part event drama is the latest internationally-produced series to join Hulu’s growing slate of thought-provoking original series, and will make its debut on August 24th. Safe Harbour will stream on Hulu alongside a growing list of successful international co-productions including the Peabody Award-winning National Treasure, as well as its relevant, provocative original dramas like the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning The Handmaid’s Tale and Emmy-nominated The Looming Tower. Since co-producing and launching series such as Hard Sun and Harlots, consumption of high-caliber international dramas on Hulu has tripled over the past year alone.

- As the country readies for one of the most consequential midterm elections in recent history, the third season of the groundbreaking political documentary series The Circus returns with nine new episodes starting on Sunday, September 16 at 8:00 on Showtime. Hosted by John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon and Alex Wagner, The Circus launched the first part of its third season this past spring recording the series’ biggest premiere week ever, growing 10 percent in its second week and delivering a series high of 1.3 million viewers, topping its election week total in 2016. This fall, The Circus returns to its roots. The show will hit the campaign trail for the midterm elections, which will not only determine control of Congress but how the Trump presidency will play out. The series will continue to cover the impact of the administration’s policies as well as the legal and political controversies swirling around the White House. The Circus will follow multiple individual stories and key characters from the campaigns, and capture their unique perspectives in weekly half-hour shows. With intimate, behind-the-scenes access, cameras will offer viewers a look at what the public rarely sees and explore the high human drama of American politics.

- Crime + Punishment, premiering August 24 on Hulu, examines the United States' most powerful police department through the efforts of a group of active duty officers and a private investigator who risk their careers and safety to bring light to harmful policing practices which have plagued the precincts and streets of New York City for decades. Amidst a landmark class action lawsuit over illegal policing quotas, director Stephen Maing chronicles the real lives and struggles of a group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and the young minorities they are pressured to arrest and summons.


- Wyeth tells the story of one of America’s most popular, but least understood, artists – Andrew Wyeth. Son of the famous illustrator N.C. Wyeth, Andrew had his first exhibition at age 20, and his painting “Christina’s World” was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in 1948. While Wyeth’s exhibitions routinely broke attendance records, art world critics continually assaulted his work. Detailing the stunning drawings and powerful portraits he created in Chadds Ford, Pa. and on the coast of Cushing, Maine, Wyeth explores his inspirations, including neighbor Christina Olsen and his hidden muse, the German model Helga Testorf, who he painted secretly for 15 years. Through unprecedented access to Wyeth’s family members, including sons Jamie and Nicholas Wyeth, and never-before-seen archival materials from the family’s personal collection and hundreds of Wyeth’s studies, drawings and paintings, American Masters presents the most complete portrait of the artist yet — bearing witness to a legacy just at the moment it is evolving. Directed by Glenn Holsten, the film will be available on Digital HD on September 8 and on DVD September 11 via PBS Distribution. Premieres Friday, September 7 at 10:00PM on PBS (check local listings).

- New York based Rialto Pictures will release John Carpenter’s landmark horror movie The Fog on October 26, in its first-ever major restoration. The horror classic, in a full 4K restoration from Studiocanal, opens October 26 for limited runs at the Metrograph, in New York, Landmark’s Nuart in Los Angeles, and The Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Additional screenings will occur during the week of Halloween throughout the Alamo Drafthouse circuit and other specialty theaters.

- Some Showtime quick hits from TCA's

First Kidding Trailer:
Season 9 of Shameless will have 14 episodes starting September 9.
Ray Donovan returns October 28 at 9:00.
New limited series Escape at Dannemora premieres November 18 at 10:00
LeBron James documentary Shut Up and Dribble premieres in October
Four part series Enemies: The President, Justice and The FBI premieres November 18
The eighth and final season of Homeland to premiere in June

Previewing Wrecked: Season Three

The first season of Wrecked started as an absurdist Lost parody. Then the second season was a absurdist swashbuckling pirate adventure. In its third season Wrecked looks to be tackling The Hunger Games, just without cool clothes from Lenny Kravitz. So yeah, it is basically absurdist Hunger Games.

Now down to just nine original castaways after their Red Hot Chili Peppers booze cruise ship that they hijacked got blown up at the end of last season, those survivors wash up on a beach that just so happens to owned by a billionaire who uses the island for some extravagant hunting with his other super rich buddies.

And of course hilarity ensues. Who will live? Who will die? Is anyone actually still looking for them? All, if not most of these questions will be answered in season three.

Wrecked airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on TBS.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/5/2018

Claws: I was convinced when Desna was arrested the task force was just using her to get to the Russians. But apparently she was the big fish they were talking about. And it does not seem like Desna is interested in giving them the Russians in exchange for some deal because Slata gave her a great lawyer. Instead she makes a deal with Slata to kill her fiancé in exchange for more franchises even though the Feds are on to her. There has to be another play here because that does not seem wise.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: Wait, what? So hot starlet beds Vic two weeks ago and then this week, all but confesses to Helen and then has sex with her too. Is a threesome coming in two more episodes? It still seems like an obvious solution to have her carry Vic’s baby. Then we had two Whitney mentions this episode yet in episode seven we have not actually seen her yet despite the actress still being in the title sequence. But are we already to the flash forwards from the start of the season? That seems quick, but it has been a few episodes since they did one of those scenes.

Sharp Objects: I came away from the first three episodes thinking three different people did the murder. There was an interesting theory of two different people killed the two girl, but I am even more convinced that Amma was involved in at least one, if not both murders.

The Bold Type: Wait, they are not really going to have this big decision storyline for Jane where she struggles between choosing the humanitarian doctor or the douchebag writer, are they? That has to be one of the easiest decisions ever. Although for some reason, a lot of female television character ends up picking the bad boy.
You can download The Bold Type on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: Well, that had to be up there with one of the worse episodes in the history of the show. Without any actual challenges, the first three fourths of the show was a bore. Then eliminating people on the double cross was just lame. That was made even worse by only Big Brothers competing to get back into the game. I know I say this a lot, but I really wished The Challenge would just go to the Survivor format of one elimination per episode.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: Oh my, there is a little Quigley growing inside Emily Lacey. Or so she says. Interesting that Lucy has been mostly away from everyone this season.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Castle Rock: I had a sinking suspicion the prison guard would not be on the show long. But I have to wonder if touching the man in the box was what hastened his demise. The dude did tell his cell mate not to touch him and the next day the Nazi dies of aggressive cancer. Did that fist bump inspire the shooting spree? As for other unanswered questions, just what happened to Henry? The creepy old man told Henry that h knew that he never touched him. Did he just admit participation in the abduction? And does Henry really know? I do not believe we have heard his version of the story yet. Not even a “I have no memory of the time I was missing?” And just what happened to his father? Is what we saw Molly do last week reliable, or is that just what she thinks she did? The father did write “Henry did it.” But did what? Is pushing him over the cliff too obvious.
You can stream Castle Rock on Hulu.

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger: Early in the season, I notice the actress who plays Dagger on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist which led me down a rabbit hole of her music career, including a soundtrack for the show where she covers soft rock gem Come Sail Away. So as the opening strums of the song playing as the voodoo priestess told of each Divine Pairing, I knew what was coming… and it was horribly awesome. As for the show itself, I am not entirely sure what is going on with Evil Cop. Did Cloak kill him? Is he in some dream state in Cloak’s mind, sort of like the scientist? Can Cloak bring him back whenever he wants? And is Lady Cop just Lady Swamp Thing now? I would be fine with that as long as she does not start growing moss on her skin.
You can download Marvel's Cloak and Dagger on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 8/3/2018

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 The Last Ship, Showtime, U2, Fall Out Boy, Noah Kahan, Ella Fitzgerald,JP Cooper, Sophie Sanders, A Murder in Mansfield and Queen Fur.

- TNT's epic drama The Last Ship will complete its final mission when the show returns for its fifth and final season on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). Eric Dane (Grey's Anatomy), Bridget Regan (Agent Carter) and Adam Baldwin (Firefly, Chuck) star in this action-packed series chronicling the aftermath of a global catastrophe that nearly decimated the world's population.


- SHOWTIME is offering first-time customers of the SHOWTIME streaming service the opportunity to sign up at an introductory price of $4.99 per month for the first three months of their subscription, starting today through September 3. New customers who subscribe on Showtime.com or through the SHOWTIME app on Android, LG Smart TVs, Oculus Go, Samsung Smart TVs or Xbox One or download from the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV will pay the initial promotional price for three months and then roll to $10.99 per month. A seven-day free trial is also available on most platforms.

- Island Records, Interscope and UMC announced the vinyl reissue of The Best of 1990-2000 from U2, remastered and pressed on 180g double LP black vinyl and available on September 28th. The release will follow that of Achtung Baby (1991), Zooropa (1993) and The Best of 1980-1990 (1998) – all also remastered and pressed on 180g double LP black vinyl – out now.

- Following their electrifying early morning performance of their hits “The Last of The Real Ones,” “Uma Thurman” and “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)” in NYC’s Central Park for Good Morning America’s “Summer Concert Series” today (watch the full set here, including online exclusives “Champion” and “Centuries”), multiplatinum modern alt-rock pioneers Fall Out Boy have announced they will release all seven of their studio albums on vinyl as a lavish box set titled The Complete Studio Albums on September 28 via Island/DCD2/UMe. Spanning the band’s storied and wildly successful 15-years-and-counting recording career, the comprehensive collection contains all of Fall Out Boy’s best-selling studio albums, starting with the band’s 2003 pop-punk debut, Take This To Your Grave, including 2005’s career-defining double-platinum hit platter, From Under The Cork Tree, and capping off with their most recent album M A N I A which earned the band their fourth No. 1 record upon release this past January. This must-have on-wax collection also includes 2013’s combo Save Rock And Roll (PAX•AM Edition) for the first time ever on 12-inch vinyl. The Complete Studio Albums will be made available in two versions — a standard edition on 180-gram black vinyl, and as a limited-edition, 180-gram clear vinyl collection. View the unboxing video here.

- Vermont singer and songwriter Noah Kahan debuts the acoustic version of his latest single, “Come Down”—listen here. Tickets are currently on-sale for Kahan’s first-ever North American and European headlining tour taking place this fall, and several shows have already sold out including Boston, Chicago and Toronto. See the full list of tour dates below. Tickets are available now at NoahKahan.com/tour.

- Following the limited-edition Record Store Day release of Ella Fitzgerald’s unreleased 1956 album Ella At Zardi’s on pink and blue vinyl, which earned Fitzgerald her first No. 1 on the 24-year-old Jazz Albums Chart and her second No. 1 on the Traditional Jazz Albums chart, the acclaimed live album will receive a wide release as a double LP on black vinyl on August 17 via Verve/UMe. Preorder Ella At Zardi’s on vinyl now

- Critically acclaimed UK singer and songwriter JP Cooper releases “All This Love” [feat. Mali Koa] today via Republic Records. Get it HERE. The music video also brings the story to life in vivid animated form. Drawing inspiration from Tim Burton classics and Disney’s Coco, this Day of the Dead-inspired parable unfolds with epic energy.

- Rising Nashville songwriter Sophie Sanders has unveiled the first single from her forthcoming record, Steep and Shining Spaces. “Still Waters” featuring Amy Grant premiered Wednesday on Billboard. Last fall, Sanders traveled to Amy Grant and husband Vince Gill’s home studio to record the track with the help of Grammy-nominated producer Felix McTeigue. Born and raised in Nashville’s music community, Sanders grew up with a deeply ingrained love for writing, but never took interest in songwriting until after college; she wrote some of her first songs while in the Peace Corps and has been writing ever since. Steep and Shining Spaces is a collection of those songs and an intimate look at her life over the past half decade. “Still Waters” is available today via Spotify and iTunes.

- Two-time Oscar®-winning director Barbara Kopple has partnered with America’s leading true-crime network, Investigation Discovery (ID) to explore the legacy of the notorious 1989 murder of Noreen Boyle in Mansfield, Ohio in the new documentary, A Murder in Mansfield. The film chronicles Noreen’s son Collier’s journey for answers and peace in the aftermath of his mother’s death nearly three decades ago. A Murder in Mansfield will have its national television debut exclusively on Investigation Discovery on November 17, 2018 at 9 :00.

- Showtime has announced the pilot order for the hour-long drama series Queen Fur, created, written and executive produced by Eileen Myers (MASTERS OF SEX) and starring Lily Mae Harrington (Some Freaks). Sian Heder (Orange Is the New Black) will direct the pilot. Deb Spera (Army Wives) will also serve as an executive producer. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. A co-production between Showtime and Sony Pictures Television, Queen Fur is set in a small town in Central Florida – a place where beauty pageants, gun culture, Cuban revolutionaries and Southern hospitality co-exist and collide. And at the center of it all is Macy Dunleavy (Harrington) – a curvy, sexy, unapologetic high school dropout who is finding her womanhood and is ready to seize a big opportunity

Previewing Casual: Season Four

Last year Hulu the biggest prize at the Emmys and since then it seems like the streaming is going for pure prestige in the wake of the big win. All four of their dramas that were on the air before that Emmy were canceled after their latest seasons aired with only one getting a final season to wrap things up. And it seems pretty clear; Hulu wants big splashy names at least in the new future (Blumhouse anthology! Anne Rice!! Stephen King!!! Sean Penn!!!! George Clooney!!!!! Reese Witherspoon!!!!!!) Even their two comedies got canceled with only Casual getting a final season to wrap things up. Although instead of the weekly release schedule that Hulu usually employs, all episodes of the fourth season are available to stream today.

For a show that gets its name from a not very committal relationship status, the last season ended with a couple of characters getting pretty serious. Leon got engaged to the receptionist. And then Alex knocked up his weird Asian Air B and B client. Well at least Val and her daughter were still pretty messed up in the dating department.

Season four starts up five years later (presumably five years from now and there is a weird presumably future Scott Pruitt reference) with Alex co-parenting with his baby mama in his house. The bigger news is that Alex finally shaved the goatee off (he is not the only one to lose hair over the past five years). Leon and his wife are now debating children. Lauren returns from abroad with a girlfriend and may be ready to change her relationship status from casual. But hey, Val is still going through an extended midlife crisis with few options in the dating department.

There is still plenty of the usual sly Casual humor. This season there is an automated voice response that annoys Val. Alex goes on a virtual reality dating that goes horribly wrong. The three main cast members get in one last road trip that naturally goes all wrong.  There is a weed/puzzle bar which inspires probably a horrible idea. And of course, much like the way the show started, it also ends with a funeral. Though you will have to find out on your own if this one is real or not.

All episodes of Casual season four are available on Hulu today.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/29/2018

Claws: Didn’t they just pull the surprise arrested by cops in the final scene just two episodes ago? Not only was that shocking and left us guessing what happened next, it seems pretty obvious to me all that will happen with Desna is the cops will try to get her to turn on the Russians which she will be eager to do. The only question is where will the show go in season three with the Russians (presumably) out of the picture and the cops aware of Desna illegal activities?
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: Is this is how Anton gets to the east coast in the future? On a college visit? And what happened to those future scenes, they just gone forever? And a little disappointing that we did not get a Helen segment so we can see what prompted that tweener rant by the son. Maybe the next episode. But that had to be the shortest segment ever. The Noah segment only lasted twenty minutes. Then Alison is stuck in another estranged father who wants a kidney storyline. There have been way too many of those on television. But if Cole was on his walkabout and Alison fled to California, just who was watching Joanie?

Sharp Objects: The biggest thing to stick out this week, well other than how the girlfriend weirdly is eager to play house while wearing her cheerleader outfit in out of season, was how drunkenly adamant Amma was about how her friends would do anything for her. “Anything!!!!” Would they kill for her? These dead girls are Amma’s peers and the one kid did say a woman in white abducted one of the girls, although the yanking of teeth seemed a bit much for teenaged girls. Then there is Camille’s roommate who I have now watch die tragically twice in the span of the month, the first being the ritualistic drowning on The Handmaid’s Tale. Is that actress now officially the teenage girl version of Sean Bean who is just brought in to die tragically?

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: I like the new voting system as much as I hate it. I also wished the Challenge would go with the Survivor hidden votes because the votes do seem very bandwagon at times. But then I do not like that the people who get votes in have to choose between the people who voted for them. You might as well just pencil in Bananas/Tony and Brad/chin implant dude to the finals because teams will only vote foe other teams they think they can beat (I.e. weak teams) and those voted in will avoid strong teams unless there is some anomaly in the voting thanks to the weekly winners getting two votes and cannot be chosen.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: I think that was the first times the Wells ladies spoke this season not pretending they had a major falling out. I was beginning to wonder if Margaret was still in on the plan to bring down Quigley. But Emily Lacey, shunned by both houses is actually picking a side. But the big plot twist is the little harlot is turning on Emily Lacey to help Quigley. But will she tell her of Charlotte’s plan?
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger: Finally the voodoo family is back. Only in New Orleans can someone go around town spitting liquor and no one give them a second look. Then the younger one can block Dagger’s new skill of stealing someone’s hope and even got in a great dig: calling her a strangely aggressive tiny girl. Which begs the question, can Cloak steal someone’s fears?
You can download Marvel's Cloak and Dagger on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 7/27/2018

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 The First, Shameless, Wrecked, Meg Myers, James Bay, Dagny, Too Stupid To Die, Just Another Immigrant: Romesh at the Greek, Constance, Beast Mode, The Chi, The Affair, and Turner On Demand movies for August.

- Check out the first teaser for upcoming Hulu Original drama series The First. All eight episodes of The First debut on Friday, Sept. 14, only on Hulu.


- TBS comedy Wrecked premieres its third season on Tuesday, August 7 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT). This season, the Wrecked gang find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious billionaire's private island where they’re forced to hunt each other to the death in a basic-cable battle royale. Season three stars Ally Maki, Asif Ali, Brian Sacca, Brooke Dillman, Jessica Lowe, Rhys Darby, Will Greenberg, and Zach Cregger, along with guest stars Rob Corddry, Eugene Cordero, Jonno Roberts, Karan Soni, Rachel House, Robert Baker, and Will Hines. The series is executive-produced by Justin Shipley, Jordan Shipley and Jesse Hara.


- Showtime has unveiled the official trailer and poster for season nine of its No. 1 comedy Shameless, premiering on Sunday, September 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Starring Oscar® nominee and Emmy and SAG Award® winner William H. Macy and Golden Globe® nominee Emmy Rossum, Shameless is one of the network’s longest-running and most successful series ever and attracts the youngest-skewing audience of any Showtime series.


- Meg Myers’ new album 'Take Me To The Disco' is out now on 300 Entertainment and has been met with raves, leading the Associated Press to declare her “a genuine rock goddess,” saying “Myers definitely isn’t fooling around and there’s no denying the woman’s sheer talent, both as a songwriter and as a singer who can go from kittenish to face-melting in the same song.” The new album has also earned Meg a pick on NPR’s New Music Friday podcast, and praise from the New York Times, who dubbed Meg’s sound “seething and then exploding,” and Billboard, who called the new music “cathartic” and “life affirming.”

- Three-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multiplatinum singer-songwriter James Bay released the official music video for his new single “Just For Tonight.”


- The critically acclaimed Norwegian indie -pop songstress Dagny unveils her cover of Fleetwood Mac’s classic “Landslide.” The song was featured in a prominent and emotional scene in tonight’s episode of Freeform’s The Bold Type. Listen to Dagny’s “Landslide” Cover Here! And watch the scene from The Bold Type Here.

- MTV, in conjunction with Gunpowder & Sky, this week announced that its new stunt series Too Stupid To Die will premiere on Tuesday, August 21st with back-to-back episodes beginning at 10:00. The highly anticipated series, developed with Zach Holmes, the online sensation and daredevil who was banned by YouTube, will feature bizarre pranks, hilarious antics and outrageous stunts. In the debut episodes, viewers are introduced to rural Indiana where this amateur stunt crew has nothing better to do with their time than take rat traps to the face, dodge golf carts, set off explosives, practice public archery and open a dangerous kissing booth, just for starters. Too Stupid To Die is the story of a backyard group of friends who are making a name for themselves with nothing but blood, sweat and fearlessness.

- Showtime will premiere the comedy special Just Another Immigrant: Romesh at the Greek, from comedian and star of the network’s series JUST ANOTHER IMMIGRANT, Romesh Ranganathan, on Friday, July 27 at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT. Ranganathan’s true-life adventures and preparation for his performance at the historic Greek Theatre were recently chronicled in the network’s comedic docuseries. Cameras followed the UK comedian as he moved to Los Angeles and committed to selling out the 6,000-seat theater. Just Another Immigrant: Romesh at the Greek is the grand finale to Ranganathan’s journey in America. To watch and share a clip from the special, go to: https://youtu.be/k0ydB0ntjRg.

- Turner's TNT has ordered the scripted dramas Constance and Beast Mode (working title) to pilot. KC Perry (The Originals) wrote Constance, which stars Academy Award nominee Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), with Emmy® nominee Jesse Peretz (Glow, Girls) attached to direct. Constance is produced by Team Downey, in association with Sonar Entertainment and Studio T, with Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey (Sherlock Holmes), Amanda Burrell, Bill Dubuque (Ozark), Tom Lesinski (Mr. Mercedes), Jenna Santoianni (Mr. Mercedes), Peretz, Shue and Perry serving as executive producers. Beast Mode is written and executive produced by David Schneiderman and produced by Ann Wolfe and MACRO in association with Studio T, with executive producers Stefanie Huie (Triangle) and MACRO’s Charles D. King (Mudbound), Kim Roth (Inside Man) and Poppy Hanks (Fences).

- Fan favorites Shamon Brown Jr. (Papa), Barton Fitzpatrick (Reg) and Michael Epps (Jake) have been upped from guest stars to series regulars for the highly anticipated second season of The Chi. The hit Showtime drama series is currently in production in Chicago and will return to the network in 2019. The Chi averaged 4.5 million weekly viewers across platforms and ranks as the highest-rated Showtime freshman season since Billions in 2016.

- Showtime has renewed its Golden Globe® Award winning drama series The Affair for a fifth and final season. Season four of the series is currently airing on Sundays at 9:00, with the finale airing on August 19. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “We love the intimacy, the nuance and the emotional honesty of THE AFFAIR’s subjective examination of both infidelity and fidelity,” Levine said. “Sarah Treem has always envisioned this as a five-season series, and we will be fascinated to see where she takes her talented cast and all of us next year in its climactic season.”

- Emmy-winning writer and producer Lena Waithe (THE CHI) has signed a first-look deal with Showtime, expanding her relationship with the network that launched her first series as a creator and executive producer. Waithe will work with SHOWTIME on comedy and drama projects that she both writes and produces through her company Hillman Grad Productions. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Programming, Showtime Networks.

- What's steaaming in August on tntdrama.com, the TNT App, tbs.com and the TBS App:
Mad Max: Fury Road: Streaming 8/5 - 9/3
San Andreas: Streaming 7/23 - 8/21
I Am Legend: Streaming 8/5 - 9/3
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: Streaming 7/1 - 8/29
The Intern: Streaming 8/1 - 8/30
How To Be Single: Streaming 8/5 - 9/3
St. Vincent: Streaming 8/11 - 8/31
Central Intelligence: Streaming 8/13 - 9/11

Previewing Castle Rock

One thing that all comic book adaptation do, whether the show is good or not, is throw out a constant barrage of Easter Eggs for the fanboys to salivate over and make them come back for every episode, myself included. There are very few other things that have enough content to flood a screen with references of their work, but Stephen King is definitely one of them with fifty-nine novels and over two hundred short stories under his belt. And now he is getting an television show based on the amalgamation of his work, Castle Rock.

No, this is not an Avengers type team up where Pennywise will come face to face with Carrie (though the actors who portrayed them in movie versions are actually in the new cast as different characters). Instead, the show is sprinkled with plenty of references to King’s work like the titular city is the setting of twenty-four of his stories and the local prison is named Shawshank. In a measure of full disclosure, I am not the biggest Stephan King reader, so my latter example is one of the few Easter Eggs I got and had to be told of the former.

So I am coming at Castle Rock as a King novice. Sure It scared me as a kid like nothing else did (that forking spider still occasionally haunts my dreams) and most recently I made it through Under the Dome that got significantly worse with every passing episode. Naturally Castle Rock is about a town where dark things happen; scene three features a, um, interesting way to try to kill oneself. A town where all the men from there either work at the state penitentiary, which actually looks like a castle from the outside, or they are currently living there.

The show centers on a prodigal son (André Holland, A Wrinkle in Time) who is a death row lawyer who comes home when a whistleblower informs him an inmate (Bill Skarsgård, Deadpool 2) has been discovered at his hometown prison. And of course both men have mysterious pasts. The lawyer, back in 1991, went missing as a child in the dead of winter only to be discovered unharmed days later. While at the prison, an entire wing is shut down despite overcrowding and, you guessed it, the mysterious inmate has been living in this quarantined wing all by himself for an undisclosed amount of time.

To be honest, the first episode is kind of a bore. Thankfully Jane Levy (season one Mandy Milkovich on Shameless) shows up in the second episode to add some levity to the show but is not there long enough to really get a feel for why the character is there. She just pops up randomly in a church group and asks the lawyer questions the audience certainly wants to know (not that he give a satisfying answer). Weirdly Mickey Milkovich gets more screen time on the first couple episodes as a prison guard than his on screen sister.

Levy also has a job as assistant to the town’s local real estate agent (Melanie Lynskey, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) who may be the weirded of the town folks we meet in the early in the series. She lived across the lawyer as a child and, um, the connection, we learn, gets really weird.

For better or worse, Castle Rock is the general thought of King’s work, really creepy and kind of slow. Despite dying in the third scene, that character may best sum up your typical thought of a King creation with his Verse of the Day calendars stopping on the same verse every year even when the verse was on different days. And lhe leaves of with the most ominous and Kingsian line so far, “I used to think the Devil was a metaphor but the devil was a boy.” The start of Castle Rock may not be great, but it was good enough to hook me in. Granted, so did Under the Dome and that took a creative nose dive in season two.

The first three episodes of Castle Rock are on Hulu today with new episodes every Wednesday.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/22/2018

Claws: Well that was some inappropriate bedside manner from Jenn. Sad thing is was that the moment she started touching him; I knew that was exactly where they were going with that. And Jenn blaming Desna for Bryce felt a little misguided. It was Bryce and Uncle Daddy who went there to kill Slata, you cannot be mad at someone else when they start shooting back.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

The Affair: No future Noah / Cole segment at the beginning? Instead we get a present day Helen / Vic trying to have a kid. Then we get the mild surprise of starting with a Vic-centric half episode. Which was just his mid-life crisis mixed with rich person bucket list. I just said the last time Vic was on the show he was my most standup guy on the show and now he is blowing curing kid disease to go joy riding with a starlet’s daughter… in more ways than one. But hey, if Helen will not give him a baby, the daughter might be the better option anyway. Speaking of old dudes spreading their seed with younger women… poor Cole, went through all those exorcism steps only to learn that is what led his father to kill himself.

Sharp Objects: I came away from the premiere thinking the step-father did it (mostly because the actor is evil in pretty much everything I see him in) but this week we had one eyewitness say a woman in white did it which makes me think the mother is a doth protest too much type a person. Then we learn the murderer yanked out teeth with pliers and then a couple scenes later the sheriffs fixing a stop sign… with a forking pair of pliers hanging on the sign. It cannot be that obvious, can it? The sheriff seemed kind of offended at the idea of a women doing the deed.

The Bold Type: Um, Jane, have you never seem a clarinet case in your life before? That was way too big for a clarinet. But I could have done without the very special episode about guns. And a bit eye rolling that Sutton is turning Betsy into earing. And it was a bit weird how many times they said Sutton’s last name this episode, maybe more times in the entire first season, considering her last name is shared by the most famous gun control legislation of all time.
You can download The Bold Type on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: Nothing more annoying than the first couple episodes when it takes forever to get to the first elimination round. And it will be annoying is Bananas/Tony and Brad/tattoo guy dominate this season just because they are by far the strongest teams.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Harlots: So Emily Lacey’s new “boarding house” is just a black chick, a little person, and, I guess herself. I cannot image that the brothel will be very successful. It seems like only a mater a time before she picks a side between Quigley and Wells.
You can stream Harlots on Hulu.

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger: So crooked cop has lady cop kill the drug dealer last week when it seemed to me that it would have been smarter and this week the crooked cop (presumably) kills the beat cop but lets the lady cop, who again is the bigger threat, live. Another confusing thing to me is just how do Cloak and Dagger’s abilities work together? He sees people fears while she sees their hopes, but together, they saw the comatose scientist in a Groundhogs Day loop and then saw when they touched her mother together, they saw her father slap her mother. Are they just seeing what that person is thinking right then and there? They need to explain that better.
You can download Marvel's Cloak and Dagger on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 7/20/2018

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 UnREAL, Def Leppard, Greta Van Fleet, >Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dark Money, In Case of Emergency, Sacred Sites, Saved By the Bell, and The Wrong Mans.

- Everlasting has moved its set to Hulu. In a new deal between Hulu and A+E Studios, the fourth and final season of fan favorite drama series, UnREAL, is now available to stream in its entirety on Hulu. The final installment joins Hulu’s award-winning originals slate and brings together the complete UnREAL library, all on Hulu. Starting this week, fans of UnREAL can immediately dive into the new season. The deal also brings the complete series together on Hulu, making it possible to discover, watch and re-watch all of the steamiest moments, most memorable elimination ceremonies and killer cliffhangers from throughout the show’s four seasons.

- Def Leppard unveil their Spotify Singles. As part of the streaming platform’s coveted initiative, the multiplatinum rock legends performed the classic “Hysteria” in addition to a brand new cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.” Listen and share the singles HERE.

- Greta Van Fleet released its brand new single, When The Curtain Falls, to fans via socials. You can click HERE to listen to the song.

- Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow, the newest addition to the Showtime Documentary Films slate, will premiere on Saturday, August 18 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME on-air, on demand and over the internet. Directed by Stephen Kijak and featuring rare interviews and never-before-seen archival footage, Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow takes viewers on a trip through the history, myth and legend of one of the most iconic American rock bands. Rising from the swamps of the Deep South, these good ol’ boys from Jacksonville, Florida came to define an era with their hard-rocking boogie-woogie sound, soulful lyrics, drunken and dangerous antics and their controversial use of the rebel flag. The film also serves as a portrait of late band leader Ronnie Van Zant whose life was cut tragically short, but whose legacy endures to this day in songs like the “Simple Man,” “Country Boy,” and “Whiskey Rock-a-Roller."


- Your vote can be bought, but at what cost? Dark Money follows local Montana journalist John S. Adams, who is determined to uncover the truth about funding in his state’s elections. The film gains insights over the course of three election cycles, as it solves an increasingly complicated and blurred puzzle. Dark Money traces Adams’ steps and sheds light on the grassroots movement to unveil the mysterious financing behind our elections. Dark Money has its national broadcast and streaming debut on the PBS documentary series POV and pov.org on Monday, October 1 at 10 p.m. (check local listings). POV is American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, now in its 31st season.

- Written, directed, and produced by NYC filmmaker Stefanie Sparks, In Case of Emergency is a new comedy coming to Prime Video and iTunes July 23, preceded by a special screening in New York City at The PIT Loft on July 18. Described by Vox Magazine as “a poignant comedy in the same vein as Bridesmaids,” In Case of Emergency is one woman’s sometimes raunchy, always funny internal battle of style vs. substance. Following an accident, NYC socialite Sarah Williams is forced to reevaluate her life goals. Is she ready to put away her judgements and pearls to descend into the subways of redemption? Or will she continue up the photo shopped elevator towards a lonely, bitter Park Avenue high rise?

- From the supposed tomb of King Arthur to ancient Egyptian temples once controlled by female priests, the world’s religious sites are home to alluring secrets and mysteries. This summer, Smithsonian Channel brings back Sacred Sites to explore even more enigmatic religious sites found around the world. Featuring advanced scientific discoveries and archaeological research, new episodes will bring viewers to sanctified and historical locations stretching from Europe to North Africa, through the Mayan civilization in the Americas, across the path of the Camino de Santiago and more. Sacred Sites returns Monday, August 13 at 8:00 on Smithsonian Channel.

- Missing your favorite pals from Bayside High? It's alright, 'cause you're Saved By the Bell! On October 2nd, 2018, Shout! Factory invites TV aficionados to a very special class reunion with the 16-disc collector's release of Saved by the Bell: The Complete Collection, a "Max-ed" out, completist's DVD set of the iconic and addictive '90s Saturday morning sitcom. Relive the laughter, lessons and love with Zack and his friends in this 16-disc collector's set, featuring every episode from 'Good Morning, Miss Bliss' to 'The College Years', and it's available today for pre-order, at Amazon.com!

- Showtime has announced the casting of Jillian Bell (22 Jump Street) in a lead role of the half-hour comedy pilot The Wrong Mans, also starring and produced by Ben Schwartz (House of Lies) and written and executive produced by James Corden (The Late Late Show with James Corden), Mathew Baynton (Yonderland) and Ian Maxtone-Graham (The Simpsons). J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), BBC Studios’ Angie Stephenson and Bad Robot’s Ben Stephenson also serve as executive producers. Jim Field Smith (EPISODES) is also executive producing and directing the pilot, which is based on the BBC series created by Corden and Baynton.